The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1825-07-27 00:00:00

LITERJRI' Si & Watts* Scorr..-.-Yon have •often told me that lraltcr Scott has been excelled by several other poets of hi s t i me , in regularity and beauty of composition ; and at far I have agreed, and dO stall agree with you. But I think there can be ma doubt, that, far were thin any other poet. or any author of his time, he is entitled to claim c redit for the extent and importance of the class of ideas to which he has draws the public attention ; and if it he .), what stuall matters all his deficiencies or irregularities aTe, when pat in the balance attainst such praise at this. At a time when the literature of Scotland--and of England tai —was becoming e'er) , day more and more destitute of command over every thing but the mere speculative under statidiog of men—this great genius seems to have been raised up to counteract, in the wisest and best of all ways, this unfortunate tendency of his age, by re-awakening the svmpathies of his countrymen for the more energetic characters and passions of their forefathers. In so doing ha employed, indeed, with the skill and power of a true master, amp a tree philosopher, what constitutes the only effectual means of neutralising that barren spirit of le thargy into which the progress of civilization i 3 in all coun tries so apt to lull the feelings and imaginations of man kind. The period during which most of his works were produced, was one of mighty struggles and commotions throughout all Europe, and the experience of that eventful period is suf f icient to prove, that the greatest political anxieties, and the most important international struggles, can exert little awakening influence upon the character and genius of a people, if the private life of irs citizens at h o me remains limited and monotonous, and confines their personal experience and the range of their thoughts. The ratiorial matter-of-fact way in which all great public con tents are pow-a-days carried forward, is sufficient to throw a damp isppn the most stirring imagination. Wars are begun aq4 concluded mote in reliance upon the strength o f mangy, than on the strength of minds and of mere— vows, and supplies, and estimates, and regular business like and daily papers, take away among them the pater pert of that magnificent indistinctness, through which, in 'former times, the great games of warfare and staireasenahip Wed alike tp be regarded by those whore, interests were at state. ' Very little room is left for en- Thu:Mats, 'when people are perpetually perplexed in their coutemplations of great actions and great men, by the congratulating pettinesses of the well-dispssed on one side, snd the carping meann.ases of the envious, and the Ina- Indent, and the little-minded, on the other. The circle within which men's thoughts move, becomes every day a narrow one—and they learn to travel to all their conclu sions, not over the free and generous ranges of principle and feeling, but along the plain, hanl, dusty high-way of calculation. Now, a poet like Sir Walter Scott, by in viting into and representing the modes of life in earlier times, employs the imagination of his countrymen, as a Ifiellßll making them go through the personal experi ence o f their ancestry, and of making them acquainted with the various courses of thought and emotion, by which their forefathers had their genius and characters drawn cut---things to which, by the mechanical arrangements of nerlern life and society, we have been rendered too much strangers. Other poets, such as Byron, have attempted an a nalogous operation, by carrying us into foreign coun tries, where society is still comparatively young—but their method is by no means so happy or so complete as Scott's, becaase the people among whom they seek to interest Its, have national characters totally different from our own--- whereas those abate minds he exhibits as a stimulus to ours, are felt at once to be great kindred originals, of which our every-day experience shows us copies, faint indeed, but capable of being worked into stronger resemblance. If other poets should afterwards seek and collect their mate rials from the same field, they may perhaps be able to pro duce more finished compositions, but the honour of being the Patriarch of the National Poetry of Scotland, must always remain in the possession of Walter Scott. Nay, whatever direction the genius of his countrymen may take in future y ears , the benefit of his writings must ever be ex perienced in the great resuscitation of slumbering elements, which they have producd in the national mind. Perhaps the two earliest of his poems, the Lay of the Last .Minstrel suit Martnion, are the most valuable, because they are the moat impregnated with the peculiar spirit of Scuttish anti• quity. In his subsequent poems, he made too much use of the common materials and machinery employed in the popular novels of' that day, and descended so far as to binge too much of their interest upon the common resources of an artfully constructed fable. In like manner, in those prose Talesn—which I no more doubt to be his than the poems he has published with his name—in that delightful aeries of works, which have proved their author to be the neatest kinsman the creative intellect of Shakespeare has ever had—the beat are those, the interest of which is most directly and historically national---Waverley and (lid Mor ality. Thb whole will go down together, so long as any national character survives in Scotland---and themselves will, I nothing question, prolong the existence of national character there more effectually, than any other stimulus its waning strength is ever likely to meet with.—Peter's Learrs to his Kinsfolk. ALEX. SELKIRK, 111 E ORIGINAL RODINEOI4 C/11:sor.1 —Alexander Selkirk was born at Largo, in the county of Fife about tho year, 1876, and was bred a seaman. He went from England, in 1703, in the capacity of sailing master of a small vessel, calla: the Cinque Ports Galley, Charles Pickering, captain, burden about ninety tons, with sixteen guns and sixty-three men ; and in September, the same year, sailed from-Cork, in company with another ship, of twenty-six guns and one hundred and twenty men, called the St. George, commanded by that famous navigator, William Dampier, intending to crnise on the Spaniards in the South Sea. On the coast of lirzil, Picker iug died, and was succeeded in his command by his lieu tenitit, Thomas Stradliug. They proceeded on their voyage round Cape Horn, to the island of Juan Fernandez, wle;nce they were driven by the appearance of two French ships, of thirty-six guns each, sad left See of Stradling's teen there on shore, who were taken off by the French. Hence they railed to the