Which indictment the clerk of the arraigns read aloud to them as follows: “That you, William Jackson and William Carter (together with Samuel Downer, alias Howard, alias Little Sam, Edmund Richards, and Henry Sheerman, alias Little Harry, not yet taken), not having the fear of God before your eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, upon the 15th of February, in the 21st year of his present Majesty’s reign, with force and arms, at Rowland’s Castle in the County of Southampton, in and upon one William Gally, otherwise called William Galley, being then and there in the peace of God and his said Majesty, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, did make an assault, and him the said William Galley, upon the back of a certain horse, then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, did put and set, and the legs of him the said William Galley, being so put and set upon the back of the said horse as aforesaid, with a certain rope or cord made of hemp, under the belly of the said horse, then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, did bind, tie and fasten; and him the said William Galley, being so put and set upon horseback as aforesaid, with his legs so bound, tied, and fastened under the horse’s belly as aforesaid, with certain large whips, which you had then and there in your right hands, in and upon the head, face, neck, shoulders, arms, back, belly, sides, and several other parts of the body of him the said William Galley, then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, for the space of one mile, did whip, lash, beat and strike: by reason whereof, the said William Galley was then and there very much wounded, bruised and hurt; and not being able to endure or bear the misery, pain and anguish, occasioned by his having been so whipped, lashed, beat, and struck, as aforesaid, and by his being so wounded, bruised, and hurt, as aforesaid, then and there dropped down the left side of the said horse, on which he then and there rode, with his head under the horse’s belly, and his legs and feet across the saddle upon the back of the said horse, upon which you, the said William Jackson and William Carter, together with Samuel Downer, otherwise Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards, and Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, not yet taken, then and there, untied the legs of the said William Galley; and him the said Galley, in and upon the same horse then and there, with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, did again put and set, and the legs of him the said William Galley, being again so put and set upon the said horse as last aforesaid, with the same rope or cord under the belly of the said horse, you then and there, with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, under the horse’s belly did again bind, tie, and fasten; and him the said William Galley[2] being again so put and set upon the said horse, as last aforesaid, with his legs so bound, tied and fastened under the horse’s belly, as last aforesaid, with the said whips which you had then and there in your right hands, as aforesaid, in and upon the head, face, neck, arms, shoulders, back, belly, sides, and several other parts of the body of him the said William Galley, you then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, for the space of half a mile further, did again whip, lash, beat, and strike; by reason whereof he the said William Galley was then and there much more wounded, bruised and hurt, and not being able to endure or bear the misery, pain, and anguish occasioned by his having been so whipped, lashed, beat, and struck, in manner, as aforesaid; and by his being so wounded, bruised, and hurt, in manner as aforesaid, did then and there drop a second time from off the said horse, with his head under the horse’s belly, and his legs and feet across the saddle. Upon which you the said William Jackson and William Carter, together with the said Samuel Downer, otherwise Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards and Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, not yet taken, then and there again untied the legs of him, the said William Galley, and him, in and upon another horse, behind a certain other person, did then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, put and set, and the said William Galley, being so put and set on horseback, as last aforesaid, with the same whips which you had then and there in your right hands as aforesaid, in and upon the head, face, neck, arms, shoulders, back, belly, sides, and several other parts of the body of the said William Galley, did then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, for the space of two miles further, until you came into the parish of Harting, in the county of Sussex aforesaid, again whip, lash, beat, and strike, by reason whereof the said William Galley was then and there much more wounded, bruised and hurt; and not being able to endure or bear the misery, pain and anguish occasioned by his having been so wounded, bruised and hurt, in manner as aforesaid, then and there in the parish of Harting aforesaid, got off the said horse; upon which you the said William Jackson and William Carter, together with Samuel Downer, otherwise Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards and Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, not yet taken, him the said William Galley, in and upon another horse, whereon the said Edmund Richards, then and there rode, with the belly of him the said William Galley across the pommel of the saddle, on which the said Richards then and there rode, then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, did put and lay; but before you had gone the space of eighty yards further, William Galley, not being able to bear the motion of the said horse, on which he was so put and laid as last aforesaid, by reason of having been so whipped, lashed, beat and struck as aforesaid; and by reason of his being so wounded, bruised and hurt, in manner as aforesaid, then and there tumbled off the horse, and fell upon the ground in the common highway there, by which fall he the said William Galley, was then and there much more wounded, bruised and hurt; whereupon you the said William Jackson, William Carter, together with Samuel Downer, otherwise Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards and Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, not yet taken, him the said William Galley in and upon another horse by himself, then and there with force and arms, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, did put and set; but the said William Galley not being able to sit upright on the said last mentioned horse, he the said Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, did then and there get upon the same horse behind him, the said William Galley, in order to hold him on; but after you the said William Jackson, and William Carter, together with Samuel Downer, otherwise Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards, and Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, not yet taken, and the said William Galley had rode on a quarter of a mile further together, in manner aforesaid, he the said William Galley, not being able to sit upon the said horse, or ride any further upon the same, through the great misery, pain and anguish, occasioned by his having been so whipped, lashed, beat and struck, as aforesaid; and by his being so wounded, bruised and hurt, in manner as aforesaid, then and there tumbled off the said horse, on which he was so put and set as last aforesaid, and again fell to the ground; and as he tumbled and fell, the said Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, who rode behind the said William Galley, and upon the same horse with him, in manner aforesaid, then and there with force and arms feloniously, wilfully, and out of his malice aforethought, give to him the said William Galley, a most violent thrust and push; by reason whereof the said William Galley then and there fell, with much more weight and force to the ground than otherwise he would have done; and was thereby then and there much more wounded, bruised and hurt. And that by reason of the said binding, tying and fastening, of him the said William Galley, by you the said William Jackson, and William Carter, together with Samuel Downer, otherwise Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards and Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, not yet taken, in manner and form aforesaid; and of the whipping, lashing, beating and striking, of him the said William Galley, by you, in manner and form aforesaid; and of the several wounds, bruises and hurts, which he the said William Galley received from such whipping, lashing, beating and striking in manner aforesaid; and other wounds, bruises and hurts which he, the said William Galley so received from the several falls which he so had from off the said horse, on which he was by you so put, set and laid, in manner aforesaid; and of the said thrust and push which he the said Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, so as aforesaid, gave him the said William Galley, as he the said William Galley so tumbled and fell from off the said horse, as last aforesaid; he the said William Galley, at the parish of Harting aforesaid, in the county of Sussex aforesaid, did die. And further, that you the said William Jackson, and William Carter, together with the said Samuel Downer, alias Howard, alias Little Sam, Edmund Richards and Henry Sheerman, alias Little Harry, not yet taken, him the said William Galley, with force and arms in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, wilfully, and out of your malice aforethought, did kill and murder, against his Majesty’s peace, his crown and dignity.”

