The Sun. — London, England, 1804-02-23 00:00:00

T. - IE .e7OVCEPr OF AYTIENT MUSIC, COM M NC FD last nigh, dr the elegant itioms in ii..tnovr 1:111 , e, we gave a descriptiln in Paper. wis very numerously attended b y the N hi.ity and Gentry, and gave great and genrral .sar istaaion. The Earl cf CU ESTERTI ILD was Dire&or cf the The. firs. con , isted of a SrleClion from 7 . rreias kaccabeus, preceded by " Ged Save the IG/Ig," ha rinunizo4l by Mr. Git ATOR kx, and sung by Mrs. 111 L INCTON, HARRISON, W. KNYYETT, and BAJL• RuAN--,it was encored, The princip a l so l o pa rts o f J u d as were admirably 'llPPorted by Mrs. I t —IL,..IN GTON , MISS TEN NANT, t"sra• HARR IsON, NI ELD, W. K'NYV ETT, ar;d g r eat lIITituAN, and t h e Ch orusscs were given with turct and correctness. ~, Mrs. LLINGTON sung a b eaut if u l a i r b y H AN . ' I L in the sec on d ad with gre a t e ffect ; an d HAR duetby MABC R isoN and B ARTLEMAN were much applauded in a ELLO. u GREATOR EX p res id e d at the organ with his distinguished himself in a Concerto of GEMINI AN 1. The a b sence of our amiabl e S OVEREIGN and his family was universally regretted. T 0, '''''''".'....' ............4 _HE IRATORIO.--The sublime composition of n. Messial, was performed last night at Covent garden Theatre. Before this grand Work of 1-L4N i:in commenced " God sav e the King," with the additional stanzas from Mr. Pict% loyal Mus e , was given with admirable principal female singer last night, and she displayed great musical skill. BRAHA M was finely in voice. Miss MONDAY, a ver y interes:ing young Performer, acquitted herself so a ell that she obtained consider able applause. WELSH, PLATT, and VattcHAN gave a respettable support to the harmonic treat, Gene ral AEHLEY resumed his place as Leader, and kept his musical Corps in a state of effeaive discipline. The Chorusses, particularly the Hanetujah, at the end of the second Ad, were very grand and coned. thougThe House was very well attended. Mr. Astir.tir, h entirely out of danger, was not able to at= tend the 'Oratorio last night. His four sons, however; conduded themselves very departments. ably in their respettive ease;Mil HOAR E, Secretary S for Foreign Correspond proposed to teCt uncil a plan for establishing itn Annual Publication of the Proceedings of the RPYaI Atadetny and ft perpetuating a regular Cot. respendinet with the primeipal Academies of Euro i e, for the purpbstof t h e c,.mmunicaiing what ever can *,Dtlauct to the improvement of the Arts, Which piaposal was the approved. The DUlett atti botc hes* of No T BERLAND and family lift A;alvick Castl e ltll F r % c ~ for &k. tt, split , days ago. They h ave ~0 i„ c asi t c . ()a th e i r wd I:i'-cl a short time at New „,ci,yr,„,, and Y , Which place tut) , will quit on House in the beginndirneg"Peded at Northumberland of the next week. Ttf, Dutchest ofpatro • , NsHIRE has been expeaed ;In Than for three days past. Her Grace has he,en is!.l-iscptu.:iciii.o.ildiyede,.lteained .• r atli, on account of the in_ t 1 r dangtitarl,Laiy reantsat, 'who is con fi ned to h' 'HARRIET CA. et loom by a severe sore throat, On Saturday the 18th inst. ditd, after a few days illness at his seat at Port Eliot, in Cornwall, in the 77th year of his age, the Right Hon. EDWARD CRAGGS, Lord ELIOT, Baron of St. Germa ns ; a N.)bleman, whose e?egance of manners, refi-ed taste, and brilliant wit, rendered him the ornament and admiration nf society, and whose kindness, hospi al and benevolence to his friends and depen dants, will make him be long and sincerely regretted. die is succeeded in his Title and Estat e by his eldest Son, the Hon. JoHN ELIOT, one of the Represen tatives in Parliament for the Borough uf Liskearcl. M. Robert England Ferrier, the person in cut_ for sending threatening letters to the Dut 11,,tf.ss of LEEDS, is said to be insane. H e is Mated to have been very troublesome to Lady i:it4110,_11:4141, last summer. During the autumn 0 wziks.rtutudogings in the neighbourhood of the Earl Where he seized seat, in Northamptonshire, to attrad the Wye of the beautifeulvel?ady°PP°tortquuenistiion. Not We ceettdinegs is n o h f is L o a b a j - " D e6s} 'a il ed SuPPosed that Mr. PITT, the the Countess of CHATHAM., then on a visit there" were th e „ cause of