The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-09-26 00:00:00

BROAD-.TAIRS, ScrT. 24.

ntiling can exceed the gaitres and festivities of
;‘ ;harming spot :we are ail m:rth And glee This
av he con',idered a week of
.fors.—lt commenced
a grand bail and supper, given List night at
.catt's Library, by the Hon. Colonel ri.NbiER;
• Guards, the life anti soul of our society. The
nr:rarre began to assemble soon after eight. o'clock,
ae wi.:(11 time, until nine, we were continually
zdre.l by the arrival of frr•sh beauty. At nine
•,..i., the first dance was led of by Ca. Faass teR
Lady Asir Lircosav, followed by nearly
easy couple of elegant dancers. At twelve, the
yet-halms were thrown open, mei an abundance
good things crowned the hospitable board;—it
'slated of the firs: delicactes the season could
.irce. At one, tire merry dance was resumed,
kept up till a late hour. I assure yr,a, we st-pa.
ed with much regret, fully impressed with a
ly sense of the great attentions of our host,
me sole nbjed seemed to be to render complete
happiness of his gu:s:s. Such a constellation of
u:v, elegance, and fashion, has rarely Leen wit-
sed, certainly never before in this ist.m.i. B,
aerating a few, you may form souse idea of the
:elience of oar parry :
tit aid Criumers, of Linn,ick, and ton Ladies Perry, Lady
I:::rra., and the Lilie.lopdsay, Lord Lindsay, Lae, LUI4IIII
1.1; VSCOthlt and Ycluuntras Allen, and tire :No Miffs
~s, Lard Rutbre.l., Miss SininAtime, and Mimi M. El.
=44000, Lady Graham nerd M.....s Graham, Earl Lau+, aid
~,I Ayhner, Sir charlft, Lady, and hi.ti B .t.gidtr.r.
1, and !Mims LAM., !Of :00 Mr!. Crithbers, Mr. aro Mrs
4.,!!1, Mr. and Mrs. kilackAaw, Mr. and Mac ,inalev, C.d.
Mr.. (Jarboe, Id;rsirs. rdshugh, II .g !..s, a:4 F.irststrar,
.i. Stnpagi and Arcustr4,B;. Gaiddins Ade,,, r"ege Cot"
,1111..e5, ded.k: As.

- -
Tito Dowager Countess fireeeta gave a grand
mei-. last Saturday, to Earl and Countess SPEN-
I, Viscount Atrimaise, and a nnmerous corn-
y, at her seat. at St. Alban's.
Lord Gwvnin is recovering slowly; he is at-
Jed by Sir %VAL TS% Fa actwiatt.
The Earl of JILISEY is much better.
Mr. Coals has a large party at his seat, in Nor-
for the shooting season.
The F.arl and Ceuntws Sr escea are at their
t, at Wimbledon.
The Earl and Countess of ;NI aesel LLD are gone
Ramsgate.
The Earl of CAVAN will leave DVRIOID'S Hotel,
day, for Ireland.
'•!t. and Mrs. FITZGIBBON tcill leave Neitox's
twat Sunday, for Cheltenham.
km DoSor Cott and his Lady left St. A L'S
pet yesterday, for -South NVales.
tninTIIII FP &ZIOt arrived at the St. James's note,
rrday.
pie karl of Essex left Cashiobury yesterday, on a
to the Dowager Countess, at TeJJington.
The Countess of °JOINT.'" has left her seat, Wo-
-house, Rucks, for Cheltenham.
i. Has itisoe, Esq. t gone to his seat at Heath,
&edit) ire.
' Theatre at Bristol will open next Monday.
night Covent Garden Theatre was crowded,
e Mr. K MILL'S Pcaru.i.lwk, and Mita LUPINO,
kw dancer ; she is very young, and performed
lease. Mr. Beards and his family appeared to
t advantage.
• e German Theatre was full of elegant corn-
/ last night. 'rue new Opera of the he Sevi‘c,
performed and much apnl iudea. Master F.
`,kcal, in The bruceArg Peasant, in tl.e Farce
dr Ortolan!, kept the house in conttnued bursts
itughter. He may most justly he called the
1104rialt. The Pautominie Dance was also
:iy applauded.
14e re-opening of the Winter Theatres has in
measure dissipated the gloom that hung on the
Inc mind ; but the performance that commences
Menday next, at Coopers' Hall, far exceed,
'crest and Cf.& the most splendid effotts of
lil'az.no. Thor:. a f..munate speOator, may, in
m
"U, he raiv...,ftn opulence and independence
• magic •ti went), I hotisand Pounds prin.
74" nay." acerrnolme:f by the harmonious
eloftln•swilt NesseLsr4o. which have hitherto
c,1•.1 in reriderteg the Lotter) the most maul*
the plibiie tatettaiatufrata.

