Star. — London, England, 1819-08-30 00:00:00

;tnets _No: they had thinga y nearl ith them? as large a s qs.--Hunt—What did they do w 114.-s not observe any thr:g paiticular. DIJ they shoulder then clubs? 1 ne,s—No; I o bserved no shouldering. It—Mark down that, Mr. Pearson; that is very isted. if he should know the man who de !e inoi,ittide to keep their enemies out. witness replied in the negative. oo—When Wai it? was it before Mr. Hunt .1 Cie field?--Witness--Yes it was. el the prisoner,—Did you observe Mr. Hunt to any of the parties who, as you said, were in Z in mili Wat ttary array ?—itness, No iLdid not. jepos i t ion ot James Constable, was then T. it related :0 the military array, and to , cc of the so called Dr. Healey, at the head v tv marching to the field. Hu.t; —What arc you ?—A constable and beadle. 4 you earn your livelihood is that way T answered in the affirmative. H vt —DiJ you observe any clubs shouldered?— I ob:crved none. ti n ; t—Did you observe any insult oftettd to any -01 by the marching parties ?—Wituess--No t• Il ,aer s.lw nor beard of any. 'l ea ky, a mcan•looking insignificant man of low ie put a very immaterial question to the. 'Fac . which the Magistrates would not glow Mtn to ser. irford likewise asked him questions of some con :,ena. as t.:-.ey affected himself:—Did you see me ti'e hustings?—Yes, was the reply. Biniiord—Nowhere else?—No, admitted the wit- De deposition of Robert Derbyshire, the younger, then read. lle deposed, that he attended the a:ul saw George Swift active in haranguing ,wd. Ile deposed also, that be saw the boy, 11 ylde, on the hustings, Hurt—Are you a constable? Did you see vo ple advancing in military array ?-IViLness Fe observed them coming, but did not notice Array. ilet—Did you run to the Magistrates, and ex you: alarm at the state of the Meeting ?—Wit ; I had seen similar Meetings before. Swift. an ingenuous-looking man, with a strong ict.hire tlinlect—You say that you heard me ad en the Meeting; what did I say?—Witness—,Yore FAH back, league firm together, and keep enemes off." Hunt—llid you see the Yeomanry Cavalry come at this :ime ?—The witness pus desired not to an: • ,r 6:e question. Moorhou,e—Did you see me on the hustings ?. Moo:bow—Mark down that,. Mr. Pearson. John Barlow, another witness, deposed to the pre,- if Elizabeth Gaunt upon the cart. The , risoner came, or rather was carried, from be. 'id the dock, where she )rad a seat,. to the front of Jar to be identified. She looked pale, emaciated, almost fainting from weakness, in consequence the wounds which the had at the Meet and her subsequent solitary confinement.' Being to support herself, the Magistrates desired a to be brought. Had she been sent to Lanene• stand her trial. it is certain ihstt she would cot , irvived her journey. On a proposition being . to alter the deposition or the witness against in Court, Mr. Hunt strongly objected to it, and the Clerk was proceeding with the alteration, ._ him that he would call him as a witness. Mr. Milne, the Clerk.—You had better not, Mr. .4,1 shall be against you I Mr. Hunt, with a smile of contempt, and in a very 'Scant tone—" I have no doubt of that, Mr. .t: mark down his wads Mr. Piarson Then addressing the witness—“ Wiles did you sign :deposition?" —Witness This forenoon. Hunt.—Did you know you were signing a deposi -Witness. Yes. Hunt—Who wrote it P—Witness was desired not 'nsw•er the question. Hunt.—Did you see Mrs. Gaunt commit any of ?—Witness. No, I only took her ont of the .age ; she was then fainting. Hunt.—llid you not think tt your duty to protect •fenceless woman? Hunt.—How could you allow her to go and be is the cruel manner she was?—Witness Constables came up and took her from me. The prisoner then gave her own statement. She ' that she was amongst the crowd at the Meetins; in the co n f us i on some one h a d p u t he r into Mr. carriage, but she did not know who put her she had no right to be in the coach, but was by two persons for safety. She fainted away, when she came to herself she found she had got She threw herself afterwards into a private and remained there for some time, and might away had she chosen, or had she appre that she was commiting any thing illegal. Solicitor for the Crown said, that as the evi was very slight against the prisoner, he would it, her prosecution. Chairman announced this circumstance to the and stated to her, that as the prdsecutor de to bring no evidence against her, the Court great pleasure in ordering her immediate