The Sun.
London, England, 1827-04-09 00:00:00

initials of his name- t. L. nearly obliterated. On inquil,
he found that tl-,e farmer had bought them of a person as-
suming a which corresponded with the initials on the
sides,
of the sheep. That person, front the description given,
w 3", believed to be the prisoner, and on his being questioned
on the subject, he acknowledged haring sold the sheep, aad
accounted for his having them by saying he had purchased
them of an Irishman named Charles Lusty, but he could
give no information where that man could be found, and
he was then taken into custody.
The prisoner, in his defence, said, that he was in the
habit of buying sheep of strangers, and proved, thathe had
been in the possession of money for doing so, by calling an
auctioneer, -who had sold his late father's property, from
the proce•As of which he had received upwards of lOU
Thr: Jury found a verdict of Guilty.
Mr. Justice PARK sentenced the prisoner to suffer death,
as a practised offender. There were now two other in-
dictments against him, for the same offence; and as the
crime was carried on to a great extent in this country, he
felt himself bound to make a dreadful example of him that
others might be deterred by his lamentable fate il-om similar
depredations. His Lordship then pronounced the sentence
in the formal words of th, law, and gave him no hope that
mercy would be extended to Ent.
The prisoner was removed from the bar in tears.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—YORK, Arnie 6.
CROWN sir-2.
John _Littlocoed Was charged with the wilful murder
of Edward Smith, on 31st December last.
Mr. Maunz briefly stated the case for the prosecution.
The deceased bad been the head gamekeeper of Philip
Cooke, Esq. of Owston, and had, on the day mentioned in
-the indictment, met with his death in consequence of a
shot fired from the gun of a person of the name of Rushy.
—The prisoner bad been in company with Rushy at the
time, under circumstances of a suspicious character. Bus-
by had made his escape, but the prisoner had been appre-
lieuded.
Thomas Gleddell examined—l am under-gamekeeper to
31r. Cook, of Owston ; and have been 20 years in his ser-
vice. I went out on Saturday evening, the 30th Decem-
ber, about six o'clock, in company with the deceased, and
a person of the name of Howe, to watch the game coverts
of Mr. Cooke; deceased was head keeper; deceased car-
ried a double barrelled gun. Howe and I had each a
walking stick. We remained out all night. About
half-past six o'clock on Sunday morning, I heard a
gun fired at the distance of about three hundred yards
from us; I awoke the deceased, who was at that time
asleep, and we all three went in the direction in which the
shot was fired; when Ave got into the plantation we heard
a rustling noise in the wood ; we concealed ourselves,
crouching down under a tree, and the deceased standing
in front, and Howe and I behind him, eo that only deceased could he seen. When the noise oeme nearer we all rose,
and just as Smith was getting up, I heard a shot go off,
and he fell back in my arms, saying, " Lord have mercy."
The moment Smith fell I saw a man at a distance of a few
yards; he pointed a gun at me and snapped it, but it
rnisseei fire- "closed with the man who had the gun,
end called to Howe to dome forward. Howe came forward,
and after a severe struggle we threw the man down, and
xcueed him by tying his hands and legs with handkerchiefs.
That man was the prisoner. I said to him, " You in-
tended to shcot me." He answered, " No, it snapped
when we were scuffling." On examining the gun, I found
that it was loaded. The prisoner refused to give his
name, and said " Lord have mercy upon my poor father
and mother, they have trouble enough with my brother
Jesnes." I then knew that he was John Littlewood.
Cross-examined by Mr. JONES-When the gun went off,
deceased was close before witness, and Howe close behind
him. He supposed that the shot was fired at the distance
of three yards from Smith. When the prisoner snapped
the gun at witness, the muzzle was within a foot of wit-
ness's body. lie would not swear, that the next day he did
not tell Mr. Workman that t'Sae gUa was unloaded.
William Wmlginan—i. reside at Adwick-le-street, and
ama high constable :dad clerk to the magistrates. In con-
sequence of infossnation which I received, I went on Sun-
day, Deeemly,r 30th, to the public-house where the pri-
soner Li*.tlewood :vas. I asked him what had induced
him td commit so rash an act, and he said it was not he
wlso had done it. I said, "Ifit is not you, it is your
gun." Ht replied, " No, you'll find my gun loaded."
The prisoner was then taken to Doncaster gaol. I then
went to the spot where Smith had been shot. I found the
marke of footsteps which I traced from the spot to the
house of John Rusby. In that house I found two guns,
one of which was loaded, and had apparently been so for
some time. The other gun had the appearance of having
been recently discharged, and had fresh marks of blood
upon tire muzzle, and stock, and ramrod. I then searched
the house, and found a pair of shoes with large nails in
she soles, and covered with dirt. The shoes corresponded
exactly with the, footnlarks leading from the spot where
Smith had been shot. On the Thursday following the
prisoner sent for me, and said that he was very sorry that
he had not told the troth at once. He said that he was
very sorry for what had occurred, but that it had been
Rushy who had shot the deceased.
Crosesexamined—l saw Gleddell in the course of the
Sunday. Gleddell did not say that the prisoner had
snapped his gun at him. On the contrary, he insinuated
that it was the prisoner's gun which had shot the deceased.
It was not until we had found out that the pritioner's gun
was loaded that Gleddell said any thing about its being
snapped at him. I think the prisoner's gun was not in
such a state that it could have been fired. I have known
the prisoner 14 or 15 years, and as far as I know he is a
quiet, good-tempered man. I never beard any complaint
against him until the present.
The gun which had been taken from the prisoner was
produced. It had been cleaned, and the trigger wasdrawn
in Court, in order to ascertain whether it made much
noise. A very distinct sound, which might have been
heard at a distance of 20 yards, followed the experiment.
William Mason stated, that he had accompanied Mr.
Workman to the house of John Rushy. Witness remained
outside to hold Mr. Workman's horse, and, while there, he
saw John Rushy the younger running away. Witness fol-
lowed Rusby for some distance, but at length lost sight or
him.

