The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-08-02 00:00:00

To nis EDITOR or nu, STATESMAN.
,1

Sts,--A more extraordinary lervesidering lie
Jnagnitude, never happened in' the Shitnry of .thil
world, than the surrender. •ot igairoi4Ort in.the Bei-
tish Government, nor can I conceryis any thing more
difficult than for that Government to decide bow they
Swill dispose of him. The. difficulty arises not from
its involving any disputed point in the law of na.
hire or of nations, for by neither Of these laws is he
amenable to their power ; had he been slain in bat-
tle, he would have only met the fate which every
inan is subject to, who tnkes up the sword.; had he
been taken prisoner, be would have been kept so
during the war, bnt ns the matter stands at present, I
onceive that both justice and generosity require that
he be forthwith set at liberty ; hot the Allies thiak
otherwise, and their own past conduct is the cause
of the difficulty. • Had they not first broken the
Treaty of Foutainhiesu, the matter would have been
very different ; had BONAPARTZ, without any jr.
Vocation or excuse, but the mere workings of his
own ambition, quitted his imprisonment at Eiba, and
taken the means lie did take to regain his power, he
might justly have been treated as a traitor ; and had
be been taken in arms, he should have died as a fo-
reign enemy. But as none of these things hap-
pened, the Allies had no right to put him nut of the
pale of civilized society, and their famous, or rather
infamous Declaration, wanted two requisites essen-
tial to every public and private document, it wanted
truth anti justice; the allegations it contained were
false. •
Let on man suppose that I am attempting to de-
fend or palliate the conduct of Nartmeost, through
the various sets or his eventful career. I once 11
thought him the friend of liberty, and as such 1 ad-
mired him ; bat after he became the tyrant of France,
I detested him more than I ever loved him, and I
wished •as much as any man for his fall. Had the
French brought him to the scaffold for bis numerous
acts of tyranny and cruelty, he would have been
justly ezecuted ; or had the Spaniards taken him,
and put an end to his life, they would hate been
justified both by the law of nature and of nations ;
but what right the Allies have to murder pr impri.
son him, I should much wish to have proved. At the
comMencement of the French Revolution, when the
French people thought fit to depose and execute
their King, the example was considered as so dan-
gerous to all Crowned Heads, that they leagued toge-
ther in order to punish the deed, and suppress the
principle upon which it was justified. The French
were for a long time successful itt repelling their ag-
gression, till discord and anarchy began to palsy
their arms, when Bou.trAturE found it requisite to
anite the Government under a strong hand, and he
grasped it himself—had he shown as much modera-
tion in ruling as he showed wisdom sequiting his
power, he might yet have been Emperor of France.
In his coniluct to this country and to others of the
Allied Poeers, e c, at various times refused to
make peace with him, or to st kno,Ateege his autho-
rity, I find nothing to blame—he wielded his arms
in defence of France, and was every where success- I
ful, that success, however, was his ruin, for not
cow( with ruling solely by influence, he attempt-
ed t-, furc•to overthrow the Government of a friend-
ly l'uwer, in direct si,lation of the known law of
nations, nit(' the glorious resistence he experienced
from t.e, Spaniards WWI the first check to his arms
and tlioi;eito,l the spell of victory. From that mo-
tee;.t his power beam to decline, and his unsuccess-
ful attack tii3O•l Russia completed his rain. He
was OW lA, however, by th. firmness of his army
to mike fisoorahle conditions with the Allies, and
had they observed the Treaty of Fontaitibleau, he
would either at this instant have been at Elba,
or in
his grave.

By surrendering himself to the British arms, and
thus relying upon British generosity, it is to be
hoped he will save his liberty ; and if Louts conducts
himself as lie ought in France, it will not he in the
power of BONA! titTE to make any fresh disturbance
in that country. lie has lost his empire by his own
imprudence, and though he must always be consi-
dered as a wonderful man, he will die nnpitied and
unregretted.

I remain, &c.

W. BURDON.

Mulford, near 51nr1teth,ly 9, 1815.

We find the Scheme of the new Lottery is already
annnunted :—from the very limited number of Tickets
(only live thousond), and the disappointment expe-
rienced by several persons who were not sufficiently
early in their applications to secure, as they wished,
particular Numbers in the late Lottery, we recom-
mend to those who may now have a similar incline- •
(ion to be early in bespeaking them. The whole
Lottery will be drawn in one day.
Margaret Ruddle, Sarah Burner, and Richard
Neal, were seversllycommitted, for uttering counter-
lei, three-shilling tokens.
CORY-ExcuaucE, AVGUST 2.—ln addition to a
considerable quantity of Wheat left over from Mon-
day's market, we had a fresh supply this morning
from Suffolk, and the trade being very heavy our
prices are rather lower, and but little disposed of.—
Oils are Is. per quarter cheaper.—lo other articles
there is little or no variation.

