The Sun.
London, England, 1828-02-23 00:00:00

SCOTCH SEQUESTRATION.

James Keiller, Dundee, conTectioner, Feb. :26, at one,
,Lt Morren's hotel, Dundee.

MEETINGS OF CREDITORS.

1,0N1)07,1 DI A RY.—TuusoAv, FEB. t.:0.--At the Couit lot
Commissioners, Basinghall-street.
_

Barlow and Co., New-road, sugar-refiners
Barnard, S., Kingston-on-Hull, merchant
Beal, W., Thrapston, lincn.draper - lO
Brent, I',, Judd-street, music-seller
nriaiii, C. Westl-lam, jobber
Burlett, D., Bishopsgate, merchant
tole, T., Plymouth, plumber ll
Core, /1., Barnet, tailor ll

OLD BAILEY, F. 22.

MURDER IN MONTAGUE-PLACE

The trial of William Jones, charged with the
murder of Mrs. ...Toffs, wai-not concluded in our
Paper of ye§terdaf; after .the evidence in support of
the prosecution had closed,
Mr., Justice BAYS' r addressed the prisonerj ob-
erving, that the time was now come when, if he had
any observations to make, he might do so. •
The: prisoner bowed respectfully, and unfolding. a
paper, in a sloW unbroken voice, read nearly as fol-
lows :

