The Sun.
London, England, 1809-11-30 00:00:00

ever."

• The Prisoner, in his defence, said, he was a an-
five of Gosport; and an almost .stranger in London
that he had dined with two friends, just come up
from Cornwall, and they .had-drank rather too much
wine; his, friends had tinier been in the Theatre' be-,
fore ; denied knowing any person. by the n; :e
of Scott, or that he wit, in company, or had my
knowledge of the person who called out " G. P."
Sce.

Mr. READ desired biro to find bail.
Mr. Curtis —" I am ne,lrly a stranger in London,
and' do not know any person whoin:l 'Could ask to
become my security. If I have done wrong I .am
sorry for it, audit is entirely owing to having drank
a 0.1a..s of wine too much?!
READ“ If yoado not find bail, you must
stand colignitted."

He was then taken out of, the Office.
T+.
To Gentlemen, a iNt.lc:Wm. Morris, and Mr.,
John Townsend, came forward, and od'eredthern-
selves as his 4iail. While the Clerk was taking down.
the it descriptions, two of the officers entered the
office with a young man; whom titey charged with
atterriptiog to rescue Curtis, the last prisoner, from
their custody, as they were taking him over to the
Brown Bear.
William Home, one of the officers, deposed, that
Curtis attempted to get away from him, and would
have done so, if he had not tripped up his heels ; on
which the Prisoner ran up to him, lifted up his
stick, and made an attempt to strike, him.
The prisoner stated, that his name was John Hat-
field Sherry, of No.• 12, Hatton-gar&n, that ,he w
an attorney, and clerk to Mr. Big, of tie sante pro-
fessjon: He. expressed his sorrow for what he had
done, and begged that some one of the Magistrates
on the Bench would take hiS case into consideration,
and intercede for him. • -

Mr. BEAR-^" You appear to be sorry for what
has happened, on which account I will"take your.
ow❑ recognizance ;" which he immediately comp
plied with, and.was discharged:
Mr. Curtis was again brought it;ito the Office, to
enter bail ;\ but his condoC4 was so improper, that
Mr. Ile;iktottiered him to be again taken out of the
Office ; but, on the intercession and' promise of his,
f‘ievds, that his condua would be more decorous,
he was admitted a third time, entered bail, and!was
discharged. • ,
At ten o'clock Edward Newton, a.boy, about 16
years of age, w: Is charged by Mr. Brandon, and
another person, with disorderly condtid in the pit
Of the Theatre during the performance of the farce.
The Defendant stated he was on visit t(I, Mr.
Wybiiurne, an Attorney, No. 6, Craig's-court,Char-
ing-cross ; '.bat his lather was a merchant at Leg-
horn, and that he ti'as going out to• him; that his
mother. lived in Fryer's-place, Reading, and be had
been some time in Mr. Cook's, the Solicitor's Of ice,
in Castle-street, HolborM He denied having made
any disturbancei be was pushed ab.but by others,
which night appear as if he was a partaker in the
noise. He was ordered to find bail. -

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE
OF AN ENGLISH rttisoNEA FROM FRANCE.

The following interesting narrative of the hair:-
breadth 'scapes of a young man, a native of Leeds,
as communicated in a letter, to his brother, will, -we
think, be acceptable, to our readers :
Malta, May 28, rBc9.. •
DE,A R BaoTHER—No. doubt you will be asto-
nished to heat from me at, this place, when you na-
turally suppose I am confined still in a French
prison ; here I am, however, and.the particulars I.
'will state of my escape from . France. Finding
there Was no probability of an exchange, and feel
--
Jog that' I was losi:g my time in idleness, I was de-
termined to venture, at-all hazards, to make my es-
cape, though.l witnessed every day so many exam-
pLs of. mug men being retaken and loaden with
irons; I was not still deterred from attempting.
On the 13th of March, 1808, I anew Up my pa-
role and entered into prison with the seamen ; hav-
ing every thing ready, at twelve o'clock at night, I
descended the rampirts, and travelled thrhugh
fields, woods, and.high roads, always going round
the towns and villages, travelling by night and rest-
ing in the woods by day, only entering into a farm-.
house to purchase bread. In this way.l travelled
for 38 nights without ever sleeping-in a, bed ; and
then: being always a guard upon the bridges, I was
_obliged, to swim across the rivers. At length I
reached Marseilles, having. travelled upwards of
two hundred and sixty leagues, and during' chief
part of the time bad continual snow and 'rain. When
just on the point of getting into -a boat, I. w un-
fortunately retaken by the Custom-house Officers,
Still, havistg hopes, of getting clear, I would- not give
myself up for a prisoner of war. I was in conse-
quence treated as a spy, and under this opinion I
was put into a dungeou,ioo small for me to stand
upright, and not sufficiently long to lie down at
lull length. Here I was almost eaten up with ver-
twin, of which there is no scarcity in Frauce.7—ln
that place I remained-near three months, living upon
bread and water.
Findkng I 'could, not get clear, I. came to a deter-
mination to give myself up as a prif;onur of var,—

(:14ARD HA N. It 1 !..% of:No, 4, 13ovv-strepti cu
'IOE, No. id 2, Strand:, wiltxe Advcrtiseinents, Orders.