The confession which the prisoner bad made before the
4oroner was then put in and read. In it, the prisoner
stated that he had gone out with John Rusby to Mr.
Cooke's plantation to shoot pheasants. Rusby shot one,
and soon after prisoner saw the flash of a gun, and per-
ceived two men come towards hint. He at first thought
that they had shot Rushy, and suffered himself to be quietly
taken.

The prisoner, when called upon for his defence, simply
asserted that he had known noth:,,g about the death of
Nuitth until that event had taken place.
Mr. Baron Huncoc lc stated to the jury, that before they
could convict the prisoner of the crime of murder, they
must feel convinced that he had gone nut with Busby- with
an understanding that they were to oppose to the last ex-
tremity any one who might resist them. In such a caso
the act of one would be the act of all. But if they thought
that the prisoner and Rushy had gone out merely for the
purpose of killing game, without any concerted design of
resistance, then the act of Rushy could not be visited upon
the prisoner.
The Jury, without hesitation, returned a verdict of Not
Guilty.

The prisoner was then put to the bar on an indictment,
charging him with being out, armed with a gun, on the
night of the 30th December, with intent to kill game.
On this charge also the prisoner was found Not Guilty.
Charles Cormach was indicted for the wilful murder of
Robert Crossland, at Bradford, on the 4th of July last.
The prisoner bad been committed on the Coroner's in-
quisition, which charged him with manslaughter only, but
Mr. Baron Hullock, on reading the depositions, had ex-
pressed an opinion that the facts of the case constituted a
murder, and this indictment had been in consequence
preferred.

Joseph Butler examined—l am a wool-comber residing
near Bradford. On the 4th of July last I accompanied
the deceased and his wife to Leeds market. We returned
together about 12 o'clock at night. When we were pass-
ing the Talbot inn, at Bradford, the prisoner, who is a
butcher, came out. The deceased had got into the cart,
and his wife was walking. Prisoner went sip to the wife
of deceased, and behaved to her with great rudeness and
indecency. She called out to the deceased, and he went
up to the prisoner, and flung the prisoner away. They
had a seullle, and some blows were exchanged. I inter-
fered, and the prisoner went away. I then went with de-
ceased and his wife to his home. I and deceased remained
in the yard putting up the horse and cart, and on a sud-
den prisoner rushed from behind one of the pillars in the
market-place, and struck the deceased on the head with a
stick. Deceased instantly fell. No words passed between
them before the blow was given. Prisoner then struck
at me and at the horse. It was about half an hour after
prisoner first left us that this happened. Deceased died
in about a month. From the night he received the blow
until his death, he constantly complained of a pain in his
head.

