819. FRANCISCO proceedingsdefend , a Tyrolese, was indicted, for that he, on the 16th of October , with a certain pistol, loaded with gunpowder and a leaden bullet, unlawfully, wilfully, maliciously, and feloniously did shoot at Richard Marryan proceedingsvictim , he being in his dwelling house .

RICHARD MARRYAN < no role > sworn. - Q. Where do you live? - A. No. 44, Lombard-street .

Q. What business are you? - A. A goldsmith : On the 16th of October, about half past five in the afternoon, the prisoner at the bar came into my shop, and placed himself about one yard from the fill of the door; I had two candles burning, tho it was not dark; I had just risen from my feat, and on turning round, I saw that the prisoner had advanced a little way into the shop, the door was standing open; as soon as I saw him, I was going to address him as I would a customer coming into the shop; he instantly drew a pistol from his broast, with his right hand, and pointed it directly to my body; immediately, the prisoner said, your money; I replied, what! he said again, your money; I said, I have none; he again said, your money, pointing the pistol rather nearer, and in a more resolute tone of voice, if possible, than before. Upon his last demand, and my refusal, Mr. Minett came in, and passed him behind, very near to his right hand; Mr. Minett could not see the pistol he had in his hand, from the position in which he stood, with his back towards the door, till after he had passed the prisoner; Mr. Minett then drew back, and the prisoner held a pistol to us both, in order to terrify us; I was going to desire Mr. Minett to seize him, but apprehending the prisoner might shoot him, I refrained; he still continued pointing the pistol at Mr. Minett, and I drew< no role > a little nearer, in case he had fired at Mr. Minett, to seize him; I believe the prisoner, seeing my motion, instantly pointed the pistol at my head, over the counter, at not more than a foot distance; I threw my hand back and shut my eyes, and the contents of the pistol went into the wall; I instantly put my hand to my head, for I felt my face burn and tingle very much; I thought I had received the contents in the upper part of my head; I clapped my hand to my forehead, and found no blood; the prisoner ran out of the shop, and I instantly pursued him into the street; I very soon got fight of him, with a pistol in one hand, if not in both; I called out stop him, that is he, stop him; every body was runningfrom him, in all directions, no one would pursue him; I came up with him in about a hundred yards; I have walked the ground over since, and I think it is about a hundred yards; I saw the prisoner on the pavement; I was in the middle of the street; the prisoner then halted, with his shoulder against the wall, as if to prevent any person from coming behind him, and pointed a pistol at me again; some person rushed in upon him, but I could not see who, my eyes were fixed upon the prisoner and his pistol; a Captain Stewart ran in upon him in front, at my right hand, and I immediately followed; the prisoner had a pistol in his right hand, endeavouring to defend himself, and I believe would have discharged it, but the hammer was down; I then left the prisoner, thinking he was secure, but finding he made great resistance, I returned and laid hold of his collar, and he was taken to the Poultry Compter.

Q. Are you sure he is the man that came into your shop? - A. I am positively sure I kept my eye upon him.

Q. Had he any other pistol when he was taken? - A. I understood he had, but I saw but one.

Q. Did you know any thing of this man before? - A. No.

Q. Considering the time that he was in the shop, and the short time that elapsed before he was taken, are you perfectly satisfied that he is the man? - A. Perfectly; my face was very much burnt for several days; the City Marthal said it was from the wadding.

Q. Can you tell whether it was loaded with ball? - A. The ball was taken out of the wainscoat.

Q. Was there no hole in the pannel before? - A. There was not; it had just been painted.

Mr. Knapp. Q. Did you yourself see the ball found? - A. Yes.

Court. Q. At the time the pistol was fired, was it in a direction towards you? - A. Over my head; it was within an inch; I think it was owing to my holding my head back, that I did not receive the contents; I saw the pistol very near my head, and I threw my head back.

Cross-examined by Mr. Stephens. Q. You must have been a good deal slurried I suppose? - A. Yes.

Q. Were you master of your own observations and ideas, at the time? - A. Yes.

Q. You must have possessed a very unusual presence of mind; when the prisoner came into the shop first, he left the door open? - A. Yes.

Q. Did he return to shut the door? - A. No, he made no return.

Q. Lombard-street is a very well frequented street at that time in the evening, I should suppose? - A. Yes.

Q. Were there many people passing at that time? - A. Yes, for what I know, or there might be none passing.

Q. Generally the foot path is pretty well trodden? - A. Yes.

Q. Before your friend came into the shop, the prisoner did not present the pistol at you? - A. I thought that quite enough.