dis- lam, with great emphasis and apparent astonish exclaimed —Discharged, for want of evidence, eleve n days solitary confinement 1 Chairman-- • will a s bethe iuired intoere.after, Mr. Hunt. This w aq Whole of t h e evidence for the prose which, it will be observed, contains no facts have not already been before the Public, • and. at rest nose of the questions on which public (50.,. has been divided. • • • Iyhe n t h e whole a the ev,idence had been condo- Hunt, a dd ress i ng the Bench, desired to know he was to consider as the proseeutor? The man replied, the Crown. t :rat, says Mr. Hunt, the Crown in person? The irman said, the Solicitor for the Treasury is here prosecute in the name of lite King. * • hunt, to Mr. Bouchier.—Yoer name, Sir ? Mt , h ler. 11 '. 1 .nt-1 must know the name of the prosecatott that I may bring my action, in case it shall fund out that I have suffered eleveti days 426" %t without having committed say offence. "ICh circuniaaaces prosecute the•Kisg,!— Vo ifitnets• - ' nskets. ,H Witne-sJiJ r Hon.-01J t Witness- No Hunt..-Mark portant. Saxton asked : I .le The witness r 2:e t o Cie tiel One el the pi k to any of Aching in mil The Jepositio it r r.ce of 1,3! tv man Hutl: -Do Ultnesi answ H: at-Did 0 :1 by the .11‘" 1101' IlealeY, t Inc li te. put a V 4 which the .ver. A irford like ,:ens. as t on tFe hustin 4. Jepositic then read. ce :;-Ig. and sa ~.."d. lit piple Adv ; he observe array. your al:tr ; Swift. an inF noshire dial ws the leati id, ba ur enemies o Hunt-Did at this time et C:e questi Moorhou,v- Itecss-i-Yes. Mocrbouse- John Harlow e of Elizal The ; risonet the dock, e . 111* to be almost fait the wounds and her st -le to sup] to be br to stand hi survived to alter • in Court, the Cler d him d Mr. Milne, I shall Mr. Hunt, Scant to k k: mark Then addre depositio Hunt.-Di ;.n?-Witne Hunt-WI answer the • ..ce?-Witt •7tiage ; she ::efeticeless 'Lunt.-H, ted is tl ther Const. The prisor 'd that she '4 in the c( unt's carrii `e;sheF in by tw • when sh blow. sh lase, and r to got a' ed that The Solic e was r press he ir e Chai .soner, an ued to •cl great ge. Hunt, wi excla ter eleve t t hat will t This wa ztion, wh a hich h as at rest at- ''n has b in • , "ilea I,J en tti, Hunt e hunt he 'a-Airman J aairm an prosec t nes Ilunt, uchi er. Hunt_ " ° Nit t found t '" The Citainnan—Mr. Bouchier has been sent here by the Crown. Hunt.--Is he the prosecutor? I thought I heard him apply to discharge Mrs. Gaunt, and prosecute the rest of the prisoners for a conspiracy. I wish to know some responsible person to whom I may apply for redress, is case this prosecution against me should appear to have originated in unworthy intentions. Chairman.--I understand that the several witnesses who have deposed against you are responsible for the different facts for which they have deposed. The King's name is rightly and ordinarily used in such prosecutions. Hunt.—l always thought that there must be some utor, although the vrosecution tuns in the Ei v r ce i s : name. Chairman.—The Crown prosecutes. If there be any particular prosecutor, it must be the Attorney General. Then addressing the prisoners, he asked them whe ther the had any thing to say i n th e i r d e f ence ? Mr. Hunt, addressing the Bench, s poke to the following t et :—I know that I am now ad dressing the same Magistrates who took the first de positions, and issued the warrants against me ; but after that evidence, and the amended evidence has been read r it is for *EN sitting in'the situation which they now occupy, to edminliier justice. ' I hope, and do net doubt, they will dismiss from their minds all prejudice, and act upon the evidence. They have heard the various depositions which had been read, and.the answers of the witnesses who had been sub jected to examination in open Court. It would be observed, that they all agreed in certain points, but differed very materially in others ; and that when ex amined regarding the import of words, their mean ing was far from being precise or clear. Some wit ne.ses say that those bodies which came from the country Came in military array ; they could not ex plain what they meant by military array ; they could not state whether they marched in slow or quick time, or whether they possessed the characteristic of a military march. Some say they came with sticks. One says they were so far in military array as to have clubs at their left breasts, similar to muskets ; ano ther witness has positively denied his observation'of