The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-12 00:00:00

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His Lordship, in summing up, commended
the able address of the prisoner's counsel to
the attentive consideration of the jury, desir-
ing them to dismiss from their minds any-
thing they might have heard out of , court. ,
He pointed out to them that the evidence of re-
peated threats used by the prisoner made it very
difficult for them to come to any intermediate con-
clusion between the verdict of " Not Guilty" and
of " Guilty" of wilful murder. But, after comment-
ing on the evidence which his lordship read over
to them, if they were of opinion on the evidence
that the death of the deceased might have resulted
from gross negligence of the prisoner in using his
gun, they might find a verdict of " Manslaughter."
The jury retired to consider the verdict, and on
returning found a verdict of "Wilful murder," but
strongly recommended the prisoner to mercy, on
the ground that he had received great provocation
from the watchers.
His Lordship having put on the black cap, said
that the verdict of the jury was fully justified by
the evidence. The prisoner had again and again
expressed his intention of being revenged upon the
deceased should an opportunity occur. An oppor-
tunity had unfortunately occurred, and the prisoner
had embraced it. The recommendation to mercy
made by the jury it would be his lordship's duty
to forward to the proper quarter. All that re-
mained for him was to pass upon the prisoner the
dreadful sentence of the law. This his lordship did
in solemn form.

The prisoner immediately exclaimed, " And so
much for the Game Laws !" and was removed from
the dock.

THE NAVY.

Admiralty orders have been received at Chatham
Dockyard directing a 16-gun screw corvette, to be
called the Reindeer, to be immediately laid down
on No. 1 slip.
The Orpheus, 22, screw steam corvette, being
built at Chatham, has had a large number of ship-
wrights placed on board to expedite her comple-
tion, in order that she may be launched as early as
possible.
Her Majesty's steam storeship Dee, paid off at
Woolwich on Thursday, was yesterday recommis-
sioned by Mr. Thomas Pullen, her late commander.
The whole of the officers were likewise reappointed,
and a number of the seamen also joined. A cor-
poral and seven privates of the Royal Marines were
likewise appointed for service. The Dee is under-
going considerable repairs in dock.
Her Majesty's ship Rhadamanthus, Master-Com-
mander Sturdee, yesterday left Woolwich for Ports-
mouth, laden with 300 tons of boilers and steam
gear for the Neptune and Vulcan.
The following ships were yesterday taken up by
Government for the transport of war stores from
Woolwich Arsenal—namely, the Red Jacket, for
Malta ; the Matilda, for Algoa Bay ; the Princess
Royal, for Malta ; the Whirlwind, for Auckland,
New Zealand ; the Cairngorum, for Hong Kong ;
and the Admiral, for East London, Cape.

The paddlewheel steamsloop Ardent, 5, Com-
mander John H. Cave—from Sierra Leone, January
22 ; Teneriffe, February 26 ; and Lisbon, March 5
—arrived in Plymouth Sound on Thursday morn-
ing, She has been about a year on the Coast, and
came home in consequenee of having gone ashore
at Great Popo, in the Bights of Benin, on the 24th
December last, during a dense fog,notwithstanding
every precaution was taken. The Ardent remained
four days and three nights ashore, and was only got
off, with the loss of her guns, ammunition, stores,
and provisions by the united efforts of the steamships
Archer, Capt. John Sanderson ; Hydra, Commander
Hamilton ; and Sharpshooter, Commander Charles
Gibbons. Commander Hamilton and Mr. Hitch-
field, of the Hydra, were very energetic in this
service. The grounding of the Ardent will of course
form the subject of an official inquiry. Both hull
and machinery require repair. When the Ardent
left Sierra Leone there were on the south coast the
Conflict, Viper, and Pluto, and probably the Spit-
fire, which was ordered on that station to take the
place of the Ardent. Commander Wise in the
Vesuvius was in port preparing to leave for a
month's cruise. The Coast was healthy. The
Ardent was detained 22 days repairing her machi-
nery at Teneriffe, where the vine is so much im-
proved that the produce this year is expected to be
five times more than in 1858. The cultivation of
tobacco is engrossing much attention in the island.
A Dutch squadron consisting of three screw frigates
and two screw corvettes at Lisbon intend coming
Ito Plymouth in the course of two or three weeks.
The paddle-wheel steam vessel Pigmy, 3, arrived
at Plymouth on Thursday with marine Artillery-
men for the screw steamship Doris, 32, Captain
Heathcott, and some seamen. She left the same
day with supernumeraries for Portsmouth and
Portland.
The gun-boat Skipjack, Lieutenant-Commander
Murray, went from Plymouth Sound on Thursday
to Devonport to refit.
The screw steam-ship ,James Watt, 91, got up
steam in Hamoaze on Thursday, but as her machi-
nery did not work satisfactorilp she will be taken
again into Keyham Steamyar . The Sanspareil,
70, was taken in on Thursday. The boilers of the
Nile, 90, are in course of removal there.
The London, 90, was placed alongside the shear
hulk in Hamoaze on Thursday, and received her
mizen mast.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Mr. Charles N. Streatfield, mate,
to the Hero ; Francis B. Christian, second-master,
to the Tartarus ; George Hickman, paymaster
(additional), to the Fisgard ; and /Eneas Barkly
Reid, lieutenant to her Majesty's ship James Watt,
at Devonport.

him, or their keepers and watcher, 3 • TheiniiithiPll.PEß
between the watchers and the pris4 mer,
tially crippled, .vho was going tout,' 'as. 001 ,''.,Z4 : ti(,,,\--j•
accustomed, to shoot upon his own la eVw*. 4.. '-'t 'Xi
‘4
sought by him, but by them. Ht) i ', .. ~ • ;-;., .
k a -s,. A 4,4, 4.
counsel) could not complain at the pal a.`,.: • ,i, i ::4 14,,j4,/,zi
collect all necessary evidence in such • "/. • Zi: '
every idle word the prisoner had • catered 1--t: c
have been raked together. Had he harbouresUny
..41 S
deliberate intent to murder, w: is it probable he
would have chattered about it in every public . ,--.
house ? Many of the words used by the prisoner •
merely indicated h's intention to give the watchers
in charge so soon as he had an opportunity. The
learned counsel then argued in the
.prisoner's favour
as to the probabilities of the di: &relit accounts
given by the prisoner and the witless Vessey. He
contended that the mark of feet having stood
heavily on the lower bar of the gate went to estab-
lish the prisoner's statement that the deceased stood
leaning over the gate to strike at the prisoner, and
commented on the discrepancy betwe4en the accounts
given by different witnesses respecting the nature
of the ground, whether level or uneven. He con-
tended that the unsteadiness and confusion of the
prisoner were attributable to the excitement natu-
rally arising after so painful an accident. If the
discharge had been purposely, it was most likely
that the right barrel and not the left would be dig-
charged, considering the way in which the gun was
held ; but it was more likely that the left would be
discharged if the firing were by accident. Vessey,
who spoke of the shooting as a deliberate act, if he
saw the gun so distinctly aimed, would have called
out ; the impulse to do so would be irresistible.
He commented on the inaccuracy of Vessey as to
the distance of the prisoner from the gate when
deceased met with his death.