The National Register. — London, England, 1817-12-22 00:00:00

r %41, ti r. THE FORTUNATE Yourm [From tit .10ONING1 CHRONICLE. of Di•reocior is.] Ire yesterday received the following Letter from our Correspondent, Mr. Weatherby, of Newmarket : " TO TIN tHITUH OF THE MORNING CHIT )stct.c. tity letter to you of the I Ith iust.(inserted in your paper 01 tile 13‘ 1 0, I that I had then no reason to &dit hers thr statement which the young Man known by die de.. eription of the Fortunate Youth," and made to me, and that the 1110111tak I had reason to alter my opinion, be would no longer have any counts mince from me.-1 feel it now a dos I owe 10 the public to declare, that c,remnstauces have since occurred, which induce lee to think that I have been grossly di celved in my opinion of him, and that Isis preten sions to a large property are without f.nadation. I am totally unable to assign any adequate motive for the fablicution, balfthe rant hiatiousof who'll the public are not, uud firob.i. bly never will be acquainted ; butt I have 00 Ilt•SitatiOn in declaring, that unless the imposition he the effect of a par tial derangement of intellect, it exhibits an instance tit earls depravity of which there are few examples.—l am, Sir, vOlll very obedient servant, EDWARD WEATHERDY." Our readers will recollect the two former letters of Mr. Weatherby. In deference to this Gentleman, who was employed as solicitor to the youth, we agreed to postpone theevidence in our hands, that he might have time for inquiry, though we were satisfied that the re sult would justify our first conviction. It is certain that Mr. Weatherby was the dupe of this beardless boy ; and the credit which a solicitor of his experience and respectability gave to the story, procured it a ready reception in the minds of nil who knew him. This young adept at imposition has exceeded every thing upon record, as to the magnitude of his pretensions It' a plan had been framed. by an inventive committee of deception, to see how far the avidity of gain would lead the public astray, they could not have succeeded more perfectly than this youth of Id, without a single accomplice, has done. The drama is truly marvellous, and probably is not vet come to an end, for the boy actually in Paris. The eclat of his unbounded wealth, as we stated, has gone betbre him ; and like a second Cagliostro, he may there boast of his philosopher's stow:, or of what is more plausible, of his mines in Peru, and his funds in every exchequer of Europe. This young man's name is Abraham W. Cawston, His father is a farmer at Chippenham, near Newmarket. The early promise of shining talents induced his fitther to send him to school, under the tuition of the eminent Dr. Butler, of Shrewsbury, and there his attainments and abilities gained him universal admiration. He was not seventeen years of age when lie paid his addresses to a young lady of fortune in that place, and from that time the strange artifice or imagination of this enor mous fortune that had dmpt to him, as it were from the clouds, bad birth. He first opened the wonderful secret to his father, and the story he told was, that an aged gentleman had, at one of his journies from home to school, fallen in with him in a stage coach going to Birmingham, and that he had afterwards made him a deed of gip? of his whole fortune ! It did not in the first disclosure, swell to the magnitude which it after wards attained ; but the first feeling that he ntanifest sd wus to settle a part of his wealth on his parents and brother. For this purpose lie was introduced to Mr. Weatherby, to whom he gave instructions to make a will, and us his fortune was stated to be all personal, Mr. Weatherby saw no objection to the deed. His diatribution of wealth though uncommon, did not strike Mr. %V. as improbable, so clear and consistent were the boy's statements in their different interviews, and so filial and brotherly were the bequests. From this time nothing could equal the romance of his .story, the unblushing effrontery with which he maintained it, and the ingenious stratagems he devised to keep up the delusion. He prevailed on his father to enter his elder brother who is 34 years of ago, and had been brought up in the line of farming, as a fellow commoner of Emanuel College, Cambridge He in structed one solicitor to cater into a negotiation for t h e purchase of several estates, and surveys had actually been made. He applied to Government for a grant to take the name and bear the arms of Devereaux, and the Herald's College had begun to take steps to exemplify the arias, and waited only for information as to which branch of the house of Devereaux his benefactor be longed. He instructed another solicitor to insert tin advertisement in the public papers, calling on the creditors if any, of Don Gaspar de Quintilla, deceased, to bring in vouchers of their demands, in order that they might be forthwith liquidated. (Meaning