Persian Preceptor at the India Company's College at Hertford, with a salary of 600/ a year. A curious piece of antiquity has lately been discovered in the churchyard of Hemel Hempstead. In digging a vaelt for a young lady of the name of Warren, the sexton, when he had excavated the earth about four feet below the surface of the ground, found his spade to strike against something solid, which, upon inspection, he found to be a large wrought stone, which proved to be the lid of a coffin, and under it the coffin entire, curiously carved, and altogether unique of the kind, which was afterwards taken up in perfect condition; but the bones contained therein, on being exposed to the air, crumbled to dust. On the lid of the coffin, which is about 6 feet long, and contains a niche or resting place for the head, and also a groove on each side for the arms, is an inscription, partly effaced by time, but still sufficiently legible, decidedly to prove it contained the ashes of the celebrated Offa, King of the Mercians, who rebuilt the abbey of St. Aiban's, to atone for the unprovoked murder of St. Ethelbert, King of the East Angles, whom he had invited to his court to be his son-in-law. Of this once magnificent abbey, however, "whose abbof was dignified with a mitre, and bad precedence of all others in England; who was subject to no other power, but immediately to the Pope; and who had episcopal jurisdiction over both clergy and laity, in all the possessions belonging to the monastery," not a vestige is left except the gateway, a large square building with a fine spacious pointed arch; and the church, in which is a monument of Offa, who is represented seated on his throne, with a Latin inscription, thus translated: "The founder of the church, about the year 795, Whom you behold il painted on his throne KENT. Died.] At Hothfield, near Ashford, aged 94, Mr. T. West, paper-maker, and one of the oldest jockies in Eng land. LANCASHIRE. A very singular and highly-interesting experiment to the public, is trying by Mr. Rigby, who resides near Lancaster:-He got in an early crop of barley this summer; which, from its sowing to getting in, was only seven weeks. He ploughed the land on which it grew with all possible speed, and then sowed the same with barley again; and it had, within these few days, the appearance of a very excellent crop. Lusus Naturæ. A mushroom of extraordinary size, was lately found growing in the King's Tobacco Warehouse in Liverpool. Its dimensions and weight are as under: Circumference of the top. .26 inches 103 104 83 Died.] At Blackpool, Mrs. Jemima Wilkinson, aged 106; her residence was a miserable clay-built hut, near the sea-side, scarcely large enough to admit the length of the human form. LEICESTERSHIRE. At the late meeting of the Leicestershire and Rutlandshire Agricultural Society, several samples of wool from crosses with the Merino breed were produced; one in particular from a new Leicester ewe and Merino ram, for the wool of which, if produced in any quantity, several eminent manufacturers, it was stated, had offered double the usual price of Leicester wool. LINCOLNSHIRE. Died.] At Wyham, near Louth, aged 48, John Grant, Esq. one of the most considerable farmers and graziers in this county, having in occupation at the time of his death nearly ten thousand acres of land. NORFOLK. On Wednesday, September 28th, Shelford Bidwell, Esq. was elected Mayor of the borough of Thetford; on which occasion the usual entertainment to the Corporation and most respectable inhabitants was given; the sources from whence it was (as usual) derived, are not unworthy of record: A melancholy accident happened at -The roast beef is provided by the Yarmouth from the upseting of the Town Clerk; the boiled beef by the boat of his Majesty's sloop ChantiTenant of the Tolls of the Navigation; cleer, by which Capt. Richard Harthe geese by the Tenant of the Bridge ford; Mr. John Poor, midshipman; Tolls; the game and wine is provided Thomas Carey, captain's coxswain; by the Mayor Elect; and the Keeper and James Lowe, a seaman, (all of that of the Tavern adjacent to the Guild- sloop) were drowned. Capt. Harford hall, finds the plum puddings. As was a very fine young man, and an this is an immemorial custom in the able officer, and belonged to the reabove very ancient borough, may it spectable family of that name at Brisnot have been the origin of the present tol, who will, no doubt, severely feel fashionable Pic Nics? his loss. The inconvenience experienced by both buyers and sellers, from the intermixture of fish, flesh, poultry, &c. has induced the Market Committee to divide the market of Norwich into seven divisions, for the sale of the different commodities, leaving passage-ways between each, which must prove a great convenience to the inhabitants. Died.] In the 60th year of his age, Mr. William Downes, a most respectable surgeon, of Great