.

,~~

• F •
CO RONEII' INQUESTS.
,
ASSASSINATION'
Yesterdey. JIINNETT, Esil. COTOner of the
county of Surrey, and hes lequest fury, aftennspea.
ing the body and premises of Mr. Isaac Blight, ship-
breaker, of Greenland Dock, Deptford, who WIS
shot on Monday evening last, proceeded to the
Acorn public-house, in the neightnierhood, where
they took the examinations of the following Wit-
nesses:
I lester Kitchener, the first Witness, deposed, that
she had been nearly two worths servant in the
house in which the deceased and his family lived ;
as also Mr. Robert Patch, who had formerly been
his foreman. Her examination lasted upwards of
three hours and a half, and embraced a variety of
extraneous matter, as well as some preliminary cir-
cumstances, which we shall forbear to det.til in this
place, as they come more frilly in the deposition of
another more important Witness. Her mistress
and children, she said, had been for some time at
Margate, and, after Mr. Blight went to see them in
the morning of Thursday last, Mr. Patch, who
remained at home, ordered her to shut the win-
dots up at half past six o'clock in the evening,
whikh was three hour; eerier than the ordinary
time, observing, that he had beets disturbed on
other evenings, and wished to gn early to bed. This
being done, he ordered her to bring him six-penny-
worth of oysters; and, on her return, he shewed her
the marks of a shot whi .!) had been fired at him,
1 through the window-shutters, and which he for-
tunately escaped, as he h io,e.ned then to be sitting
out of the chair which I.e ordiiiarily u.ed. On
Monday last, the deceased returned from Margate,
and 'drank tea in the evening with Mr. Patch ; after
which they went out, and on their return, had two
glasses of grog. They were then sitting in the in-
ward par lour, Mr. Patch having changed to that,from
the first parlour, ever since the shot had been fired
at him. about half past eight o'clock, Patch came
hastily into the kitchen, Calling to her for a candle
and the key of the compting-house, saying, that he
WAS ill in his bowels, and seamed to retire to the
nece..sary. She described, that what they called
the compting-House, had` been nee formerly, but
was then only a room leading to the necessary, to
which there was no passage from either of the
parlours, hut through the end .sed and pallitadoed
yard, separating the house from a little narrow
ffig-way, which seas called the road. :alt.:heard
Mr. Patch shut the door of the compting,hnuse
after him, and also that of the privy, bet he had
scarcely done, when she alto heard the report of a '
pistol or gun ; on which she screamed mitt' and,
running to the Parlour, saw Mr. Blight making
towards the kitchen, ant el-claiming, that he was
shot. She then ran to the parlour di.or, and, in her
alarm, shut it; hut, in bar attempting to return to
the kitchen, beard Mr. Patch knocking and calling
at the parlour door, which she o?ened to him.
He was then unbuttoned, holding up his small
clothes iu his hand, and asked her what was the
matter? When she answered; that Mr. liiight had
been shot; lie desired her to run and call their neigh-
bour. Mr. Frost, and if he should not be at home, 0
go immediately for the surgeon; and then went into
the assistance of Alt. Blight. After a long an I
street exatniaati.m, she persisted is sweariue, that
from the rime that had elapsed between ch's
sbuttieg the ptivy-Door an dt tete repent of di: 'stol,
it
he could not have time to tome round the. y to
the parlour to discherge a pistol, nor was theresime
for him, if he had dine sn, to hare gone back 0 the
necess try and have returned from it, an soon as she
heard him knocking at the door. She never saw
any fir-arms in the house, but there was a pair of
niVOI bags for a long thine hanging in the kitFlovn
closet ; but, from apprehension, she never eeamined
whether there were any arms in them or not. The
deceased, she said, died on the evening nt the next
d my, and was, as sue supposed, about seven or eigin
and forty years of age. Mr. Patch was a wisiowa•
ut about three or four and thirty.
The Witness herself was a dame of between 50
and SO years old.
The next Witness called, was Mr. Frost, whose
testimony did not materially affea the merits of the
case.

