Silas Fenn, an eel-catcher of this parish, appeared before Constable Truncheon yesterday morning and confessed to the cutting of Josiah Brant's nets, a matter which has occupied the attention of the fishing community for three days. Fenn acknowledged that he had hoped the quarrel between Mr. Brant and Mr. Nathaniel Okes, who have disputed the net-pitch off Spurn Point for three seasons, would drive one of them from the ground, and so leave the eel-grounds below it open for his own taking. The confession, made without reservation, was heard with astonishment, for Fenn had not been suspected by any save, perhaps, the constable.
The consequences were immediate. Mr. Okes and Mr. Brant, who had each harboured a false suspicion of the other, shook hands on Herring Quay at midday, and the town breathed more freely. It is understood that Fenn's debt of thirty shillings to Mr. Cornelius Wick, the chandler, for tackle obtained on credit, pressed him hard, and that this pressure, rather than any malice toward either fisherman, drove him to his rash act. The case now rests with the magistrates, and it is not for us to anticipate their judgment. We may, however, express the hope that the reconciliation between the two rivals will be lasting, and that the eel-catcher, who has long been thought a romantic and scheming fellow, will find a more honest occupation than the cutting of his neighbours' nets. The affair has at least this good result: it has shown that the peace of the town is not lightly to be disturbed, and that the constable's office is not idle.