Q. Don't be pert; I shall expect you will give me your answeres with great coolness and great candor. He did not present the pistol at you till your friend came in? - A. He pointed it at my body.

Q. He did not pull the trigger? - A. No.

Q. And it was not till there was a witness in the shop that he discharged the pistol? - A. No.

Q. Mr. Minett passed him you say? - A. Yes.

Q. How near did Mr. Minett continue to him? - A. I cannot tell; I kept my eye upon the prisoner and his pistol.

Q. You cannot tell where Mr. Minett stood? - A. Not exactly; he went on towards the end of the shop.

Q. I thought you told us that he more than once pointed the pistol at Mr. Minett? - A. Yes.

Q. How can you say he pointed the pistol at Mr. Minett, when you don't know where Mr. Minett stood? - A. He stooped down, and I lost fight of him.

Q. How could you tell, if you had lost fight of him, that the prisoner pointed the pistol at him? - A. He pointed his pistol at Mr. Minett; Mr. Minett drew back and stooped down; I kept my eyes upon the prisoner directly, and drew a little nearer to him, in order to lay hold of him, in case he fired at Mr. Minett.

Q. Your attention was occupied at that awful moment in the safety of Mr. Minett, whom you did not see, and not upon the preservation of your own life? - A. My eye was upon the prisoner and the pistol.

Q. And yet you say you intersered to save Mr. Minett's life? - A. Yes.

Q. When you saw Mr. Minett no longer, it was your momentary apprehension that induced you to stop forward? - A. Not forward; I stepped rather aside.

Q. The process of your ideas were, I will step towards him, that I may be ready to seize him after he has committed the act? - A. Yes.

Q. Now I want some exact information respecting this place; what is the size of your shop; how wide is it? - A. It may be a little wider than that table, not much.

Q. There is a counter in the shop, I believe? -- A. There is.

Q. What is the width of that counter? - A. It is a very narrow one; it is narrower towards the door, where the prisoner and I stood, than towards any other part.

Q. How wide is it at that part where the prisoner and you stood? - A. I suppose about two foot.

Q. You were behind the counter? - A. Yes.

Q. What distance is there from the counter to the wainscot? - A. It is very narrow, there is not room for two to pass.

Q. Is there not a seat or a bench at that end of the counter? - A. Yes.

Q. What is the size of that bench? - A. I don't know, it may be six inches wide.

Q. Do you sit upon it? - A. Occasionally.

Q. That is hardly wide enough to sit upon, I should think? - A. It is hardly wide enough, but it is made narrow, in order to have room to pass.

Q. Is it a bench or a stool? - A. It is a bench fixed to the wainscot.

Q. That bench runs home to the window? - A. It does.

Q. Did you sit at the time between the bench and the counter? - A. Not when the prisoner came in.

Q. Where were you sitting then? - A. A little more to the left; a little more in the shop.

Q. When the prisoner first spoke to you, and asked your money, where were you? - A. In the same position, a little lower down.

Q. When you advanced towards the prisoner, where were you? - A. I advanced towards the bench, between the bench and the counter.

Q. At that time then you were at the narrowest part of the counter, where it does not exceed two seet? - A. Yes.

Q. You say the prisoner was standing close to the counter? - A. No, I never said he came close to the counter.

Q. Where did the prisoner stand at the time when you advanced towards him to be ready to seize him? - A. He never moved his seet, only his body.

Q. How near the counter did the prisoner stand? - A. I suppose about a foot, or rather more, from the counter.

Q. Are you sure? - A. I am not sure; I never measured it; he stood about the middle of the door-way.

Q. Did the prisoner stand where he had stood from the time he entered the shop, or did he move, and where? - A. He stood in the same place; only when he fired the pistol, he turned his body towards me.

Q. Then at that time did he touch the counter or not? - A. I cannot tell how near he touched the counter; I was looking at the pistol; my eye was directed to his face and to the pistol.

Q. Did he, in presenting the pistol, extend his arm? - A. Yes.

Q. You are sure he extended his arm? - A. I am sure he extended his arm; I saw the pistol very near my head.

Q. What was the length of the pistol? - A. I cannot say the length; I saw it was an iron pistol the moments he drew it from his breast.

