The Sun.
London, England, 1829-04-02 00:00:00

TRIAL OF MARTIN FOR THE BURNING

OF YORK MINSTER.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT-YORK, ➢LARCH 31.
THE KING V. JONATHAN MARTIN.

At an early hour the avenues to the Castle were
thronged with persons of all grades making their
way to obtain admission to the Court.

At half-past eight o'clock Martin was brought
into Court ; he had, as yesterday, a great coat upon
his arm, and a silk handkerchief in his hand. He en-
tered the lower part of the dock with a smile, and
with perfect composure.
When the doors were open the rush was tremen-
dous. Martin immediately jumped upon the seat of
the dock, looked over at the public, and laughed
exultimgly. One of the attendant keepers ordered
him down, which order he obeyed, and paced the
dock for a few minutes, when he was ordered to
the bar.

The Clerk of the Arraigns then read the indict-
ment, and Martin male no remark.

Mr. STRICKLAND opened the indictment thus :
The prisoner at the bar, Jonathan Martin, is
charged with having unlawfully, maliciously—(The
prisoner—" Not maliciously, my Lord")—and felo-
niously set fire to the Cathedral Church at Yerk.—
To this imii,•treent he has pleaded not guilty.
Mr. ALDERSON said, that the Jury had heard the
opening of the indictment, and from that opening
they would have collected the nature of the charge
aeainst the prisoner. It was that of having reduced
one of the most splendid piles of building into a state
of ruin and rubbish. There would be two questions
for the consideration of the Jury—the first was,
whether or not the prisoner committed the offence
with which he was charged ; and the second, if lie
did commit the offence, in what state of mind he
was when he so committed it. With regard to the
latter question, he should feel it necessary to detail
to them at some length what he conceived in such
cases to be the state of the law. In order to render
a person liable to the punishment 'of the law, heeon-
sidered that at the time of the committing the of-
fence he must be capable of discriminating between
right and wrong. It might happen that a person
had previously been effected with insanity at dif-
ferent periods ; yet, if that had been the case, and he
knew at the time that he was committing an offence,
whether he was doing right or wrong, he conceived
that he was amenable to the laws, and subjected to
punishment. The Learned Gentleman then pro-
ceeded to cite authorities for the law he had laid
down, among which was that of Earl Ferrers—
upon his trial it was proved that he was occasionally
insane; but, on the other hand, it was shown that a
murder was deliberately committed, and that at the
time he well knew the consequences, and the Earl
suffered. In the case of Bellingham, who shot Mr.
Perceval in the lobby of the House of Commons,
the defence was that of madness ; but it was shown
that he must at the time have known the nature of
the offence that he was committing, and was there-
fore liable; it was no excuse, if he could at the time
distinguish right from wrong; there must be a total
and permanent absence of reason to render a person
not liable—if they could distinguish at the time
moral good from evil, they most certainly would be
liable. The Learned Gentleman then went into a
detail of the facts of the case. On Sunday, the Ist
of February, the Minster was for the last time
opened for Divine Service, which concluded about
five o'clock. The ringers were there some time
after; but he should be able to show that the Min-
ster was closed about seven o'clock, and every thing
left apparently safe. The next morning a young
man was amusing himself with sliding in the Min-
ster-yard, and by accident fell, and by him it was
that the Minster was discovered to be on fire—this
person, whose name was Swinbank, caused applica-
tion to be made to the sexton; the keys were brought,
and the smoke and flames were such as to drive the
persons attempting to enter the Minster back. It was
after this very soon discovered that there was at the
north window of the transept a rope, and an opening in
the window large enough for a man to pass through;
that rope was knotted, and would answer the pur-
poses of a ladder. On a ledge of the window was
found a pair of pincers, which had been used; en-
deavours were made to find out the owner, bills
were published, and a person came forward and
stated that they were his ; that person was Mr.
Lawn, a shoemaker, who said he had used those
pincers for the three preceding years, and he recol-
lected using them on the very Saturday afternoon
previous to the fire. With that person the prisoner
had lodged up to the 27th of January, and from
him they were borrowed. On the Friday subse-
quent to the fire, the prisoner was taken by Mr.
Stainthorp, in the neighbourhood of Hexhem, with
part of the property upon him which he had stolen
from the Minster, and at that time and since such
declartions had been made by the prisoner, as
could leave no doubt on the minds of the Jury that
the prisoner was guilty. He had mentioned a rope
—that rope he should prove to have belonged to a
bell, which was called the prayer-bell ; and being
rung from below, there was a much larger portion
of rope attached to it. He believed the length was
about eighty or ninety feet, and that was used for
the purpose of making the tope-ladder. There
were gates of iron which separated the choir from
the transept; over these gates, by means of a rope,
the interior of the choir was entered—within which
there was some must beautiful carved Nrol k ; there
the prisoner struck a light with a flint that he had
taken with him, from the back of a razir, and
lighted a candle, which he had also taken with him;
he then proceeded to collect the Bibles, Prayer and
other books, with which he made a pile near to the
Archbishop's throne; and he made another collec-
tion, and another pile on the south side—=hose piles
he set on fire, and when he saw them briskly burn-
ing, about three o'clock in the morning, he made
his escape from the window just described. The
Learned Counsel then proceeded to state the pri-
saner's journey to Easingwold, where he arrived
about three o'clock, having with him a quantity of
velvet, silk and gold fringe ; there he represented
that he had taken those articles for a bud debt.

