The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-03-07 00:00:00

said he had lost Old Ben, meaning the deceased,.
and could act find him any where; that he had been
looking every place for him, and could nut think
whet had become of ?AA. After making this
coraphint, he went away 3 bat about five o'clock the
next morning he came again, and called Elisabeth
Grover up, to help him to look for Old Ben. By
nine o'clock several neigSbotirs were at the cottage,
and a man, of the name of Penn, having descended
the well, there found the body. The Coroner's
inquest was held the next day, and no suspicon
falling on any one, it was thought that he had fallen
into the well, and the body was buried on the Sa•
turday following. Several circumstances, however,
begat suspicion ; the body was again taken up,
and examined by two surgeons, and they disco-
vered that the death had not been occasioned by
drowning, but by contusion, and a violent blow on
the head by some blunt instrument. The evidence,
he said, which seemed to weigh against the prisoner,
was, that he had an interest in the death of the de-
ceased that no one else could have ; and certainly it
was not done for the purpose of robbery, for no ar-
ticle was taken away of the property of the de-
ceased ; and he should produce them a model of
the well, to shew that it was almost an impossibility
for any person accidentally to fall down it. 'Pheie
was also one piece of evidence which he thought
extremely important. Grover would prove that she
I washed tor the old man and the prisoner, and that
he wore but one shirt a week; but when the
! body was drawn from the well, it had a clean
shirt on ; and on the Monday following, the
prisoner, when he sent his own linen to wash, sent
a piece of a shirt, which she knew the deceased had
put on, on the Sunday previous to his death. The
tore part was torn away, probably, because it had
been bloodied when the murder was committed ;
but it so happened, that there was one spot of blood
on the piece which remained. Grover would mate,
that she knew old Srapps had hut three shirts ; one
was found clean in his house, one on the body, and
the piece produced would make up the third. He
should also give in evidence several expressions of
the Defendant, which showed his great satisfaction
at becoming possessed of the old man's property,
and others that had a serious tendency against
He concluded, by saying, that he should lay the
evidence before them, and they would give that
vetch% which to their judgment was the right one,
The Prosecutors in this case had no oilier wish
than that the matter should be fairly investigated,
and justice done.
The evidence being corroborated by a number of
witnesses ;

The Learned Jvcosa, in summing up, told the
Jury, that in almost every case of mur ler they rna,t
be content:el with cir:umstantial evidence, as murder
was perpetrated in secrecy. But their first inquiry
lingt be, whether any murder had been commuted?

the deceased had thrown himself into this
well ? ram the evii:eilce, there certainly was great
probahility that the deceased had been murdered.
—lt was proved, that there was great difficulty in
any one falling dovn the well. The surgeons
proved. that be had received blows, both before and
behind, on the head, but none on the top of the
head, where it was likely he would have received
one, it he had fallen down head foremost. It was,
however, in proof, that the well was a chalky bot-
tom, and such bottoms usually had irregular flpt
stones. There was no evidence how this warrohou4th
it seemed a desirable piece of evidence to have ob.
tained. He then recapitulated all the evidence, re-
marking on it as he went along ; and left the Jai y
to say, whether they thought the circumstances
weighty enough for them to pronounce a verditt of
guilty against the Prisoael d
In his defence he only said he was innocent.—
The Jury found the prisoner Guilty.
He was immediately sentenced to be hanged tin
Monday morning, which sentence he heard with
not much discomposure.

About eight o'clock on the evening of the 27th ult.
PATRICK RZED, a private soldier behinging to the
third battalion of the First (or Royal) Regiment of
Foot. whilst standing sentry at the tower of Culver-
croft battery, in Sussex, was accosted by a man
dressed in a great coat, round hat, and cockade (who
appeared to be an Officer's servant), and who, after
some conversation, fired (as is supposed) a pistol at
the said PATRICK RIAD, the ball of which passed
through his knee. REID has since died of his
wound ; and a reward of 100 guineas is offered in
Tuesday ilighes Gornto for the apprehension of the
person who committed the murder.
On Tuesday week, Mr. HUNT, of Orford, far-
mer. returning from Louth market, was overtaken
by the storm on his way home, and perished in the
snow. His horse was found the nett morning en-
tirely covered. excepting his head ; and the body of
Mr. H. was not discovered till Saturday, Dear Bin.
brook, about a mile from his own house.

Tuesday se'nnight, the largest vessel ever built at
Bristol, was launched at 1-11u.ssousa's dock. She
went off the stocks amid the cheers of an immense
concourse of spedators, more numerous, perhaps,
than was ever before assembled on any similar
occasion there. She was named the Nelson, in ho-
nour of the immottal hero whose valour was at
once the saiegthild of our commerce, and the terror
of Our enemies.

There resides in the neighbourhood of Llanymy-
nech, a woman who has been a foot post between
that village and Oswestry for several years ; in the
course of which she has travelled more than three
times round the globe. Her height is not more
than 4 feet, her weight $ stone; and she has fre-
quently carried, alternately, between the above-
mentioned places, more than twice her weight; her
pace is slow and constant, never in her youth ex-
ceeding 3 miles an hoar ; she is at present 51 years
of age, but seldom omits her attendance, three
time in the week being post-letter days.—A worthy
example of persevering industry.
An inquest was taken last week, at Chipping
Norton, Oxfordshire, on view of the body of SARAH
'Nets, a child upwards of two years of age. who,
in the absence of its mother, was playing with a doll,
which she unfortunately dropped into the fire, and
the infant, in endeavouring to extinguish the flames
from the doll's clothes. set fire to her awn. On the
mother's return, who had been absent not more
than five minutes, the child was found so very much
burnt, that it languished but a short time, sad then
expired.