his letters not being attended to, Vossessed with this idea, he wrote several letters to .11,1r.;lirT. to which be received to reply. and MANS I ON.H ouss . -- Yesterd a mined y yawn' N;,raa Wm. Barnett, notorious offenders, were exa , charged with burgtatiously breaking and en. teriret :lic warehouse of an Inn in Culuautreet, Pen h-stteat The watchman at the next post observed a light in the warehouse about two oclock on Wednesday morning, when he tried the outer door with a key, with which he is entrusted, but could not unlock it, there being a key on the inside of the lock. He gave the alarm to the other Watchmen, and alarmed the master of the Inn : they then broke open the door, and on their entering found the boxes and ages broken open, and the goods Strewed about p hifloo On a fur ther search, they perceived the Prisoners, who were attempting to escape, when one of the persons belonging to the Inn ran a bayonet through the shoulder of one of them, while he was getting through a window, and by that means secured them' both. Th ey are so well kn own, that a number of police officers attend ed to secure them on other charges, if they should be acquitted. Samuel Burton, a dra for trial, for embezzling t h e , property of his em. , Messrs. Hanbury and Co. Brewers. It ap- Pear t that numerous complaints been made at the hou se , t h at the beer was deficient had in its measure, when it was at length bee proved t h at t h e Prisoner had ce n for a long titne in the h a bi t of stealing a rtain quantity from each cask previous so its de.. liv ery. A person 'attended who proved that she bought barrels of beer of him at different times, for which she had paid to him los. which is ss. under the value. He appears to have been, in this habit 10r u pwards of four years. LAW REPORT. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, FEW. 22. St rriNGS BEFORE LORD ELLENBOROUGH AND SPECIAL JURIES. THE KING 2). JONATHAN PANTHER. This was an indietinent for a Libel upon Govern ment against the War, calling it " the Wai: of the Rich and not the Poor," and expressing a determi. nation not to assist in it, nor in any Measures that were not founded on the Author's notions of the Principles of the Revolution of this Country in z6BB, &c. &C. published by the Defendant ely way of indorsement on the p aper l e f t at h i s house in Ox.. ford Road, • requiring him to make a retiiin under the Army of Reserve Aft, &e. &c. The Defendant was found guilty. THE ICING v. ARTHUR SEAL The Defendant was undet recognizance to appear .at the 'i'rial : he was called, bit( not appearing, his recognizance was ordered to be entreated. The Cause was then tried, It was an indidment for a Libel published in the way of an Hand-bill, for the purpose of being distributed, &c. complaining of t he War, &c. &c. and finding fault with all the proceedings of Government, &e. &c. with a view to traduce and vilify it, &c. This Defendant was also found guilty/. CONSPIRACY. THE KING V. LOCKER AND OTHERS♦ Mr. ABBOT opened the pleadings in this Case: he said this was an information filed by His Ma. jesty's Attorney General, of which the following was the substance : The first count stated, that John Locker, of Ted. •dington, yeoman; John Locker Wainwright, of the same place, yeoman i - and Isabella W a inw r i g h t , hi s wife, on the est of August last, conspired with others to inveigle, and clandestinely to take away Mary Pearce, an illegitimate daughter of Thomas Pearce, deceased, being a virgin, unmarried, and being under the age of twenty-one years, viz. of the age of nineteen years, and entitled to a large reel and personal estate of the value of is,oool. and upwards ; and being under the custody and guardianship of John Cruchfield and John Emmett, and living in the dwelling house, and under the protettion of the said John Cinchfieid, and to procure her to be married to the Defendant, John Locker, in a secret and cllndestine manner, without the knowledge, and ageibst the consent of her Guardians, he the said John Locker being a person of low and mean con dition ind circumstances. That in pursuance of this Conspiracy, the Defendant on the 7th of August, against the and without the consent of the Guardians, enticed and inveigled the said Mary : That the said