The National Register. — London, England, 1821-07-16 00:00:00

IN OR WIWI CITY SES.sIOAS. On Tuesday last the Quarter Sessions for this city was held at the Guildhall, before Wm. Backham, Esq. Mayor, Steward Alderson, and a bench of magistrates. The learned Steward, in his charge to the Grand Jury, very ably directed their attention to the several bills before them, and pointed out the law to their consideration,— The Court was occupied some time with Removal causes, but none that created particular interest. John Berry, printer, of St. Peter's Mancroft, appealed against the conviction of the magistrates, for printing aud publishing a handbill at the last election for ayor of this city, signed " A Freeman," without having a copy of the paper he printed the said handbill from preserved by him, or giving np the name and place of abode of the person who employed him to print the said handbill, by which he because subject to the penalty of the sum of 201. Counsellor Robertson, in a very animated speech, con tended for the conviction. He said, the Court were most particularly called upon to mark this offence in the strong est possible manner. The appellant had not only broke a statute, but the circumstances attending it %VAS a most outrageous offence in enormity, he had almost said !quilt gacy ; this handbill was a gross libel on a respectable magistrate ; it not only vilified him as a magistrate, but as a man, a gentleman, and husband. He grounded his ap peal on 51 Geo. Hi. an Act to secure the subject from libellona attack- - t that every printer shall retain a copy of every paper printed by him, and not refuse to declare, when called upon, who is to be considered before the law accomitable."-- rim learned Counsellor then celled the Sword I arer, whu proved that Berry was summoned be fore the Mayor, and refused to ptoiloce a copy of the pa per, or the name and place of his employ Cr, and was con victed deco& ilingly ; that at his first examination he denied printing or publishing, but at the second lie acknowledged Ia i 11l sell' to he the printer. Counsellor Cooper, for the appellant, rose and addressed the Court as follows:—'r Gentlemen, my learned litend is first bound to prove that the hill was printed for gain, profit, or reward, before lie can possibly confirm this con viction. I contend lie has but very indifferently proved that Berry was the winter of the liandhid; and supposing lie was the printer, it might not have been for reward, but originate iu pa, ty zeal, and apply tio more to Alilei man Matsh than to any other Alderman on the bench. Sword Beater sweats that Betty admitted the printiiig, but first lie said No, and afterwards Yes. Why, gentle men, the poor Mall was so frightened that he did nut know what lie said. (lily think of my poor client's situation— shot up ill a Council Chamber, the Mayor un one side, Aides men un the other, Mr. Sword Benn er, and other ci vic authorities, (tying to obtain his confession—first lie did 'dint it, diet' lie dial not; the Coin( would he divided, and pairpe helm e they decided on , ticli a yes or no from a man so ell cimisiaticeil. The bill appears to me only au appeal to his fellow•citizens to elect a punier, limiest, and taillight magistrate to fill the office of Mayor, and I believe these is not the evidence Ilip.re ought to be before the Court to confirm the conviction." The Court retii eil, and on returning Mr. Steward AI. derson said lie Was sorry to say that the Court considered Ilse handbill a scandalous libel, and deserving their just reprobation; but desirous to extend every lenity to the appellant, under all circumstances, and finding by the Act that they had the power of mitigation, they would mitigate the penalty to 101. and however they might be inclined, they could not go below that 811111, as it might encourage a recurrence of this evil, and nut sufficiently mark their sense of the offence. 'I he Court called on Berry to apologize to Alderman Marsh ; he said, he did not intend in any way to apply the paper to him, bit if the worthy Alderman thought otherwise, he was ready to say lie was very curry for hat , . lug dune it. Volta. GUILDHALL. FORDED FIVE POUND NOTES.