Star.
London, England, 1825-12-29 00:00:00

INTERESTING. ANECDOTE.

Tuesday morning, the day on which the execution
took place, as the Rev. Mr. Cotton, the Ordinary of
Newgate, was proceeding to the prison, between six
and seven o'clock in the morning, he WAS accosted by a
countryman of very decent appearance and behaviour,
who stated that he had just arrived from the neigh-
bourhood of Marlow, and had travelled all night on
foot for the purpose of imploring a great favour of the
Rev. Gentleman. Upon being asked the nature of his
request, he stated, that his name was George Roberts,
that he was formerly a private in the 22d Light Dra-
goons, and had been pensioned off; that for several
years past he had lived near Marlow, and worked as
'a labourer, and bore an unimpeached character; but
about eight years back he and another man had been
charged, on oath, by Edmunds, with having stopped
him on the highway, and stolen 4s. 6d. from him.
—Mr. Vansittart, the Magistrate, having a very favour-
able opinion of Roberts' character, interfered, and there
appearing to be some discrepancy in Edmunds' testi-
mony, the prisoners were discharged. Roberts, con-
scious of his entire innocence, and tender of his reputa-
tion, was anxious to wipe away the reproach that had
been unjustly cast upon his f'
a'r fame, and with which
he was occasionally upbraided by evil-minded persons ;
he therefore resolved to make a journey to Landon, and
before his accuser quitted this life, obtain horn him,
by means of the Chaplain of the prison, a confession of
his (Roberts') innocence.
Mr. Cotton considered it his duty to comply with the
wish of the countryman, and desired him to call in the
course of a few hours. The Reverend Gentleman ac-
cordingly, on ping into the condemned-room, men-
tioned the subject fo Edmunds, and inquired what was
the real truth of the care? when he, without any hesi-
tation, frankly avowed that the charge he had brought
against Roberts was altogether without foundation—
that, in fact,le had never been robbed at all, but had
fabricated the story for the purpose of accounting for
a deficiency of four shillings and sixpence which he
had spent, and which amount was the produce of some
articles he had sold on his master's account.

On Mr. Cotton's making the communication of
Edmunds acknowledgment to the poor countryman,
he expressed much gratitude to the Reverend Gentle-
man for his humane interposition. He then said that
be would venture to entreat oae further favour, which
was, that he might be furnished with a written state-
ment of what had transpired, as he was apprehensive
that, on his return to the country, it might be doubted
whether Edmunds hag actually made the impotent
confession. Mr. Wonsner, the Governor of Newgate,
then kindly gave him a few lines, certifying that he
bad been present when Mr. Cotton related the declara-
tion of the dying man.

SALVAOII.—Last week a case of salvage claim was
Guard at the King's Head Inn, at Dover. An English
vessel from Cadiz to London, laden with wine, was
wrecked on the Sussex coast, near Seaford. The claim-
ants for salvage were Messrs. Stone and Hrdton, New-
haven, in Sussex, who contended for 9151. and after
three hours c ,nsiderat ion, 7401. 18s. Was awarded.

The Adelphi Theatie still continues to draw crowded
audiences. It has nut been so numerously attended
since die introduction of ss Tom if nd Jerry." The pre-
sent performances, however, are of a more intellectual
[ character than that profligate and vicious drama, and
are therefore better entitled 0 public patronise.

- SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

--..-7
BOXING.

Sampson has personally challenged Ned O'Neal, *e Streatham
Youth, to fight for ,ff3oo. ('Neal accepted the friendly invitation,
and says he will deposit 1001. at his benefit.
Church• the celebrated boxer, distinguished for his hardihood
in the London ring, was engaged in a moat sanguinary battle MI
Saturday, for £5, with H. Mowers, son of the Warminster fight-
ing smith, at Hilton, near Marlow. The combat lasted more th...ft
an hour, mind there were many changes, hut Church had must de.
cidedly the best of it, and drew three of his adversary's tr":it
teeth in the last round but one. ►lowers was carried off the grou,l4
in a senseless state.

PEDESTRIANISM EXTR %Olt DIN ART.

Bigmore, the Suffolk pedestrian. accomplished, in fifty-one mi-
nutes, the tuk of collecting, with his mouth, 100 eggs, place•]
yard asunder, on Tuesday se'nnight, in Ireland's Cricket Ground,
Stiglaton.

WRESTLING AND SINGLESTICK.

At the annual Hassel(lon Revel, on Christmas Eve, the prizes,
the bequest of Mr. Stevens, the celebrated Hampshire singlestica
player, were awarded as follows :—To John Flowers, a Wiltshire
man, £4, as the best singlestick player, who broke three heads.
To John 'Wittoo, Newbury, Bsrks, £4, as the best wrestler, who
threw Todd, of Somersetshire; Owen, of Herefordshire; Fos,
of Berkshire; and Williams, of Wiltshire—four men considered
equal to any in England.
PIGEON SHOOTING.

