back; Garside then fired. The man might have got twenty yards from the Clap-gate when the shot was fired; the man who was shot fell across the road. When the shot was fired, we all ran away to the canal-bridge near the factory, where we agreed to meet. I went by myself over the fields; they were standing on the bridge, when I met them; Garside had the pistol in his hand. I asked if the man was dead? He said, "Yes, dead enough. He never stirred after." There was a man coming along the towing-path by the canal side, and we stooped down under the battlement of the bridge, to prevent him seeing us. After he passed, we all went away together. I asked which of the Ashtons they shot, and they said it did not mean (matter) which, it was one of them. They appointed for me to meet them the next day at the Bull's Head, at Marple, and we parted. I slept that night in a boat of J. Bennett's, of Hatherlow; I saw them about dinner-time on the 5th of January; it was agreed, that I was to go to the seventh lock on the canal, if I did not find them at the Bull's Head. That was to receive my share of the money; we did meet at the Bull's Head, and the man I have before named, James Scholfield, or Stanfield, was there. He said he had settled with the other two, and he would settle with me; he then pulled out three sovereigns; I would take only two, saying I would be content with that. They then signed a book, and I put my mark to it. I cannot read. We then all went down on our knees, and holding a knife one over the other, said, one after another, "We wished God might strike us dead, if we ever told." The man who paid the money did it first, and then Garside. In his cross-examination this wit ness admitted, that, before he made the confession, he had heard the witnesses before the Magistrates describe the dress of the men who were met in the lane, and some other particulars, which were now relied upon as a confirmation of his evidence; and it appeared that the account given by him now of the circumstances at the scene of the murder (the relative situations of himself and the others concerned, &c.) differed from his statement before the magistrates in some particulars. Mr. John Stavely Barratt: I am deputy constable of Stockport. I apprehended Joseph Mosley on the 13th of April. I told him the charge. He said he knew nothing about it, for he was from home at the time, on a journey from Chester to Liverpool, and that he never heard of it until his return home at the latter end of the week. The prisoner, Joseph Mosley, here denied that he had said so in reference to the charge about Mr. Ashton, but with reference to the other felonies which Mr. Barratt said the prisoner Garside, who was then in Derby gaol, charged Mosley with having committed. He also declared that Mr. Barratt had visited his brother in gaol, and given him money repeatedly to induce him to make a statement. Questions on these points were put by the learned judge, to Mr. Barratt, who distinctly repeated that Mosley said so with reference to the charge of Mr. Ashton's murder. Mr. Barratt was then questioned at considerable length by his lordship about the money he had given to William Mosley. He stated, that he had given him 2s. on one occasion for tobacco, and 1s. on another occasion; and that he was in the habit of giving similar small sums as indulgences to prisoners who had behaved well, as Mosley did, while in his custody. Mosley asked him for money to buy tobacco with. He was positive that he had not given Mosley any more than those 3s. William Mosley, the accomplice, was recalled, with a view to be cross-examine as to the money he received from Mr. Barratt. Mr. Barratt gave me no money but my own. It was 10s. or 11s. Mr. Barratt has visited me since I I have been in gaol. He gave me 10s. or 11s. at different times. He did not tell me to say Garside fired the shot, nor that if I did not confess, I would be hanged. The first money he gave me was 3s. I asked him for it, but did not say what it was for. The second time he saw me he gave me 3s. more, and the time after that 2s. He never gave me 17. at a time. William Jeffery Lockett, esq.: I am a magistrate of the county of Derby, and one of the visiting magistrates of the gaol there. I first saw Garside in the evening of the 11th of April. Mr. James Ashton was with me. Garside then said nothing very material, but I made my own memoranda of what he said. There was no promise or inducement held out to him to say what he did. On the 14th of April I was told Garside wanted to see me. I ordered him to be brought up. He wished to know if Joseph Mosley was in custody, and if he (Garside) was to be admitted evidence for the Crown? I said I thought it likely Mosley was in custody, but that the admitting him (Garside) evidence for the crown must depend on the discretion of the Court. Seeing that he was desirous to make some further communication to me, I cautioned him of the possible consequences, and begged him, if he had made any communication to Dr. Forrester, or wished to make any further one to me, under the impression that he would be admitted a witness for the crown, to dismiss the expectation from his mind. He was then