coast of America, where Dampier and Straining quarreL.d, and separated by agreement, on the 19th of May, 1704. In September following, Strand -1!:ta came again to the island of Juan Fernandez, where .f..elkirk and hi s c a p ta in ha i l a diff e rence, which, with the circumstance of the ship's being very leaky, and in hid cunuition, induced him to determine on staving there alone; but when his companions were about to depart, his rem!ution was shaken, lied he desired to be taken on board again. Happily for him, the captain then refused to admit I:an, and lie was obliged to remain, having nothing but his clothes, bedding, a gun, and a small quantity of powder and ball; a hatchet, knife, and kettle; his books, and mathematical and nautical instruments. Ile kept up his spirits tolerably, till h e s aw th e vesse l put off, when (as he afterwards related) his heart yearned within him, and melted at parting with his comrades and all human society at once. Ye believe me, A t east Sods in t h e rooted love a e bear mankind, Afl ruffians as were, 1 never heard A sound so dismal as thtir parting oars." Thomson's Agamemnon. 'f he Cinque.Ports was run on shore a few months after wards; the Captain and crew, to save their lives, surren dered themselves prisoners to the Spaniards. who treated fit( to so harshly, that they were in a much worse situation I than S.C.kisk, and continued in it a longer time. Som month; *fur Selkirk had left the South Sea in the Dukti privateer, Capt. Strailling was sent a prisoner to Europe on h..nr,l a French ship, and by that means got to England. left sole monarch of the island, with plenty of the nee &larks of I,re, he found himself in a situation hardly supportable. lie had fish, goats' flesh, turnips, and other 'ic ; ;! tables ; yet he grew dejected, languid, anti melancholy, to sta.li a degree, as to be scarcely able to refrain from do ing violence to himself. Eighteen months passed before h.• could, by reasoning, reading his Bible, and study, he t;:orutighly reconciled to his condition. At length he grew IlaPpy, tmploying himself in kleeorating his huts, chasing the gusts, whom he equalled in speed, and scarcely ever fai:td of catching. lie also tamed young kids, laming them to prevent their becoming wild ; and lie kept a guard I , ftsioe cats about him, to defend him when asleep from the rats, which were very troublesome. When his clothes w‘re worn out he made others of goats skins, but could not wetted in making shoes, which, however, habit in time mbied him to dispense with the use of. His only liquor " Water. lie computed that he had caught one thousand, goats during his ale de there ; of which he had Jet go five hundred, aft r marking them by slitting their vars. Coin motion Anson's people, who were there about thirty years after, found the first goat, which they shot upon landing, was thus marked, and as it appeared to he very old, con cluded that it had been under the power of Selkirk ; but it appears by Captain Carteret's account of his voyage in the Swallow sloop, that other persons practised this mode of marking, as he found a gnat with his ears thus slit on the neighbouring island of Mas-a-fuera, where Selkirk never was. He made companions of his tame goats and cats, often dancing and singing with them. Though he Con , seemly performed his devotions at stated hours, and read aloud, vet, when he was taken off the island, his language, from deuce of conversation, was became scarcely intelli- Filth. In this solitude he continual' four years and four ' months, during which time only two incidents happened which he thought worth relating, the occurrences or every , day bring in his circumstances nearly similar. The one was, that, pursuing a goat eagerly, he caught it just on the edge of a macipice, which was covered with Inishee, so that he did not tractive it, and he fell over to the! bottom, where he lay (according to Captain Rogers's ac count) twenty 'four huurs senseless; but, as he related to' Sir It. Steel, he computed, by the alteration of the moon, that he had lain three days. When he came to himself, he found the goat lying under hint dead. It was with great , difficulty that he could crawl to his habitation, whence he was unable to stir for ten days, and did not recover of his bruises for a long time. The other event was, the arrival lof a ship, which he at first supposed to be French ; and I such is the natural lore of society in die human mind, that I he was eager to abandon his solitary felicity, and surrender; j himself to them, although enemies ; but, uron their land ing, approaching them, he found then. to be Spaniards, of ; whom he had too great a dread to treat himself in their hands. They were by this time so near, that it required all his agility to escape, which he effected by diming into n thick tree, being shot at several times as he ran off. For tunately, the Spaniards did not discover him, though they stayed smite time under the tree where he was hid, and kakil some goats just by. In this solitude Selkirk remained until the 2,1 of February, 1;0, when he saw two ships tone into the bay, and knew them to be English. lie ran mediately lighted a fire as a signal, and, on their cora ling on shore, found they were the Duke, Captain I Rogers, and the Duchess, Captain Courtney, two privateers BriatoL gm atom the best entertaitunent he j I could ; and, as they had been a long time it sea I without fresh proviaions,abe goats which he caught were highly acceptable. His habitation, consisting of two huts, one to sleep in, the other to dress his food in, was n ob , acutely situated, and so difficult of access, that only one of the ship's officers would accompany him to it. Dampier, who was pilot on board the Duke, and knew Selkirk very j well, informed Captain Rogers, that, when on board the Cinque Ports, he was die best seaman on board that vessel, upon which Captain Rogers appointed him master's mate of the Duke. After a fortnight's stay at Juan Fernandtq, the ships proceeded on their cruise against the Spaniards ; plundered a town on the coast of Peru ; took a Manilla ship offCalifernia ; and returned by way of the East Indies to England, where they arrived the Ist of October, 1711 ; Selkirk having been absent eight years, more than half of which ti.ne he had spent alone on the island. The public curiosity being excited respecting him, he was induced to put his papers into the hands of Perot, to arrange, and corm them into a regular narrative. These papers must have been drawn up after he left Juan Fernandez, as lie had no means of recording his transactions there. Captain Cooke remarks, as an extraordinary circumstance, that he had contrived to keep an account of the days of the week and month ; but this might be time, as Defoe makes Robinson Crusoe do, by cutting notches in a post, or many other methods. From this account of Selkirk, Defre took Me idea of writing a more extensive work, the ronurwe of Rostssos Chesoe, and very dishonestly defrauded the original proprietor of his share of the profits. I conclude this story with S,lkirk's observation to Sir R. Steel, only remarking, that it is a rrcof how apt we mortals are to itnagine, that happinesa is to be found in any situation except that in which we happen to he. To use his own worth, " I am now (says he') worth eight hundred pounds, but shall never be so happy as when I when I was not worth a farthing."