The National Register.
London, England, 1820-07-24 00:00:00

CHARGE OF MURDER..

On Thursday, Ellvia;sll;cilt;r W:laindicted for the
•der of James Alingay, at Doeldinglitirst, on the
28th of December last, by shouting him with a gun loaded
with powder and a boatel.
This case excited an uncommon degree of interest in
the Minty. from its peculiar circumstances, end the man-
ner in which the alleged crime was perpetrated. The
let ironer stood fur trial at the last Assizes, but at his in-
stance it was postponed until the present Assizes, on ac.
count of the absence of a material and necessary witness.
Air. lirodrick vetted the case with very great ability.
The case against the prisoner was supported principally
by the dying declaratiune and deposition of the deceased.
It appeared that the poisoner was gamekeeper to 'l'. F.
F ine, Esq. and that the deceased was a labour ing man,
particularly addicted to poaching. On the evening of
the 28th of December last, the prisoner was en the look
out for poachers, armed with a double-barrelfed fowling
piece. When he entered Dogwood, the property of his
• master, lie heard a gun go off, and as be proceeded lie
saw the deceased discharge a gun eta lien pheasant, upon
which lie went up to the deceased and said, " Is it yon i"
The latter replied in the affirmative, and said "Keep off,
or shoot you." The prisoner instantly levelled Isis gun
at the deceased, at the distance of a rod and a half, and
fired both barrels, and wounded him in the groin with a
slug, slightly lunching the skin with small shut. The de-
ceased fell immediately, and groaned with the excess of
pain. Prisoner came close up to him and said, " If you
offer to stir, l'il blow your b—y brains out." The deceas-
ed said, " lon Iravekilled me, and 1 am a dead man," and
the prisoner left him immediately, in the agonies of death.
The deceased contrived to crawl about the distance of a
mile to the cottage of a man named Day, where he was
admitted, and told what had happened to Mtn. He was
removed in a cart to the cottage of his mother, at South-
weald, and a surgeon being sent for from Brentwood, the
Wound was pronounced moo tal. His intestines then pro-
truded eight or ten inches in length retell his body, and
lie told the Surgeon that his assistance would be of no
use, as lie was a dying mate. The Sttrgeom betels
took from the mouth of the tleeeased his account of the
transaction, and put it mi paper. Information was then
given to Archdeacon 1400llastun, a magistrate, who, as
soon as possible, attended the eicceased, and took his
dying declaration on oath, as above stated in substance,
the deceased declaring that there Wai no other person
with him. A warrant was issued for the apprehension ol
the prisoner. lie was at first denied by his Wire, but
being beat el to cough, the house was searched, and lie
was taken into custody, and in two hours afterwards was
brought into the presence of the deceased, who was re-
two to the deposition lie had made, and which seas
lead over to the ptisoner. 'flue declaration of the pri•
loner was then taken down, which stated, that when lie
saw the deceased knock down a hen pheasant, lie went
up to hint, and the deceased istauediattly said, " D—n
yon. eyes, if you don't stood I'll shout you," and present-
ed his gun at bin,. lrrisout r apinehended danger to I • -
sett', immediately fired one baud of his. gun, and our
only, in wl Mt was a slug, and then lan after another
who appeared to be In company with the deceased,
lint cootie' nut catch him. The tics e ascii died the next slay.
It appeared, that when the po imams was taken into cus-
tody, lie stated to the ((amiable, that open seeiug the
prisoner he plat two or three slugs into Isis piece front out
of his pocket, and ran after I • . He further said, that
when lie went out fur the night he always loaded Isis gun
with slugs. It appeared But the gun of the deceased had
been discharged heftier the ptisuuer clime up to him, and
the deceased on his dying bed, declared that lie bore uo
malice towards the prison, and that had his gun been
leaded, perhaps lie stimuli' have shut the prisoner.
Tne pnwuel being called upon fns his defence, put in a
written paper, cos ttttt mug the fullowteig words—" It is, and
ever will be a matter of regret to me, that I should be the
cause of the death of a fedow creature; but hearing and
believing that there were oilier men in Dagsvioud, I was ac-
tuated troin tear, that lay own lute was in insugers"
Two or three witnesses acre Caned to prune that the de-
ceased was a notorious poacher, and that lie had frequently
expressed great Isosttlity towards gamekeepets in general.
'flee Lord Chief Justice charged the Jury with three pro-
, ; positions; first if they acre of npieliale that the prisoner

