The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-03-22 00:00:00

Nee bribed by Sir M. Lopes ;. and that Watts
told I • 1w respective s which had beets paid,
which he put down against the respective names.
That he called on Sir M. Lopez in London. That lie
told Sir M. that he called, at the desire of %Vets,
to know what he (Sir M.) intended to do respect-
ingGrampound. If he (Sir M.) would be content
with °Resent. he (Mr. Teed) might have the other.
That witness then told Sir M. he was acquainted
with his proceedings at Grampousid, and produced
the list lie had received from Watts. That Sir M.
merely expressed his surprise where the witness
could have got so correct a list. That Sir M. said
the sums were very correct, except that he had
paid more to some than was put down. That wit-
ness told Sir M. Lopez that he sod the electors
were subject to a prosecution; that Sir M. then
'aid he would protect the electors if it cost hini
100,0001. That he had taken Counsel's wont') ;
and the electors were not liable, because two years
hail elapsed since the transaction.
Ott his cross-essimiiwtion by Mr. ADAMS, Mr.
'Feeti said, that he did not tell Sir M. L. that he
should be prosecuted, hut only that he was liable
sin prosecution ; that the letters were taken from
Hoare by Mr. Loathe with the consent of witness ;
anti that he (witness) did not choose to return them
alien he discovered their coatents.
Mr. Alonae, in a very animated speech, argued,
on the part of the Defendant, that the money in
questiosa had been giVris from charitable motives,
to assist the borough of Gr;smpounil, which was at
that time in great distress. He commented at con-
siderable lengtn upon the test • yof the various
witnesses who had beers called on the part of the
proserntion. The Mr. Ilsoares, he Paid, stood con-
victed, by their own confession, of the very crime
which they were attempting to charge upon Str
Manasseh Lopez. They were quite unworthy
of
credit. The Jury should 1w cotton's. If .1 I toil-
lord lowered his rents to assist his and %v.v.
afterwards retained by their video to rttli3llit tit,
would that constitute a bribery ? 11 here aas Cie
difference in the wield case ? The Learised
Counsel then coltamented with sonic sevetoy upon
the evidence of Mr. Teed ; and concluded With a
hope that, if site Jury etttertaisted any doubt epos,
the case, they would give the benefit of that doubt
to the accused party.
Mr. Justice HOLROID summed no the rvislence
at considerable length. and rxisress•-d his oisnitnltt
that if the witnesses were to be relied oil, the case
ha.l been clearly made out.
The Jury, without leaving the box, found the
Defendant—Goino.
The trial lasted snore than fuur hours ; the Court
was crowded to excess.
The Der...admit will be brought up for judgment,
in the King's Bench, in the ensuing Term.

HUME CIRCUIT.

MAIDSTONE. RATURDAT. MARCH :0.
RIOT AT GRAVESEND._

TAe RING r. WILLIAM WRIGHT thed °THUM
This w. au indictineut monist the Defendants,
Williams Wright, henry Dixon. William Ebers,
James Waters,• laud Seth Smith, for a riot com-
mitted at Gravesend, on the 4th of July last,
There was a second couut, which charged them
with an swish upon Robert Pierce ernelen. E-q.
Mayor of the town of Gravesend, in the execution
of his office, while endeavouring to quell the riot
above mentioned. Mr. MARSHA'. opened the iu-

diet
:11r. Seljealit TADDY stated the case on the part
of the Ctowu, and io doing an, called the attentiun
of the Jury to the practices which had obtained
moons the boatmen at Gravesend of making extot-
tionete demmills upon passengers who were landed
from Vesvor 1111.111 the river Thames. Ile thought
it necessary thot to introduce the present case, be-
c use the tr^illeaction of which the Proseeutor cutu-
p' anted ar”se out of the laudable tilos tit of the
;.layer of Giavesend to put a stop to such praetires.
Not many years since, the regular charge fur landing
passengers at Gravesend, from vessel* in the river,
was one penny each; but of late the watermen, of
their own mere motion, had increased it to lid. per
heed, which was levied indiscriminately upon the
rich and Several complateits having been made
to the Corporation of these illegal demands, the sub-
ject ul boatmen's fares was taken into consideration ;
mud in the month of July, 181 A, the Corpora
published s printed notice, %Inch was posted w all
parts of the town, referring to the exorbitant
charges which hail heretofore been made by boat-
mess, and intimating. that iu foto, e, the sum of
four-Ledge per head each passenger, was reasonable
and sufficient, with reference to the act:moods-
tMil and interests of all parties ; and the watermen
were requited to conform to this regulation. This
notice, however, seemed to give great offence to the
watertiten, who on their part published an
to passengers, that they would not take less than
6.1. per head Gin coming ashore or going on board to
and from the Gravesend boat', children excepted.
The proceeding on the part oldie Corporation pro-
duced a spirit of opposition, which manifested it-
self in the not which was the subject of the present
indictment. It would appear in evidence, that on
Saturday 'vetting the 4th of July, as late as eleven
o'clock, the Mayor, who had retired to bed, was
disturbed m his sleep by the tumultuous assem-
blage of a crowd of persons in the otreet• and who
were making offensive noises. A person named
Collye, Gravesend boat owner. was conic to com-
plain to the Mayor of thr 111-treatment which the
master of one of his vessels had experienced from
one of the boatmen in the afternoon. The Mayor,
upon hearing the noise in the street, got up, and
went out for the purpose of quelling the disturb-
ance; be laila a posse of SO Bennis proceeding
down the street, Imiattig, groaning, and making a
great noise. He advanced towards them, and
seised hold of Wright. the Defendant, who re-
sisted being taken with great force and vio-
lence. The Mayor, however, endeavoured to se-
cure him. upon which the mob cried out—
•• We are all Englishmen, let us stand together—
we are united watermen— will you see one of us
token away ?" Upon this a general rush took place,
and Wright was rescued in the scuffle ; the 'Mayor
was struck repeatedly upon the eyes and note, and
was seriously hurt. This was the nature of the
charge against the Defendants, anti the Mayor felt
it his duty to apply to the Court for redrew, not
witb * view to any vindictive punishment of the