gaged public attention, was yestery developed before the Magistrates, the Rotation-otlice, in this town.he parties were Mary Bateman, of ampfield, near this town, and Wm. erigo and his wife, of Bramley; she, e witch, and they the dupes. It apared, that in August 1806, an apication was made to this woman by erigo, to cure his wife of a complaint, hich was not stated on the examinaɔn, but which we suppose to be what called amongst people of her rank, nervous," and amongst their betters, the hip."-Mary, with becoming odesty, declined to undertake the ire herself; but said, that she had a iend at Scarbro', a Miss Blyth, who ould "read the stars," and collect om them the knowledge requisite to move all corporeal and mental malaies; and, as a preliminary step, reuired that Perigo's wife should send er flannel petticoat to Miss Blyth, in rder that she might, from that article f dress, collect a knowledge of her isorder. The petticoat was sent, and propitious answer returned, wherein was required, that the medium, Tary Bateman, thro' which all comunication betwixt the astrologer nd the patient was to be made, should ave four guinea notes presented to er, and she was, in return, to give Perigo four other guinea notes, incloed in a small bag, into which, if eiher his own curiosity, or the still tronger curiosity of his wife, should nduce them to look, the charm would be broken, and sudden death would be The consequence. Strange as it may ppear, the wife of Perigo never looked into the inchanted bag to the day of her death. Soon after the four guieas had been given to Mary Batenan, a letter arrived from Scarbro', directing that another guinea should be paid into her hands. Similar requests were repeated, and complied vith, till forty guineas had been thus extorted from these infatuated people,

under a promise, however, that they should, by-and-by, be allowed to open the bags, and these bags, they were told, would be found to contain all the money they had advanced.

About six months had now expired, and the business of fraud and delusion still went on. Miss Blyth could not, while certain planets ruled, sleep in her own bed; and, in order to promote the comfort of the "wise woman," Perigo was to buy her a new bed, with all the necessary appendages, and send it to Mary Bateman, thro' whose hands it was to be transmitted to the nymph of Scarbro'. The bed, &c. which cost eight pounds, were bought, and notes, to the amount of thirty pounds more, paid at various times, into the hands of the impostor. Unbounded in her extortions, she next demanded a set of china; this was also furnished to her; but she complained that the tea cannister was not sufficiently handsome to set before the genteel company kept by a lady of her distinction, and demanded a tea caddy in its stead, which demand was also complied with.

Perigo and his wife, thus drained of all the money they had in the world, and all the sums their former good credit had enabled them to raise and the wife's health still growing worse, rather than better, they became impatient to look into the mysterious bags, and extract from them the wealth they contained. Their clamorous impatience probably became troublesome, when, as it should seem, to silence their importunity, Mrs Bateman received, as she said, a packet from Scarborough; this packet contained a powerful charm, which was to be mixed up in a pudding, to be prepared for the purpose, and of which Perigo and his wife were to eat, but on no account to allow any person to partake with them. They did eat, and there is but too much reason to suppose, that this vile woman had said within herself, " in the day you eat thereof

you

you shall surely die." The husband ate sparingly, he did not like the taste; but his ill-fated wife, less scrupulous, ate freely: they both became sick, almost immediately, and continued in the most deplorable situation for twenty-four hours: the wife lost the use of her limbs, and, after languishing five days, died on the 24th of May 1807, a victim of credulity. Perigo recovered partially, but from that time to the present, has never had the perfect use of his limbs. Part of the pudding was, by way of experiment, given to a cat, and it died; some fowls also picked up other parts of it, and shared the same fate. Contrary to the direction of Mary Bateman, Perigo applied to a surgeon, in this town, for advice, and was told by him, that he had taken poison, but, fortunately, not in a quantity sufficiently large to occasion his death.