Q. At that time you had drawn towards the prisoner? - A. A little more to the right.

Q. And came to this narrower part? - A. Yes.

Q. How high was that part of the wainscot which the ball penetrated from the floor? - A. I believe it is about five feet eight from the floor.

Q. What is your own height? - A. Five foot five.

Q. Do you mean with your shoes, or without? - A. I believe without.

Q. Then I suppose about five foot six as you stood? - A. Yes.

Q. Then the hole was about two inches above your head? - A. Yes.

Q. As your eye was upon the pistol, in what manner did the prisoner present it; for instance, did he raise his hand, or did he, in holding the pistol to you, point it upwards? - A. He extended his arm, and pointed it at my head.

Q. Did he elevate the point of the pistol? - A. It was a very quick motion; I had not much time to see; I shut my eyes, and put my head back.

Q. You have already told us that the ball of this pistol passed over your head? - A. I did not see it go; it went very near my head I believe.

Q. The ball struck two inches above you? - A. Some where thereabout.

Q. The prisoner was at first only one foot, or at the utmost one foot and a half, and in swinging round to present, he approached nearer? - A. Yes.

Q. Upon these facts I wish you to lay your own ideas together, and tell me now, thinking of the question with that seriousness which its awful consequences require, whether you think it was possible for the prisoner to have missed your head, if he had not put his hand over your head when he fired? - A. I believe it was only prevented by my putting my head back, and I apprehend it was only the hand of Providence that directed my head back at that moment; if I had not been very collected, I should not have followed the prisoner instantly.

Q. You stated that the prisoner extended his arm; that the counter was only two foot, and as the prisoner approached the counter, having extended his arm with the lenght of the pistol in his hand, I ask you what distance could the muzzle of that pistol be from your head, if he pointed it at you? - A. I should suppose about a foot.

Q. Why then the prisoner's arm could not reach a foot? - A. I cannot tell to an inch.

Q. You don't speak then from the idea you had at the time so much, as from the effect of the pistol scorching your face; now I ask you whether that might not have happened if the prisoner had purposely put the muzzle of the pistol over your headin the action of swinging round? - A. No, I really don't believe it.

Q. Was your hair singed? - A. No; there were several spots upon my nose, and upon my eye-lids.

FRANCIS MINETT < no role > sworn. - Q. Where do you live? - A. At No. 8, Old Broad-street.

Q. A merchant? - A. Yes.

Q. Be so kind as tell us the whole that you know of this? - A. On Saturday, the 16th of October, about half past five o'clock, I went into Mr. Marryan's shop for a tooth-pick-case, and saw a man standing at the counter, rather obliquely, the door was neither open nor shut, and I heard him say the word money, only money, to which I heard Mr. Marryan answer, that he had none; I suspected there was something wrong, upon which I rushed into the shop, and in so doing, I pushed his right elbow; I then observed that he had a pistol, upon which he put his pistol close to me; I drew myself back, and stooped down, facing the counter; he then took the pistol from me, and pointed it towards Mr. Marryan; the pistol was immediately fired, and the man ran out; Mr. Marryan put his hand to his forehead, crying, oh God! which made me think he was wounded in the head; he took his hand away, and then I saw he was not wounded; he ran out of the shop, before me, but very little; I followed, calling out, stop thief, but I did not see him apprehended, on account of the crowd.

Q. Did you see the pistol afterwards found upon him? - A. No; I saw one in captain Stewart's hand.

Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. The pistol went off almost at the same time that you were stooping down? - A. No; it went off after I got up.

Q. Just in the act of rising? - A. No.

Q. Endeavouring to secure him? - A. No, I had endeavoured to secure him before.

Q. In the act of rising, had you endeavoured to lay hold of the prisoner? - A. Not in the act of rising, I did not at that moment.

Q. What is the height of the counter? - A. Probably about that height. (Describing it to be about three feet.)

Q. At the very moment you were rising, you found the pistol go off? - A. I heard it.

Q. How it went off, and under what circumstances, it is impossible for you to say? - A. It was pointed towards Mr. Marryan at the time it went off.

Q. You were rising from the stooping situation in which you were; how then is it possible for you to say, it was pointed towards Mr. Marryan; did you not mean that it was pointed across the counter? - A. Yes, I had my eyes fixed upon the prisoner, because I expected him to shoot me.

HENRY STEWART < no role > sworn. - On the 16th of October, I had passed Mr. Marryan's house, about a hundred yards; I heard a pistol go off about a minute after; I saw the prisoner following me; I turned round, and seized him by the right-hand, he had a pair of pistols, one in each hand; I took a loaded pistol out of his right-hand; I assisted in securing him, and he was taken to the Compter.

