Ontario Community Newspapers

Kingston Chronicle (Kingston, ON1819), November 5, 1819, p. 2

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eloquent observations ft tfiarned coun sel concluded mill a powerful appeal to the feelings of the jury- some preliminary evidence was given from which it appeared that chrishall wood was about go acres in extent tin 1 lie defendant who is the present huh sheriff of the county of essex was the owner of it that there were three or four bars in the fence of the wood which were moveable for the purpose of admit ting carts and timber carriages into it to carry away fallen timber that there were three notices stuck up in as man places on tree outside of the wood with the words u steeltraps and spring guns are positively set in this wood john wilkes and that these notices were not very visible and were nearly concealed by the leaves of the trees in september 1818 one witness stated that 20 years since he had gone through the wood but he had not known of any footpath in the wood since then job miller then deposed as follows i reside at elmdon i know chrishall wood t know the plaintiff hot he is a farmers son residing with his father and is now about 31 years old before this accident he was hale and hearty in health on saturday the 12th of sept iris about three in the afternoon the plaintiff and i went to gather nuts in chrishall wood we got into the wood at one of the bars where carts go in we had been in the woods about ten minutes and when i was about a yard and a half from the plaintiff he touched something and a spring gun went off he was wound ed in the leg he had a large hole made in his stocking and he bled a great deal i did not see the wire but i saw the smoke of the gun and hcaid the report i saw the gnn afterwards it was a bell muzzle the plaintiff held himself up against a tree until i got hold of him j endeavored to get him home and was assisted by a joong man named george bland there is a cart- way at the place where we entered the wood i remem ber a wicket having been there formerly there are three shifting bars to the wood the fences were then very much out of repair children might get over them there was no ditch between the fence and the wood i dont know how lotig the plaintiff was confined to hi- bed or when he was able to go to work crossexamined the place where the accident happened was nine or ten rods out of the cattway i have seen one board up giving notice o spring guns in the wood in thesameweek that theac- cident happened the defendants game keeper told me that there were spring guns set iu the wood he told me it w as dangerous going in there i dont re collect telling the plaintiff that there were spring guns in the wood before be vent in on the 12th september i re member saying to him before we went in u i wont go unless you go first i told him he should go in first i dont know how soon he went about his work reexamined the gamekeeper onw told me of spring guns being there he told me that they were loaded night and day i never saw more than one notice stuck up mr baron g arrow here interposed and said he should rule tmt notice so stuck up would not be sufficient and li kened the case to the notice given by car riers of restricted liability which was not sufficient unless pergonal he observed- that at his awn country residence he stuck up notice of spring guns but he ne- 6f 8t ixfty in ins grounds i speak daggers said his lordship but 1 use none nathan warren the defendants game keeper examined i have set eight or tell spring guns in mr wilkes wood at a time by his orders there mere as many so set in september 1818 there are four boards stuck up in conspicuous parts of the wood giving notice of spring guns- crossexamined i know mil ler the la witness i told him a few days before the accident happened that there were spring guns set in the wood there is no path through the wood reexamined there was a footpath formerly but that was stopped up by mr wilkess orders the guns were placed so as to hit low not higher than a mans legs they had blunderbuss muzzles and were loaded with no 4 shot if a man stooped low he might be wounded in the head and body the guns are not set now george biand corroborated the evi dence of miller as to the fact of the gun going off and wounding the plaintiff crossexamined i remember saying something to the plaintiff about notices being stuck up about springguns before he went into the wood the plaintiff was attended b mr fiske a surgeon he is a relation of the defendant mrs hot examined i am mother of the plaintiff on the 12th of september be as brought home to me wounded in the leg 1 attended him during his 11 uess he suffered great pain he was confined to his bed a month and longer ir was nearly christmas before he could go to work there were 20 shots taken out of his leg there are a great manv shots in it now the leg was greatly la cerated his leg is now better than could be expected he feels the effects of the in jur more at one time than another cross- examined i told my son fre quently ntt to go into the wood i never heard the gamekeeper say that there wen spring gun set there but i heard it from din rs and i had no other reason for teli ngray son not logo ill to the wood thai tht mr