The Sun.
London, England, 1801-12-25 00:00:00

: RsE I. IND.

•B t L 3754 'NU .;•
. • im•
a Letter from i\ewi'i'vitieps, id tneparish e;
tie) a, of the ith inst. eve ii the 'follo.wtnit
count of the miraenlOus preservation C. 'tiiid lie t.
Men, after remaining two night's and ts;vodays
posed to the fury of the waves, on the side of ant
open boat, She having overset in et gale ewirid
A seaman of the name of O'Drain, of this pa4ish;
and another seaman named Skilton, belonging to
Larne, left home for New totvnglens, in an open
boat, on Friday, the sth ult. About three
in the afternoon, having turned the Garran Point
makingjnto .Red Bay, a suiden squall of wind front
the shore overset the boat ; and though the acci
dent was seen by many, yet owing to some fatality,
a. boat iefficient to bras e the seas, could not he gt.lt
laUnched in time to prevent the other from drifting
out of sight, which together with a very dark night
coining on, rendered it impossible to afford theM
assistiu Fortunately, :however,- the bOat was
principally laden with deals, which being fixed
'under the seats, kept her above water, and enabled
the two men to get on her side ; in which sitV:
tion they were carried up to Baliygetty head, near
Larne, and the next day (Saturday) were off' the
Mull ofCantyre, being driven to and fro by the
tide. At length, three violent•waves striking the
.boat in succession, she righted again, when the two
men were thrown a considerable way from her
but, having taken the precaution of fastening ropes
around their bodies, •they regained the wreck.—
The boat was now floating ere', but the most of
her sails were gone, and :Ilso her rudder ; her mast
too was out of its step ; so that their situation wa-
little better than before, except that with the greatest
difficulty, they got at a battle of wine, mixed with
opiate, which was on hoard, Having drank this:
their only beverage, O'Drain went to' sleep for
several hours, although the waves were almost every
moment washing over him. In this hopeless situa-
tion they drifted all that night and next day along,.
tht coast of-Scotland, till they came off Llay,
.Where, late on- Sunday afternoon, they were -seen
by some boatmen on shore, who instantly went Off
•to their relief, snatched them from the wreck, and
:towed their boat into harbour.

Skilton IS said to be an excellent swintmeri aryl
might thereby have made the land, bnt could poi!'
prevail on himself to leave his brother in misfonttne,
who is a man rather advanced in years. They haVe
both large families, to the society and cattsses of.
whom they are again happily restOred.

We hear from Mull that a considerable take
of herrings haS been in Lochbuy for snM:ss
time past, and that the stormy weather has retarded
the fishing in some degree ; but as the het-rifts
have apparently settled in the lake, the inhabitants
of that neighbourhood expert much goad froni it
this winter.

.•
A Letter from Dijon, in the French Papers.; gives
an account of the general depravity of Morals which
prevails in that city. It cites two instances, the
one of a woman who laid to the charge of another
female the child of which she had been delivered ;
and the other, of a husband, who had substituted
a spurious child by his sister-in-law in place of
his own.

MAssrox-HousE.—Yesterday an information
was heard before the LOKI) MAYORi against the
Captain of a Ship lying at Fresh Wharf, for having
on board his ship 23t lbs. of gunpowder, being
206 lbss more than what is allowed by AEI of Patna.;
tent to be in any ship above Blackwall. The Cap.:
tain brought forward persons to prove his having sent
,the order for its being taken our, but the Waterman
not coming for it, and his cargo being freight much
wanted, he owned having come into the wharf be.,
'fore he could get it out.—The Waterman pleaded
the weather, and that he could not find the ship,
&c.—Alderman MA-cMjLEY assisted the Lotto
MAYoR in this convidion, as it required two Ma-
gistrates, both of whom lamented, according to the
circumstances of this case, they could not afford the
Captain any relief, as, according to this ACt of Par,:
liament, there is no mitigation, which, with the
penalty upon quantity of powder, would amount to
201. tzs. which the: Captain paid,
,but said he was
ignorant of the severity of this penalty. The Loan
MAYOR said, he really thought it a hard case, but
it was for the safety. of the public, that all large.
quantities of gunpowder should be
,removed from
the ships before they came up the river, and the
conviction should be published, as a caution to others
who were ignorant of these penalties,.

