The Sun.
London, England, 1808-01-12 00:00:00

witliOut: date or signature; but which he.believed tq
be in the hand-writing of the Prisoner. In This lets:
tor the writer begslitn-toxitipte the 2 and he
would malw,it for, his interfet. It alio that
the depositions 'vbicti had,boin,given bc.iove thy. Mu-.
.o.isirate were then lost, and therefore he inii;hi
(4ipnix, In his..opinion tho boy'S death was
caused !)), the. ill treatment he receied. ,
When cross-exarnined, he ;said, that the Captain'
was not, dUring the voyage,. on good- terms with
him and the,crew,, The Captain, had chariid him'
w.iih..drunkenuess, and had punished him twice
with the cat on. the African coast,. and once at the:
Island of Dominica. There wit* once .sorpething
like a
,mutiny,on board, while, off the coast of Ca.;
labar. ' Some of the 'Crew were singing on the fore-
castle, and were ordered by .the Captain to desist ;
gut,not doing so the captain immediately snapped a
'piqol-at'one of them. They touched at the Island
of Doininica before they came to Alontsertat; but
did not then lodge a charge against the Captain, be-
cause he was afraid.

Henry Smith, one of the Seamen, was then call
ed, and deposed to much the same etre& as the last
Witness. He one day beard the Oaptain ask the
deceased whether be thought he should ever return

to Liverpool again.? -1e replied he did ; on which
the Captain said he never should, for be .was sent to
carry stories home—Williamson had gone to hell
lately, and he should go after him. When cross-
examined, he said he had tallccd on the subje& with
the Surgon and others of the'Crew at Montserrat, but
the Surgeon had never said to him_stick to that, or
any other words of that sort. •

Nutson, another of the seamen, Was the
next Witness. He repeated the same, disgusting
,detail of the brutal treatment which the deceased
met with. Not a day.passed, he said, in which he
did not see the boy lashed with the cat, or struck
with the handle. Once he-saw the Prisoner knock
him down with a handspike, but did not see him
struck when he was down. He was the first per-
son. who saw the boy dead on the morning of 31 st
of March ; when he told the Prisoner of it, be was
answered " A—n your eyes, heave him overboard."
At the time of his death, the back of the boy's head
was cut to pieces, his face was greatly swelled, and
he
.thought the treatment he received caused his
,death.

When cross-examined, he said, that the Captain
had ill.used almost the whole crew. When off the
coast of Calabar, eleven el them left the Ship, and
staid on shore fOur weeks, on account of the ill
usage they thought. they. had received; but the
Captain gave them permission to go. -: . •
Wm. Bairion,.another seaman, corroborated the
.preceding evidence. When on board the Northuni-
berland,- on his return hnMe to give evidence against
the Captain, eight letters were delivered to him,
which were proved by Scott, the Surgeon, to be all
in the Prisoner's hand-writing. These -letters were
read in Court,.nnd the writer promises each of those
who were .to give evidence tool. a piece, if they
would " all determine and be, of one mind." lie
advises ihtin te make their escape .hefore the trial
..came en, or on the triallo.contradiCt the Doctor, as
the writer's life now lay their hands. In one
letter ly says, " if you. Will only clear me, you shall;
tincl,l)lo.youusincere friend." 'Witness also received
dolJars by the same person who brought the let-
ters, but this he took as part payment of wages, and
'nut in any other way •
• . On his cross-examination, this Witne3s was pre-
sented, with two letters, purporting to have been
written -by him to the Prisoner. . ,But hedenied they -
were his writing,.rind never asked tor, money.
ward, for saying as he was desired .to. do. The Cap-
tain was in the habit of flogging them all round, and
he had seen. him abuse the boy for half an hour to-
together.
Samuel Jones, another seaman, was next examin-
ed, and deposed to much the same etre& as had been
none by the preceding Witnesses.

. • Several medical min, who had been present dur-
ing the trial, were then called' upon to give their
opinion as to the effei:ts Which the treatment de-
scribed by the Witnesses might in ;their judgment
produce! _ _

Dr. Powell said, that•thestate of the boy's health,
previous to his death, had not certainly been deserib-
.ed in an accurate and scientific way ..yet, in his
judgment, the_ treatment described might produce
his death. -We should have supposed that suffoca-
tion and death would have been the immediate con-
sequence.of suspending him by-the heels for three
or tour hours together. If the boy was previously
reduced to.a state of great `emaciation, there would
certainly, in that case, be less .datwer suffocation.
The boy did not appear .to-have died of any disease
Of the climate. . .

- Mr. Ramsdell, of St. Batholomew's Hospital, was
also of opinion, that the severities given •in evidence
produced the :boy's death, and more particularly; the
beating he received with the handspike. He could
motel-edit-that part of the testimony which said that
the boy was suspended by the heels. for four, hours
together. • •
- The Prisoner being then. called on for his defence,
delivered in a paper, which was read by -the Clerk of
the Court. This defence stated in substance, that
the crew had' been very mutinous throughout the
voyage,. and had often threatened his destru&ion.
The Dotior, from .habits of drunkenness,- was fre-
quently incapable of performing his duty, and on
that account be ..had punished bite several times...,
It was his resentment.for this thiit induced him nosy
to attempt. to take away his life. 'He should prove
that.hehadincited the crew against him, and had
instru6ted the Witnesses what to say. He had been
obliged to punish the crew at various times, and this
excited their resentment: • He had no witnesses ,to
falsify the charge i• and .his only reason for writing
the-letters to the Witness :Berriory, that bad been
produced in Court, was avery natural anxiety about
trusting his life to the oaths °finch men in a Court
of Justice. • -He then called several Witnesses in his
.behalf. The.litst Was a Captain Bell, who com-
mended n trading Brig, lying,offnantserrat at the
time when-:the: charges were- -brought against- the
,Prisoner. This Witness.deposed,that he overheard
c,itt, the surgeon, say to the other Witnesses, they
:need nut be a6.aid.oflosing their wages, if they only
stuck to him.. -To.this!some reply Avas.inada which
he did. not -hear, and Scott then said,
." that Will
not do---unless- we., have one story we oan't do in
adding, " him. repent 'of flogging Inc."—