After the death of his wife, it is natural to suppose that the husband would have possessed sufficient fortitude to emancipate himself from the fangs of this wicked woman; this, however, was not the case: she had thrown her toils over him, and tho' the wife might not have been, as she supposed, bewitched, it is pretty evident the husband was under some such influence. From May 1807, till Wednesday last, the charm continued to operate, and the spell could not be dissolved. At one time he went to Manchester by the direction of this Jezebel; at another he sent her one of his wife's gowns; again she contrived to coax or frighten him out of another gown, a petticoat, and the family Bible! And last of all, she demanded from him half a bushel of wheat, with three seven shilling pieces enclosed. His creditors at length became impatient, and the hopes of getting any part of his property back failing, he determined to brave all danger, and look into the mysterious bags but what must have been his surprise and vexa

tion, to find that the contents of thes bags were not worth one persy! ad to find himself a pauper, wilno z perty, and with a ruined const

The bubble now burst; and the having kept the business an entre e cret from every soul living, his wi alone excepted, for upwards to years, he laid his hopeless case befin some of his neighbours: by their & rection Mary Bateman was apprehe ded; when brought before the M. gistrates, she in part confessed her de linquency, and admitted that ther was no such person as Miss Blyt existence, but that the whole we mere phantom, conjured up to forw her vile purposes. The Magistr have committed the offender to House of Correction, whether to be tried for swindling practices, or fo removed from that to the County to take her trial for wilful murder,v: are not informed.

H

On searching the house of this a man (who has a husband and seven children) the bed and some other cles, the property of William Parig amounting in value to about 10.7 12. were found, and will be restrai to the owner.

It is worthy of observation, th Mary Bateman is the person hen laid an egg, about two years 15, at the Bank in this town, being this marvellous inscription," Christ coming."

Another Case.

ould be sewed up in the bed by Iary Bateman; next, money, to the mount of twelve guineas, was deanded, and obtained in a manner a ood deal similar to the way in which was extorted from Perigo: this was Iso to be sewed up in the bed. By nd bye, it became necessary, Miss Blyth said, in order to prevent their on being drowned, and their daugher becoming abandoned, that Snowen's family should leave Leeds, and o to Bowling, in the neighbourhood f Bradford, taking the bed, with the vatch, and money in it, with them, out leaving a considerable portion of heir property in their house at Leeds, nd giving Mary Bateman the key. At length they expressed their wish o Mary, to be allowed to look into he bed, and take out the watch and noney, but the time had not yet arived; and before this inspection was to be made, the family of Snowden were to take a dose, which was at that time in preparation for them, and was to have been administered during the present week→ happily this dose was never taken. Saturday last, James Snowden was passing part of his evening in a public house at Bradford, and The Leeds Mercury being produced, one of the company undertook to read the article which had produced so much conversation during the day, under the head-Witchcraft, Murder, Credulity." Snowden heard the narrative with violent emotion; when it was finished he started from his chair, and made the best of his way home. His first care was to open the folds of the bed, when, lo! instead of his watch and money, he found --a coal! He next came over to Leeds, and found his house, which he had left in the care of Mary Bateman, plundered, and on a search warrant being procured, part of the property was found in Bateman's house; John Bateman was, in consequence, apprehended, and committed to York Castle, to take his trial.

ACCOUNT of BOOKS committed to the Flames, suppressed, or censured.

66

66

(Concluded from p. 825.)

DISCOURSE on Government, by Algernon Sidney." This work, when still only in manuscript, afforded a pretext for the condemnation of Sidney to the most infamous punishment. A jury, corrupted by their President Jeffreys, a personal enemy of the author, condemned him to be hanged and quartered, but he was merely beheaded. Sidney was an ardent republican: he made war against Charles I., and leagued with the monsters who put that prince to death.His character, impatient of any species of restraint, made him leave England when Cromwell usurped the supreme power. After the death of the protector, he was so imprudent as to return into his country; and though Charles II. had granted him a particular pardon, he was not the less attacked by his personal enemies, as having entered into a conspiracy against the King's person: proofs were wanting; but the writings found in his possession caused him to be denounced as a mover of sedition These writings are the Discourses in question; they contain bold truths mingled with paradox.

"De Lege, Rege, et Grege. (By "Eric Sparre in Sweden) fol." This work is excessively rare, being carefully suppressed in Sweden, and among the books most strictly prohibited in that kingdom.

The author there unfolded his ideas respecting the law of nature and nations, which he had deeply studied. He was a baron, and a senator of Sweden in the sixteenth century; he distinguished himself in the different employments with which that government entrusted him.

In the sixteenth century, the Swedes and Poles fought to decide which should be master. At the end of this bloody quarrel, Sigismond, who occu