—Genlfernan's .31aogazine fur 1768, TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRESS. St It ,—Haveug in my last letter endeavoured to reduce to its just dimensions the evil of gaining, as incidental to the !formation and progress of Joint-Stock Companies, I now proceed to offer some remarks upon the general character and tendency of such institutions. In a country like England, abounding in wealth, and having an immense state-debt, it is obvious that there must exist a veep numerous class of persons, possessing in va rious degrees the pecuniary means of embarking in corn ! mercial and oaks enterprises, but without a sufficient por tion of the activity, energy and talent, or wanting the con nexions, the technical information, or the time necessary for pursuing them. This class comprehends, in fact, all individuals who have a surplus income, from whatever source it may arise, and who by habit or situation are averse to the struggles, or remote from the scenes of active life. Joint-Stock Companit a present the only method by which any portion of the capital of this extensive class can be actively employed, so as to preserve a direct interest to, the owner. IVluther these companies may eventually prodnce benefit or injury to the class I have mentloned, must de pend upon the general prosperity, or failure, of the various undertakings in which it shall have embarked. It is pro betle that many of them will succeed ; it cannot be doubted that many of them will fail. In this, its in every thing else, the highest prosperity will be the reward of these in dividuals who exercise the justest discrimination. I think it however a general advantage that, whilst all former ' modes of investment are left open, one of a new character is added to their number. The range of individual choice is thus extended, anew chance is afforded, a new stimulus imparted. That class which forms, perhaps, the most inert of our social masses is quickened into new life ; the keen sense of pecuniary interest comes in aid of every former incentive to the pursuit of various and extensive in formation. Independently of their effect upon the fortune of indi- viduals, the existence of Joint-Stock Companies, for the' purposes of commerce or adventure, will, if carried to any considerable extent, have a natural influence upon the general condition of the mercantile world. The directors l i of such establishments, actingon behalf of a numerous and dispersed body of subscribers, will be bound to govern their conduct almost entirely by general ru'cs and prin ciples. The passions of hope cad fear which tyrannise over the breasts of individuals, will exercise over theirs but a limited and regulated sway. And these arc the passions which exaggerate in every market all the natural and substantial causes of vicissitude of price. Founded in speculation, these Companies may thus eventually t•perate as the sedative to speculation. The markets in which they' have the most to do will be found the least susceptible of groundless fluctuation. By their operations they will oounteract—hy their example compose much needless and injurious eff,rvesceuce. They will, in fine, give to coin ,coerce a broader and a steadier basis. If Joint-Stock Companies have any teatimes to giv'e greater steadiness to the prices of commodities, they must have a like tendency in relati6n to the value of labour. The latter tendency is indeed manifest on the slightest reflec tion. If the price of a mineral, or of an article of manu facture, is unusually depressed, what individual producer is likely to be so patient under innnetliate loss as the ma nagers of a Joint-Stock ? 11'ho will look further through the gloom? Who will be so tardy and reluctant to reduce the wages, or decrease the number of their labourers ? These considerations, Sir, arc thrown out with a view to provoke discussion. They proceed upon the supposition that Joint-Stock Companies are generally, at the present day, projected and countenanced with a serious view to the ultimate advantage of the shareholders—that they are not mere contrivances for ohtai-ing possession of other people's money. That this is the more generous supposition will not be denied ; that it is also the more rational one I shall, in my next letter, endeavour to show. T. B. Mr. Ramage, of Aberdeen, gives an account of a white leech found in a stickleback, wi.ich, when disengaged, was as large as the fish that had enclosed it. The stickleback died immediately ; and the leech, which had all the mo tions of the common leech, died in about twelve hours. Mr. Ramage supposes that the latter must have been swal lowed, when of a minute size, for food, and had gown, and preserved life, in the small gut of the fish, till the accident happened which protruded it, full grown, for his observa tion. +.•-~. NEW CA7'IIOI.IC ASSOCIATION. • (Front the De Uhl "freak(' Post of Sinueday. • A Meeting of thlebOdy leas held today at the Cor i -Exchange, Mr. DOWELL O'Rerkey in the ChVr. u 111 r. Dkossaid, that at the last . letting of the Anocipiion, a Committee bad be nominatedsn draw up rules and regulations for the future cemitict of thee body. Their Report he held In his hand, and he would move that it be laid on the table, for the re. vision of the Meeting. (Mr. Dillon here protected •to reed the Rules recommended by the Committee, amongst which the following are, we believe, the most important :1-- That every individuel, paying as Renee] subscription of 11. be. • fore the lit of next Nov. be a 'needier; from that period every Nrson "fishing to become a menthe?. is to be proposed and seconded by members ; a new subscription is to be paid on the In January • every year; no person (excreting gentlemen of the press) to be ad. , mined to the Meetings of the Association except 31ernbers ; no motion is to be tousle without a vreek'x notice; a Committee of finance and accounts, consisting of 21, w to be appointed ; mime 'finery meetings may be called when a certain number of members I sign a requisition for that purpose; D 0 sepense is to be incurred without all order of the Association ; a book