The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-26 00:00:00

DEFENCE.

Mr. Justice HOLROYD called upon the prisoner
for his defence.
Prisoner—My Lord, on Monday, the 13th of
March, 1821, I was employed in reaping at Mr.
Smith's, at Gig-hill, near Leighton, and I worked
there all the week. I have witnesses to prove that
I was not at Dunstable fair, but I was at work at the
time. I came from London to Leighton in February,
1821, and remained there till the following July.
William Smith, examined by Mr. KELLY.--I am a
butcher, and live at Leighton, and have 15 acres of
field land; I married the prisoner's sister, and have
knownlier from a child; I was at Leighton in 1821,
I remember the murder; Eastaffe was working for
me on Monday,-June 13, 1821, the Dunstable fair-
day ; he began to reap between five and six o'clock
on that morning ; he dined with me on the Sunday,
between twelve and one; he went to the chapel in
the evening, and supped with me the same night,
about nine o'clock ; he went to work, at reaping, for
me the next morning; and worked for the all the
week • I went to Dunstable fair on the Monday, and
left the prisoner at work ; on my return home I found
he had done a good day's work; I returned about four
o'clock, and found him reaping; he supped at our
house at nine o'clock on Monday night, and went
away to go to his mother's; 1 saw the prisoner again
on the Tuesday and Wednesday, and the rest of the
week,• and he continued at Leighton for about 15
months afterwards ; the prisoner wore a fustian jacket,
and went about his business after as usual ; I have
taken great pains in finding out Mrs. Downing,
otherwise Lynch, in London, and believe she is gone
to Ireland ; I have written letters to her; I have
known Eastaffe since his birth, and he was kind and
humane.

Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant STORKES —I am
a relative of the prisoner; I did not think of these
particulars till after the apprehension of the prisoner;
I believe I made a mistake before the Ma-
gistrate—l substituted Tuesday for Monday, but
afterwards rectified the error. I cannot say that the
prisoner went to London shortly before the murder;
I do not know that I swore he went to London the
Michaelmas after the murder ; but I might have
done so, and therefore my statement that he con-
tinued 15 months after is not correct. I cannot say
how the prisoner spent the week after that when
the body was found. I bought a cow at Dunstable
fair on the Monday; I might have said to Mr.
Wroth, that I did not know of whom I bought the
cow, and that I could not say .what I gave for it;
the prisoner left my home on the Sunday night, be-
tween nine and ten; I did not see him go to his
mother's house; it was an acre of land the prisoner
had to reap the week the murder was discovered;
I do not think it was ploughed ; I will swear it was
wheat. I gave an incorrect account of the days of
the week the murder was committed,to the Magis-
trates; I made a day too much in the account
gave to Mr. Horseman, and he pointed it out to
me; I was flurried and hurried when I was before
the Magistrate, and could not so well remember
then as I can now. I might have said I finished
reaping on the 'Wednesday, but it was Thursday,
Re-examined—l am•the son of a Sheriff's officer;
I have been twenty-three years in Leighton, carry-
ing on business as a butcher.

Sarah Smith—l am 22 years of age ; I was
living with my. father at Leighton in 1821, and
. knew Eastaffe; some time before the murder, to
the best of my recollection, the prisoner was work-
ing on Gig Hill for my father; I saw him there; I
heard the murder cried at Leighton on the Thursday
morning; I•went 'to- carry the—prisoner beer and.
bread and cheese to on. Dunstable fair
day ; I said that I did not know if it was Monday
or Tuesday when I was. examined before the Ma-,
.gistrate at Dunstable; but I now know it was on
the Dunstable fair day when I took his .luncheon.
The prisoner is a man of mild disposition.
Crops,examined—lam a niece of the prisoner's;
I have not recently recollected this.; I recollected it
. at. the time, and all along; I remembered the
sorer reaped the field because of the murder that
week; he was at our house on the Sunday morning,
and dined 'there; he also dined there on the Monday,
the day of the Dunstable fair; he left our house a
little after nine o'clock on the Simday evening; I
have not talked to my father and mother about what
I was to, say here; I do not know what the pri-
soner was doing the week after the murder; I went
to the Methodist meeting on the Sunday afternoon,
and to the school in the morning; I left the school
about 12 that morning; I cannot recollect how
recent I had seen Eastaffe before the Sunday; I have
heard the prisoner say that his wife in London was
called sometimes Jane Lynch, and sometimes Jane
Downing; I cannot say how soon the prisoner left
Leighton after the murder; I have said what is
true, .and shan't say further; I never heard the pri-
soner elll his wife by the name of Janet; he always
called her Jane.