—George Lee and Elizabeth Brown, whose cases have already been before the public, were brought up on Fru! ty for filial exami nation, before Mr. Alderman Thomas Smith, the sitting magistrate. A new case, in addition to the five already preferred against them, was brought forward by Mr. Alaynard, the Rink solicitor, in which, however, the fema'e prisoner did not appear to have been at all impli cated. Thomas Cloney, brother in law to Mr. who keeps the Red Lion public-house, in Great Wind mill -street, St. James's, stated that the prisoner Lee came there on Friday, the 4th of May, in the name of Mr. C. Rickman ' of Upper Marylebone.street, for one gallon of llodges's best gill, in payment for which he tendered a (urged 51. note, and received 41. 4s. in change. Mr. Rickman being a customer, no suspicion %vas excited, and no inquiry therefore made until the note WaS returned 11:1111 Messrs. Meux as a forgery. Mr. Maynard observed, that he had now given evi dence upon all the charges which he meant to prefer against the prisoners. A clear and very strong case was made out against the male prisoner, Lee ; and he trusted the mag,:strate must feel that he ‘t a. a fit object for pm secntion. With regard to the temale prisoner, inquiry had been made, from which it appeared she was an un fortunate girl, and that her commxion with Lee had been but short. ''here were, certainly,good reasons to believe that she must have been acquainted with the nefarious practices of her companion; but as it was possible that she might have been drawn in by hum, and as there was no proof that she had taken au active part in the uttering of the forged notes, the Bank were willing to consider her as innocent. and would nut press further proceedings against her. - The prisoner Brown being questioned, said she had known the prisoner Lee only about a month, and de. claret] she WAS wholly unacquainted with the practices he was carrying on. She had, it scented, been taken from the public streets by Lee, and selected, probably, Irons the circumstance of her being in a state of preg nancy, a situattoti well calculated to aid hint in the deceptions he was practising. Altera suitable admonition from the alderman she was discharged. In the course of these examinations a charge was pre ferred against Lee by a persgti front whom he had ittreti a horse and net, 1- been reiurned. The statue he gate al that Urlle was Loy. As the seszitins THE NATIONAL REGISTER were so near, and the probability was that he would be convicted of a capital offence, the charge was dropped, and the prisoner fully committed for uttering the forged 51. notes. EXTRAORDINARY SPEED.-00 Wednesday D. Crisp, the celebrated pedestrian, returned to town from Sul mouth where he was engaged fur a wager of 25 guineas to rim trout that place to the Castle-yard in Exeter, and back again in five hours, a distance of 32 miles, over a hilly country. lie started precisely at six o'clock in the morning, accompanied by two gentlemen on horseback, and arrived at die Castle.gate in Exeter, ten minutes be fore eight, performing the first 16 miles in one hour and fifty minutes; he rested twenty minutes and took some refreshment the gentlemen did the same, and procured bests horses, he then returned to Sidmniith, where he arrived with ea-e twenty minutes within the time al lowed. On the 15th of this month he is to commence tits Herculean task of walking 1000 miles in as many successive half-hours at Nottingham, being half the time the same number of milts were peril 111 l red by Captain Bar!clay. Great wagers depend on this match. • Drcadfid accidersi.—Tiltirclay, as Mr. a master bricklayer, and two labourers were erecting a scaffold to the back front of a house, Nu. 30, in Porland-street, the ledger which supported it, from being rotten, snap , 'sett in two, and the three unfortunate men were preci• pitated to the ground, a depth of about 40 feet. Mr, ' l3all had one of his legs broken, the bones protritiling through Isis stuck tug, and otherwise bruised all over, lie was taken up insensible acrd carried home on a shutter. —The two unfortunate labourers, one of whom has a wife and four children, had each several hones broken. 