W bent ( English) 42 70 Resins
Ditto (Foreign) 4O 74 Old ditto
Rye 9O 14 Tick do. 3O 92
Burley /8 34 Old .4—
Nov ditto Outs 9O 33
Malt
White Peai 93 36 , Poland do. .... ...... 26 49
New ditto .... — I Feed ditto lB 46
DUI° lioikn 3B 42 Fine Flour ..... ... 110 65
Grey Year 96 38 &too& -•... . •-. 64 60

• TO Tine lurk: cotrON,
ORDINARY O.E.Nll°WaAtg.

Ste,—Owing in the eirconvoloce of your name
having been itstriiellaced publicly' by a Turnkey. of
Newgnte in an Hiegel affidavit, which test an iota.
mous stigina olio's' the character of WILLIAM Frs.
*lsm, a peer, but honest cold soldier, I Iry induced,
ihrough a love of truth and justice, respectfully to
solicit Your attention to thi. following observations,
prior CO my analyisii of that extiniordinery deposition.
The alf,davit in which I advert was printed by parti.;
cular order, it; the Statesman of last Saturday, and
*several other NeeSpapers. lit addressing you thus
publicly, I owe it to myself as a first duty, to ex-
press my general respect tor the Ministers of kelt-
gion. I have always imiieraieil the chatacter or i
pious, benevolent, and ctarttable. Divine, as mina
the most estimable blessinea or society. lam owe tiY*l
those who glory in the Trial by Jul , as the sOteat
of all judicial inctitutiona, and whn would defend It
at all legal hazards, if necessary, as the auresthui-
work of pubic liberty anti individual justice. In civil
cause' the decision of e.Jury is not Considered
infallible; but, in My 'opinion. 10'.crinatil linen
their verdict is too solemn., to be lightly erlieli IO
question ; although, unfortunately, our history for.
Mates too massy fostinees wherein the public' sire
of opinion that in justice tb.y ought not to yield an
implicit assent to their verdict. In some of those in-
stances, which occurred in seasons or meth fetment,
and on party stn( doubts were in-
dustriously infused into the public mind, for party
and political porpottes, against the clearest evidence.
But, in cases of crimes against private
here there existed no party or political motive to
create an uncertainty of the verdict; the doubts of
the community confessedly arose out of the nature of
the evidence deposed to on the day of trial ; and, in
111 such cases candour, humanity, and the law of
.Coo forbid us, without the most certain testimony,
to form any rash or uncharitable judgment of others,
test we be judged quivelpri. To guard against the
errors, prejudices. and piviinna to which all human
judgments are exposed, the British law mercifully di7
rec,s, that in all cases where a doubt exists in the
mind of the Jurors, it becomes their duty to incline
in favour of the accused. The wisdom aod humanity
of this rule is founded in the ackisoWledied truth,
that it is better ninety-nine guilty persons shall
escape than one innocent person su fret tin ignominious
death by the sentence of a Court of Justice. Two
trials and executions, for having administered poison,
have recently taken place, with very opposite effects
upon the feelings of the Public. E. Woollerton, the I
wife of a respectable farmer, was tried at the Norfolk
Assizes on 162.11, and exectnetton the 2Stis lust. it
Ipswich, sniirlst the horror and execration of society.
—Elha Fermin', a poor servant girl, the only
daughter of a labouring man, who had been an old
soldier, and had, necessarily, no friends nor wealthy
connections to excite an interest in her behalf, was
found guilty on the II th of April last, at the Old
Bailey, of having administered poison to her
master's family.--From the illy of her trial to
e‘at of her execution on the With loaf. she was
an 4.;jcct of public interest and anxious cotrimi-
aeration. All men did justice to the Jury, .ana
intentions of the persons who gave evidence
against her ; but doubts existed. in a high official
quarter. The humane and conscientious community
partook of this painful uncertainty. Petitions *ere
drawn up, signed, and presented in her favour, by
religious and dispassionate persons of respectable
rank ; and the Eutitors of many public prints %roma-
neously publisher! aiticles inclined to the side of
mercy. The opposite effect of the two cases upon
the public mind arose solely from a calm and un-
biassed view of the total difference in the nature and
extent of the evidence upon which they were convict.
ed. If the detectable clime of poisoning, notwith-
standi: g her friendle.c poverty, appeared to be
• tripped of its horror its the case of Eliza Fen-
rine, it was not that humane and good men had
ceased to detest that abominable offence but judg-
ing from my awn humble opinion, because a general
s..pposition existed. that there was not a clear and
4iiifirient proof by ocular evidence to establish the
fact, that the accused person was the party who had
actually administered the poison.
This doubt of the extent of the evidence was per.
fectly compatible with no opinion entertained by the
same permit, that the parties who gave evidence
against her were justified by their own consciences in
I the whole of their conduct and depositions against
the unfortunate girl accused. It was not necessary
to fasten n suspicious upon any other person, in order
le entertain these doubts in her favour. It was
enough to know that Gun, who sees and knows
all things, is the final judge of this transaction ; and
it would have been a heinous act of injustice to turn
the prejudices of the Public against any other per.
son upon mere randoni Conjecture. The common
anxiety was evidently honourable to the Public, be-
cause itwas founded on a love of justice and hosmble
duty ; for every member of . society would be
wounded in any case wherein nn opinion prevailed
that the life of the honest individual had been taken
away by the verdict of a corrupt, negligent, and
wicked Jury, without a clear, full, and slag.
factory evidence. In• the case of Eliza Few)
ping no such opinion has prevailed, nor can be
for a moment admitted. The honesty and impar.
tiality of the Jury are above impeachment ; and if
any persons were weak and wicked enough to start
an insinuation against their sense of justice, it would'
he the duty of all men to repel the imputatiun.—
Where a sentiment so honourable to them prevails,
the very members of that Jury will no doubt read
with pleasure every discussion, intended to throw a
clear and dispassionate light upon the difference of
opinions on this very remarkable transaction, and
remove a load of humane anxiety from the public 11
mind.

