The Sun.
London, England, 1804-07-31 00:00:00

i'Oll.lC 4SS!ZE&, jut's( 14,

I;cbc'd Robinson, a ineeletite-rnaker,_ hie in tie
service of Messrs. kaitichottthit ard Swaines, of
Bradford, was tried at York Castle, belote Sir Ito.
BERT GRAHma, Knight, on a charge of wilfully
setting tire to two Worsted Mills belonging to his
said employers, on Sunday, the 25th ot, March
last, whereby the same were. burnt down and tie.
stroyed.
The following is a summary of the evidence for
the prosecution :—The Pt isoner came to the mill on
the morning of 'the day ttie fire took place, at seven
o'clock, with a bundle rolled under his smock.
frock, anti broke open the door of a viosk.shop ad. ,
joining the mill, as was supposed, for the purpose
of tlepositin? his bundle in his tool-bnx. The fire
tack place in the garret of the old mill, between
twelve and one o'clock at noon, when the wind was
very boisterous ; and, at its commencement, was
distindly observed by several witnesses to be in
.both ends of the garret at the same time, bef ire
there was any appearance-of the fire in the middle;
a circumstance, which, from the direaion aeti
/me of the wind, could not be the result. of acci-
dent. The Prisoner was seen to come out of the garret
a very little time before the fire was discovered, and,
during the time he was there, a noise was heard by
several witnesses, proceeding from the garret. as if
some one was rolling something along the garret
lbw.. When the alarm, of fire was first given, the
Prisoner said to another workman, who was with
him in the shop, " D—n them, they are only mak-,
ing game us us, never mini them." There is a
warehouse nearly adjoining the old mill (in which
the proprietors had a large quantity of goods depo-
sited), which was connected with the old mill by
two pieces of timber, and which was in imminent
danger of being consumed. Mr. Ramsbotham or.
tiered the Prisoner to cut these timbers with a saw,
to destroy the communication between the mill and
warehouse, which be refused to do, and threw the
saw with violence at Mr. Ramsbotham. After this,
and whilst the fire was raging with great violence,
the Prisoner went to a public-house,, and was found
there by the landlord drinking (the landlord is a
Volunteer, and had gone borne from the mill to
fetch his firelock), when he asked him why he was
not at the mill ? The Prisoner said, " D—n the
mill, neither you nor I shall have any thanks fur
going to it; I'll not come near it." Another, and
very strong circumstance was, the finding of some
pitch among the ruins of the old mill ; a substance
which had never been seen there before. The ap.
prentice of Mr. James Marshall, ironmonger, in
Bradford, said, he had said four pounds of pitch, on
the Saturday before the fire, to one, or two little
girls, the daughters of the Prisoner ; hut, from mo-
tives of tenderness, the children were nut brought
forward to swear to this. One of the,witnesses, who
lives in Mr. Ramsbotham's house, and who was one'
of the first who discovered the fire, swore, that the
first smell, which he received, was that of burning
pitch.
Several other circumstances relative to the Pd.
,otter's conduit during the fire, too numerous to de.
tail here, came out in evidence.

. ,
The Prisoner, in his defence, endeavoured to prove
that the fire broke out in the Engine-house, and
that it was set on fire with a candle by some boys
who had been working there. This was cledtly
disproved by the boys themselves, by several other
Witnesses, and by many corroborating circuits.
stances. _ _ _

His Lordship then proceeded to sum up the Evi.
dencc, which he did with great minuteness and pre.
vision; and to observe upon it to the Jury
occupied mote than two hours. He said, that he
left the whole of that complicated case to their
judgment ;
,that it formed a chain of circumstances
from which they were to draw a conclusion; that

if they believed the evidence of the Prosecutors,
and there appeared to his mind nothing to cootra.
did it, they must find the Prisoner guilty ; and if
an credit was due to the evidence on behalf of the
ner it seemed to him to lead to a belief in im.
robahilities. For if the fire did break our in the
itsint-house, as was attempted to be proved, the
honer must have passed from the garret through
10110 Engine-house in the midst of the flames, and
toga the boys, who were there working, must
have been burned to death. That, indeed, nothirig
appeared to him to come etlt on the part of the Pr i•
saner to weaken the evidence on behalf of the Prose-
cution, or to account for and explain the extraordi-
nary conduel of the Prisoner, which seemed toltim
to have been most wicked and malicious.
"is Lordship further observed, that. if they found
the Prison
erguilty, he must inevitably suffer death;
for the Statute had left no discretionary power with
the Judge ; that mercy did not belong to them, nor
were they to be influenced by any motives of
humanity towards the Prisoner to acquit him, if
they, upon the circumstances of the case, believed
in his guilt.
This important trial lasted twelve hours, and.was
most ably conduded by Mr. TUPPING, leading
Counsel for the Prosecutors; and the 'jury hatiing
withdrawn, afterwards delivered a Verdid of--=*-
quittai, at the Judge's lodgings.

The Coronet's Inquest sat last week on the body
of Captain ShilTlf, the Gentleman who, in a ,fir of.
insanity, destroyed himself in sci,drendful.a manner,
near Gloucester., and returned a vertikt
For keveral weeks previous to the rash att. which
terminated his existence, lit had, been intlispo.ed
with a nervous complaint : once in particular lately
having felt the effeds of this disorder Very severely,.
be told his valet 'the next morning that he Ought. to
have slept in his room, fOr that he had been haunt.
ca with devils all night. num that time he grew
dilly worse; and nut having resorted to medical assist.
tutees the influence of the disorder became so strung
upon hiin ab to produce the ael of insanity by which
he so prematurely *H. lie was a very worthy and
much respetted Gentleman. The Saturday previous
to hii decease he made his will, leaving the whOle
.tti a VCrY ample fortune to his two sisters, except a
Aegacy ul 10001. which he bequeathed to his attorney
10 .Lundt'os whom he has left executor. The,report
'4,lli'dircippointment in love, having induced the Oil.
tatqlna it state 'of mind, of this Gentleman, appears
tutaily void cif luundatiao.