The National Register.
London, England, 1809-07-23 00:00:00

fe %s• hinnlretl men to the right hank or the Dhinihe to make
oh*ervations. They re-einharked, ::her having lost a feet men
killed or taken prisoner. The liett tra-; e‘cessive on Int se
days. l'he thernonnyter tt.;:s alino‘t coast: 610 v itt 2ti degree.
There are *great quainitiv: Ji" it i• s.. 1n one village 3,1r0,000
pitiN tvere foam!. It has happily no 'dad qu:;4ity.

Tsv► ye of the most colt-iderable viihges in the benutirn!
lain of Vienna, such as are seen in the neighlynirbood of
great capital, have been h!'r►,t during the battle. The just- hat-
red or the nation k loud a:Tairst the guilty ti:en who have drawn
upon it all thew calamities, The Cenrral Est* Brigade, Laroche,
entered Nuremberg au Ihe the VBth of June, with a corps of
cavalry, and proceeded to►:ards Bit.% rewle. He met the enemy
at Be•senthie:n, charged hita with the.fir-t itrovkinual reglment
of dragoon 4, and cut pieces all who opposed hitu, and took
two pieces a concon.''

IVINCHE3rEn A.sSizns.

WILLIAM BCP.C.F.S.3, A Pk!.:11}7111 wm.cottr:rTT, WM. AS

Lu;TT, AN L) JOHN nt'RBER.

This was an action fcr an assantt and false imprisonment,
onder the following circumstance=, as stated by Mr. Burrough
The Plaintiff a labouring man, residing in the parish of
Droxford, in theservicc of Il.is•itaro Goodlad, Esq. a Nlagis-
trate for the county. The Plaintiff my,: of quiet and honest in:hits.
The Defendant, Cobbett, was the well-knit an author of gibe
flgisterl who, for the last live or six ''l-as• 100
been resident at Batley, in that sonar, •. lie was long the pre-
tended friend and advocate for the liberty of the subject, and
the privileges of Englishmen. At thc public meetings in that
county, he had taken a conspicuous part in declaiming a.,!aiust
the abuse of power, and was then addressit:2: weekly letters to
the people of Hamp- hire, urging the necessity of a ref'orm iu
the estate, in order to preserve the ends-of freedom, anti ti;e true
spirit of the English Constitution; but the character which he
assumed was badly supported by his conduct in 41ornestielife.
lie was oppressive and severe around the whole circles, hick his
power man in*uence extended to, the sequel of which would ill
accord with his professions. The other Defeudan's were
blacksmiths. Aslett wa.,. the Coostnble of Hotley, and pas-
syssed
,cop4iderahle property and Doliber ;vas the, tithingenan
of that place. Alieut th,.‘ l•ttt,yr end of December last, the
Plainttrs brother, Jesse Utirge, then a!)0111 ti:teen years of
age, went into the service of to!ibett, to remain until the .Mi-
chaelmas following. In the mouth of February, the boy went
home to his friends, at Droxford, about live miles from Holley,
and complained that his master abased blip, and made use of
the most gross language, which terrified the boy, and caused him
to et press It:s.terror of being with him ; his mother would not
'attend to his story, but admonished hint and directed hitn to re-
turn to his master„ and that she •(the mother) would call on his.
master, and converse with him on the subject; the boy accord-
ingly returned; on the seeoud of March he again returned
'some, and informed his mother he had run away from
his place, as his master had abused him so, he could not
stay; his mother inquired if he had informed his master of his
deterrosnation to leave him ? he answered, " yes, and that his
master hal told him to hold his datnuation botheriug tongue,
for he should net go away." About 10 o'clock on the night of.
the following day, the Defendant, Aslett, apprehended the boy,
under a warrant granted by Mr. Smith, a Magistrate at South-
ton, upon a complaint made by Cobbett ; he stated the boy to
he a servant in liusbandrs, which he never was; and that he
had absconded front hi ervice. Aslett made the boy prisoner,
aod brought him to Holley, about midnight ; his mother and
brother accompanied lihn, After wailing an hour in the street,
the landlord of the Dolphin Inn gave them a reception fur the
rest of the night, the boy being in custody of the constable.
About eight o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Burgess, the boy's
mother, went to Mr. Cobbett, whom she met in the garden.
'e addressed him by saying. " l beg your pardon, Sir—l cm
come to speak in behalf of the boy." To which he replied
" Damnation seize Now ! 1 won't hear what you have to say."
The mother then said, " I hope you will, Sir." Ile replied,
" I hope I shan't ; I'll send your boy on ship-board; if you
had not encouraged him, he would not have been guilty of such
a thing." The mother replied, she did not encourage him, and
hoped he would hear what she had to say. To which Cobbett
answered, " Damn von ! I won't hear %%hat you have to say ;
begone, you old bitch, off my premises : I desire you not
to enter may hotise ; your boy shall have no more than
the law allows him, if he has so much." Mrs. Bur-,
gest then Went back to her sou's, and repeated tkielo- Tient nap

