The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-26 00:00:00

AMERICAN NEWS
TRIAL OF M‘LEOD.

LIVERPOOL, SUNDAY EVENING.
By the George Washington, Captain Burrows,
which has made a rapid passage of 161 days from
New York, we have received papers from that
city to the Bth instant. The ship arrived in.:ex-
cellent trim, and has brought upwards of twenty
passengers.
The trial of M‘Leod had commenced at Utica
on the 4th inst., as was expected. The Court was
very crowded, but proper precautions for the safety
and security of the prisoner were directed by the
Judge. The panel of jurors was called over,and each
was questioned, with o view to obtain men who
had not prejudged the question of the guilt or
innocence of the prisoner—who had no scruples
of conscience which would prevent their giving
a just verdict on the grounds of the national in-
terest IKAng at stake, or of taking the life of one
',found guilty of the crimes the prisoner was
charged with. These points settled, the At-
torney-General for the prosecution began his
statement of the case ; the examination of wit-
s nesses was then proceeded with. Tile counsel
for the prisoner cross-questioned each witness.
Some of the evidence was of the most positive
kind, to implicate 11PLeod in a participation in
the attack on the Caroline. The witnesses swore
to his identity, and to his having, in concert with
others, commanded and executed the attack.
There had been a dreadful collision on the

Western Railway, between two trains travelling
in opposite directions coming in contact at full
speed. The concussion was dreadful, and some
lives and many limbs were sacrificed.
The news from Europe, by the Acadia, arrived
at New York on the 6th, hut had not produced
much change in commercial affairs. The Cotton
Market was steady. The husinesz in dry goods
was of moderate amount, somewhat retarded by
the variance of the domestic exchanges ; the
Flour Market declining, the Acadia having taken
out news of the lowest point on our graduated
scale on Wheat having been attained.

The rate of Exchange continued high, but
there were not many bills drawn ; 1091 was the
closing price for the packet.
The news from Canada is unimportant.
(From the New Yorh Herald of Oct. G.)
UTICA, MONDAY, OCT. 4, 1841.
A few minutes past nine o'clock this morning, Judge
Gridley entered the Court, attended by the usual Com-
mon Pleas Judges, (who, however, take no part in this
trial), and the counsel engaged in the case, followed by
the bar generally. The Jurors were next admitted, and
when they were seated, the witnesses were accommo-
dated with seats. The spectators were afterwards ad-
mitted in a very orderly manner, which reflects credit:on
those who conceived and carried out the arrangements
and regulations of the Court. There was no rushing for
the seats, but every one entered as though the Court were
a parish church. No more were admitted than could be
comfortably seated ; and, indeed, no more appeared desi-
rous to be present. Persons at a, distance, who are
wrought up to a feverish excitement on this subject, will
be astonished at the apathy felt here ; but so it is.
At fifteen minutes to ten o'clock the Crier opened the
Court with the usual formality, and
Mr. Wood, District Attorney for the county of Nia-
gara, applied to the Court for an attachment against
Theodore Stone, of Lockport, Sheriff of the county of
Niagara, for disobedience to a subpoena served upon him
on the 27th ult , to appear at this Court at Oyer and
Terminer as a witness for the prosecution.
The Court—Take the order.

A few minutes before ten o'clock the prisoner was
brought into Court, and he walked deliberately to a seat
within the bar near his counsel. He was dressed neatly
in a suit of black, and was wrapped, as he entered, in the
ample folds of a blue cloak. His counsel shook him
cordially by the hand, and he gracefully returned the
salutations of others. He is a man of gentlemanly bear-
ing and demeanor, and he appeared respectful, but not
embarrassed.

Judge Gridley—Mr. Hall, are you ready in this case?
Mr. Hall, Attorney-General (with- whom was associ-
ated, for the prosecution, Mr. Jenkins, district-attorney
for Oneida county; Mr. Wood, district-attorney for the
county of Niagara; and Mr. Seth C. Hawley, of 'Buf-
falo)—lf the Court please, I move on the cause, the
people against Alexander M'Leod.
Judge Gridley—Are you ready, Mr. Spencer?
Mr. Spencer (with whom were Mr. Bradley and Mr.
Gardner)—We are ready.
Judge Gridley—Then we will proceed with the case,
and as the Clerk calls the names of the jurors, they will
advance to be sworn.

Mr. Root, the Clerk of the Court, called the prisoner,
who rose, and was informed by the Clerk of his right to
challenge.

Charles 0. Curtis, of Paris, was the first juror called.
Mr. Spencer (to the Attorney-General)—Do you pur-
pose to put any question generally to the Jurors?
Mr. Hall—Yes. (To the Juror)—Mr. Curtis, have
you formed or expressed any opinion as to the guilt or
innocence of the prisoner?

•
Mr. Curtis—l have not.
Mr. Hall—Have you any conscientious scruple's on
the subject of giving a verdict involving life?
Mr. Curtis—No, Sir.

Judge Gridley—Let him be sworn.
Mr. Hall—l will ask, if the Court please, one further
question. (To the Juror)—llo you entertain an opinion
founded on motives of public policy, or otherwise, that
the prisoner ought to be exonerated from punishment
whether he participated in the burning of the Caroline
and the murder of Durfee or not?

Mr. Spencer—That is a new question.
Mr. Curtis—l feel desirous that justice should be done.
I have formed no opinion.

Judge Gridley-2-n strikes me, where a juror is in-
terrogated in this formal way, if lie answers that he has
formed no opinion, and that he has no conscientious
scruples on the subject of giving a verdict which may
involve the life and death of the prisoner, the whole
ground is covered.

- The Juror was then sworn.
Edmund Allen, of Augusta, answered properly, and
was sworn.

John Mott, another Juror, said he felt as if it was his
duty to be governed by the evidence.
Joseph Cauldwell, of Whitesborough, had conscienti-
ous scruples on the subject of capital punishments.
Mr. Hall—You may stand aside.

Judge Gridley—What are those scruples? Juror—l
never felt willing to bring a man in guilty where the
law pronounces the punishment of death.
Judge Gridley—l think it is better you should stand
aside ; but it is no portion of a Juror's b usiness to look
to consequences.
Mr. Jenkins—The statute makes it cause of challenge,
if your Honour please.
The Juror was told to stand aside.