to couple him with Don Joachim de Quintillu, a rich Portuguese diamond merchant.) He stated that it was his determination to purchase ten Boroughs, that he might have twenty Members in the House of Commons, to procure him an Earldom. He said that his half-yeaividend ue o the sth Tanury next, was 9c2,0001. an r's d d that he d held n annuities from sevend of the crowned heads of Europe, to the amount of millions. He was in the habit of suffering drafts on bankers for thousands, nay at times tin. tens and It:loth-As of thousands, to drop from his pocket book., as if by aeci (lent, that they might be seen ; and he talked of loans to persons of the highest distinction, on whose estates he bail mortgages. When strongly prened for an eNrlanation as to the 'Mt VATIONAL nrdterzt. Deed 'of GO by which the Legacy Tax had been evtaled, hk said that it was a secret which he was bound to cenceal foe a time, but it was in an iron chest, buried in the gar; en of his benefactor. The e arc but a few of the practices by which the 'delusion W:l4 carried on ; and it was not till within these tag days, that the eves of Mr. Weatherby were fully opened to the deceit. All the references he ob tained iiom the youth have proved totally false, and it appears in the whole management of the affair, the lad had nut a confederate NEIVSPAPEIiS. The irregularities which have long prevailed in the delivery of Newspapers in Ireland, has at length called forth the interference of the Postmasters General of that country, and, as will be seen hy.the order which we subjoin, effectual measures have, been adopted to pre vent a recurrence of the evil. Although, in this coun try we have less reason to complain on this head, yet instances are not uncommon of newspapers being de tained, us well by receiving houses in London, as by the post offices in the provincial towns We do not mean to say they are altogether suppressed, but they are ' too frequently delayed ; and we need not till those whom either business or id/mess has accustomed to the regular reading of a Paper, how severe the disappoint ment is of even a delay. It is said, however, that to remove every sort of irregularity in the deliveries, re gulations similar to those issued in Ireland, will speed ily be transmitted to the surveyors and deputy sur veyors in this country. TO A I,L SURVEYORi AND DEPUTY POSTMASTERS, 'The Postmasters-General finil, with great concern, nut withstanding the repeated orders which have been issued to their Deputies, respecting Newspapei s,aioi the arrieigemenis which they have from time to time made to secure their imuctual dispatch from hence, that the. Editors of Public Prints 'save reason to comolain of the irregular delivery and soppreesion of theca. Whether such failure is illtriblitilt)lt . to the ! , ergOllS entrusted by the Editors to bring their papers to this Office—whether it can be justly brought in charge against Deputy Postmasters. or ascribed to any persons con nected with them, who, I roin unjustifiable cm iosity, open and mislay Public Prime, or whether, with or without permission front their owners, they suffer persons to have access to their Offices, and to open, real, or take them away, either for their own use, or for the alleged purpose of delivering the prints to the subscribers, to whom they may be addressed, the Po.tmasters General cannot with certainty determi ne ; but they consider it to be their imperat ive dut y to establish the strictest regulations to guard against the repetition of an evil which, final iiimirrons complaints, it is evident must exist to a great degree. A Newspaper once confided to the Post Office, is a:. sacred, in the eyes of the Postmasters General, as a letter, and it cannot be purloined, tampered with, or übusitil, without violating the solemn obligation which every person, entrusted with the Politic Correspondence, is bound by. Although Newspapers do terrupteill circulation is immediately connected with the Pri vilege of Pat liainent, and while they contribute largely to the Finances of the C uutry, through another branch of the Re. venue, the Stamp Office, the Postmasters General are not unmindful that the property thus contributing to the State belongs to individuals, whose interest cannot be infringed upon without lessening the politic revenue. The Postale* hers Oumerai therefore desire In on iteneef nth . " Ist.—That where a Postmaster, on opening the Mail, shall find that arty l'aper which he thinks should have reached his Office has not arrived, he will, by letter, acquaint the secretary with the cir cumstance, and the nameof the Subscriber whose Paper may appear to be missing. " 21.—N0 Paper is to be delivered butt to the Subscriber, or to his Messenger or Servant, known to be such. '• 3il.