the circumstance ; but all agree that none of them did any act to intimidate or offend. Can the Magi strates say we should be committed on such evidence for a misdemeanour, after eleven days solitary con finement ? Is not this a sufficient punishment for any offence that we may have committed? They should consider, that the eyes of all England are fixed upon this matter, and wait with anxiety its termination. It has gone far enough, and ought here to end : I ask nothing for my past sufferings—l de mand no redress for the treatment I have endured— I stand here to ask, whether you will allow agitation in the public mind still to go on, or allay it, by removing the cause ? With the most perfect con viction that I have acted rightly, I am yet doubtful of others entertaining that conviction : the country is doubtlessin an agitated state, and will be so till this i question s settled. Are you, on such evidence, pre pared to send us back to solitary confinement ? (The Chairman said, No.) Oae of you now on the Bench accused me of murder ; another of the Magistrates, whom I do not now see, told me that the guilt of all the blood which .was shed would lie at my door : after thus being held up as a murderer and a traitor; after being remanded on a charge of High Treason, without a shadow or pretence of evidence to support it, I appeal to you to lay aside all private feeling ; to forget, as far as you can, the scenes in which you have acted, and say whether we are guilty of any offence, or, if we are, whether we have not suffered enough ? In uttering this last sentence Mr. Hunt evinced a considerable ardency of manner, which called forth great,applause from the crowd behind. The Chair man indignantly commanded silence, and declared that if any tumult took place, he should be obliged to clear the Court, and to commit the parties. Mr. Hour declared, that on his part there was no attempt to excite tumult ; then turning round to the crowd said, " The man who makes any noise or dis turbance in this Coprt4 with the belief that he is ho nouring me, I shall consider as my personal enemy ! (Hear, hear, from the Chairman.) —I cannot forget that I have been remanded on a charge of High Treason ; I cannot forget that 1 expected to have stood here to-day on that most serious charge :it has, however, been abandoned, and I submit to you, whether there be any tittle of evidence to support the charge of conspiracy ? Many of these prisoners, who are accused of having joined with me, I never saw till I saw them in this box. I admit that many of them, as well as myself, attended the Meeting for the pur pose of taking part in its proceedings. I admit that I attended it to conduct those proceedings, believing they were legal. I considered myself as performing a necessary, but painful duty. I had carried ap plications made at similar Meetings to the Secretary of State, for the purpose of being laid before his Royal Highness. To some of these applications I had an answer from the Prince Regent himself through the medium of his Ministers, and to none of them was it objected that the Meeting was illegal at which it was voted, One of these applications was the very paper which was to have been submitted to the Meeting of the 16th. I did not attempt to fol low, nor was it the opinion of those who took part in the proceedings of the Meeting, that we ought to at, tempt to follow the example set by Birmingham in the election of a Representative. I had written to Mr. Johnson to this effect long before the intended Meet-• ing was prohibited in Manchester.: the Royal Pro clathation had declared it illegal, and though I did not think it illegal, I thought it a foolish and absurd scheme. It was my opinion, that to follow such an eaawsple at such a time would have been unjust to the people of M.inc.bester--that an election should nothave been proceeded in till its inhtitsmts had three montlii notice. I have declared tha t would have put such, a quistion as Chairman long &fore the first Meeting was prohibited. I could Wing testimony in support of this assertion of as respectable men .as: are to' be' found in 51anchester r private letters. .switkpostmarks which could not be falsified, can,be.procistced *s evil. deuce of the p.me fact 4 the Resolutious which were intended' *to 'be voted at the Meeting of the Mb_ would have removed all doubt on this stsb i ject indeed, I have been told, have beenlostan the cow.' fusion which ensued; but the most •seskaectel4e per -4 ; persons can be