Mr, Jones, a surgeon, at Deptford Dock-yard,
deposed, that he was called on the first alarm, to-
gether with another Gentleman of the same pro-
fession, and advised that a gentleman of the faculty
should be sent for from London. He remained
with the deceased till he expired ; and had no doubt,
after a due examination of the weitnd. which entered
at the belly, passed through the duodenum, and
went out at the back, that it was necessarily the
cause of his death. He did not hear the deceased
express any suspicion whatever of Mr. Patch.
The next material Witness was a man who had
been employed by the Jury in the morning, to ex-
amine the necessary, and who produced a pistol-
ramrod, which he found lying on the top of the
soil; but, it did not appear that his researches went
£r tar as to aicortain whether or not the pistol, also,
may not be discoverable at the b3ttom, or some
other part of it.
After this and some other evidence had been
gone through, it became a question with the Jury,
whether they ought not also to have tf.e deposition
of Patch hims3lf ? and, after some close deliberation,
they determined in the affirmative.
Robert Patch deposed, that he had been for some
time ioreman to the deceased ; and, on tha 16th of
July last, had purchased of him the business, stock
in trade, and also the house and furniture ; but as
the present lease had only two years to run, and
as Mr. alight bad offered to use his influence to get
it renewed, it was agreed that he and his faintly
might reside upon the premises, as usual, until that
s'iould be effeaed. On Thursday morning last,
about four o'clock, Mr. Blight left home on a visit
; r his wife and family at Margate, and the Witness
accompanied him to Deptford High-way, where he
iett him to wait for the arrival of the coach, and
then returned home. In the evening, about half
past six o'clock, he ordered the maid to fasten the
shutters, which closed on the outside, observing to
her, taut he had been disturbed on former even-
ings, and proposing to go to bed ; but he was pre-
vented from doing so as soon as he intended, by the
arrival of Mr. E:di hie, a c.ipp3r-manut.aeturer, of
Ru theriiithe, who drank a gia,s of grog, and re.
maiued about an flour with him, Atter his de-
partute, lie sent the maid for six-peony-worth of
oysters, but alto had only been guns a few mo-

