The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-06 00:00:00

THE CASE OF MR. M'LEOD.

The following is the statement of the Counsel, extracted from
the New York Commercial Advertiser :

" TO THE PUBLIC.

" Lockport, Feb. 1,1811,
"The undersigned, the Counsel of Alexander M'Lcod, now
a prisoner in this Conftty,' on a charge of murder—in view of
the very exaggerated and erroneous statements concerning the
objects of the attempt to procure his discharge upon bail—and
actuated by a belief that the • statements tend, though th?y
may not be designed, to prejudice the cause of our client before
the people. from whom a jury, in case he is indicted, must be
obtained, feel called upon to submit to the public an unvar-
nish,ed history of the transaction.
" Mr. M'Leod was committed to the gaol of this county
about the 18th of November lest. But the mittimus being"
void on its face, we procured the allowance of a habeas con.
pus, with a view to his discharge. At the hearing before
Judge Bowen, the district attorney conceded the nullity of the
process, but suggested, nevertheless, that the Judge had juris-
diction to hear proofs anew, and to recommit, if probable cause
should be shown. To this Mr. M'Leod did not object, but
desired such an examination as would satisfy all of his inno-
cence, and save him from a harrassing repetition of arrests, he
having several weeks before been arrested for the same charge,
committed to gaol, aed finally discharged on habeas corpus.
In accordance with this desire it was suggested that he give
bail to appear at the next Court competent to try him, and, if
indicted, to have the matter passed upon by a jury of the coun-
try. 'To this Mr. M'Leod readily assented, and the Judge, of
Isis own motion, fixed the bail at 5,000 dollars—an amount
which the undersigned then believed, and now believe, amply
sufficient to ensure his appearance at trial.
" The prisoner then returned into custody, there to remain
until his friends in Canada should give an indemnification to
some persons residing here, to become his bail. Not being
able to effect this, however, as soon as he expected, he deter-
mined to be again brought before the Judge, and there under-
went another examination. That officer, for reasons doubtless
satisfactory to himself, saw fit to remand him, unless he gave
the bail before required.
"He was accordingly remanded. Being closely imprisoned,
he did not succeed in providing indemnification for bail until
the 27th ult., when two gentlemen, residing in or near Chip-
pewa, U. C., gave William Bud and P. C. H. Brothcrson, of
this county, their bond to save them harmless, and the latter
entered into the necessary recognizances, and an order was
made by Judge Boston, discharging Mr. iWLeod from impri-
sonment.

" This order was not. obtained until nearly nigh fall, and
owing to a rumour that there were persons about this county
prepared to commit upon Mr. M'Leod personal violence in
case he should be discharged on bail, and owing to an appear-
ance of agitation am-HT some persons here, it was deemed
prudent that he should remain in the gaol until the next morn-
ing, and then make his appearance in the day-time publicly
among our citizens.

..
'°e z.,ori after there were appearances of a state of high ex-
citement... Bodies of men were seen moving towards. the
Court House. Drums beat, 'bugles sounded. About nine
o'clock a body of men, armed with muskets and bayonets, took
poszes,ion of the hall communicating with the gaol. At mid-
night, or later, a cannon, a 12-pounder, having been placed
directly opposite 111'Leod's cell, was repeatedly discharged, de-
molishing at every peal a portion of the glass in the Court-
-house windows.

