The Sun.
London, England, 1806-11-18 00:00:00

tention has been direaed. It is needless to comm t
on its quality ; its splendour is marked by the sha.'e
of its contrast."

LAW REPORT.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Nov. 15.

THE KING V. ADAM SIMPSON; •
The Defendant, in this case, was brought up by
Habeas Corpus, from Hertford Gaol, having been
committed under a Justice's Warrant.
Mr. LAws appliedfor the Defendant's discharge,
On the grounds that there was no offence charged
upon the face of the warrant, or commitment, the
words being, " for buying and receiving a quantity
of lead,"" without stating any farther offence.
Mr. Justice LE 131.ANC observed, that by the
25th of George H. the clandestinely. buying or re-
ceiving any lead, brass, iron; &c. between sun-set
,and sun-rise, or leaving or depositing the same at
any door, window, Or shutter, was 'tnadc a misde-
meanour, and the party so offending liable to trans-
portation for fourteen years. -
The Court then ordered the examinations before
the Magistrates to be read, from which it appeared
that a short time previous to the Defendant's com-
mitment, the parish church of Bovenden bad been
stripped_ of lead, and one' James Eames had been
apprehended with a quantity in his pOssesSion,
which he said he had found in a field covered with
dirt and leaves. By the depositions of the -Defend-
ant himself, it appeared, that Eames had deposited
lead' at his yard gate at. different' times, at an early
hour In the morning.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH observed; that this man
lived in 'a continuai'breach of the Aa of Parliament.
He had never net a more flagrant case, nor was•
there any grounds whatever for his discharge. •
The offence in law, however,. amounting only to
a miSdemeanotin, the Defendant was enlarged upon
giving bail ; himself in 4001. and four sureties in
1001. each: :

THE KING V. BENJAMIN GIBSON.
Mr. RAYNE, moved for leave for the Defendant
to plead " Not Guilty" to the indialment in this
case. He had been indiCted for an assault, by the
name of Benjamin, to which he pleaded in abate=
`client, that he was baptized Benoni, and upon this
alone, they joined issue, and went to trial, when,
'although it appeared he had been baptized Benoni,
the Jury found that he was known by the name of
Benjamin, and consequently the verdict was against
him. The Prosecutor had served notice on him
to bring him ,up for judgment, bit not having been,
conviaed of any offence, he submitted, he could not
be brought.up, and upon those grounds he, applied
to their Lordships for leave to plead.
The Court granted a.conditional rule.

MONDAY, NOV. 17.

THE KING. V. JOHN ROBINSON.
This. person was brought up by Habeas COrpus,
from the county jail of Lancaster, to give security
'for his'appearance to take -his trial before the Court
of Admiralty, for- murder committed on the High
Seas.
From the depositions read on behalf ofthe pro-
secution, it appeared, that the Defendant, in the
year 1805, sailed as i\laster of the .Ship Lancaster,
on a voyage from Liverpool to the coast of Africa,
from thence to Barbadoes, and back again to the
port from whence he first departed. , They pro-
ceeded to Old Calabar, with every man peaceable
and obedient on board. One evening Robinson,
the Captain, came on board in a violent passion ;
insisted that one of the crew, named Dunlap, wasp
drunk ; ordered him to be tied up to the rigging,
-and direCted the Boatswain to infli& upon him a
dozen lashes with the cat-o'nine tails. When the
sufferer was taken down, the Master, not contented,
seized the instrument, and struck the man very! se-
verely ; and Dunlap was obliged to confine him-
self to his hammock ; he was much bruised, and
!died in 'a few days. This happened on the 24th of.
:June, 1805 ; and a short period afterwards; another
.of the crew, named Grady, likewise fell under Ro-
binson's ,dipleasure; the lash was applied, and the
'death of the sufferer soon followed. These, bow/
•
ever, were not the charges against the De" feadant,
.for which he stood indicted : the specific allegation
was regarding the murder of one James Williams.
It happened one night that this person unfortunately
haying drank too much liquor, fell asleep during
-his watch, and the Captain, Robinson, entering the
Ship at the time, discovered it. He immediately
waked Williams, and knocked him down several']
times, insisting upon knowing where he had got the
spirits. .The man begged, in vain for mercy. Ro
binson continued to .beat him, and after having mu-,
dered him unable to stand, he kicked him most un-
Meacifully while 'on the ground.' In a few hours
Williams died,
,but not before, the
_Defendant had
thought fit to call in, too late, the assistance of a
medical man, and the body of the seaman vas cast
into the sea. The Ship was afterwards captured by
a French Privateer, but re-taken by one of His Ma-
jesty's Sloops of War. This- account was deposed
to by three witnesses :- Law, the boatswain ; Smith,
a- seaman ;. and another.
On the part of the Defendant the affidavit of Ro-
binson was first read. It stated, that the whole of the
prosecution was a mere conspiracy to frighten the
Defendant into certain wages claimed by the seamen..
His ship had been captured after an hour's struggle
with a vessel of 12.0 men, when five of his crew had
been killed, nine wounded, and himself shot through
the body by a musket ball. His vessel was, however,
re-captured, and it became -necessary each should
sustain his share of salvage. This, Law, Smith, and
one other (the Prosecutors), refused to do; and a pro-
secution, to intimidate the Defendant, was first set on
foot for the alledged murder' of another man, and
afterwards abandoned. Robinson continuing reso-
lute, and! refusing to pay them their wages without
deducting the proportion of salvacre, they commenc-
ed this indiament : Law, the boatswain, declaring
with on oath that he would hang the Defendant;
Affidavits were likewise produced from nutherous
respectable Merchants and Captains of Ships;! who
gave the Defendant an irreproachable charaCter for
honour, bravery, and lenity.
The Court dire&ed, upon consideratiOn, that Ro-
binson should become security for his appearance in
4001. and that he should find four other peisons to do
the same in tool. each; which was immediately done.