Star.
London, England, 1827-12-26 00:00:00

THE MVBDI AT OX RD.

•
Throughout the entire of Monday the city Magistrates
were engaged to the examination of the different wit-
nesses, upwards of twenty iMniumber, who have given
evidence affecting the young man John.Witliams, in
custody for some time, charged on suspicion with having
.been the person who committed.the late murder in this
city, on the body of Ann Crutchley, which has excited
so much the public feeling. During last week he on-
' derwent two or three private examinations in the Audit-
room of the Town Hall, but this morning the Magistrates
determined to have the whole affair, as far as the pri-
soner was the most remotely concerned in it, publicly
investigated.
The prisoner himself was desirous that the investiga-
tion should be public; as he has hitherto, with the ex-
ception, perhaps, of those trifling levities to which youth
are too prone, borne a good and inoffeasive character
amongst all who knew him. His apprehension on so
serious a charge has excited the most irdenre anziet)
throughout this city, which was no[ a little increased by
the privacy with which the matter hit hitherto proceeded
before the Magistrates. The Town Clerk's Office, in
which the Mayor and Magistrates assembled to investi-
gate the matter, was crowded all day to excess.
A document was submitted to the Magistrates, Ale-
tailing the result of the examination • of the body of the
deceased, which was exhumed last week for the purpose,
made by Dr. Kidd, the Regius Professor of Anatomy
in the University, and three other medical Gentlemen.
This document states, that the deceased was a remark.
ably healthy subject at the time of her death, which was
occasioned. it says, by some sharp blunt instrument,
forcibly moved in different directions, after the wounds
in the vagina had been received. It is horrible to con-1
template the possibility of such diabolical villainy as is
intimated in this document. It is clear that the leceased
herself could never have inflicted them, and
.equally
clear that the instrument made use of was either ail
umbrella or stick ; neither of which was seen that night,
at any time, in the prisoner's custody, by any of the
witnesses.

The prisoner is about 30 years old, and bore a peace-
able characigr, with the exception that he was in the
habit of •auntingly alluding, especially before females,
to what he detailed as his exploits of strength in boxing,
and iliac he was too much in the company of loose fe-
males, such as the deceased. The latter was only three
or four months in Oxford, and was particularly ob-
noxious to the other wretched creatures who infest the
streets of this city ; and among other suppositions enter-
tained with regard to the murder, it was hinted that the
creme was inflicted by some of them in the wantonness
of barbarity and revenge.

Theilayor read the depositions of several of the wit-
nesses, which had been committed to writing; and as
ti e prisoner had only heard part of them, the entire
would now be read over in his presence.

Joseph Hedges was the first witness examined.—His
testimony as to the condition in which hennd his servant
found the unfortunate woman in Blue Boar-lane,was pre-
cisely the same as that given before the Coroner at the
inquest. lie deposed to the conduct of the prisoner
Williams on the night in question, as already stated by
him at the time when no particular suspicion attached
to Williams. When the watchman refused to allow the
deceased to enter his box, Williams offered him a shil•
ling to convey her home, and seemed to feel some anxi-
ety about the wretched woman. In consequence of
some observations made by Mr. Taunton, as to the diffr•
culties under which, far his client, he laboured in not
being allowed to be present at the former examinations,
when he might have cross-examined the witnesses, as
they gave their testimony viva voce, ft was agreed that
any of the depositions which Mr. Taunton desired, should
be read over a second time, to allow him an opportunity
to take down the evidence more minutely. - •
Several other of the witnesses who had given evidence
before the .Coroner's Jury were called in, and delivered
their testimony befine the Magistrates: As the principal
facts have been already detailed in the newspapers, it is
unnecessary here to reiterate them. The summary of
the evidence may be given thus:—•lt was clearly proved
that Williams was left at one time nearly three-quarters
of an hour alone with the unfortunate woman; and that,
previous to his being so left, no traces of blood were
discernable either on the ground or on her clothes.
The following is the new testimony advanced, which
was supposed to bear more directly in implicating the
prisoner :

Henry Bell, of IBley, near Oxford. sworn—l was one
of the Jurors at the Inquest, and my suspicions fell upon
the prisoner, as did those of my fellow Jurors. After
the verdict was returned. I went on a Tuesday to my
mother's house, who washed for Williams, thinking I
might be able to trace some stains of blood if my sus-
picions were true. I took a shirt from my mother's
hand, the wristband of which was much discoloured. It
appeared as if blond had been attempted to be washed
out ; my mother told me it was only the colouring
which Williams used in his business, and that his shirts
were often so. 1, however. shewed the shirt to the MAyor.
—(Here the witness produced the shirt, the sleeve of
which was certainly somewhat discoloured, but it had
not 'he appearance of blood.)
He was cross-examined by the Magistrates, but
nothing of consequence resulted.