Q. What was it loaded with? - A. Powder and ball.

Q. How was the other pistol? - A. That had been fired.

Q. Did you see Mr. Marryan there? - A. I saw Mr. Marrayn there after the prisoner was taken.

Q. How soon after? - A. I suppose, a minute and a half.

Q. The whole was almost instantaneous? - A. Yes.

Cross-examined by Mr. Stephens. Q. What state of mind did the prisoner appear to be in? - A. He did not speak, nor make any resistance.

Q. What was the length of the pistol? - A. I cannot exactly tell, I can produce it. (Produces it.)

Q. Who has got the other? - A. The next witness.

JAMES BYALL < no role > sworn. - Q. What are you? - A. A hair-dresser.

Q. What do you know of this? - A. On Saturday, the 16th of October, about half past five o'clock, I was sitting in my master's shop, No. 52, in Lombard-street; I heard a pistol go off, I went to the door, and saw the prisoner at the bar with one in his hand.

Q. Where was the prisoner? - A. Within three or four yards of me.

Q. On which hand? - A. I can't tell you exactly, I will tell you presently - I struggled with him just by the watch-house, in Lombard-street, and took from his left-hand, a pistol. (Produces it.)

Q. Was it loaded? - A. No, it was not loaded.

Q. Is that the fellow to the other pistol? - A. I believe it is.

WILLIAM CANNER < no role > sworn. - Q. You are one of the City-marshals? - A. I am.

Q. What do you know of this? - A. I don't know any thing more, than that after the examination, I thought it necessary to take down the pannel, through which the shot had passed; I went to Mr. Marryan's, and had the pannel taken out; I found the ball, which I have in my pocket, it had gone into the joint of the brick-work, about half an inch, the pannel is here. (Produces the pannel and the ball.)

Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. You went for the purpose of observing where this ball had entered the pannel? - A. Yes.

Q. In the course of your observations, when you went there, was your attention called to see what was the distance with respect to heighth, between where the ball entered, and the counter? - A. I did; I requested Mr. Marryan, as he was standing behind the counter, to go back; I asked him for a rule, and I think it was just about three inches and a half above his heighth.