'They were taken op covered with blood and bruises, apparently in a lifeless state, and carried to the Middle sex-ho-pital, where they remain wimuut the smallest hope of recovery. About a mouth ago, two whales of large dimensions were found, forsaken by the title. at a p,,tut called ln tierwell, in the bay of Wiglown, in Galloway. Tizese peaceful Arctic wanderers were first observed by a party of seafaring youths. who had been out on a fishing ex pedition, and who immediately thought of securing the prize. To work, therefore. they set, and as a substitute Mr an anchor, hit upon the somewhat dangerous expe dieut of making fast the boat to the back fin of the largest fish. But the animal, whose leviathan carcase was half buried in the sand, and which had hitherto made no resistance, wr.s very far from relishing this tin• civil interlerence, and, shallow as the water was, he soon began to beat it so lustily, and with such good effect, that had not the party prudently changed their moorings, they mi 6 ht have perished in a storm of their own cre ating. Accommodating themselves to circumstances, they commenced an attack upon the hinder parts of the whales, and, rude as their implements were, succeeded in filling the boat with about a ton and a half of blub ber! With this cargo they immediately stood for the town of Wigtown ; and after providing themselves with a cable, anchor, hatchet, saws, &c. they returned to In tier well ; but by this tune the tide had flawed, accom panied hy a smart breeze trout the N. W., and wafted the carcases or both the fishes far beyond the reacts of these anexptr.ented a-sailants. On Friday se'nnight an accident happened near the Fleece, at Brook -street, Essex, where the road is rather narrow, and at a point in which three vehicles were in the act of passing each other; one of them was a higler's cart going trout Chelmstord market to Londoit, loaded with fowls, the proprietor of which was treating a rela tion, said to be from Clare, in Sutiblk, with a ride to see his friends in town, when the wheel of the cart CAM: 111 contact with another so violeutly, as to jerk the pour man twin his seat, and his head fell between the fore and alter wheel of a stage waggon ; and was crushed to atoms; it is needless to stale that lie installs!) , expired.— A nearly similar accident occurred to another person in the road mar Ilford, and attended is ail circumstances aillIOA as drenlinl ; but the unfortunate suilervr, we hear, still lingers in the utmost agony. FlKlL—About half past eight o'clock on Thursday evening, a most alarming tire broke out in the house of Mr. Clarke, brisker, in Clerkenwell Green, which for some time burnt with almost incredible fury. The fa mily (with the exception of the servants) were at Sad ler's Wells at the time, but by the exertions of the sur rounding populace the greater part of the extensive stock in trade was saved. A considerable time elapsed before the arrival of any engine. The Sun was the first whicn (Wile to the scene of conflagration, but unfortunately no water conkd be procured for some time, consequently the flames raged with unabated velocity, and soon became master of the entire premises, which were by ten o'clock completely consumed. The utmost confusion Was wit. uessed at the two a, joining houses, oceuptcd by Messrs. Goode and Miller, persons in the same business, and ankles of furniture were to he sect) isitching from the windows into the street. In short the whole Green was one complete mass of articles, the greater part of which is materially damaged. The fire caught the rear of the house of Mr. Goode, which was consiaerably damaged. Fusin the contusion that prevailed we c.itild not learn whether the parties are insured or not. Juicide.—ln the night of the sth inst. G Hassell, Esq. drowncd himself in a deep itinul on his it premises, about a half a wile front his house at Chu'shury, in the Chiltern hills, Bucks. He served the tillice of Sheriff tor the county in 1818, and Bird nninarried. THEATRICAL MODESTY.-111 a letter published in an American paper last month, by Mr. KHAN, in excuse of his conduct at Boston, where, because the audience was not so brilliant as he thought it ought to have been in compliment to him, he lett the house abruptly, and refused to play the part he had undertaken, lie says " the present existence of the first theatre in Europe is feumlea on the abilities which they (1. c. our tronsuthouic brethren) ath.et to despise" 123 Daring case of Robbety.