104 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



the space of two years, to be com- 

 puted from t!ie expiration of his 

 first sentence. 



" Sheffield. — This day our town 

 has been in a state of confusion 

 and riot, which has not yet ceased. 



Lord Milton, the earl of Effing- 

 ham, Messrs. Wortley, Parker, and 

 Corbett, justices of the peace, are 

 all now here. The horse soldiers 

 are parading the streets, and the 

 militia are under arms. The popu- 

 lace have drawn up a paper, which 

 they have called upon the flour- 

 dealers to sign, engaging that they 

 will sell flour at three shillings per 

 stone ; and threatening them, if 

 ihey do not, to destroy their pre- 

 mises. I believe most of them 

 have complied ; and there have 

 been some hundred stones sold at 

 that price this afternoon, in all 

 parts of the town. Some flour- 

 dealers have certainly lost this 

 day hundreds of pounds, by their 

 being obliged to sell it at reduced 

 prices. Lord Milton made a speech 

 to the populace, and told them 

 they must endeavour to wait until 

 the harvest was got in ; at which 

 they were much infuriated. The 

 mob threw several stones at his 

 lordship, but the military protected 

 him. Some of them threatened 

 to proceed to Wentworth-house. 

 What seems most alarming is, that 

 every night there are meetings of 

 the mob in the vicinity of the 

 town : I trust, however, all will be 

 settled peaceably. It is now ten 

 o'clock at night, and the town 

 seems tolerably tranquil. Flour 

 of late has sold for seven shillings 

 per stone, nearly trel^le to what it 

 is sold for on ordinary occasions." 



The following curious pheno- 

 mena were witnessed at Giessen, 

 in tiie circle of the Upper Rhine : 



—On the 13th of August, after 

 continued sultry weather, a piece 

 of woody ground, comprising 

 twelve English acres, suddenly 

 sunk about five feet ; on the 20th 

 it fell two feet more ; on the 24th 

 it sunk another foot, and continu- 

 ed giving way, almost impercepti- 

 bly, until, by the 4th of Septem- 

 ber it had sunk fifteen feet. This 

 frightful chasm remained near a 

 week, and was visited by thou- 

 sands. On the 12th the surface 

 of the land became marshy ; since 

 which water was observed to rise, 

 and by the 19th, it had entirely 

 filled the vacuity, and presented a 

 level sheet of water. 



16. The minister of liothsay 

 brought an action of trespass, in 

 the Court of Exchequer, at Edin- 

 burgh, against a person employed 

 by the collector of assessed and 

 property taxes, for levying the 

 same contrary to the laws of the 

 ancient realm of Scotland. The 

 reverend gentleman pleaded ex- 

 emption as a clergyman of the 

 established church of Scotland, in 

 virtue of certain acts of the Scot- 

 tish parliament, which, he con- 

 tended, exempted the Scottish 

 clergy from payment of all taxes, 

 past, present, and to come. On 

 the part of the crown, it was an- 

 swered, that no such exemption 

 was ever given by the acts in ques- 

 tion ; and should they have even hap- 

 pened to contain any such favour- 

 able clause, the whole had been 

 unconditionally surrendered at the 

 Union. The court was occupied 

 two entire day upon this serious 

 question, when an opinion was 

 unanimously given, that the clergy 

 had no right whatever to the ex- 

 emption claimed. 



19. The illuminations in London, 



on 