If an error prevails in the public opinion on this
point, a conscientious examination into every re-
levant matter, will tend to remove it. Any attempts
to throw imputation by the publication of malignant
gossipping and fabricated rumdurs will only prove
against the credit of the parties who resort to such
unworthy and suspicious practices. As your name
has hew) publicly introduced in an extra judicial
affidavit of a Net-.gale l'arnkey, to f‘btoin something
Mei credit for his oath, and as that oath contains a
direct; anti; as I conceive it to be, a wicked and an.

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1_ u

founded attack upon the character and feelings of an
honest poor old man, who brire arms for twenty
years, and shed his blond as a British soldier de.
fence of his ,King and country, I conceive it to be
my duty and yours, and the duty of every
I honourable man in society, to search into the
truth or failtetiood of that Turnkey's extranydi-
nnryofifidavit.--1 was one who had not heard of
WILLI PeitatAc'a indigent and d-fencelets si-
tuation snail after 1 had road that Turnkey's eatit
judicial deposition; and when 1 reflect upon that
poor multi recent irremeiliehle cnlarnity, his attested
honourable conduct during 20 years of military ser.
vice, and his extreme poverty, I confess myself moved
eirreedirgly in his behalf. My sense of duty iii not
lessened by the. conviction that this truel Owl illegal
attack was made upon his feelingi and ChareCier as a
Laquaand alather, in the very crisis of his deep mit-
' feletilive,Vter he had expended his last farthing, the
Pi/inlitee4f.his hied lahear, and sold his bed and
ahnost catty mild, of apparel, hot what be wore
upon his beaky to fee a Counsel and support his un-
happy daughter hi a Prison ! 'the attempt to bleat
his character end reader hint despised, hated, and
Infamous in seweti, wai deliberately made, upon
this poor and desolate old man, in the moment when
ifientit struck chlldlt.si by the hand of the ezecu-
tinner;
avid When the unburied dead body a. hii
daughter wait brought home from the gallows, eind
the last of 10 children lay a vet-tilde Of horror'
before him. Thank Goo, Sir, we do not live
in a country where; because a man is poor
and an ':old 16,11411 kt soldier, he can be con-
spired against, slid vtignsatixedi and trampled upon
with impunity. 'lids out•of-coort act of de•
sperate inveteracy only Prove,' to the ptiblic that
a deep and settled hostility pais,' against this un-
happy and defenceless Waisted inmercircre. It is
on behalf of this poor old min, reduced to daily la•
boor fur his bread, that 1 have taken np my pen ;
and as your name has been publicly, enintniited to
blast his character altogether, , .shall, any beat,
bring forward the accredited testimonies of his cha-
racter in the army, and in his present situation..
From ynnr some of Chrisiiwrit,y, your dusty. to Goo
and your country, and 'nit hopes of pen, in your
last moments, I chill then solicit your public answer
to some impottant questions, not to establish an °pi.
nitro of the guilt or innocence of Eliza rennin:,
but to vinditate the character of her persecuted and
unhappy father. 1 have not the pleasure of knowing
yogi personally, or by report, but 1 address yoti re.
specifully es a Preacher of the Mercies of GOD, sad
with a solemn assurance that I *rite
it FRIEND TO THE PoOR'AIIII .A-111W1111 OF
JUSTICE.
July 31, 11115.