—The following mos atrocious robbery was committed on Saturday at Greenwich, and information was given of it on Monday afternoon at the Public-office, Bow-street. Mrs. Welding, the wife of a gentleman's coach man, occupies the house No. 12, Alfred's-buildings, Greenwich, the next dwelling to which is uninha bited. Oa Saturday she was in the house alone, and at eleven o'clock in the morning a man, dressed rather " shabby genteel," knocked at the door, and asked her if the next house was to let, as he wished to look at it. She said it was, but she had not the key, and was about to shut her door, when he rushtd in, and seizing her by the throat, said, " he was come for money, and money he must have." She escaped from his grasp, and ran up stairs, intending to give an alarm at the window, but he followed her closely, and just as she reached the landing. place, he knocked her down with some heavy in strument, and swore if she made any noise he would murder her. He then tore out her car-rings, cuttin ,, both her ears through in doing it, and beat her about the head until she was quite senseless. She continued in that state, as she believes, for more than an hour, and when she recovered her senses she with difficulty procured assistance from a neigh bour, and it was found that the ruffian had broken every lock in the house, and had stolen 401. in bank -notes, a watch, and a considerable quantity of wearing apparel. The husband of the woman gave information of the robbery, and added, that his wife was not expected to recover the effect of her wounds. A very accurate description was given of the rob ber, who it is hoped will not long escape the pu. nishment he so richly merits. On Friday night, about nine o'clock, the city of York was thrown into a state of great alarm, by t he ringing of several of the church bells, arid the cry of " Fire !" Crowds repaired from all parts of the city to the place where the fire had broken out, which was in the Castle Mills, behind the county gaol. The cause, &c. of the fire was as follow : The mills are in the occupation of Mr. T, Hopps; but Messrs Simpson, whose large mill, near North street, was lately destroyed by fire, have also made use of them since that event, and had a large quan tity of flour, &c. there that evening, when the fire commenced. It appears that the millers left the place apparently safe, between seven and eight o'clock, and that about nine b person passing by dis covered it to be on fire, and gave the alarm. A large beam had very improperly been connected with the flue of the boiler of the steam engine ; and had most probably been burning very long before it was discovered. An engine from the barracks, and two trout the city, were immediately procured; and by eleven o'clock the devouring element was entirely subdued. A large quantity of the flour, &c. rescued from the mills, was guarded by several of the bar rack soldiers. The property was all of it insured, and we hear that the total damage is not estimated at more than 2 or 3001. With great pleasure we also add, that no lives were lost on the occasion, nor did any serions accident whatever occur. Extraurilinary Bullock.—There is ut rresent to be seen on the farm of Nunfield, in the immediate vicinity of Dumfries, an ox of the Teeswatcr or short-horned breed, and of the following extraordi nary dimensions:— Ft. In. Length from the no•e to the top of the rump II II Girth round the middle l9 Girth round the heat t 9 7 Height of the slicuhter tt Height from the hind foot to top of the rump 6 6 These measurements may be relied on as perfectly cotreet. Independently of his great size, this ani mal is extremely handsome, and by the time he has had exl•cricnce of the oil-cake and other luxuries of an English tlwm.yard, he will probably form a greater curiosity than the celebrated " Caps-All," the largest ox ever exhibited in Scotland. At pre sent he is supposed by competent judges to weigh nearly 280 stone English; and he is both higher and stronger in the bone thaa " Caps-All ;" there is no saying to what size he may ultimately attain. Till within these few month•, Mr. Gibb, the pro prietor, had paid little attention to the keeping of this extraordinary &mined ; as a proof of which we may mention, that lie was one season wintered, in addition to his r.ianerc, tar the low rate of 10s. and fed only on wheaten straw. He is exactly five years old, and was purchased in Carlisle market when only one year old, for 91. sterling—a price sufficiently liberal, considering his age and condition, and which Mr. Gibb was induced chiefly to give, on account of the largeness of kis bone. But the speculation is likely to turn out a very good one, as Mr. Gibb has disposed of this ox our the handsome price of WO guineas. A SPY.--Mitaieil, the spy, whom Mr. Baines exposed at a meeting of the county of York, and whom our readers will recollect Mr. Lambton ob served upon at the Durham county meeting on the Manchester transactions, as a man deterving of ex ecration to tl.e latest posterity, is at present *au Newcastle.