he was the person by whom Mr. Allen had been killed. But this circumstance is very well accounted for on the other side; where several of the witnesses prove, that after the accidental discharge which Mac Cloughlan mentions of his piece, and the unhappy consequence, Mr. Murray, the Ensign, observing Maclane's musquet on a full cock, reproached him with negligence, and took the piece out of his hand to look at; Maclane mentioned in his excuse, that his flint was too large, and that if he kept it upon a half cock, he should lose all the priming from his pan.
"Some persons seeing the transaction, and hearing Maclane reproached, concluded he was the person who had shot Mr. Allen; and they pointed him out as a murderer; the officer, therefore, thought it necessary, for the man's security, to remove him from the ranks; but, finding him more liable to danger then than when he was with the corps, he ordered him to his former station.—However, as he was positively sworn to, the military were forced to give him up, notwithstanding their consciousness of his innocence; and Mr. Gillam, as a Magistrate, was obliged to receive the charge, notwithstanding he was so perfectly acquainted with Mac Cloughlan's declaration.
"Such was the general scope of the evidence on this trial; after which the Judge summed up the evidence, declined saying much from
himself, as the question did not turn upon any difficult points; the Jury withdrew, and in about an hour returned with a verdict of Not Guilty . Mr. Wilkes, who was all the time at the Red Lion Inn, opposite the Court, was taken to town the moment the prisoner was acquitted. He was only examined a few minutes by the Grand Jury. He was brought back on Tuesday night to the King's-bench Prison.
"The Grand Jury dismissed the bills against the officer and the other soldiers.
"The above trial began about half an hour after seven in the morning, and lasted near nine hours. The counsel for the prosecution were, Mr. Serjeant Leigh, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Lade, and Mr. Baker; those for the prisoner were, Mr. Hervey, Mr. Cox, Mr. Bishop, and Mr. Robinson."
The lines alluded to in the trial were:
"Let * * * * * Judges, Ministers combine,
And here great Wilkes and Liberty confine ;
Yet in each English heart secure their fame is,