The National Register. — London, England, 1816-12-09 00:00:00

and in his not only avowing, but deilmtisteiW .g lit his ron duct, that he was aegnainted with the name of wounds' Watson, jun. is violently suspected of be log the assassin, agidi in hand bills offering a reward for his ismoretiemion it is staled. He was brought op to his father's profession, which is that of a snrgcon. 'l' he following notice was posted on large boards, fixed in consuirnons ph.res, and carried atom visions 1. arts of the city, by en ier elf "the lord 'WAN or on Mn f i r t.,y bet :— " OUR SOVEREIGN LORD THE KING • " Charged, and commandeth persons being assembled, immedi. atcly to disperse Mtn:wives, and punwatly depart to their haUta tions, or to their lawful tininess, mon the pains conta'ned in the Art made inehe first year of King Gituv—forpievtating tumulus, and riotous Avstn:blieo. " (:OH SAVE THE KING.". MA 1.4510 N 1100A1.7. Monciav, at ten, the Nt'aid Constables. fit^ liatrolt.s, and the Marshals, made their reposts—m/ • irf . Detachments of the Horse and Foot Guards, the 9th Light Draritimus,Sec. were still dram It up before the Mansion ffostar,bot there was noasseo bly of persons beyond that which the sight of the troops might rrcate.—Although three pittols • iimili•ts were ilicharged by the mob on Monday in the R!yal F.‘change, it is elc•ir that they were not loaded willi shot or ball, as the effect most hate been certain, from the Immediate contiguity of the parties. EXAMINATION OF RIOTERS. 'Flie three persons secured by the Lord Major, in the Royal Exchange, are named James Carter. John Cashman, and John Hooper. 'lite latter, who wa siczed by Sir James Shaw, up ,eel to he the leader of the mob ; lie carried the Hag, and ears lett ati i-coloured cockade in his hat. lie was extremely 'Licit when secured, sitoke high of his own character and authority, and th.ratened the Lord Mayor.• Lyon searching bins there ere le found in his possessien a number of papers, chiefly relating to the Spa Fields meeting, the expence of erecting a iMstingS. &C. Sooty of these were signed by l'res ton, nitwit. name its aireisely appeared to the advertisements of the meeting. A ease of pistids was also found iu his pocket loaded, a bleb, upon examination. did not appear to have been very recently escharged. Being asked by the of f icer i‘lio had him in ru.ty at Lloyds, what WAS the motive of himself' and ;Ili companions/ lie replied, " that they came into the city in as der to obtain the assistance of the Lord aleyor, to hater fete, if possible, with the Prince Regent, with regard to their petition." The Lord Mayor, on Tuesday, held two several examine ticus nom thin subject, when be put a buinzocr of inlet roga to. ies to the three poisoners. Julie Hooper said he was the treason( r to the Spa Fields roce•iag, but had very little money to hold. lie knew the two Mr. *arsons, who had addressed the meeting on Mon day, and was the. c Waist If, fro.a whence lie set oft, with se veral towards the city. White at the meeting, some indtvid•eai put a case of pistols into his hand, butt lie was unable to say whom. These be put in his ponkrt, but did not intaa to rse t .e•n. He also aeknowlriliteil having carried the culottes, and worn the cockade, and staled the reason he 1 for coining ado the city. John tashinan said, be was a discharged seaman, and had come o a t from Drptford to town on .'.Malay alumina. He gas Mania. eg close by "a large church anti castle" (meaning St. P,adi s t v nen he WV4 accostcd by another, a stranger, -wino a‘lsed titan if he u :rhea to take a walk for a short time? He recited yea. and the stranger put into his hands a musket, and they proceeded tnelliei, and joined a noinber ot• others who ,acre mercbing. He had no conception of what it umant.—The last pi:saner, when taken at the Exchange, had e ir.asket in his posse:..si•au. James, et:, ter, w lee had :ono the ap,seeranee of a seaman, said Ile %else shoemaker. Ile meta number of persona march log through th.• city on slunday, and *led them, but was ribt aware of their proceedings, nor did Ile conunit the slights est act of violence. 'the prisaners confessed being with the mob when the outrap molt place at but denied saving the slieldest done in that horrid to - mist:client. They also expressed-their reatintess to tell all they knew.—The prisoner Hooiter joining uo the above &duration, and being cvidt ;.tly acqauinted with some of the unkuown proceedings at the S,ia Erlds Mee ring, the Lord Mayor deemed it right to hold a private examillation. Little, however, was gone. i n t o a t ti t ' '' . inve•stigaekon, but Hooper confessed that lie had been incited to juia :mil lead site mob is consegnence of the iellaisimatory language he had heard (torn Mr. Watson at the ♦arly part of the !Meeting on Monday.—The prisoners were all romaialed for examination on a future day. BO W•STR ZET.