The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-11 00:00:00

INIARit' SMI DER .

11, Smith, alias G. fiateley, who
eras taken from on boarsl- his Majesty's ship Rosa-
mond, lying at Stromness, and who was charged,
upon his voluntary confession, of being an accom-
plice with Williams and others in the naurderS of
the-Mares and Williainson's families., arrived at
the :fore last week, and was conveyed from thence
to the Tender, off, the. Tower ; on board which
;vessel the 3.fagistrates. repaired (*.Sunday last,
when a full investigation tookplace. I.n .this
de-
ciatat}bn> the prisoner stated, that, his real
name was John Bell, that he was hound ap-:
prentice to the sea at five years of age.--He
ran away from different ships, and served some
years in. America, on board the .f.`resideat frigate,
and was"present in the action between her and the
Little Belt, from which he likewise ran away, and
came to England in the Liveipool,- of Charleston,.
it Dobson, master.. He remained in this ship till
Christmas, 1811, and was then discharged; • and
others of the crew ran away, viz. J. Williamson,
and J. WilliainS, lrishmerr,.J. Wilson andJ. Jones,
Scotchmen. The cause of his demanding his dic7
charge, and that of the rest running away, was the
murders at that time donebythem in liatcliff-high-
' way, at .which he was present with, Jones and-
Willianison, who did it, upon previous concert,
the night before; intending .to have: rolihed the
house, but in this attempt they baffled. He
stated- the mueder to have taken place about *half
,eight at night. All went into the houSe.
to-
getlrer, through! the shop,door, widen they found
open, and a gentleinan standing behind the coun-
ter. They shut the door behind them, and Wit,
hams, Wilson, anti tj illiamson,. went, up stairs,
leaving' him behind the counter. saw, Jones,
with a mall, -knock. the gentleman on'the fore-
head, and murder • The deponent Went
up stairs, and, 'found by the way a young,
woman laying murdered; iLt one of the rooms
a Woman in bed;• with her throat cut, and a
child in a cradle in Ihe same state: they left the
house, and went to-the rendezvous on Tower,hill;
from thenee the went on board the ship before-
mentioned. The witness told the Captain what
had- taken place, and supposed he did rioteare-
about it, -expecting a-share-of the plunder: He also
declared th at thesame Captain, wilds e name is Dob-
son,- on the passage to -'England, shot two :of his
mates ith a pistol. Declares,that he lately confess-
ed" the murder of two of his-Messierates--, on board
the' Roseiniond; that he, the prisoner, can neither
rent nor .write. On his re-examinationat Strom-
ness; the prisoner contradicted his, present state
merit; by declaring that he hibself was the person
who -murdered the Womiii,2 by cutting her throat
when lying in bed ; that but struck at the servant,
maid otitside the door ; that the mates murdered
by DobsOn were natives of Liverpool. The owners
of the ship atLiverpool, to phial these mates were
said to belong, being written to from the Admiralty,
sent ,tor answer that the Liverpool, of Charles-
toWn,tarrived in Liverpool in May 181-1, and
afterwards at Woolwich, in October following.
The Captain's .name-was DObson, but that of the
mates they did not 'remenifeer. Further inquiry
being made of -Abel and Company, of London,
by whom the men's wages were paid, it appeared
these mates had received-their wages subsequent
to the time of the alleged. murder. Consequently
this charge -must have been fictitious. The Ma-
gistrates of !Shadwell having cloSety interrogated
the prisoner; pending a long investigation into all ,
the circumstances connected with the murder,
• and that of his former .declaration; could trace.
nothing-bid inconsistency and a want of c.onnec-
tioathroughout the whole narrative. The pri-
soner's answer to the same questions repeatedly
put to him, although he persisted in accnsing'him-
self, were full of contradictioas,.so entirely vague
and incoherent, the Magistrates could only come
to this. conclusion, that
,his confession was tile off-
spring of a distempered mind, frOm whence they
believed him to be entirely innocent of the murders,
his accusing himself proceeding from the effects of
insanity alone.
Under this impression, -they sent for an eminent
professional gentleman of 'St: Luke's Hospital,
who., after a 'long conversation with the prisoner,
gave it as his decided opinion, that he was insane.
He was therefore ordered- to remain- on board the
tender, and the proceedings were sent to the Se-
teetary of State's Office. ,