The National Register. — London, England, 1809-07-23 00:00:00

t fe %s• hinnlretl men to the right hank or the Dhinihe to make oh*ervations. They re-einharked, ::her having lost a feet men killed or taken prisoner. The liett tra-; e‘cessive on Int se days. l'he thernonnyter tt.;:s alino‘t coast: 610 v itt 2ti degree. There are *great quainitiv: Ji" it i• s.. 1n one village 3,1r0,000 pitiN tvere foam!. It has happily no 'dad qu:;4it y. Tsv► ye of the most colt-iderable viih g es in the benutirn! lain of Vienna, such as are seen in the neighlynirbood of great capital, have been h!'r►,t during the battle. The just - hat red or the nation k loud a:Tairst the guilty ti:en who have drawn upon it all thew calamities, The Cenrral Est* Brigade, Laroche, entered Nuremberg au Ihe the VBth of June, with a corps of cavalry, and proceeded to►:ards Bit . % rewle. He met the enemy at Be•senthie:n, charged hita with the . fir-t itrovkinual reglment of dragoon 4, and cut pieces all who opposed hitu, and took two pieces a concon.'' IVINCHE3rEn A.sSizns. WILLIAM BCP.C.F.S.3, A Pk!.:1 1 }711 1 wm.cottr:rTT, WM. AS Lu;TT, AN L) JOHN nt'RBER. This was an action fcr an assantt and false imprisonment, onder the following circumstance=, as stated by Mr. Burrough The Plaintiff a labouring man, residing in the parish of Droxford, in theservicc of Il.is•itaro Goodlad, Esq. a Nlagis trate for the county. The Plaintiff my,: of quiet and honest in:hits. The Defendant, Cobbett, was the well-knit an author of gibe flgisterl who, for the last live or six ''l-as • 100 been resident at B atley, in that sonar , •. lie was long the pre tended friend and advocate for the liberty of the subject, and the privileges of Englishmen. At thc public meetings in that county, he had taken a conspicuous part in declaiming a. , !aiust the abuse of power, and was then addressit:2: weekly letters to the people of Hamp - hire, urging the necessity of a ref'orm iu the estate, in order to preserve the ends - of freedom, anti ti;e true spirit of the English Constitution ; but th e c h arac t er w hi c h he assumed was badly supported by his conduct in 41ornestielife. lie was oppressive and severe around the whole circles, hick his power man in*uence extended to, the sequel of which would ill accord with his professions. The other Defeudan's were blacksmiths. Aslett wa . ,. the Coostnble of Hotley, and pas syssed ,cop4iderahle property and Doliber ;vas the, tithingenan of that place. Alieut th , .‘ l•ttt,yr end of December last, the Plainttrs brother, Jesse Utirge, then a!)0111 ti:teen years of age, went into the ser vice of to!ibett, to remain until the .Mi chaelmas following. In the mouth of February, the boy went home to his friends, at Droxford, about live miles from Holley, and complained that his master abased blip, and made use of the most gross language, which terrified the boy, and caused him to et press It:s.terror of being with him ; his mother would not 'attend to his story, but admonished hint and directed hitn to re turn to his master„ and that she •(the mother) would call on his. master, and converse with him on the subject; the boy accord ingly returned; on the seeoud of March he again returned 'some, and informed his mother he had run away from his place, as his master had abused him so, he could not stay; his mother inquired if he had informed his master of his deterrosnation to leave him ? he answered, " yes, and that his master hal told him to hold his datnuation botheriug tongue, for he should net go away." About 10 o'clock on the night of . the following day, the Defendant, Aslett, apprehended the boy, under a warrant granted by Mr. Smith, a Magistrate at South ton, upon a complaint made by Cobbett ; he stated the boy to he a servant in liusbandrs, which he never was; and that he had absconded front hi ervice. Aslett made the boy prisoner, aod brought him to Holley, about midnight ; his mother and brother accompanied lihn, After wailing an hour in the street, the landlord of the Dolphin Inn gave them a reception fur the rest of the night, the boy being in custody of the constable. About eight o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Burgess, the boy's mother, went to Mr. Cobbett, whom she met in the garden. 'e addressed him by saying. " l beg your pardon, Sir—l cm come to speak in behalf of the boy." To which he replied " Damnation seize Now ! 