—That under no pretence, either with or without the con sent of a Subscriber. shall a deputy open and read a Newspaper, pre vious to its being delivered to the owner, and, of course. trout under his official care. If Subscribers are willing that Postmasters should have the henetit of raveling their Papers, it must be after, nut while they have official custody of then'. •• a I.—That no deputy will, under any authority either written or verbal, twrinit any , Paper to be opened, and read by any person but the Subscriber to woont it is addre-sett If Subscribers are willing to permit persons to read their Paper, it must he after the Poa-Office has discharged its duty in delivering it to themselves or their Messen ger, krown to be such. Post-Offices IllUbt not he converted into Reading-itoorns, Such a practice, while it mu-:t add to, if not create, the very evil complained of, atfunls the same advantages with Sub scribers to persons who thereby contribute nothing either to the Post- Office, the Stamp-Office, or the Editor. Deputy Posuna.sters must not be ia;ents in acts which have a direct tendency to injure onebranch of the public Revenue, and by curtailing the mrculation of News , papers, interfere with the interest of the Press. " By Command, " EDWARD S. LEES, Secretary. General Post-Office, N0v.21, —______ " General Post-Office, Nov. 2C., lutT. " Sts,—ln addition to the Regulation directed by the Past. master*-General to Ise established, its set forth in the printed Letter herewith !sent, for the inure secure delivery of News. pa t ters, I beg to acquaint you, that orders ba ve been issued, that au Officer ascertain, each evening. in presence of t Mrs.viieern fruit the different Prim! i g-ottiers, the number octiially received, and shall sign and room an account of and for this purpose I request your Editor will send a Card earn evening with your papers, with the precise number entered thereon. 1 out Sir. our f .ithful s S ervant. EDWARD S. LEES, Sec. Tuesday the Lord Mayor held a Court of Aldermen at Guildhall, when Mr. John Kirby was admitted on the nomination of the Sheriffs, to be keeper of the New Debtors' Prison. Letters of AdminiAration of the effects of the late Mr..l. G. Raymond, the player, of i.'llester—treet, Gros venor-place, were issued by the Prerogative Court, Doctors' Commons, on tt.e 12th ult. to Frances Han nah Grant Raymond, widow. Lb. property was sworn under 12,0001. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COUNT OF OF KING'S Bt ; I BrEns -!)Av. DEC.I7 ANNA IlAttlit STONE. V. JOHN T. 8A:41 , 30 ,7 . Mr. Piattovilo opened the ple.olmgs,..l4lt , i. that the pre. Rt'llt Actiall was brought to recover compt n.attoo tar the bleach of a promise of marriage. The damages were laid at 2.0001. Tile facts of the case were slated by Mr. '1 oppint. fle ex pressed his regret in the outset Ilia , the tlet . e.),liillt 114(1 not beets advised to prevent the present ease from Conning hoe Court, tea the exposure of his conditet and correspoldenee could not lint expose him to the contempt and ridicule of the public.— The plaintiff is a lady of about 3J years old, ilie mugliter of the late Admiral Stone, who, after sensing in the navy of this country f a r many years, hail obtained permission to take 1. distinguished a auk in the set vice of Portugal; the defendant was attached. as secretary, to the mission of Lord S:rmiglord, first to Liaison anti afterwards to Rio Janeiro : the acquaint. ance iietween them co tttttt enced as long ago as 18117 or 1800, at Lisbon frtnn which city, Admiral Stone and his family re. tired ‘u the approach Di the French armies, aid took stielter ill his native country. In the In gining of 181 d, he followed the Court of Portugal to Rio Jalltilo. and there the lrivistlship which had previously existed between lii.o and the defendant was renewed, and the growing affection felt by the lot ter for the slaughter of the former was revived. As his intentions seemed honourable, he was received with the utmost kindness and on the most intimate footing into the tinnily of the Ad miral, of which, indeed, he was considered a part; so 11111th .0, that on the death of Admiral Stone, in Sept. 1811, that gallant officer expired in his arms, leaving his widow and Ms daughter under tinder the rare of the defendant, who seemed marked out bv ins conduct and inclinat!..ns as their natural protector; the closest and most affectionate con.o.xion continued until the year following, when to the sleep g , in of the defendant, Mrs. Stone and her dangliter foliod It necessary to proceed from the BraiilS to England. Previous to their de parture, now illiag that the plaintiff should have the simidest ftll.ollllo doubt the permaneney of his affection durisig their separation; and desirous of gi ring lier the most unquestionable assurances, he delivered into her Minds the follow mg wt mem and ilisillle' hi .oinse of marriage : " I hereby wholly promise to marry Miss Ann Maria Stone, and further I declare, that I will nut espouse any other woman whilst s he is alive. s ' J. T. S. Only a few days after she