brought forward, who,vrill prove_that it was inten4ed firtt to pass a strong vote of cepsuire • Par reCusiiii to present the Petitions of INfanclkster and Stockport; and then to make a solemn Appeal to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent on the dig tressed state of the country, and on the necessity of immediately reviving the connexion between the People and the Throne. I cannot trust my feelings with the description of what occurred afterwards in the dispersion of the Meeting : it would be much better if the transactions of that day were for eves buried in oblivion, and blotted from the history of our country. But I ask you. will you commit ogo such evidence as that which you have heard? country is at present in a state of great agitation ; and will you, by protracting this prosecution, throw down the apple of continual discoid ? Here the Court interrupted Mr. Hunt, anti the ,Chairman addressing him said, " Your language is now improper. No threat or intimidation ought to ,be held out. We have only to attend to our duty, and leave the care of the country to Higher Orders. If the country were in tenfold the agitation which you have described, I and my brethren on the Bench would do our duty." Mr. HUNT, itccontinuation—e This intimation shall not he thrown away upon me; I did not mean to in timidate you; I did not mean to ask for any thing as a boon; I demand only justice, and would not accept a favour. I certainly did ask the Governor, as I had been accustomed all my life to fresh air and ezeicise, that f might be permitted to take a walk in the gar den? but the moment he told me that Mr. Johnson had asked this favour of the Magistrates, and had been refused, I refrained from any further applica tion. I would have sawed off my right hand sooner than have gone Red done it." Here the.. Chairman,explained the circumstances .under which the refusal to Johnson had taken place. Johnson had certainly made an application to be per mitted to walk out ; and he would have obtained per mission, if a respectable Surgeon, who was applied to, had thought it necessary for his health. Mr. HUNT resumed.—" I must say, I suffered much bodily pain from the blows from the batous of the Constables and the sabres of the Yeomanry. They are visible. I scorned to tell the Doctor of it. My health certainly has been preserved, instead of being injured, by my apprehension and confinement: the exertions I should have made, and the anxiety I should have felt, to conduct the proceedings, and to preserve the order of that Meeting, would have af fected me tor years. Since my confinement I have slept on a bed which I would not have put under my servants! but I thank Gon," (said Mr. Hunt, with great fervour,) " that I have slept soundly; and if I have suffered any thing, it has been from commise rating the state of my fellow-prisoners, and from the recollection of those poor mangled creatures who have been cut to'deatli. When I mention the accom modation, I have nothing to say against the jailer." Moorhouse—As the law presumes persons innocent until convicted, I beg to say, we ought to be used as well as possible, whilst we are kept here. Chairman—You may all of you have bail. Moorhouse—When brought up here before, I was warm, and conducted myself in a way for which I am rather sorry. The Magistrates then withdrew. Mr. Bouchier was shortly afterwards going towards the Magistrates mom. Mr. Hunt said to him, " I hope you are cot going to the Magistrates unless on, solicitor goes?" lire solicitor said, " No." e Ah," rejoined Mr. Hunt, significantly, " you have been there already." .On their return, Mr. Norris said, Henry Hunt, and you all—we sent for Mr. Bouchier, in order that we might again carefully peruse the depositions. It ,is a most painful duty to me to commit you for a , conspiracy. We 'can, however, lay our hands on our' hearts, and say, IWe have done our duty.' As to she charge of conspiracy, though you might not all have been together, previous to the Meeting, yet, in the, eye of the law, all those who commit separate acts, tending to one illegal object, are guilty of, that crime, Coupling the two Meetings together, taking into consideration the manner in which the last was assembled, with such insignia, the bloody in such a manaer,• with the black Jite, dagger,. with ~ „Equal Representation or death.' "- - : -(Mr. Hunt.