The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-09-27 00:00:00

MELANCHOLY

We have the painful duly of recording a most melancholy
ard distressing Ciffalltataller, which has planged a highly
respected family into the deepest dsstress. the Monday last
the two eldest !soya of C. A. Elton, Fig. (Abraham and
Charles, shout II and 13 years of age) who, with the rest of
tre family, were spending some time at Weston-Super-Mare,
went to a small island near the bathing spot, called Birn.
the passage to which is dry at low water, tbe essausection
w•th the rocky shore being by a causeway thrown up by
t sliermen to hang their arts uu ; here the young genttrmeu
a ere amusing themselves by searching fur small Ash shells,
&c alien the tide, which steals room: the island almost im-
perceptibly, overtoellt them, and formed a junction, which
ri,t off their retreat. In this situation they were seen
by a young lade, who made signs to them of their dsegvr,
nut, gave an alarm, bat from the impossibility of noel-
• lag a boat, from the shallowness of the beach is which it
as moored, and which could not be flooded fur an hour,
all Assisiassee became veils. In their .111teuipt to reach the
thous-, the youngest was carried out of his depth, whets
the eldest, who was not iss so sinsei danger, stripped an.
dashed to the rescue of his brother; the title however (which
111 this place rashes like a mill-pond), was gaining rapidly
on them, and in rpite of every exertion, they were both
et reloped se the flood. As soon as the tidings reached the
*Hided father, he immediately repaired to the spot, with
acuusred feelings beyoad deseriptisim. The grealestimaiely
was manifested upon every Fumigants(' ; pad as soon as a
boat could be Boated, Col. Rugess, wills two rowers, pushed
off for the island, but all search was is vain : their Waite have
out yet been discovered ; though the jacket of the eldest has
been picked up. They were handsome and accomplished
y ••• ith rare talents and &salable dispositions educated
rutirefy by their father, to whom they were combust Cutup..
kiwi, What mast be Ids loo? How inadequate is less-
gauge to describe it ! Evers one feels, mud every tongue ex-
pestles sympathy and regret.—(Alrbreol Gazette.) •

•
On Tuesday lain, OA Lair,. Esq. was Dal.
sinuously chosen Mayor for the town and port of
Weymouth and Melcombv Regis.
The accounts from the Earl of FIFE'S shooting
party, at Man Lodge, mention among the incidents
at sport, that the Margins of ....nA.Am Drell, killed
too red deer and t* roe bucks au the first day of
going nut. and Mr: Coss, M.P. for Derby. shot
oite of the finest eagles ever seen. with a ball : the
eagle measured mint than feet.

OLD itiILEY,
SATURDAY. SRPTRIIIIIRR 4s.

SENTENCE OF MRS. RIDDING.

At ten oreloc k this morning Mrs. flithling w .%
bought to the bar to receive fresitelice for the of-
fence of which she was yesterday found guilty. She
wore the same dress as d g her trial, and sp.
!reared equally sensilile of the inelnitchnly sitti:tt
in which she stood. She was Intended by Mr
Appleby, her itursr, who has faithfully and esatelu
ously remained with her since her imprisonment.
(la being asked in the usual form by the Clerk
of Arraigns, whether she had any thing to say why
_sentence sh Id not be pronounced ul her, she
manifested the strongest emotion, and burst into
tears, but made no nde.
The Comuote SEN./I:ANT then proceeded to pass
sentence upon her. He stated that the offence of
which she stood charged was one of a very heinous
nature, but it had, like tethers, its shades both of
aggravation NMI mitigst. ;in her case, most for.
tutiftiely for herself, the offence partOok of the latter
character : she was youtig, and insensible 'irritates
to the parental pangs she had inflicted upon the
rustily whose child she had carried off. There
was in the very nature of tiny °Voce of Ili"
kind, that sort of uncertainty as to the fate of
e child clandestinely taken from its parents,
rendered the ellipsis!) of the latter %Imola worse
than the actual kiinwledge that the object of
their agony had been taken front then& by the heed
or death. It had, however, appeared in the case
of the Prisoner, that !wither to the child nor to
its laniq was she actuated by hostile or angry
ft-elingo, that, on the contrary, of the parents
she was utterly ignorant, and the child she Lad
carefully and tenderly treated. Still she must
be sensible she bad committed a great offence,
and one which could lot be overlooked by
the severe displeasure of the law. The Court,
always administering justice with mercy, was
irady to give the Mistimes the benefit of the
strop;; and earnest recommendation expressed by
the Jury. It was also ready to give sincerity to the
strong feeling of contrition which the Prisoner ap.
peared to evince, and to diminish the punishment
which the law provided for the offence, so far ns
was consistent with the public safety. The sen-
tence of the Court thereft.re was, that she he no.
prison,ll in the House of Correction fur the space
of twelve culetelar mouths, and be then fitted our
She seemed much agitated during the ComiroX
SeeJLANT's address, and repeatedly shed tears.
At its conclusion she said, in a faltering voice, that
she meant to have treated the child with maternal
fetidness, and also to have apprised its parrots, as
soon as she discovered them, of her ititentions to-
wards the child. She was assisted from the bar hy
the nurse, who seemed almost as much affected as
herself at the eituation of her mistress. As the
Prisoner's offence was committed iii slidollesex, it
was necessary the Protester should be executed there
also. confinement in the Howe of Cnrieetien
was not, therefore, intended as, nor will it be, in
fact, an aggravation of punishment.
The unfortunitte lady, in being sentenced at ibis.
period of the Session, instead *of twine kept in
Newgate until the close of the trials, and then put
to the bar with the other convicts who receive sen-
tence in a body. has received from the Court a
considerate inenlgence, which seemed (lit it ought)
to give a general satisfaction to all who were present
at the sentence.
SHAM ATTORNEY.