had left Rio Janeiro, the delta. dant commenced that long amid unequivocal cum spondence, which would till a large volume, and wltielt until a very late period breathed nothing but the warmest and most perms. unlit regard; the defendant, like all other lovers, via. raptu rous in his expressions ; and if he dealt more than usual its the extravagance of language, it could only be attributed to the at dour of his pitSbloll; only a beleefliill from bts letters would Ire submitted to the jury ; to read the whole would only uselessly occupy a large portion of time, and what answer could It given to those repeated protestations remained to be seen. No less than three epistles were addressed to the lady while she was yet on her voyage to England, and after bee arrival nut an °ppm tinnily was lost by the defendant to renew and repeat the asset 'ions of his happiness an possessnig the love of so amiable a woman, and the hopes lw iffilinged of a speedy and a happy Utile''. What had produced the itlitirt.py abet ation of his intentions and the estrangement of has affec tions, the plaintiff could not lanuecture ; but alit' the return of the defendant to England, in October, 18115, his •eyte was completely changed, hitt letters were few and cold, and at length he desired that the correspondence shou.tl Ise entirely discontinued. On the 221 April, 1510, he expressed himself as follows: •• Miss Stone,—l have received your two letters, and am much surprised ut nut receiving a copy of the paper 1 asked you for [no doubt the written engagement he had given to the plaintiff on her quittingillio;Janciro J. 1 beg that you will nut annoy me with any more of your letters. as I shall not answer them. My going to London is out of the question : it is I that have been deceived, anti not you. I cannot now write more, althou4ll I have much to say. .• Yours, " J. T. S." The cruelty of such a re ply to the plattititrs's remonstrance at his conduct could scarcely be exceeded, yet tiie defen dant had been ingenious enough to go oey,dt d all example. The extravagance or Ins ilithit ., 4slollS 01 . love were equalled only by the total destitution of feeling displayed by his recent letters. He had even had the eiti outcry With till own hand to write 4 letter to tit.• e ialiititi las inottner's 114111 v, preteu• ditig that it came froin her : a.se term, " Miss Stone.—ln the absence of my son, who is at a watering place about 70 miles distant, I received your letter to him, and hay mg read it, I shall not send it to him. I inuA tell you candidly, it you continue to trouble my SOll with your letters, they shall all be re d by me. and returned without his knowing the contents. My son continues very unwell, and incapable of writing." Under these eiretilirdaaces, the j ury wulini .r• at a . ss to conjecture the nature ut the defeat e ; and as the ease was extraordinary,t he defence was still inure ,o, sin ha. had neidons been heard of in 31 Unlit of juitice in .11/Swer to 4 claim lik e tile present. The learned Counsei would not anticipate BO indelicate and disgusting an exposure as lie wider-kind this defendant WillS about to make ; the plaintiff had ever beets anxious to avoid publicity, but the def.. 11E14111 was a candidate for it ; and if the stigma adhered to him as Ion.; a, he ex isted, lie had only and 116 •nn ceuduct to 111411 k fur the disgrace. What ins circumstances were the Duty would find 1111 l ler his own hand, and the) wutild apportion the da mages not only with a view to Miens, out with a view also tur the lesson they were to gil e persons guilty of such wanton and shameless barbarity to • women whose adections they had at tracted and betrayed. I ii•oughtoil, from the office of the !secretary of State proved the liand-writim: of the defendant to the tot mat en. gagement read by Alt. 'lopping, and tuts great .artery of letters. In this stage of the cause laird Elk *thorough asked, if it were nut possinle to find somebody who could adjust the difference be; w. , eu the panics. and remote something like got.d understanding between 011111 without the exposura which must tel take place, il• the evtdeut•e proceeded. Air. Scarlett, on bhralf ut the defendant, agreed to onsrilt with has c;.rat quill the suisject, and to produce All 411 Ange ustnt, if it were practicable. In the mean time Ma'. Law (clerk of• Nisi P. ms) pros ceedril to rt• Ail canoes letters of the di h inlant given-10 evi. druce on the part (Attie plaintiff. The tir.i was 111 these • words : ss flip Janeiro, A pril 23, 1312. " My dearest life, my only Nanny, whom 1 allure as my idol. While I take up my pen to ante to one motto is all my Joy: and for u :tom alone thi, mi,ersa: lite scent, to b . m ecom.e to! supportable. my Mutt spritt‘s a itlun we. and I have this unt,olimon that I know the one to woom I atkiat , myself lOVCS me as I do her. ..ut whoa 'NW I oaf to tvasolie stip.af to stifle sAc asumics of off cruel ea- 405