—'f uegday Patrick Sullivan. a boy about twelve years of age, underwent an examination before Mr. n:e, charged with being concerned with a mob in riotously as a cndin2 rattail a bakeils shop, on Monday night, in Great Earl Street, Seven Dials, breaking open and entering the shop, and stealing the bread therein. He was couintitted fur trial. William Astell was charged by Clarke, a constable of St. Clements, with exciting the mob to tumult, in Holywell Street, Ty exclaiming," Bread or blood!"—Several other rioters have been examitied aiad remanded at the different police officern. The Lord Mayor, properly attended, proceeded to Pres to:ln.* lodgings at Oreystuhe-place, Fetter-taut, late on Tues day evening, with the double purpose of searching fur papers belonging to Hooper, who is an itnuate with Prestou, and of seeing Preston himself. His Lordship found no papers which could operate against the parties, except so far as they con ne,ted them with the Spa fit-Ids' assentlily. The Lord Mayor did not hold blotto:1* jitstittett in taking him into custody. Yreaton, who is a shoemaker, assnmes a bold and haughty elemeailoor, and seems already to himself to be a leading personage. The object of himself and his party is, he de clares, to bring oboist a Parliamentary R.lforin, which alone ran I elicv c the ilistie.ses of the count' y, and give the poor maii !stead to eat. the admits Ins intimacy wi h the t .ve Watson., and his knowledge that many of his patty were secretly arrnvil with pistols ; but this, he says, was only with a view of protecting themselves against arty attailo i.f the , military. The soldiel s how eve', he asserts, arc w cif diaposeil towarifs Min and his ; nd as to die sailors, many of them volamocred their services io the cause. He declares that ynnng Watson was intoxicated on Monday morning. Ou its beim: enquired of Prestma whether they intended to meet avain, what had passed, lie replied partly in the affirma t ve, anti what they would never ccese doing so until their at t ic( t was attained. 'i'hree of the inisenbled men who joined in the riots, were brought to the London hospital on Monday, cavil desperately wounded in the hand. One of them, after haying his wounds dtes.c.l, 0111 ti IVell to escape, and has not since heon heard of. The 1,. at btought in gave his 'same John Roberts; this man was immediately pnt to bed, amid is considered in a dangerolo slate. The thus) permit hrought in gave his name drilla kit ly. Several of the Po:ice Officers have intended to see the two last r emboro, win arc iottuded to Lc examined befoi TAR NATIONAL REGISTER. the magratrate when their heath will permit, and strict search is made for the man who estirped. Eight rioters hit.fe been taken by the activity of the lAm heth-street officers, almost all with arms in their hands, namely :—Two decent young men, taken at the Oeorge Tap, Whitt:chapel-road, wills a pistol, broad sword, shot-belt, and ammunition in their plasession ; Mr. Rae, the gunsmith, claims the pistol sod belt. A third, a sailor, with shot and flasks in his possession; afourth, et ill' two blutiderbusse. ; a fifth and sixth midi guns; a seventh, a sailor, taken opposite ;NI r. I'ott's in the Malone:, his hands cut with the glass of the window; the eighth with a pistol. The pistol fennel ant old Watson, anti the two pistols found on Hooper, Jtave been bayed to have been purchased by y ming Watson, in Holborn, uti Fridpy. Preston, the Secretary, who hail been at large upon his own word was taken inn , citstody on Wednesday night. The cause of his arrest is as foam's : Hooper, apprehended at the Exchange on Monday last, in formed Stevens, the turnkey, on Wednesday night, of his con nection with the Watsons and Prestou, the latter of whom he described as the great LEAusn of all their affairs. He gave an account of their meetings at the Brown Bear, Sea•coal lane l the Sun, Slater. street. Spitultields , the Carlisle, Shore ditch and the Hole in the Wall, Fleet-street. He also men tioned, that at a late meeting of the Committee, Preston, dis. agreeing with the rest, seas struck off the list. The last meet ing they had, previous to flint in Spadielda, was at the Car lisle. All the parties were at the meeting on Monday, and the younger Wittsou headed tie; patty which advanced to wards the City. He stair..., that having reached Cheapside, he suddenly lost sight of him, but dcnits that lie had himself carried the colours. Sir J. Shaw, indeed, who seized the in vidnal with the flag, dues net identity the prisoner as that person. Preston sipre his anent, has staled that at one of their meetings he heard propositions which he viewed as niiachiev nos, and seceded from them as en officer, hut remained still trite to the genpral system, which was in itself excellent. He load been engaged in the plan for eight you', and had written to the late Mr. Perceval, on the stitijeet. lle at intervals ex pressed his auger at being coufined, and declared that since lie was deprived of Ida liberty, every thing which had been intended should be proceeded in—" all would be effected — but plunder should be avoided." He spoke in cagey terms of die manner in which things had been condueted un Mon day ; said he saw 11111 d heard venlig Watson at Spa-fields, and added, " I could have struck the young mid drevkea dog for his premature folly." 