The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1804-11-21 00:00:00

DEATH BY POISON. A circumstance of the most shocking nature has this week occurred at Holbeck, near L., Leeds, and has of course produced much agitation : I faunal], the wife of John Wilkinson, of that place, clothier, lies ing died very suddenly on Monday evening; the Coroner summoned a Jury on Wednesday, but the professional examination of th.i bode not having been completed, the Jury adjourned till the following day, when, alter a patient investigation of all the circum stances, they returned a Verdi,fl of Iflatid aglin,t John Wilkinson, the husband of the deceased, who stands committed to take his trial at the next Assizes. It appeared in evidence, that on Monday morning, Hannah Wilkinson, after preparing an apple pud ding for the family dinner, went 1.. a hoope where she was employed in the neighboorni• d about half past eleven o'clock, the husba '. tile pud ding from the pot, and himself and .iis two childrer. the one about eight and the other little more than two YeArS old, made their dinner of part of it ; the remainder was placed in a drawl.. About half after twelve his wife reiurned home and dined off the same dish. Having returned to her business, she was soon seized with a violent fit of vomiting, and used this remarkable ,expression " Oh! what has the rogue been doing with my dumpling?' On being asked in what state the found her food at dinner, and whether her children had eaten any, her reply was : " It was spread out upon the dish, but my children did not eat any of it with me." Ifer agonies increasing, she went to her own home, where she languished till about half past seven o'clock that evening, when she expired. On the body being opened by Mr. ' Peale, the Surgeon, a por!ioo at arsenic, sufficiently large to admit of demons:rative proof of its nature, was found in the stomach. In addition to this evidence, a boy employed in an apothecary's shop in ithis town. declared yesterday before the Coroner, that he sold three penny wcr.ii of arsimk on Saturday night to a man wnotn he be lieves to be the Prisoner, and that he told him i e wanted t o put it into some fish, which he held in his hard, for the purpose of destroying rats. It mitst however be recollected, that the Pr:saner bad all the time betwixt Monday and Thar,dav night, to escape from justice; that he made no such attempt, but surrendered himself voluntarily. It is also in his favour, that his son, the boy of eight years old, swore positively, that himself and his brother, partook of the pudding with his mother. adding at the same time, " You know if it had killed my mother, it would have killed me and Charles." In being thus circumstantial in our account of this melancholy affair, we wish to call forth any farther evidence, that may arise out of the case. There is one circumstance in particular that may lead to a very material fall, we mean the deelara t:on made by the apothecary's bay: Did any of Wilkinson's neighbours happen to see any fish in his hands on Saturday night or, Is there any other person that can come forward and say, that they bought arsenic last Saturday, under the circum s:ances above stated ?—( Leeds Mercury, Nero. 17 .) A work, recently published in Germany, under 1 . ir title of An lotrodnetrun to the Knowledge of Agrieukstre, has excited considerable intetest in . : IL country. It consists of three volumes, and con las numerous plates. The author is Dr. Aa.Barr a A an, Privy Counsellor to the King of Pa ussi A. :Ile Corporation of Swansea have, in conjunaion v. in the Oystermouth Tram Road Company, de. 'iyriiined upon a pl an o f cons id e r a bly enlarging the a'.• . :.: quay, and of extending the limits of Cie L.r.iv ,, ig dock. It is also intruded to embank the river from the public quay to the north end of the lestern pier; which, when effefted, will give to wansea a line of wharfs little inferior to those so justly celebrates! at Yarmouth. The new jetty, a: :lie head of the present pier. i. now competed : and ye understand the irtended eastern pier will speedily be commences!. Some little uneasiness having appeared among poorer people of Fowey and its neighbourhood. at the shipping off coy from that port, the town crier of the borougli, a tee Jays ago. at the instiga tion of some impertinent person, proceeded to call an assembly of the ppulace to c.'nsi icr of the sab le° I The magistrates very properly interpossol, iitsmissed Mr. 0.4---Yas from his office, and bound over Mr. Bev/ boor to answer for his condo.