Star. — 1821-05-23 (London, England)

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, DUBLIN, MAY 19.  HIGHCOURTVADMIRALTY,EDINBURGIL  SHIP  LTHIER PARTICULARS.  ;Felonious Sinking of Vessels, for the purpose of defrauding the Owners of the Cargoes, and the Underwriters at Lloyd's and Glasgow.]  The Court met on the 12th May, at two o'clock, when the Jury delivered in a written verdict, finding , M,Dougali guilty at•commonlaw.of procuring manners to sink the vessel called the Friends, with the intent of defrauding the owners of the cargo and the underwriters. After hearing Mr. MURRAY in mitigation of punishment, the Juioa ADMIRAL pronounced sentence, ordaining the prisoner to be transported beyond seas for life. There must have been considerable diversity of opinion in the Jury on this case' as they took three hours and a half to make up their verdict. Had M,Dougall been brought in guilty under the statute on which be was indicted, he must have been sentenced to death; but the Jury having brought in a special verdict, only finding him guilty at common law, the punishment ceased to be capital, and banishmeat for life was the highest punishment the Judge could inflict. Tke following is the clause in the Act under which M'Dougall was indicted :  " That if any Owner of, or Captain, Master, Officer, or Mariner, belonging to any ship or vessel, shall, after the first day of September, in the year 1789, wilfully cast away, burn, or otherwise destroy, the ship or vessel of which he is Owner, or to which be belonged, or in anywise direct or procure the same to be done, with intent or design to prejudice any person or persons that bath or shall underwrite any policy or policies of insurance thereon, or of any Merchant or Merchants that shall load goods therein, or of any Owner or Owners of such ship or vessel, the person or perssns offending therein being thereof lawfully am. victed before any Court competent to the trial of such crimes, in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, shall suffer death, as in other cases of capital crimes." Two objections were taken to the applicability of the Statute. The first was, that the Court had not the best possible evidence of M'Dougall being a partnerin the vessel, the voucher presented in proof of this material fact being a copy of the ship's mike,. I in place of the register itself; the second was, that the Act confines itself to " Owners," whereas M'Dougall was only a part owner. The Jury found that M'Dougall's case did not come under the provisions of the Act, and accordingly restricted their verdict, and saved his life. After sentence was pronounced, the Court next proceeded to the trial of the same John M'Dougall and Archibald M'Lachlan, for robbing and sinking the Mary, ofGlasgow, in June last, when M'Lachlan pleaded Guilty, under the common law, and was sentenced to transportation for fourteen years. Nl.Dougall pleaded Not Guilty, and the diet was continued against him to the 11th of June. It is not supposed that the trial will be proceeded with.  iday afternoon an attempt was made by a number of the prisoners confined in the Bridewell of Edinburgh to break out. They knocked down the Keeper, and succeeded in possessing themselves of his keys. An instant alarm was, however, given, and the delinquents were speedily overpowered, and again secured, with the exception of_ one man, who escaped in the confusion.  Friday evening, the notorious David Haggart, accused of the murder of the Jailor at Dumtries, was conveyed to Edinburgh, in custody of some Sheriff's efficers, and safely lodged in jail. He was heavily ironed, but appeared not at all impressed with a sense of his crimes.  Swan, who was executed for forgery at Glasgow last week, is said to have told one of the town officers, on the morning of his execution, that he was in the hay-loft along with the Cato-street conspirators, and made his escape by a back window.  A fellow, named Howlett, was publicly whipped yesterday morning at Camden town, for stealing pewter pots, of which offence he was found guilty at the Old Bailey last Sessions. He used to dress himself in the garb of a pot-boy, and call at people's houses for the pots belonging to the publicans by whom he knew them to be supplied. He was flogged a measured distance of 100 yards.  Bow-