lynn the sureeon examined i fcnw aud examined the plaintiffs limb yesserday he appear3 to have been shot with small shot the wounds are all healed there are many shots in his leg still i apprehend that part of the locking which is cotton is still in the leg he will not experience so much inconvenience from that as he would have done from a woolen slocking or cloth in wet weather or when he is ill he is likely to beinconvenieuced from the wound i dont apprehend airy dan ger from it but lie man appeared tome nol to be in good health he limps a lit tle 1 think he may feel the effects of the wound all his life the plaintiffs case being closed mr manyatt addressed the jury on the part of the defendant as the learn ed judge had intimated the opinion he should deliver upon the law of the case he mr marryatt should not address them with a single observation on that part of l he case his remarks should be confined solely to the facts but there would becertain points still remaining to be considered before the legal question could be fairly raised and the first was whether the plaintiff had not had full no tice before he entered the wood tint spring guns were placed there the se cond point they would have to consider was whether he went there in the exer cise of any legal right of pathway or whether he sustained the injury in conse quence of taking upon himself to tres pass there in gathering nuts the de fendant was by no means desirous that any man should not be fully compensa ted for an injury which he had commit ted but having given public notice that spring guns were set in his grounds and that notice having reached the plaintiff before he entered lite woo the question whether this man was not a trespasser and whether he did not go to the nils- chief instead of the mischief coining to him was one of considerable importance in considering this case the question which remained would arise iyon the result of their finding as to thce two points the learned judge having sta ted what his direction in point of law- should be namely that it was illegal to place these engines in a park or wood especially where thereisa footpath that made it of importance for the jury to find whether in point of fact there was a foot path in the defendants wood and whe ther the plaintiff was in pursuit of a legal right of path or whether he did not go there for a different purpose and wheth er he was not in fact a trespasser if the plaintiff had a right of footpath it was clear that he had no right to deviate from that footpath and go into any pa rt of the wood he thought proper that there was in p int of fact no footpath in this wood was clear from the evidence it was in proof by one witness that 20 years since he had gone through the wood but it did not appear that any body else had ever gone there for that purpose on the contrary the evidence was that the footpath if it had ever existed had been shut up for a great number of years it was well known that when an enclosure of laud takes place there was a general power given by the fortyfirst of the kin to stop up all unnecessary was and paths the footpath in chrishall wood had rcased about fire date of that act and had never si cc been used accord ing to the understanding of the plaintiff and his witness no footpath had ever ex ited there at all and if it had evtr ex isted it had been disused for a period of 12 or 20 years no person had pretend ed to gri the ic fot a consitk-iamc- lettgtti of time but supposing a footpath to ex ist was the plaintiffin the exercise of t lie right of footpath at the time the acci dent happened according to the evi dence he was at the distance of 16 poles trom he cartway at the lime of the ae- ident it was suggested that the cart ways in the wood were to be considered agivingthe plaintiff a right to go in there but nothing of that kind was to be deduced irom the existence of the cart ways if they existed they were mere ly private ways for the benefit of the oc cupier of the land to enable him to carry away his timber when fallen so much then as to the question of footpath then as to the second had the plaintiffduc no tice of the guns being set in thr wood he lived near the spot he set out to the wood with a companion who warned him ot his danger for it appeared that some conversation passed between them as to who should go in first evidently shewing that both had full knowledge that mis chief might be apprehended the plain tiffs mother stated that before he went into the wood she cautioned him against the danger to which he was exposed from these circumstances it was neces sarily to be inferred that the plantiff was a trespasser and that he went to the wood for a purpose though not illegal yet which exposed him to the consequen ces of his own rashness if these facts were found they must go with consider able weight as to the question of dama ges in addition to other circumstances in the case the learned counsel contend ed that the question of notice iu this case could not be likened to the subject of notice in the case of a carrier because the fact of personal notice was here af firmed by all the evidence in the cause supposing then the case to be now redu ced to an inquisition of damages the question was whether the plaintiff