is to be always kept I open, containing the anent and address of each member ; no mem ber is to speak twice In any debate. recent the mover of the reso lution, who is to be allowed the privilege of reply i Wednesday Is to be the day of meeting; and three o'clock the hoer fixed, as soon after which time as ten members shall attend, the abate is to be taken ; and that the Catholic clergy shell be members of th e Assoc. elation. Mr. Dillon concluded by making that the Report be laid on the table, and taken into consideration this day week. ) This Resolution was seconett by Mr. CONWAY, and canial unanimously. Mr. CONWAY then read to the meeting a letter from Mr. Thos. Martin, son of the 31ember for Galway, requesting that.he might • be proposed as a member of the Associates', being, as he said, a firm Protestant, but a friend to religious liberty. Mr. Cos: WAY moved that the letter be Mental on the Minutes, and that .11r. Martin bee member of the Association. • Seconded by Mr. liemmost 0, and carried. Mr. CONWAY had to propose another gentleman, a Catholic, who ought to be here himself; but as he (Mr. Conway) had his I money in his pocket, he would move that lilt. Robert Power, of Ordway, be a member.—Carried. I Mr. listowir considered it would be a wise proceeding to publish the name of the members of the new body (who had already amounted to 120), as it was well known how wise-fully the intlet ! ence of example operated. Ile did not mean to conclude with motion to that effect, but he considered that arrangements might be made to publin the names. 111 r. Foxi thought it would be better if this Resolution were put in the shape of an ailditional act to the Report of the Com- Skitter for the Regulation of the Asseciatien. Altroerwae said there, 41110 anbehre mention, be meant the enema; distinguishing thit Catholic* fries thei'retestents, with re. god to which the Fanner it was taken up the better. Ile would therefore move that a Committee be appointed to report to the As sociation the hest means of taking the census. The Rev. Mr. I. ES7 RANCE seconded the Resolution, and agreed with 31r. Conway that the snorer it was proceeded with the better. Every one knew what stress had been laid upon the vela. tire proportions of the Catholics and Protestints by Lord Liver pool In :he Musa Lords. They should then do away with the imeression so created as soon M possible. The CHAIRMAN begeed to remind the Rev. Gentleman that the only subject with regard to which they could legally undertake the census was that of education. The :ter. Mr. I:Ewen/010g acceded to the suggestion from the Chair, but he would, nevertheless, recommend to 211 r. Conway to persevere in his motion. 31r. Pees/Kerr opposed the motion of 'Mr. Conway, on the ground that, as this was one of the most important matters recom. mended by the Committee which reported to the Aggregate, it would not be right to discuss it in the present thin Meeting. 31r. FORDE COlitely agreed with Mr. Conway, that the sooner airy set about the business the better. Mr. PLONEETT witlidiew his opposition; and the motion was carried unanimously. Mr. CONWAY would not press the nomination of the Committee at present, but would postpone it to acct Saturday, As he was on his legs, lirwould beg leave to ask a Reverend Gentleman oppo. site one question. As his (31r. Conway's) regard for Dr. Magee was very great, he would wish to :now if it were true, as It was asserted, that the esthetic Clergy had prohibited their Rocks from reading the evidence of his Grace? If such bad been the case. lie considered it a most extraordinary proceeding ; as, if he (Mr. Con way) were an enemy to the Protestant Establishment, he could not think that anything would be more useful to his cause than the dissemination of that evidence. The Rev. Mr. L'EsreeNuE, as he had been called on, wnutd only say, that it was quite impossible that such an order could have ever ...en given by any Catholic Clergyman. It was well known that the only thing which they wanted was fair play, . 1 a clear stage and nu favour." Ile had not yet had time to look into the entire evidence, but from what he had read of it in the news papers , there appeared to him to be throughout a studied wish to misrepre sent the people, the clergy, and the religion of this country. It was impossible that any person who, like Dr. Magee, had spent a great part of his life in a Catholic country, and in intimacy with liberal Protestants, could have mid, without the most malignant intention, that up to the late Bible discussions there were a vast :neither of Catholics in Ireland who had never heard the name of the Bible mentioned. _ ... _ 31r. CONWAY—His Grace not only said so, but swore it before the Lords' Committee. Mr. L'EsT RANGE, in continuation, said, tl at Dr. Magee must be aware that there were many editions of the Biole printed by Ca tholic bookacllera, who seldom published anything that was not! read. Ile challenged Dr. Magee to find one Catholic family in the country which did not possess an edition of the Bible. Ile would ay more—that Dr. Magee had never heard from any Catholic that IA reading waft ptoltibited. Ilia evidence haut maligned not only the individuals, but the lobate eafhorra (laird+ Ireland. TY the Reverend Prelate had ever attended a court of jnstice in this coup.! try, he would have seen with what awe and reverence every one of the peasantry, when called on to take an oath, approached that holy book, lest he should profane it by any assertion of his. Ile sincerely regretted that, in any church of Christians, an individual could be fiund, who did not inform himself better, befiwe he est i serted on oath that which, in his conscience, he lIILISL have known to he false. Mr. Cowwssi thought it would be right if a cheap edition of Archbishop Alagee's evidence were printed and circulated, as in his opinion nothing could be of more advantage to the Catholic cause. ( A laugh, aad Ilea.) Mr. Blount. the Secretary to the English Catholics, here entered the room, aol was received with loud plaudits. Mr. Cot wAy considered it ooc of the advantages of the Asso ciation, that when 'Mil aid II 'grant ehsrgett were made, such as those they had heard his ltev. friend, Mr. L'Estrange, refute— some one would come forward and repel the calumny. Mr. Dillon was called to the Chair, thanks voted to Ur. O'Reilly, and the meeting adjourned. GENTLEMAWLY SPORTS. On Monday morning, as early as four o'clock, a barouche, drawn by four blood !torso. and driven by postilions, was observed coming in the direction from 4tigeware at a very rapid pace. In the harouche were seated three or four young gentlemen of very dash ing appearance, who alighted near the Southampton toll-gate and collected a Vag quantity of stones, which