J o h n Pearce to de b art clan.lesiirie4 , L , eker, and Isabella WainsYright, on the evening of the said yth of August, went iii at post-chaise to TeddlegTon, where the said Mary Pearce Was, and took and carried her away to Gretna Green in Scot land, where Ole :tele married to the 'said John Locker, and irtt they were afterwards married in the perise al Saint Luke, in the county of Middle sex, eithout tar knowoelge arid consent and against the will of her Gaard;ans ; they, the said Delete. darts, knowing that she was an infant, and entitled to such real and personal estate ; and that the said John Locker was a person of low and mean condi tion and circumstances, in contempt, &c. and against the peace, & c . The second Count differel from the first only by stating, that Mary Pe arce h a d no fathe r or mother living, without calling her an illegitimate child. The third and fourth Counts differed from the others only by omitting to describe the Defendant, John Locker, as a person of mean circumstances. The Defendants had pleaded Not Guilty, upon which issue was joined. The ATTORNEY GENERAL opened the case for the Prosecution. This, he said, was an informa tion filed against the three Defendants, Mr. John Locker, the uncle, Mr. John Locker Wainwright, the nephew, and Mrs. Isabella Wainwright, his wife, and it was a case which, unless' he fleceived himself very much, the Jury would think deserving of their very serious attention, and which the Court would think also deserving of very severe punish. ment in the event of convklion. The law of all countries he believed, the law certainly of this c mintry applying itself to the infirmities and wants of our nature, is careful in proteeting those who are most in need of protection ; and with this view it was a part of the system of our law, and the law of all well regulated societies, that persons who are either disabled altogether from ailing for them. selves, without the advice, superintendence, or con. trot of others, are to be prote&ed by others, and especially by the law. Upon this principle an in fant is held by the law incapable of making aey contra} except for his own benefit and security : in general the law affords him protedion even against his own contracts, unless for his own ad. vantage, and decleres, that if he does enter into any contrad, not for his own advantage, that con. tra& is void, that is, it cannot be enforced against him while he is an infant, nor afterwards when he comes to maturity, if he clauses to object to it. Thus stood the law ; but there are contraeas against which even an infant can have no security against the effetft of them, nor shall even the infant be at liberty to disiolve them, and con!raets of that na ture involved in them those points which are most interesting to the welfare and happiness of human life. Of that description was the contract of mar. riage, a contract into which it might be extremely interesting for a person to enter, though in infancy; that is, it might be extremely interesting and bene. ficial for an infant to enter into marriage, if dis creetly chosen by a person of mature sand steady understanding, and 'it might he a great disappoint ment to the expeaation of happiness of a minor to be prevented, in some of these cases, from en_ teeing into marriage. But, on the other hand, nothing could be more fatal than the marriage of an infant, or indeed of any body, if 'entered into in discreetly and imprudently. If infants did this without being under the proteftion, or ading under the advice of their parents, or did it without the superintendance of some person of discretion, if they happened to have considerable fortunes, as this -Young Lady 'had, they would hold forth an in vita. • ' tion to the avarice of th,eworiii, anti so ti y mere • to,fall into hands who won:a them into tiistress, and r-rhaps misery, for the rest at their lives : With this view the law proh:hited the mar riage of an infant without the consent of parents or guardians, or without a course being taken whiel would give the parents or guardiani notice of the intended marriage. The charge against these De fendants was, that they conspired among them. •selve's. Intending to effea', •and haVi,ag effected by conspiracy, the marriage of this