under these circumstances was entitled to any considerable damages at the bands of the defendant no man affected to state that the guns were placed in the defend ants wood in such a manner as would probably produce death or that they were calculated to do any tnoie injuiv than jus to produce a little smarting a- bout the legs of a tresfe the injury which the plaintiff hac id not appear to be consideri f u now able to go about his ordinary business and all that the respttable surgeon ex amined slated was tl j w weathei and illness he might h liable to a little inconvenience from it j i sta ted that 150 shots h penetrated the plaintiffs legs but t evidence was ihatouy twenty were x that some few now rernaitui f jury had been called upon to n this case have the effect of an earai to repress the spirit of assassination m murder which seemed to exist in th country what had such an observatin to do with the present case this wt a civil action to recover damages for a civil injury and the question of exampi- was wholly out of the case with these observations he left the case in the juvs hands simply as a question of damagis being quite con vinced that the circun tances of the case already pointed out vould relieve the defendant from any pessure upon that subject the learned judge in his charge to thr jury delivered li opinion upon the law of the case in tin manner already stated he observed that they were to express ik ir opinion ipon the three pro positions suggested to the learned coun sel for the defendant and in consider ing the question of damages hey were to lay out of their thcughts some of the topics which the plaintiffs counsel in his eloquent address nad taken occasion to press upon their minds this was a civil action and what had been said about repressing the spirit of asassina- t ion which was stated to exist in the country had nothing whatsoever to do with this case it had been assumed that such fl spirit really did exist but fr his own part he begged leave to doubt it the case had been too highly wrought in this part of it he would not tvpr hh the rhaim f i f the dfilrh nation was altered or that we were be come more men of blood than we used to be he hoped mich was not the present character of the british nation if acts of violence had been committed by des perate men in some parrs of the country was the defendant a man of character and of station- to suffer for such acts in an action brought against him for a civil poffeffion of the city of mocrsa the im- aumofsana had increafed the landing force there by two or three hundred fol- diers to gward the city agaift furprife or iratagem injury the jury probably in consid ering the qnestion of damages would not treat it with a niggard hand and he was sure the defendant would not himself wish it to be so treated they were to grve a full compensation in damages but their judgment must be tempered with moderation and discretion the jury found for the plaintiff da rnages fifty pounds and specially de clared their opinion to be ht that there was no footpath in the spot in question 2d that the plaintiff hud notice of the spring guns being et in the defendants grounds at the time of the accident and 3d that at the time of the accident he was not in the exercise of any right of footpath liberty wa then given to the defend ant to move to enter a nonsuit upon the general question of law or to turn it into a special verdict if the plaintiff thought proper the court was execs- sivcly crowded during he whole of the trial and almost all the magistracy of the count were pvesew- translated from french papers received at the office of the neu tork columbian tt appears from the various fources of information fuch a the feizure of papers and the arreft of profeffors and fludeuts fus- pefted of difaffeftion that there exifts in germany three fecret confederations viz the firftj that of the imperialifts who wifh to reeftablifh the ancient germanic empire the fecond that of the royal- ills who wih to divide germany into two great kingdoms that of the fouth or aus tria r according to others bavaria and that of the north or prullia the third and mod numerous is that of the republi cans who imagine they can unite all ger many in a federal fyftem fimilar to that of the united states of america the pro ject of a republican conflitution had been found amongft the papers of a indent at the university of grefen in the grand duchy of hefie the following is the entire of the plan which has been found at the houfes of feveral of the confpirators u germany was to be divided into twen ty circles each of the circles to fend two deputies to frankfort there to form a con- tituent affembly of 40 perfona the fir i aft which fhould emanate from this affembly was to be the diffolu- tion of the germanic diet and the forfeit ure of thtir thrones by the fovereigns who who were tt be releafed from their obli gations towards the people after this aft the affembly was to nominate a fupreme chief for each of the 20 circles theft after their nomination were to employ tbemfelves each in forming an eleftoral college in order to proceed to the nom ination of a german king but royalty was not to be hereditary the ancient princes were to be eligible but in the election were