The Sun.
London, England, 1810-07-24 00:00:00

EDLYBURCH, JULY 18.

KIDNAPPING CHILDREN DETECTED AND, rtrtusncri:
A case of a most atrocious and aggravated nature
wt us diltermintd a few clays ago by the Sheriff of
Edinborg It, on a complaint at the,instance of Messrs..
James and Robert Bisset, manufaOurers at PrinlawS,,
near Leslie in:Fite, and of the mothers and sister
bt three young boys (who had been engaged at
Messrs. Bissets spinning-mills) with consent of 'lie
Prosecutor Fiscal of the county, against Jahn Lead-
biller, some time butcher,in North Leith, for hay-'
ing' him • punishej, and the boys returned to their
parents.
The circumstances of the case are these-;=Lead-
bitt'er; who ter many moinhs had bein'in the prao;:
ticeof advertisirig for yoting boys for sea, did, about'
the middle- of March last', send -off by the Trafalgar
coach, which leaves 'Edinburgh every morning at,
five o'clock fin London, the • Said three boys for
Shields or- Sunderland, to persons there, to be sent
to sea; ordisposed of to the best advantage ; .and
for each boy, when zceepted, he: received a pre-
mium of t %v.° guineas, and .was relieved ofthe-
charges of sending then) to England.: The two
oldest boys, of the names of Charles :Walker and:
John Lindsay, the former abOut andifie latter,
Only 1,13 years 'old, Were turned off the *coach at
MOrpeth, and sent to sea ; and the "youngest bey,
Wham -Barr, only 11 yearS• old,: was. carried
forward to Shields, where 'he was prat :on board a
vessel in the Roads 'for several: weeks,: but hearing
by accident that he was to. be-seOt away on .stirne
distant voyage; he priVately ma,!e his.escape, without
a hat on his bead or a shoe on his foot; and begged
all the way 'to LeSiie, a distance. 'of fully. -I,fo •
Miles, in eight 'days, where he was received. with
inexpressible jny his mother, a poor widow wo-

ii]
3 n.
:12 tie mother eif-Isindsay traversed the cot-limy for
ten days-in:quest -Ortie'r child, in;a tit of despair,
till, 'by stcitietwat Leith, on
,berteturn to LiAie,
she was intocifieck, that Leadbitter was in the,prac-
tide of 'di‘iposing of children. fdr.gain. ~Shei,accordi-
ngly applied .to him ; but, • shocking 'to relate,. in;
plate.ot beingt ,cOnvineed that he was guilty of a
wrong, he declared he. Was: unconscious of -it.-
Evety lenient measure :to have the boys restarOd:
to toeir parents, proriog ineffeauid, the • applica-.
tton to the Sneritf, before mentioned; becarne•ne-

cessary. . . . :
In, the. course of the investigation, it turned -out•
that by this nefarious and inhurrian ',traffic,' Lead-
bitter, by ..his.own confession, was pocketing at the'
rate•of 12001. per annum ; that he thought it no
,erint to send:the boys out of their native country .
at the age :of 13, witkout the consent :of their
parents, though he himself acknowledged he had a•
wife and three children.
To prevent deteetidne he took care not to men- •
tion the boys names, but -their numbers only, in-the •
way-bill of the Trafalgar coach,,and was most soli,
citous to prevent their escapein Edinburgh; and on
their, way •to Shields e•but, notwiths,.anding, some
of the, boys made their escape, which generally ••
ended in a quarrel !between 'the guard ,'of the coach
and -Leadbitter.... The Sheriff most proeerlyappoint--
ed.Leadbitter to attend personally in Court, to wit
ness all the investigation going 001' but he, appre-
hensive of • Ins danger, tell :upon a stratagem •to
quash, if possiblethe. matter entirely. On Sun-
, day se'nnight. he and two other persons, crossed the •
Forth, and travelled to Dysart and Leslie, and .by
gross misrepresentation, 'did 'obtain front two of the
unhappy women, letters disclaiming, the process;
but which they understood to be letters:to the boys
themselves, whom one sof the persons mentioned
he had seen in good health, and 'mould- carry the
letters to them. Leadbitter 'produced those most
improper documents as a.bar to the 'adion:, • bUt the
women came to Edinburgh, and Satisfied the She-
riff,. that all was an imposition., • a!ll required that
the • action :might be proceeded in.—The• Sheriff,
upon . the clearest evidence, had t-to-' hesitation' in
finding, that the carrying off boys.when in-it state
of puberty, furth of Scotland, 'Withent.the knew.:
ledge or consent of their parents, is a-highly aggra-
vated offence, and that the defender had aekitOw••
;edged hiMself guilty thereof ; therefore, he:grant-
ed a warrant to commit hint to jail for the' space of
fourteen days, and!thereatter, until he-find
ent caution to restore the
.two boys, Walker. and
Lindsay,: to their relations. within the space of two-
moeths, under the penalty of 601. sterling;'
and. be-
sidj him liable, in expenceS; • :Before 'pro,
nouncing judgment, the - Sheriff -addreSsed Lead-
bitter 'lO !a inbst impressi've manner; importing,
that if the utmost. rigotir of the -law had bett
.adopted, he would perhaps' have. been tried ca-
pitally, in place of suffering arbitrary puthsh-
, ment . That Leadbitter having • acknowledged.
himself-to be a huSbMd and:. the father of three
children, while he unfeelingly declared, that he
Was- unconseio6sl oftnilt, struck •.him (the She-
' riff) more forcibly-than any other part of his cote-
: duct. He asked him how he would . himseir feel if
:atty of hiS own children had been 'sent off, perhaps
never to be more heard of, it he • would' not be
i•
active in bringing to• punishmetit such an impious
Offender.? Before dknnssing him, he reminded him
tha.tiiarents had the sole direction of their children
-till they'viere 14 years of age;. that, in the-present
instance, he had- deprived- thern of this sfrties and
comfort; by • sending them off from theif native
country for •gain,: even ,at the boyish thoughtless
years, of eleven, the ag7 of the boy Barr, whom he
just'ta'w at the bOttoin• of the table; and that. Lead-
bitter ought therefore to be thanl.ful for the Mild
punishment to be hatted on him, and hoped that
he now •perceived the gross enormity of his crime,
'and would never be guilty of the like in future.

Sunday 'evening, about nine o'clock, .a decent
dressed woman threW 'herself into the Thames, at
J3laFkfriirs-bride;
.forlificately her intention. ,was
°perceived, and' she was rescued frOm the watery
element in sufficient time to save her life. family
qqarrel was said. to be the cause of her committing
the'.rash:aet.
A CARP.-The Friends of the late,MAuK Hone-
, soN, Brewer; and the. yu6lid,:are
_respectfully :in-
forMed, that .the BreWery will be carried on by-the
"Executors, for the benefit of the 6imily, in every
respea as before. Their future oiderS will be treated
with the greatest attention.

SPORTING IIVELLIGENCE.

WINCHESTER RACES, luty 17:

TC:f.SDAY.
. ~
: 144 Majesty's Plate of 01. e Hundred Guineas.
Mr: Douglas's Delusion, 5 yrs, old - - 1 •
Mr. Bouvet-it's Discount, 5 yrs old - - t I
Mr: Dilly's Guatlio. aged _ ... -

.:.4) 4 on Delusion.

WEDNESDAY. . .
The City Plafe‘of Fifty ,Pcunds.
Mr. Bouverie's Discount, s yrs. old -
Mr. Goddard's Nyinpnina, 6 yrs old 7
- z to z on DiScount,
,‘. .

I I
2 d r