infant, Mary Pearce, to the Detendant, John Locker, without the consent of her guardians. That was the offence which was charged against the Defendants. The aggravation of that olfenceOike the aggravation of all other offences, depended on the. circumstances under which the offence was cotrnitted, and the jury would find them abundant in this case. They would find it a case Which called for the peculiar animal_ version of the'CoUrt and Jury. They would judge of the wickedness of it by the mischief lik e ly t o be effeeted by it, and aggravated extremely by the disparity of ages and fortunes of the parties between whom the marriage was eontrafted ; they would find it particularly aggravated by the mo. tives that gave it birth, and die manner in which it was effefted. It would be his bbsiness to stare shortly to the Jury these circumstances of aggrava. tin tr. The Defendant, Mr. John Locker, the circum stances of whose marriage with this infant were now under consideration; was the uncle of the other De fendant, John Locker Wainwright ; John Locker Wainwright, therefore, was his nephew; Isabella Wainwright was the wife of John Locker Wain wright, and she was the widow of the father of the infant, Mr. Thomas Pearce, a very reSpedable brewer, who had carried on trade in Milbank -street, Westminster, who by industry in business had ac quired a very considerable fortune, indeed a very large one : he left it, however, all, or almost all, between his two illegitimate children, of Whom this young lady was one. His real estate, however, did not pass by this will, but went to the heir at law, because he had suffered a recovery of that after the execution of his will: Yet the personal property, which certainly and indisputably did pass by his will, went to these children, and that amounted to 30,0001. and upwards ; so that this young Lady, who was entitled to a moiety of it, would have at least 15,0001. vhen she came of age. He appointed Mr. Cruchfield Of Teddington, and Mr. Emmett, of St. Alban's, executors of his will, and guardians of these his children. Perhaps • the Jury might know that it was nut competent to a father to make guardians for his natural children, but the C ou r t o f Chancery had the p o w er o f appointing such guar dians, and it was pretty much of course for that Court to confirm the guardianship of those who were named in the father's will, unless some objeetion ap peared to that appointment. Here the Court of Chancery had done Sc) by approving and confirming of these Gentlemen as the guardians of these infants. The father, he thought, died in November, 1802 ; at an early period of that year he married a Miss Murray. He should say nothing respelling Miss Murray, or any body, but what arose out of the Case now before the Jury. Mr. Pearce died in No vember, rBo2 ; Miss Pearce, whose marriage was she subject of the present Trial, resided with her father's widow for some rime after his decease, upon the premises where the father had lived, and the Executors and Guardians 'were not aware of any irelpropriety in permitting her to continue under the patronage of her mother-in-law, if indeed she might now, with any propriety of language, be so called; but after they found she had married the Defendant, Mr. John Locker Wainwright, they had reason to be convinced of the impropriety of suffering her to have the care of this young Lady, in consequence of which Mr. Cruchfield, who lived at Teddington, took Miss Pearce to his house, and placed the boy, her brother, at school a little way off. This young girl had not been long at the house of her Guardian, before there were sent to her a packet of letters, and there was between her and Mr. and Mrs. Wainwrigh t a p erpetua l correspon. dente, and this raised the suspicion of Mr. Cruch. field, the Guardian, and he examined one of these letters before it was delivered to Miss Pearce, and took a copy of it. This was a letter written to Miss Pearce by Mr. Locker Wainwright, the De fendant, evidently for the purpose of preparing her mind to the appointment of a Guardian of her own choice, until she should become of age—and that was not to be Mr. Locker Wainwright himself, or his wife, who had had for some time the care of this young Lady, but, of all the persons in the