Martin here exclaimed in a loud tone, " An old
debt, Sir."
Mr. ALDERSON proceeded :—On the following
Wednesday he arrived at Hexham. With regard
to his state of mind, there could be no doubt but
thatite had been twice confined in aJeceptaele for
lunatics—once on the occasion of a threatened at-
tempt upon the life of a Bishop—he believed the
Bishop of Durham ; there he was confined for three
year., and then contrived to make his escape ; he
was afterwardi re-taken, and again placed in a state
of safety. But he should have to describe to the
Jury the state of his mind at more recent periods ;
he should show that in October last, he was mar-
ried to a second wife at Lincoln—that in November
last, he received a plus ticket from a person in the
Methodist connection. And he should also give
evidence of his conduct in December last, arid on
the Friday evening previous to his setting fire to
the Minster; but one material circumstance he should
have to prove to them was, and a most material one
it would be, and that was a letter in the prisoner's
own hand-writing, which he should prove; this
letter was placed on the gates of the Minster.—(lt
was a caution to the Clergy, pnd threatening them
with the vengeance of Heaven if they did not repent.
It has appeared in this paper.)
Job Knowles, sexton at the Minster; John
Scott, a mason ; W. Reed Lock, one of the ringers;
J. Richmond, a clock-maker; H. Bewley, a plumber;
and W. Pardoe, the police-officer, were then exa-
mined, and corroborated the statement made by Mr.
".4t.ideisen,
W hen 1,4 wp? :shoemaker, was examined, the
following scene tookllkce.;-.--
William Lawn—l am a shoemaker in York, and
live in Aldwark.
The Prisoner—At No. 60, Sir.
paten.l know the prisoner; he lodged with me
.a montr.
•
Prisoner—Five weep.
Lawn—He came the day after Christmas-day with
his wife; on the 27th January they went to Leeds;

I saw him every day when he lived with me; he
was out in the day-time, selling his books of his own
life ; I thought him a very religious man ; whenever
he. hud a little time, he was always reading his Bible
or his Prayer-book ; he often said be was going to
the Methodist Chapel.
Prisoner—Sometimes the Ranters.

Lawn—And on Sun.lay night to the Minster;
the prisoner came back from Leeds on the last day
of January.
Prisoner—About nine o'clock at night, Sir.
Lawn—On Suaday morning, I said he was fond
of his lodgings, to come all the way from Tadcaster,
where he had to sell 20 books; he said he used to
pay two-pence to cross the water for good lodgings.
Prisoner—That was down at Shields, Sir.

Lawn—These are my pincers. I had them on
Saturday at three o'clock, and I never saw them
after, until Pardoe showed me them. They used to
be kept iu the prisoner's room.
Prisoner—Where I slept, Sir.
Cross-examined by Mr. BROUGHAiI—He was a
man entirely under his dreams. He said his dreams
always came true, sad acted under them.
Prisoner—Yes, Sir, yes.

Lawn—He seemingly acted under his dreams.
When I heard the Minster was on fire, my son said
there was a rope ladder. I said, surely it is not you,
Martin, that has done it. I knew of his writing
threatening-letters to the Clergy. I never saw him
after half-Fast ten on Sunday morning.
A number of other witnesses were examined,
whose statements were partly corroborative of those
above stated, and partly cmifirmed Mr. Alderson's
speech. The Sheriff's Officer who apprehended
the prisoner at Hexham related the conversation he
had with him, in which he declared that he set the
Minster on fire, and remained in it until the fire
burnt briskly. He said he set fire to the Minster to
revenge some wrongs he had received from the
Clergy, who put him in a Lunatic Asylum, and
prevented his wife and child from seeing him. He.
said he dreamt there was a black cloud came over
to his lodgings, where it shook very much. From
these dreams, he said, he thought he waa destined
to destroy the Minster. This was on the 7th Feb.
He said he took the fringe, &c. to testify be was
the person only who did it, that no innocent person
should be charged. He talked first about his being
advertised.