they took with them into the carriage, which was instantly driven off with amazing rapidity, and had nor travelled many yards before the gentlemen in the car riage commenced an attack with their missiles upon every lamp and window that a stone could reach. They continued this along the whole line of road. and were pursued by the watchmen and others fur a considerable distance, but when any of their pursuers gainett upon them they turned and pelted them with such effect that many persons received severe cuts and contusions. The barouche con tinued its course down Park-lane, through Piccadilly, and it was stated was afterwards seen crossing Westminster-bridge into Surrey. The parish of .Vary-la-bonne have offered a large reward fur tl , e discovery of the persons concerned in this scandalous and mischievous transaction. As a reward has been offered, these gentlemen, we should think, mast be soon forthcoming, for as it does not appear that the postilions took any pat t in this low-lived frolic of their betters, they can have no interest in skreening the offenders. The amusement which was chosen for pastime upon this occasion is something betwixt the vocation of the pickpocket and the assassin. They had not perhaps money enough in their pockets to pay for the damage of which they were guilty ; and it is beyond a doubt that no one of them would havethe manly courage to place himself within reach of of the horsewhip of any of those whole: property and repose he so wantonly invaded. WONDERFUL RECOVERIES. Monday week a party from Aylesbury proceeded on their annual visit to Velvet Lawn. and, as usual, took with them all necessary good cheer. From the heat of the weather, they wished to have their beverage cool, and with this view sunk into the well of the Lawn Cottage, in a bucket, the stone bottle, which contained the wine they carried with them. In lowering the bucket, however, it so fell out that the stone bottle fell in. A young gentleman belonging to another party, on a similar excursion, volunteered his ser vices for the recovery of the bottle. A stick being passed through the bucket chain, the youth took his seat upon it, and was safely lowered into the well. The bottle was' found unbroken, and was secured in the adventurer's hand. While, however, the I arty were in the act of winding the young gentleman up, the good woman of the cottage, by her officious assistanv:•, contrived to get one of her lingers caught in the chsin, and screaming out, as women are sometimes wont, frightened tlic man at the windlass, so as to cause him to lose his hold, an d l et t h e gentleman feet. mai a gain . c consternation ati ht:rnb°toitiomo' the depth o f fi ve - an d twenty f the parties round the; will was extreme ; especially among the female relatives of the young man, two of whom, his 'Asters, fell intolivate ries. Happily, however, he was soon heard to be and a drag being procured, it was let down within his reach and he was soon rescued from his perilous situation, and' artived at die top, holding the drag by one hand, and the' I:odic by the other. 4 .4 " 'Nib ...04 ^•••• OXFORD CIRCUIT! STAFTORDSII IRE ASSIZES, StineOßD, JULrld . • CROWN SIDE. AI (MDER. lin t James Bartley was indicted for the wilful murder of Wiliirth Price. The offence was laid differently in several counts, the death being stated in some to hare been caused by besting, in others by strangling, and in otheriVy drowning. The prisoner pleaded Not Guilty. ' .• He was rimed to be sixty years of age, 'and sera a man of ex tremely respectable appearance. "' Mr. lit:sestet:mated, that in opening 41 . lb case he should merely give a narrative of the evidenee he should a.ltiuce. The prisoner. for some time previous tit the month of June, kept a teem, and carried on the busines.of a waggoner. The, deceased, who waves fine young men of abo'jt cal year. ofsge, was in his ertiPlOy. It' would appear that the printer had contracted for the carnage of some timber on on estate at Market Drayton, which was twelve iniles from Newcastle-tinder-Lyme, and the prisoner on the pith of June was sent with the team for a part of it, and on his way '•home be get 'to a public house at Knighton, Which was ,two miles from Drayton. After drinking there for softie dine he proceeded towatds Neheastle, and at Whitmire, which was 011 nearer to Newcastle, the prisoner met the deceased sod the leitn d roan named Jerits being in the prisoner's com pany. The deceased expressed, himself in very strong terms of the pehumer's debit in bringing licabe the load, bat the rattles all cams to the prisooer'st arable in Newcastle. Jervis then went into the hdttie, and never again New the deceased alive, and it would appear that the prisoner hurried Jervis to bed, and went out of his house' inotenet agitation. Thidtrought it to a Friday night. or rather sa. tarday morning, end on the Thursday following the body of the de ceased was found in a canal about three quarters of a utile from the boqse cf the prisoner, end 300 yardt 'torn the house of the deceased's father. From the mariner in whiCh the body was found, there could be no doubt that the deceased had been murdered by some one. To connect the prisonet wilt the. transaction, it would be proved that AO the day the body of Price was found, the prisoner met the witnekiJervie, anti being asked whether he had heard of the de. ceased aince he was missed, he Raid he had not ; and on the same evening the prisoner rat a man named Dobson, who said that the body was found ; on this he appeared much agitated, said, lie broke the harness, and I was under the trace.chains, and struck him on the back of the heed. He ungeared the horses,atnd sent to a woman's house,bat I fetched him back." SOUR. of this would be found to he untrue. And on the samexecnitig , the prisoner, going to the Unicorn public-house, at Neetastle, he was asked by the landlady of that house about the lad, and he said, " Don't mention it, I had no sleep last eight about bim." She asked it he dreamed of him ? 