The National Register.
London, England, 1809-07-02 00:00:00

ATIONAL REGISTER.

rumours against the character of the piniutiff which had come
to his knowledge. Lord Leicester had directed him to take the
opinion of Counsel, with respect,to the first of them upon which
he enuld lay his hand. lie was also convinced that they applied.
to the plaintiff', becaase he himself had been the person of ho
called at the Otlice of " The Morning lleratd" about the first
paragraph, which they afterwards apologized for.
Mr. Serjeato Cockle then row on the part of the defendants.
lie said he rose w h eousiderable concern upon a subject, odious
in its own nature, and which must give pain and disgust to eve'
man. His Learited Friend would have ff isked them to believe,
that the asper4ioos against the cliaraeter of Lord Leicester ori-
ginated in the newspaper w hick was conducted by the defend-
outs. The fact however was, that they did not; hut, as thr
plaintiff's own Attorney had admitted, there had beck
flying rumours against the character of that Noble Lord,
before such paragraph; ever found their tray in! o the newspaper.
His Learned Friend had spoken of the Earl of I tCrester and hip
NV ife having lived hanpily together. How did be attempt to
prove it ? Did he call a siugla relation, servant, or friend ?
No : all the evidence on this point v. as, that his attorn 'y had
seen Lady Leicester at her Lord's table near a year after the
marriage. The fact was, that so far from haf ink lived hap-
pily together, there ffas nothine:, perhaps, in the history of
wedded life more wretched. Three sleepless nights were all
they passed together, and after that time they never acre in he,!,
or seldom at board together. The lady in the agony of alino,t a
broken heart, and iu spite of female delicacy , %%as t,dic:ed to re-
eal the wrongii shc. had suffered. She had been otiliged to sit
at the taide of her lord with wretches that are a di:grace to
human nature. and w ho ought not to he pennitted to live. There
was Neri, the Paliao Secretary, Bey ling, Playfair, and other
wretches of that description, She sf as soon bitaished front his
house by such coaduct. When he was at Gloucester-place, she
stied to be at Paddiagdon, and when he was at Vaddiegdon she
mute to Gloucester-place. The Noble Lord had brought for-
ward but one witness, who knew rothiog of the matter. 110 w
came it that he brought forward no relative, no friend of rank
or fashion equal to his own, none of his juvenile friends, mile of
the elders of the College in which he was educated, to support
hizt character'? Ott this subject there wai.a gaping chaos, and
it was thought proper to preserve a profound siience. lie, like
other gentlemen of fortaite, travelled in his loath, but way ac.
companied by this:ltalian Neri, who had been called his Secre-
tary. This man he had kept in a most expensive manner.
When Neri married, although he bad not a shilling of his own,
and did nut get a shilling w ith his w ife, yet they took a house
at a rent of one hundred and fifty pounds per annum, and Ncri
lived more with his Lordship than under his own roof.

Mr. Serjeant Cockle said, it was absolutely necessary for him
to make this statement, to prove that what had been stated by
his Learned Friend (Mr. Seijeaut Best), as an aggravation of
the malice, was not true. It was also hi 6 duty to provo that
those flying tura mrs actinst the character of Lord Leicester
were so generally heard of, that his Lordship's character had
not suffered by the paragraphs to the extent that had beet: stated,
as be might perhaps chew that his Lordship's character
was previously as bad in this respect as any man's could be who
was not actually convicted of the crime. If this ‘vvre the
case, it must most materially alter the damages. As to the ob-
servation which bad been matle. of the difficulty of re4oring a
man to society who had been charged with such an offence, he
believed that his Lordship might, whatever were the damages,
continue to mix, with the same respect, iu that sort of com-
pany with which he had long associated ; and that whatever
the damages might be, that they would not restore him to any
sort of society which his birth and rank in life appeared to en-
title him to. Ile felt no manner of doubt hut that in the consi-
deration of damages, the Jury would pay considerable atten-
tion to those circumstances which it was his duty to prove.
Sir James Mansfield commented at some length upon the evi-
dence. lie went into a history of the press in this country,
from the time of its first establishment to the abolition of the
office of •licences. The liberty of the press was a term blindly
used by many modern writers and speakers; it did not mean the
liberty of speaking political treason, or private slander, but it
merely meant the liberty of speaking what it chose, liable to
the correction of the laws of the land. Undoubtedly hi the
present case a verdict must be found for the plaintiff, bat at the
same time the damages were liable to mitigation, from the cir-
cumstances of the evidence, according to the judgment of the
Attry.—rsrdict for the PlaintUfloool.—Cests

Fridity, Samuel Davey was indicted for the wilful mon:
•:er of his wife and child. This was the case of the poor shoe.,
oisker who lately killed his Wife and child in Skinner-greet,. •
S .nier'sTowri. It appeared clearly that he was insane ; he was
herefore acquitted of the murder, and ordered to be detained fur
.afe custody under the late act of Parliament.

