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voice, that it was with much difficulty he could be heard. He faid, that on the evening of the robbery, he was walking in the Park he met a Mr. Head, a former acquaintance of his in Ireland, who had owed him a confiderable fum of money. After a converfation with him for fome time on various indifferent matters, he reminded him of his debt. Mr. Head replied, he could not conveniently pay him at that time, but that he would breakfast with him at his lodgings in the morning, and fettle the matter. With this anfwer the prifoner faid he was fatisfied, and in some short while returned home, and went to bed.

In the morning, finding Mr. Head difappointed him, by not coming to breakfast, he was determined to go to the Swan with Two Necks in Lad-lane, in hopes of meeting him, as he told him, the evening before, he lodged there; for that he was fhortly to go to Ireland. But he had not proceeded above a couple of freets in his way to Lad-lane, when he met Mr. Head. He faid, he remonftrated with him for not keeping his appointment, and urged, in a very preffing manner, the neceflity he had for the money he owed him. Mr. Head told him, that it was not immediately in his power to pay him, and, to convince him of it, pulled out his purie. He faid, he admired the purfe very much, and afked Mr. Head to give it him, as he thought it very handfome. Mr. Head replied, he would not; but that he fhould have it to make a prefent of to his wife; which he agreed to, and accordingly got the purfe. Mr. Head told him, that he had a bill for zool. on a lord, but that he could not obtain the money for fome little time; however, if the urgency of his affairs demanded his immediate fupply of cash, there was but one way left in which he could affift him, which was by giving him his watch to difpofe of. He mentioned, that it was made by a Mr. Beft, in Cornhill, and that in all probability he would purchase it. But declared his unwillingness to go with it himself, as it had not been long before that he had bought it from Mr. Beft; and that his going to fell it, would expole his poverty to him. The prifoner faid, that he was content with thefe reafons, and confented to go to Beft's himself. When he came near his house, Mr. Head faid he would go no further, but wait there 'till his return.

The prifoner faid, he confidered it would be but prudent to try what fome other perfon might offer for the watch, before he prefented it to Mr. Beft, and on that account he went into a ûlverfmith's fhop; the owner of which expreffed his ignorance of the value of watches, and therefore defired me to bring the watch to a perfon living near him, who had a knowledge in matters of the fort. He faid, he went with him to Mr. Beft's,

who

who claimed the watch as his property, and detained him as his prifoner. He explained to Mr. Beft how the watch came into his poffeffion, and told him, a number of times, that the perfon who gave it him was ftanding at the corner of a street in the neighbourhood, and entreated him to come along with him; and that if he had any apprehenfions of his efcaping, he had no objection to have a proper guard to attend him to the place. Mr. Bet paid no attention to his request, but was deaf to every thing he could fay, to induce him to accompany him to Mr. Head. For what reafon he had acted fo cruelly, fo inhumanly by him, he was at a loss to account: however, the fact was as he had stated it. He was then carried before a juftice, and perceiving that he was going to be committed to prifon, he fent a conftable to Lad-lane, to apprehend Mr. Head, if poffible, in order that his innocence in the affair might be manifested to the world. Word was brought him by the conftable, that Mr. Head was not at Lad-lane, but had gone for Ireland. He fuppofed the fudden flight of Mr. Head might be owing either to his having discovered that he was taken up, or that, from his not returning to him, he fufpected that all was not right, conscious himself of the crime he had been guilty of.

Thus, by Mr. Beft's conduct, the prifoner faid he had been reduced to the wretched fituation in which he now ftood. He was deprived, by the efcape of Mr. Head, of the only means which could have convinced the world that he was not that criminal man the evidence produced to-day againft him would reprefent him to be. He threw himfelf entirely on the goodness and humanity of the jury. He was convinced that at the fame time they must do ftrict juftice to their country, yet that they would mercifully attend to the peculiar circumftances and hardfhips of his cafe.

Mr. justice Buller, after this, fummed up the evidence, which had been delivered by the different witneffes. He obferved, that the defence made by the prifoner did by no means correfpond with the evidence which had been given: for, in the first place, the prifoner fays that Mr. Head told him that he bought the watch from a Mr. Beft. This, his lordship faid, Mr. Head could not have told him; or if he did, the falfity of fuch a declaration was positively proved by Mr. Beft, who fwears that he lent the watch to Mr. Leuward, while he was making him a new one. And in the next place, the prifoner fays that the purfe, which was found in his box, was given him by Mr. Head the morning after the robbery, to be prefented to his wife as a prefent; whereas it appears from the teftimony of two of the witneffes, that after he left his lodgings in the morning, he ne

ver returned to them again; and confequently, if he received the purfe from Mr. Head, he could not have put it in his box. On the whole, his lordship faid, the mere ipfe dixit of a prifoner ought never to have that weight with a jury, which the evidence of witneffes fworn in court was entitled to.

His lordship having concluded his charge, the prifoner preffed very hard for a further hearing, as he had fomething else to alledge in his defence, which might prove of fervice to him. However, he was peremptorily refufed his request by the judge for a long time. At length he was told, as he ftill perfifted in his wish to be heard, that he might speak, provided that he confined his obfervation to what had already paffed, and should not mention any new matter. The prifoner, on this permiffion being granted him, addressed himself to the jury, and was endeavouring to explain the inconfiftency that feemed in his account of getting the purfe, and its being found in the box; when the judge told the jury, what he had fpoken to them was nothing to the purpose, The jury then retired together, and, after fome minutes confideration, pronounced the prifoner GUILTY. He heard the melancholy words with the utmost compofure.

man.