Q. Therefore the counter, from his description, must have been close to where he stood? - A. No.

Q. The ball, however, was about three inches and a half above his heighth? - A. Yes.

Prisoner's defence. Did I stand accused of having presented a pistol with a view of extorting money, painful to me as the acknowledgment must be, I certainly could not but plead guilty to the charge: it was a rash and criminal action, (for it is not my intention to attempt in any manner to extenuate its guilt): it was an action which I cannot reflect upon but with the utmost astonishment, which I know not how to account for, which I most sincerely condemn, and the very idea of which overwhelms me with inexpressible contrition and shame, that I even proceeded so far as to fire the pistol, (though I shudder at the thought, yet consistently with truth), I cannot deny but that I fired it at the prosecutor, but not with any intention of killing or injuring him, that is a charge which my conscience will not suffer me to admit. The fact is, that without the smallest premeditation or reflection on my part, but from I know not what kind of sudden and momentary impulse, occasioned by extreme distress, I entered the house in which this melancholy event took place, and shewed the pistol, thought certainly without any intention of firing. - In the already extremely agitated and disordered state of my mind, I was, in all probability, as far as I can judge of my own sensations at that moment, so affected by the entrance of a person who came in after me, that I involuntarily pulled the trigger, but without pointing the pistol at the prosecutor, or any other person. This, to my conception, is the only possible way of explaining so very extraordinary and unpremeditated an act. Of the extreme agitation and disorder of my mind, some idea may be formed, when I declare, that almost perishing with hunger, (for I had taken no nourishment whatever during two days), a friend less wanderer by day, obliged at night to seek repose within the dismal walls of unfinished houses, unacquainted with a single individual to whom I could make application for relies, ashamed to beg, and destitute of every other resource, I was absolutely driven to such a pitch of desperation, that I had positively determined, about two hours before, in the Park, to put an end to my miserable existence, had loaded my pistols for that purpose, and should actually have perpetrated the horried deed, had I not been prevented by the presence of a lady and her two servants, who were at that time walking in the Park. In short, I am fully convinced, however unable to prove it, that I laboured under a kind of mental derangement at the time: that such was the idea of the keeper of the Poultry Computer, when I was taken into custody, is evident both from his own declaration, and his ordering a strait waistcoat to be put upon me; at all events, the firing of the pistol certainly was an act in which my will had not for a moment the smallest concern; for I do most solemnly declare, in the face of this awful tribunal, before which I am now arraigned, and in the presence of that omniscient Judge before whose still more awful bar I am shortly, perhaps, to appear, that it never was my intention to fire. What object, in fact, particularly at so early an hour, and in so public a street, could I expect to attain? what advantage could I hope to derive from it? I could not but foresee that the report of the pistol must necessarily alarm the neighbourhood, and cause my person, in all probability, to be seized: the act itself proves, that there could be no rational intention; and I solemnly aver, that there was no intention at all of pulling the trigger, much less to fire at the prosecutor. I am informed, and it has but this morning reached my ears, through the charity of a gentleman, who, from compassion, interested himself in my unfortunate case, that I stand accused before the public of actual robberies committed in shops and private dwellings, under circumstances similar to those of the charge I have now to answer to: this, I am told, has been asserted in the public newspapers; and yet from my ignorance of the language of this country, and my close imprisonment together, I have been so far from being able to answer the groundless and cruel report, that I was utterly ignorant of its existence. I throw myself upon the candour and humanity of the Court for protection from this source of prejudice: I am sure the justice and liberality of the English nation will hold it enough for a poor foreigner to answer to charges legally brought against him in a strange land, without being prejudged by the effect of calumnies which he has no means of disproving. For the charge upon which my life is now in your hands, my rash and criminal conduct had given but too much colour, though I certainly did not fire at the prosecutor, or meant for a moment to hurt him; but that I ever, in any other instance, offended against the laws of this country, in any degree, I most solemnly deny; and if any man can alledge the country against me, I desire him to stand forward, and am ready to meet death if it be found, that except in this instance, I ever attempted to invade the property of another, or gave a moment's alarm to any man for his personal safety. Whatever character may belong to the act now in question, it was my first and only action which can be taxed with criminality in the eye of the law of this or any other country; I had sufferedenough before, but had not before attempted to relieve my sufferings at the expence of any moral obligation.

Gentlemen of the Jury, I have nothing more to add in my defence; I rely on your equity and your charitable construction of my conduct; my life is in your hands; and whatever your decision may be, to that I shall bow in either case with respect, with resignation if it bid me die, and with gratitude if it save my life from a premature and dishonourable end.

For the Prisoner.(Mr. John Duggin < no role > called).

Mr. Marryan. My Lord, I beg leave to observe, this gentleman has been twice with me, and had conversations with me.

Mr. Stephens. We are not going into the subject of those conversations - you appear to feel too much in this cause.

Mr. DUGGIN sworn. - Examined by Mr. Stephens. Q. Are you of any prosession? - A. None.

Q. With what motive did you go to Mr. Mar. ryan? - A. From motives of humanity.

Q. Explain your object? -

Court. We really cannot enquire into this gentleman's motives.

Mr. Stephens. Q. When you were in the shop of Mr. Marryan, did you take notice of the size of the counter, and of the heighth of the shot in the pannel? - A. Yes. I did; but I have taken more particular notice since, that, this day.

Q. State it as accurately as you can? - A. As Mr. Marryan has described it as near as can be, about twenty-one inches.

Q. Did you measure it? - A. I did.

Q. Did you measure the height of the shot? - A. Yes; my own heighth is about five feet nine inches, and it is about five inches above my heighth, I mean the aperture in the brick wall; I marked it upon a stick which is in Court, so that it appeared to me to be six feet two inches from the floor to the aperture in the wall where the ball entered.

JOHN TEAGUE < no role > sworn. - Examined by Mr. Knapp.

Q. You are the son of the keeper of the Poultry Compter? - A. I am.

Q. Do you remember the time when the prisoner was brought to the Compter by order of the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor? - A. I was not present when he was brought into custody.

Q. How soon did you see him after he was brought into custody? - A. About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour.

Q. Did you think it necessary to put a strait waistcoat upon him? - A. A strait waistcoat was put upon him when he first came into the prison; I was not present, but I saw him after wards with a strait waistcoat upon him.

Q. Did you find his mind in a state which made it necessary? - A. It was done from the fear of his making away with himself, on account of the agitation of mind he was in.

GUILTY , Death , aged 27.

London Jury, before Mr. Common Serjeant.