cron_eximined._The prisoner was tipsy. The deceased
r,eeived 101. from prisoner. It was given to prevent de-
cea-'‘e,l indicting prisoner at the Sessions for an assault.
Jane Crossland, the wife of the deceasedwidence., gave similar
From the

of this witness, it appeay.ed 1
that the pri"n" bad paid the doctor's bill, besides lot.

which he had given to deceased. The deceased had gone
to Leeds on the let of August, and died as he was returning.
Mr. Beaumont, a surgeon, examined the head of the
deceased, after his death, and found the skull fractured.
he believed that the death of the deceased might be re-
motely attributed to the first injury, but that it was im-
mediately owing to the fatigue occasioned by the journey to
Leeds.

Three other medical gentlemen were examined, one of
whom believed that the death of the deceased had been
occasioned by apoplexy, unconnected with the injury, and
the other two were of opinion, that the death of the de-
ceased had been occasioned by the fracture of the skull.
For the defence a great many witnesses were examined,
who gave the prisoner a good character. Evidence was
also o6ered to show that the deceased had drank a consi-
derable quantity of liquor on the day on which his death
occurred.

Mr. Barott nuttocx summed up the case, and the Jury
found the prisoner guilty of Manslaughter.
The prisoner was immediately sentenced to seven years'
transportation.

At Bury Sr. Edmund's Assizes, on Wednesday, the Rev.
Mr. Blornfield, cousin to the Bishop of Chester, obtained
800/. damages against Mr. Tempest, a gentleman of large
fortune, residing near Aldhorough, and a member of the
profession, for a libel, imputing to Mr. Blomfield gross
practices.

At Hereford Assizes, Mr. Boyd, an officer on half-pay
of the Army, obtained a verdict of 3001. against Mr.
Townsend, as compensation for injuries he received by-the
overturning of the defendant's coach.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSSIOUTII, APRIL 7.—This morning his
Majesty's sloop of war, Slaney, 20, Captain Samuel
Thornton, arrived from the East Indies. She left
Rear-Admiral Gage at Trincomalee on the Ist of
December last. The Rear-Admiral had then his
flag on board the Boadicea, the Java not having
reached India. The Rainbow and Hind were like-
wise at Trincomalee, which place had been of late
years uniformly healthy, The Rainbow was about
to proceed to New South Wales. A squadron,
consisting of the Tamar, Athol, and Pandora, had
been detached to the Persian Gulph, under the orders
of Captain J. Gordon Bremer, C.B. The Fly, 18,
Captain Wetherell, was at New South Wales ; the
Cyrene, 20, Captain Campbell, in the Straights of
Malacca. The Champion, 18, Captain Studdert,
was hourly expected at Trincomalee from Rangoon,
where she had been stationed since the conclusion
of the war with the Empire of Ave. Rangoon had
been evacuated b;• the British forces. The Hon.
Company's transport Sir Edward Strettle, with 220
followers of the army, lately employed in Ava, had
been totally wrecked on the island of Gomez, near
Acheen Head, on her passage from Rangoon to
Madras, in September last. Twenty of the camp
followers were drowned. The Slaney, making
the same passage, fortunately arrived in Acheen
Roads a week after the accident. Very rough wea-
ther had prevailed on the Eastern side of the Bay
of Bengal during the last S.W. monsoon.
The Slaney left Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope,
on the 4th of February, St. Helena on the 17th,
and the Island of Ascension on the 27th of that
month.—Commodore Christian was in Simon's
Bay, with the Owen Glendower, Sparrowhawk, and
Helicon.—The Semarang, Captain Dunn, was at the
Mauritius.—The squadron at the Cape was healthy.
At St. Helena all was well. At Ascension (where
the Slaney remained three days), an outward-bound
Indianian, which left England in December, had
brought news of the embarkation of troops for Por-
tugal, &c. The William Harris transport was left
at Ascension. That island is represented to be now
in a most flourishing state of progressive improve
ment as to its resources, both natural and artificial.
Roads are constructing from the several springs
(sixteen in number), to convey water to the gar-
rison; and hopes are entertained of being able to
supply a squadron with that essential article, in the
course of a year, by means of iron pipes, from the
principal spring to a reservoir near the beach. Pas-
turage for cattle is making its appearance. Sheep,
turkeys, and live stock of every description, thrive
well there. Fruit, such as pines, Indian gooseber-
ries, and plantains, have been successfully cultivated.
Potatoes, onions, carrots, peas, French beans, and
almost every esculent vegetable have been produced
upon the Island ; and thus, from a desert cinder,
nature has been courted successfully to yield most of
her useful vegetable productions. Only two deaths
from sickness have occurred at Ascension during the
last two years ; and when we consider that gales of
wind are unknown to have visited the anchorage
there, the value of that island as a rendezvous and a
depot for stores and provisions, for a squadron of
observation, destined to cruise either on the African
or Brazilian coast hereafter, will obviously repay the
liberal attention that has been bestowed upon it.
The Slaney is ordered to Woolwich to be paid off
Yesterday his Majesty's ship Calliope, Lieut

