Star.
London, England, 1817-03-17 00:00:00

DOVER, MARCH 15.

Sailed this day the Lord Duncan packet, Captain
HAMILTON, for Calais, with a mail and passengers.
Six carriages belonging to the suite of his Imperial
Highness the Grand Duke NICHOLAS, were embarked
this day on board two vessels for Calais. The Koval.
Sovattatom yacht remains in our Roads it is not in-
tended that she will come into the Harbour if the
weather keeps moderate for her to wait at her an-
chorage. Arrived this afternoon the King George,
Captain KING, from Calais, with passengers; and a
French packet, with a mail.
MARCH 16.—Sailed last night the Lord Duncan
packet, Captain PASCOZ, with a mail and passengers
for Ostend ; and this morning the Princess Charlotte
packet, Captain HALLANDS, has arrived from that
port with a mail and passengel-s. Sailed the King
George, Capt. MERCSR, tor Calais, with passengers.
Six p. m.—The Grand. Duke is not yet arrived.
GRAVESEND, MARCH 16.

Arrived the Carron, Short, front Gottenburgh ; the Zephyr,
Nicholls, trout Waterford; Charlotte, Honafolt, from Detittlar h ;
Harrlot, Edmund, from St. Michael's; Chichester, Seiton, from
Waterford; Mired, Maine,from Waterford; Fame, Lacy, from
Messina; Britannia. Burns, from Memel; William, Harrington,
from Cork; John Henry, Berra, from Konen ; 'Emanuel, Mow-
strand, from Norway; and the Goodhausett, Nekun, Ilona Den-
mark.—Sailed the Edward k.lice, Capes, for I ucaton ; Mathdde,
Schmidt, fur Palau; and the Petit Julia, I usquelieu, for Havre.

Last week, thirty-six Mates and Midshipmen
passed 'heir examinations for Lieutenants, at the
Royal Naval College, Portsmouth.
A new regulation has taken place in the pay of the
crews of Revenue cruizers—men who are not prime
seamen will receive in future SI 10s. per month,
the others g 2, as formerly.
The Venus, BARBER, arrived last week at Pool,,
fell in with ice twelve hours after leaving Green's
Pond, in Newfoundland, and remained entangled in
it ten days, during which time she was obliged to
cut her cables, and having thrown fenders over her
sides, the crew, aided by about fifty passengers,
forced the vessel through the ice 170 miles, in the
course of the ten days. The quantity of ice on the
coast of Newfoundland has scarcely ever been known
to equal that which has appeared the present season.
The snow lies so deep between Douglas Mill and.,
Moffat, that the London mail coach to Glasgow was
not able to get through on Fridab Saturday. and
Sunday se'nnigbt, the mails baring been forwarded
on horseback.

ASSIZES.

-77

ESSEX—CHELMSFORD, MARCH 15.
OYSTER Ft sii itallSt.—Josefth Barrel: and James Iraisht
were indicted for teloniouslY stealing eight bufhels of
oysters from off an oyster bed in the river Crunch,
the propirty of certain persons composing the Burn-
ham Oyster Company, and sufficiently marked out
as such.—Knight, the elder prisoner, was sentenced
!o be transported for seven years, and the other to
two years' imprisonment.
LATE GAME AC:T.—Da/tie! Forprce and ham CM
were indicted, under the late Game Act, for going
in the night, armed with guns, into the woods at
'rlety.loii B iis, with intent to kill pheasants, Sr.:.
which is a misdemeal:our subject .0 trawls wtazioa,
or a less punishment, in the dis:retion of the J•Age.
The enMMON SERJEANT led tae prOSetatinn, which,
he stated, was instituted by Colonel M. Burgoyber a
Gentleman of rank in the county, wl:o, with a view
to prevent the poaching that had been carried on in
his neighbourhood and in his own preserves, had pro-
cured an Officer from Boxy-street, who had come
down purposely from Londoe to detect the offenders.
Colonel Burgoyne stated, that he apprehended the'
two prisoners at Thorndon Gate, about five in the
morning; near them was found three guns and three
nets. There was a third in company, but he escaped.
On cross-examination he said he was a Magistrate
of the County—the Gentleman who had offered him.
self at the last Election to represent the County—
that be employed Ruthven, and he knew that Ruth-
yen was to accompany them and betray them.
Rutleren, the Police Officer, stated, that he went
down at the request of Colonel Burgoyne. He took
his lodgings at a public-house ' • he there got acquaint-
ed with a man of the name of Hutchings, who intro-
duced the two prisoners on the night of the 10th of
January ; they had never gone out before, but he
had several rimes bought game of Hutchings. He
then detailed their progress through the woods until
be led them into the trap -which he had prepared for
them. He said Colonel Burgoyne himself plasuied
the scheme..