not to be entitled to or enjoy any preeminence over other citizens germany was to form a republic one and indivifible they were alfo to occupy themfelves without delay in the for mation of organic laws the eitablifhment of a chamber of reprefentatitfes with a chamber of fenators dellined t0 affift the king with their counfels m the fundamental latfs were to pre- ferve individual liberty the illimitable freedom of the prefs the publicity of all proceedings in courts ofjuftice the eflablifh- ment of trial by jury the annihilation of all privileges of all monopolies the abo lition of the corvee and the redemption of tithes the regular army was to be repla ced by an organized militia the commune were to be emancipated and placed on the f me footing with thofe of england and america and the freedom of commerce and indudry was to be proclaimed for all germany it is fufficient to read this projeft to be convinced of ita abfurdity noiwith- llanding it has occafioned feveral arrefls which wc have witneffed for a long time and continue to this moment more than ftr foreign hwh trom ihc lewoaryprt herald ou 12 capt cook of tie brig syren who lately arrived at bolon from mocha haft fince our laft politely handed us the fol lowing memorandum not before pnblifhed 11 on or about tic 10th of february we received intelligeice at mocha of 18 daous of jcwaffeeof wahabee piiates watering at alaculldi bay thtnee they proceeded to barboti which place they lacked and took very thing afloat in harbor they then croffed over to aden where by their captires their force had increafed to z6 fail f large daous here they watered and chained provifion on or about the id of april i came through the ftraighti of babelmandel on the 1 1 th of april in company with hip emily robert harcock of baltimore under convoy of wo englifh e i companys cruifers tie teignmouth capt hall and nautilm capt faithful it being their intention o go into aden and attack the wahabee but on our arrival off the harbor we fomd that they had put to lea on the l ith a bout 2 5 leagues from aden the con7oy being joined by his b m loop of var bacchus fent for the pirates they all hree ran away from us in purfuit of then to the northward and ealward fuppfing that they had retreated homeward- to rasel kimah in the perlian gulf hit mod probably they had gone to croift off cape guarkafin to intercept the daous frim zanzibar towards mufcat and the rtd sea they having been vey fucccfrful on that ftation during the lall year it was faid that the englifh were fitting out an expedition at bombay againll rael kimah to deftfoy that neil of pirates who have with im punity fo long infeftd the commerce of the arabian sea on or about tht 15th of february 1 s 19 the turks ha taken poffcfllon of the territories formerly ufurped by the xeriff hahmoud wtz lobeia hodcida beethlefackih c two turkifh gun brigs arrived at mocha on the 25th march oftcnlihly for the purpofe of going to ad en to attack the piutes but they proceed ed ro further than mocha although i heir intents are apparently pacific it ap- peara highly probata that they will take paritive composure but to witness whit follows is agonizing in the extreme the hand of death his shortened the trials of many a poor sufferer every hour we hear new tales of horror mr ps fine house in the country was torn to pieces and the fragments found some hundred yards from the spot where it formerly stood his lovely daughter was killed several bodies have been found so lace rated as not to be known houses and families have been swept away together at the commencement of the gale there were thirty sail of vessels atloat chrelly americans the largest vessel in the harbor a portuguese ship is not to be seen the governor has issued a proclama tion offering relief to the distressed and destitute ever from the philadelphia gazette hurricane at st barts on the 20ihsept at 8 p m the wea ther appeared threatening and about 12 oclock the wind shifted to the north and continued to increase from that epiarter till ten the next morning when it hauled more to the west its violence sfim in creasing at this time 1 oclock pm the21st we ar shut up with candles burning the last opportunity of obser ving the harbor there were but two ves sels afloat the barometer continues to fall 3 p m ah nature appears at war with man we cauuot see the distance of 20 ya ids we can scarce hear each other speak in the house the gale has certainly reached its utmost height the rain or scud resembles a vivid blaze of lightning if the whole world were on lire the scene could not be more awfully sublime than at present the torrents from the hills are like rivers god only knows wheie it will end should the flow continue every house must be washed away the wretched inhabitants are seeking safety in tlight 9 p m little did i think when i penned the foregoing that we should so soon share the fate of these poor wretch es the violence of the storm forced u- to remove the first place of securit we fixed upon was the jail 1 was nom inated to obtain possession and have th doors opened to receive the family r attempting to reach it i was thrown down twice and carried as far as the chapel however a momentary ill fortunately en abled me to gain the place with no oth er