Star.
London, England, 1823-08-21 00:00:00

TRIAL OF ANDREW RIDING
FOR THE ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATIL SAMUEL•
HORROCKS, Rm. M. P.

LANCASTER, AUGUST 18. •
At nine o'clock this morning, Andrew Riding was'
put to the bar, and arraigneJ for feloniously, wil-
fully, and maliciously cutting Samuel Rcwrocks, Esq.
with intent to do him some grievous boditf hum, by
wounciihg him with an iron cleaver, on Sunday, the
27th, of July lag, at Preston, in this county. There
wete several counts in the indictment, varying the
form of description. The prisoner pleaded, " Not
Guilty," in a firm voice, and added, in answer to the
usual interrogation of how he. would be tried, " I
suppose by GOD and my country." fie is a slight
young man, twenty-three years of age, with a re-
markably shrewd expression of features, pale, thin,
and actively made; he exhibited a constant elasticity
of mental feeling, knitted his brow occasionally at
the delivery of parts of the evisianee,-and was lathe
frequent action of moving from one side of the dock
to the other; anclat times projecting his body so for-
ward (he was a little deaf), as to be almost entirely
out of the dock, and upon the shoulders of the people
in front. His gesture, while speaking/ was peculiarly
animated ; indeed, at times violent. His diction was
free, and rather above that of the ordinary class of
society to which he belonged; his reasoning was
mostly consecutive, when he spoke, and patts of his
cross-examinations were acute. His manner was
throughout not only unembarrassed, but when he
first entered the Conic, marked by extreme levity.
He looked around upon the multitude assembled
with a laugh upon his countenance, noddesi fami-
liarly at some whom he recognised, particularly one
female in the gallery (his mother, we believe), who
was in tears and sobbing loudly ; he shook his head,
as to upbraid her, but without evincing the smallest
sympathy, for his laughter continued, and he em-
ployed himself in eating apples voraciously. He was,
dressed plain and decent, and held in his hand a
Newspaper, and a bundle of manuscript; to which,
however, he made no reference.
The avenues of the Court were crowded to excess
so early as eight o'clock, and a number of persons
had improperly obtained private admission before the
doors were thrown publicly opens. When they were
unfolded, the rush was tremendous, and the Court
was filled in an instant, in such a manner as to create
during the whole day the most inconvenient pressure.
Soon after nine o'clock, Mr. Justice BAILEY took
his seat on the Bench. •

Mr. SCARLEtT stated the case to the Jury. He
detailed the whole particulars of the attack upon Mr.
Hor rocks by the prisoner, at Preston, on Sunday, the
27th of July last (which we have already given in
our statement of that transaction soon after it oc-
curred, and which it is unnecessary to recapitulate
here, as it will be found in detail in the following
evidence). The Learned Gentleman remarked, that
he feared the attack, and the deadly object of it,
would be brought too home to the prisoner to admit
of either denial or justification. An attempt might
' perhaps be made to prove him insane; but the Jury
would look with very great caution at such a mode
of shielding a desperate offender from justice: if,
however, a case of insanity were clearly made out,
the law fortunately provided a mode of protecting the
Public in future from the attacks of such a man. He
was instructed by Mr. HOffOCkS to say, that all he
asked' was, for a calm investigation of the affair ; he
deprecated any undue severity, and only wished Id
have the prisoner's condition fully and properly at-
certaiiied, having the fullest confidence that the Jury
would decide with calmness, patience, and humanity.
The first witness called was Samuel Horrocks,
Esq. M.P. examined by Mr. Sratima.—l was at the
Preston Parish Church on Sunday, the 27th July,
and afterwards went to call upon Mr. Miller, my
partner. This was nearly one o'clock in the day. The
road I had to go was a gravel coach road ; at Mr.
Miller's there is a side gate for foot pasEengers to go
up to the house. I was in the act of opening the
gate, when I received a blow on the top or my head.
Not suspecting anybody, I thought something had
fallen down from the place upon me ; it was imme-
diately followed by a tremendous blow on the back
of my head. Finding myself then wounded, I turned
round on my left, and saw the prisoner with an up-
lifted cleaver, ready to strike again : he said—" I'll
kill too."
The prisoner.—My Lord, may. I be allowed to ark
him one question-!
The Cousit.—Not yet.
Mr. Horrocks resumed.—He struck again with all
'his force, and I had just time to lift up my left arm;
lie struck three, it not four times after that, in all Ilk
or seven times. The latter blows fell on difirsiti
parts of my arm, and one inside my. left hand. I
thought I had knocked the, cleaver out of his hand,
as it flew about two yards from him. He ran 'to-
wards it and attempted to take it up. agaso ; but I
rushed forward and succeeded in getting it. He then
looked round as if for another weapon, all thoughoo,
,and finding nothing on the spot, he ran ninny. I then:
called out to the people to strap him, and he. was
stopped before he got out of my sight ; he was after-
wards taken somewhere. I went in, bleeding
' much, to Mr. Miller'i house. I had thetleaver :Tea
me when he was taken, but I gave it away, to whelp
I do net know, owing to the state of confusion iota
which the attack threw me.
The following letter was then handed to witness,
and he said he received it on the 4th pf April ; it rq-;'
=tined in his custody ever since. He threw it by, us.
it was anonymous. The letter was RS foibles:
" Sta—lf you do not advance the wages of cetton4pinning. et
least 20 per cent. you may expect your life to be taken away by
a eetton.spianer from Llaschester. You was the cause of the
galling at wages la Pieiton. Preston spinners are working more
than 20 per cent. under Manchester, and I understand that the
1 spinsters at Bolton, and their masters, are at diftrecce about
dropping the wages there ; the masters ogler them more than you
give ; -but I hope lie wilt be obliged to give theca the same that
i they ad before. 'here are awry cotton-salon Who deserve