S2 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



tempted to stab bim ; but this per- 

 son also avoided the attack, and 

 escaped. A gentleman, who had 

 been an observer of this outrage- 

 ous conduct, vratched the man 

 into the White Horse public-house, 

 in Pimlico, and then went in 

 search of a police officer, and 

 found Nicholls, belonging to the 

 Bow-street office, in the Park, 

 who went and took him into cus- 

 tody ; and under a pretence of 

 treating him with some lamb-chops 

 and ale, he got him quietly across 

 the Park to the office, where he 

 underwent an examination before 

 Mr. Graham, when it appeared, 

 that a soldier on dutj' at the Queen's 

 guard, observing the prisoner's 

 conduct, had taken the knife from 

 him. Neither of the females, nor 

 the man he had attacked, attended, 

 they not being known ; but the 

 gentleman who had observed him 

 fully proved the above statement. 



The account the prisoner gave 

 of himself was, that his name was 

 Erasmus Hooper, and that he had 

 been an officer in the navy ; that 

 he had been extremely ill-treated, 

 or he should have been a post- 

 captain ; but, instead of that, he 

 had been tried upon false charges 

 by a court-martial, and had been 

 broke. On searching him, papers 

 and a book were found, that fully 

 proved him to be tlie man he re- 

 presented himself to be ; and that 

 he had served on board the ships 

 the Marquis of Ely and the Ernest. 

 A letter from the Secretary of the 

 Admiralty acknowledged the re- 

 ceipt of his application to be rein- 

 stated. The book contained an 

 alphabetical list of the marine 

 force of tlie country, a full descrip- 

 tion of signals by day and night, 

 also of telegraphic communica- 



tions. Application was made at a 

 navy agent's, in the Adelphi, 

 whom he referred to, who ac- 

 knowledged having been his 

 agent; and said the prisoner had 

 been there yesterday morning, 

 when his conduct was such that 

 there was no doubt but he was 

 deranged. He was ordered to be 

 detained. 



The company of flying artiller}'-, 

 under the command of captain 

 Smith, passed through Brighton, 

 from Lewes, for Hive, for the pur- 

 pose of practising with shot and 

 shells, at a target, on the beach, 

 nearly fronting that place. Seve- 

 ral of the Shrapnel! shells, loaded 

 with musket-bullets, which were 

 not intended for use that day, had 

 been fixed, in boxes, to the car- 

 riages of the field-pieces, for the 

 inspection of the general ; and to 

 one of these boxes, containing four 

 shells, a spark, by some means, 

 found its way, when three of the 

 four shells were presently explod- 

 ed, and their destructive contents 

 dispersed in all directions. Ma- 

 jor-general Hamond had his lip 

 cut through; lieutenant T. Blaker, 

 of the local militia, was stunned 

 by a fragment of the gun-carriage 

 striking him on the back part of 

 the head ; and two of the artillery- 

 men were severely hurt, thougU 

 neither had any bones broken. 



8. Fire in Plynwulhdock. — The 

 fire was first discovered in the 

 morning, between three and four 

 o'clock, in the eastern rope-house 

 of Plymouth dock-yard; and ap- 

 parently, to those who first disco- 

 vered it, burst forth in several 

 places at the same time. An alarm 

 was instantly given by the firing 

 of the sentinels on duty in the yard, 

 and on board the-*^alvador del 



Mundo, 