damage than the loss of hat and coat in this place the tremenduous fury o the wind had worked a perfect destruc tion of every door and window in this no ble edifice on returning to the family i found them in the utmost consternation ever moment expecting the dining room which overhangs the house to fall in ruins to gain the cellar was our only resort and after much difficulty fifteen souls were collected there sept 22d the scene that presented it self tris nrornirg was truly awful all the shipping formed one mass of ruins at the head of the biy to distinguish even the remnants would be impossible 1 can only sa all are destroyed full one half o the town is complete ly demolished places where yesterday buildings were standing or now a bar ren waste there is s ac a dwelling that escaped destruction or damage thus far i can write with some com- extrafl of a letter from captain barnes of the fchooner of car dated st uartsj sept 27 we obtained a new anchor and cable fufficient for a veffel of 150 ton9the ofcar is only 65 tons but before t oclock on the 21ft we went on fhore as many had done before and the remainder foon followed we faved fome of the 1 cargo and had it ftored but fnch was the violence of the gale that the lore toge ther with the merchants boufe was wafhed away i have loft the vefleli papers c and in faft every thing cxr ccpt what i flood in to defcribe the horrors of the 21ft is beyond my power an eye witnefscan only imagine and to me it fcems a dream ships of between 300 and 400 tons are now on dry land hundreds of buildings blown to atoms and the fea is now flowing where many lord flood before the gale fortunately there were only twenty one uvea loft but many were injured myfelf among the number by the falling of a boufe 1 lay under the ruins fome minutes when i fortunately got aflirtance am getting better by accounts from the neighboring hlands they have fuffercd as much as at this every eftate except two in st martins arc in ruins and returns re received of 146 fouls being loft and many miffing kingston jam aug 25 private letters received from panama flate that about three weeks fince a plot was difcovcred to have been formed by the britifh prifoners made at the recapture of porto bello the objeft of which wae to obtain poffeffion of a battery and powder magazine near the city and then to bom bard the place in the mean time a part of them were to take poffeffion of the spanifh brig verttrrofa lying in the harbor of parama and it was intended that the whole ol them fhould proceed m her and join lord cochrane in the south seas two of the ringleaders were fiat by order of general hero who fcortff afterwards iffued an order for all foreigner to depart from panama within ten days- it was reported at panama that lord chochrane had taken petit callao in the harbor of which port a veffel was at anchor haing on board 10000 dollars it was further dated that his lordlhip had aftually paffed guayquik on his way to chili advices from lima to the 8th jrimj have reached this city by them we karrt that lord cochrane had captured the american fchr montezum belonging to baltimore on her way into roadftead 01 callao flie had on board a cargo valued at 80000 dollars his lordhip had alfo twi frm rvsr pti cno cuavflfc the repoit of a rich prize with two millions faid to have been captured by lord cochrane 19 alcertained to be wkh- out foundation the government lima had difpstched a fall failing fchooner to cruiz off val- divia to apprize any spanifh fquadron of the movements of lord cochrane and he had paffed in fafcty his fleet subfequent to this his lordlhip had railed the block ade of callao his reception at val- paraifo it was iuppofed would not be very flattering as previous to his leaving callao he declared he would deftroy the marine force at that place six field officers and 37 of inferior rank who had been made prifoners by the infurgent chief st martin were put to death by his orders in the village of st louis we have feen letters from madrid fay relfs philadelphia gazette which ftate that our mini tier mr for fy the in his communications with that court on the fubjeft of the florida treaty had offumed an attitude of the moll vigorous charaftcr it is probable that his difpatches will not be publifhed until the meeting of congrefs in the meantime the prefident has full power to make every arrangement to meet any future contingency which may beer- peed to grow out of the rejeftion of the treaty by the spanifh government an englifh morning paper contains the following article letters from madrid ftate that the drit- ifh and ruffian minifters refident at the court of spain officially advifed and ur ged the ratification of the floiida treaty upon which another morning paper makes the following remark this is the ae of hoaxing and qutzmn but the befl hoax of all is that another letter equally authentic as ifce letter allu ded to and from the fame quarter fay that the britifh irinifter uied the ceffion ia earned but with a condition that cuba and st bias fhould be ceiled to gnat britain and a liberty of depi fit at vera cruz or nuutta while rnffiaalto required the lame pofition of st ba in california and on of the fhillipines

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