The Rev. Mr. TOWNSEND, of Charles-street,
Bath, with that candour for which he is distin-
guished, has addressed for publication the follow-
ing decisive Case to B. D. PERKINS, of Leicester.
square, London, the Patentee of the .fradors

- .
Having a desire to see your Metallic Traitors adopted in
every Family, 1 state for publicity one case which has oc-
curred in my own. A tea-urn, full of water, fiercely bah-
ling, was by accident upset on the table, and the chief of the
contents emptied on the face; the neck, and the hind of my
eldest daughter. --These several parts were instantly inflam-
ed, .and appeared to be blistering rapidly. The Tractors
being at hand; were applied first to the face, which in about
half an hour they perteCtly\ relieved. .The neck was next
operated upon, and.mabant the same space Of time was %Nell
also.—The hand, during the application of the Tra,dars to
the other' places; was bathed with cold water, a remedy ge-
nerally considered as very efficacious.. It, however, clerivitK
no permanent . advantage, the Tractors were next tried, and,
relief therebyeVentually experienced. In a few hours the
parts first Operated upon were so free from any appearance of
scald, that a person who afterwards came in could. hardly
oelieve any such tlting had happened. One circumstance
particularly dem*strates the influence of the Tractors in
these. Cures. A few drops of water fell on the side of the
neck, but-which scalded in so slight a degree when compared
with the others, that it was at the time entirely unnoticed,
and they were not used there. The next day this pace alone
was tender, sore, and finally excoriated, and did not become
well for some days.,"
The Tradors' so necessary in every Family, and among
HorSes, may behad genuine, with new and improved Direc-
tions for using them, 'for Five Guineas the Set, of R. 1?.
PerikinS, A. the Patentee, in the house of the late
John Hunter, Surgeon, LeiceSter-square ; and 01 Frederick
Smith, Chemist and Druftist, in the Hay-market, 'Lan-
don. The portable nature of the Traelors renders their
conveyance by coach, or even by post, pettedly opnvenient
Letters enclosing their amount (pest-paid) duly attended in.
N. B. The purchasers of the Tractors receive gratis, two
difterent Books, which contain, as communicated .by the
first literary characters, about three thousand Cures 0. (.;
Rheumatism, Scalds, Head-aeh, Tooth-arh,Sprains, •trilara-
rations, &c. &e. and all analogous Diseases or Hcrses.
Ca v r raiz .--T he genuine Tractors arc stamped with tho,
words 't PEHKINS'J PATENT TRACTORS," and at the bct-
tom of the printed directidns is a Receipt for the five guincal,
signed in the hand writing of the Patentee. By observ4
this, impositions will attest be detected.

EDINBURGH', DEC. 19._

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY.

INIoNDAT the Court --proceeded to the Trial of.
Verriff, journeyman blacksmith in the
Pie..hsincs,„4.ccuscil of mobbing and rioting on 'the
2,7J:ll:oott3ober last, in the Cowgate of this City,
and-of;sseizing a cart of meal, and distributing the
same i.lrtiong the knob.
After the. libel %s-as read, the Pannel pled Guilty,
and-expressed much sorrow for his condua.. A Jury
was. tben chosen, and the Pannel having adhered to
-his confession and signed it before them, they ,were
inclosed in the Robing-room, and in a short time
returned -a verdict finding him Guilty. The Court
delayed passing sentence till Wednesday.