'He shook.'imi head and said, "If I am to ;be hanged for it, I Will tell the truth. I ttid strike him in the stable on the back of the neck;" and when before the GRIVOIIed 111qUeSt, he said he gave the blow on the neck about a mile out of Newcastle. At other Stites he said the decimated had gone awe., and taken his coat out of the waggon ; but it would appear elm at about three o'clock on the mornng after the murder some one had taken down the ehutter of the decuied father's house, opened the window. and put in the cost. The man and his wife mistaking the noise of this for robbers attempting to rob the house, went dos n stairs, and found the coat. It might be said that the de ' ceased might have done this himself; but the surgeons would state that if the blow on the neck of the deceased had been billet:el in the stable of the prisoner, he enul.l hot have been able to have walked so far as to have taken this coat to his father's house ; and it would further appear, that on the Sunday following suspicion having gone abroad, a man named Raveneroft sail to prisone:" it seems impossible but you should have killed him." On this the prisoner was observed to tremble very much, and said " I only pre him a blint on the back of the neck," and Raveinctoft re pli d, " why that is the blow that they say killed hint ;" btat tee prisoner made no answer to this. This was the case he had to lay before them. IVitnesses were examined in support of the statement of the Learned Counsel, and after a long and patient investigation, the Jury found the prisoner Not Guilty. Before :tie.' us"' t cz fittenouott. The civil business having been gone through, this Learned Judge proceeded to auist Mr. Barran °ARROW in the trial of the primmer*. II Hi [TWAY ROBBERY. William Conger, Sentere Powell, and Thomas rgmer, were in dicted for robbing John Matthews on the high-way. Mr. CARRINGTON stated, that the prosecutor was going on the road to Hanley, on the morning of Sunday, the 13th of March, he was overtaken by the prisoner Plymer, Who whistled, and the others came tip and forcibly robbed the prosecutor. Cooper then said, let us throw hhn into the coal pit, and they took him to one that was near, and pushed hint over the side of it ; lie however contrived to catch hold of the chain of the pit, and when they were gone, get out. The prosecutor proved all the facts; but, in his cross-examine_ tion by Mr. C. PHILLIPS, he completely broke down; anti being contradicted by several other witnesses, the prisoners were acquitted, COINING. Theodore Moot e was indicted for the capital offence of having in his possession the implements of coining. Mr. Jr.av is (with whom was Mr. T•1.71 , 1T0N and Mr. StktP. TIE an) stated the case as it was afterwards proved in evidence. Thomas Thompson, a conetable, said-1 was at the Antelope at Ste% •-upon-Trent ; %Wright and Bentley were with me. I saw a cart in a field ; it had matting over it ; at half.past four o'clock, I saw two men with it. I went up to it, the prisoner was one of the men. They were loading it with kegs. 1 asked them what they had in it, and the prisoner said, " D—n you, what is that to von." I said I would see. I put one of the kegs on the ground ; Lassley carried it sway, and I ordered him to open it, and I took three packages out of it. I found blanks the size of half a crown. The prisoner was behind me. and while I was looking at the blanks the prisoner went away. We kept Lawley. The cart was un. loaded, anti we found the pros sand fly, and two kegs, Mr. Lock hart took charge of them. T went to search a house at Outten, ant found some implements there, in the cellar ; there was wool at the bottom of the hole the press had been fixed into. Joseph Edmunds corroborated this evidence. Joseph Lockhart preyed that he kept the implements leekel up, and that in a small box he found five iron collars (these were round flat pieces of steel, with a hole in the middle, into which the metal is forced to receive the milled impression on its edge). Ia another box the witness found 8,400 blanks of the size of shillings, and 6,700 blanks of the size of half crowns ; they were packed up like halfpence. The press was of cast iron, and when complete, it weighed above seven hundred weight. The witness did nut find any dies, Sarah Allen said, that she saw the prisoner at the Hare and Hounds public-house with a horse and cart, and a man, who said ' they dealt in hardware. Ralph Barton, constable of Hanley. said, that in consequence of information be searched the house of the prisoner at Burley-dam, and found some blocks and some pawnbrokers' duplicates. %Villiatn Turner said that he saw the prisoner, who took a house of him at Oulton. Samuel Smith proved the pziconer and a person named !Aidey living together, and that he of ten heard a chinking noise, and that after that he helped Lawley and the prisoner to put a heavy cask into the eart. John °anthills proved that the prisoner told hint that what was found was of no consequence as no die had been found. Edward Thomason, Esq., said, I carry on extensive Inasineas at Birmingham. I have struck medals to a great extent ; they are struck with a press, and collar. I never saw a collar like these. I have coined money for the African Company by Order in Council; but, except this, I never saw any coin with an edging like this before, or a medal, except the regular money of the country. Mr. Franklin, a moneycr of the Mint, said, I have been so for near 40 years ; the edging used not to be done by a collar, but by a hard tool called an edging tool. Mr. Ctlawoou objected to the form of the indictment. Mr. Justice Buanot(cm, having retired and conferred with Mr. Baron Darrow, said, that the objection deserved serious con. sideration, and he would reserve It for the opinions of the twelve Judges. Jahn lAwley, an accomplice, said—The prisoner married my sister. I entered into his employment in November last. I was to go to IlulL I did not accompany him ; I went before. I took a large fly and screw and a wrench--a box. I have seen collars. The prisoner took a house near Hull, and remained there for three months, and then we took a house at Hanley, in Staffordshire ; that was in December. Xs'e stayed there till the prisoner went to ltrompton-on.Sway. in Yorkshiie. We had things for making half-crowns. I used collars ; I used them with him. I turned the fly and he supplied the blanks. There was a wall taken down in the cellar to give room to work the fly, and lie told the masons that he wanted the cellar made as large as possible to put ale in. However we made a hole in the cellar and put the block in. We fetched the press and set it up. and went to work at it. We coined four hundred dozen of half.crowns. We went to Burslem, where we put up at the Red Lion. The next day we saw five men ant a woman, who dealt with the prisoner fur the counterfeit half-crowns, fur whizh they paid 3s. 6d. a dozen ; part of this they paid in mo ney, and part in cloth. a gold watch, and some chains. I then went to Birmingham, and saw the prisoner there. I went to see three casks containing blanks. I took them to 13rompton, where be took omit one cask, and took the others to a public house five miles off, and on the Sunday I got a hundred dozen struck cff, and then I fetched the casks. The hundred dozen were counterfeit half-crowns. We then took a house in the name of Uill at heck We took our things there, and the press tens brought by Nekton!, etrocted to John Hill, Stoke- u pon. Trent : to be left till called for. The impliments were then taken to Oulton, and after that to a house he took at Burley Dam. I was with him at Shelton, and to that place were taken the press( and implements. We always used the same. I gave information on the (lay I was token, and the houses were iteached. t'ross-examined by Mr. C. Pit it.r.tes.