"My Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury—l feel
confident of your attention and favourable considera-
tion of the few words I have 'now to address to you,
If now for the first time you learned the charge
against me, my situation would be one sufficiently
alarming; but how much more frightful is it in con-
sequence of the spreading throughout the country of
details which have excited universal horror. I will
mention only one instance of the misrepresentation
with which my name has been associated. At the
very time when the bill against Me was before the
Grand Jury, a man was engaged near the Sessione-
house blowing a horn, and circulating the report
that I had made a full confession of this murder,
and had committed suicide in the House of Cor-
rection. I might complain also of the way in which
every, little circumstance has been turned to my
prejudice, but that I am willing to, believe that
a desire for. justice was a part- of the actuating
motive. - From the first moment when this charge
was brought against me, I have denied ; it.
Would that I could with equal truth declare myself
guiltless of all other offence, but I feel that I am ob-
liged to make my own misconduct a part of my de-
fence. Whatever may have been my errors, how-
ever, the slighteStthought of murder never crossed
my mind. I owe it to an aged mother and other
friends, whose minds have already bled too Much
for me, to declare that I am guiltless of this charge.
Thrown amidst 'the temptations of the town at an
early age, my life was wild and dissolute, dissipation
led to crime, and at the time when the offence with
which I am- now charged was committed, I knew
that a charge of forgery had been made against me,
arid thus it was that I fled at the approach of the
officers. With'regard to my examination before the
Magistrates, I beg to say that many questions were
put to me that you, who value the principles of
English law and justice, must condemn. I admit,
however, that I did make a statement before the
magistrate, but it is not true; and thus, in order to
avoid suspicion of one crime, I was obliged to con-
fess to others. One of the presumptions against
me is, that .1 was intimately acquainted with the un-
fortunate Mrs. Jeffs. I solemnly declare, however,
that I saw Mrs. Jeffs but three-timesin my life. The
first time I saw her was at the horiae of her son, Mr.
Knight, in Anderson's-place' Cornwall-road. The se-
cond-time was at his house inCursitor-street,when she
told me she invited Mr. Knight's daughter and my sis-
ter to take tea with her, and she asked me to accompany
them.. The third time I saw Mrs. Jeffs was when
I accompanied Knight's son and his sister to the
house in Montague-piece. We saw Mrs. Jeff's upon
that occasion but for a short time. I never saw
Mrs. Jeffs after the mouth of July last. Mrs. Jeffs,
Knight, and I, went together. to. Montague. place,
'when he went into the house, I believe, to ask for
money. • I saw. her upon that occasion, which was
some time in last July, and I never saw her after.
I took tine name of Edwards to avoid detection,
knowing that I had unfortunately rendered' myself
liable to the law, in consequence of what I had done
a* Mr. Duncomb's. Under such circumstances, I
should be more than insane to have gone to Mon-
tague-place, -where- most likely I should have been,
refused admittance. As to my dress, 'and the cir-
cumstances of suspicion attached to the coat, I am
enabled on the clearest proofs to, answer that. part of
the charge. Mrs. Williams has a son employed by
a surgeon who resides in Blackfriars-road. That
gentleman gave him a coat which was damaged, and
the stains upon which were said to be occasioned by
blood. In my distress I borrowed this coat; and,
unfortunately for me, the very worst construction
vas put upon 'a circumstance purely accidental. In
the same way the blood upon the shirt -collar was
made use of as a proof against me, and the waistcoat
was said also to be stained with blood. As to the
stain upon the collar, what. becomes of it when it is
proved in evidence that I cut my thumb. So little
did the circumstance of cutting my thumb occupy
my thmights, that. when Ilvai questioned about it by
the officers, I totally forgot how or when I did it,
and returned an answer at random. With respect to
the razor sheath, I beg leave, my Lord and Gentle-
men, to draw your par titular attention. I trust you
will examine this part of the evidence carefully. and
say if any eve could ;swear to a razor sheath, •of
which there are hundreds of a similar make and de-
scription sold daily in the metropolis. It is a &inn.-
mon razor sheath, and has nothing whatever about it
to mark as peculiar. With respect to the edge of it
being notched, I can answer it. One day, when I
was alone in Mitre-street, quite unconscious of what
I did, I cut the razor sheath bit by bit with the
razor, and flung them in the fire. I am moat
. anxious, to satisfy you as to where I was on the
evening of the 31st of December. Mary Parker and
I left home that night, and proceeded together to
Blackfriars-bridge. I went to the Adelphi Theatre
in the Strand, arid- remained there until the, per-
formances were over. I then joined Charlotte inn
Poppin's-court, about twelve o'clock. The bells of
St. Bride's were then ringing what they call the new
year in. It has been said if I was at the . theatre I
could prove the fact, but it was impossible for me to
do so situate as I then was. It is not pretended that
lam a hardened murderer,-and if not, is it likely I
could be cheerful as usual, and have supported
a falsehood by- bringingiMary Parker to the theatre ?
My possession of money, -soon after the commission
of the offence of which I am accused, is another charge
against me; butlettne remind you, Gentlemen, that a
person living the diSgraceful and irregular way in which
I lived, May be one moment without a farthing, and
the next possessed of money. And here,Gentlemen,
I must* justice to the unhappy woman who lived
with ine, by declaring . that she was totally unae-
quainied with many of my offences, and that I care-
fully concealed them from her. There is one point
I cantibt pass unnoticed, I Mean the letters said to be ,
written by me in prison.. The first letter I wrote,
the second I know-nothing about, end-the third was
written under the impression that I knew a person
named Morris; at the White 'Lion; in Wych-street..,
—As to the second letter, I only entreat that the
manner. in which it, was obtained may be . clearly
is, that I denythe
sot aetnetdl
eAnl,l
IWietlailolustay anethevremark, I leave my
fate in your . hands, under the, impression that you
will throw aside any prejudice that may have heel
excited in your minds against inc. The man whois
dishonest may not be cruel. The thief may shrink
from the crime of murder, and I can with truth de-
clare that this has always been, the state of my mind.
No propensity to cruelty, or desire to commit vio-
lence on any Mullen being, ever formed a part of
the many. evil inclinations_ by which I have been in-
fluenced- I de
_so.lemnly. declare ,before God that I
am innocent of the crime of which I am now ac-
cused."Fsvidence was then adduced to prove that the
soner had always, from childhood,been distinguished
for humanity, after which the'Jury-retired for about
20 minutes, and brought in a verdict of :Not Guilty,

- .
Co U RS I NG ExTrutonDtNAßY.—Equestrian,
pedestrian, and gymnastic feats, have been. frequently re-
col corded, hut a coursing match with a coach and four horses,
19 somewhat novel in the annals of sporting. The pat.
AC ners by the new mail, coach to Stroud, Were recently
gratified by a course of this unique description for some
distance between that place and Cirencester, a hare having.
rim along the road before the coach for a considerable time'
when a gentleman on the box observed that he had never
seen a better roadster. At the moment, a small- terrier
that was accompanying the coach caught a yew of puss, and
after a smart chace, which afforded infinite a musement to
the passengers, both animals got into a quarry nearly at
the same moment, when poor pass fell a sacrifice to her
staunch pursuer.— Cheitenham Chranieb.,

PRICE OF RAW FAT
_per stone of 81b.—Feb. 22.
Price by Tallow (aiiiitiliedbY,the Tallow Mehers)