came and knocked at the door, was let in, and the door fhut. Attending to see the event, the thought he heard an uncominon noife, and ftepping over the way, and liftening, was ftruck with the found of murder, pronounced in a hoarfe faint voice, fucceeded by a kind of groaning, which very much alarmed her; and looking through the key-hole, fhe faw two men dragging the third down the cellar ftairs, on which the cried out violently they're murdering a man, knocked hard at the door, and begged the people in the street to break it open; but none would interfere. Being enraged at their brutality, the burft open the win. dow herself, and was entering, when one of the villains opened the door, and was running off; but on the cry of "Stop thief," he was infantly taken, and the other the feized by the throat herfelf, and dragged him to her own houfe, by which this horrid contrivance was brought to light. They had robbed the poor man of his pocket-book, and had nearly throttled him to ftop his noife, till they had got him into the back cellar, where they certainly defigned to have murdered him, had not the woman by her fortitude providentially interpofed to fave his life.

The clerk to the bank8th. ing - houfe in Lombardftreet was again examined before the lord mayor, with regard to the attempt of a robbery, and the manner of his treatment whilst in the house in Water-lane, Blackfriars; but he refused to take an oath, being a quaker. The lord mayor ufed many arguments to

induce him to do it, but in vain, whereupon his lordship bound him over to profecute Darnford and Newton at the next feffion at the Old-Bailey. If the evidence of Mrs. Bouchier and her affiftants do not bring the fact home to them, it is feared the two offenders will efcape.

At the affizes for the county of Lincoln was tried a caufe between the hon. John Manners and alderman Sanfer, for pulling down the market-crofs at Grantham, and converting the fame to his own ufe. It appeared that this cross had ftood beyond memory, and was claimed as part of the manor of Grantham by the plaintiff. The defendant fet up his right to take it down by a pretended grant from Charles I. or II. which gave to the corporation a market and three fairs; but the jury, which was fpecial, found før the plaintiff, with 4cl. damages.

9th.

A most dreadful ftorni of thunder and lightning killed a man making hay near Swanfea in Glamorganfhire, and fet fire to the hay on which he was found. The fwivel of his watch was melted, and a round hole made in the outer cafe, which fixed it to the inner cafe, but no mark appeared on his body, and only a black spot on his fhirt, near to the hole made in his watch.

On the fame day a horse and 18 fheep were ftruck dead near Ufk, in Monmouthshire, They had all got together under a peartree, to avoid the violence of the tempeft. Two horfes were alfo killed by the lightning in a ftable near Pontypool.

At the court at St. James's, the 18th of Auguft, 1780, prefent, the king's moft excellent majefty in council.

His majefty in council was this day pleafed to order, that the parliament, which ftands pro rogued to Thursday, the 24th of this inftant, Auguft, fhould be further prorogued to Thursday the 28th day of September next. Igth.

of

About fix o'clock in the afternoon, as the phaeton Manners, Efq; fon of lord W. Manners, was ftanding in Ar. lington ftreet, St. James's, the horfes fuddenly took fright, and ran into Piccadilly at a furious rate, and threw down a man who had a child in his arms. Both the man and child were greatly bruifed; but it unfortunately happened that the man had a bottle of aqua-fortis in his hand : the bottle was broke in the fall, and great part of the liquid pouring upon the child, occafioned a moft fhocking and terrible fcene of mifery and diftrefs; nor had the man much better fortune. The cloaths of both were on fire, their bodies moft horridly burnt, fwelled, and their eyes clofed up, &c. The cries of the child were truly pitiable. At length their cloaths were cut off (for they could not otherwise be got off), and they were put into linen furnished by the neighbours, and carried to St. George's Hofpital, without hopes of their recovery.

Came on at the Guild29th. hall of the city of Bristol, before Juftice Nares and a special jury, the trial between Mr. Caton, plaintiff, and a captain and lieu tenant in the imprefs fervice de.

fendants, on an action for illegally impreting and imprifoning the plaintiff in July 1779, he having at no time acted in any other capacity than as owner or master of a veffel at fea; when the jury gave a verdict in his favour with 50l. damages. The damages were laid at 50 ol

Lately was prefented to the lord mayor of York, by his Grace the Duke of Portland, a cluster of Syrian grapes, the largeft, it is fuppofed, that ever grew in England. Its girt round was five feet nine inches, and its weight 11 pounds

10 ounces.