On .moving the Court to pronounce sentence on,
this. verdid, the LORD ADVOCATE took occasion
to observe, that, although there .are many crimes
• which argue greater depravity in those who commit
them, -few. in a public light, and with a view to the
probable consequences, are more atrocious than that
of mobbing and rioting. Even in crimes the most
destructive to the rights of individuals, the effed is
generally .confined to the person injured, or a nar-
row circle* of his friends. In murder itself, the
guilty person -seldom extends his malice beyond the
individual objea of his resentment ; and we at once
foresee the utmost :eXtent-of the consequences that
.may result from the crime—the King loses one sub_
jed, one individual loses his life, one family has the
loss of a parent or other relative to deplore. But
in the crime of. mobbing, neither the people them_
selves, nor any human wisdom, can either foresee
or prevent the dreadful consequences which may
low. There is a contagious frenzy in a mob, which
often leads them to commit excesses and outrages,
at which every man in that mob would have re-
volted with horror, if in his indiVidual charader it
had been proposed to him to commit such crimes.
Besides, artful and designing persoiis-:often mix in
kmults, with a view of direding their, movements
to purposes totally different from those originally in
view. Of this'we.have had many. miserable exam.-
ples. And thus it:happens that mobs.not only often
end in attociousinjUries to private person!, but fre-
quently disturb the peace, and endanger the'safety
of a whole Kingdom.. " For this' reason,". added
his Lordship, " although I shall be always happy,
as far as depends on me, to condua the administra.
tion of Criminal Justice with as much-lenity as is
compatible with my duty, yet, I take this public
. opportunity of declaring my fixed determination,
that, to all disturbers of the public peace, whatever
name they may assume, in whatever shape they may
appear, and under whatever pretence they may ad,
as far as depends on me, I will shew no mercy."—
His Lordship, however, at the .same time candidly
adMitted, that this was not a case which entitled
him to ask the Court to pronounce as severe a sea-
fence as the Law 'authorises, in cases of aggravated
riot ; and then his Lordship declared his knowledge
of most of the alleviating citcumstances stated by
the frisoner's Coteasel in his fas;our.
~ The Court then proceeded to take the verdiet
under consideration, and were unanimous in pro-
nouncing the following sentence, viz. that the Pan-
ne' be imprisoned for two months, and find caution
to keep the peace, under the penalty of ¢oo Dierks.

On Monday the Cotir t of Justiciary gave judgement
in. a Case that has been for some time depending,
relative to the admissibility of a person -to give evi-
dence in a criminal prosecution, who had been pre-
sent at and assisted in a precognition. The cir-
ctimstances of the Case are as follows ;

In August 'Soo, Mr. ,A. Williamson, glass=
merchant, South Bridge Street, Edinburgh, gave
in a complaint to the Sheriff -against. W. Mac--
leod, a porter in his employment; stating that he
(Macleod) ' had been in the praaice of stealing va,
rious articles from his shop.. A warrant was ac-
cordingly granted by the Sheriff, at Mr. Wil.
liamson's instance, with concourse of Mr. SCOTT;
as procuiator-fiscal ; Macleod was apprehended,
examined, and. committed to prison ; a precog-
nition was afterwards taken in the Usual forml
several persons were examined, and a variety of
articles abstraaed by Macleod from his master's
shop were recovered. At this investigation; Mr.
Williamson, who had given the original informa-
don, attended during the Prisbner's •decla-rations,
and also at taking the examination of some of the
Witnesses. From this inquiry there remained lit-
tle -doubt of Macleod's guilt. Mr: Williamson,
however, either from motives of humanity to the
Prisoner, or not chasing to incur the trouble and
expence of a criminal -Prosecution, after having
recovered the _ principal articles stolen, declined
proceeding any farther against him. The conse-
quence was, that the Prosecution must be carried on
at the instance of the Public, or that the Prisoner
must escape with impunity. Mr. SCott, therefore
thought it his duty to interfere, and, as Public Pro-
secutor, entered his complaint against. Macleod be-
fore the Sheriff. Answers were given in byMaclend,
which consisted of a simple denial of the charge.
The Sheriff allowed both Parties a conjuna proba-
tion.---Mr.Scott accordingly gave out a list of Wit-
nesses, at the top of which. was the name of Mr. Wil-
liam3on. The-admissibility of Mr. Williamson as a
Witness was objected to by the Defender, on the
around that he had aced as private Prosecutor, and
that he had been present at the precognition. The
Sheriff sustained the obje&ions,and Mr:Scott brought
the question before the Court of Justiciary, by a
bill of advocation, which having been followed
with answers; and the
.case very fully argued, their
Lordships thought the question of such importance
as to order Informations, with a -/icw to settle the
law upon this point in time coming. •

If was argued by the Defender; that Mr.-Wil-
liamson gave the information on which Macleod
was apprehended ; that the complaint originally
ran in his name, with concourse • of the Procu.
rator Fiscal; that he, afterwards' sought.. for, and
recovered many of .the articles stolen from _him ;
and, in short, took so aaive a concern in the
proceedings previous to the case being taken- up
by the Procurator-Fiscal, that he .must - he incapa-

