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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
jdeavour tp state as accurately as ray recollection witt permit * 1 . ¦> 'traveUiwg in Germany to the place pf his destination , he was one day overtaken by the shades of night bef ore h& eowd reach the town where be had proposed to sleep . He
therefore slopped at a solitary inn on the road- Hfs bed-room was an inner chamber ,, He had the precaution , not only to lock his door , but also tp secure it by some other contrivance . As he travelled armed , he put his sword and a brace of pistols , which he had with
him , Qn the table . He kept a light burning in his chamber , and instead of undressing , he merely topk off his coat , and wrapping himself up in his roquelaure , lay down on the bed . In the space of about two hours , he was
roused by the sound of steps in the outer room , and a violent push at his door . He ^ immediately started up , took his sword in one hand and a pistol in ¦ the other , and cali f ng with a loud thundering voice to . these disturbers of his repose to desist , he told { . hem , f ? the first that entered was a dead
rnan , arid that he "was prepared to encounter with half a dozen of them . /* ppon this they thought proper to withdraw . He then made the door still
inore secure , and expecting another attempt , " gave neither sleep to his eyes uor- slumber to his eyejids , " but sat down ,, waiting and preparing his | njr } d for whatever might happen . In about « an hour , he heard what
appeared to him a greater number of footsteps \ n the outer chamber than before , and Immediately-an assault was made at his door with so rrujch violence as would have forced it open in an instant , had it not- been for tjie additional security which his priidence had devised . He
again addressed them as before , when thfc villains retreated , sojnp of them uttering ttie most horrid imprecations . As soon as the day began to dawn , he called his servants , ar * d before he left
the house told the attendant that he wished tp speak with tiis . master , who however excused himself from n ^ aking liis appearance by pretending he was very ill in bed . When Mr . Webb came to the next tdwn he waited on the magistrate and acquainted him yrith the transaction , w- ^ o promised that notice should r ^ tikeii o £ jk ^ 4 congratulated him on his deliverance jfrom so imminent -danger of losfng his life ; for murdering on the Conti-
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o $ nt more generally attends robbery ttian ife ^ hfecfetantr ^ - ^ fiaviifg ^ ulflllpd the object of his mission he return ed to England , but how much time elapsed before he was again employed in a diplomatic capacity 1 fcafmot determine . After the peace of Amiens
however , \ x \ 180 £ , when Mr ; Jackson was sent on his embassy to France , ( Napoleon Bonapafeke being then only Chief Consul ) Mr . Webb was ap * pointed his Secretary ; but the state of his health obliged him to return at the end of a few weeks . During the short time he was in Paris , his office
leading him to frequent intercourse with those persons who then made the most conspicuous figures in the French government , his penetrating genius enabled him to acquire considerable knowledge of their characters and political views , of which he used
afterwards to communicate to his friends rna ny interesting particulars . From this period he retired wholly from public life . His places of residence have been vinous within the last thirty years . He t 66 k a house in the neighbourhood of Crewkerne , where he lived for a short time and attendee !
the religious services of his beloved friend , and , if I mistake not , quondam fellow-student in the Davemry Academy , the late Rev . Wm . Blake , to whom was peculiarly applicable the character which the Apostle John gives of a piqus and amiable man , ^ Demetrius hath good report of aH men , and
of the truth itself . ** For some years Mr . Webb resided at Litchet , a pleasant village between Poole arid Wareham , and became an attendant on the worship of the Unitarian Dissenters ( I use the term Unitarian in its most extensive signification , as distinguishing from Trinitarian ) either in- the
former or latter place . Quitting Litchet in I 8 O 9 , he went to Norton sub Hatndon , in the neighbourhood of South Petherton , In 1811 he removed to Lufton , in the vicinity of Yeovil , a
deli g htful retreat which Mr . Webb would gladly have retained to the end of his life ! Whilst in this p lace he joined die society of Unitarian T >\^ senters in the town last mentioned ,
under the pastoral care of irty'tvigriiYvaiued friend , the R « v \ S » fa'iv cett . His residence being a ^* &n £ ge hofcse , an 4 the clergymahTO wbdm'itbeiotiged giving him notice to qulttt ; tlisV ^ rfl ^ val to Barrington , in i 8 r"l ; Wa * ' tf ?*
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A QO Sketch of tjte Life , Character , &c of the late Francis tVehb , Esq .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1816, page 190, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2451/page/2/
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