The indictment being read to them, Mr. Justice Foster acquainted the prisoners they might each of them challenge twenty of the panel, without shewing cause; but if they challenged more, they must shew a reasonable cause for so doing; and that if they agreed to join in their challenges they might be tried together, but if they did not, they would be tried separately; and left them to act in that behalf as they should see proper.

The prisoners then consulted among themselves for a little while, and then agreed to join and be tried together. And then the jury were sworn, and charged by the Clerk of the Arraignments, whose names were as follows, viz.:—

The counsel for the King were Henry Banks, Esq., Sidney Strafford Smythe, Esq., and two of his Majesty’s counsel learned in the law; also Mr. Burrel, Mr. Purkes, and Mr. Steele, recorder of Chichester.

Mr. Steele opened the indictment, as soon as the jury were sworn, against the prisoners; after which Mr. Banks very judiciously and learnedly laid down the facts attending the murder, which we choose to give our readers in his own words.

Counsel for the King: “This is an indictment against the seven prisoners at the bar, for the murder of Daniel Chater. It is against the three first, viz., Benjamin Tapner, John Cobby and John Hammond, as principals in that murder, by being present, aiding, abetting and assisting therein; and against Thomas Stringer and Daniel Perryer as principals also, and who are not yet apprehended. And it is against the prisoners, William Jackson, William Carter and Richard Mills the younger, as accessaries before the murder; and also against three others as accessaries before the fact, viz., John Mills, another son of Richard Mills the elder, Thomas Willis and Edmund Richards, not yet taken and brought to justice.

“Although this indictment hath made a distinction between the several prisoners, and divided them into two classes, of principals and accessaries, yet the law makes no distinction in the crime. And in case all the prisoners are guilty of the charge in this indictment, they will be all equally liable to the same judgment and punishment.

“In the outset of this trial I shall not enlarge upon the heinousness of murder in general; nor shall I dwell upon those circumstances in aggravation attending this in particular. When I come to mention those circumstances of cruelty and barbarity, I doubt not but they will have all that effect upon the jury which they ought to have—to awaken and fix your attention to every part of the transaction, and to balance that compassion which you feel for the prisoners, though they felt none for others. The effect I mean these circumstances should and ought to have, is to clear the way for that justice which the nation expects, from your determination and verdict.

“To comply with this general demand of justice upon the prisoners, his Majesty, in order to give the prisoners the earliest opportunity of proving their innocence and of wiping off this foul suspicion of murder they now lie under, or if guilty of a breach of the laws of God and man, that they may suffer the punishment due to their guilt, has been pleased, by a special commission, to appoint this trial to be before their lordships, not less knowing in the laws than tender and compassionate in the execution of them.