Star. — London, England, 1820-04-13 00:00:00

&ear in mind, that such was the reason given by the author why those Meetings Were dangerous to society. From Mr. Harrison's expression that it was as absurd to petition the House of Commons as for a Gentle man to petition his groom for his horse, it was mani fest that the object was not to petition Parliament or to obtain a Reform by legitimate means. That a barrier, said to exist, was to be removed by force from Heaveh or Hell, was. the opinion of Mr; Harr son, a dissenting clergyman. The object for which the barrier was to be removed by force from Heaves or Hell, was to see whether the throne was occupied by a pig or a. man. It would be a waste of time, it would be quite useless, to point out to them that the object of such language must be to bring the Go vernment into contempt. The opinion that it was useless to petition the Lords, it would also be useless to say was of the same import. From the evidence of Thomas Welsh it appeared, that Sir Chas.Wolseley had put on the cap of liberty. Mr. Para( appealed to Mr. Serjeant Marshall's rotes, that it was not in evidence that Sir Charles Wolseley had put on the cap. Mr. S:;rj?.ant MARSHALL read his note, which did 11 of bear that Sir Charles had put on the cap. The CUXEF JU,TICR proceeded.—lt was not cer tain, then, whose hand had put on the cap, but the flag was lowered when Sir Charles came, and the cap of liberty vv.s put on. Sir Charles, then, was present when it was done. After reading Welsh's evidence respecting the allusion to the Bastile,' his Lordship saisl, that it had been most truly and forcibly stated by the Attorney-General, that there was no Bastile in this country. He left is to them to judge, whether the only meanin ,, that could be put upon the words, in justice and fairness to the defendant, was not the meaning put upon them by the Attorney-General? • The destruction of the Bastile in France was followed by the destruction of the Crown, of the Nobility, of the Clergy, of all that was virtuous and wise in the land. He left it then to them, therefore, whether they were not bound to take the meaning put on the words by the Attorney-General? Sir CharlesWolse ley said, that if all their hearts were as firm as his. they would soon put an end to the present tyranny and corruption. Did these words require explana tion ? It sedition ware to be illustrated by the strong est instances, could a more forcible instance be found ? This was addressed to a multitude of five thousand. from different parts, armed with sticks, peeled, cut from trees, and having large knots. This evidence was entirely uncontradicted. The defendant could have disproved it with ease if he had not used the words. His Lordship here read the evidence, that It when the cap of liberty was brought forward there was a demur, and Sir Charles turned round." What Sir Charles said, the witness of course could not hear. • Although it did not appear then, as he had originally taken it, that Sir Charles had put on the cap with his own hand, it was in evidence that Sir Charles turned round, ;and did not object. It had been at tempted to persuade them, That Sir Charles came to the Meeting by accident. Did Sir Charles, a Baro net, a man of rank, a man of fortune, come from a di itant county by accident? This was a-Blin; with the most ordinary understanding. Did Sir Charles come from Staffordshire? Did Fitton, Willan, Har '• rison, come by accident? It was a disgrace to any • understanding to suppose Mr. Harrison rese to call his Lordship's attention here to the contradiction between the witness John son, whose evidence his Lordship now read, and a forme: witne,s.respecting him. One swore that no thing had been said before Sii• Charles Wolseley came. The other swore that he (Mr. Harrison) had, before Sir Charles came, said something about rebellion being a duty. Ilis memory was fallacious, and he could not repeat the precise word; in evidence, but he Legged hi; Lordship to mark the coutrafiction. The Cri ter -Jusrtcr, without any observation upon the interruption and' suggestion, proceeded to read the evidence of the express i on, " That in a few. weeks t::e. great struggle would be made." What great struggle? He left it to them to consider who the parties were whom Sir Charles thought would be en gaged in this strtiggle. F..