A melancholy, and we fear a fatal accident, hap-
pened at.lialifax, on Tuesday night last. In collar..
quence of eh intimation communicated by an anoity-
moat( letter; Mr. John Hodgson, the owner of the
Foot Mills At that place, determined to watch the
mills on Monday night, and for that purpose engaged
Mr. William Cartmeal, the Deputy Constable, and
John Witierrlstimsßeadie of Halifax, to assist him
its that duty. Some time after midnight thl persons
stationed' stationed' In the mill heard nue of the don munlocked,
and had reason to suppose-that the robbers were em-
ployed tw.filling their sacks; bur owing to a want of
erten thinivtellitrprefresed signal,Me depredators were
sulered to escape without detect i °Newt without being
even awtre that any body bat themselves were in the
mill. • On the following night, Cartmeal, (*Parley,
and two of Mi. Hodgson's mete, were again stationed
in the mi i 3 the two former being provided with pia,
Lois, to repel any attack-that niiikt be made upon
them. Between one and two o'eloeltitrthoesorning
some person crime to one of the cloorsfand attempted
to lift the latch, but finding that door secure, he
passed round the mill, and was proceeding to anethei
entrance, when, having advanced within about three
yards of the building; Mr. Carmel!, who wee placed
at one of the windows, drew the trigger of his pis.
tol, without speaking a word, and lodged its er,.
tents in the body of the scppomid delinquent. The
Party then rushed out of the mill, and to their otter
surprise and consternation found that the unfortunate
man 011 whom the wound had been intlicted,was Thos.
Coilicroft, a person who had been engaged to assist io
watching the mill, but whohasing unfortunately fallen
asleep at his own fire side had not repaired to his
station till more than an hour after the appointed
time. On examining the wound it was found that the
charge had entered below the scapula (shoulder
blade), on the left side, and taking a dire lion to the
right, hail wounded the spine, and lodged in the
chest, from whence the hall was extracted on Thurs.
day. COntrary to the expi•ctatious of his medical
attendants, the wounded mat, was still alive on Thurs-
day night, but his lower extremities were completely
paralized, and only faint hopes *Pre.entertained of
his recovery. We are sorry to add, that Cockcroft
has a wife and four children dependent upon him for
support.—(Leeds Mercury.)
Yesterday the Coat and Badge, annually given, sc..
coaling to the devise of Doaget, the Comedian, to
the best of six young watermen in the last year of
their apprenticeship, was ably contested.
The candidetes for the prize started at five o'clock,
to pull, 24 usual, against tide, from the Old Swan•
at Lonilou-bridge to the Swan at Chelsea. The ,
lead was taken by young Scott, of Bankside, who
*on the prize-wherry given by the Funny Climb on ,
Thursday. He was followed by Mackey, of Pepper.
alley ; and Fisher, of Pickle Iferring.mairs ; but,
being evidently the best man, none could get ahead
of him. Scott won the coat and badge in grand
elyle. Mackey, the second tetiti, gained bl., and
Fisher, the third man,. 31. The river presented an
agreeable regatta.
On Monday a valuable Cop and Cover, given by
several Gentlemen amateurs, was tailed for by six
pleasure boats under 20 tons. They started from a
boat moored off the Artichoke Tavern at Blackwell,
about eleven o'clock, to sail round his Majesty's re-
ceiving skip at GravesPuil, and retort, to Illackwall.
Near Woolwich the Mercuiy, Captain Astley, came
tip with the Produce, Captain Nettlefold, when the
latter fell on board the Mercury, in consequesto- of
which both were prevented from winning. The
boats returned to Blackwall at half-past five o'clock,
and the Mermaid, Captain Quinton, wad declared
the winner of the cup.

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