Mr. Twurrote objected to these iepostions being al-
lowed to be sworn to. and sent before the Judge, on the
, ground that they did not contain one particle of evi-
-1 dance bearing on the case.
The MATO/ consulted the Town Clerk as to whe-
ther it would be proper to receive the depositions, and
that officer having replied that they ought, the Mayor
consented, and they were admitted.
Mary Bell, the mother of the last witness, washed
!for the prisoner a long time; the shirt her son took
from her was one of Mr. Williams's. Many times the
shirts have been in the same state when they came to
be washed. (The shirt was here handed to her.) She
sees nothing on it but what she has frequently before
seen on his shirts, and she told her son so when he took
it away. I said I thought it was the colouring he used
in his business that stained it.

Mrs. Barton, landlady of the City Arms, Oxford,
Sarah Parsons, her servant, and another witness, named
Flurey, gave testimony as to the particulars of a con-
versation between the prisoner and Flurey in the City
Arms the morning after the murder, in which the for-
mer stated that on the night before he had met two
Gentlemen, who pushed him, and "he thawed the claret
from them" In corroboration of which he stripped op
his arm, on which two of the witnesses said they saw
something like blood, while Parsons, who was nearest to
him, said it was only a piece of red watch ribbon, with
which he occasionaUy bound his wrist that he tad for-
merly sprained.
At a quarter after eleven, the. Magistrates retired into
their private chamber, and after some ,deliberation, the
prisoner was called in, and it was intimated to him that
-the most likely course which the Magistrates should
adopt, if their prtsent feeling continued, would be to

commit bun for trial. • They should, however, remand
him until Wednesday (this) morning. •
The prisoner bowed, and was removed in the cu•
tody of the gaoler, in the fly, to the City prison.
There was an immense number of persona oetsidt
the Town Hall, waiting till that late hour to catch a
glimpse of him. Little doubt iseatertained here that the
result will be the prisoner's acquittal, at least, so far as
the evidence has hitherto gone.
EDINB it(iitrMeIUCIIIIIIIZ* 20,

Monday se'nnight, one of the fishing boats- from
Portleshen, when about three voiles off •that place, semi
overtaken by a sudden squall, and upset. There were
five men in the boat, three of whOnvitAnsediattly found
a watery grave; and the other two Were with difficulty
saved, having, for some time,-ching ia 'a most perilous
situation to the bottom of the boat, from which they
were rescued by the crew of another boat, which had.
witnessed the accident. The three sufferers were bro-
thers, of the names of John, William; and Robert Main :
and what is a painful aggra►ation of the catastrophe,
I were all married men, leaving, bEsides their bereaved
widows, large families, in all nineteen in number.
The Corporation of M.ltmen in Glasgow have, with
their accustomed liberality, voted One Hundred. Guineas
to she Glasgow Asylum for the Blind.
BUILDING.—Owing, no doubt, to the over-building
of former years, mason work is unusually dull at pre.
I sent. An extensive builder, who has resided from his
infancy in this quarter, states that there is less buil:ling
going on at present than there has been any winter for
at least twenty years. The various trade., depending
on the erection of new buildings,•are of course realists
the effects of the dullness very severely. The wages of
the masons and joiners are at present from I is. to 12s.
a seek.