The prisoner had much the air and appearance of a gentleWe understand that his grandfather is a gentleman of 1000l. a year in the county of Corke, in Ireland; and that the prifoner's elder brother, their father being dead, is his heir: that he has two uncles, each of whom poffeffes landed estates to the amount of more than 1oool. a year; and that they and the prifoner's brother, a moft amiable young gentleman, are all three in the commiffion of the peace for the county of Corke.

Gaming, it is faid, was what drove this unhappy young man to thofe courfes which have brought him into his prefent melancholy fituation, and involved, in difgrace and distress of mind, a moft refpectable family.

He acted, throughout the whole of his trial, with a manlinefs and decency of behaviour, that must have made every man who faw him, regret his unhappy fate. He is rather tall, and of a very genteel figure, with a tolerable handfome countenance.

The TRIAL of two PORTUGUESE SAILORS, at the OLD BAILEY, on Friday, July 25, 1783, for MURDER.

TH

HIS day was tried at the Old Bailey, Emanuel Pinto and Antonio De Cofta, for the murder of William Adair, an English failor. A variety of witneffes were produced, the fubftance of whofe evidence was as follows:-That the two pri

foners,

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foners, on a Tuesday evening, fome time ago, had come into a public-houfe near Eaft Smithfield, where the deceased was drinking that the deceafed, on their fitting down in the taproom, addreffed himfelf to one of the prifoners, Antonio De Cofta, in a very civil manner, but in return received from him a very rude anfwer: that on this, feveral Portuguese, who were prefent, interfered, and told the deceased, that if De Cofta had not been drunk, he was of a very peaceable difpofition, and that no man was lefs inclined to be quarrelfome, and therefore advised the deceased to go away, and not mind him that the deceafed accordingly followed their advice, and was leaving the house, when De Cofta purfued him to the door, and ftruck him: that on this a battle enfued between them, when the deceafed knocked down De Cofta, and dragged him feveral paces across the street, and beat him and kicked him fo feverely, that he moaned very much that De Cofta finding himself worsted, declined fighting any more, and the deceased walked away: that the prifoners, after this, held fome converfation in their own language, and immediately followed the deceased, together with another Portuguefe: that, on coming up with him, the prifoner, Emanuel Pinto, afked him how he dared to strike De Cofta, and where was his hat? That the deceased replied, he, knew nothing of his hat, for he had loft his own that Emanuel Pinto, without any further provocation from the deceafed, after calling him a thief and a rogue, gave him several stabs about the groin with a knife, which he concealed under the fleeve of his coat, in fuch a way, that the point only of it could be perceived that all the Portuguese feemed armed with knives or daggers; and that De Cofta had one, which he ftrove to conceal under a woman's apron, who was ftanding by; but that he neither attempted to ftab the deceased, or to give him a blow of any kind: that the deceased, on this, retired to his own houfe, which was in the neighbourhood, and directly fent for a furgeon, as he confidered himself mortally wounded: that the furgeon, when he came, found the inteftines of the deceased hanging out of his belly feveral inches, and that they were almoft cat through: that he dreffed the wounds, and fewed them up as well as he could, and went away that however, on a second vifit the next day, the deceased appeared much worse, and on the evening died: that, previous to his death, his depofition had been taken by a juftice relative to the matter, the prifoners being at the fame time brought before him that in this depofition he charged Emanuel Pinto only with his death: that befides, in a difcourfe which one of the evidences had with him, he declared De Cofta had fought him fairly; that he never at

tempted

tempted to ftab him, and that he would be forry that he should' fuffer; but that Emanuel Pinto was the man who occafioned his death.

The prifoners, after the above evidence had been gone thro' called two witneffes to their characters; both of whom bore teftimony to the quiet and peaceable difpofition of De Cofta, and alfo of Emanuel Pinto; but, of the latter, they confeffed that they had no great knowledge.

Judge Buller, as foon as he had fummed up the evidence, obferved to the jury, that it was very clear that the deceased received the wounds which caufed his death from Emanuel Pinto, who originally had no words or quarrel whatever with him; but when the battle between De Cofta and the deceafed was over, in the most unprovoked manner ftabbed him with a weapon which he had concealed; and therefore, if they credited the teftimonies of the witneffes, there could be little doubt entertained of his being guilty of the crime he flood charged with. With regard to the other prifoner, De Cofta, his lordship remarked, his cafe was widely different, and deserved their ferious attention; for, from the beginning of the affair, until the fight between him and the deceafed was over, there did not appear any thing except a fair battle between both parties. But then the jury will obferve, that the prifoners converfed together in their own language; the confequence of which was, that they pursued the deceafed with knives or daggers, which they endeavoured to conceal; and although De Cofta did not ftrike or ftab the deceased, yet, if they were convinced in their confciences that he went with a defign to do it, they must find him guilty as an acceflary, being equally criminal with the other. However, there were many circumstances in favour of De Cofta. The deceafed had declared he was innocent of his death; that he did not flab him; and that he fhould be very forry that he fhould fuffer, as he had fought him fairly.-And here, his lordfhip faid, he could not but admire the generofity and heroism of an English failor, that could forgive a man, who, though not the cause of his death, was yet confeffedly the firft promoter of the quarrel. There was another matter, his lordship faid, the jury fhould attend to, which was, the good character De Cofta

bore.

The jury then retired, and, after a ftay of about ten minutes, returned with their verdict; which was, that Emanuel Pinto was GUILTY, and Antonio De Cofta NOT GUILTY. Sentence was then paffed on the former, and he was ordered for execution on the Monday following.

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