Yarmouth, whose loss will be greatly lamented by his profession, and all descriptions of people in that town and neighbourhood. He has left donations of 2004. to each of the three following charitable institutions:-The Norfolk and Norwich Benevolent Medical Society The Church at Bracon Ash, which The Charity for the Relief of the has been shut up a considerable time, Widows and Children of Clergymen undergoing extensive repairs and im- in Norfolk-The Norfolk and Norwich provements, was opened for the per- Hospital. formance of divine service on Sunday, August 28th. The Rev. Dr. Bathurst, the Lord Bishop of the diocese, with that sedulous care which ever distinguishes him in the discharge of all the sacred duties of his exalted station, attended at the church, before whom the Rev. J. S. Makenzie, the Rector, preached an excellent and appropriate sermon, from the 84th Psalm, v. 1, 2. "O! how amiable are thy dwellings, thou Lord God of Hosts! My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord."- After the sermon, the Lord Bishop most impressively pronounced the blessing on the congregation assembled, which was very numerous. NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. The plan for county asylums for lunatics, in pursuance of the excellent act proposed by Mr. C. Wynne, is generally adopting throughout the kingdom. At Nottingham the ceremony of opening the asylum was conducted with extraordinary solemnity, and, in the evening, the president, governors, &c. of the hospital, were most splendidly entertained by Earl Manners, at Thurland-hal!. SHROPSHIRE. The company of proprietors of the Ellesmere canal intend to apply to parliament the ensuing session, for an act to extend the said canal from the Whitchurch Branch, at a certain At St. Faith's fair, on the 17th and place, known by the name of Sherry18th instant, the shew of cattle, both man's Bridge, in Whitchurch, in this Scots and Home-breds, was not so county, to or near the Castle Well, in large as last year-those in good con- Whitchurch; which extension is prodition fetched great prices some so posed to be made in the parish of high as 7s. per stone. Good horses, Whitchurch aforesaid, and in the seof which there were but few, sold veral townships of Whitchurch and readily and very dear; those of the Dodington, and for making a road indifferent sort hardly found buyers from Sherryman's Bridge, on the at any rate. The quantity of cheese western side of the proposed extension and butter on sale was extremely small of the said canal to the termination -the prices were, for one-meal cheese thereof at the Castle Well, and for from 71. 75. to 81. per whey-house- further amending and altering the sehold 70s. per ditto. Butter, in firkins, veral acts passed relative to the making from 66s. to 68s.-half ditto 35s. of the said canal. SOMERSETSHIRE. Berlin, in Connecticut, (America), in Married.] At Bedminster, James consequence of a fall down stairs two How, of Othery, aged 78, to Martha Wilcox, of Bath, aged 22. The bride instantly became a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother to a numerous progeny. Died.] At West Camel, greatly lamented, John White Parsons, Esq. many years an active member of the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society. STAFFORDSHIRE. days before, Mrs. Johns, wife of the Rev. Mr. Johns, formerly a dissenting minister of Bury St. Edmunds, and second daughter of the late Rev. Mr. Harmer, of Wattisfield. Aged 54, Thomas Dickonson, Esq. an Assistant Magistrate, one of the Burgesses of the Corporation, and an eminent attorney of Bury. He was no less distinguished for his ability as a lawyer than for the uprightness of his character as a man. Though a bachelor, he possessed the tender affections of a parent towards his relative connections, who deeply regret his irreparable loss; and for the warmth, sincerity, and disinterestedness of his friendship, he had few equals. His liberality and candour gained him the esteem of all classes of society, by whom his worth is duly appreciated, and most deservedly lamented. Ann Moor, a poor woman of Tutbury, has lived upwards of fourteen months without food! The testimony of the woman herself was of course discredited, and she consented to be removed to a neighbour's house, to be watched for any length of time that was deemed sufficient to give a colour of truth to her report. This was accordingly done, and she was constantly watched for seventeen days and nights, and regularly visited by three surMrs. Ann Barry, a maiden lady of geons once or twice a day. Till the Sylebam. She was seized with an end of fourteen days she did not even apoplectic fit whilst in her carriage drink any water, which she had been going out to dinner; and, on calling accustomed to do in very small quan- upon a friend at Harleston, was found tities, when she felt a nausea at her lying at the bottom