"I am Christ come down from the cross.
Those who have faith can see the marks of the
nails on the palms of my hands. I am the
resurrection body of Gideon. I am your blessed
Lord and Saviour. I can call fire from heaven,
and can burn every one of you in your beds,
and you are safer with me here."

Then, a moment after, he cries:

"Samson was a great man, but how do you
know that a greater than Samson is not here?"

A line of scarlet shows between the
tree-trunks. A hundred men of the 45th are
dividing into two detachments to surround
the wood. The Rev. Dr. Poore, Mr. Knatchbull,
Mr. Halford, Mr. Baldock, the county
magistrates, are with them. The detachment,
headed by Lieutenant Bennett, and
accompanied by Mr. Norton Knatchbull and the Rev.
Mr. Handley, soon hear Courtenay hallooing and
collecting his men in the wood, eager to show
his supernatural power and to strike his
enemies dead. He advances, calling out to
them to behave like men. The prophet from
heaven has now the moment he has long wished
for. Fifty bayonets gleam before him; it is only
a miracle can save him from their meeting in
his breast if he dare fire a pistol.

The young lieutenant, with a fine sense of
humanity and earnestly anxious to avoid bloodshed,
stepped forward before his men and entreated
the misguided people to lay down their
arms and leave the madman, who had his gun to
his shoulder, and was already aiming at the
officer.

Sir William advances with perfect deliberation,
as if to surrender, and then fires
at Lieutenant Bennett, who instantly falls
dead. Again victory! The prophet will save
his own. But the soldier who covered
Courtenay as he stepped forward, touches
his trigger; there is a jet of fire, and the
prophet falls dead. A sunbeam will come
and touch his lips (he had said), and he will
rise again and lead his followers to victory.
Half maddened, Courtenay's followers rush
at the soldiers, and the soldiers fire on them
before they can grapple. Then comes one of
those savage up-and-down hand-to-hand battles
for life, fought with all the ferocity that poachers
and gamekeepers display. Bludgeon against
gun-stock, knife against bayonet; but the prophet
does not rise from beside the young officer
he has murdered. A sunbeam fell upon the
face of the dead prophet. On that swift path
from Heaven had come not the Angel of Blessing
but the Angel of Death, and the soldiers
otherwise falsify the prediction with great
completeness. The soldiers, besides having their
leader shot, have their second lieutenant
severely wounded, and George Calt, a constable
of Faversham, killed. On the fanatic side there
were seven killed: Edward Wright, of Herne
Hill; F. Harvey, of Herne Hill; C. Branchett,
of Dunkirk; W. Burford, of Boughton; W.
Foster, of Herne Hill; Thomas Griggs and D.
Wry, of Herne Hill.

Among the persons seriously wounded, many
of them dangerously, were Stephen Baker,
R. Hadlow, A. Toad, J. Griggs, W. Willis, C. Wright,
S. Curling, J. Spratt, and Sarah Culver.
This woman was probably the author of some
ill-spelt rhapsodical verses (smeared with blood,
and perforated by the bullet that gave the
death-wound) found in the breast-pocket of Sir
William Courtenay's coat:

Is it a delusion? No, it's peace I hear,
As yet welcome sweet guest.
A passing spiriet softly wispers
Him safe from harm—and when
The loud clash of war's alarm attacks
Him, and boast the tyrants proudly
Round him, still his manly heart
Shall know no fear.
Then sink not, oh! my soul, nor
Yeald to sad despair; the cause is
Great that calls thy lord away.
A sinking spiriet and a silint
Tear but ill become the child
Who from the bonds of Satana
May go free.

A New Testament and a purse were also
found in the pocket of Sir William Courtenay by
the surgeon who examined the body. The
purse contained a sovereign and threepence.

At the Maidstone assizes, in August,
William Price, aged thirty, and Thomas Mears, alias
Tyler, were indicted, charged with the wilful
murder of Nicholas Mears, at Ville Dunkirk, on
the 31st of May, 1838.

The indictment charged John Thorn, alias
Courtenay, as principal in the first degree, and
the prisoners at the bar as principals in the
second degree, by aiding and abetting the said
Courtenay to commit the murder. In a second
count, the parties were all charged as principals
in the said murder. The Honourable C. E. Law,
Mr. Serjeant Andrews, Mr. Chaunell, and Mr.
Bodkin appeared for the prosecution; Mr. Shee
and Mr. Deedes for the prisoners. The prisoners
pleaded not guilty.

Daniel Edwards, the petty constable of the
hundred of Boughton, deposed that as soon as
Nicholas Mears was shot, he fell back against the
rails. Some one said, "That is not the constable,"
and then Courtenay struck at John Mears with
the dagger. Mears stepped back, and he missed
him. When Courtenay came back, Nicholas
Mears was alive, and said, " Oh dear, what can
I do?" Courtenay said, " You must do the best
you can;" and, having cut him three times across
the shoulders, walked away. I then ran away
towards the wood. As soon as I reached the
wood, I heard the report of a pistol.

Cross-examined. When John Mears was
running away, the prisoner Tyler made a sign for
me to make my escape.

George Hawkins, a labourer, proved that
when they were at Bossendeu House they had
a supper served out to them. Courtenay and
Tyler assisted in serving the party. Courtenay
told us to sleep at the cottage, and that he would
come the next morning. I went there. We
were called about three o'clock. When we got
up, we went to Sittingbourne, where we had
breakfast, and then to Bossenden. When we
were at Green-street, both of the prisoners were