% at nest rucr a l quartz sessions fur that borough. Lir,: COURT OF KING'S BENCH, WICiTSISI(STLN, N 20. . - - The Court was occupied the greater part of this day in hearing law argumen:s, upon que,tions re served at Nisi Prier, from the last Sittiigs after Term, and the last Summer Assi4es. The points argued chiefly arose upon aaions in ejeament, on which much legal knowledge was displayed on both sides ; but they are not sufficiently interesting to lay before t,ur leaders. Of the few motions which were afterwards dis posed of, the following were the most interesting : •VRL, PINDELL. Mr. GA RROW moved fur a Rule to skew cause why the Judgment and Execution in this cause should not be set aside, and that the sum of 91. should be returned to the Defendant, with the costs of the application. He stated, that the Defendant was indebted to toe Plaintiff in the sum of five guineas, for which he was sued, until the costs and debt together amounted to Ili:. I Gs. 6,1. and the party then agreed to receive the debt by two instalments, the first of which became due on the 24th of June last, which was on a Sunday, and the Defendant went to pay it on that day, to the Plaintiff's Attorney, who told him, he need not have been so very particular. When the second instalment became due, he saw the same Attorney, and asked whether he should be at home, that he might call on him and pay the last instalnvint ? he replied, he should not. And the De f went the following day ; but the Attorney was absent Iron; home ; Judgm,:iit was theft signed, an execution issued, and the money was levied. The Court granted a Rule to shew cause. SLOCGLT L. IiIIAEL. Mr. Gives moved to set aside the :sward made in this cause; he stated, that he had made a similar motion some time ago, on the grounds, that the ar bitrator, a Mr. Schohel, refused to hear evidence on the part of the Defendant, and had awarded the Plaintiff the full of his demand ; upon which the award was sent back to be amended. The arbitra tor on Cie lasi award had given the Plaintiff be tween 501, and 601. more than his original debt ; and when the Defendant remonstrated with him, and desired he would hear his evidence, the former re plied, that he would certainly hear his witne,ses ; but that, notwithstanding all his evidence, he would not alter his opinion upon the matter, for he had already made up his mind upon it, and so help him God, he would make no other award, or something to that purpose. kale to shew cause granted. ALDRIDGE V. SMKUDAR SC TWAKINS. This was a conditional ord r .ibtained to set agide a writ of procukado obtained by the Plaintiff in in this c tuw. _ _ Messrs. East:lse and MARRYAT shewed cause against this rule ; The former stated, that an attach ment had been issued in the Mayor's court, and in .-rder t dissolve it special bail should be entered A Rule :vas obtained before Mr. Justice Le HI ANC, at his chamheis, for a writ of pet., Jcisdr to issue. unless better :ail should be entered. The cause was then moved into the Court of King's Belch, when. it was necessary to obtain another Rule for a writ of prwniend), unless b• tter hail was procured. This was done before Lord ELLEN ensoucti, at his chambers, but, by mistake, the notice was titled only in the name of one of the Defendants. The Defendant's Attorney, not then taking any notice of the mistake, forsook the otiginal bail, which was subst.tntial, and gave notice of new sureties, who, noon enquiry, were found insufficient ; the one, re siding in a cellar, at a rent of Is. hi. a month, and also keeping an ass, for the itinerant sale of fruit ; and the oth..r, the owner of a house of ill-fame. The Dzfundant's A torney then served notice of filing the bail-piece on the next day, the bail beiLig pertedel ; and, in the notice, he titled the cause in the regular way, stating, in the body of it, twice, this cause; thereby taking advantage of the Plaint iff's rule, in which one of the Defendants only had been