---" No one has said the black flag had bloody daggerl—They came in a threatening Manner—they came under the banners of death, thereby shewing they meant to overturn the Govern ment,. There could be no free discussion where that gag was unfurled. The charge now is, that of having conspired to alter the Law by force and threats.' It is an illegal matter and sufficiently made out, and calls upon us imperatively to commit you for trial by a proper Jury. It is now our painful duty to commit you to Lancaster Castle. On account of the seriousness of the charge, we shall require you, Henry Hunt and Joseph Johnson, to give bail yourselves in £l,OOO, and two sureties in £5OO each ; and all the others, themselves is £5OO, and two sureties in £250 each. The prisoners then left the Bar. Johnson and Moorhouse immediately procured bail, and were li berated. Johnson was attended towards Shude-hill by an immense multitude, shouting and applauding. .He passed Deansgate supported on the shoulders of the mob. Moorhouse was equally the object of popular favoue:, he was accompanied likewise by his i mob through the Market-place. We understood that, notices of bail were given for Hunt and Knight. Hunt complained when he was asked by the, Magistrate in Court, whether he had provided baiM , that he was not allowed to be visited by a respectablic Solicitor. in town whom lie bad sent for some dap ago. The Chairman mentioned that he would now he sent for,.if he desired it. " No, no," said Mr. Hunt pointing to Mr. Pearson, " here is now my Selicitor. Fromthis circumstance, and from know ing that two individualsiwhose securities were unim ,peachable, bad offered to become his bail, we con cluded that we should see bite immediately out. Afker consulting, however, with, his Solicitor, he bad taken a different view of the matter, and we 'were told that he said to the Magistrates that he Would not give bail, even though no more than a farthing. were required. In consequence of this de-, esiosposs, ansi,the near approach of the Assizes at 14opestsr,. he was sent off to the Castle at that place, at six o'cloc)c in the evening, in a coach, guarded by o troop of 30 of the isth Hussars. Knight, Saxton, Illatniord, Wytde, Swift; and Healey, were dispatched in the same carriage (a stage coach), and under the same escort. The shouts and huazas of the people Tete eura greater than when he entered on Monday ‘,9tit.of August. Thus the charge of High Trea- son, and the . toliy.of the Magi trxes, have confer rd additiohal popularity on Mr. Hunt and his followers. The examination commenced about half-past one, and ended about half-past four. MANCHESTER, AUGUST O. (From The Tinics.) Ila 11/brd, who was taken up at Middleton, on Thursday morning, on a charge of MaircheAer I Treason, underwent his final examination along with the other State Prisoners yesterday. The party that arrested him consisted of a troop of horse, a di tacit ment of infantry, and a posse of constables. To such a formidable force, no resistance was offere,l, nor swat there any apparent inclination to re%ist The alleged :raitor was culled up from his bed, about four o'cioc . in the mowing, when he lit le expected to be ho- loured by suchlvisitors ; but he manifested no symp- :oms of conftiLion, displeasme, or alarm. He was even good•hurnuilred :tad jocose with the officers, inspiring them, at the same time, with a very high idea of his talents, coolnes, and presence of mind. " Ile first asked, why he had been sae waited upon lb and was told by Nadia, that he had a warrant US arrest him. On whit charge?' he rejoined. rOn charge of having connteitted a capital felony.' Ali,' he replied, you will never convict me; my blood • would poison you, man ; it is as bllck as a bullock's.' Seeing the officers searclethe house for pikes or pike heads, he remarked upon their suspicious simplicity, saying, 4 And do you think I would keep them hare?' The officers, not being so quicksighted as the inven: tive genius of the Courier, could not find a single pike-head to fit the old broken Boroughreeve's stay in the Reform depot of arms at the Infix mary. They, however, found a collection (a' Black Dwarfs, and other seditious publications, which they carried off in triumph, to be inspected by the sagacious Bench of Manchester Magistrates. They are probably by this time oh their way to Lord Sidmouth. " The prisoner was taken to the New Bailey with out exciting any apparent irritation among his towns 6 men, over whom he is said to exercise a great ;Diaz , ence. He is the same person who attended the Meeting of Reform Delegates in London before the Suspension Act, and who was in consequence imprisoned under that Act. Of this he reminded Nadia on Thursday morning, saying—' I am nut afraid of you ; we are old friends.' It I remember right, he is celebrated by Cobbett, as having first convinced him of the prat ticability and expediency of Universal Suffrage, that polit:cal P, ote is, before this conversion, professing ast inclination to be satisfied with a less extensive Reform. You have no doubt received an account of the tram actions at the New Bailey yesterday, which termi nated in the committal of Hunt and his hustitlg.