= a former part of the speech,. where Sir Charles Wolseley. had talked of putting down trianny and corruption, it was clear that the struggle was to be with tyranny and corru,)- tion. Who were the tyrants and corrupt ? They had heard of a barrier to be removed, in order to see whether the throne was filled - by a pig or a man; and they now found Sir Charles Wolseley exciting five thousand persons to be as firm of heart as he.— The struggle then was to be made by these five thou sand, and others who would join them. Were the words words of peace ?—were they words of conci liation ?—were they calcuLated to recommend Re form? If, for Reform, they substituted Revolution, the words were perfectly intelligible; but short of that there was no meaning in the words as appeared to l.im ; but that was for them to consider. He only chewed the Jury his view ; it was not to bind their judgment. He was only desirous of assisting them. The place was sacred ground, sanctified by Bagueley, Johnston, and Drummond ! His Lordship then read the.evidence, as to the words used by Harrison— " that if there were ten thousand walls between the throne and the people. they should all be blown up to Heaven or Hell." This speech had been re ceived with acclamations ! Mr. Harrison.—Another of the witnesses said, that it was received with derision. The CHIEF-JUSTICE.--It is not right to interrupt me in my summing up upon such trifling objections. It would not be difficult to shew, that there may be such a shout of acclamation as would amount to the most marked demonstration of derision. But let the delndants have the benefit of it. One of the wit nesses does say " derision." His Lordship then read several expressions given in evidence ; and upon the expression, "da pig or a man upon the throne," he remarked, that no witnesses had been called to con tradict these words. Mr..Partic.—l beg pardon, my Lord ; but wit- 1 nesses were called who contradicted those words. 'fire CHIEF-JUbTiCE.—That was at the latter part of the trial, and I shall come to that evidence pre-' sant] y. This is, I admit, a case of great importance; but I oaght not to be interrupted. In consequence of what the Learned Counsel had said, he would then, his Lordship continued, state to the Jury, that witnesses ha.l been called as to that point for the de fence ; but that those witnesses had only proved that what other persons had heard they did not hear.— That did not negative the fact. The Learn:3 Judge then read, from the evidence of Thomas Welsh, the words used by Mr. Harrison—" Rebellion became almost a ditty: Mr. Harrison had said; in his de fence, that he did not know what the word " sedi tion" meant. 'The expression just read afforded, he (the Learned Judge) thought, the best interpretation of the meaning of that word. That expression, it was proved, had been employed by Mr. Harrison ; and Sir Charles Wolseley, who was present, heard it without contradiction or disapprobation. Sir Charles Wolseley.—My Lord, I did not hear them ; and it is in evidence that I*Was not present. The Cater-Ammo begged pardon : Sir Charles Wolseley was correct; he had not arrived at the Meeting until after those words had been spoken.— His Lordship then proceeded to observe upon the Resolutions -of the Meeting. It had been resolved, that Lord Sidmouth was. guilty of high treason.-- Lord Sidmouth was holding a high and responsible situation in the country ; and it had been stated to five thousand men, with sticks in their hands, that Lord Sidmouth was guilty of high treason: and that' statement had been receiv ed with shouts of applause.' These Resolutions had been read upon the hustings, in the presence of Sir Charles Wolseley and of Mr.. Harrison ; and had been put by Sir Charles Wolse ley himself—the leading person in the transaction. A sailor had then spoken, and that man had said, that there had been a panic at Manchester ; but that that would not do at Oldham. Those words were mysterious ; the Learned Judge did not understand' what was meant by them. The last Resolution had been—and it was worthy the attention of the/Jury— that, as Ministers had obtained Bills of Indemnity to cover their acts, so the Meeting should indemnify the speakers, if anything seditious had been spoken. And Mr. Harrison did not know what sedition meant! Here was a bounty upon crime—reward and pro tection held out to those who might be called upon I to answer for their conduct to the laws of their coun try. His Ldrdship read on—" The sticks were held up in defiance.' If the Jury, gave credit to these words, and there' had been nothing to contradict them, they would see the use which was intended for thine sticks. As won at they thought the Military were coming, the sticks were held up in defiance.