—l have beet 4 coiner six months. I think there was harm in it, but he said I was a ser vant, and all would light on hint. 1 continued coining because 1 was afraid of my life. It is to save my own life I conic to swear as I do. I don't expect to be cafe if he is not convicted. I come here to.day for the sake of justice. The sake of justice did not prompt me to :ell till I got into gaol. I am in gaol now, and I never expect to get out of it except to execution, unless he is con victed. The prisoner is the father of my sister's two children. I won't say that I was an honest man till the prisoner seduced me front it. I was in Warwick gaol for stealing a furnace, but it was only on suspicion. I was in Worcester gaol soon after I got out of Warwick. That was for being nut late at night. There had been a warehouse broken open, but I bad nothing to do with that. I was three months there. I was never charged with any thing else. I was accused of hating two wives. I was • gunsmith for eleven years. and then I worked at Italian irons. 111 y wages were ten shillings a-week from di.: prisoner and my board ; sad though he I sahl dozen of enure:retell halr-crowns he was conticaally pawn _•- • I- - . ,~ . . ring his thing's, and to Imo hie wife. I went said a word aidni coining till I was taken tip. Re-mnamined—Tbe wrisniner had shilling and half-crown dies. ' Esther Hibbs, the *meter of die landlord of the Red i t iewell- -:- Burslerst, INTIIIIIIIIIMI fhe primmer and bawley coming Mier i .father's house. Two ether men eame,.and a man and a weenie. . I did not see what was done in the room ; but I went in atter and saw cloth, silk Itsadkeir.Kieft, waiets-ehains and restr,Tviil di t heard the prisoner order Lawler to fetck two casks oat nftheleables and two were brought in. The room' atast quite chraii wheal eh* • went into it, but when they went ewer there vhs a groat damn lily of torah and brown paper on the !loot. laew Invite a kei day. after ; lie came to fetch the horse and can and the casks. Cron examined by 'Me. CV R W 00D—I saw nn hall-crowns. Joseph Bailey confirmed the evidence of the last witness. Thomas fiehring Prortor said—l am clerk to Messrs. Picks ford. I remember a tierce corning from Manchester, but it had come from heeds. It cline by a boat. It weighed eight hundred " and a half. It was addressed, "J. Hill, Stoke." The prix leer came for it. The bend of the tierce was out, and I saw east Intionl -1 I inked what it sits for ? and he refused to tell me, end at /ait mid "it was a mill to manufacture cobalt and other paints. He took it . laway. • A.,. Francis Smith, a Wharfinger at St*mei delivered twthaletill HIS riffles,' L.wley.. The prisoner put in a written defence, in which he mid he had never coined money, but was a striker of medals on popaar lab jectg. The press wan a machine applicable th Many mechanical purposes, and'he hoped the Jury would not believe the assertknieg of the .vtoseentors: . . Anne Lawley said, t am the sister of the witness Lawley. I j lived with the prisoner at Hull, and• at Brainaten-uPon-Swale• 1 There could have been nn mesa in the cellar. I trust have seen k l as I wit going into the cellar continually for water. 1 ui had (ti Birmingham s u r:w e n l a g a t h e:r ni , i r a .e d s n a nd since w l l‘ e i l l r e l . r a t . t l u g ri l e r il nm . other z % s— ton t . house. u wa s o 0 n a s l b i e r : t tar e Bulll wtt a w n h e l "I l y is " Thomas Downing said, I live at Birmingham, and am a prod land tool maker. John Lithgow, a silversmith in Stafford, roved that he had loften seen medals with Prattled edges. Mr. Justice Bunnotrun said that thii indictment was framed on a statute of King Wil li atn. It vas ve r y rare t h at t h e actua l 1 fact of coining could be !nought home to a p arty , b ut t hi s statues mitilOir a capital offchcpfora person knowingly to hive in Mapes- seasien 4ity implandot ftr edging money, and therefore th• Jung imost be satisfied that these collars were implements dl Coining, and that the prisoner knowingly had them in hi s p oss ession.. The quer.- 13 don raised , Mr. Corviood, as to whether this was a ease within d i e meaning of the Act of Parliament, he would reserve f oe thespian:Bu of the twelve Judges. That this wa s & s p ec i es o f i nstrument used for eoining they could have no doubt, for it made marks round the edge of a piece of metal exactly similar to those on the edges of s !fillings said half-crowns. Ilia Lordship then summed tip the evi -1 ence. Verdict—CM/4. i Judgment deferred till the Melte Judges have g:vett th'tir oPis i Mori bretne-paiptaflaw taised_ht " Mr. Curwood. TJ c NOIIPO, ►RCUI WINTINGDON H UN TIN6DON, JULY 2111, CIVIL. SIDE. Defore the I.QP.r) CHIEF 11Aitov. This case, which came on for t ri a l t o d a y befiite a Special Joryi eitcited very considerable interest throughout, Flan . ngdon and i ts vicinity, from the politic a l n otor i e ty o f the plini li f. ,It was an ac tion for a libellous paragraph, of which the defendant was the re puted author. The paregraph was contained ins Nes-spew, re cently established at Huntingd o n. °pealed in its patinas to a Jour-. nisi, said to . be under the control Cl the plaintiW, if not edited by him. In the " Liberal Joumel" there appeared certain animedeer %ions upon the Police of Huntingdon, for suffering noley and idle persons to disturb the peace of the town on Sunday evenings. The imputed. libel was inserted in " the Government Paper," as it is called, and professed to conic under the very original title of " An Old Inhabitant of Huntingdon." The " Old Inhabitant" expressed his indignation somewhat in " the Cernbyses vein," upon the appearance of such observations in the" Liberal Journal," a paper .under the managemeet of the plaintiff, who seconding to the publication of " The Old Inhabitant," had stirred ep more of insubordination in the quiet town of Huntingdon, than any liberal since the days of Robin flood. This example had been most peri lous in in consequences. He had violated the sabbath, and encou raged the little boys to throw stones at the apple women, and to break the church windows and " the ten commandments." He got drunk in the evening, and started as a popular candidate for Peter borough the next morning. Though a disciple of Cobbett, he was a lover of wine, and though he held a sinecure, tiaatt nom., rious (Bedford) " leveller." To these and various other allegations, the defendant, who