a convict suffering eighteen month's imprisonment. There was a proclamation in the London Gazette of the 6th of January, 1831. I have seen it. He admitted that he did not know more of the matter than he had stated to Dr. Forrester, and would state it. He was about to make his statement, when he said, "Stop! let me first see the Hue and Cry." I got one of the turnkeys to fetch it. The prisoner read the proclamation relating to the murder of Mr. Ashton, and I read it over to him afterwards. [The proclamation excepted from pardon the actual murderer.] He was very much agitated. He asked me "Can I be made a witness without a pardon?" I said, do you mean the offence for which you are now in prison? He said "Yes." I declined to answer his question, although I had an opinion upon it. He wished to make his statement; but I, seeing that he was much agitated, declined to receive it then, but said I would return at 8 o'clock, when he would be more composed. I did so, and after he became composed a little I took his statement. This was on the 14th of April. Cross-examined: I cannot tel whether the disclosure he made to me was with a hope that he would receive a pardon, or on the faith of the proclamation; but, if so, it was contrary to my express caution. Mr. John Simes, Governor of Derby gaol, was put into the box to be cross-examined for the prisoner Garside. The prisoner Garside sent to tell me that he wished to communicate something respect ing a murder. He told me it was the murder of Mr. Ashton; but he declined to say any any more until he should see a magistrate. Dr. Forrester did see him in my presence, and when his clerk, Mr. Whiston, was not present. The prisoner asked Dr. Forrester if he could be pardoned. The Doctor and I both said we could say nothing about it until we saw the Hue and Cry, which was brought and read to the prisoner. He refused to say anything more at that time, until he should see the Stockport magistrates. Dr. Forrester ordered me to take Garside off the treadmill, to separate him from the other prisoners. The statement made to Dr. Forrester was made after hearing the Hue and Cry read. The statement of William Mosley, the accomplice, was then put in and read; it was in substance the same as his viva voce exan.ination. The learned judge cautioned the jury that this document was not any evidence against Garside, and would not be evidence at all against any one, except to explain the above observation of the prisoner Joseph Mosley, which was made with reference to it. Mr. Lockett, the magistrate, was recalled, and proved the confession made by Garside at Derby, which was put in and read. In many of the minor circumstances it tallied with the statement of William Mosley, the accomplice, but differ. ed from it in many material ones; among others, it stated, that it was Joseph Mosley who fired the shot; that the murder had been instigated, planned, and paid for by the Spinners' Union; and that Joseph Mosley said he would shoot all the Ashtons if the unions would give him 101. a-piece for doing so. Mr. James Ashton: I am brother of the deceased. On the 3rd of January, 1881, I had the superintendence of the Apthorne Mills, and my brother that of the Woodley Mills. I was in the habit of going along the private road from our house to the Apthorne Mills, about 7 o'clock every evening; but, on the day in question, having gone out on a visit, I requested my brother to take my place at the Apthorne Mill. There was great excitement then in the neighbourhood, in consequence of some dispute about wages between the master-manufacturers and the spinners. There was a turnout of the men, and I discharged one man for belonging to the Union. This was the case for the prosecution. The prisoner Garside, when called upon for his defence, said, that he had been told by Dr. Forrester that he would obtain not only a pardon for the offence for which he was then suffering imprisonment, but for the murder also, besides getting a part of the reward, and that Dr. Forrester told him the proclamation was quite sufficient for him. He also said that Dr. Forrester was kept away from the trial on purpose, or he would admit this fact if he were in court. The prisoner further stated that conversations to a similar effect had passed between him and Mr. Sims, the governor of Derby gaol. Mr. Sims, being recalled, entirely denied the truth of this statement. The prisoner, Joseph Mosley, put in a written defence, denying any participation in, or a knowledge of, the crime; and charging many crimes and felonies both upon his brother William and the prisoner Garside, the latter of whom he said would not hesitate to swear away any man's life for drink. He also made a long statement respecting the nature and objects of Mr. Barratt's visits to his brother, William Mosley, while in gaol, and requested that a prisoner, now in gaol, should be called to speak to the facts. Enoch Bradley was then brought into the dock, and he gave a long and circumstantial account of the conversations he had at various times had with William Mosley, since the latter has been in gaol. Among other things which he had been told by William Mosley was, that Mr. Barratt had