— His Lordship read on :—John Barrett had said in ' his evidence, When they heard that the military were coming. Sir Charles Wolseley called to the people ,to stand firm." So - then he looked upon him self in the character of leader of the Meeting.— " They wished the cavalry would come; they were prepared for them." Prepared for what ? To co,)- pose them, cf course. How prepared ? With the large sticks. Prepared to resist the legal force of the country if it should, in consequence of their unlaw ful conduct, be employed egaiest them. Did they not know that their Meeting was illegal ? Did they not know that the cavalry could only appear if they sere directed to do so by the Magistrates? Were they not conscious that what they were doing ex posed them to the in:erference of those Magistrates? The Jury had heard from the witness the language of these men assembled in the public-house. He granted that Sir Charles Wolseley was not present in the public-house; but both he and Harrison were afterwards engaged, and acting with them in the multitude." Other Gentlemen would turn to the same side?" To what side? to excite rebellion in the minds oi the people, because it had become a duty to remove the barrieis between that reople and the throne, in order to satisfy their curiosity to know whether upon that throne there sat a pig or a man ? His Lordship proceeded to the evidence of Thomas Cartwright. " Sir Charles Wolseley called for three hisses for the prosecutors of Sagueicn Drummond, and Johnson :** these men were than 11 ins in prison for the offences they had committed, and Sir Wolseley called upon 5,000 'men. with bludgeons in their hands, to ive three hisses for their prosecutors: The Learned Judge then took up the evidence of Mr. Ralph Old ham (the Post master at 'Stockport), commenting upon the letter written by Sir Om les Wolseley to that Gentleman on' the 30th of June.. That letter prove f that acquaintance had existed between the is o defendants, that correspondence had taken place between them previous to the Meeting of the 28th of June. -Sir Charles Wolseley in that letter speaks. of a letter written by Mr. Harrison to him upon the 2ttli of June, four days previous to the Meeting. Tile defendants had met at this illegal assembly; a communication had passed from one to the other immediately before. Was it not reascnah!e to infer that somcconnmion existed between them ? Was it not reasonable to suppose that that comm unication had reference to the subject of the Meeting ? When they me: they shook hands. Were they strangers to each other? His Lordship then read and commented upon the letter dated the 30th of June, from Har rison to Bagueley. " Upon the flag the . ** was the cap of liberty." These words were actually inter lined. They had been left out originally, and Mr. Harrison had thought them of so much' importance that they had been put in subsequently. " We had 200 sat doWn to a good dinner at the Union-room : 1 Sir Charles Wolseley honoured us with his company." This dinner was, in point of fact, a continuation of I the Meeting. In that letter no, Sir C. Wolseley was named as the person presiding at that Meeting ; anj the tenour of the letter shewed intimacy, to a consi derable degree, between Sir Charles Wolseley and the writer. The Learned Judge then proceeded to the evidence of Aaron Caliper. The Jury would re member what had been said by Sir Charles Wolseley at the Meeting, Upon the subject of spies; the en couragement that had been given to the multitude to maltreat such persons. It appeared that the direc tions so given had been very faithfully fulfilled ; the witness (Ceilyer) had been taken for a spy, and he was instantlyaknocked down. The man was stunned by the blow, and carried senseleis from the place. Spies! Why were those persons so averse to spiei Men were not afraid of spies when they were doing an honest or a legal act. But at this Meeting there seemed to have been the utmost horror of spies. If they had met for a legal purpose, and if they were discussing an honourable purpose, what could a spy tell? But if they were conscious that they had met for a purpose contrary to the law of the land, then their fear of a spy is accounted for ; and the readiest way to get rid of such an intruder would be to insti ggate the multitude to acts - of violence against him. - Ihe Jury had only one instance