Star.
London, England, 1820-07-22 00:00:00

cipally by the dying dectaratiorts and depositions of
the deceased. It appeared ,that tlfe plisoner :was
garbekeeper to T. F. Pane, Esq. and that the deceased
was a labouring man, confessedly addicted to pouch-‘
ing. On. the evening of the 28th of December last,
the prisoner was on the look-ont for poachers, armed
with a double-barielled fowling-piece. When he en-
tered Dogwood, the property of his master, he heard
a gun go off, and as he proceeded he saw the de-
ceased discharge a gun at a hen pheasant, upon
which he went up to the deceased and said, " Is it
you?" The latter replied in the affirmative, and said,
" Keep off, or I'll shoot you." The prisoner instantly
levelled his gun at the deceased, at the distance of a
rod and a half, and fired off both barrels, and wounded
him in the groin with a slug, slightly touching his,
Skin with small shot, The deceased fell immediately,
and groaned with the excess of pain. Prisoner came
close up to him and said, "If you offer to stir, I'll
blow your b—y brains out." The deceased replied,
" You have killed nie—l am a dead man," and the
prisonce left him immediately, in the agonies of
death. The deceased contrived to crawl about the
distance of a mile to the cottage of a man named Day,
where he was admitted, and told what had happened
to him. He was removed in a cart to the cottage
of his mother, at Southweald, and a surgeon being
sent for from Brentwood, the wound'was pronounce 4
mortal. His intestines then protruded eight or tea
inches from his body, and he told the surgeo:l that his
assistance would be of no use, as he was a dying man.
—The surgeon immediately took from the much of
the deceased his account of the transaction, and put
it on paper. Information was then given to Arch-
deacon tVoollas;on, a Magistrate, ,who, as soon as
possible, attended the deceased, and took, his dying.
declaration on oath, as above stated in substanie, the
deceased declaring that there was no other person
with him. A warrant was issued fo. the apprehen-
siOn of the prisoner. He was at first denied by his
wife, but being heard to cough, the house was
searched, and he was taken into custody, and in two
hours afterwards was brought into the presence of
the deceased, who was re.sworn to the deposition he
had made, and which was read over to the prisoner.,
—The declaration of the prisoner was then taken ,
down, which stated, that when he saw the deceased
knock down a ten pheasant, he went up to him, and
the deceased immediately said, " D—n your eyes, if
ypu don't stand, shoot you;" and presented his
gun at him. Prisoner apprehending danger to him- ,
self, immediately fired one barrel of his gun, and '
one only, in which was a slug, and then ran after
another man, who appeared to have been in
company with the deceased, but could not catch
him. The deceased died the next day. It appeared
that when the prisoner was taken into custody, he
stated to the constable, that upon seeing the pri-
soner he put two or three slugs into his piece from
out of his pocket, and ran after him. He further
said, that when he went out for the night, he always
loaded his gun with slugs. It appeared that the gun
of the deceased had been discharged before the pri-
soner came up to him; and the deceased, on his
dying bed declared, that he bort no malice towards
the prisoner, and, that had his gun been loaded, per-
haps he might have shot the prisoner.
The prisoner being called upon for his defense put
in a written paper, containing the following words :
" It is, and ever will be a matter of regret, to me,
that I should be the cause of the death of a fellow-
creature; but hearing, and believing that there were
other men in Dogwood, I was actuated from fear
that my own life was in danger."
Two or three witnesses were called to prove that
the deceased was a notorious poacher, and that.he
had frequently expressed great hostility towards
gamekeepers in general.
A vast number of witnesses, amongst whom were
Colonel Hamilton and Sir William Clayton, by both
of whom the prisoner had been employed as game-
keeper, gave him a , most excellent character fur a
humane and peaceable disposition. -
The LORD CIIIEF JUSTICE charged the Jury with
three propositions :—First, if they were of opinion
that the prisoner acted from motives of self-defence,
under an apprehension that his own life was in dan-
I I ger, he would be entitled to a general verdict of
Not Guilty ; second, if they were of opinion that the
discharge of his gun was not only not necessary for
self-defence, but a wanton act of malice towards the
deceased, then they would find him guilty of the
whole•charge of wilful murder; and, third, if they
were of opinion that lie acted under the impression
that discharging his gun was necessary for his de-
fence, but that he did so incautiously and hastily,
then they. would find him guilty of manslaughter.
The Jury, after hearing the whole of the evidence
recapitulated by the Learned Judge, deliberated for
about five minutes, and found the prisoner Guilty
of Manslaughter.
The Curer-Jurricr, in passing sentence, expressed
a hope that the awful fate of the deceased would be
a wholesome warning to gamekeepers, in the dis-
charge of their duty, not wantonly to sport with the
lives of their fellow-creatures, even though they
might be engaged in an unlawful pursuit. The
Court, taking into consideration the imprisonment
which he had already suffered, adjudged him to be
further imprisoned in the County Jail for the term
of nine calendar months.

Uniort llmx.--.Yesterday, John Lane, .Tasiak Frreth, John
Walker, and Join Clark, were brought before rt. J. CUANIIILAS and
D. Kum, &qrs. the Sitting Magistrates, charged with a constri-
racy to raise the price of wages, and to prevent their masters
from taking three apprentices.
Mr. Daniel, of Broad-wall, Christ Church, hatter, deposed,
, that he knew of a number of journeymen hatters having struck
work on account of wages, wanting an advance, and also to re-
gulate the trade respecting apprentices. It had long been a cus-
tom among the journeymen, that no master should take more
than two apprentices, unless thershould be his own was ;•tbat
Stine-tenths of the muter hatters have lately taken an additional
third apprentice, as by an Act of Parliament of the 17th Geo.
111. c. 55. sect. 2. they are allowed to take as many apprentices
as journeymen; that in consequence of the masters taking the.
third apprentice, the major part of the journe,men keep front
their 'work, and many of them have not worked for the last six
weeks, and he has every reason to believe the four prisoners are
concerned as official characters.

Several other master hatters deposed, that in consequence of
their having lately taken a third apprentice, their workmen had
am:h.—The charge was completely made out, and the hiagts-
trates sentenced the four prisoners to two months imprisonment
in Ibisten jail, to hard labour, from which they, appealed to the
Quarteftessions, and found bail for their appearance.
Thursday, J. Menus, a journeyman hatter, was brought to the
abovi Office, charged with an outrage at the shop of Mr: TiPin,
a master hatter, in Castle-street, St. Saviour's. It appeared that
the prisoner entered the premises between six and seven o'clock
in the evening, and began to abuse two num who were