Star.
London, England, 1824-04-30 00:00:00

MR. SAIIIII, THE MISSIONARY.

The New Times of this morning gives a long an,i
well abridged abstract of the proceedings against
Mr. Smith, at Demerara, embracing the substance of
the charges against him, hi defensive statement, and
the whole of the evidence in the case. As the analysis
given in the STAR of the trial, immediately that the
Pa►liamentary papers were issued, set the subject in a
very clear light, v. c do not think it necessary again to
advert to the evidence, but shall quote from the Morn-
ing Paper to which we have already alluded, the ob-
servations that acczmy.iiiy the abstract, together win:
an account of the funeral of the ill-fated Missionary
We call the attention of the Public to an Abstract (2f
ceedings againA,l Mr. at Pemerara, and we must say that ea-
have near in the whole cetric, of our legal reading met with a
sentence so sturdy unsupported by the semblance of ratinm! prct
We are indeed to this moment at a loss tr understand In- w!..!:
reason Mr. Smith was sentenced to be hanged ;or wh.tt tht
crime that he is alleged to have committed deserving death.—
He is acquitted of any intention to excite rebellion, but found
guilty of the nondescript crime of promoting discontent in the
minds of other people without any evil. intent. He k oho
convicted of having advised on a certain day touching and cm-
cerning a certain rebellion, the proof being most distinctly that
the only advice he gave was to hare nothing to do with it. This ad-
vice, too, was given without knowing or suspecting that the parti;%
had rebellion in their thoughts, but merely on an idea that they had
some vague diseontent which might lead them to illegal conduct.
It comes out incidentally in the course of the trial (though not
necessary to be noticed in an abstract); that Mr. SMITH was not at-
rested on any information against him ; but that two Militia Cap-
tains, one of whom had a quarrel with him two years before,
thought fit to command him to take up arms, and because, as a
Minister of the (impel, he considered himself exempt, they seized
his person and his papers/

lie is charged with having preached disaffection for six years
together, and is tried upon this monstrous plea without specification
of a single expression, or of any one day, week, month, or year,
within which hi; alleged crime was committed..
lie is tried by Martial Law for the general tenor of sermons
preached and chapters of the Bible read years before he became.
subject to that law

Ile is found guilty of aiding and assisting in rebellion because
man, whom he did not know to be even'a reputed rebel, came on:
day to his house unexpected by him,stayed there a few minutes and
left it, without proof of a single word having passed between them.
It is monstrous for a Court-Martial to be sitting to judge a Mi-
nister of the Gospel, not for specific incitements to rebellion deli-
vered from the pulpit, but for the general character of his doctrines
as loosely stated from the vague impression of ignvrant hearers le
is still more monstrous to find that one of the doctrines which the
prosecutor, the Officer of the Crown, argues to be treasonaLle, is the
duty of keeping holy the Sabbath-day !
FCIiERAL OF Ma. SMITH, DEMERARA.— On the evening before
his interment Mrs. Smith received a message from the Gm er.ior,
informing her that the funeral must take place at four in the 'lron-
ing, and that neither she nor ber friend Mrs. Elliott would be al..
lowed to follow the corpse to the grave. Mrs. Smith was exceed •
ingly distressed by this mandate, and, though not permitted to 10:-
low her husband to the grave she rose at three, and :team, ante,!
by Mrs. Elliott, and conducted by a slave with a lantern, pruelded
to the burial place to meet the corpse. The usual service was read
by the Rev. Austin. It is easier to cunceive than to :west;
what a heart-rending scene this must have proved to the affLicte:
widow. We hear that Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Elliott arrived
England a few days ago.

The Emperor cf Russia has assigned thirteen mil-
lions of rubles for public buildings in Petersburgh.
The Revenue of the city of Moscow amounted las!
year to 2,195,000 rubles, the Expenditure to 2,76`2,C0,1.
In the night of the 11th February a slight shock s:f
an earthquake was felt at Irkutzk, in Siberia.
A poor woman went recently with tears in I;er eyt
t 6 the Clergyah:o parish in Stisstx, to complain of a man w:•,)
!died of small pox LAI, buried Lear the hod) el her husband,

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