before them of a person having been taken to be a spy, and they had in evidence before them the treatment to which that individual had been subjected that, the Learned Judge said, hid been the substance of the evidence on the part of the prosecution. A Learned Gentle man had, on the part of one of the defendants, ad dressed a speech to the Jury, remarkable for its ability and for its propriety. To go Ituo the detail of that speech had been rather the business of the Attorney-General (Mr. Benyon) than of the Judge and to what the Attorney-General had said in an-1 swer to that very able address he would refer the Jury. It had, however, appeared to him (his Lord ship), that the defendant's Counsel had not touched on the main points of the proceeding against his client. —His arguments had been ingenious, elegant, and well put; but they had not shaken the case of the prosecution. That Learned Gentleman had applied himself to the circumstances of the Meeting of the 28th July, separately and distinctly, forgetting that each of these circumstances formed but a part of one great whole, the general riaciple of which must go vern the case as it came before the Jury. There certainlycould be no doubt, as far as they had gone, that seditious language had been used; but the evi dence for the defence was still to be considered. Pre vious, however, to going into that evidence, he •sould say something upon the address sshich had been made by Mr. Harrison. That individual had occu pied a great deal of time in commenting upon the vety proper address of the Learned Judge 'vho was sitting by his side. That Learned Judge had had no individual in his view; he had desCribed a species, and of that species Mr. Harrison had fancied himself one—he had put the cap upon his own head. Mr. arrison had brought before the Jury a work from the pen of Mr. Jeremy Bentham. Mr. Bentham, no doubt, was a man of ability. In his earlier life, he had produced works abounding with talent, and it was lamentable that, in his later years, he should have allowed such a production to have escaped him as that which Mr. Harrison had relied upon, a mere series of quibbles. Many solemn invocations of HEAVEN had the Jury heard from Mr. Harrison— many assurances of the sanctity of his own character, and of the purity of the doctrine which he preached; and )et this great master of religion—this instructor of those numerous bodies that hung upon his lips to catch the inspiration of piety, and hear inculcated the doctrines of morality, what had been his con duct? PreaChing rebellion to those who would lis ten to him. All his professions were at variance with 'that which was proved to have been his conduct on this occasion. It was painful to see a man like Sir Charles Wolseley—a man of family, of fortune, and rank—the associate. of such a man as Harrison. It was painful to see him in his present situation ; but feeling must give way to public justice. In the breasts of the Jury, that, the Learned Judge was confident, would be the case. The second count in the indictment avaethe charge of conspiracy ; and it had been said by the Counsel for the defence, that, in order to "make out that charge, there must be shewn an union of design previous to the time of the Meeting. How long previous, he (the Learned Jud g e) wished to know? -- Was not conspiracy frequently the subject matter which grew immediately out of a meeting between parties? But here there was ample proof of the parties having met "beforehand. Did all those five thousand persons come together by chance? Did Sir Charles Wolseley, and Harrison, and Saxton, and Fitton, all come together by chan c e? Did th e y all speak by chance? The previous concert seemed to him (the Learned Judge) to be proved beyond all doubt. His Lordship then went through the evidence for the defence. The witnesses who-had been called for the defence, he thought, had proved nothing: all that they had been able to say, bad bean, that they were present du? ing the Meeting, and that they had not heard (that was to say, some of them had not heard) certain expressions used by the defendants, which, by the witnesses for the prosecution, it had been proved those defendants did employ. This might well be true: two persons might be present at. such a Meeting, and one might hear what had not been heard by the other : the attention of either might, for the time, be called off. The Jury had now before them the whole evidence in the case; and he would briray, he said, bring to their recollection the principal points upon which their verdict must depend.