mentioned ; although he had acted under that rule so obtained, and served his notice of justifying bail under it. Mr. Cantos., in support of the rule, contended that the rule obtained at Lord ELLENBOROI:OII'S eharnoms was distinaly an order in another cause, and therefore was a nullity in the present, from wh;ch he con:Tived the Defendants . entitled to file their bail-piece. Lord ELLILNIIDROLGII observed, that the Defend ant's Attorney adverted to the call in the Plaintiff's ride ; he adopted it, and gave it by relation, its ri fe% ; if there hid been any imperfeaion or defea in the original ord T. he had cured that, by acing upon it ; and therefore waved his present objedion. Mr. Justice LACIIINCE insisted it should be refer red to the M.lster, to consider whether these notices were the usual ones in such Cases ; and whether it was necessary or cu.tomary to state the full title of the cause. It was, therefore, referred to the Master. LL i~ I IRELAND. I Art. WAS vi beat.fe, Nov. 16. On Tuesday last the High Sheriffs, and a Depu tation of the Common Council, waited by appoint ment upon Sir Evan Nepean, with the resolutions to which they had agreed at last Michaelmas As-em. bly. 'lltese resolutions particularly complained of the ruinous and filthy state of the streets of Dublin ; the frauds by which the price of corn and other pro visions is so extravagahtly enhanced ; the distress to which every kind of trade is subjeCled by the want of silver coin for change; and, finally, the great inconvenience suffered in the principal streets of Dublin by the want of an avenue from Castle-street to Ship-street, since the closing of the postern of the Castle-gate. This respedable deputation was received in the most polite manner by the Chief Secretary : he entered fully into the several topics propounded, and assured the gentlemen of the wish of Government to accede to their desires. Respaling the paving and cleansing of the streets, Government had, he said, already in contemplation to propose some effee.tual remedy ; that the subject of corn and provisions was now under their con sideration; that measures had actually been taken fur procuring, as speedily as the dies could be exe cuted, a supply of change for this country ; and, finally, that the avenue between Castle-greet and Ship-street should be immediately opened.—The Deputation continued for some time with Sir Evan, sugge , ting their own opinions upon these several subjects, and discussing the difficulties, which oc curred in the course of the conversation, and departed higlily gratified by the polite and attentive recep tion with which they had met. A Subscription has been opened for re-instating Capt. Skinner in his situation, and purchasing for him a new vessel in the place of the Union, lately wrecked in this Bay. Gory, he in. tnaiJ dis. rhtr . b., Ids it it.: aft ,Y'' 9'. • COMMON PLEAS. WILLIT v. DU lota. Serjeant Rummti•Tow moved, that the condi tion.ll rule in this cause should be Dude absolute. St•rje Mt, SkILPP LAD and HAMBY opposed it. It appeased titers hmil been an anion on A policy of in surance instituted by James and Frederick 1)u Bois against the Underwriters, for the ship La .11w(llger. Willet and Co. were employed by them as Attor neys to bring the Aaions; proceedinps were accord ingly taken, but James and Frederick Do &is, being about to become bankrupts, madeover their right in the Policies to George Du Bois, the present Defend ant, who acknowledged he was to be responsible for the payment of the costs incurred in it. Since that, the Bretz:Want has gone over to Spain on mer cantile business; on whicn account, Serjeant Rus pri•si tom moved, that three months time Should be allowed to plead: it was opposed on the ground that he had a correspondent here on whom the bills were served in 11..rcla List ; and that if it was intend ed to bri•lg the cruse to issue, he would have writ ten :oche Dpfentiant at that titre, and would not now have any occasion to apply for three months to plead; and that if George as Bois had not pat himself in the place of James and Frederick 1)a Bois, the Plainitrs would have received their costs croon the Assi g nees of the Bankrupts. Scrjeant Dam cv proposed, that be would accede to the time, if ti:c Defendant