The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-05-12 00:00:00

RIOTS IN 7 lIE COVNTRY.

LEEDS, MAT O.—Last night the family of Colo
fuel Campbell, the commanding officer of the Leeds
district, was thrown into very serious alarm: be-
tween ten and eleven o'clock, two men, whose voices
were distinctly heard, placed themselves in a planta-
tion in the rear of the Colonel's house, at Wood-
house, about a mile front Leeds, and discharged two
muskets. in the direction of the Guard-room, just at
tile moment when two hussars were entering the
court, but the trees intercepting the shots, neither of
them took effect. The sentinels immediately went
in pursuit of the offenders, but they escaped under
the cover of night. in the absence of the guard,
and just at the moment when the Colonel's son, ac-
companied by a soldier, was turning the south-cast
corner of the house, four or five men were observed
to collect in front, and one of them discharged ano-
ther musket, but like the former the shot past with-
out doing any mischief. Soon after the firing, the
Colonel, who Lad been from home on his military
duties, drove into the court, and having taken the
necessary precaution to strengthen the guard, the
night past without further molestatit.::. •
CAItLiSLE, MAY 9.—On the 'forenoon of Satur...
day last, one Russell, from Shropshire, who, for
some time pant, has bought up immense quantities of
corn in Cumberland and the adjoining counties, was
described in cur market, • selling clover-seed. He
was instantly attacked by a posse cf boys and wo-
men, by whom he was severely handled; though he
had the good fortune (not without difficulty) to
escape. The public irritation being once excited, it
is not surprising, that further outrage should have
been committed. Accordingly in the afternoon of
th• sante day, a snrant belonging to Russel was fu.
aiously assaulted by the mob, whilst ebmoving that
part of the grass-seed which had not been scattered ;
but he, for the time, found protection by flying into
the asylum of. the guard-house. About six o'clock
In the evening, when the crowd appeared nearly dis-
persed, one of the officers upon guard conducted the
trembling fugitive to the Bush Inn for the purpose
of departing •by the Liverpool coach. his humane
intention was instantly frustrated -by the interfer-
.e.:ce of a Humber of persons—most of them mis-
chievosus boys, mho most furiously attacked with
stones the corn-buyer and his protector. Directly
closing upon them, tho mob inflicted several severe
blows upon the former, whose'clothes were also at-
iltost literally torn, from his body; the poor-fellow
again effected his escape to the guard-house—his
eight being winged vtith fear—closely followed by
the officer, who likewise thoaght it prudent to make.
api e7ipitate retreat. At night, the victim of popu-
lar indignation was escorted out of the city by a
patty of the (.queen's Bays, amidst the clamour of a
tumultuous cone, trse of people, and volties of
stones. It is here but just to state, that notwith-
standing the vio!eoc.,' of the populace, the dragoons
coLducted thent.,:v es wiih great firmness and forbear-
MVP.

On the sane afternoon, an express was received from
Wigton, requesting a military Circe for the suppress- i
ing s,ime di:tarl.aace at that place. It transpired,
that Notni• ;arts loaden midi cheese and bacon had
been itite:•cepted while proceeding to Skinburness, iir
order ti, be shipped. The military, Sn this case, ar-
living too late, the contents of six carts were car-'
tied atrat, uotwitlistanding the exertions of several
respectable inhabitants, aided by the authority of
those Ma;zis•!a,e, a hom the spur of the moment had
enabled to ...pair to the spot.—Three women and a
man have Leen II dg-ed in t:.e county gaol, charged
with being concerned in the mob. It generally hap-
pens, that in popular commotions, the harmless pas_
senger, or disinterested, observer, suffers equally
with those ago are riotously inclined. This has
again been the case, here. Many people being as-1
sembled in the principal street, discussing the
particulars of the day's transactions,' the soldiers I
wore directed by their officers to disperse. them. !
—The consequence. of which was that several
persons were
,u °untied by a charge with bay-!
onets ; among others, a very industrious couple, one
Armstrong and his wife, were severely stabbed,
in the thigh, while coming out of a grocer's shop in
English-street; but we have the pleasure to state,
that they are both recovering, though the poor woman
was at one time considered in a very precarious
state. The Magistrates having recommended all per-
sons to keep uithin their dwellings after half-past t)
o'clock at night, some individuals, either through
necessity or ignorance, not strictly complying with,
thi4 request, have been taken into custody. In ad-
dition to the-above particulars, we have another and
snore lamentable circumstance to disclose. About
four o'clock on the morning of Sunday last, the
stockyard if James Forster, Esq. banker, one of
our ci'y Magistrates, wass oiscovered to be on lire, in
a 6,4 d adjvining' Denton-litilar Fortunately,
three stacks of corn were removed before they were
affected by the flames - but we regretto state, that
one °Marley and another of hay were entirely ton-
Earned, part of which was in a combustible state at I
niid-day. We have not hearcl that any, thi: g has
transpired to &oil; whether thiS w'aile of sustenance
r. as the effect of malice or of lie Aden .t • this much is
certain, that Alt., Feriter hag lately received several
threateuing as well as.attnonitary letters:

11(or.C.11) CITASTRO/Hr..-1)il tilt? 3d ham. Mr.
'!'!;auras Oldknow, mercer. of Nottiniham,in the
atsence of his wife and maidOttani' cut the' throats'
I f his two chlhlren at home, eta/hen:shot hiieselt
though the heal The eldest wasiebout seven years:
of age, and. the ether itinc•lnantith - When,tlrs. OA
came home, she found them all dead on th,e)lQ9F, de-
lined blood; there was another pisto) .ont the
table, loaded and reedy tocked; which it is sUpposed
,he intended for her, had she cottie in hergire' W'deu•
stroyed himself. lle was conlined`et liktoester ibmel
vars ago, and he has been olrsemd lately not to be
quite right iu his mind, but his friends took uo,notieo
of it.
Epsom Races 'comminenee tht-tiOrrtiw, with a
sweepstakes and plate. The Derby, for which twelie
or thirteee herses will start, will- be: run for Oct
Thursday, and the Oaks, for which .eleven, it is
s.a;d, will start, will be run for on Friday ; Connts,
first favourite for the Derby, with 9 to .2 on the field.
l'tittly Trumpet, first favourite for*the Calts, with 5
t 2on the field. The once favourite Mare for *the
uow iiiiids fait* on the list.' •

LAW INTELLIGENCE.I

COURT OF COMMON PUPAS, MAr 11.

- _
Sittings at Westminster,. before kir J. Al.trisFzzip,
Juslkes 111..4rtt and CEIAMBRE.

DOWERS V. TQW:i AS.

In this case Mr. Serjeant Best showed 'cause
against a suspension of execution upon the effects of
Thomas Thornton and Cornelius liird.risher; joint
hail for the Defendant, obtained by Mr: Serjeant
Shepherd, upon two affidavits, which denied the au-
thenticity of the cognorit purporting to bear the sig-
nature of the Defendant, upon which the execution
had beet, made.
One of those affidavits was made by George
Towers, wherein he utterly denied, that he had
ever annexed his signature to the instrument in ques-
tion; nor for a moment had ever contemplated the
permission of such an instilment.
The other affidavit was made by a person of the
name of Ilartley, who deposed, that he really did
not believe the signature at the bottom of the instru-
ment in question to be the hand-writing of the De-
fendant.
Mr. Serjeant BEST said, that the above-mentioned
affidavits contained a serious charge of forgery against
a worthy and honourable man, in whose behalf he
now appeared, and 'upon whose innocence he would
adduce proofs respectable enough to remote every
impression which. the depositions had made.
would now proceed to confront the 'array of *Shy
vits with a very formidable, and he hoped a much
more respectable part'of the Plain-
tiff. He held in his hand an affidavit made by Mr.
Bowerstield, which set forth, that 'George Towers
frequently called at his house, respecting certain
funded property, and they, had frequent converse.
tions together, that upon the 26th of August, a
cognorit was prepared, to which the Defendant put
his name, saying, " the business h now settled,
and I hope it may go on more pleasantly for the fu-
ture."