Charles Sheppard—I am a grocer and cheese-
monger, 24, Exeter-street, Sloane-street, Chelsea,
formerly No. 1G; I have lived there, near the
Knightsbridge barracks since May 13, 1823 : the

I female who went by the name of Jane Lynch used
, to live at my house, and her mother also ; the tno-
ther lodged in the house when I took it ; her name
was Downing, she had a second husband living at
that time with her; .when I first took the house
Jane Lynch was not with her tnother, but in a situ-
. ation ; she came home to her mother in July or Au-
, gust, 1823; she might have remained there a month
or more, but I cannot say ; she then left; she was
a short woman, of fair complexion, and I rather think
she had hazel eyes, but I cannot exactly say, though
I knew her well ; she had light hair, rather sandy;
believe she had a good set of teeth—there was
nothing remarkable about themthey did not pro-
ject; she had nothing the matter with her hand;
she had not a crooked finger, I swear; a person
who was represented to be her husband came to see
her while she lived with her mother; she would not
see him ; I saw that man at Dunstable; the priso-
ner is the man, I pointed him out to the constable ;
I have not the least doubt the prisoner is the man ;
I saw him on a -
Sunday before I shut up my shop;
Mrs. Downing remained at my house after her daugh-
ter, who had absconded 'on suspicion of a robbery ;
this young Woman .1 did not believe to be very mo-
dest; she was rather gay : she had more than one
man paying her attentions; I have never seen her
since she absconded, and that was about April, 1824
—no, it must have been May, because it was
shortly before her mother left me; she appeared
about twenty, but I had heard site was more; she
was born in England, and her mother was Irish ;
I do not know that it is the custom of the
lower Irish to retain their maiden names ; if
Jane Lynch had had a projection in her teeth
I must have observed, for she came frequently
into my shop : when the mother of Jane Lynch re-
turned from Dunstable she went to live at the
house of Mr. Baines; the corner of Keppel-street,
Fulham-road ; I have no knowledge of the prisoner,
except from his calling at my house at the time
have mentioned, and I have no interest in his fate;
I have the lease of my house in my
.pocket; the
young woman went by the name of Jane Downing,
but I understand her name was Lynch; there was
another daughter,. which Mr. Downing had had by a
former wife; I had seen her twice.
Cross-examined—l had become acquainted with
Mrs. Lynch, or Downing, in 1823, and I knew no-
thing of her or her family before that time ; I did not
know any young woman called Janet Lynch, or
Jane Lynch, in 1819, or 1820, or 1821 ; lam not
aware that the prisoner introduced a woman (Janet
Lynch) in 1819, or 1820, to a person named Church,
or Townshend, as his wife ; I am not aware that the
prisoner had told five persons (named) between
1821 and 1823, that his wife was dead; Jane
Lynch wore her own hair; she was fair, and was
rather pitted with the small-pox; the female I speak
of I believe was born in England; she was always
called Downing; I heard the prisoner's name was
Eastaffe from my wife, two or three days after the
prisoner called; the name was quite new to me;
the woman named Downing. lived 13 months in my
house; I don't remember that I ever saw the girl
write, but I believe she could write a good hand ; I
never received any letters for her at my house; she
generally wore black.
Mr. KELLY said, that he had a question to sub-
mit to the Court. It was necessary, to sustain this
indictment against Eastaffe' not only to show that
the woman deceased was his reputed wife, but it
must be shewn to be the fact, as in case of bigamy,
and positive evidence must be given of the marriage.
Mr. Justice 1,101..R0vp said he would not trouble
his brother Storkes to reply to the objection of Mr-
Kelly. His Lordship cited from East's Reports the
case of Norwood, for potoning her husband, as a
decision conclusive on the point against the:objection,
but as he had reserved one point in the prisoner's
favour, he would reserve this also.

