CHRONICLE. 



99 



district from Selby to Holmforth 

 had been duped. 



7. During the night a murder 

 was committed in the house of the 

 Misses Gompertz, under the fol- 

 lowing circumstances : — It appears 

 that three ladies of that name re- 

 side nearly opposite to the princi- 

 pal entrance to Vauxhall-gardens ; 

 that their household consisted of 

 three female servants and a foot- 

 man; and a gentleman, their 

 cousin, also resided in the house. 

 The man servant's usual practice 

 was, every night, to fire off a 

 rausket at eleven o'clock, and to 

 reload it. He slept in the kitchen, 

 where this musket was always 

 kept. At about four o'clock on 

 Tuesday morning, one of the 

 Misses Gompertz heard the report 

 of a gun, and instantly rung the 

 bell which communicated to the 

 kitchen, but received no answer. 

 On this she awoke her cousin and 

 sisters, and the female servants, 

 and they went down stairs, and 

 found the kitchen-door fast : they 

 knocked, but receiving no answer, 

 they at length broke it open, and 

 found the man servant lying dead by 

 the window. On further inspection, 

 it appeared that the house had been 

 attempted by robbers, who had, by 

 great force with an iron crow, 

 pulled down the window-shutters, 

 and afterwards taken out a pane of 

 glass, which lay on the ground un- 

 broken. It is supposed they were 

 at this time heard by the footman, 

 who in opposing their entrance 

 was fired upon, and killed on the 

 spot; the musket was taken away 

 by the robbers, but found the next 

 morning in a field adjoining the 

 house. It was in a foul state, as 

 if recently fired ; but we under- 

 stand one of the female servants 



says, that the deceased was not 

 able to load it the preceding night 

 for want of powder, which he did 

 not discover until after he had dis- 

 charged it as usual. The man- 

 servant's livery coat was also found 

 on the outside the house next 

 morning. 



11. "This evening a boat belong- 

 ing to the Mutine brig, came 

 ashore at Dover, with the pilot. 

 The vessel being under orders for 

 Portsmouth, to be paid, several of 

 the officers and people, who had 

 been left ashore at Deal, came 

 round by land for the purpose of 

 joining her, and, taking advantage 

 of the boat being ashore, the 

 whole of them (13 in number) left 

 Dover harbour to proceed to the 

 brig ; but, whether from the dark- 

 ness of the night, or some other 

 cause, the boat did not reach the 

 vessel, but was driven on the rocks 

 at Cop Point, Folkstone, and, it is 

 reported, that the purser, surgeon, 

 and seven seamen, were drowned ; 

 two lieutenants and five seamen 

 saved themselves by clinging to the 

 rocks. 



14. On Saturday morning, about 

 one o'clock, a dreadful fire broke 

 out on the premises of Messrs- 

 Jones and Co. timber-merchants. 

 King-street, Southwark, which 

 raged with the greatest fury, and, 

 owing to the wind blowing strong 

 from the north-east, and there 

 being a very scanty supply of water, . 

 it spread with rapidity, threaten- 

 ing destruction, for some time, to 

 nearly the whole neighbourhood. 

 The principal part of the stock of 

 Messrs. Jones and Co. was con- 

 sumed. A varnish manufactory 

 also fell a prey to the flames, and 

 fourteen adjoining houses, built of 

 lath and plaster, were totally de- 



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