— If they thought the assembly unlawful, and that speeches were made by the defendants, tending to ex cite hatred and contempt of the Government, they would find the defendants guilty of the two charges in the first eount. Haley thought that, in pursuance . of a connected scheme, the defendants acted and spoke, and that the tendency of their conduct was id / stir up hatred and contempt of the Government, and that speeches had been made by them with that in tent, then they would find them guilty of the two charges in the second count. If they thought them guilty of all the charges in the two counts, they would kind a general verdict of Guilty. The Jury consulted for about two minutes, when they desired to retire. The indictment was handed Ito them. They retired at one o'clock, and returned in three quarters of an hour with a verdict of— Guilty. against Sir Charles Wolseley and Joseph Har rison. The Court was very crowded, and all seemed to feel the greatest interest, but no expression of feel ing accompanied the verdict. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, the defendants ' would enter into the same recognizances as befote, to appear for judgment in the King's Bench. Mr. Chief .;ustice Wan:mt.—Yes: what are they? Mr. BENYON.—Very small, 1225 ; but I am satis fied with them. Sir CHA at-Es WOLSELEY, on l'eaving the Court, was followed by a great crowd of people to his lodgings. The Court proceeded with the trial of felonies. Allnnis, whose shocking levity on receiving sen tence of Death, it was yesterday our painful duty to notice, returned to prison in the same hardened way in which he left the dock. But it appears that in the course of Monday a most extraordinary change took place. The admonitions which he received from Mr. KEELING, a benevolent Gentleman who visited him ill his cell, made a strong impression on the wretched man, and penetrated with the deepest horror on reviewing the crime of which he stands convicted, and with the sincerest sorrow for the har dihood which he had so wantonly displayed, he now applies himself with the most unceasing anxiety to make his peace with Got►, by endeavouring to atone, as far as May be, for the past, and he awaits the exe cution of his awful sentence with humble resigna tion, and late, bat it is to be hoped, not availing con trition.--Bruse will not be executed oa Saturday. THE EVENING STAIt, LONDON. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1520. THE FUNDS. . PRICE OP STOCKS Tills DAY AT ONK O . CLCCI2 2 3 per Cent. Reduced 68 1 / 8 ex. <Ey. per Cent. Consols 68% 69 rer Cent. 3IA rA ex. div. 4 per Cent. 86 3 / 4 1 ,4 3 / 4 ex. div. 5 per Cent. Navy 105 1047 a 105 1 A Bank Long Annuities 1713-16 ex. dir. India Stock 215 1 / g India Bonds 225. 2is. - pr. Exchequer Bills (2d4 4s. ss. pre. Consols for Acct. 691%. DISTRESSING AFFAIR AT GREENOCK. We have the painful duty to communicate, tkis morning, an account of the rash and - unfortuna affair at Greenock. Without questioning any of ti;e facts stated in the Letters which v subjoin, it is manifest that on the part of the populace ther._ was something rather of a local than a politicar and we trust that the Volunteers c,id actually r.:ceive serious provocation, and even injury, be...ore they thought it necessary to make use of their arms. 0.. e thing, however, is consolatory, the conduct of the Civil Magistrates, in this case, is not implicatA.— The question at issue is altogeth:r between the Port- Glasgow Volunteers and the populace of Greenock; and it will, no doubt, be speedily ascertained, whe ther the behaviour of the la:ter was merely Croton:, or such a clear and evident-insurrection, as to justify the Commanding Officer to attack the people with out reading the Riot Act. In one of the letters from Greenock to Glasgow, it is insinuated that the mob were instigated by strangers, and also that the lower ors ale disaf fected. To the first of these statements we give no credit, and the Magistrates having been so satisfied with the loyalty of the town, as to think it unneces sary, in these times of panic, to form any Volunteer Corps, contradicts the imprudent assertion of the latter. No class cf people are so little likely to be in fected with Radical principles as the lower orders of the sea-ports. Sa'.lors, shipwrights, and per sons of all descriptions who labour in the open air, have generally the least disposition in their