versat ion w hick had passed between her and the celebrated pol:•
tical riter ; the defendant, Dubber, had tAken the plat cOl the
coooahle, an.l agreed that the\ should go no n toCo!?twtt's; OR
heir way, Dubber recollected that he bad been forbidden by
the advocateof freedom, from going on his premise-. ; fchrfal of
the taan of liberty, he went to look for the coast. b 1
his prisoner at large, who took to his heels and r or; jya
ai:ca-wartli the constable came and asked where the boy my.'
his mother answered, he was gone to Mr. Co bora'', and she woe
following hint ; he answered, she should not have let him gu
without him, for Mr. Cobbett would swear finely. The mother
then returned to the inn, and called her son, William, the
plaintiff, who went with her mid the constable as far the out( r
g rte of Cobbett's house; the constable went in, but the Alai t ff
an.l his another proceeded on the turr pike road on their wi.y
home. When they had gone le)out a mile and a half, they heal d
some hones gallopping, which proved to be the defendants,
Aslett and Dubber, g•.:llopping after them a as they approached,
they hallowed, " Stop, you old woman--stop, you fellow—
you have dime us a fine job to-day." They did ion stop—the
constable cried out, " I've a pistol, I'll shoot you through,
if you don't stop." They were soon overtaken, and ti e
constable said--" damn Von, oh! woman, have you
back, and put you in prison, in your soil's stead," laying h ; d
of her by the bonnet and hair. 'l' be Plaintif held up his stick,
and said--" touch her if you dare—if you do, I'll knock yi u
down, you have no authority !o take us ; touch my mother is
you dare ; tv hero is your authority ?"ro w bleb Mikis ans-
wered—" I will see to that; we will let your mother alone
we wall have you." Upon which OH! Plaititiffsaid--'• I desire
to know by vr bat authority you seize tire on the King's high-
way 1" To which Astlett answered—" By order of :llr. Cob-
brit, if you must know." They immediately snatched the stick
from the PlaintitFs hand, calling him a rogue and a thief. Ast let t
dcsited llub4er to take the Plaictiff to the Dole'llin, and, it' he
was refractery, to handcalhim; he was detained in custody up-
Wards of three h%urs; Fe repeatedly requested they would allow
'him to go to his master's Mr. Goodlad, who was a Just ice of the
Peace, as he was ready to answer. for any thing he had done
wrong ; this Aslett refused, ?old he swore he would have him
dis,rn to Cobbetes, from w hence he should be sent on ship.
board; the Plaintiff was taken into custody to Botley, w here
li;; met his mother, who was also at prisoner ; they were taken
in a cart, by the direction of Cobbett, to Southron. where C
heft waited to receive them, at a Mr. Smith's, an attorney.-,.
Cohbett addressed himself to Dubber, and said •• zsre the
greatest rogue—you shall he Jack Pay-all—l'll line von." " I
hope not, Sir," answered Dubber. Cobbett said—" Yes, damn
your eyes, you let the prisoner run away."' He turned to the
Plaintiff's mother, and called her a crafty old bitch, and -t
brandy-faced hitch. Mr. Smith was not present, although his
clerk was, while Cobbett was giving way to the undiguised sen-
timents of his mind. He went to look for Mr. Smith ; on his
return, he mentioned that the Magistrate was with Min, Ind that
the Plaint iii' and his mother were guilty of fraud and rubbery,
by being accessary to the escape of the boy ; and if t ;ley did not
deliver the boy at his house, by. .four o'clock On Monday, h 3
would indict them at the Winchester Assize:. int&:l4ht
before the Plaintiff and his mother got home. This statement
was fully made out in evidence.
Mr. Jekyll, Counsel for the Defendant, contended, that it
was a combination to bring the political character of the De-
fendant, Cobbett, into disrepute, he called no evidt nee.
Mr. Justice Lawrence then summed up the evittei.ce, with
his accustomed perspicuity, and observed, if the Plaintiff w
taken into custody, without any taw ful authority, he was en-
titled to damages. The Jury were to consider whether t e
other Defendants had acted under the order of Col,hett ; iu
his own aiind he had not a doubt hut they did. With respect !o
the arrest, there was no pretence for saying there was any auto).
city ; whatever might have been the conduct of the boy , it would
not justify the defendants in the offence they had committed on the
person of the.plaintiff. He had no difficulty in saying, it was
done without any authority of law, whatever, and there could bh
no doubt but they were guilty of false imprisonment. He was
at a loss to know bow any political question could he attached
to this cause. Cobbett was before the Court, the same as any
of his fellow-subjects, and the same justice should be done h
he had done an unlawful and oppressive act, and he was amen-
able to the laws of his country, for it; the charge apinst him
stood uncontradictedoind the-Jury must give a verdict agaittst
him. It layiatheir breasts 'to say what damages the •Plaint
was entitled to; they would therefore coniider,of theists'yerstict.
_The Jury rourual, a terdittfor the 1964/101-datance 101.4 t
• •