A fhocking murder was committed at Milton, near ChriftChurch, Hants, by a gang of fmugglers, who went to the house of Mr. John Buffey, officer of cuftoms, called him up, and fractured his fkull in fuch a manner that feven pieces were taken from it. He lived in great agony till the 27th, when he expired.

Cambridge, August 18. On Monday laft, Anne Jeffrey and Mary Wells, two poor women belonging to Cambridge, who had been in the fields to glean, were found by the road fide in a kind of ftupor, by a gentleman who was returning home. On enquiry, it appeared they had been ignorantly eating the berries of the deadly nightthade. The gentleman very humanely brought the poor women to Mr. Hoffman, chymift, on the Peafe hill, who immediately applied proper remedies, and both the women are now perfectly recovered.

Many inftances might be given of the fatal effects of this plant. Two young English gentlemen, travelling

travelling in France, and being thirsty, were tempted by the inviting appearance of the berry, of which they imprudently eat, which brought on an immediate ftupor, and occafioned their death. Two ftudents in the botanic garden at Leyden also eat of the berries of the nightshade; one of them died the next day, the other with great difficulty was recovered. About feven years ago, a labourer who was at work in Trinity-College, ignorantly eat a plant of the nighthade by way of fallad, but fortunately applied to Mr. Hoffman, by whom he was cured. The method of cure, recommended by Mr. Hoffman, is to give a vomit as foon as poffible, then to drink vinegar or lemon juice, about a pint diluted in an equal quantity of water, in the course of the day, and to walk the patient about to prevent fleep, which would be fatal. For the information of our readers, we add a botanical defeription of the plant.

Belladonna, deadly nightshade, or dwale: ftem erect, forked, branched, three or four feet high; leaves oval, entire, large, hairy, foft, pointed; flowers dead purple, numerous, on pedicles from the ale of the leaves, fingle; fruit, when ripe, a large black gloffy berry; it grows in woods, hedges, &c. and is ripe in June, July, and Auguft. The Italians give the name of Belladonna to this plant, because the ladies in Italy make use of a water diftilled from the nightshade as a cosmetic; and the miniature painters prepare from the fruit a moft beautiful green colour.

Soon after the accident abovementioned, five foldiers belonging 7

to the Suffex Regiment of Militia, quartered near Dorking, Surry, were violently affected by eating of the berries of the nightfhade; but fortunately, after fix or eight days illness, were all recovered.

Poland, August 7. We have received affecting accounts from Auftrian Moldavia, that the locults, which appeared in autumn laft in the diftrict of Herza in that province, having then depofited their eggs, they now appear in a thousand times greater number than last year, and are two inches long; they are divided into three formidable armies; the firft extends feven leagues in length, and nine in breadth, from Herza to Potufhan; the fecond extends from Roman to the Danube, which is about eight leagues; and the third from Jaffy to Beffarabia : they have deftroyed all the grass, fruit, and even leaves of the foreft trees, but have not yet touched the vines or the wheat; they are as yet too young to fly, and if, when they rife, the wind fets towards Auftrian Moldavia, that fine country will be ruined.

Leghorn, August 12. We hear from Rome, that they had a luftrum (or a numbering of the people) there on the 24th of June, when it appeared there were in that city 155,184 inhabitants; df whom were 36,485 houfe-keepers. In this number were included 3847 monks, 2827 fecular priests, 1910 nuns, 1065 ludents, 1470 alms-houfe poor, 7 negroes, and 52 perfons not Romans. numbers born from June 24, 1779, to June 24, 178, were 5228, and the burials 7181.

The

Paris, Auguft 21. The king, ever attentive to give his fubjects

freih

fresh proofs of his love and equity, would have his name-day, Auguft 25, marked by an act of benevolence to his people. In confequence, his majesty, of his own proper motion, has abolished on that day, la question preliminaire, (the torture) which, according to a barbarous custom, preferved fince the ages of ignorance, criminals were put to, a moment before their execution. The edict, ordaining that abolition, will foon appear, and the fovereign courts, who have long lamented that custom, though obliged to put it in execution, will receive the new law with rapture.