like the plaintiff " Is—can he help it--a special attorney," pleaded it justification. The damages were laid at MI. The letter was set forth in thC words following:-- "To the Edi tor O. the Narrfimig err JOhrwat " Mr. Editor—l was I*.ther surprised to observe In the /rukees• dent Press of last week, a censure on the Police of Huntingdon, Tet. mistake me not, Sir, my surprise was not excited at the re port of the respectable inhabitants of that town being grossly toyed by the rabble; but at the appearance of such a paragraph, in a paper patronised, at least, if rot edited by Mr. Wells. How is such an observation from such a_quarter to be accounted for f I &s not recollect exactly the number of years Mr. %Tells has n ailed in Huntingdon, but this I know, That on .ever y -puldie °eva sion, during his residence in that town, he has used every means which his pocket and ingenuity could cotnpria, to draw out and. encourage the lowest classes in society to treat with Insolence the higher order,., himself setting them a fitting example; who &a turbot the Sabbath evening with bacchanalia:id public music, and. clustering together in groups the licentious, to the great anuoyance of the respectable part of the inhabitants. Who was the instigator of abrost every rioteus party that has atartabliW, net only on ac... count of politics, but oa every other occasion in the town of Hunt ingdon, since that worthy gentleman has resided there? Surely it might with truth be said to Mr. Wells—' Thou art the man.' le was a town remarkable for the orderly and good conduct of elf classes of ate inhabitants. Ilut Mr. W. stand:: a living proof of how much mischief may be brought on society by a single.indie vidual. Since his residence here the town has unhappily become the reverse of what it previously was. Even during divine service on a Sunday the streets arc thronged with the lowest orders, end on the evening of that day, an the writer of the paragraph justly observes, the respectable inhabitants of the town certainly expe rience gross aonoyance from impertinent and idle ruffians, who stand in groups on the footway. For this we have to thank Me.. Wells and his partisans, and you will oblige toe notch if yost will say so in your own language. " Yount respectfully, " AN Oen INHABITANT OF HUNTINGDON: . The publication having been proved, and its authorship by the Eili•or, and the libel put in and read, the defendant', counsel pro,. ceaded to croas.examine the Editor as to his recollection of certain bills plarenled about Huntingdon, signed by Mr. It ells. They contained invitations to the people of Huntingdon. The plaintiff's counsel objected to their reception, but they were received as proof of correspoudeot papers having been circulated ire Huntingdon. Witness recollected the acquittal of the Queen. Mr. Wells'e house was illuminated, and beer was distributed ; and Mr. Wells spoke from a waggon to the lower orders. 11'hat did he say ? To this question it was objected, that " the words spoken" were not in any of the pleas set out. On the other side, it was contended that the words need not be set out ; but on a suggestion from the Court, it was agreed that the witness should be called again at the clone of the speech fat the doe fendant. fltiteas the plaintift's case. oe 1.1 that n.2%att ancient . c e in ai r t gc o ni efr corporation; e t o t F ftitoi orn.t,i defendant, haendeo :t i n t i.tw a u t ta t i sc s°nve h b e re d ycaul to ngle tehnheu:twhialasetlyya-aallemninineitbialr tides and the established religion, AIDA, therefore, with Mr. Vella s, character for notoriety. it was surprising he shank! against such a near he in an zed'', for libel. Ilia political life was freely animadverted upon, a- d it was contended that the libel was of a public nature, viol ting nothing that was private, and trenchis not in the slightest degree upon hie home, but reflecting upon hie known principles. anti the natural tendercy of these principles.. Various passages fro:n his " Cimcidnes ad Poruluen" were read. His addresses to the then:as of various boroughs, the independent reprceentative of which he was nnxious to become, and his Sunday Night Vauxhall, it was contended, had the inevitable effect of tens dewing lax the morals of the lower orders. Weston Hatfield, the proprietor of a Huntingdon newel:tape?. said, Mr. Wells was a friend of his; he produced certain paper, eonreining " the Petition of the Paupers," " Invitations to l'au hall," &c., paragraphs eulogizing these gardens. One of the aatagraphs contained this paesage—'• The entertainments at Ilfe. Welle's gardens form a striking contrast to the usual dulnea of * summer's evening at Huntingdon." 'What tunes were played P National melodies, such as I retheths bee to have heard when a boy in the market-place of Huntingden before all the constituted authorities ofthat place. (Smut applause was manifested at this answer, and the Chief-Baron declared he would send any person guilty of such misconduct rut of Court.) Cross-examined—Was not Mr. Itlargitts a captain of the Tolle. terra when you heard these tunes The question was objected to by the defendant' s counsel. C The HI C F -BAUON thought ttis question could not be asked. Were the persons who attended these promenades decent and respectable females, and gentlemen of the town P Yes, 1 think se The " petition of the paupers" was then read, charging that flit fruits of their labour had been applied to support tax-eaters and sinecurists. The Address to the Electors of Eye was also ?cad. It toile menced by declaring that " no place, not even the corrupt and de waded Borough of Huntingdon, owed a larger atonement toil* public than the Borough of Eye." Thomas Lovell produced the manuscript Oa Mr. 'Wells's hand. l writing) of a letter dated January, 181 B—A letter to the Fre , ... holders of the County of II untingdou—'• Of myself I may cm. , sav I live in the hot-bed of sedition and corruetion" was Its cup.- mencement. 700 of them were printed." The advertisement communicating the plaintiff's intention to it. laminate his house, and calling upon ••the ragainuf6i , s " o. • tingdon to join him in the expression of their triump hth e then on_ victory of the Queen over M persecution Ministerial peecution__was ail The witness said about one-third of the hoses Rannog le wet! Illuminated ; he was swore in as a special constable • . he had heart the plaint,fl ". make speeches at various times , but tie could hot men . tion any particular occasion. The master of The Nat ional School" proved that It r.- an sod em pl o yed to tatke care that no improper person was admitted.' lischievous boys aspembled outside, outset& by the l 13 A tat Constable proved that on the bight O Pec • .?'•:.'ar • .1.. re-sr I' 4 l t . *Al