190 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



continent of Europe, but having 

 fixed his residence in Cumberland, 

 he purchased a house and a small 

 quantity of land in the immediate 

 neighbouiliood of Mr. Hartley. 

 Coming from a foreign land (Flo- 

 rence in Italy) he had given this 

 residence the classical name of Ti- 

 voli — a name much celebrated in 

 ancient times, and of course carry- 

 ing with it tlie most pleasing re- 

 collections, as well as an idea of 

 refinement. It did not appear, 

 however, that the defendant had 

 imported the urbanity of the coun- 

 tries he had visited — those refine- 

 ments which we expect from one 

 who has cultivated and has a taste 

 for the fine arts j this would most 

 clearly appear in the course of 

 what he had to advance. In the 

 month of November last, Mr. 

 Hartley wishing to ornament the 

 ground near his house, and to im- 

 prove the breed of his sheep, made a 

 purchase of eleven fine Leicester- 

 shire sheep, commonly called mug- 

 sheep, which were sent to him all 

 the way from Tadcaster, and for 

 which he gave 50 guineas ; when 

 they arrived, he turned them into 

 a field which lies between his own 

 garden and that of the defendant. 

 Mr. Harriman, it appears, keeps 

 three dogs at Tivoli (two pointers 

 and a little terrier) for the purpose 

 of defending his possessions. One 

 of these pointers was of so savage 

 a nature, that he spared neither 

 man nor beast. Mr. Hartley and 

 his servants had oil been attacked 

 by these outrageous dogs ; they 

 were not safe to come home at 

 night, for it was at that time these 

 animals were permitted to prowl 

 wherever they pleased. When the 

 sheep arrived, Mr. Hartley sent a 

 message to Mr. Flarriman, stating 

 ithat as he had got some valuable 



sheep, he hoped the defendant 

 would take care of his dogs, as 

 there was great reason to think 

 they would worry the sheep. Mr. 

 Harriman sent back word to Mr. 

 Hartley, that he kept his dogs for 

 the pia-pose of guarding his pro- 

 perty, and if they were not enough 

 he would keep 50 more. As was 

 suspected, the dogs did fall upon 

 the sheep several times, and at 

 last they killed three, and bit four 

 others so severely as to cause their 

 deaths, thus spoiling the whole of 

 the flock. As soon as Mr. Hartley 

 was informed of this, he wi'ote a 

 letter to Mr. Harriman couched 

 in the mildest terms : it began — 

 " Accidents will happen. 1 am 

 sorry that your dogs have injured 

 my unfortunate little flock ; I 

 should have seen you this morning 

 on the subject, hut understood you 

 were not up :" and it concluded 

 in the same strain and spirit by a 

 proposition to Mr. Harriman to 

 take the flock off his hands, paying 

 him the first cost of 50 guineas. 

 What could be fairer, or more gen- 

 tlemanly, or more neighbourly 

 than this ? Mr. Hartley wanted no- 

 thing for bi'inging the sheep into 

 Cumberland' — he required nothing 

 for their keep — he only wished to 

 cover the expense of the first pur- 

 chase, and so let the matter drop. 

 But does Mr. Harriman follow the 

 example of his neighbour ? No, 

 he waits some time, and then he 

 replies by letter in a strain the 

 very reverse of conciliatory. He 

 says, having had time to investi- 

 gate the charge of his dogs killing 

 the sheep, he believes the same to 

 be unfounded. He cannot but re- 

 gret, therefore, that Mr. Hartley 

 should have made such a charge ; 

 and in a strain of indignation he 

 refuses to pay the 50 guineas, and 



rejects 



