The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-01-05 00:00:00

A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS.

The fnllowing is tin extract from a singular cor-
respondence between Cobbett and Sir Francis But.
deit, published in a Paper of Sunday. Cob-
bett's letter displays it very new way of toying old
expressed in a style well worthy the ex-
quisite moral anti intellectual taste of the writer.
'Ube answer of Sir Francis Burdett it just, manly,
and stvrre.

10 SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, BART.
Nuith Hampstead, I..mg
.141.m20, ISI7.

SIR-1 enclose con the copy of a letter to Mr. Tipper,
which I beg you to have the goodness to read, and to con
sider the controls of it (as far as they relate to the liquida-
tion of my di bts generally) as addressed to yourself. lu ad-
dition you will be pleased to understand, that, as to the
debt due to you, nu pains shall be spired by tae to obtain
the nouns of paying it as son as possible; amid 1 beg that
you will furnish Mr. White, toy attorney, with your charge
against me, inclndiug intectst,thal he may transmit it to me.
I now transmit to Mr. tt'hite Irrigars note of hand. It
nord be endorsed by you before I ran proceed against
Wright. *I his rascal always contended that he harrow-
ed the mom y us. his own account. Your word was quite
sufficient to move the contrary ; and though no pact of
it Wall ever made use of for sic, and tholizli the aibitratur
determined against my b 1 mg at all responsible,l thought
myself and still think myself hound to pay tun, you putting
me au a cuoilition to ri cover the Danny hum him, abaci.
you can at once du by endorsing the mite of hyoid. IL
am aril aware the mounds of complaiiii and repro:kill to
which debtors always expose tbcroselvca, and I am unit V2lll
fllUtiCii to expect to escape consequence' to • hieli :ill others
are liable; but if I Cully pay to the last teething, those
grounds will be all swept away; and as I am in no doubt of
being able, in a slim t space of lime, to pay every one fully,
I anticipate with great satisfaction the day of my deliver-
ance Isom this soil of thraldom.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient and must huintic Servant,

I%M. CO B BETT.

The rrply of Sir Francis Burdett :-
11.) MU. WILLIAM COBBETT.

St. Jameis.place, Jau. 31, 11118.
SIR—I have just received yours of the 20th November,
and carefully, and nccurding to your desire, perused the en-
closed to Mr. Tipper
It is not my intention to enter into any controversy re-
specting the honesty or dishonesty of paying or not paying
debts according to the convenience of the party owing. It
seems that if it should ever SUM sour touveliieuce, and take
siothiug from the comforts and enjoyments of yuurulf and fit-
mily, such comforts mid eoplyments, and means too of dist iit-
'Malting themselves, as you think they are entitled to, all this
being previously secured, then you think yourself bound to
pay your debts ; if, on the contrary, that cannot be effected
without sacrifices on your awl their part, iu that case your
creditors have no claim to pc efer and yon no do t y to 'inform.
You then stand absolved, recta, in Toro conrcieatia ; and
for this singular reason, because those who lent you their
me.ney when you were in difficulty and distress, in order to
Save you and your family from runt, were and are unable to
protect you either against your own fears, or the power aim
arbitrary Government, under which they have the misfortune
to live, and to which they are squally exposed. These prin-
ciples, which are laughable in theory, see iletestrilile to pote-
nce. That you should not only entertain and ■et upon,
but openly avow them, aud blind your own untlerstandiug,
or think to blind that of others, by such flimsy pretences, is
one more melancholy proof of the facility with which self-
interest caa ,•fume the mask of hypocrisy, and by menus of
the weakest sophistry, overpower the strongest understand-
ing. How true is our continuo law maxim, that too roan is
✓u
upright judge iu his own cause ? how truly nod prettily
said by the French, " 14 /Valu►s Se pipe;" nor less truly,
though mire grossly in English," ?intuit's her own Ilawil."
lie exprossios- my abhorrence of the principles you lay
down fur your conduct, and concerning which you dial.
{nage my opinion a little oufairly, considering the ridicule
with which you at the same time threaten to overwhelm the
uwftrittmate wight who presumes to dith r from i 114.111, I do
OW desire that you should act uproot nosy other with regard
to me; I should he sun y your family were put to any incon-
venience on my account ; should your circumstances ever
prove so prosperous as to enable you to di►charge your debts
without infrinciug upon those new principles of mural oils-
Indio°. you have adopted, and which fur the firm time since
the commencement of the win ld have, I believe, been, though
frequently acted us,, openly promulgated. As to complaint
or reproach, they are the offspring of weakness and folly ;
disdain should stifle them; but nothing Call er ought to
stifle the expression of disgust every honest mind must fet I
at the want of integrity in the principles you proclaim, amid
of feeling and generosity in the sentiments you espress.
1 sin, Sir, your must obedient and must humble Servant,
F. BURDETT.

About eleven o'clock, on Saturday night, a
dreadful fire broke out in (?Irosvenor Mews, which
consumed a considerable extent of stables, &r. to-
gether will, tile work-shops of Mr. SERLE, book-
binder, Grosvenor-street. We are sorry to ear,
four valuable horses were burnt to Arai, h. Through
the exertions of the firemen and a good supply of
wider the {limes were got under, without extending
to more valuable premises, which were much to be
pprehrlifird. Wu hear it urigitiated through nue
of the ostler* KatoK into the stables with a hglited
candle, and which communtcated to smile loose buy.

ENECOTION OF ROBERT JOHNSTON,

•MD
HORRIBLE OUTRAGE!