Monday, in the sporting phrase, was the opening of the cam-
paign against pigeons, between two of the crack clubs, of eleven
each, and a like number of all Ragland, at eleven birds each, by
subscription of three sovereigns each. The scene of this expert
shooting was the llidgham enclosures, and the following was she
i
order of killing at 21 ards :
ASHTON. Killed. ALL ENGLAND. ' sit k
Haines . 10 Harrison . 11
Howard . 10 Spalding . 10
Smith .10 Lane •10 I .
Reeves . 9 Howard . 10 1'
Furdhans • 9 Davis - 9 Pr, •
Joiner
Houldsworth .
II Raine 9 Thwaite• . • 9 im. +
sNigh 1
Street • $ Holies . 7 Kent
Ferguson . 8 Farmer . 6 W
I ent*
Manners . 7 Mead . 6 Drury
Moore . 6 R. Owen . 6 ..-.. .
94 92
Midgham killed most birds, but they we,
ping out of bounds, yet the four most cert
to be on the England side.
Messrs. Haines, Harrison, and Renshaw, next shot a sweepstakes
of Eve sovereigns each, at single birds, to kill. Mr. Harrison
missed his third bird, Mr. Haines his sixth, and Mr. Renshaw
having killed his sixth, wog the match.
' The second great match, at eleven birds each, was shot on Tues-
day, for 100 sovereigns a-side, by eleven members of the New Hats,
and eleven of the Heston Dub, on the same ground where the
Ashton stud 'Wideman Clubs and eleven of AU England shat on the
preceding day, on the same terms, the winners of which killed 94.
The shooting In the present match was as follows :
NNW MATS. KILLED. lIISTON.
Bullock . . 11 Aston
Jasper . . . 10 Fordham
hillinghurst . . 10 Cobham
Phenix • . - 1 Groom _ . :
Howard . . -- li Blenkup
Swinton . . 6 Major
Frampton . . 6 Morley
Ward . . . 8 Mahoney
Windus . . $ Tyson
Flowers . . 6 Woodroofe
Newton . • 6 IL. Jones

Alinement Cu; a.
Renshaw . 10
Barden . 10
Thomas . IG
Fowler . 10
Prngers . 10
hi' Mahan 9
Nightingale(
Kent
Wentworth
Droll/
Melding
Unlucky in their drop-
shot, were considered

ILILLIS.

. 7

• 11l
Messrs. Bullock and Jasper
Focdhans, for au sovensigus a. ski

90
aot 'virtu Mews. dates and
at bCVCO birds each.

lILLIII.
Aston . . . 6
Fordharn . . 6

Jasper . . 6
Bullock . . 5

DUEL IN FRANcIL—The Court of Assizes, at Nantes,
on the 10th instant, triei a gendarme on a charge of
murder, for having killed one of his comrades in a duel.
The only evidence against the culprit was that of a
mason, who observed the combat at the dista,ice Of 80
paces, and who swore that the deceased, in his opinion,
had received unfair play. The seconds of the parties
being examined, declared that the rules of duelli g had
been faithfully observed, and the prisoner was acquittel
Thus common soldiers are allowed their “ affairs of
honour" in France, without any fears of conseq ;thees
from the-tribunals.
Thursday, Thomas S slier, fisherman, Cellardyke, in
returning home from Pittenween, intoxicated, went (If
the high road (it is supposed), being bewildered by the
darkness of the night, fell over a precipice between
Pittenwem and Anstruther, and was killed.
110 P PLANTERS.—In consequence of two letters sent
by Mr. CURTEIS, M. P. for Sussex, to Mr. HERM&
Secretary to the Treasury, representing the distressed
state of some of the Ilep Planters, now called of on for
the payment of the duty upon the growth of 1824, so
-long postponed, Mr. Hzentcs has written an answer,
stating, that with every feeling for the peculiar circum-
stances which have pressed upon the districts in which
these parties are situated, the Earl of LlvErtrool. and
the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER find it quite impos-
sible to recommend to the Lords of the Treasury to
grant any further general indulgence in the collection
Hof this duty, but they Le prepared to move the Board
to afford some extension of the time in any individual
cases of distress or poverty, so urgent as to make them
fit subjects for special exemption.
The Shrewsbury coach was laden on. Friday last with
$6O parcels, preents to London. It broke down in
Birm.ngham, and was seven hours ascending Long
Compton Hill with .ix horses. All the other coaches
fro:n Shropshire, Worcestershire, GlOuce.tershite, &c.
were equally filled with game, turkeys, &c.
FlRE—Between the .hours of nine and ten .o'clock
last night, a fire br, ke out in the house of Messrs.
Coven and Co. oi!-merchan s, 46, St. Ihn's-street,
errner of Great Sutton street, Clerkenwell. Theflimes
first :hewed themselves in-the baiement story, at the
rear of the shop, and communicating to a quantity of
hemp and other combustible matters, any efforts to stop
their progress were wholly useless; and such was the
rapidity of the conflagration, that the family, who were
in the upper part of the house, had barely time to
escape with their lives before the whole building was in-
volved in one mass of fire. The first, second, and third
floors had caught in less than ten minutes, and though
eight or ten engines, well supplied with water, were
then in full play, the roof itself soon after tumbled in,
and the flames, which before found vent only through
the windows,• shot upwards to an immense height,
shedding a bright red glare on the holizon to a vast
extent. Considerable fears being entertained of its com-
municating to the warehouse at the back, in Great
Sutton•street, which contained a large stock of oils,
tallow, pitch, turpentine, and resin, the firemen directed
their attention to that point, whilst several of the in- •
habitants assisted Mr. Comma's people in the removal
of the stores; fortuna,ely the warehouse was parted
from the dwelling-house by a yard. Ultimately the
flames did not extend beyond where they originated.
In Athens snow is rarely seen, but when it does fall
there, it is considered as a ptonlising indicates' of a
rod crop cf ia the to tt4ig season.

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