Matthew Wilson, Wesleyan preacher at Hexham,
said—l asked Martin the reason why he had de-
stroyed the Minster ; he said, I have long been of
opinion that the Clergy of the Established Church
were blind guides, and if the blind led the blind,
they would both fall into the ditch ; I asked him if
he had any antipathy against the Clergy ; he said
no, he was sorry for them, they were leading the
higher ranks astray ; he said the destruction of the
Minster was for the glory of God, the good of the
people of England, but in particular the people of
York, because the Minster being destroyed, they
would be obliged to disperse themselves where they
would hear the Gospel preached; I asked, as a re-
ligious character, if he felt no compunction in setting
fire to the pile; he replied, none whatever, but on
the contrary, he felt quite happy; sometimes he
praised God because he had strengthened him to do
so good a work ; I then referred to the noises that
had been heard in the Minster, as stated in the
papers, and said, I suppose it was you ranting on ;
he replied, most likely, because I frequently shouted
glory be to God. He then told me about his
dreams.

Cross-examined by Mr. BnouanAm—He said he
had told his dream to his wife; she made sad work,
and so he took her ring from her hand when asleep,
and kept it some days, until he extracted a vow of
secrecy from her. He then restored it, told her his
dream, and she cried.

Some of the witnesses said they were of opinion
he was insane, and others said they never observed
anything in his conduct or appearance that justified
such a conclusion. During the time the witnesses
were under examination, Martin frequently made
observations, and interrupted the proceedings in
the same manner that he did when Lawn was
examined.

The prisoner, when called upon for his defence,
proceeded to say in a Northern dialect, and with
great energy—Well, Si!, the first impression that
had about it was from a dream. And after I had
written five letters to these Clergy, the last of which
I believe was a very severe one, and all of which I
dated from my lodgings at No. 90, Aldwark, I was
very anxious to speak to them by word of mouth,
but mule of them would come near me. Se I prayed
to the Lord—and asked him what was to be done.
And I dreamed that I saw a cloud come over the
Cathedral—and it rolled toward me at my lodgings;
it awoke me out of my sleep, and I asked the Lord
what it • meant, *trine told me it was to warn these
clergymen of England, who were going to plays,
and cards, and such like—and the Lord told me he
had chosen me to warn them, and reminded me of
the prophecies—that there should in the latter days
signs in the heavens.—[The prisoner here used
several quotations from Holy Writ. —I felt so im-
pressed with it that I found the Lord had destined
me to show these people the way to flee from the
wrath to come. When I bethought me that I
could not do that job without being out all night,
and I considered whether I should let my wife
know. I got every thing ready, and I took the
ring from my wife's finger, and talked to her about
what I had mentioned—and I told her what" want
to do—she grieved very much, and I had work to
get off. 1 still staid a few days, but I could gerno
rest whatever until I had accomplished the work.—
It was a severe contest between flesh and blood—
and then I bethought me what would become of
her and my son Richard, who I hud at Lincoln.
Then the Lord said unto me,s" What thou doest, do
with all thy might." I tore from her and said,
" Well, well, Lord—Not my will but thine be
done." I then left Leed', taking twenty of my
books with me, but I had no money, and went into
Tadcaster ; there 'I got a gill of ale.—(lle then pro-
ceeded to state the manner in which he travelled
and supported himself to York.)—On Sunday,
Feb. 1) I went to the Cathedral service, and it
vexed me to hear them singing their prayers and
amens. I knew it did not come from the heart, it
was deceiving the people. Then" there was the
organ, buz ! buz ! and I said to myself, " I'll tae
thee down to-night, thou shot but no more !" well
they were all going out, and I lay me down by't
side of the Bishops round 'by the pillar.—(The pri-
soner concealed himself behind ti tomb, behind
which and the wall there was a space that more
than one person might lie down in.)—l thought I
heard the people coming down from the bells; they
all went out, and then it was so dark that I could
not see my hand. Well, I left this Bishop, and
came out and fell upon my knees and asked the
Lord what I was to do first, and ho said, get thy
way up the bell-loft ; I had never been there, and I
went round arid round; I had a sort of guess of the
place from hearing the men as I thought come
down, I then struck a light with a flint and a razor
that I had got, and some tinder that I bad brought
from my landlord's. I saw there were plenty of
ropes—then I cut one, and then another, but I had
no idea they were so long, and I kept draw, draw,
and the rope came up. 1 dare say I had 100 feet.
Well thought I to myself, this will make a man
rope, a sort of shrilling rope, and I tied knots in it.
Ay, times it, I know it well enough (pointing to the
rope which ley upon the table). So I went down
to the •body of the Cathedral, and bethought me
how I should get inside, I thought if I did
so, by throwing the rope over the organ, I
might set it ganging, and that would spoil the
job. So I made an end of the rope fast, and went
hand over-hand over the gates, and got down on
the other side, and fell on my knees and
waged to the Lord—and he told me, that do what
%01-141, they would take me. Then I asked the
Lord what. I was' to di) with-YePiet, ar,d he told
me (the prisoner here repeated what he had before
'stated in his plea about the robe, cap, and tassels),
and thought it would do for my hairy jacket, that I
bave At Lincoln. I have a very good seal skin one