The taking of the men was corroborated by several
witnesses who were with Colonel Burgoyne.
Mr. Cuttwooo addressed the Jury for the defen-
'Lints at considerable length, and said he felt satisfied
they would think there was not such evidence as to
warrant them to pronounce a verdict of guilty. It
was the duty of a good citizen of a State to obey all
its laws, whatever his private feelings might be, and
even to speak of them with respect ; and therefore he
would *ay nothing against the Game Laws : but he
felt justified in quoting the high authority of a great
Law Writer, who called them a bastard slip of the
Forest Laws ; and what the oppression of the Forest
Laws was, a slender knowledge of history would tell
them. That same writer had said, that in one Game
Act there was false grammar in no less than eight
places; from which, says he, it may be inferred who
were the peepers of the Statute. Most certainly, said
the Counsel, they were men who had studied more
the (reservation of their game than their grammar;
and he was inclined to think that the present Act
now in discussion was penned by the legitimate de-
' scendants of the penners of the former one; for it en-
acted, that whoever should be in the woods at night
time, that is to say, before eight A. at. on the Ist of
March, shall be guilty of felony—so that they had
determined the nigin should cover the earth until
eight o'clock in the morning 1 Now, although they
were bound to obey an Act of Parliament in every
thing, yet it might not be too much humbly to sub-
mit to there game legislators, that, in despite of their
enactment, the sun would continue his orderly course.
and that though they chose, for the preservation of
their pheasants, to say that it should be eight, yet in
stern opposition to their decree the sun would shine.
But these absurdities would follow when men acted
from strong passions, rather than sound reason. But
the reason he mentioned this was so shew them the
necessity of unimpeachable testimony, before they
convicted on such laws. Now what was the sum and
substance of the evidence as to the tact ? That Col.
Burgoyne had associated himself with a thief-taker
to entrap men into the actual commission of an of-
fence, for which identical offence he was now prose-
cuting them. The ancient and true policy of the law
required, that both in criminal and civil cases, every
tact should be proved by witnesses without the slightest
degree of interest in the event of a cause; and when
that principle had been departed from in certain cri-
minal cases, by giving rewards, the wisdom of the
ancient rule of law soon became manifest, for they
had of late seen to what dreadful consequences it had
led. The Jury without doubt knew the late transac-
tions at the Old Bailey. Colonel Burgoyne would,
perhaps, start back with indignation, if his conduct
was compared to Vaughan's, the thief-taker, who
was tried at the Old Bailey. But Colonel Burgoyne
bad an acute understanding by nature, which had
also been polished by education. Let him divest his
understanding of the clouds thrown over it by his
passion for his game, and let him discover the dille-
rence if he could. Vaughan seduced men into the
commission of an offence,. to betray them after wards.
Colonel Burgoyne had done exactly the same thing.
The one to gain money—the other to attain another
object, which, to his feelings, were doubtless of equal
value. Having commented at great length on this
sort of testimony, he contended it was not such upon
which the Jury would convict.
The Learned Judge, in summing up, told the
Jury the evidence was competent to be received, and
if, confirmed as it was, they did not disbelieve it, it
was their duty to find the prisoners guilty. Verdict,
Guilty. 'Dig were sentenced to six months' im-
priionment.
The Assizes concluded at a late hour on Saturday,
the Calendar having been the heaviest ever remem-
bered. There were 115 prisoners for trial, of whom
(i 8 were found guilty; of which number 27 received
sentence of death. The Judge, however, reprieved
23, and let t Joseph Clark, "farms Miller, William Cif-
fa, and William Hayden, for execution* The three
first were the ringleaders of a desperate gang of house-
breakers who had long infested the county ; the house
of. Joseph Clartt was the rendezvous of the gang,
from which they sallied forth disguised, their faces
blackened, and armed with pistols and bludgeons.—
rwo of Clark's sons were also convicted of burglaries.
Anus CAVION, for the murder of the illegitimate infant,
of her sister, whose case, from the peculiarity of its cir-
cumstances, had excited :much attention, was ac-
quitted. This last case was the only our: tot murder
in the Calendar.