" While these proceedings were going on below, a meeting
of several hundred men was organised in the Court-room
above. About twelve o'clock at midnight committees were
appointed to wait upon the Judge who had granted tho.order,
and upon the gentleman who had become M'Leod's bail, and,
to request their immediate appea-ance. The Judge, we un-
derstand, deemed it most prudent for him to get out of his bed
and obey the summon. The bail did not appear. One of
them being told that it had teen stated by some of those,
among the crowd that if he did not come they would bring
him at the point of the bayonet, and believing that this indi-
coted a state of feeling which might endanger his personal
safety, he declined going that night, but sent word to the
assembly, that if they would adjourn until the next morning,
he would appear before them.
" The assembly finally, at about half-past one o'clock, ad-
journed until nine in the morning, leaving, however, a body of
armed men in and about the gaol the remainder of the night.
In the morning accordingly was presented the novel spectacle
of an armed guard, marching with measured tread in front of
the Court-house door, and this, too, in a time of peace and a
government of law, and with no other assignable motive than
to deprive an individual of rights which that law, through its
own proper officer, had conferred.
"In the mean time an express had been dispatched to
Buffalo, to advise a Mr. Wells that M‘Leod was aboutr to be
discharged, and to procure a writ, whereon he might again
be arrested in an action for the damages arising from his
alleged agency in the destruction of the Caroline. At the
re-opening of the meeting in the morning, the messenger,
having returned, announced that he had accomplished the
purpose of his mission. Whereupon he exhibited to the as-
sembly a capias, at the suit of Wells, with a Judge's order to
hold INl'Leod to bail, in the sum of 7,000 dollars. This pro-
cess, after being examined by several individuals, and pro-
nounced to be in due form, was put into the bawds of or .e of
the Sheriff's deputies, and soon afterwards served:;.:
" After the captain of the watch had formalWreported the
occurrences subsequent to the adjournment, a great variety
of motions and propositions were made and discussed.
Among them was one, whether the suit commenced by
the capias might not be settled by the plaintiff and de-
fendant. An affirmative answer being given, it was fol-
lowed by a motion, that the bail surrender M'Leod
immediately.' But it being suggested, and given the
assembly to unders'and, that one of the bail had exhibited
satisfactory evidences of his willingnesses to do so, that motion
was withdrawn. Whereupon another, ' that the meeting do
not adjourn until the sui render have been completed,' was
adopted without a dissenting voice. Various leading ques-
tions, involving the power of the Judge to recommit, of the
bail to surrender, the effect of an unexecuted order for a pri-
soner's discharge,and the requisite formalities to make a sur-
render effectual, were mooted, and after the Judge and district
attorney (who had been brought up again by a fresh commit-
tee) as well as other individuals had been heard, were satisfac-
torily to the meeting disposed of.
" One of the bail has a large amount of property and ma-
terials provided for the construction of the canal-locks at this
place, and-particularly exposed to ssrious injury, with hardly
a possibiity of detection. During these agitations he was re-
peatedly warned that his property would be injured or de-
stroyed, unless he surrendered- Itir. -111•Lood into custody.
Feeling the force which the unparalleled state of things gave
to these admonitions, he at length concluded to follow the ad-
vice of the meeting. At about half-past one o'clock in the
afternoon, by a singular coincidence, the same Judge, who
had been the cause of this great commotion by letting Mr.
I\l'Leod to bail, announced that a surrender in due form of
la.a. had been made. Whereupon the assembly resolved that
its object was -ccomplished, and then adjourned.
"In submitting the foregoing detail of facts our purpose is
not to cast censure upon any one. For whatever may be our
own opinions of these transactions, this is not the time or place
to express them. Our sole object is to protect the interest of
our client. We are advised that an effort is already in progress
to persuade the public that the object of bailing Mr. M'Leod
was to avoid a trial. Knowing that no such design existed
for a moment, we feel called upon to repel the charge at once,
that the conviction of its truth may not settle upon the public,
and operate to his prejudice or trial.
" For ourselves we not only believe, but have no doubt of,
Mr. M'Leod's entire innocence of the charge. And it is
painful to us to witness the effort now making to pro-
cure universal condemnation of him by the public press,
and through that by the whole body of the people,
without having heard one particle of the evidence on either
side. Not content with fanning, to his prejudice, the ex-
citement already existing on the subject of the Caroline, a
portion of the press has recently been gleaning on the other
side of the river for materials (whether true or false is alike
unimportant), for further attacks upon this defenceless indivi-
dual, and that, too, upon subjects having no connection what-
ever with the matter with which he is charged ; attacks, the
only possible effect of which must be to render it more difficult
than it has already become to find among those who are to be
his triers that strict impartiality which the law guarantees to
every one, no matter how slight may be the offence for which
he may be arraigned.
" In these circumstances, it seems to us that it is not only
our right, but our duty, to appeal not to the sympathies, but
to the sense of justice of our fellow-citizen, and ask them,
until they shall have heard his cause, to suspend their judg-
ment as to the guilt or innocence of this man, a foreigner, in
prison, and beset to recently by a power which places itself
above the law, and arraigns before it those very officers by
whom that law has declared its own decree shall be pronounced.
In making this appeal to American citizens, whose pride it is
to administer to all even-handed justice, we are confident we
shall not appeal in vain. " H. GARDNER.
" A. C. BRADLEY."

