Horrible Attempt To Murde...
The Times, 1824-02-19T00:00:00

'urtber p flenulrsfroiie mt 4i., ; S For Sose seeks past. I whct w 'hael -meh6,-q' rhw( fourseore years oUge, has.beenais 1-d Ai a`1*0nrs0 fined to his bed; and, had be beeil f shon time longer,,tho ordinary course of nature would have ttr5natdhis honourable and meritorious lifr. But to- proceed with the facts of this bor;id trns5acion. At the time and place before mentioned six amaed nuffians almost inst- taneously forced their wavin at tAe back window onthe ground' floor of the mansion at Hamerion, by mcansoaf plough iron, with which it is supposed they beat in the sash in a few moments. HEaviin thus mtade a lodgmnent in the house, two of them were placed over the butler, whose bed-chamber was within three paces of rtse window where they ha entered while theether four proceeded on s'tain zo- wards the hall, from whichan ante-chamberieds to the idchain- berwhere Mr. Hamerton lay. The noise having scquaiited. Mr. liamerton that robbers had entered, he, feeile ashe wad in body, tlough great in soul, arose from his bed, and passing through his own room snd the ante-cbamber with a case of pistoli in his hands, met Ehe four armed villsins at the sidedoor enterng into tie hail, and discharged one or both of thepistolsitthim, with what effect we cannot tell, though the floor there wa reg, ith blood, but from whom it would be imposeible to say. 'They ilien knocked him down, and wok his pistols: part of this abominaCtion waas seen by two'female servants who remained up withtitr be- loved master, but who dared render him no aid; and by Thonmas lutler, his footmaRa; who had run to his assistance, an4 who. in the conflict in the haUl, received a ball which entered under t'ne hip, and which has not been since extracted, though some hopes at en- tertained of his recovery. Butler, though thus wonnied, threw himself out of a window,and alamned, by knoekingat theirdoors, the inhabitants of two houses adjoining; but in the mean time themur. dering fiends had dragged his revered master down stairs frost the haLl to the ground floor, where they fractured his skull witL the plough-iron, and where he was foarnd after they went away, lying bathed in his gore, across his butler's room door, and has never- since uttered a word, though he remained still alive yesterday eveningf after nine fragments of the skull hxving been removed by surgi- cal operations. On their missing the footman, who bad made his way out after being wounded, or their heaLing him alarming the neighbourboo 3 theygot afraid, andone of them was heard tocry out "Nelson," wh3ch is suppose.t to have been their signal of danger; and thereupo they all made off, through one of thi front windows, taking with thtm, however, MIr. Hamerton's pistols, a blunderbusr, and musket. The infernal monsters who committed this horrid violatie left after them the murderous * lough iron, marked with blooi, a hay rope, andl a lock of a guii, which seems to have burst in the haLJ, (which we heretofore forgot to mention). A large bultt, and some small shot, had been fired through one of the side doors, and another shot-hiole appeared in the wainscot of one of the fine fluted pilastes which decorated the hall. Each of the villains was disguised by haing his face blackened, *nd wearing a blue great coat, wound round with ropes of bay, The object of the attack cannot be known, but perhaps may be irs Ferred from the arms taken. If money was the aim, they were ke. heated in that respect, by the alarm riveh by poor Butler, wlbose. spirited conduct deprived them of the leisure necessary for sutb a2 .nterpnse. U'ith regard to any personal resentment, no mea lIv'gz had any complaint against Mlr. Hamerton who is a gentemanoz' princely fortune, whose life has been marked by acts Oa hindp.ess to al, and whose nume was foremnost on the lists of every benpnojle;nt Mr. Singleton, the chief constable of police stationed Qt Clonral, having beeni made acquainted with the catastroPbe, Vion after the alarn) had been given by Butler, hurried off to Hwaerton with hit mounted police, where he arrived at 2 o'dodJt; - iO aving sent or- ders to the detachments at Donegal and Lisroonggh, to maker. stict search in their vicinities in various directions, proceeded hi:msef to- wards ChanceUorstoNv-n and Giant' tlrave, and took into custedy three men, one of whom, an old mnan from Kerry, was yesterday en. larged, after examination by the Earl of Donoughinore and other magistrates then sittlig at Ianmerton * the other two have been eom- mitted to gaol, on the informations of Mlr. Sirngleton, touching the circumstances of their apprehension. On arriving at Chancellorstown, Mr. Singleton perceived a ladder placed at the upper window of a house there, and on examinin 't found mnarks of fresh soft clay on the rungs; on going inside (at5r removing the ladder to preVent escape), found the like on the window stool, and marks of footsteps towards a bed, also exhibiting fresh clay; here a pair of shoes was found quite wet and rairy, and the nman whio owned them was taken into custody alone, though there were thur others in the same room. A few small rnarks of blood were found on the same man's vaistcoat, and the cuff of his jacket exhibited stiUL la, er nmarks of the same kind: he at 114t denied it was blood; but afterwards accounted for it by saying he got it in a fight on Saturday. The shoes of the o:her four men were dry. At Giant's Grave Mr. Singleton took the second man, who is still in custody; he was tound in bed, but his shoes were wet, and by Iss bed vas found a bay-rope, of a like length and quality with L hayrope left behind at Hamerton by the asassins. The only ob- servation made f irther was, that both these men had blue riding. coats, as had all and each of the villainous assassins who had gone upon thlis most diaholical purpose. Assoon as the appsalling intelligence had reached Clonmel, the most indignant feeling of horror pervaded all ranks; every penson expressed his abhorrence at the injury offered to the best ef men, and the small security which real virtue and goodness could mast around thebest of charaters. Great numbers of all das throng- ed out to the scene of .lissster. The Earl of Donoughmnore, the Right Hon. W. Bagwell, the Rev. XV. Stephenson, Captain ,fohn Bagwell, lirV II. Bradshaw, Esq., Dr. Uonstablc, and Rchard Chadwick, Esq., Magistrates, hastened to the spot, and remraiDe there a gret part of the day, examining witnesses, and inveatigtint the case; and before adjournment, they commenced a subsesiptdns offering rewards for the apprehension and conviction of the oFnders. As soon as this shal have been generaly promulgated, the sub- scriptions for prosecution will be increased beond all fonmer prece. dent, the criae bring of the deepest dye, ant of the most alarming descTiption. In earlier life Mr. Hanserton was in the army, and srr 1in tic first American war as aide-de-camp under General Grmnt. He ws brothsermin.law of General Sir IV. MIeadows resided 43 yenra at Hamerton, the mansion of his ancestors, in the retirement of dostus.- tic life, and heretofore guarded by the afrections of his neighbesrs, which he never ceased to merit. It is remarkable, that on Menday- five years he lost his son and heir, Robert Tisdale H-amerton, , who died of a decline, tnti his beloved consort fo2lowed her sontl the grave in abouttwo years after. Major William D2eadow4 Ra. merron, who is in a delicate state of health from wounds received i:,- the late war, and Mrs. Eagle, lady of the Rev. George Edw-Alr Eagle, are the only surviving issue of this once most hap6y and tnost respectable couple. - Lgetters receiv ed in townz this morning fromn C'.onmnel, dase'; 1 at,o Wednesday night (11th inst.), state that MLr. Hamertar. was ntil alive, but that no hopes whatever were en tertained of ';4~ recovers, The police, although using every exertion, have not r't bse able jo detect the perpetrators oft tis bloody deed, so f5ltbfudy are they pro. tecred by their fel s. n t l HORAIBLR A7w2'1rM72 PTOf "7RR.