Robert Salmon said, I keep a ham and beef shop
at 12, Queen's-buildings, Knightsbridge, opposite
the barracks; I knew Mrs. Downing, who had a
daughter, who came into my service in July, 1823 ;
I am a taylor, and my wife conducts the shop; the
girl's name was Jane, but she was called Mary, because
my wife was named Jane; the girl remained about
three months with me; she left my seri-ice about Oct.
1823 ; she was ill, and went home to her mother,
at Mr. Sheppard's; she was well conducted while she
was in my house; but I have reason now to believe
she was not so well behaved as she should have
been. She had young men to follow her; she was
rather short, her hair was light ; she never wore false
hair, and seldom wore a cap. Her teeth did not
stand out from her mouth, and she had no crooked
finger. She came to my house to get a recom,-
mendation to a situation in Rawston-street, Bramp-
ton, after she recovered ; I afterwards heard of a
robbery, it was about March or April, 1824, and I
did not see her again till I met her in Sidney's-
alley, Leicester-square, three months afterwards ;
she appeared to be a street-walker ; I got an address
from her; it was at a bad house. I afterwards met
her in the Strand ; I believe she is now living in
Blackfriars-road; she gave me a card of her address
in Francis-street, Blackfriars-road ; I heard from her
mother that she had been married.
Mr. KELLY said this was the case for the defence.

Mr. Justice HOLROYD commenced summing up
the case a little before three o'clock. The indict-
ment charged the prisoner with the serious offence
of murdering his wife, by cutting her throat ; and as
the crime was committed so long as nearly seven
years ago, it would be their duty to be satisfied of
the corpus dclicli ; they would, before they con-
victed, entertain no doubt that the woman found
murdered in June, 1821, in Black Grove Wood,
was the wife of the prisoner, and also that she was
murdered by the prisoner. his Lordship cited two
cases mentioned by Lord Hale, showing the danger of
relying upon presumptive evidence only, and of the
danger of convicting a party of murder, without the
body being found and identified. His Lordship con-
tinued his address, and proceeded to read through
the whole mass of evidence.
Verdict—NoT GUILTY.

The OBSERVER of To-morrow will contain
the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Com-
mons on the London Police.—Price of the OBSERVER is
Sevenpence only.

Some very large Estates of Sir GODFREY
WERBTER, hi Sussex, are announced in our columns to-
day, by GEORGE ROBINS. It includes the ancient Castle
of Bodiam, of which it is said there is not in England a
more beautiful specimen of the masonry of feudal times.

Mr, GEORGE ROBINS, the Patentee of the

" Royal Filter" for Cisterns, has (we perceive by his Ad-
vertisement) extended this "God-send" to the reach of
every one, by having Portable Filters of all dimensions,
and upon a plan whereby all the water a large family can
possibly want, is filtered as fast as it can be placed within,
and the effect will be a water as fine as chrystal, and en-
tirely free from smell and taste. After this, it will be
idle to complain of bad. water with so cheap a remedy at
hand.

The Grand Sale so long announced, and
which circumstances rendered necessary should be post-
poned, issnow peremptoi ily fixed for next Tuesday, the
29th instant. There are many conjectures afloat, and
mach curiosity excited, to know the name of the "dis-
, tinguished.Earl" who, at this late season of the year, will
encounter the dreadful sacrifice of property which is the
natural result of Sale protracted to such a period. How-
ever, on this point GEORGE ROBINS is as silent as the
grave; and although we have heard the names of at least
a dozen, we are too much in the dark to venture our un-
authorised opinion. The amount of this sale, it is said,
will exceed 50,0001. ; it will continue 12 days, and pro •
bably be very influential in keeping the great folks in town
longer than usual. The public view commenced
exhibition that
was commenced on
Thursdayevercongregated
:it probablyis
on n
otheezicoais: splendid

.
It ;,:v. MR. DI LLON.—We perceive by au
advertisement in to-day's Times that the Rev. Mr.
DILLON (who is, we believe, the author of that deservedly
celebrated work " The Lord Maynr's Voyage of Discovery
to Oxford) is a Candidate for the situation of Morning
Gentleman's Sermons be equal to his History, they must
Preacher to the Westminster Asylutn.—lf the Reverend
be of a truly orthodox and composing quality. The latter
was literally stet Ted in laudanum—every page was an
opiate.