John Powney, returned from Vera Cruz, having
conveyed thither M. Rochafeurte, Charge d'Affaires
from Mexico to this country. Mr. R. is expected
to return in the Queensberry packet, which was to
leave Vera Cruz on the Ist March. The Calliope
brought the Queensberry's mail, and dispatches
from the Mexican Government. She left Vera
Cruz on the 22d February, and the Havannah on
the Bth of March, and brought 80,000 dollars, and
20 stvons of cochineal, on merchants' account. The
Tweed, 28, Captain Frederick Hunn, sailed from
Vera Cruz on the .sth of February. She had taken
on board two millions of dollars, and 350 serous of
cochineal, and was to touch at Tampico, to ship
10,0004 sterling, in specie, on account of the
Mexican Government, for conveyance to England.
It appears that the apparent critical situation of
affairs between this country and Spain, had induced
Sir Lawrence Halstead to dispatch orders to Capt.
Hums, by the Pylades, Captain .Jackson, and
Nimble, Lieut. Holland, not to touch at Havannah.
The Pylades had been at Vera Cruz, with these
orders, in search of the Tweed ; and the Nimble
was left cruizing off Havannah, with the same
object. The Calliope lay five days at Vera Cruz.
The only political circumstance of any interest which
had occurred, was an attempt on the part of the
Priesthood to disturb the present Government.
The plot being discovered, the Ecclesiastics at
Vera Cruz were seized by General Barangar, and sent
off to Mexico, to be hung in that city, with several
of the agitators discovered there. The Calliope left
the American corvette John Adams (of twenty-
four 32-pounders), Captain Wilkinson, at Havannah.
Commodore Laborde's squadron was refitting, ex-
cepting two frigates, which were cruizing off Key
West, where Commodore Porter, in the Mexican
frigate Libertador, was lying, with two brigs of war.
The desire of the Cubians to declare themselves in-
dependent of Spain was daily manifesting itself;
and, without a reinforcement of European troops,
that country mast lose possession of this fine island.
The Scylla was cruizing off Havannah ; she had
lately had a marine killed by a musket ball, in a
rencontre with a Spanish private ship of war; the
Scylla had only occasion to fire a broadside, which
lodged five shots under the Spaniard's counter, and
killed and wounded several of her men, when she
hove to, and made the amende honourable. The
Calliope performed the voyage well ; she was only
99 days from Spithead, and sixteen of them she was
at anchor at St. Vincent's, Vera Cruz, and Havannah.
This morning the Grasshopper, 18, Capt. Court-
nay Boyle, arrived from the North American station,
last from Bermuda, having left that Island on the
17th ult. She was relieved by the Ringdove, Capt.
Thornborough. The January Packet from England
arrived at Bermuda on .-,larch 3d, after six weeks'
passage. Rear Admiral Willoughby Lake was left
at Bermuda with the Jupiter, Niemen, Ringdove,
Orestes, and Dotterel]. The Dotterell being found
unseaworthy she would be paid off, and her officers
and men sent to England. The squadron would
continue at Bermuda until the beginning of May.—
The Island had been ♦ery healthy. That the alte-
rations going on in the Dock-yard may be facilitated,
it was intended to remove the establishment for some
time, and not refit the ships there. The Grass-
hopper sailed this afternoon for Woolwich, to be
paid off.
A letter we hare received from an officer of his