George Field. a young man exceedingly well-
dressed, was indicted for Caudulently
from one William Croy/Iy, the %Inn of I/. 15.. by
falsely pretending that he was one of the attorneys
of the Court of King's Bette', and that PUCh sum
was necessary to carry on a law snit on behalf of
the Pitwecutor.

This case excited a good deal of interest. and it
is to be hoped that the example produced by the
result, will have a wholesome eti•ct upon a certain
class of miscreants, who are hourly plosiderilig the
ignorant and unwary by the must artful species of
knavery.
It appeared in evidence that the Prisorier, who
has been for sonic time known as one of those ill-
omened birds of prey who nestle in the inferior
Courts of Justice, had been in the habit of fre-
quenting a public-house in the neighbourhood , f
Redcross-street, where the Prosecutor sometimes
adjourned of an evening to take his sockl pint of
porter with his neighbours. On the evening of the
day mentioned in the indictment lie was at the pub-
lic-liouse in question, and the Prisoner being pre-
sent, he happened to mention that lie had occasion
for the assistance of a lawyer to proceed against a
person who owed him some money. The -Poisoner
immediately interpo►ed, said he we, an attorney.
and offered his assistance, to do the needful iu re-
covering the money. Yielding to the Prisoter's
urgent tender of assistance, he agreed to give him
the job; and bring informed that some money in
hand was necessary to set the machinery of the law
in motion, lie was prevailed UllOll to advance tite
sum of 1/.154. With these means the Prisoner af-
terwards represented that lie had arrested the
debtor, and hurl gone oat as far as delivering a de-
elevation, and then demanded more money to go on
with ulterior proceedings. The Prosecutor'a sus-
picion btitig a little awakened, lie thought it ',ro-
deo to make some inquiries into the character of
his lawyer, and found that lie was an arrant itupot.
tor, mid that his nan►r was not to be found in the
law hat. Ile, of course. stopped his hand in ad-
vancing more money, and cruised the case to be
made known to the Law Society, who very 'properly
look the matter up. and instituted the present pro.
tecution.

Air. Field, a respectable solicitor, 'vas examined.
to negative the supposition that the Prisoner had
been authorised to use In. moue, or was in any way
connected with lino.

The Prisoner, in his defence, admitted that he
had received 1/. iss. from the Prosecutor; hut
stated that he had duly laid the money nut in ar-
resting the debtor and filing a declaration. He
added, that he was admitted an attorney of the
King's Bench in 1815 ; but of this fact uo evidence
was offered.

The COMMON' SERJEANT, before whom the cute
was tried, summed up, and the Jury found the Pri..
sonrr
The COURT, after some strong •nimsdcersions
upon the euormity of the Prisoner's oftener, seal-

tented Min to be publicly whipped in the Prank
yard, and then discharged.
The ignominious sentence wag, we believe, im-
mediately carried into execution--und the culprit,
who is a cripple in note of his limbs, ea,n again turned
10.?se upon society.
wrsr END FAIR GANG.
• Philip Causerw, Goiter were indicted
for at...lulling Ti thy !Ivan, a' wood ... its Ow
perish ul Il.sioliwr.l4l. and stealing Irons his iie.stm
a silver watch, chain, seal and key, uts the -27th ut.
July list. •

It appeared that on the day in rine.tion, the P,o-
secular nnd•hi. wale were at West Etol rm.; when
they entered the fair. they we, esurtounded by seve-
rs! persons, amongst whom were the r.,,tmer%
The Prosecutor was host led and separated flout iti"
wife and child: lie was ktioAvil down and eery 61-
treaded, and his watch token from him. This oc-
curred about golf-pest six the evening, and wit-
ness was positive the Pi isoners were amongst the
gang who first hustled him.
The Jury found.the Prisoners Gnilty.
The commoxssiugANT. who tried them. had
repeatedly occasion to reilll.ll2llli them for their in.
decorous conduct. The Learned Judge regretted
that offence had not been laid capitally. instead
of being charged as a mere 0(1114 front the per-
son; in that case the sentence woolit have affected
their lives. As it was, fortunately for them,
Itortutinn was the extent of puiiiplinsent which the
law could inflict, and thie the safety of society in
this cotnttrt called for. 'lie sentence of the Conn,
therefore, was, that they should be transported for
the term of their natural lives.

The Pritioners were !Aril from theirir as quickly
as possible. but were lint maimed till they toad
Bulged in Violent invective against the Cuun, the
Jury. and the Prosecutor.
A Prisoner was then put to the her. charged with
stealing a silk handkerchief.. valne es. from the per-
son of an ii.dividual unknown. Ile war found
guilty. The Prisoner werrlrersed in the uniform
of the Artillery Drivers' corps. but •on inquiry. it
appeared lie was not a sut;tier. but being without
clothing. the gaoler furnished hint with the jrcket
iu question.

the Comatom SERJEANT raid, the conduct of
the gaoler nu this occasion 3as a proof of Ilia littinoni.
ty and feeltisg. He could out, 'Hmer, refrain from
rqtrobating the circomstaiice of elutlitog • Mao,
awl plieeitig hum briers: a litty, to Oar ittoforio of a
respectable corps ; who, but tor the inquiry he.bod
mode, might here been di•c►ecrd by its being be.
hewed the Prisoner woe one of its member*. He
trusted iu future the coot owe of the priootters would
be that cososkelit wills • psi•un.