The second affidavit was made by John Philips,
the subscribing witness to the .cognorit, who said,
that he was desired by the Plaintiff to subscribe the
instrument in question, which be performed, after
having witnessed the hand-writing of Towers.
Thethira affidavit was put in by a gentlemab of
the. name of Fay, who said he had long been ac-
quainted with the hand-writing of Towers, and he
was assured that the signature to the cognorit was
his writing.
Mr. Serjeant VAUGHAN followed on the same side,
and said, that he had in his possession 400 of the
Defendant's letters, which, if their Lordships, woeld
be so kind as to examine, they would fiod them
traced throughout by the same hand which sighed the
disputed instrument.
Mr. Serjeant SHEPUEItD sustained the cause on the
part of Colonel Thornton and Mr. Fisher, who had
given themselves as bail for the Defendant; no inti-
mation whatever had been given of the existence of
the instrument, until the very moment when the ex-
ecution was made. This conduct he considered to
be highly injudicious, and, perhaps, not in strict ac-
cordance with the customs of the Court.
After a consultation for a considerable time, be-
tween their Lordships and their Learned Brethren,
Sir JAMES MANSFILLD declared -that he could not
perceive how the Plaintiff, by concealing the instru-
ment, had committed nny irregularity. The whole
charge of forgery had been most completely an-
swered.

The Rule obtained upon the charge of forgery was
accordingly ordered to be discharged with costs.
This !Aug the last tiny of Term, the Sittings at
Nisi Prius commence to-morrow.

itunActous ltonnEttv.—A fellow of genteel ap-
pea raneo, dressed as an officer of Dragoons, called
at the house of Mr. Wheldon, in Portman-buildings,
on Friday last, during the absence of Mr. Wheldon,
and affected to bring tidings of a near relative of his
serving in Spain, from whence be had just arrived.—
Mr. Wheldon Las a relative serving abroad, and from
the address and manner of the impostor no suspicion
was entertained, and he was introduced to the draw-
ing-room, to wait the arrival of Mr. Wileldon, where
he contrived to steal a valuable watch
.and several
34
articles of plate, &c. with which he got off undis-
covered.

There is not the slightest foundation for the report
which has appeared in some of the Pavers, of Dawson
having made a full confession of guilt relative to
poisonit,g the race horses at Newmarket. A kind of
proposition was offered by Dawson to the gentlemen
of the Jockey Club, to obtain his liberty, but saci.‘
was hot listened to, and he has said frothing relative
to hi's own guilt.
Valerius Maximus tells us, that when liannibal
hats besieged Cassilinifth• ificrtettoarei- the gartiliou
••
for want of food, to the lastextrami'y, a soldiorhap-
pened to catch a mouse, and his covetousness. ex-
ceeding his hunger, he sold it to ono of..hisi comrades
for•More.than lis. sterling; bat It yroverl
.a 'very
fatal bargain to him, for he that bought the mouse •
'saved hiS :life by his purchase, and he that *sold it—
died of fathine. . .
. Orator lIENLEY, who:was a boki.Whig, used to
lecture on Politics. At that time there was
.a very.:
unpopular Ministry, as at presept, find-his Lectures
were much crowded. One evetiiiig he Mounted his
rostruM," and said he' should' then Lecture from the
Bible, and:',nanted a text from `2sth. chap. of Pio.
webs., 6th verson-
Tak,eAssay the wicked from before the Kings
and his tlgouf.shdli be estalkkislied in. righteousness."
• Afte'r the sermon, the tnt being versified thus,
*kW sung 'as an hymn
• • Away with the wicked beforethe King, 't
And stw,ay With the Wick' behiod him •
° ^: Then hi. THrh ,ne blesspith righteousness, '

And we shall know where to,

111 I

A few da ago was softly ,sieliyered eft Nos, the iadj of 3.
Esq. Baker-street..

MARRA/F.D.
On the. 7th inst. Edward Reynolds; Eaq, of Wood -Weal, Lon-
don, to Amok, midese daughter id JohnWisband, taq. gNdtr
tha), Devon. e

DIED
on, lErwiny last, at Ifiljuitinosa. iiit.,Devcaskine,3leximiler
"uoTPAiltralTAlh'iriagetlfiggattlit;
bis. Mary rara.

TIIE STATESMAN.