• -
cleated from being a Witness in the case. All this
was admitted by the Prosecutor, but the inference
he denied ; for, he contended that, " were such a
doetrine listened.to, the greatest part of the crimes
'that are committed behoved both to escape a detec-
tion, and to pass with impunity : for as the Party
'injured must of necessity be the first to give infor_
[nation, and is, in most cases, the only person who
can lead to the inquiries necessary towards the con-
viaion of the offender, and, besideS, is the only
person whose testimony can establish the corpus
.de-
iiai—to rejea his evidence, merely because he gave
the previous infolination, and took a concern in the
original proceedings; (with a view, as in this case,
to the recovery of the goods), would in nine cases
out of ten, be to hold out impunity to offenders,
and completely defeat the ends of pubfi justice."
To the other objedivn, founded on Mr.
liamson's having been present at the precognition,
and having.heard the Prisoner, and those who were
.ro give evidence emit their declarations,.:it was an-
swered, that however these circumstances might af.
;le& the credibility, they could not affea the admix_
sibility of a.Witness,and that there was no grounds
in reason, or expediency, for giving effed to the ob.
:jetion, nor was founded on any authority of law,,
.of even didum of• a lawyer. Here the Prosecutor
quotes several law authorities, to shew that in' all
• the enumerations of inadmissibly witnesses, not The
most distant hint is given of the.objedion,in ques-
tion. •

The Court, after full consideration of the case,
found, that Mr. Williamson's having at one time
appeared as prosecutor of the Respondent, was not
a sufficient objeaion to his admission as a witness;
and also that his having attended ,the precognition
was not a sufficient objeaion in this case, where, it
appeared that no improper motives on the part,
either of Mr.. Williamson, or of the Public, Pro-
secutor, gave.rise to such attendance. They there-
.fore remitted to the Sheriff, to recal the interlocutor
complained of, and to allow Mr:Williamson to be
received and examined as a witness.

THE Court of Sessions adjourns this day for the
Christmas vacation, and meets again, on Tuesday
the tzth of January, 1 Soa.
Best Wheat advanced 3s. per boll yesterday in
Haddington market ; and best Barley zs.—Besr
Oats declined about is. 6d. per boll ; and Pease and
Beans were also a little lower,

The sloop M‘George, of Kirkcudbright, from
Dublin, was put ashore near Kititandrews, in Bor_
gue, on the night of, Friday se'ennight.—Crew
saved ;' but it is supposed the vessel will be a
wreck.

Yesterday seennight the water in the Forth and
Clyde Canal overflowed the banks at Grangemouth.
The warehouses, which were full of valuable goods,
were above 20 inches underwater, which did con-
siderable darnage

On Friday last was executed in front of the
Tolbooth at Aberdeen, according to his sentence,
John Young, alias Robertson, a travellingj'inker,
for the murder of Hugh Graham, also a Tinker,
at Chapel of Garioch. Since his condemnation he
has shewn every mark of sincere penitence, and he
behaved at the last in a manner becoming his un-
'happy situation. His body was afterward3delivered
to the Anatomical Leaurer in Marischal College
-for dissedion.

ecuted their work in a ve►•y good stile and the
Committee ordered three *hillifigs to be paid to
each of them.

This being the first ploughing match that ever
took place in Annandale, it attraEted the public at-
tention very much. And it is to be wished, that
this great Society would continue to give similar
prizes in different parts of the 'Country, for the
good of the Public ; as it will .create a spirit of
emulation among that useful class of people.
The day fixed upon was uncommonly favourable,
and it altogether formed a pleasant and interesting
sight.. .We hope the .farrners and ploughmen in
Annandale will be long justly sensible of this mark
of.the.Society's attention to them : and we think
that this competition will have a tendency to excite
a laudable emulatiOn ampugs4 farmers and plough_
men, in this part of the South of Scotland.
The members of the Committee and Gentlemen
present, were inviked to dine at Murraythwaite,
where the success of the Society, 1n all its views,
for the improvement of . the country at large, was
drank with great sincerity.

SHIP IVEIM

GRAVESEND, DEC. 23.

Passed by—the Embden Packet, Wukman, from Ham-
burgh; Traveller, Harrisson, from Guernsey ; Trinity
Buoy Yacht, Putdy, from Bremen ; and Ann, Sporting,'
from Messina.

Sailed—the Nelson, Scott, for Martinique • Fame, Daw-
' son, fOr Cadiz ; Flora, for Smyrna • 'Ralph Nichol=
son,. Stephenson, for Berbice ; and Vrow facoba, Nith,_ for
• Dieppe.