MISS YORK, THE TEMA I M 511 A nii./gO/STER, AND TH 1:
HEROINE OF 111EMP,ON PIICK•

This very sing tar trial trine on ‘e...:erf'ay before Judge
Chamhre, man% of the Hirtit t w !Orli !n!‘ r het t, toil' he.
fore the his yourg was pot to the ha, ,wo
o'clock„ diessed in deep inourivoi.;, and uc,:top mail fe..
,ale Irieud. She was indulpeti %%Oh a chairat her nr,ti rvtio •I.
The indictment against her was fur felooions1)
hen Coombes, with intent to kill and ou.rder him, eti tl:, i•F
May, ,in the I►;+ri,it of Sunbury. The prosecutor statco, :t
tastes walking in Kemptoo Surbury, rti ith other
men, at six o'clock in the % hen a gun v. .sdischart•eo
Miss York, front the premises of Mr. lto;:.e, her tricie, tin i tin!'
hall front w wellt through some W lint ss ho was
separated from the prisoner by a walling Leari) lire feet high,
asked her if she knew w hot she (Wog, vi hen she repli4N: it,
the atiirmathe Witness said .she had done very wrong, :,tat if
she did so again lie N ould take t!;e gun from her. The prise-
ner's servant was with her, and the foriner asked tile taitce
what follow it was that accosted her, and st;id she would take the
liberty of firing at witness, and Itgid:d the gad. NV itness
told her she might tire if she rho: e, for he would flu! tuo‘e.
['he prisoner presented the gull in a direct line at him, !ait it
snapped three or four tithes, when she diseo‘ eyed there :tits MI
prime; she then put some. powder to the touch- hole from a
horn, and by the advice of Parker, H ho was present, w itne,s got
behind a tree, and whilst peeping, the prisone*dsrlinreed tho
gtpi at hint. Ile was atoat fifteen yards from her on the evpo-
site side of the paling, and he immediately scaled the pal;ne. BO ft
took the gun from her. Witness saw the powder and shot pot
into the piece. A model was here introduced of that part of
the path where this scene took place, with the trees
surrounding. The next day n wart ant was Ilbia ked t
prior to this, Parker visited .Mr. Rolfe's house. lie ass4Jied
a reason that ha understood Miss York wished to make
matters up with the 'servaut maid, w Ito was with Miss 1- ark
the last evening. Site hntiolio rt, w rot ep to Miss York, who
ran doWn stairs, and he/pc.. "..t key to walk into the parlour.
SIO then told ParkeOlitst si.e remembered ;he other evening,
and hoped that he worth aecept her apolz.p. • Ooe of the wit
nesse,s Parker, acknowleilfr that his wife had tecei‘,..ll
from the prisoners friends, WA to appear before rite alai,trate,
Eliza :too, the Prisoner's Servant who was ri ith her, proved.
that Cuombcs dared her to fire, and was very abusive, and said
there was nothing ia the gun, when she replied, it YU'l stand a
tittle and I'll spew you." _ _

In defence, the irisoner said she did not point at the pre:mien',
tor, but she fired to frighten the people, and avuid their
tinence.

Judge Chainlore after an impartial summing up of the evidence
left the decision with the Jury; who, after sonic short delibera,
tion, returned Verdict of Nut Guilty.

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1k Patronage. 11 HAM, Secretary.

DIED.

Oo the Sts' of May last, in Gunpendorf, at the advanced age
of 're, Dr. Hudyn, the celebrated composer of music.
Suddenly, on Thursday evening, Miss Meadow s, of Covent
Garden, Theatre.
At Vienna, on the 14th of May, of the wounds he had re-
ceived, Field Marshal Baru° Weber, who was tales) pri-oaer
by the French in the battle of Zlchingen. lie was is the 64t'k
year of bit age,