NATURAL Cuatoom.— There is to be seen in the
neighbourhood of Kippen a partridge._ which seems to •
have forsaken her companions in the field to asioctiine .
with the barn-door fowls of an adjoining farm. It is
not a little singular to see her come in the morning to
feed along with the fowls, and, after spending the whole
day in their domestic circle, retire in the evening to her
native wilds. So unusual an occurrence has attract-
ed considerable attention ; and it is worthy of remark,
that when the shades of evening induce the fowls to
' roost, the partridge, though it has never yet entered the
poultry house, makes every exertion to detain its in-
, mates from retiring to rest—and there is every proba-
bility for supposing, that ere long their intimacy • will
become so great as to overcome this intuitive reluctance
to a closer union.
THE FLOODED S orTHE COUNTRY.
• The West of England has not been for many years
so flooded as it is now, owing to the amazing con-
tinuance of rains. At Gloucester the banks of the
river Severn are overflowed, and the waters cover the
surrounding meadows, but not to any great depth,
though to the extent of, many hundred acres. None
of the roads, howeGer, artsimreded loy such floods, in
consequence of the high and. excellent embankments,
characterising modern improvements; and the same re-
mark will apply to the other roots, near to which it is
about to be mentioned there are also extraordinary floods.
Around the excellent stone bridge building across the
Severn, and just without Gloucesrer, the water is like.
wise out, but not so as to impede the progress of the
workmen. • : •

At several other places on the road to Hereford the
waters are out ; but on the side of such city leading
to Cheltenham, the waters cover the meadows for
miles, hating the appearance of a vast lake, the tops of
the trees, in the distance, appearing not unlike the
masts of barges, boats, &e. • end in many cases, espe-
cially around Tewkesbury, where site waters are out
as fat as the sight reaches from the roads, the appear.
*nets receive confirmation from the fact of large barges
occasionally sailing along the current of the river.--
Nearer London, at Maidenhead, he. the effccts of the
rain are visible in the large lakes formed in different
meadows; but the floods are not so extensive as they are
more west.

In Wales, it is mentioned, that in the most southern
parts the cross roads are in such a state, that, as far as
local and market traffic is concerned. the inhabitants
consider themselves 44 land locked ;" they are in many
cases absolutely impassable, but the operation upon
their markets has been most favourable, as far as the
interests of the consumers are concerned. Fine fat
fowls may be got at Sd. and 10d. each, and the very
finest beef fetched not more than 3d. the pound I

CURIOUS SCIENZ-.- A PIG its TRIBULATION.TIieSday
evening last the watchman heard a heavy and awful
splash in the lock•pit, apparently caused by the descent
into the water of a fel° de se- of the most determined
character. The alarm was given. Every eye was
straitened towards the lock pit—every hand extended
to afford aid. Ropes were pot in requisition—lanterns
and torches were called for ! The splashing. and fl run.
derings of the unhappy object of solicitude were heard
distinctly, and, at interval!, a faint cry, 'and hollow
gurgling murmur. One anxious individual on the
bank declared that he could see the sufferer—that he
*as a- Gentleman, for he wore his hair powdered! On
a second look, he exclaimed, No! it is a bald poll; the
unhappy man has lost his wig, in his exertions to keep
his head above water ! • Anxiety and suspense were at
length put an end to by the arrival of lights and ropes,
when, lo ! not a Gentleman in a powdered wig—or a
plebeian without a wig at all—was rescued from a
watery grave, but (rejoice, ye consumers of bacon) a
fine fat pig.—Hull Packet.
RESURRECTIONISTS.—Thursday a considerable sen-
sation was excited in Elgin by the discovery of a human
body in It box brought from Forres by Angus Nicolson,
carrier, to be forwarded to Edinburgh by the Duke of
Gordon coach. The proprietor of the coach having
observed a similar package sent last week to the same
address, " South Bridge, Edinburgh," shrewdly sus-
pected that all was not right, and to elicit the truth, re-
marked to the carrier that he feared it contained contra-
band goods; his suspicions being confirmed by the man-
ner of the denial, he communicated them to an Exc.:e
officer, who, on raising the lid of the box, found it
contained the body of a young man tied up in a portable
form. The body was deposited in the guard room, to
be identified by the friends of the deceased; and the
Sheriff has taken measures for the detection of the
perpetrators of the outrage. The body of a boy about
11 years of age was last month stolen from the church
yard of Raiford, near Formai the resurrectionists hav-
ing been scared, ran away with their booty, leaving the
,p4rapharnalia of death strewed about the open grave,
into which 'a person stumbled at night, when running
to extingui,h a fire in a mill. In„uiry was in conse-
quence made, and the body was found in a cask sent
to Burghead, to be transmitted to Edinburgh by sea.--
Aberdeta Journal.

CORN EXCHANGE, MARK-LANE, Dec. ed.
We were well supplied with all descriptions of Grain sines Mess-
day, but there helot but few buyers at market this morales (Quanta
to the holidays), we are forced to quite oar price. noamlly its co
Monday for all kinds of Grain.

• Nit.6l