acted from motives of self defence, under an apprehension
that his own life was in danger, he would be entitled to
general verdict of not guilty ; second, if they were of 00.
Mon that the discharge of his gun was not only not necessary
for selt•drfence, but a wanton act of malice towards the
then they would bad him guilty of the whole
charge of wilful murder; and third, if they were of opinion,
that he acted under the impres.' that discharging his gun
was necessary for his defence, but that he did so incautiously
and Imitily, I lieu they would find him guilty of manslaughter.
The Jury, after hearing the whole of the evidence reca.
pioilated. by the Learned Judge. deliberated for about five
11111111ICA, and found the prisoner Guilty of Manslaughter.
The Chief Justice, in passing sentence, expressed nt hope
that the awful fate of the deceased would be a wholesome
warning tir gamekeepers, in the discharge of their duty, not
wantonly to deal with the byes of their fellow creatures,
even though they might tie engaged in an unlawful pursuit.
The Court, taking into consideration the' imprisonment
which he had already suffered, adjudged him to be further
imprisoned in the Comity Gaol fur the term of nine calendar
months.

This was the lust case in the Calendar.
TIMMERLAKE, V. SIR THOMAS NRAVII, BART.
nil %RS alt action against the present High Sheriff of this
County fur a false return of nulla bona to a writ of fieri fa.
rigs, issue(' at the suit of the plaintiff, upon a judgment ob..
tamed by him agai ist the goods of William Pole Tyloty
Lung Wellesley, Esq.
The case was this:—Mr. Wellesley finding his affairs
greatly embarrassed nt the beginning of this year, and his
puffin' being no longer protected by the privilege of
Pailiament, he determined to convey his life interest in
‘Vantited-huuse, and moveables therein, to trustees for the
benefit of his coeditors, to vi hum, about 20 in number, cir-
cular letters were sent, inviting their attention to the terms
of the deed, for the purpose of signature. The trust deed
was executed on the 11th of May, the principal provisions
of which were, that all the property above-mentioned was
to he conveyed to the trustees, es ith the power, at the expi-
ration of two years, to sell the sante, or sooner, if required,
by Mr. Wellesley, for the purpose of dividing the proceeds
rateably amongst his creditors, according as the dividends
should be received ; that in the mean time the creditors were
to engage not to molest his person until the Ist of June,
1822. About thirty creditors, whose debts amounted to
about 25,0001. signed this deed. On the morning of the
day it was executed, the plaintiff, whose debt amounted to
vhoui 30001. received verbal notice of the meeting of the
creditors, but he declined attending without Ilse advice of
his attorney. The draft •of the deed bad been'executed by
Mr. Wellesley at Calais, whither he had goneto avoid an-
rest. under the advice of his Attorney, the plaintiff, not-
ithstanding the execution of the deed, proceeded in his
action, and obtained judgment, and Is writ of fleet foams was
put into the defendant's hands to levy the amount upon the
effects at Wanstead Mouse. The Sheriff instead of executing
the furl facia* returned nulfa bona under an indemnity from
the trustees, and the question now was, whether the deed
above-mentioned was operative against creditors who had
sot signed it.
The Chief Justice ruled, that if the deed its question
was bona fide executed for the benefit of all Mr. Welles-
ley's creditors, those who refused to sign it were barred
from levying upon his effects, because that would be
giving them a preference in prejudice of the other cre-
ditors, and his Lordship, according to decided gladioli.
ties, was of opinion, that want of' notice of the execs.
tion of the deed was no objection. The bona
_fides of the
transaction was a question for the Jury, and his Lordship
was leaving that question for their consideration, when
Mr. Marryatt preferred being non-suited, and the
plaintiff was accordingly nonsuited.
There were four other actions of the same nature, at
the suite of other hostile creditors, and in all these, ex-
cept one, the records were withdrawn. In that tine the
tlw plaintiff preferred being nonsuited, in order to take
the opinion of the Common Pleasi out of which the re-
cord issued, upon the Chief Justice's decision in point of
law.

We report this case not from a feeling of commise-
ration for a worthless fellow, who with a princely for•
tune is obliged by his misconduct to become a beggar,
fur forbearance from honest tradesmen who have been
duped into giving hint credit: but from the novelty of
the law laid down by the Lord Chief Justice, which is
certainly at variance with what has heretofore been
deemed law. Dues his Lordship mean to assume that
the signatures to a deed of ast.igunient of a majority itt
amount of creditors is ()Main on the minor amount?—
No LAWYER has ever held this to be the case, what-
ever the learned Lord Chief Justice may rule—if this be
law, the Bankrupt practice may as well cease at mice.
acquitted.