THE WEATHER.

ROYAL GALLERY OF SCIENCE, .ADELAIDE-

STREET.

NOON. MARCH 5
Barometer 29 86 In.
Thermometer

Highest 49 -
Lowest
Wind b 1: W.—Freezing Point 32 Deg.

DEATH OF A LADY BY POISON, TAKEN
MEDICINALLY. —On 1 k arsday afternoon a e-y lengthened
invest,gatiou took place before Mr. Wakley, M.P., and a
Jury, at the Old Parr's Hem', Upper-street, Islington,
touching the death of _Miss Sh:ror, aged sixty, a maiden
lady, of independent fortune. It appeared in evidence
that the old Lady not having been able to obtain any sleep
for several nights, last Friday she sent to a druggist for a
composing draught ; on the following morning she was a
corpse, not because the draught was an overdose in ordi-
nary cases, but, owing to her nervous and delicate frame,
no such draught was suitable. Verdict—" That the de-
ceased, from the mortal effects of a certain dose called
Batley's Sedative Solution, administered at her own de-
sire as a medicine, remedially, then and there died."

MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE.—On Saturday
last, at St. James's church, Westminster, the Lady Amelia
L4ura Waldegrave, eldest daughter of the late and sistcr of
the present Earl Waldegrave, to Colonel Archibald Money,
C. B. An elegant thjeuner was given after the ceremony
by the Dowager Countess Wald( grave to the Earl and
Countess of Euston and Lady Louisa Fitzroy, Lord and
Lady Fitzroy Somerset, Hon. Miss Sorner et, Mr.
Hicks, the Ladies Waldegrave, and a select ciree of rr-
lativcs and f iends. After the solemnisation the happy
bride and bridegroom lett town for Crown Point, their scat
in Norfolk.
The Speaker will hold his second levee this
evening, at tna o'clock, at his residence in Eaton square.
The Earl and Countess of Listowel, towards the
close cf the season, take their departure for Germany,
pith the intention of making a tour of the spas.
THE LATE EARL OF ROSSE.—The remains
of this distinguished and lamented nobleman will leave
Brighton on Saturday next, en route for Parsonstown, Ire-
land, where, after lying in state at Birr Castle for two
days, the body will be interred in the family vault. The
Dowager Countess till leave B,igbton shortly, with the
intention of passing some weeks at the residences of I,e.
Ladyship's daughters, the Lady Jane Knox, and the Lady
Alicia Conroy, arid Ain after the expiration of some timey
probably return to Brighton, as we I ear it is her Lath-
ship's intention to take a house on Brunswick. terrace.
t he
Saturdaysr' nextac c o rat
to-
Ireland, d, I Vpl
proceed
ceed Conroy,on
The present Earl of Rosse, the Hon. L. Parsons,
sour-in-law of
Ireland, to attend the funeral of their the i dedecbeyaseMdr. nKobn
tire.—Br Gazette, lamentable rela-
ghton
Sir Moses Montefiore was
greatest kindness by the King ofreceived with the
the
congra-
tulated by his Majesty French, and
upon
his mission ; and his Majesty the extraordinary success of
Jew Missionary to the
of state. Princesses and the great officers