Carr Rock.—"We are sorry," says an Edinburgh paper, "in the space of a few weeks, to have again to notice the fatal effects of a very dangerous reef of rocks, which extend from the shore at Fifeness, fully a mile and a half to seaward, and terminating in Carr Rock. The sloop Janet of St Andrews, forty tons register, Elder master, bound from Alloa, with coals, sprang & leak off the Carr Rock about six o'clock on the evening of the 6th. The crew, finding that the water gained fast upon them, were making to the shore, to run the vessel upon Balcombie Sands, when she unfortunately struck upon one of the outer rocks of the Brigs, near the Carr. The crew immediately took to the boat, and landed in safety. Robert Watson, Lord Kellie's fisherman, who has been resident at Fifeness about sixty years, is enabled, from what he recollects of the shipwrecks at the Carr Rock, to remark, that there has been, in his time, "at least sixty vessels lost upon the Carr!—for if she missed her mark one year, she is sure to hit twice the year following."
17.—A meeting of the advocates for a reform in Parliament, was held at Freemason's Tavern this day, when several resolutions were adopted, expressing the necessity for a constitutional reform in the representation, the abolition of useless offices and unmerited pensions, and a reduction of the military establishment.
Ireland.—A meeting convened by requisition, took place on the 13th inst. at the Green of Harold's Cross, Dublin, when a respectful address was voted to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, humbly praying that he would give his royal countenance and support to the measure of parliamentary reform.—Several resolutions were also carried, stating the public distress, and declaring that the object of the meeting was reform, not revolution. A petition to Parliament, founded on the resolutions, was read and adopted.
20—The trial of the rioters for plundering Mr Beckwith's premises on the 2d of December, the day of the first Spafields meeting, commenced this morning at 10 o'clock, at the old Bailey, when John Cashman was found guilty, John Hooper, Richard Gamble, William Gunnel, and John Carpenter, not guilty.—Cashman has since been executed. The trial of the other rioters was resumed on the 21st, but none of them were capitally convicted.
22.—The loss of the Mistletoe schooner, tender to the flag-ship at Portsmouth, with all her crew, upon the coast of Sussex, whilst cruising in search of smugglers, can no longer be doubted; she must have foundered in one of the violent gales. It is ascertained that the vessel sunk off Rottingdean is not the Mistletoe, but some merchantman. The officers who have unfortunately perished in her are, Lieut. Wade Blake (commander); Mr J. Duncan, second master; Mr Tully, master's mate; Mr J. Brenham, midshipman; Mr Thomas Kennel, pilot; and thirty-two able seamen and boys.
James Watson, senior, who has attracted so much of public notice, was indicted for having assaulted Joseph Rhodes with a sharp instrument, with which he struck and stabbed him. The jury returned a verdict of acquittal, when several persons below, and in the galleries, gave very indecorous demonstrations of joy.
23.—This day a meeting of delegates, from various petitioning bodies in Great Britain for reform in parliament, was held at the Crown and Anchor Major Cartwright in the chair; when it was resolved, that representation should be co-existent with taxation, and that property ought to form no part of a member of Parliament's qualification—virtue and talents being sufficient.
Common Council.—Mr Waithman moved a number of resolutions on the subject of parliamentary reform. These resolutions do not go so far as those of the delegates just mentioned, having for their object "the shortening of the duration of Parliaments, and a fair and equal distribution of the elective franchise to all free-holders, copyholders, and householders paying taxes, with such regulations as would preserve the purity and integrity of the members, and render the House of Commons an efficient organ of the people." The resolutions were carried with not more than ten dissenting voices.
Hatton Garden.—Mr Hunt, Mr Cobbett, and the boy, Thomas Dogood, who tore down a posting-bill, entitled, "Mr Hunt hissed out of the city of Bristol," came to this office, when a good deal of conversation passed between the magistrate and Messrs Hunt and Cobbett, respecting the committal of Dogood, and the conduct of the officer, Limbrick, who apprehended him,—which led to no result.
Dreadful Catastrophe.—On Friday evening, the 3d instant, about eleven o'clock, Mr Cobbett, jun. of Kingston, having just retired to rest with his wife, to whom he had been married but a few weeks, put an end to his existence by blowing his brains out with a pistol (of three barrels) which he had previously concealed under his pillow. The horrid circumstance has occasioned his wife to be insensible ever since, and she is not expected to live.—Coroner's verdict, Insanity.
Coroner's Inquest.—An inquisition was