1 won't hear what you have to say." The mother then said, " I hope you will, Sir." Ile replied, " I hope I shan't ; I'll send your boy on ship-board; if you had not encouraged him, he would not have been guilty of such a thing." The mother replied, she did not encourage him, and hoped he would hear what she had to say. To which Cobbett answered, " Damn von ! I won't hear %%hat you have to say ; begone, you old bitch, off my premises : I desire you not to enter may hotise ; your boy shall have no more than the law allows him, if he has so much." Mrs. Bur-, gest then Went back to her sou's, and repeated tkielo - Tient nap versat ion w hick had passed between her and the celebrated pol:• tical riter ; the defendant, Dubber, had tAken the plat cOl the coooahle, an.l agreed that the\ should go no n toCo!?twtt's; OR heir way, Dubber recollected that he bad been forbidden by the advocateof freedom, from going on his premise-. ; fchrfal of the taan of liberty, he went to look for the coast. b 1 his prisoner at large, who took to his heels and r or; jya ai:ca - wartli the constable came and asked where the boy my.' his mother answered, he was gone to Mr. Co bora'', and she woe following hint ; he answered, she should not have let him gu without him, for Mr. Cobbett would swear finely. The mother then returned to the inn, and called her son, William, the plaintiff, who went with her mid the constable as far the out( r g rte of Cobbett's house; the constable went in, but the Alai t ff an.l his another proceeded on the turr pike road on their wi.y home. When they had gone le)out a mile and a half, they heal d some hones gallopping, which proved to be the defendants, Aslett and Dubber, g•.:llopping after them a as they approached, they hallowed, " Stop, you old woman--stop, you fellow— you have dime us a fine job to-day." They did ion stop—the constable cried out, " I've a pistol, I'll shoot you through, if you don't stop." They were soon overtaken, and ti e constable said--" damn Von, oh! woman, have you back, and put you in prison, in your soil's stead," laying h ; d of her by the bonnet and hair. 'l' be Plaintif held up his stick, and said--" touch her if you dare—if you do, I'll knock yi u down, you have no authority !o take us ; touch my mother is you dare ; tv hero is your authority ?"ro w bleb Mikis ans wered—" I will see to that; we will let your mother alone we wall have you." Upon which OH! Plaititiffsaid--'• I desire to know by vr bat authority you seize tire on the King's high way 1" To which Astlett answered—" By order of :llr. Cob brit, if you must know." They immediately snatched the stick from the PlaintitFs hand, calling him a rogue and a thief. Ast let t dcsited llub4er to take the Plaictiff to the Dol e 'llin, and, it' he was refractery, to handcalhim; he was detained in custody up- Wards of three h%urs; Fe repeatedly requested they would allow 'him to go to his master's Mr. Goodlad, who was a Just ice of the Peace, as he was ready to answer. for any thing he had done wrong ; this Aslett refused, ?old he swore he would have him dis,rn to Cobbetes, from w hence he should be sent on ship. board; the Plaintiff was taken into custody to Botley, w here li;; met his mother, who was also at prisoner ; they were taken in a cart, by the direction of Cobbett, to Southron. where C heft waited to receive them, at a Mr. Smith's, an attorney.-,. Cohbett addressed himself to Dubber, and said •• zsre the greatest rogue—you shall he Jack Pay-all—l'll line von." " I hope not, Sir," answered Dubber. Cobbett said—" Yes, damn your eyes, you let the prisoner run away."' He turned to the Plaintiff's mother, and called her a crafty old bitch, and - t brandy-faced hitch. Mr. Smith was not present, although his clerk was, while Cobbett was giving way to the undiguised sen timents of his mind. He went to look for Mr. Smith ; on his return, he mentioned that the Magistrate was with Min, Ind that the Plaint iii' and his mother were guilty of fraud and rubbery, by being accessary to the escape of the boy ; and if t ;ley did not deliver the boy at his house, by. .four o'clock On Monday, h 3 would indict them at the Winchester Assize:. int&:l4ht before the Plaintiff and his mother got home. This statement was fully made out in evidence. Mr. Jekyll, Counsel for the Defendant, contended, that it was a combination to bring the political character of the De fendant, Cobbett, into disrepute, he called no evidt nee. Mr. Justice Lawrence then summed up the evittei.ce, with his accustomed perspicuity, and observed, if the Plaintiff w taken into custody, without any taw ful authority, he was en titled to damages. The Jury were to consider whether t e other Defendants had acted under the order of Col , hett ; iu his own aiind he had not a doubt hut they did. With respect !o the arrest, there was no pretence for saying there was any auto). city ; whatever might have been the conduct of the boy , it would not justify the defendants in the offence they had committed on the person of the.plaintiff. He had no difficulty in saying, it was done without any authority of law, whatever, and there could bh no doubt but they were guilty of false imprisonment. He was at a loss to know bow any political question could he attached to this cause. Cobbett was before the Court, the same as any of his fellow-subjects, and the same justice should be done h he had done an unlawful and oppressive act, and he was amen able to the laws of his country , for it; the charge apinst him stood uncontradictedoind the - Jury must give a verdict agaittst him. It layiatheir breasts 'to say what damages the •Plaint was entitled to; they would therefore coniider,of theists'yerstict. _The Jury rourual, a terdittfor the 196 4 / 1 01-datance 101 .4 t • •