CHRONICLE. 



11 



same room, pne of whom began to 

 call her aunt, on which the villain, 

 who had a dark lanihorn, drew a 

 daijger, whicli he flourished over 

 her head ; he then pulled down a 

 crape over his face. He scarcely 

 took notice of any thing in the 

 room ; but on seeing a writing 

 desk, he very leisurely sat down, 

 opened his lanihorn, and with a 

 sharp instrument cut it open, and 

 took bank-notes to the amount of 

 upwards of 491. and a suit of 

 child's clothes, which happened to 

 be on the drawers, as he retreated 

 out of the window to the ladder. 

 A week before, the house was 

 robbed by villains entering the 

 kitchen, and stealing servants' 

 clothes, provisions, &c. A great 

 many robberies have been com- 

 mitted in Bristol of late. 



29. A most outrageous attack 

 was made upon Mr. Eale, a farmer, 

 at Ashley-hole, Somerset, on the 

 confines of Gloucestershire, on the 

 evening of Monday last, whilst 

 sitting in his parlour with his fa- 

 mily. The barking of a yard-dog 

 caused the first alarm, soon after 

 which, there was a loud knocking 

 at the kitchen door ; no answer 

 was returned to interrogatories 

 from within, but soon after, the 

 door was forced by four ruffians, 

 armed with bludgeons, who enter- 

 ed the parlour where Mr. and 

 Mrs. E., their daughter seven years 

 old, and the maid-servant, were 

 sitting. One of them knocked 

 Mr. Eale down without ceremony, 

 and continued their violence until 

 he was unable to move. His wife 

 and daughter were fastened into 

 a closet, and the servant maid was 

 compelled to go up stairs witli the 

 villams, who broke open every lock 

 tliey could get at, apd stole from 

 a chest of drawers, bank-notes and 



cash to the amount of 113/. with 

 which they made off. The maid- 

 servant was locked in a separate 

 room before the villains departed. 

 Mr. E. is described to be in a dan- 

 gerous state. A carter and his 

 boy, who slept in a different part 

 of the house, were not disturbed. 



On December 29, about 12 

 o'clock, a most distressing cir- 

 cumstance occurred at the Royal 

 Horse Barracks, Exeter, where 

 Captain R. Yates, of the 5th regi- 

 ment of the line, fell a lamentable 

 victim to suicide. This officer was 

 in the meridian of life, and had 

 lately returned from the Peninsula, 

 where he had been upwards of 

 three years braving every danger; 

 he bore a very superior character 

 as a military man, and his whole 

 deportment was marked with every 

 qualification which distinguishes 

 the patriot and the gentleman. 

 Soon after his arrival at Plymouth 

 he marched to Kingsbridge, at 

 which town it was first perceived 

 that he deviated a little from his 

 uniform line of conduct, and loose 

 incoherent expressions were ob- 

 served in certain letters which he 

 wrote, insinuating intentions which 

 have been so fatally realized. On 

 the day preceding the melancholy 

 catastrophe, he remained confined 

 to his bed. Previous to effecting 

 his purpose, he directed his servant 

 to take some letters to a captain in 

 the same regiment, after which he 

 proceeded to terminate the dread- 

 ful scene, by placing a soldier's 

 musket to his breast, the butt-end 

 resting on the ground, and with 

 his sword pushing against the trig- 

 ger, he discharged the contents 

 through his body ; the ball entered 

 his left breast, came out at his 

 back, and ascending upwards, 

 lodged in the ceiling. It appeared 