'Die description given by Preston, Hooper, and others, in union with that of Mr. Platt linos:dr, And a young man in the shop of Mr. Beckwith, respecting young Watson, leaves little doubt that he was the person who committed the horrid out rage in Skinner street. The fellow who shot Mr. Platt said lie was a medical per son, and advised tht at to procure aid ; but, instead of assist nag in it himself, lie di lilierately reloaded his pistol. The brother of Mr. Platt rellitid this fact to the Lord Mayor, and added, that Mr. Beckwitles boy on Thursday discovered iii the shop two lancets, on out: of which was engraved the letter W. the Lord Mayor on Thursday laid before the Secretary of State such information as lie had obtained with regard to the late di,,nrnances, when a long consultation took place. On his return he proceeded to examine privaiLly the discs of Cashman and Hooper; but nothing important transpired be yond what we have already mentioned. The following has beau sent to us as a deposition made by Mr. Platt : . . _ 66 On the 2d of December, at half past twelve o'clock, Mr. Platt went to the shop of Mr. Beckwith, a but-moth, in Skinner -street„ to souk about the repair a the lock of lus gun. As he was quitting the shop, a young man appeared at the door with a pistol in his kind Ile entered the shop, crying out " Arms ! arms! I want arms !" Ile cocked his pistol, and prapentai it at Mr. Platt, who attempted to seize his arm, but foiled, and he presented the pistol at Mr. Platt's belly, fired it, awl the ball entered near the naveL He then at tempted to strike Mr. Platt with the butt end of the pistol, but Mr. Platt seized him, and the pist6l fell to the ground, or was taken from him by Mr. Beckwith's - tutu). Mr. Platt exclaimed, " This man must be secured I" and piecing himself near the door, desired the person who had fired the pistol to retire into the back shop, or counting-house, in which Mr. Platt followed him. Mr. Platt said to him, " Yuu have shot me."—" Oh!" exclaimed he, " I am a misted young man. I have been to Spitalfields. Send for a surgeon —I am a surgeon myself." And he desired a constable, who had now arrived, and emptied his pockets, to show his lancets. " These," said he, " will convince you I am a surgeon."(l) He wrung his hands, bit his hat, and frequently exclaimed, ' 6 Oh I I sun a misled young nu.tn !" Mr. Platt asked Idm, whether the pistol were load ed with a ball or slug 7 Ile answered, 6. Ido not know." A person said in an any tone, " You must know which it was loaded with— was it not a ball?" He said, " I believe it was." Mr. Platt, the man who tired the pistol, and several other persons, remained in the counting-house thr nearly a quarter of an hour, when the mob broke into the ,Lop, and Mr. Platt was obliged to make his esaspe over a wall at the back of the house. He went to the house of a Mr. Bar nard, a printer, where Mr. Beveridge, a surgeon in Newgato-street, first saw him, and he took him to his country-house, at Braxton." (1) The lancets, however, were not shown to Mr. Platt. DISTUVIIANCEI AT SHEFFIELD.—The Dossegater Gazette gives the following account of the disturbance at Sheffield : Noesday, at Sheffield, a great eoncourse of people assembled together in a riotous manuer, and procefded to a place called the Burying•ground, one of them carrying a loaf of bread (dipped iu blood) stock upon a long pule, and breaking several w4nlows as they went along. The magis trates, we understand, having had some intimation of their intentions, Immediately called out the constables, the yen. inanry cavalry, and the cavalry from the barracks; when, on their arrival, Colonel Wortley jampeal MI his horse, dashing animist the crowd, and seized the pi ineipal leader, Julio Ittai I. well, a tailor, who was conveyed through this place in :Ile evening, in his way to York Castle. 'I he mob then di.. versed withorit further misclnef, and every praise is due to the magistrates, &e. fur their activity on Ore occasion. All the constables and cavalry base elders to hold themselves in readiness at a minutes notice, should they again be wanted. REQethi'FION. To Arthur Morris, Evt Itigh Bu t of Westminster—We the notlersignel inha!,it.nit householders of the City antl ',i ts!' ties of WLstnnustcr, request yon will convene an ear'y meeting of the iteiallitant buoultolders, to consider the. situ- Ariost of our Rcpresennsti..e 1.6E,1 Cochrane, and the pro ceedings to be adopted Om REPLY. Saar—The Bich Bailiff declines making any appointment on requiritien handed to nte yesterday by Messrs. Walkir, Clesr, and. Parr.—l ant, .ide. W.TOOKE. I),II B. Mr. B. Brooks. Gray's Bin, Mb Nov. Ibl6. PRICE OP STOCKS THIS DAT Rank Stock CORI 3 per Cent. Reduced 60211 3 per Cent. Conseil, 4 per Cent Iluperials per Cent... ............... .......