got him put into the condemned cell upon his arrival at Chester Castle, and told him he should continue there till the assizes, if he did not make a statement; that about 8 o'clock in the evening he was removed from the condemned cell to the hospital, and told by Barratt that he should have every thing he wanted, if he would make a statement; that he was again put into the condemned cell on the Saturday, and told by Barratt to make a statement, to which he (Barratt) would help him by suggestions. Witness observed to William Mosley that he had not been well kept by Barratt, as he had been fourteen days in the hospital, and had had only hospital fare; upon which William Mosley replied, that he had alreaty received 17s. from Mr. Barratt, and might have as much more as he wanted by asking for it; adding, that as his money way nearly done (expended), he should write, if Mr. Barratt did not come again soon. Witness further stated that William Mosley had told him that Mr. Barratt promised him (Mosley) a share of the reward offered for the conviction of the murderers of Mr. Ashton, and 207. out of his (Barratt's) own pocket. In cross-examination, on the voir dire, by the Attorney General, Bradley stated that he was in custody to be tried at these assizes on a charge of stealing silk; and that he had been twice before in Chester gaol, once under sentence of imprisonment for six months. Roger Flinn, a prisoner in the gaol under sentence for a misdemeanour, who was in the hospital at the same time with William Mosley, and to whom Bradley had referred as knowing something of the conversations between him and William Mosley, was ordered to be brought up by the learned judge, but upon being questioned, he entirely denied having any knowledge of the matter. William Mosley, the accomplice, was again recalled by the learned judge, and he declared that the story of his conversations with Bradley, as stated by that witness, was untrue in every particular. Mr. John Dunstan, the governor of Chester Castle, was then called by the Attorney General, to explain the statement respecting the Mr. Dunstan condemned cell. being sworn, stated that William Mosley was placed in the condemned cell on his arrival, merely for the purpose of keeping him separate from the others, and until another arrangement could be made respecting him, there not being at that moment more than two yards in the prison for prisoners before trial. Mr. Baron Parke summed up the evidence. The jury, after having retired from the box for a few minutes, found that Garside was the actual murderer, and returned a general verdict of guilty against both the prisoners, who instantly fainted in the dock. Mr. Baron Parke immediately passed sentence of death. In consequence of the abolition of the Welsh judicatures, a question arose, whether it was the duty of the sheriff of the city of Chester or of the sheriff of the county, to see the judgment of death carried into execution. Both having refused to act, the prisoners were respited; and it appearing that the decision of the question between the two sheriffs might lead to greater delay than was at first anticipated, the prisoners were, in Michaelmas term, brought up before the court of King's Bench; and in obedience to the order of that court, the sentence was carried into execution by the marshall. MIDLAND CIRCUIT, DERBY, George Maltby, George Sutton, Joseph Baker, James Goodwin, John Bunting, Thomas Bagshaw, William Stone, Charles Harrison, Daniel Harrison, Isaac Goodwin, Richard Sutton, Jonathan Rowland, Samuel Turner, Abraham Beresford, Abraham Doxey, Benjamin Marsden, and Thomas Skidmore, were arraigned on the coroner's inquisition for the mur. der of Francis Taylor, Isaac Bagshaw, and Thomas Wager, by suffocation in a mine at Ashford, in the month of September 1833. All the prisoners pleaded "not guilty." The grand jury having ignored the bill as against the last named seven of the above prisoners, a verdict of acquittal was taken for them by consent of the counsel for the prosecution, and they were ordered to be discharged. The remaining ten were then put upon their trial, having been first arraigned on an indictment for the murder of Bagshaw. The indictment in substance charged the prisoners with having, on the morning of the 2nd of September last, feloniously, wilfully, and of malice aforethought, made a fire of straw in a certain mine called "the Great Red Soil Mine," situated at Ashford, in the parish of Bakewell, and put into the fire a quantity of oil of coal, sulphur, and other combustibles, whereby they caused noxious fumes, smoke, and vapour to arise in the said mine, by which the said Isaac Bagshaw, upon descending into the said mine for the purpose of entering upon his lawful business therein, was suffocated and murdered. The prisoners pleaded "not guilty. William Wager said he was a farmer and mine-proprietor, living in the Peak of Derbyshire: he is not a proprietor either of the Red Soil or the Magpie mines. He was never down the Magpie mine; but is well acquainted with the other, having gone down into it as a grand juror on the 8th of July last. It is the custom, when there is a dispute about cross veins in |