thereof, and surstomach. She now finds that this is vived little more than an hour. She removed by wetting her tongue with was a lady of a most benevolent disdamp cloths, by which she escapes position, whose loss will be deeply rethe pain of swallowing as before, gretted in the neighbourhood of her which was very considerable. Dur. late residence. ing the length of time of the above fourteen months' abstinence, water and tea, without either milk or sugar, had been her only beverage. She has been in bed the whole of the time. Her pulse is very little under the standard of good health, but, as may be expected, her frame is excessively reduced. As this extraordinary woman is still living, we recommend her case to the attention of the Faculty, and doubt not that they will consider her as a subject deserving of very minute consideration. SURRY. The inhabitants of Richmond have petitioned the Lord Mayor, as Con servator of the Thames, to prevent fishermen from dragging with nets, in future, above Richmond Bridge. The object they have in view is to preserve the small fish for the anglers, who are induced to visit Richmond in pursuit of their favourite amusement. SUSSEX. Married.] At Westham, after an uninterrupted courtship of more than twenty years, the Rev. John Preston, curate of that parish, to Miss Ana Bristow, aged seventy-four years. After the celebration of their nuptials, the happy and tender pair immediately set off for Priesthaws, there to partici pate in all the pleasurable enjoyments of the honey moon. upon by the inhabitants of Sheffield. and these bags, they were told, would As an amendment, Lieut.-Col. Leader be found to contain all the money proposed an additional clause, expres- they had advanced. sing surprise and regret that our brave After about six months had expired, soldiers in Portugal, after having Perigo was desired to buy a new bed, vanquished the enemy in the field, with all the necessary appendages, should have been compelled to witness and send it to Mary Bateman, through the convention acceded to by their whose hands it was to be transmitted officers, which no circumstances yet to the nymph of Scarbro'. The bed, known could justify; which was voted &c. which cost eight pounds, were by a great majority. bought, and notes to the amount of thirty pounds more, paid at various times into the hands of the impostor, A set of china was also furnished to her. LEEDS, October 22. Extraordinary Occurrence.—An artful and villainous plot, accompanied by the most unprecedented instances of credulity that ever engaged public Perigo and his wife, thus drained of attention, was yesterday developed all the money they had in the world, before the Magistrates, at the Rotation and all the sums their former good Office in this town. The parties were credit had enabled them to raise, and Mary Bateman, of Campfield, near the wife's health still growing worse this town, and William Perigo and his rather than better, became impatient wife, of Bramley. It appeared that in to look into the mysterious bags, and August 1806, an application was made extract from them the wealth they to this woman by Perigo, to cure his contained. wife of some complaint. Mary declined to undertake the cure herself; but said, that she had a friend at Scarborough, a Miss Blyth, who could "read the stars," and collect from them the knowledge requisite to remove all corporeal and mental maladies; and, as a preliminary step, required that Perigo's wife should send her flannel petticoat to Miss Blyth, in order that she might from that article of dress collect a knowledge of her disorder. The petticoat was sent, and a propitious answer returned, wherein it was required, that the medium, Mary Bateman, through whom all communication between the astrologer and the patient was to be made, should have four guinea notes presented to her, and she was in return to give Perigo four other guinea notes, inclosed in a small bag, into which, if either his own curiosity, or the still stronger curiosity of his wife, should induce them to look, the charm would be broken, and sudden death would be the consequence. Soon afterwards a letter arrived from Scarbro', directing that another guinea should be paid into her hands. Similar requests were death. repeated and complied with, till forty From the death of his wife till last guineas had been thus extorted from Wednesday, the charm continued to these infatuated people, under a pro- operate on the husband. At one time mise, however, that they should, by he went to Manchester by the direc and bye, be allowed to open the bags; tion of this Jezabel, at another he UNIVERSAL MAG. VOL, X. Mrs. Bateman then received, as she said, a packet from Scarbro'; this packet contained a powerful charm, which was to be mixed up in a pudding, to be prepared for the purpose, and of which Perigo and his wife were to eat; but on no account to allow any