—...... 591 THE NATIONAL REGISTER. LONDON : MONDAY, DECEMBER 9. -~- - A LA RGE part of the contents of our Paper this week are of a painful and melancholy nature. The insidious intentions of that miserable demagogue Hunt, against which we have often cautioned the lower orders, hase but too wall succeeded ; and the flame which ha and his associates had kindled at their inflammatory meet ings, broke out into open violence on Monday List. On that day another meeting, similar to the preceding one, was held in the Spa-fields ; but the plot, which before was only in embryo, was then thought ripe and-ready for execution. Matters were arranged, and a system of proceedings orgunized by the enemies of trunquil lity, by which it was no doubt hoped they would effect the accomplishment of all their wicked purposes. What these precisely were, it is difficult to say ' • but their na ture may be pretty accurately guessed at from the means which were taken to effect them,. and which are unfortunately but too well known. Tri-coloured flags, seditious inscriptions, and the seizure of offensive wea pons, are indications too plain to admit of a doubt as to the designs of those who use them. Malice, revenge, and an undefined and vague desire of bettering their condition by pillage, and of intimidating Government into concession, were no doubt the motives which actu ated the individuals who took the foremost part in these disgraceful proceedings A great part of the lower classes, whom they made their tools, are, we trust, to be regarded rather as deluded than as really ill-intentioned men ; and though, where guilt is clear, the law must take its course, yet it is not on their heads that we wish to see punishment visited with full vigour. Let the ringleaders, the secret instigators, the providers of the means of saditson be sought after. On their heads rests the principal blame. We are happy to see the corporation of London have offered rewards for the ar. prehension of young Watson, or the young man,' who ever he was, who shot Mr. Platt at Mr. Beckwith's shop ; and likewise of the individuals who broke into the shop, as well as the other shops in the Minories, and plundered arms. We sincerely trust they may be brought to light. Of their guilt, in the eye of the law, there can be no shadow of doubt; and it is incompre hensible to us, if Mr. Hunt also has not, by his pro.. ceedings, laid himself open to justice. Of this, how ever, we fear there is some doubt. It is pretty clear, from the proceedings at Spa-fields (a full account of which will be found in another part of our Paper), that Mr. Hunt and the other leaders of the assembly, must have been previously in communication and connexion with the persons who, after his harangue, had arranged themselves in an order of attack, and proceeded with one accord and a systematic design, to commit the nit rages which took place. It was not a momentary fCo plosion of popular frenzy, but a well-ordered an.'. .o doubt preconcerted combination fOr the purpose of turn t and breach of the public peace. If Mr. Hunt, (a., we trust may be the case) can be proved to have been • fully instrumental and active in producing the riote, there can be no doubt of his legal guilt. The assassin of Mr. Platt has not yet been discovered, the description published of him exactly tallies with that of young Watson, and the Lord Mayor and the Police are making every exertion to discover his retreat. At present we are happy to say every thing is tranquil; and indeed on Mc tn. day, but for the vigorous exertions of the Police and the aid of the Military, the mischief would have been much greater. The Lord Mayor and Sir James Shaw were particularly active on that day in quelling the rioters at the Exchange. On the whole, we congratulate ourselves that we have escaped as well as we have from x Riot which has not been equalled in London since Lord George Gordon's tumults in 1780. We trust the in utility of this wicked effort, and the conseqnences it will entail on its perpetrators, will be a warning to all those who are inclined to lend willing can to the poisonous harangues of such men as Hunt and Cobbett. Foreign News is very scanty. In France the Royal ist party are still kept under by the revolutionists and the Ministry. They were in a minority on the petition of Mademoiselle Roberts, the proprietor of a Journal that has been suppressed, and one of her partizans in the Chamber, M. Benort, has been struck off the list of Counsellors (4' State. The new King of Wirtemberg commences his Reign in a most promising way, doing away the system of lavish and luxurious expenditure kept up by his father, , reducing the militaryestablishment, and mitigating the pressure of taxes according to his promises cra coming to the throne. Accounts from Prussia say, that the rumours of a scarcity of grain in that country are tithes, sez..lral 'verges laden with corn were sailing for Hamburg. I 1