there. I wish I had it with me, that I might show
it you. Then I got all ready. Glory to God, I
never felt so happy; but I had a hard nighes work
of it, particularly with a hungered belly. Well, I
got a bit of wax-candle, and I set fire to one heap,
and with the matches I set fire to the other. I then
tied up the things that the Lord had given me for
ray hire, in this very handkerchief that I have in my
hand. [The prisoner then went on to describe his
escape by means of the rope, nearly in the same
terms us have been stated, and of his proceeding to
Hexham; that on the road the coaches passed him,
but he laid himself down, and was never seen.]
While I was at Hexham; I think I had been there
two days ; I had been to pray with a poor woman,
and the Hexham man came and tipped on the
shoulder.—" I's tired, or I'd tell thee a little more."
This is but a small part of what the prisoner said,
but sufficient to judge of the nature of his defence.
After he had concluded a minute or two, he said
to our Reporters—" An you been writing dovin
what I said—l think I talked o'er fast for thee !"
He then espied one of his publications, and said, " I
see these gotten one of my bukes. I wrote mysen
at different times, and have sold about 14,000."
Several witnesses were then examined on the
part of the prisoner. The first was—
John Douglas, who is 73 years old ; is now a shoe-
maker, but, was formerly a sailor on, board the
Atlas ; the prisoner was a seaman on board the same
vessel ; we were both together at the battle of Co-
penhagen; Jonathan was captain of the foretop; he
fell out of the fore-top after the battle, and was ill
after the fall; Martin was always particular in keep-
ing a journal; after the fall, witness observed there
was a change in him; it was a 74 On ship; the
fall was from the fore-top into the water; he was
in the water fourteen or fifteen minutes, and swam
about till the boat took him up.
Margaret Horton, keeper of the Lunatic Asylum
at Gateshead, said that Martin was placed there in
Dec. 1819, and remained until the 17th June, 1820,
when he made his escape; he was brought back,
and remained till July, 1821, when he made his
escape again, and was never brought back ; witness
has been used to lunatics for twenty-six years; she
always thought him really an insane person; he was
in the habit of sitting on the floor with two cross
sticks. He managed the sticks, as though he were
fiddling; at other times he used to sing; the sticks,
when he so used them, he said was in imitation of
David's harp. He used to fast for some days, and
said it was the Lord's orders; he said that our Lord
had fasted forty days on the Mount ; they were
obliged to confine him at times, to shave him, as
he objected to lose his beard ; witness had often
heard him prophecy, and talk about his dreams;
he said, whatever he dreamed, he was determined
to do; she had no doubt in her own mind but that
he was a lunatic.

Mr. Gbirton, who attended the Lunatic Asylum,
said he considered Martin of unsound mind : it was
insanity in one particular point; witness should call
it delusion; the technical term was monomalia; the
subject on which he was unsound, was that of reli-
gion and that of the clergy. When he became ex-
cited on the subject, his eye became glassy, and
dilated the pupil; this was considered a symptom of
insanity; witness lost sight of Martin in 1821, until
this morning, when he again saw him in prison, in
the presence of the gaoler. Martin immediately
recognized him as an old acquaintance. Patients,
with such maladies, have very tenacious memories;
they never forget anything. Witness, at the time
he was with him, had an opportunity of coming to a
conclusion of the present state of his mind, and this
conclusion was, that he is in the same state now as
he was when in the Asylum. It is impossible he
could have put on those appearances this morning
for the purpose of clearing him. Leaving out of the
question the subject alone on which the delusion
rested, a stranger might conclude that the patient
was of sound mind. Witness was certainly of opinion,
with respect to the subject of delirium, that Martin
was not capable of distinguishing right from wrong.
Mr. George Middleton, tanner, of Darlington,
with whom prisoner worked, stated that Martin said
he believed the prayer-book had been the means of
sending many souls to hell; he got an ass to ride
on, in imitation of our Saviour; he went to preach
at the Cross of Darlington; he once told me that
lie had dreamt Bonaparte would land between Sun-
derland and Newcastle, and if England did not
repent, he would conquer it; he declared that
whatever he dreamt was sure to come true; he once
agreed to send his son with a Jew pedlar, on the
condition that his son, 11 years of age, should daily
read the Bible; his reason for so doing was because
his son would be the means.of converting the Jew.
The keeper of the city gaol,the chaplain, and se-
veral other gentlemen, gave evidence of the pri-
soner's insanity.

