The Sun.
London, England, 1807-03-21 00:00:00

The Prisdivr, Airing the wh.,le of the time, con
&act! him Self with great composure. He vas a
tall athletic man, of respeaable appearance.

John ifttgust:;s, a Negro, was inditled on a charge
of the wilful murder -of one Peter Williams, I:iie a
seaman on hoard the Corn-Plainer, lying off ter-
mondsey, in the River Thames. •
• Mr. Laves for the Prosecution; stated the general
fats of the Case, and then called the -\Nrittlesses.,

JOhn Maxwell said, that ou thel Bth ofJannary last,
the Corn Planter was lying on the Surry side ol.the
River, that the Prisoner found sours dirt or nuisance ih
his bed, (gr.d that on that account some ,quarrel arose
bet Ween him and the deceased. -The Prisoner held
Peter Williams rOuntLthe middle, when the latter
had- the fife-rail in his hand.- An iron spike, was
dropped, and there Was a scuff between them, on
'which the witness came up to-see what was the mat-
ter. The witness-afterwards' saw the Prisoner raise
the deceased above thefife rail', and-pitch him over-
bc;rd, between the Corn-planter and the next ship,
saying at the same time, " there, you b r, go
overboard."

Richard. Marston.; a &hertnan, said, that he pick--
ed.up the. body the neat morning, between 7 and 8
o'clock.

Matthew Taylor, a witness for the Prisoner, said
that 'he was a man ofa remarkably mild disposition:
,The Curti, BARON, in summing up the evidence,
observed, that- the. Prisoner at the •bar %Vas indicted
•for murder, and that no doubt-could:be entertain-
ed respeajng the. .faa of his having occasioned
the death of Peter-Williams., In order to make it a-
clear case Of rmirder,- there must have-been no'scilf--
flingarld'fighting : but here there was a contest' be,:
tween the .Prisdner.and the deceased, 'arid it was
possible for the Jury to say who was the •aggressor:
'Under' these circumstances-it would'be riOt .that
the Prisoner should—be acquitted as to' the murder,
and that he should be'found guiltt -of,manshiughters

. -
• The Verdictwas-atcoi-dingly; given—Guiity. rf
Manslaughter. • •

CIVI L SIDE;
BEFORE MR. JUSTICE HEATH.

MASTERS V. REYNOLDS. AND OTHERS.

This was an action of assault and 'false impri-
sonment.

Mr. Serjeant BEST stated. the circumstances of
the case, which:were as follow :—The Plaintiff Was
a fruit-meter, under the City of London; and the'
Defendants were the -Overseers; the Beadle, and
other Officers of the Parish of St. George the--Mar-
tyr, in the Borough. The Defendant was charged
with having gotten a girl with child, which was
likely to become chargeable to the Parish, and the
Magistrates at Union-Hall. had, in. consequence,'
granted- their warrant for the apprehending • the
-Plaintiff, which was put into the hands of the De-.
fondants to be .executed.. They accordingly, know-
ing the Plaintiff, took an opportnnity, when lie was
' going to the Circus one evening, in tr3Elober,- to ap-
prehend him. ' But they did this in a rude and vio--
• lent manner, seizing him by the collar, and dragging
him from, the company of an old Lady whoM he
was escorting to the Circt:ts. The Learned Serjeant
observed, that although their conduct here was not
such as it:ought to have been, yet that did not fur-
nish the cause of the present anon. But what ,h c
complained of was, that when. they had thus .appre.
headed him, they did not •immediafely carry bins
before a Magistrate, which 'they ought to have done,
but they kept him twenty-four hours in custody,
in order to extort from him the sum of 701. which
they pretended was necessary to indeamtfY the
Parish. He-added; that when a person ,was arrested
under a charge of this sort, there were but two re-
gular modes of proceeding ;, the one was to -take • a
bond of indemnity'for the Parish, or to go before. a
'Magistrate, who would take a recognizance from the
Defendant to appear at the Sessions, and abide such
order as the Justices should then -.make ; and . that
it was wholly irregular, and had often been'repro-
bated by Judges, that a Parislyshould take a-gross
sum, in their own discretion, for an indemnity.—.
He trusted the .Jury, when they had heard the
fads 'substantiated in evidence, would think this 'a
case of serious oppression, and give damages Cc: .
cordingly. • , _ . .
.
:Mr. Serjeant, -and. another Gentleman, frie,nds of.
the Plaintiff, proved, that. when thq Plaintiff was in
custody, they offered to ' becoine bail for his appear-
ance.; they applied to the, Overseer ; but he said he
did not knoW them, and would not accept their bail.
Mr. Serjeant.tpld ~ him, that he was a housekeeper,
and; lived and:paid:rates in the, r arish for five years,
and that the young man' in custody was a principal'
most seriousan d his
injury
fruit4eter under the City of London,
,detained in custod would be of m
to film, The Defendants were, however, inflexible:TheY also 'applltd to another of' the Parish OfFi6ers,
wSo was at a feast in'Wesisquare ; but he said he
could not sufferthe fiarinon'y of a Parish Dinner 'to
be spoiled 'by their intrusion. Other Persons were
then offered as bail, but they- were also refused, and
notltingWould be accepted but . the depOsit of a sum
of money, which they fixed at tfol. The Plaintiff
not being able to produce this sum, 'was' kept in a
lock:up house all that night,- and until the nest'
evening, although
.therivere within a few yards
of the Pnblic-Office; in Union-street, where they
might have carried the Plaintiff immediately upon
his apprehension..
Mr. Serjeant :SHEP,IIERD; for the Defendants,
made a very ingenious address to the Jury, in which
he represented• the conduet 'of them as indulgent to
the Plaintiff, in not causing him to be publicly ex.:-
posed at a Pub4-office, • which to,
have fUr-
nished 'a. paragraph for all :the Newspapers,, and',
blazoned this fault through the whole town. • They'
kept him
.in private custody,' when he might .have
compromised with the ' Parish, and his reputation •
not' halie been injured. . .
The Learned Judge,.in summing up, reprobated .
.the conduft 'of the Parish in taking a gross suni for_
the support of these illegitiMate children, by Aid'
their lives *ere Without proteolion i for it became
the interest of the Parish, when the fine'Was paid,
that they should die, and be no more cxpence to
them: With reipeet to the case itself, the Plaintiff
was clearly entitled to a verdid ; and the only ques-
Ition was the:measure of the damage's'. He thought
tlie".
w oiduti of the Defendants 'had been tyrannical,
and they uld give the fit recompenee.- Verdict
for the Plaintiff--Damages 501.