leisure moments to discuss speculative doctrines: we therefore trust and hope, indeed we are confident, that the whole affair will turn out a mere burst of popular indignation, excited perhaps by some feel:ng of local rivalry ; and we cannot too strongly repro bate the malice, in the first instance, of attempting to give it, without one spark of evidence, a political character. But the very same peculiarity which secures out-door labourers from the taint of specu lative opinions, renders them the more resolute and determined in their actions. The same generosity of character which makes them so courageous and self-devoted in the support of their friends and cause, makes them also most im placable enemies, and until atonement is made by the Volunteers for the blood that has been shed, it is absurd to suppose that the affair is settled at Greenock. One thing we are utterly at a loss to account for ir, that none of the offenders on either side arc arrested: for as riotous offenders we are disposed to regard them both . at present ; and without some strong grounds indeed, we again repeat, that we shall not believe that Radicalism had any thing to do with this matter. We have, since writing the above, seen letters frank Greenock, which confirm entirely the view which v:e have taken. in fact, the affair began by the hissing and shouts of mere children. FROM THE GLASGOW HERALD OF MONDAY. Perhaps there is not a more loyal town in Br:- tain than Greenock ; and so well-established is this character, that very seldom are any military quar tered there. It was with the utmost astonishment, therefore, that yesterday morning we received the accounts that a mob in Greenock had made a wanton attack upon the Pbrt-Glasgow Volunteers, and after wards broke open the jail and liberated some Radical prisoners. The fatal consequences of this attack have been the death of nine men by the fire of the Volunteers, and fifteen weunded. The particulars :ire amply detailed in the following letters received in Glasgow last night and this morning. These let ters all agree in representing that the outrage did not originate in political feeling, in so far, at least, as re spected the inhabitants of Greenock. • " We have got no account of this business from Port-Glasgow ; but we have heard that the 'Volun teers acted with the greatest forbearance, so long as the treatment they met with was endurable; and that the Officers were all in the rear of the party, endea vouring, by every means in their power, to make the mob desist : 4, Greenock, Sunday morning, eight o'clock. 0 I wrote you a few hurried lines last night, mentioning the dreadful riot which occurred here yesterday afternoon. I sha2‘ now endeavour to give a more particular account of it. A rumour had gone abroad in the morning, that a party of Itadi+ cal prisoners were to be brought to our prison in the course of the afternoon, and about (ow• o'clock great crowds began to Collect in the streets leading towards BridewelL About fivs o'clock the prisoners arrived, escorted by the Port-Glasgow Volunteers, with a drum and fife playing. I saw them pass, and every person appeared quiet, and merely collected front curiosity ; however, after safely lodging their prisoners, the Volunteers prepares! is move bOlrieWAllll, whey tk• sPOwil begat Mann, presery they b , after se fired, then at up anti 44 1 r been se mortalll wounde I think themar The cra hcuses f as also attack I they ret Port-G1 the Mg! which ti they are I trust i open the others." You amon 0 'ol then i You nate mitt that too, give you total tin R“dtcals the Port. they wou being no It of Pl2h t h e y ilthe lalwnemgo:tu u l l them : fib espedauy which tut more also' hour of fo " Belo! the town •Is in it, the drum of people I happened jail, when at the Vol of intimie Mr. Denn and with Seers then Iv hen the I Were seve and fired a • inatead of • They Leers condi Cartsdyke, Were killer . • Peace and and used ei became qui fence we h o'clock; bt With the sembled in Magistrate fended it assailed wi Ike met su Ave Radio dispersed, " As far Steen wet o'clock an Milkary, arrived, ai Cie% by sown is asl whatever i their riwe ha no sari oar was an On at comet of Cstarbanci of the prit arrived he were seal prepared i cellected was 51 till zttonly t ..;:c e l lthe r ce w a e c t r Vin d w -ou th o : l i i i • It api ht eusu , ens were steep b turnary, ui i • 1 , 7 , who Volunt Later there ell on b '1 win ' h thel • he Ma ,to de ed to • lly su Pais' fit we' y subs Weep