- c mpanions for a mist meancur. Thus, h!o, It was said by one of the fn isoners at the bar, ith more truth than decorum, ends the Manchester farce of high treason, which, to rcmplete the parallel, was unhappily preceded by a tragedy. The afterpiect was no doubt got up to suit the main exhibition, and the same actors performed in both ; but the Pub 4 lic will not allow themselvie, like the spectators of a play, to forget the original scene of blood, in the dis verting mummeries which have succeeded it. In . relation to the. proceedings at the New Balky yesterday, I shall merely observe, that if Elisabeth Gaunt, instead of being at the bar, had b en placed on the bench, and by this change of position, had been converted from a Radical Reformer into a loyal old woman, she would, I am convinced, have con ducted the proceedings of the Court with as much decorum, temper, and legal knowledge. It would be needless for me to guard myself from being considered as a friend of the prisoners, or of the wild and mischievous schemes which they are accused of supporting ; hut I am bound in candour to admit, that Hunt, who was their protector as well as his own, evinced so great acuteness, legal subtilty, presence of mind, and readiness of elocution, that he would have puzzled greater wits than the authors of the late trans actions. The special constable witnesses, with their dressed clean-written depositions, delivered before a clerk and a Magistrate only, without any cro;s-ques timing could no more stand beforehim than the mob before the Yeomanry on the fatal 16th. With a single thrust of his lance he shivered their affidavits in pieces, and scattered them to such a distance, that it is feared it may not be possible to collect and make them ready for a Jury. MANSION House.—Saturday, the publisher of a Weekly Paper applied to the LORD MAYOR for restitution of a board, which had been seized by an officer from, , man employed to carry about puffing placards upon.it, in order to attract customers to the Paper. The placard on the, board, when it was ' seized, was headed Manchester Massacre ; Tears of BloOd." The applicant demanded restitution, be cause it had been, he said, unwarrantably seized, and because it was essential to the interests of the Riper that it be employe.? again yesterday. The LCRD MAYOR onlered the board to be re. stored to him -; but first directed an offitier to strip off it the obnoxious placard, and to see the applicant out of the Mansion ilo-Ise.with it. As the LORD M AT(:R was about to retire from the Justice-room, a huge butcher rushed before him, and said he had just conic from the market, where a party of butchers had been de,canting upon existing po , Mos, and they had almost unanimously declared.— nay. some of &CM swore, that his Lordship was a " I)—n me t " said he, I could nqt stand ,his, and I told one ant all Of therm (here the fellow spoke with a voice like thunder) that you , were no fool, but a d—d clover fellow, and that you knew what was what r The Loan MAYOR thanked him for his warm and untolicited support of his character, but trusted that, if he was in earnest, he would not suffer his zeal:to carry him to a violation of the peace. The butcher swore a dreadful oath that there was no putting up with the vl,gabonds ; they had not only called his Lordship a (col, but a * • • • • • • ; and he, in re. turn, had not only given a fellow a good whopping, but called them all a pack of infamous ilaiiicah; and , declared that the Lord Mayor was no mole a fool than he was himself!—The Loan ikisYou iecom. , mended him to be cs 01, and repeating his obligations for his defence of his public conduct, requested him not to mjx with the market politicians again. The butcher left the room, evidently chagrined, and rotr r ing out; .‘ I suppose if I had kicked the likefcnmers -to the d—l, I should have get the same thanks J" I t 4 , '; ' ^ I 1 .. -,.,.,, , 1I l ~ , 1 . . if I N