Mr. Baron HULLOCK having summed up the case,
the Jury retired ; and, after an absence of seven
minutes, they returned a verdict of Guilty—adding,
but we are of opinion that the prisoner was, at
the time of setting fire to the Cathedral, insane, or
of unsound mind.'

Mr. Baron HULLOCK directed that he should be
letained during his Majesty's pleasure.
lie %%as immediately handcuffed to one of the
:urtleys, and conveyed into the castle.

BRITISH EXPORTS.

STATEMENT OF THE QUANTITIES
CLES OF BRITISH MANUFACTUI
FROM MARCH 20 TO 21 INCLUSII
Pieces. Yards.
Cotton 134,206 1,158,062
Linen 1,556 148,381
Blanketing - 17,668
Carpeting -- 11,246
Calicoes
Kerseymeres -
Flannel

OF 1 HE UNDERMENTIONED •RTI
ME EXPORTED FROM LIVERPOOL,

Ends.l
Woollen Stun's.. 314 282
Worsted Stu tf5..8,684

ILize t6B
Inf:VVoollens, 4,037

Cotton Thread..30..,20
Cotton Yarn —40,720

Sail Cloth E 115.3.018
Doz.
Cotton Hose 346
Worsted Hose
Cotton Handkerchiefs 957
Cotton Braces

Hats
Hardware £15,067
Earthenware X 10,076
S.,lt White Bushels 171,556
salt Rock 4,600

Tons. Cwt. dial.
Coal
Iron

CATTLE.
AN ACCOUNT OF CATTLE IMPORTED INTO LIVERPOOL FROM MARCH 23
TO 28, BOTH DAYS INCLUDED.
Cows. I Calves. I Sheep. Pigs. I Horses. 1 Mules.
8.) 46 1329 3765 12 I 0

THE MARKETS.

COAL MA 111.
Adair's
Beaumont 2B 0
Charlotte • 27 6
Heaton,..32 3
tleblourn Main 29 0
llolywell.. 2B 0
Killingworth 30 0
Liddell's 2'7 3
Ord's Redhugh 26 6
Pelaw 29 0
Pontop Windsor 28 0
Percy Main 0
Shipcote 2B
'Canfield :42 0
Ditto Io Robson & Co. 31 9
Tan field Lea 3n 6
22 3
t
Willington 29 0
WOant 28 6
Willa IF,14(1 WI and Co. 29 0
Ditto Bewicke and Co.— 31 6
Ditto Brown's 29 9
Ditto Burraton 29 0
Ditto Carr and Co. 27 0
Ditto Clarke and C 0..,, 28 0
Ships at market, 13©4--,-Shi;

F.T.-April 1.

. -
Walls end Newrnarch— 31s. Od
Ditto Cramlington—... 26 6
Ditto Hilda 28 0
Ditto 1 lotspur 28 3
Ditto Not thuniberland 29 6
Ditto Peareth 26 3
Ditto Perkins and Co. 29 0
Ditto 11 iddt ll's Si 6
Ditto Russell's ---.. 32 6
Ditto Wallet 32 0
Eden Main
Walls End Hetton 9
Walls End Lambton,...... 33 9
Walls End Lyons— 31 6
Walls End Stewart's 33 6
Russell's Hetton's W.E. 33 0
Cowpeu 2B 6
30 0

W. 25 6
"Fantleld Trader. 3l 6
Londonderry small - 19 0
Walker small 18 0
Umbra') small 19 9
Russell's W. E. small. 18 6

1,4 sold, 73!x-Unsold. 66%.

COUNTRY Coll

N MARKETS DU I{ INA.; 'mit.: wEF,It.

Oats.

'Beatty:-