This was out of the rytng-pan nto t'oe fire, net'
immediately put irons upon 'me, and rrarched me,
by day, through the country which I had traveled,
by night, a few months before. In two months
I reached Bitche, the strongest fort they have in the
country, and was condemned to remain there dur-
jag.,
the. war, with several' of my unfortunate ceun.
rumen. I was. then upwards of forty feet sunder
ground, but allowed two or three hours a-day,
to Ivaik on the fortress, surrounded with soldiers ;
finding -myself not the happiest mortal on earth, I
was determined once more to try my luck.
With this resolution, my tellow prisoners and my-
self made a party amongst us, and after. a great deal
-of trouble, cutting and breaking every obstacle that
lay before us, .at length we found ourselves- in the
open air ; still having the centinek to pass, and a
rampart of one hundred feet to descend, having
de a r se of linen which had been

previously 4., ..opt
bought for .shirts, we were at last so fortunate as to
get tolerably safe down, only -cutting our hands a
litele, the rope being too.small. This happened on
the 8111 of December last ! it was then snowing and
fp,ez,ing in a most dreadfamanner. Still march-
ing on as before, by night, until the 25th, your'
bit th-day, myself and four companions 'were sur.!
prised by the Gendarmes, a set of, fellows then em-
ployed to' take tip deserters: We were once more
ironed;.and marched from whence we came upwards
of 160 leagues.
On &It- arrival, we were put into a dungeon. with
nine inches water, a role straw, and fifty feet under
ground.; not able- to stand or lie duLingsour con-
finement. • Our case being desperate, we came
to the determination to lose our lives or get clear,
.as it was impossible to live in such a-place more
than a few days. Having found means of pro-'
curing saws, ll:maulers, and chissels, we, set to
work once more, and, on the Bth of February, at
two o'clock in the morning, I . found myself once
mote in the open fields, having come to a resolution.
to lose my life rather than be taken; as it would
only make.a few days difference. 1 pursued my
journey; undismayed, through both the French and
Austi ian armies. My sufferings in this escape were
"as'severe as formerly ; still I had to bear up egaiust
snow and rain, cold and hunger; but at length,
on the 'l6th of March, I found myself in per-
feet safe6r. at Trieste: • Had you seen me that day
you would have thought 'me perfeetly mad : I think
myself so at present, or at least every body tells me
so. On my arrival at Trieste, there being no men.
of war, I was obliged to take a passage in an Impe-
rialvessel ; and, on my arrival here; the Admiral,
iliearin,,o- from others who had come with me what I
had suffered, had the-goodness to appoint me atting
Lieutenant to the Sabrina, which I shall join in the
morning. ~

1,4 w REPORT.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Nov. 28.

This day was the last day of Term, and the only
business that occurred at all interesting; was t_h©
case of

'ASHLEY V. RAY AND' OTHERS.

In which Judgment was given by,the Court,:. it
was an aaion brought by the Plaintiff,, who is a
farmer's servant at, Market Drafton, in Shropshire,
to recover the sum of twenty guineas from the De-
fendants, under the following circumstances : The
Defendants, who lived at Drayton, during the last bal-
lot for Militia in that county, agreed tor the premiurn
of two guineas to insure the paymeni of the sum of
o guineas to any yoling man .who should be duly
ballotted, and who in consequence'should' find a
proper substitute in his room, which faCt' was to be
authenticated by the Lord Lieutenant and Parkh
Officers of the distriti, on the produaion of whose
certificate the said suns of twenty guineai ivat to be.
paid ti wards defraying the ex,pences of the substk,
tote. The Plaintiff in 'this case had paid his t
guineas, but was not drawn-during the reghlar ba.-
lot on examining the persons rettuned, howeveri
it was discovered that one of them wzs below the
standard, in Consequence of which, it was agreed to
draw another in his place, and. the Plaintiff-waS'tfiat
person, who, after some difficulty, provided a sUb
stitute, at an ekpenee of 481. but on his appying to
the Defendants for the sum to which he thought he
became entitled by his insurance, they. refused 10
pay hint, on the .groutid of his nut having be it
drawn in the first ballot, for which only they con-
dived themselves answerable.

Judginent was given in fasour of the Plaintiff,
Ihe Court were of opinion, that the mistake in tiwk
first ballot, and the subsequent drawing of the.
Plaintiff; did not constitute anew ballot, or
any difference in the conttad of the Defendants.