person to partake with them. The husband ate sparingly-he did not like the taste; but his ill-fated wife, less scrupulous, ate freely. They both became sick almost immediately, and continued in the most deplorable situation for 24 hours: the wife lost the use of her limbs, and, after languishing five days, died on the 24th May, 1807, a victim of credulity. Perigo recovered par tially; but from that time to the present he never had the perfect use of his limbs. Part of the pudding was, by way of experiment, given to a cat, and it died; some fowls also picked up other parts of it, and shared the same fate. Contrary to the directions of Mary Bateman, Perigo applied to a surgeon in this town for advice, and was told by him that he had taken poison, but fortunately not in a quantity sufficiently large to occasion his 3 B Sent her one of his wife's gowns; again She contrived to coax or frighten him out of another gown, a petticoat, and the family Bible! And, last of all, she demanded from him half a bushel of wheat, with three 7s. pieces inclosed. His creditors at length became impatient; and the hope of getting any part of his property back failing, he determined to brave all danger, and look into the mysterious bags:-But what must have been his surprise and vexation to find that the contents of these bags were not worth one penny, and to find himself a pauper-without property, and with a ruined constitution. instances of wonderful mental excelleuce; and the following instance of ingenuity in a blind tailor is no less wonderful than true:-The late family tailor of Mr. Macdonald, of Clanronald, in South Uist, Inverness-shire, lost his sight fifteen years before his death; yet he still continued to work for the family as before; not indeed with the same expedition, but with equal correctness. It is well known how difficult it is to make a Tartan dress, because every stripe and colour (of which there are many) must fit each other with mathematical exactness: hence it is that very few tailors, who enjoy their sight, are capable of The bubble now burst; and he laid executing this task. Blind Macquarrie his hopeless case before some of his having received orders to make for neighbours; by their direction Mary Mr. Macdonald a complete suit of Bateman was apprehended; when Tartan, within a given time, proceedbrought before the Magistrates, she ed to work without delay. It so hap in part confessed her delinquency, and pened that Mr. Macdonald passed at admitted that there was no such per- a late hour at night through the room son as Miss Blyth in existence, but where the blind tailor was working, that the whole was a mere phantom, and hearing some low singing, he conjured up to forward her vile pur- asked, who was there? to which the poses. The Magistrates have com- poor blind tailor answered. mitted the offender to the House of here, working at your honour's hose!" Correction, but whether to be tried "How," says the gentleman, forgetting for swindling practices, or to be re- that he was blind, "can you work moved from thence to the county without a candle?" "O! please your midgaol, to take her trial for wilful murder, honour," rejoined the tailor, is not yet known. night darkness is as clear to me as noonday." In fact, by the sense of touch only, he was enabled to distinguish all the different colours in the Tartan. On searching the house of this woman (who has a husband and several children), the bed, and some other articles, the property of Wm. Perigo, amounting in value to about ten or twelve pounds, were found, and will be restored to the owner. It is worthy of observation, that Mary Bateman is the person whose ben laid an egg about two years ago, at the Bank in this town, bearing this marvelous inscription,-" Christ is coming. (Leeds Mercury, Oct. 22. SCOTLAND. Extraordinary instance of mechanical expertness of a person accidentally deprived of sight. It has been often contended, that the dumb are less happy than the blind. However this may be, certain it is, that privation of sight does not cramp the mental powers. Homer, Milton, and Ossiau, all of whom were blind when they composed their inimitable poems, are "I am Melancholy Shipwreck.-A wherry, belonging to Mr. Macdonald, of Brabranald, manned with four men, and which had a cargo of cattle on board, sailed from North Uist, for the island of Huskar, which is the only island between the north of Scotland aud America, in that direction. -When the vessel sailed, the day was moderate and the wind fair; but when within two leagues of Huskar, the wind be came contrary, and very tempestuous: the consequence was that the vessel foundered on a ridge of rocks, which jutted out from the main island. Three of the hands perished, as did all the cattle, except one cow, which, toge; ther with the fourth man, succeeded in scrambling up to the top of this rocky island. In this dismal situation, |