Knaresborough, Feb. 12.
The Times, 1824-02-16T00:00:00

We copy the following from the Lceds Mercury.l Search sftI continues to be magde for the bodies of Miry Gill andi her infant, but hitherto without succes. Considerable diiference of epinlon has adrsen regarding the case of James Puigg, the gardener, whose sudden disappearance excited *? strong a sensationr; and we bave received from Knaresborough two letters upon the subject, the iubstance of bth of whichi we sball lay before our reallers. The first supports the opla;on that Prigg ha% been murdered, and is 'from a respectable'gentlemnai of that place, who says- "Some time ago. there was a person from Thorp-Ach Mills, who, in coming from York market, threw his pocket-boot into the road, turned his horse loose, and left marks upon the road tct erte a suspicion that hehasd been foruly deslt with; and, after con. dter. able struggling, tbrt he had been-murdered. Search was made in everydirection for the body, and an industrious farmer atAAcom& had a field of cons trampled u.derfootsnd destroyed; butitturned out that the murdeted lman had fled to Atmerica, to chentthb credi- tors, leaving his vife and family in the utmost distress. Thsez-w_ cumstance happening in the immediate neighbourhood of Knts- borough, many people have supposed James Prigg'a affair to beef a similarnature; but when the circum,tances are all considered, it-is next to imposs ble it should be so. The person dFom Thorp-AcbL was in embarrassed circAu ustances, and had a large family; Trigg's circumstances are known to have been good; he was a youngun- married man, twenty.three years of age, and surrounded by friends. Again, the pocket-book of the frst-ment oned person was found in the road; Prigg's was found in the wood, by mere accident; where, according to all calculation, it might have rotted undiscovereL The nort finding the body is nothing to the purpose, as from tbh rocky andl subterraneous bed of the river Nidd, it may remain for months un- discoveredL The body of a young woman, mentioned in a former paper, had la;n for five weeks, notwvithstanding the most act-ve search, and was discovered by mere accident at the last. It is also weU known, that a most desperate gang of fellows have infested that neighbourhood, three of whom, for the robbery of Mtlr. Lord, are now in York Castle." The other letter to which we have alluded is from a solicitr at Knaresborough, anid maintains that the presumption is, that James Prigg has not been murdered, but has absconded. It is in sabstancc as follows:- " I\Jr. Editor,-The correspondent w?bo communicated to you the particulars of Prigg'safair, inserted in yotJast paper, does not ap. pear to be well acquainted with the road be:ween Ribstoh and Knaresborosigh. The wood of vhich he speakg does not extend above 800 yards, and there are four farm houses situattd at no great .istance from the road-.side in the way to Knaresbnrourhp. The tenants or inmates of some of those houses would probablyhaveheard cries of murder, if any such had taken place; hut in my opinion so murder has been committed. My reasons for thinking so are, I have seen and perused the lectter signed * John Richardson,' sup- posed to have been sent by hini fror aeeds, directed to Prigg, wish. ing Prigg to meet him at Deighton, on the 25th ult. The contents, part of which I have stated, are written at the bottom of the envelop of an old letter. The top part of which is torn off, probably the first letter or essav not being sufficiently disguisei to answer the purpose. The envelop is folded up, and the direction to Prigg, at Knareshbo rough, makes its appearance with the Leeds post-mark on it. This lctter was found by one of Prigg's sixters in his trousers, at home, and is now in the hainds of the constable here. I have also seen his pocket-book, and examined aU the writing contained therein, and what is w-ritten in pencil, and compared the writing in the letter with the writing in the pocket-book, and aml dearly of opinion they have both been written by one and the same person. There are many other cogent reasons, unnecessary for me to state: enough hbs been said alreaty to convince me that no murder has been comrmit. ted on Prigg. It is, however, proper to add, that some time ago teis man took a garden, for 21 years, at an enormons rent, and applied to his relation, AMr. Brown, at Hiunslet, a while before this aftir happened, for the loan of moncy. In short, Alr. Editor, it is dear that Prigg was in embarrassed circumstances, and engaged in a ru3n- ous undertaking; and the probabilitv is, that under the pressure of distress, he has wvitildrawn himself hrom this part of the country, and perhaps from the kingdom. "- I amii, Air. Editor, Your very humble servant, "Knaresborough, Feb. 12, 1804. " J.M I ALsLEN." KNAllRSBOROUGff,-Feb. 12.