would put in bail on an affidavit of C.:, debt being mad_ by his clients. • Ordered to stand until Monday, and the Defend ant to see and put in bail on an affidavit of the debt being made. 7,IASTERS 17. Self OMON. Serjeant BEst moved fir a rule to shew cause why the Defendant should not be discharged from confinement, the 3s fid. not being paid pursuant to• Aft of Parliament : he produced the Defendant's affidavit, and the affidavits of the Turnkeys, all of whom swore positively they had no; received it; and Serjeant BEST said it was not probable that the Turnkeys would be off duty on a Monday, being the usual day for receiving the sixpence;. Sir JAME% MANSTIcLo said, the llfeadant's affi davit was worth nothing; and that the young man, who had always paid it, had a confirming witness with him, who saw him pay it : on the other h %lid, the turnkeys swore very roundly they had not re ceived it, nor had not trusted the key out of their hands the whole day; " but," added Sir JAMES, 4. take a Rule, and we will hear the whole story."— Rule granted. nrnroßn V. STOKES . Serj. &sr moved to make a conditional rule, ob tained by him, absolute. It was to set aside the judgment had against the defendant, and change the plea, which had been, through the mistake of a clerk, put in, thinking it was a qu: tem anion, that nothing was due to the king. Serjeant BAILEY opposed it, stating, that it was an anion for two penalties of 501. each, brought on a statute of George 11. commonly called Jonathan Wild's Aa, against the Defendant, printer of a newspaper, for having, contrary to that al, insert. ed in his paper, an advertisement to the following effed : " Any per son who may h ave b oug h t or ad vanced money on it (meaning an old family watch, alleg d to have been stolen), shall have the money so laid out or advanced, and an adcUtional reward of five guineas." Tine time of pleading being out, the Plaintiff entered up judgment, and took out ex ecution.—Allowed to piead on payment of costs. POLICE. BOSS-ST RELT. Yesterday the three men, who are in custody on a charge of stealing a number of game cocks from the neighbourhood of Chelsea, %v.:re brought before NICHOLAS BOND, Esq. and err WILLIAM PARSONS, when one of the cocks found in their possession was owned by an inhabitant of Tarnham Green, and one of the young gentlemen b.:longing to Kensing ton, proved his purchasing it of one of the Prisoners. They were committed for further examination. An information was laid by Mr. Robert 11 'llowa• against a Mr. Holland, for penalties amounting t 5001 for keeping, what is t. ,ma a Li re G.. Mr. Holloway opened his castr in a speech of considerable length and much ingenuity, in the course of which he threw a crowded office into bursts of laughter by his ludicrous similies. He began with saying, that it had ohm been said of him that he never came into a Court of Justice but for the sake of the penalties : he acknowledged the charge in all cases eccept that now before the Ma gistrates, which, lie pledged himself, in the most so lemn manner, he had undertaken for the public good. He said he understood that there was to be an ob jeslion to his information ; b,..c.tuse, it was supposed he had taken it under a late ACI of Parlia , nent, passed for the suppression of Littie Ws, which, he knew very well, only authorised informati ins to be laid by the At roRNLY-GENESIAL. The A.r.t under which he laid his information, Was the loth of George 11. which describes a number of games that are punishable, and that states gamiug gene. rally to be unlawful, and enaas penalties. Mr. H thee described very fully the nature of the Lidie Go's, and the proceedings of the Defendant. He term ed the gaaw, in his informati in, an Ivory Go; be cause it was drawn with ivory tickets ; and, to avoi. , detthion or notoriety, the Defendant had not his Lottery drawn twice in one place; and it was gene rally drawn at green-shops, or chandlers'-shops— and he made his lottery known, by employing a number of old women to go gossipping into the dif fer.nit neighbourhoods, saying, they had won a number of pounds upon certain numbers being drawn, and certain numbers being favourites, they having dreamed of them ; but, in fitt, the num. ben that the old women