mints, *leen he heard, en the outside, the explosion
of a gun or pisaa : the aomeats of which pear- '
mated the window-shutter, broke the sash at the
lower part, and alsts the Io part of the Venetian
blind, which it shattered. fie was at the time lean-
ing nn the table. seppo: tin;; his cheek on his right
hand, and received a :.evere clap on his left cheek.
from whit, he supposed to be a splinter from the
Venetiareblind, which fell just near to him. and, in a
short time after, be found the ball also lyin about a
yard from the window. He then :mmedia'ely ran out
into the yard, and, seeing a strange man and his wife
passing by, asked them if they hal seen any one go
over the pallisadaes, or passing along the road ? and
they answering, that they had seen no one, he asked
them to go in and witness what bad happened.
They advised him to send for some neighbour, and
the maid being returned by this time, he sent her
for Mr. Frost, one of the former Wititessee, who
came, and, expr".sing great alarm, said. he had no
other advice to give hint, than to keep a watchman.
rhe maid then observed, that she must ga for can-
dles, as there were none in the house, and it raining
:it the time pretty harJ, air. Frost offered to accam-
modate with somef. ir the night,and to quiet the appre-
hensions of the women,Wiiness agreed to accompany
them. On their way Mr. Frost asked hint if he had
any fire arms in the gouge ? to which he answereJ,
that he had a pair of small pocket pistols in some of
his boxes; but had no ammunition. Mr. Frost
offered to lend him some, but he declined it, saying,
that he trusted he should be safe when he went to
bed, us there seemed to be no intention of robbing
the house. The pistoL alluded to, he said, he sup-
posed to be still iii the house. .They were, he be-
lieved. one, in each box, but he had not handled
them these two } ears. They had screw barrels.
but were of too small a calibre to admit of such
balls as those which had been,fire4 at him and the
deceased. He had not seen the pistol-bags which
hung in the kitchen till yesterday, when they were
shewn to him, and he never perceived that the dee
ceased had any fire-.arms is the house. He
wrote an account of what had happened to the
decased, who retaraed Itom Margate at eight
o'clock, on Monday morning. In the course
of tl:e day, they consulted on the circumstances
and the Witness proposed to keep a watchman, to
winch Mr. ißlight ohjeated, that he would find it
too expensive. Mr. Blight, however, thought
little of it, nbserving, that he supposed it might
have been an accidental shot from the river, and
thus the Muter rested. The deceased then told
him he was going to London that morning ; and
the Witness observing, that he had also business
there himself, the former said that he should he
back again by 12 o'clock to dinner, and tae Wit-
ness might go there afterwards. Mr. Blight re-
turned At the time appointed; and the Witness leav-
ing him with Mr. Graham and another at dinner,
went himself on the same horse to London. and
returned in the evening. He araiilc tea with the ,
deceased. and afterwards a glass etch of grog,
when the Witness feeling and complaining of a
pain iu his bows's, the decease i advhed him to
try so.ne burnt brandy ; but this medicine he
declined, mail he saw whether he should not
get rid of the psis wataout it. He then went to the
kachea, leaving the parlour door open, and taking
the candle arid key with him. he went through the
farmer empty house ; but had no sooner seated him-
self on the necessary, than he heard the explosion of
a musket or pistol. and running, as he was, found the
parlour door shut, which, on ha knocking and call-
ing. was opened by the maid, who exclaimed, "my
master is shot." lle then desired her to go for Mr.
Frost and a surgeon. She refusing, he propose-1 to
gn himself, but that she aka obs:ruaed him in.
lan/ling him, hawerrer, resolute, she consented to
go ; and, cn rushing into the kitcaen, he found the
deceased lealing, with his head supported on his
arm, upon the dresser, who immediately cried our,
"Oh my dear Patch, lam a dead man." He
then asked him where hej was hurt ? when the de,
ceased put his hand upon the wound, atter which
he supported him into the parlour, where the stir-
' geon and some others soon afterwards arrived. In
the c-urse of the evening, the deceased read to him
his will, which he brought with him from London,
and iu which he proposed to alter only die name 01
the Person who was appolnted executor in trust.
In bit progress through' the yard, he did not per-
ceive any person, as he had the candle before him ;
but it was easy for an assassin to escape over the
paling, as there was a quantity of wood piled up
against it in the inside. In the course of their c
versation, respelling the danger of not having a
watchman, the deceased said, that he did not know
of any more than two enemies he had—one of the
name of Webster, with whom he had been va-
lamer ; and the other, of the name of Clarke, a
waterman, of Deptford-yard, who had frequently
I attempted to strike him in the walk.
The C.:maitre then, very summarily stated the
substance of the evidence, and the Jury, after a
short deliberation, brought in a "wain of—Wilful
murder against some perms uninewn.
l'he deceased, as we stated yesterday, was him,
self a man of opulence, and has left a widow and
son and daughter, both of whom are amply pro-
vided for by bequests from deceased relatives.
Inquests were taken yesterday on the body
of the driver of the Brentford stage, who was
I killed by the breaking down of the coach, in Pic-
cadilly, and of the glazier, who fell from the second
Boor of a Coffee-house, in at. James's-street ; in both
c sees, verdicts were given of dcreeksinl Deur&
On Tuesday an inquest was taken at China Hall,
on the body of the unfortunate man who was
stabbed on Saturday, when a verdift of Wiyed
Murder was given against Samuel Startiaa,
The avidity with which Tickets and Shares of the
ensuing Lottery are purchased, can only be aura.
buted to the unprecedented excellence of its Scheme,
in its display of numerous Capital Prizes, and the
powerful attraction of 3,000 Benefit Blanks, which
will completely secure to the Purchaser a Benefit of
101. for the fist three days of Drawing at least;
and, as Monday next will be the first day. nu time
sheuld be lost. Adventurers, therefore, baste and
buy; you may have at present the greatest choice
both of Tickets and Shares, in all the vaned Thou-
sands, and at the very lowest prices. at J. JOHNSON
and Co.'s old and truly fortunate Licensed State
Lottery-Of:Le, No. 3, Pape's Cornhiil,
London.