Petersburg, August 26. This evening, at about eight o'clock, this city was terribly alarmed by a dreadful fire breaking out in the hemp magazine, which raged with fuch violence, that it was not only impoffible to ftop its burning down the warehoufe, but even its communicating to feveral veffels that were loaded and loading with hemp, flax, oil, and cordage, which, being all combuftible goods, made the conflagration very tremendous; and had not the flames taken another direction, the whole quarter of WafilyOftrow must have been burnt. The fire, however, communicated to a magazine which was furrounded with water, and contained great, part of the last crop of tobacco which grew in the Ukraine.

The fire burnt three days, and the damage done by it is reckoned at two millions of roubles; the number of people who have loft their lives is not yet known, but from various circumftances it is not doubted but it must be very great.

VOL. XXIII.

DIED, At Simanfton, Mrs. Suf. Evifon, aged 108.

At Liverpool, Mr. W. Ellis, aged 130 years and 6 months.

At his feat at Antermonie, John Bell, Efq; who in 1715, 1716. 1717 1718, 1718, accompanied, as phyfician and furgeon, Peter the Great's embaffy to Perfia, and in 1719, 1720 1721, that to China, of which he published a particular account in 2 vols. 4to. Glafgow, 1762, fince reprinted in 2 vols. 12mo.

96.

Sir John Jefferfon, Knt. aged

At Epping, Mr. Ed. Brinton, aged 102.

At Blackwall, Capt. T. Welch, aged 98.

W. Raymond, Efq; aged 96.At his houfe in Piccadilly, R. Hutchinfon, Efq; aged 97.

At Plaistow, Capt. W. Montague, aged 97.

his

Rev. Mr. Richard Dillon, late of the Roman Catholic chapel in Moorfields,, where he had refided for 36 years, til it was deftroyed by the mob in the late riots; at the fame time his houfe having been totally pulled down, books and household furniture burnt, without even a bed being left for him to lie on; the fock he received from fuch barbarous treatment deeply affected his health and fpirits, and is fuppofed to have haftened his death. He was a younger brother of the ancient family of Preuditon, in the county of Meath, in Ireland; and his character was univerfally refpected and efteemed by a numerous acquaintance.

Of convulfions in the ftomach, occafioned by eating mushrooms ftewed in a bell-metal faucepan, Ch. Maitland, Efq; of Raynham. [P]

SEP

14.

SEPTEMBER.

A proclamation was iffued by the king in council, for diffolving the prefent parliament, and declaring the calling of another; the writs for which to bear date on Saturday the 2d day of this inftant September, and to be returnable on Tuesday the 31ft day. of October following.

This day there was 7th. a numerous meeting, in the portico of Covent Garden church, in order to elect two proper perfons to reprefent the city of Weftminfter in the enfuing parliament, when the Right Hon. Lord Lincoln, Sir George Brydges Rodney, bart. and the Hon. Charles Fox, were put in nomination as candidates. The majority of hands being declared in favour of Lord Lincoln and Sir George Rodney, a poll was demanded for Mr. Fox. A court of huftings was 8th. held at Guildhall, for the election of four members to reprefent this city in the enfuing parlia

tions of two members to reprefent the county of Middlesex in the enfuing parliament.

About eleven o'clock the under

fheriff opened the business upon a temporary huftings built for that purpofe; and after reading the writ, and the acts of parliament refpecting the mode of election, John Wilkes and George Byng, Efqrs. were propofed as candidates by Mr. Scott and Mr. Taylor; no other perfon being put in nomination, thefe gentlemen were declared of courfe unanimously elected.

The

This morning about half past four o'clock, a duel was fought in Hyde-Park between the Rev. Mr. Bate, of Surrey-ftreet, and Mr. R. a ftudent of the law, late of St. John's College, Cambridge. The quarrel arofe from fome circumRances relating to the conduct of the Morning Poft, in which they are both engaged. chance of the first fire falling to Mr. B. he difcharged his piftol, and hit Mr. R. in the fleshy part of the right arm; the wound, however, was not fufficient to incapacitate him from returning the fire, which he did, but without effect. The feconds now interpofed, and the affair was adjufted.

At three o'clock, the poll finished at Guildhall, for 15th. four reprefentatives for this city, when the numbers were; for Alder

man

Hayley

Kirkman Bull

Newnham Sawbridge Clarke