The Sun.
London, England, 1808-11-01 00:00:00

B 101? IVI7:pIICRAPT.

[FROM 'THE LEEDS PAPER.]

In.the discharge of our duty we last week exposed
to public view some of the wicked and diabolical
arts practised by. Mery Bateman, of Camptield, near
his town, upon the . distressed and ruined family of
Win. Perigo, of Bramley we shall now. submit to.
our. yeadere some further particulars, which, Caine
oift in the examinations_ before the' Magistrates. -
Soon after Perigo went to consult Maty Bateman, .
and while, by her arts, she was fleecing hini of ail
the money
.he had, or posSibly eeield raise, 'amount-
ing, in the whole, as we have already stated, to
701.,the imaginary MisS Myth ordered him to buy
het:" a live goose, 'ln order that it might be offered
as a buitit-offering:to her laminar, and thereby de-
stroy the works of darkness ; she -next demanded •
counterpane and sheets; again four pounds of bacon ;
next a cheese; then a pair of lamb's skin stockings;
exclusive of the money; bed, china, gowns, petti-
coats,,.i
and famly bible. _
In- May 1807, this prophet of ills predicted that
both Perigo and his wife would, during the month,
take a very severe illness ; but they were consoled
by the assurance, that if they followed her prescrip-
tion stedfastly, this illness would not be unto death;
in order to which they were direEled
.to eat the pud-
ding already mentioned ; and it that made them sick,
as it probably would, they were to take each a spoon-
.ful of honey, mixed up with, certain ingredients,
and if they took it ail, without being deterred by the
apparent illness it might produce, Mary assured them
that their sorrows would be at an end! Infamous
wretch ! her 'words were too , true ; Perigo's wile
adhered stedfastly to the prescription, and her
life paid the forfeit of her folly. The husband, less
faithful, escaped with his life, and nothing more.
I How deeply infatuated the ill-fated wife of Perigo
was, may be collected from the following melan.:.
choly tett : on the Friday previous to the Sunday on
which she died, while writhing under the most ex-
cruciating torture front the effects of the deleterious
drugs prescribed by Mary Bateman, in the na.ne of
Miss Blyth, she extorted from her husband a pro--
mise• that even if her illness Should issue in her
death, a circumstance she did not much expect, he
Would continue to follow thedireelioris of the sorceress,
till the arrival of the time when all their expeetatioes
of freedom from the powers of darkness should be
consummated in a happy fruition. In an evil hour he
gave the promise, and scrupulously adhered to ,it,
till forced,' by hard necessity, to violate an engage-
ment more honourable in the breach than in the
observance. The wife, as we have already stated,
died on the 16th of May, 1807, and a letter ar-
rived two or three days after, from Miss Blyth, in
which she attribeted her death to having ventured
to touch the enchanted bags. Nor were the effects
of this disobedience to end here; ." Inasmuch," said
this disciple of the black art, in a letter to Perigo,
" as your wife has done this wicked thing, she shall
rise from the grave—stroke your face with the cold
hand of death—and you shall lose the use of one
side." In this way she continued to pratitise upon
his hopes and fears; but terror being the more
powerful engine upon minds so' constituted as his,
It was most frequently resorted to, and, unhappily,
with too much success: Driven by his wants to
brave all clangefs, and to open the mysterious bags,
where all his wealth was, as he imagined, de-
posited, and finding that these bags, Pan-
dora's box, contained many evils, without, like
that box, having hope at-the bottom, he hurried to
the sorceress, upbraided her with the wicked fraud,
and told her those bags contained nothing of value.
—" Aye," said the artful wretch, " this comes of
being in too great a hurry ; you, have opened them
too soon." " Too soon, did yOu say," cried Perigo,
indignantly, who. had now opened his eyes to his
" I think I have opened them too late." The
sequel is known; the sorceress was committed to
Wakefield House of Correction on Saturday, there
to await her trial, or to be removed 'to the county
gaol, to which her husband has since been sent, for
robbing the hose cf James Snowden.
James Snowden and his family have also been the
dupes of Mary Bateman, in a degree little interior
to Perigo. Living at the next door to this artful
woman; she learned that Snowden's wife hada sort
of presentiment that one of her children would be '
drowned, and offered her services to avert so heavy
a calamity. The agency of Miss Blyth was called
in here again. Mary pretended to write to her at
Thirsk, and received a letter, directing that James
Snowden's silver watch should be sowed' up in the
bed by, Mary Batemah ; next, Money, to the
amount of twelve guineas was demanded, and ob-
tained in a manner a good deal Similar to the way
in which it was extorted from Perigo ; this' was also
to be sowed up in the bed. By and by, it became
necessary, Miss Blyth said, in order to prevent
their son being\ drowned, and their daughter be-
coming abandoned, that Snowdeifs family should
leave Leeds, and go to Bowling, in the neighbeur-
hood of Bradfor, taking the bed, with the watch
and money in it, with them, but leaving a consi-
derable portion of their property in their house at
Leeds, and giving Mary Bateman the key. At
length they expressed their wish to Mary, to be
allowed to look in the bed, and take out the watch
and money, but the time had not yet arrived ; and
before this inspedtion was to be made, the family of
Snowden were to take a dose, which was at that time
in preparation for them, and was to have been ad-
ministered during the current weele—happily this
dose was never taken.

On Saturday last, 'James Snowden was passing
part of his evening in a public-house at Bradford,
and The Leeds Mercury being produced, one of the
company undertook •to read the article which had
produCed so much conversation' during the day,
under the head " Witchcraft, Murder, Credulity !"
—Snowden heard. the narrative with violent elm,
tion; when it was finished, he started •frOm• his
chair, and made the best of. his way home. His
first care was to open the folds of the bed, when
lo ! instead of his watch and money, he found—a
coal ! He next came over to Leeds, and found his
house, which he had left in the care of Mary Bate-
man, plundered, and. on a search warrant being
procured, -part of the_ property was found in Bate-
man's house ; John. Bateman was, in consequcnce;
apprehend-:d, and, as we have stated above, cum.;
united to York Castle,..to take his trial