reported to be favourites, were drawn. The tickets being ivory, those that were favourites had gum and sand upon them ; and those who drew the tickets, had instruCtions never to draw those with sand upon them. Those prac tices, he .is.erted, the Defendant carried on in all parts of London. He very happily ridiculed the term Little Go ; he said there were a variety of Co's ; there was a go to the gaming -house, a gto the Old Bailey, a go to Botany-bay, and a gu to the TICW-sirop. Mr. Masts-AT attended for the Defendant, and took an objeltion to the Information in point of form, viz. that it only stated, that the Defendant had set up divers games, without gait:4. that he set it up in an office or place, which the Vlagistrates allowed to be fatal. An information against a respcflable stable keeper in the parish of St. James's came on to be beard, brought by Mr. Digglcs, an Attorney, of Golden squire. for letting w horse to hire for three days. and 4,:dy delivering A Stamp• Office ticket for one day, with an intention to defraud the Revenue of two days duty. Mr. PI NUM attended for the Prosecutor, and very ably stated the case. Mr. Atte v attended far the Defendant, and oh jefted to the service of the summons, because it was not personal, which the Magistrates over-ruled ; but Mr. ALLEY refused to produce the certificate li censing the Defendant to let horses, which was ne cessary to enable the Magistrates to aft. Mr. PINERO then produced the Register's book, with a list W names, and the residence of those who were licensed to lett horses. Mr. Axi oa ex amining the book, discovered that it was v:zreruely incorrect, and that it was originally made in 1802, and the clerk had made it serve for the last and the present years, by scratching out the '2, putting 3. and scratching tl.e S, a..d putting a 4 for the present year, which, Mr. At i xv contended, was not a correff record, and in which the Magistrates concurred. Mr. Borro telt occasion to reprobate the slovenly man.'2r in which the book had been kept. The information was of course quashed. LAS?' NICHT': GAZETTE. Admiral!, Ofce, Nor. 20, 1804. Con: of I,,tter from Captain Hancock, rd His Majesty's tilecli the Cruiser, to Wnham Nlarsien, E 44. dated in Tar t:swish Roads, the 17th instant. SIR, I herewith enclose, for the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, my letter of this day's date, to Lord Keith, acquainting him nit!' my having captured the French brig privateer Le Contre A miral Vlagonicommanded by Captain Blackeman, from Dunkirk. I have the honour to be, &c. Jones Harmonic. Cruiser, at Set, off Y:rnsootk, Tea, a. at. MY I.O:tD, 0 17, Isc.l. I have the honour to acyliaint your Loislship, that leing last night, at nine p. A. with His iela jetty's sloop under my command, and the gun-brigs Bold and Ann, and Florence cutter, close in with Ostend, in five fathoms water, which statinn I had taken from the moment the wind tame to the east ward, to follow with every p tasible eflicaey and energy your L•rrship's instructions in the irryort. ant t',•~ . v entrusted to me, of watching the on,. rev's ram:zit:v.!, at that port and Flushing, we nb.e: veal a strange ',ail standing in shore, which, on si,c veer ing us, wore and made all sail, steering at lir.t with the wind abaft the beam; we immediately made all sail in chace, which continued during the whole night, in which the stranger displayed much skill and ability in all his manoeuvres, and tried us on every p•sint of sa.ling with various success; lie some times gaining on us, and we in our turn nearing 'him, till five a. m. in which time (eight h s•trs) we had run ninety-sever miles, by the log: during the latter part of the dame die wind freshened con sider ably ; but this gave us not the advanta,4e I expeded, as lie preserved his distance till a quarter before five a. ns. when both hi; topmasts went Away ; he then attempted a masterly manoeuvre to scope, which the haze, the darkness of the morn ing, and the lee-tide, gave him t fan- prosped of succeeding in, by clearing up his remaining sails, and coming instantly to an anchor, alth':ugh in e. 5 faffitams water, in hopes see ahould either •pass )141 tinverceived, or get to laewasti. Although I was not aware, to the full extent, of