The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-09-10 00:00:00

.

that there WU an Case liar evidence that the pri-

sole, koew the check was a forgery at the time he
off red it at the hark. Oa heirt,r. told by Mr An-
Las's clerk. that he believed it to be Mr. /togas',
hand-writing, there was row ;dor that any absolute
necessity to ask Mr. Ang:s whether it was his
hand-writing of. not. As to the letter inclosing the
check. it wrs certainly a mysterious affair ; which
the Prisoner himself might be the writer of ; or that
the person who wrote it, and the Prisoner, might
have conceited it., and of that there is very strong
suspicino ; yet, as there was no evidence that the
Prisoner fOrged Mr. Angas's signature, or that he
knew thc same to be forged, they mug ervii.t the
Prisoner.

Ralph Teaaal. and Thews KirAmp, both of
Swalwel, in the minty of Duiliam, keelmen, charg-
ed by the Coroner's Inquest, with the wilful murder
of I homas Sparr, of Gateshead, cordwainer, found
floating near the Quay Side, Newcastle.
Mr. Cir Key owned the prosecution, and was fol-
lowed by Mr. Serj:ant CLAYTON.
The first witness, James Cushney, a Waterman,
stated, tilat he was 011 the river Tyne, the last
Ascension Day, in a small 'culler boat. He said.
" I observed a keel, which overset my boat, coming
np before the wind, and was perietctiy rnanageahle,
and capable of altering its course. When the keel
was coroasg d-iwn they ci ed out to me, • What is
that hot hung there for ?' I wa, in that situation, I
could not get out of ihe way. When they came
near me, [ asked them if they meant to run me
down ? It was Bien in their power to have passed
me. They s.d.l, • kun over the h.—r ;' and they
accordiii,!lv did run over me, and still kept on th, it
course 1 afterwards siw the comfortable, called
the Disisalc,,, running athwait the fiver, and were
t .en going to set their sails. Under those cumin-
it inces, theDispetch was not manageab!e, as one be-
tore the wind. When my own boat was roil down,
I saved myself, by getting upon tae boftrim of my
own boat. When the keel struck me, she was in a
dire& line to the Thstrieh.
Upon cress-exami,..ition, he said, if the I)ruedk
had had one oar out, they might have got out of

the way.
John Sparr, the foam of the deceased, was on
board the Dispatch, ATLI the .e were also about two
or three and twenty on board, and kis son was also
on hoard. "We lay-to opposite the Pottery Quay,
to set our sails, and be our of the way of (abet boats
We then observed a keel come and run down the
little boat. The wind was near E.N.E., which is
a wind for up the river, and the keel had her sails
set about forty yards distance from us. Atter.run-
ning down the little boat, the keel came in a right
line for the Dtspatch We called out " starboard
your helm or port, and get to one side," which they
could have done, either a-head or a-stern, with.
great ease. Not only one, but almost all in the
host called so them ; yet they would not alter their
course, but came as straight as a line could be drawn.
She came straight against the midships of the Dips
p ace, and stove in one of-her planks, when she
filled with water. Bs' other people coming to our
assistance, we got the people of the Despatch into
the keel. The last tittle I saw the deceased, he WAS
sitting at the stern of the boat. He was foulard about
eleven days afterwards. 'rte keel might have had
six times the length of the boat, either a-head or
a-stern, as these was plenty of time. The Dapack
is about five yards long. We were employed in
setting our sails. and had no means of getting clear.
Our oars were in the host; and we always take
them in, when setting sail, for fear of damage."
Upon cross-examination by Mr. HATNE, the Wit-
ness said, the Daurairh was lyiag with her broad-
side, and floating with the tide., :here was a man
at the helm, but the vessel was not then in a state to
obey. He admitted, that there would have been
more room, it she hail been lying otherwise.
James Robson, the next Witness, slated, that he
had been a waterman about twelve years; was . n
board the Dispatch, on Ascension Day, and he knew
the Prisoners were on board the keel which ran
down the Dispatch. When calling to the keel, the
wind was very strong against our voices. It would
have taken about two minutes to have got the oars
nut. The patch, he stated, to be about ,22 feet
long. Atter the Dismar/1 was struck, a pilot on
board of another vessel asked the Prisoners, if they
knew what they had done? One of them answer-
ed, a Let them all go to hell "
Upon being cross-exam:ned by Mr. Hot tote,
the A.Vitness said he trued to get an oar out, but he
could not get it on; if they had got the oats out,
they could have got out of the way.
Here the case, on the part of the prqsecution,
ended, and the JUDGIi then addressed the Jury. His
Lordship said, that to constitute murder, there muse,
appear a previous motive; but there was strong
evidence of the folly and want of conduct on the
part of the Prisoners, which would constitute a
guilt of trespass and manslaughter. In order to
constitute a previous motive, it must have been
proved that the Prisoners were fully /Aware of the
disabled state of the Dispatch, and theif Incapacity of
getting cut of the way, in which eve the charge of
murder would have been established ; but of that.
there was not sufficient evidence, though there was
a sufficient proof of trespass and manslaughter.
Vet dies—Gssilty If Manslaughter.
The Junot then passed sentence upon them in
nearly the following words:—a You have been
found guilty, upon the clearest evidence, of man-
slang ter, accompanied with the most abandoned
circumstances of aggravation. If such intemperate
conduft as yours was general amongst those in the
same bus.ness with yourselves, the consequence
would be, that the inhabitants of this great com-
mercial town and neighbourhood would not dare
entrust their persons upon the water, in the necessary
pursuit of their lousiness, nor venture themselves in
those vehicles of conveyance, so necessary in a
country like this. lour conduit has been the most
wanton and abandoned I ever knew, and 1 am
sorry the law doe, not en role me to pronounce
upon you a different sentence to what I shall do."
--The sentence is !Mr year's imprisonment.

The Svren frigate is taken into dock mt Plymouth
to be repailed as a Lazaretto ship, for the rezeption
ot the sick from fortigo parts.
0(1411, of 98 guns, at Woolwich, and the
Fame, ot 74 guns, at Deptford, it is expet`led, will
be ready for latmcking next:month. The keel of 4
ship of 110 guns. to be called the Qaern CCorlotte,
was laid at Deptford some days since.