EDINBURGH. DECEMBER 31, 111111.
We have thin day to record one of the must dis-
greceful scenes that ever t• .k place in this city.
The unfortunate Mali was convicted and sen-
tenced to the for Robbing Mr. Chaney, candle-
maker ; his two accomplices, 6.1110 w iv and Lee,
were sentenced, the I er to Emanuel', and the lat-
ter to seven years' tratispairtation.
Day-light yesterday exhibited the new apparatna
for the melancholy catastrophe. The place fixed
upon was before the nortlimost window On the west
side of the New North Church, a few yards from
the High-street. Numerous groups of people con-
tinued to assemble about the fatal spot to examine
the dreadful preparation, and us the hour approach-
ed the crowd was very great.
The uuhapr.y criminal walked from the Lock-up-
Douse to the scaffold, which he ascended with a firm
step, at twenty minutes before three o'clock.—
After spending a quarter of an hour in prayer, he
shook hands with the Reverend (lent leineu who at-
tended him, slid mounted the platform with forti-
tude. . . .

The executioner occupying a longer time in ail-
justtog the rope than appeined to a great pint of
the spectators to he necessary, much disapproba-
tion was expressed ; the platform gook shoot a
minute before three. Unfortunately the rupt was
too long, or the height from the rt H Wok! to the
beam from which the sufferer was suspended
; in consequence of one or other of these
Causes, or both. his toes rested on the floor of the
scaffold. At that moment a policesien. in front. re-
sisting the eitcrwielmielit of the crowd, pit-lied one
with los bubo', who cried out " Murder !" It is pro-
bable thn•e at a distance imagined the exclamation
to be occa•iouril by the pitiable ►ituation of John-
ston, and therefore jollied in it. Stones began to
fly towards the scaff►ld (of whicli, iii lurkiiy. tl e
state of the ground afforded sn apple supply),
and the fltigistrater and their were
compelled to make a precipitate 'rut at. ft was
well for the executioner that he escaped nt the same
tune, for at such a moment the cooseliienves to
him most have been fatal. The mob continued
to throw stones. some of which struck the unhappy
object or insitiomw.t, and others the church win-
do,v•, At five minutes pa.t three, u person very
deliberately s►tpprd from the cron,l on the
Iligli-
street, leaped ill the .e.,110b1 with a knife ready
open, distnignt•bable ficri its brrghtu. ',ior, as see
have been itib.rated, a ►artjetl instrument taken
from s Case on the in•tani,, rut the rwee, and, null.
seeming isoconcerio, returned to the crowd. The
body fell with the bead to the trout t,t the seatfohl—
a sight harrowing to the ft clings of ail possessed of
the least sensibility.

Missiles still continued to fly, chtegy directed
against the windows of the church, alintist every
Inane of which were destroyed. t toe large stone
struck the inanimate head of Johnstint a heavy blow.
A lame person, with a crutch, next climbed the scat.
fold, and then u I:eater:it rush took place. The body
was raised up. and the rope unloosed, with which the
lame man exultingly descended ; the cap was taken
off, and thrown among the crowd—at the same inns
ment a cheer was given by those around the body,
meaning, it is supposed, to announce that li re remain.
eil, which was received by loud clapping. The coffin,
light in its material., was thrown among the crowd,
and in less than a minute broken to atoms. The
body was then borne oil in the direct;on of the Lawn.
market ; Batlhe Paulson, who was proceeding to
the Castle, protected by a strung body of the po-
lice, to obtain the aid of the military force, caused
the bearer• of the body to change their course, and
they wheeled about and arrived almost unpeiceived
no the opposite side of the street to the Police
Office, evidently without knoning w list to do
with it ; here, on being attacked by the police offs.
curs, they dropped the body, divested of clothes from
the waist upwards in the process of carrying (the
most appalling sight of the whole), which was then
taken into the Police Office.

A detachment of the 88th regiment arrived voon
after, billowed by another headed by Major
Graham, which wet►! po•trd across the Liwitinarket
at the well, and in a similar manner faun► the high
Church is the Exchange.
Various reports were current about the state of
the unfortunate man as to his reanimation ; how-
ever, he was again carried to the drop, and at five
minutes before four o'clock was launched into
eternity. The military remained until the whole
apparatus was removed, and we ore Irinpy to stale
no further distill bailee took place. The vhops in
the neighbourhood were closed Oil the 14,4 dtsposi-
tion to riot, and many of them were tint reopened
that night.
We have not heard that any persona were er-
ri,•usly aiirral, t,ut many inemisiderate women,
wit, childitii in their arms, were thrown down and
trampled tin.
No appea►acce cf preconcerteil Clot was visible—
on the contrary, it aror✓, we believe, (ruin the oil-
toward arcumstato es of the instant.

Ilarris and William Fii:pairick
escaped on Satiirdoy morning fruin the Bellerophon
hulk at Sheerness. The former wit capitally con-
victed at the Northampton Assizes, Jilly 1818. and
his sentence committed f r seven years transporta-
tion. The latter was ,•:.;ntallv convicted at the
L moister Sommer Ass P-s. 1818. and his sentence
commuted for transportation lur life.

tlu Thurbibly morning, shout two n'rlock, the
sliel li lig • midi of Messrs. HORNER and DRAKE, near
the Falling Lock, Wakt ti• Id, V/3111 discovered to he
on lire by the watchman of the Colder and Elebble
hiavtgarinu warehouse, and before assistance could
he procured, the flames had made such progress as
to render all attempts to save the v,.inable build-
log, in itie cuuteutN useless. The building fell in
Shout three o'clock. By the exertions of the tire-
meti and isthabitttuts, the further progress of the
Barnes was prevented, although the extensive corn
warehouses nearly adjoining were fur A considera-
ble time in the utmost danger. The loss will be
very great ; a cons►derable sum, we understand, was
insured in the Sun Fire Office. The lire is sup-
posed to have been occasioned by the friction of
the matitiuely, ur ruittbustiou of the (twit proceed.
nig hum a parcel of foreign i7uris