thi• accident and manoeuvre, I never lost sight of bins ; and at the time it happened I observed we were nearing :urn so very fast, that I had begun to reduce the sail ; hot, as we were going then more than eleven knots, I had but a few minutes' time before I was up with him, and the wind blowing so la :sh as to isk the loss of all our masts, if I atternp.ei to haul to wind with the sal I had then set, I was under , he necessity of passing him, which I did, however, within hail, and to v. indw ird, and isa.t receiving any answer, except that he was from Pnilad. Ala, in bad English, I ordered three guns to be find into 1 - ins. then plai-ly discovered him to be a large armed brig with nine p.'r:s on a side; having in a few nu -.lnes taken two reefs in the topsails, and cleated the decks of wrecked spars and split sails, we tacked, and ranged up within ten yards of his lee-quarter, he having cut his cable, and again attempted to make sail, when, just as I was on the point .1 hail ing him, preparatory to giving him our brnasiusle, he called out and begged us not to ice, as he had struck. On boarding him, I was pleased to floe my opi nion confirmed that I had captured Capt. Blanck tnan, so well known during the late and present wars in these seas, having received information he was at sea in a brig. .1 he vessel he commanded, proved to be Le Contre Amiral Magon French privateer brig, quite new, this being her first cruise, pierced fir eighteen, and mounting seventeen guns td dd. ferent calibres, viz. fourteen long six pounders, two' eighteen pound calonatio., and one long nine-pounder, and manned with eighty-four men, French, Danes, Swedes, and America%s ; had been out from Dunkirk eighteen days, and hats captured, during his cruise, the ship Belisarius, cd New. castle, Matthew Hunter, master, on the 9d inst. off fynemonth ; the brig Scipio, Richard Robert son, Master ; and the Content's Increase, George Bel', Master, both laden with coals, off Foley Bridge, on the loth instant; the two former were itc.. mediately dispatched for Dun kirk, but the I Ater was recaptured about two hours after by an English man of war brig; she was proceeding for Dunkirk or Ostend, and had been laying-to for some hours in the evening, waiting for water to crc.ss the Bank, and, I apprehend, little expesled to find English cruisers within the Strtiom Sand. The lairs and cutters in company, who have bore up eoh the Cruiser in chase, were run out of sight by twelve I bog to recommend to your Lordship's notice Lieutenant J. Pearse, senior Lieutenant, Lieutenant Lusk, second, and Mr. Lash, Master, with the sshole of the Warrant and Petty OtEcers, Seamen, and Mariners, through whose united exertions this a:tive and enterprising enemy has been prevented .asking further depredations, which, from his 1. •.tl knoviled A e of our coasts, added to the ample means he possessed in this brig, from her superior sailing and force, must have been highly detri mental to the trade of this country ; nor can 1, in justice, omit availing myself of this opportunity to express to your Lordship my thanks to Johannes Whymmer, pilot of the Cruiser, who, on this and all foe mer oeci.a.ns. by his cortca knowledge a I the c..as; and shoals, and zeal for His Majemy's t:o vice, has ati - irded me the more essential confi dence and :tssistance. I am happy to add that the Masters of the cap tured vessels, as also their crews, amounting to twenty English seamen, were on board the Contre Amiral Magon at the time of capture, and arc now on board the Cruiser. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Joan Hascocc. Admiral Lord Keith. i.. B &c. sec &c - -.- Yesterday, at two o'clock, a sperate battle was f night in fluky Fields, between a dtur me: in the Ma. pia -bonne Volunteers and a journeyrna,. ter: after a long and well-contested battle, wh;ch Lis an hour and ten minutes, ♦i@ory was declared in favDtir of the drummer. A few days since a small bakehouse, built for the use of the troops, at Arundel Barracks, was blown suddenly down, whilst the are was in the oven for the purpose of heating it. Mr. Boozier, the baker, had jest left the premises to fetch, from a neighbouring building, a sack of flour, and was thereby providentially saved from destruiftion.