world, she was advised to seleet Mr. John Locker, .the person who afterwards ran away with her, as the only fit person for that trusty office. Thus they deluded this weak young. creature to appoint this man her Guardian ; they sent her a letter which they desired her to copy with her own hand, which she did, directing an Attorney to apply on her be half to the Court of Chancery, to have Mr. John Locker appointed her Guardian. At this time the Court of Chancery had not appointed any Guardian for this young Lady, and therefore she had no Guar dian who had any power by law, because being an illegitimate child, her father's appointment - of a Guardian for her by his will, had no force in law, until such appointment was sannioned by the approbation of a Court of Equity. The De. fendants were about to apply to have this appoint.. ment of Guardian, for Mr. John Locker, the De, fendant ; but before that could be done, the real Guardians applied to the Court for the confirmation of their appointment ;'but before that could be effect. ed also, the Defendants had So worked upon the mind of this young girl, that as her brother came from school, she asked leave to walk out, and having ob. tainedit, she eloped from the house of Mr. Crush_ field, at Teddington, and went to Richmond, wh ere Mr. and M rs . Wainwright had taken lodgings, and where Mr. John Locker alio was, and which lodg ings were taken, probably,' to facilitate the elope.. ment of this young girl, for it was only three miles from Teddington, where she was at her Guardian's house ; this was on the 31st of July. Mr. Crock field, upon this, lost no time in making two api.li_ cations to the Cow of Chancery : the one before the MAST E R of the ROLLS, to have his appointment of Guardian confirmed ; and another to the Log D CHANCELLOR ' for an Order fur the produ.dion of Ff eie e : eee this young Letiy Cotfrt; c_ r.: c , ceex.e eeep e ee tip lis succeeded, for she was a Wa; - (1 of tkr:2 Conti of Chancery. At?.cordiogly the three Defe ,, ntlanta ap.; peittedbefore the CtiA/ ,- ;CELLOR on the 6:11 of kig. and prodUced the young girl in Court, on which occasion his Lordship gave the Defendants, as might litire been expefted; a suitable admonition not la interfere any further with this young Lady, but to let her go to her Guardian, and to let her remain under his care ; and also, as might have been ex.. petted from his Lordship, he gave them a very friendly and kind caution about their future c )ndu.:l, informing them of the consequence of their dis_ oliedlence to the law, which he explained to them in this ease, so that they were totally without ex. ruse. His Lordship told them very plainly what they ought to do, and what they ought not to do, and at what peril it was if they should not follow his admonition. The young Lady was then de.. livered to her guardian, Mr. Cruchfield. This was on the 6th of August last. As they were go. ieg out of Lincoln's. Inn Hall, where this took place, Mr. Locker spoke to Miss Pearce aside, and Mr. Locker Wainwright asked permission for Mrs. Wainwright to visit Miss Pearce, at the House of Mr. Cruchfield, which Mr. Cruchfield thought proper, and therefore refused. The child was then.' carried to the house of her guardian, Mr. Cruch. field, at Teddington. On the 7th of August, the very next day, the subject matter of all this com plaint in the information took place, namely, the elopement, The Defendant, Jahn Locker, who had bee% at the lodgings of his nephew at Richmond, during the latter part of this time, and who had been thereto meet Miss Pearce, on her first arrival on the gtst of July, came and slept there frequently : on the 7th of August, he and Mr. Locker 'Wainwright ordered a post-chaise to be got ready to take him, Mr. John Locker, and his party in the evening. Mr. Locker went to the inn with his nephew, Mr. Locker Wainwright, and was ex. tremely anxious to have the driver lie had been used to have, and gave the other post . ..boy two shillings to give up his turn to the other driver, whom Mr. Locker liked best. Mr. John Locker spent the wholelf the day of the 7th of August with his nephew, Mr. Locker Wain wr i g h t , an d hi s w if e , - Mrs. Wainwright, Mr. Locker and Mr. Wain. Wright came together and took the pest-chaise, and