The Sun.
London, England, 1818-03-31 00:00:00

MAIDSTONE ASSIZES.

Ac' t,J,te Trial_ of'. the gallant
_young Midshipmen
has
,ixeited a very —warm .and general iwerest
throughout the,County of_Kent, and as we_did
not gi,e a detail of the eVldetrce yesterday, we
resume the subject Ibis day, and sincerely hope
that two shch prprnisin,g ornaments of their pro-
feS6ion.will not pass nnnoticed, by their superiors.
As spoil as the clouts were opened, on Friday
morning, the Corirt filled with people anxious
to hear the trial. .13:trOttGa4nam haying arrived,
Mr. Anot.Pfus, opened the case in a very impreS-
sive manner, called Worthingtou, who,
in giving his evidence, swore he hatlbecn wantonly
shat at by ,Oneof the Miihnipmen ; that he had
not‘any smuggled goods or had been smuggling;
but .was.taking an_evening walk, going front one
end in bial to the'other end of the town, to see
a (Hemd of his, named Cottle, and that the Mid=
shiPman who shot aL hiin was that Gentleinan
(pointing to gobilliat(l). On his crOss-examina-
tiou, he admitted he had had it' scuffle with R.,
that had woutohd him vitit a cutlass, but still
kept to his,stOry of no smuggling ; that lie tvap
alone, 1t,a.1 taut seen a man of the name of Robin-
son and one of that of Pettit that night, arid had
not told uiy one he had been met with :-and.
woqndell byoneof qty d-7-d Midshipmen ;or that
when he first met..the two Midshipmen, he ran
away with his tubs, and had dropt them in au
alley leading to,the workhouse.
The next witness, (T. Banns, a grocer, (once
an Exciseman) stated that he beafd a great noise
near his house on the evening of ?NI December:;
that he went out, found ‘Vorthington and
having very .high Kul d 3, Ana soon after
Ro.biilig.rd fired a pistol at
,Yorthi)rgton, which
missed hint, and the ball entered inio the shutter
of Barnes's window ; the next witness for the
prosecution was a sc it of -Barnes,' who kept in.
much the
.same story as his tither. _ _

Alley the defence' ka.d been delivered, which_
%‘..a.,-; in Tut? Sti'N of yesteiday,
Captain M'Colloch; Commander of the Severn,
Writs 'then called, ,►nd deposed, that he had I(.ceive4
information nibs were to he brought to that part
of'the town where'he ordered Messrs. R. and A.
`to he on the alert ; he proved the great necessity,
ot,,himsell, his officers and men going -armed,
from the repeated assaults which, they had ex-
perienced and that he had selected the prisoners
to the Station they filled because they were of
the gnierest. and most-homane disposition.

Mr. Miller, .the surgeon of tile Severn, Wit%
called to prove* Mr: having received
several violent blows in the lace that inflicted
%rounds ; he attended in Iris professional capacity
while the young Gentlerneivvv ere confined in Om
Jail' of Deal:

Mr:.M‘Miken, the Captain's Clerk of the. Se-
ven), was called to wove he had left the watch-
house (used as Barracks by the officers and crew-
of the Severn who had the town duty) in com-
'patty Avid' Messrs. Rohiiliard and Arguimbau;
that•thcy .armed themselves, and informed him,
they were going to King-strett, having recei_reA
information some smyggling was going on thag
night, and shortly after be heard they had beem,
assaulted, obliged to use their fire-arms in self-
defence,and.wete taken before the Mayor.of Deal
and sent to Jail.

:Mr. Bennett, late Surgeon at. Deal, was now
brought forward, and ,no one but must conceive
how surprised the Sintiggling Party present were,
as Mr.-Bennett, knowing' if he -came tot ward to
declare what he knew of the transaction, knew also,
that his lite; and that of his wife and family, would-
not he safe at Deal, kit the town, about 10 days
before, with his family. II is evidence went to prate
that on the evening t f December 27, WoHlting-.
Con, Robinson, and' Pettit came to his Surgery,;
they were very warm, and much agitated, and
V.orthington was wounded in the face.;
nett asked ito-v' he came with the wounds
said, I'll tell you all about ir.—(N:B. here We
beg to call attention to Ntror hington's crOss-exa-
mination),—" We were carrying sortie tubs wheit
we fell in with two of•the MidshipmeiW''and.
then related to Bennett how he had Pot off with
the tubs, here he had deposited them, and after
which lit:returned, and had a scuffle with Ro-
billiard, and had not Robilliard wounded him.
when he did, lie (W.) would have taken care that
he should never have had it in his power to
wound any one.; w.hen he came to relate that
part, he and the others looked about, and adted
could he (Bennett) not pull down the blinds of
the windows, for they should not like to be seen ;
much-conversation took place, and, in their con-
fusion, they -left a basket, which was produced its
Court, and was such as the Smugglers use to carry
tubs in.

Alr..Bennett's Assistant then came fotwatd,,and.
so-far -as he - hid seen and -heard, eoilohorated.
Mr. Bennett'sevidence.

Mr. Wise,,a Carpenter at Deal, was also called
to prove he had been desired by Captain -M'Cul-
loch, to go a‘..ith him, to mark 4he directiOn the
had taken ; that be.did so, and to pre-
vent repetition, it is proper to siiite, that'captain.
M'Culloclo, Mr. Betwett, and Nlr. Wise, proved' in,
a ve-ry clear a.nd satistactot y manner that %ellen Mr.
Robilliard fired his pistol he tnn4 have heel., lying
on the gronnd.--(See Mr. lt.': account of the si-
tuation he was, in when be tired.)

Admiral Ot way, the lion. Capt. Aylmer, .Capt.
Matniay,. [Jews, . Dairs and 11.1Idt uP, of the
Navy, Mr. of the Costom,house,
.Louidont:And E. 41. of ...tinrrey-kinare,
were then called, and gave the•yoting Gentieiheit
a mo.“ excclleat Character for humanity, sobriety. .
and gentleness of disposition..
'l'o4'ollow the Noble Lora in summing. the evi-
dunce is impossible, except to those van took
notes. Of Mr. Bennett he spoke in the warlyiesc •
terms, pointed out the goitd he had dOne
country,: and obscrrefi that his country' was
in-
debted to him. Of the-young Gentleman he-said .
much; and dwelt a great-deal on the m• ritorions
zeal dispiayr:l by two stichlount: nice, in return-
ing to their duty at the hazaid of then' lives;atter
having been repeatedly hoockeddo , n'byia
ntttn-
her of men of the descr.pm iOu of Wort hingtoa.
The Court was, ektreindy crowde'l, and when
the verdict of Not y pronounced, the
nothenee could, st Oh difficulty, retrain front ex-
piessing their approh,tiOn in n Manlier which
Courts of Justice always ascouuteuauce.

FRENCH PAPERS.

MARett 27 —.I Ile departure of the Doke
of Wellington is said to be postpootkl till tLe ILA)

of next month.

An excessive drought continues to desolate the
Depritment of tive Vat., Avhde great tears are ett-
tertaivied for the olive harvest, which poduced
very little either in 1816 nr 1817.
Th.. gart‘n Mounier, the President of the Mixed
Com...•ssion on Foreign Claims, and the Austrian
and Pt ussian Ambassadors, successively had con-
ferences yesterday witli.the Duke of Wellington.
M. d'Osson, the Swedish Envoy Extraordinary,
had H private audience of the King- the day. bulure
.yestelday.

It is said that the Ministers will make a very
important communication to the two Cha►nbers to-

1110tro%V.