prevailed on the driver to take with him, on the frame of the carriage, a ladder, for the purpose of. facilitating the escape of Miss Pearce o ve r the wall of her Guardian's gardari, which she was to step upon out of the summer house, and go into a field which led into the road, and from which she might soon gain Bushy-Park gate, where the 'Ost.cla4ise was to be ready to take her up. Accordingly the post-chaise was taken about eight at night, brought to the door of Mr. Wainwright, where Mrs. % . (l.sintvrig,hr and her ser vant, Mary Cox, went into the pest chaise, together with Mr. John Locker, the Dzfendant. Mrs. Wainwright was to soothe the young Lady, and prevail upen her to be true ta her resolution, if there shouid happen to be any difficulty starting in her mind,en The sudden, and Mary Cox, the servant, was to attend the parties to G , ..etna-Green'. The post_ chaise filled, and the ladder being thus fastened to it, a person of the name of Hewetsor was employed to go with them on the outside for the purpose of helping the lady ,over the wall, and when that pan of the business was over, he was to return with the ladder. The Post-boy was then ordered to driVe to a place near Mr, Cruchfield'S house at Teddington, where Miss Pearce then was.—They went near to the wall of the garden of Mr. Cruch. field ; when they got to the place Mrs. Wainwright got out of the chaise, but Mr. Locker did not. fol. low lest any one' should see them altogether and suspicion should arise.—The chaise then was driven to Bushy Park. M rs . W a i nwr i g h t b rought the young lady there, and Mary Cox walked there by herself. Miss Pearce was then taken into the chaise, and away it drove towards Richmond ; they parted from Hewetson with his ladder, having no far. ther occasion for him. They set down Mrs. Wain wright on the hridge,and she walked home to her hus band,• who did his part by getting ready the post. chaise, and seeing all into it. The chaise was then driven to London--stops in Windmill -street, where another was taken—ordered to drive, and was ac. cordingly driv e n to Barnet : from thence to a Gentle, man's house in Leicestershire ; and from thence to Gretna-Green, where Mr, John Locker and Miss Pearce were married. They came h .ck to London, and having put up Banns in the Parish Church of Saint Luke, which were publi.hed on the 7th, 14th, and 21st of August —so. that the Banns were running on I , v hfi e t h e y were running off; they were married here according to the rites of the Church of Eng. land, and then 01.7 went to the' house of Mr. and Mrs. Wainwright, where they were received as they expeeted. Mary Cox accompanied them taro' the whole of the scene to Scotland, where she saw them married, and back again. The parties were afterwards apprehended. These the ATTORNEY GENERAL said, were the circumstances of this most atrocious case. He had laid before the Jury the outline; of it, w hi c h if d c . tailed as he had opened, t..,7 would s ee i t was as plain a case ci conspitetcy to betray this young girl, and to get her married to this Defendant, as ever came before a Cour t of j ust i cc . N ow in order to shew the baseness of this conspiracy, it was not necessary that he should say much : the leading features of it are : first, that one of the Defendants in this vile scheme was the widow of the father of this child, she it was, who having hastily married Mr. Wainwright, thought proper to assist in inveig_ ling her, and in recommending her to marry a man of no less an age than 64. If this woman had any feeling of gratitude about her, she would have re. membered that her husband, the father of this child was the person who enabled her to live as she now did in affluence, Pad therefore she ought to have a feel. ing of affedion for his child, but she had betrayed this' child, and given her up for the base purpose of Satisfying the sordid a , arice of an old man, who was re;uesen!ed to him to be as low in circumstances as unfit in point of age, to be the husband of tliis woman ; she ought to have been the guardian .Thd pr ueetor of this unhappy girl, who had been hua co:npleteiy sacrificed to the artifice of these three vile and sordid eonspirators. The aggravation of the Cd5C of Isabella Waiawriht, therefore, was too