Star. — London, England, 1820-03-18 00:00:00

his part, he must commence by stating his peculiar satisfaction that this case came to be tried before a Special Jury of the County of York. Lookiii& to I the qucstioa which war, to be tried in a constittt fo-al point of view, and on public grounds, it was eacueding,ly desirable that the parties accused should be arraigned before a Jury that could not possibly be affected by local or personal' prejudices. If he! had . an important cause to decide, he knew no set of men before whom he would sooner hitie it discussed than before an enlighteneZ and experienced Jury of that County ; the Gentlemen of which had long held a high and proud eharatter for entertaining a pro per sense of public chity and of private honour. On the part, therefore, of the prosecution, as well as on that of the defendants, he was perfectly satisfied with the choice that.h;:d been made. It gave hire an op portunity of addressing men wholly unprejudiced, who were devoid of any local feelings, and would give way to no impression, save those which arose from the case itself, as it should be hereafter deve loped. They must be aware that the charge arose out of transactions which took place in the month of August last, and in the county of Lancaster.— The parties were 'accused of having convened a Meeting at Manchester, the object of which was to excite fear and terror in the minds of his Majesty's subjects : this was the short description of the crime alleged against the defendants. The ciicumstances which occurred at the time . of the Meeting were matter of evidence, and would throw considerable light on the projects of those who took part in the proceedings. The individuals who appeared before them as defendants, were singled out as having been among the leaders of those who assembled an the Meeting alluded to. 'With respect to Public Meet ings in general, it was requisite for him to say a few words in the outset, as to his conception. of what constituted a legal assembly in this country. It was undoubtedly the privilege of the People of England, stating the proposition in a broad and unqualified manner, when they suffered uader any grievance, to assemble at a Public Meeting, and to pursue a law ful mode of address. But the Meeting in question was not of this description: it was of a nature un known to the Conititution. In former times it was customary for counties, towns, districts, or particular Classes of individuals, united by one common interest in tie pursuit of one common object, to meet toge ther. Thus, for instance, where a particular trade was affected by a particular law, the parties interested met to petition for its repeal. If a particular class of persons were oppressed by any grievance, they also assembled together to petition for its removal. If a -Lord-Lieutenant, •or the high-Sheriff of a County, was informed that the Freeholders had to complain of something that operated against their interests, the practice of the Constitution enabled him to call a - fleeting for the purpose of petitioning either the 'Throne or the Parliament. But he never had heard ;ft stated by any Lawyer, and he trusted he should never hear it decided; that it was a right, sanctioned . .iither" by the Law or Constitution of this land, frier- any - person who pleased to call all the People of England together in one place, ther e to dis tu;s political measures, and to lay down particu lar modes by which they might obtain redress.— He would now proceed to notice the different indi- •-viduals who were charged in the indictment. Of, -Mr. Hunt it was unnecessary that he should say any- i tiling, because his name had appeared so much of late connected with the,e transactions, as to leave no doubt on the mind of any man as to his character arid avocations. The others were more obscure ; __ they were very little known, and he should, there fore, state who they were, premising that they were charged with assembling, and inciting others to as semble, to disturb the public peace. John Knight kad formerly been in business ; his occupation had latterly been that of an itinerant orator. Joseph Johnson was a brush-maker, residing in or near Mandhester, and he believed was also in the habit of attending Public Meetings. Of John Saxton all the description which he had was, that he was some way or other connected with the Office of a Paper called the Manchester Observer. Joseph Healey was an apothecary. James Moorhouse was a coachmas ter, residing at Stockport. George Swift carried on the business of a shoemaker, at Manchester. Of Ito-. bent Wilde he knew nothing, but that he lived near .Ashton-under-Line. Samuel Bamford and Robert Jones were individuals in humble circumstances.— The Jury would find, by unquestionable evidence, that these persons were connected in some sort of secret design. lie would be able to shew the course which the parties respectively took when he called his evidence, and, therefore, it was not necessary for hm; at that moment, to state the specific acts of each ; it would be sufficient to give a general view of their proceedings. To begin, then, with Mr. Hunt. It appealed, tlta, some time in the month of June, in the last year, a Public Meeting took place in Smithfield ; lie knew not by whom it was assembled, nor was it of any consequence. It created, however, considerable alarm in the Metropolis.— Ile alluded to this Meeting, of which Mr. Hunt was the had, as the probable cause of his being subse quently invited to preside at a Meeting at Manchester. It appeared, that on the 9th of August, a Meeting was projected to be held by the people of Manchester, for the puipose of considering public grievances, and discussing the question of Parliamentary Reform," and also to elect'a Representative, to be returned by themselves, to - sit in Parliament. This was a mea sure which no man 'could contend fell short of the highest misdemeanour which could be committed..— le was a den ial of the authority of all law, and an, interference vrith the'prerogative of the King him - self,' -,cithaut whissisaaction, from the earliest periods, no Fersims - had the right to return Members to Parlia ment. • On'. the lith day of August, Mr. Htint ar rived. att'a plite ailed' Bullock-smithy, about nine w il es lion) Maitehitter, and three miles from Stock port. - Ile *as here joined by 'Moorhouse, who took him to StociPoitt; and on the Morning* of the 9th they %vete . jOinei 'by: Johnson: Th e party made . a protress tofiarlCS frhnehester, aecompa eet, nied by Sir, M Charles Wolselerand Others: The notice of a 14 at Malichester'tbd, it 'seemed, attracted the at "cation of the -Magisiiatet; and the Meeting was pro- Litiited by theriv.-' By' their Orders,' placards were satek up- in the town • Stating that the People were fled upon ter do a thing highly illegal. Mr. Hunt, ivappeared, was extremely atvy at this-pinhibitiOn, or rather as die-conduct of those Who were to' Have .• , • • •I :10.1 • r. L~_ met together, in yielding to it ; toisa they would find, that on the evening of the 9th. he was haranguing the people, lititcl s kr of oft. Magistrates who prohibited the M :by .4:iy the ap p ellation of No: 9, in allusion to nine t . He used terms of extreme reptoath and contumely in mentioning thesecentle men, declared that he conceived the object of the IPeople to be legal, stated his-opinion that they were acting in a weak manner to yield to the suggestions of the lqagistrates, and invited them to meet him on the 16th of August. Having given this notice, that the Meeting of the 9th was adjourned, he proceeded to the residence of Johnson, near the town of Manchester, which lie understood to be called Smedley-cottage. —The Magistrates now received information on which it was very difficult tin act. They were in formed, that movements had taken place among the people composing the immense population of the neighbourhood of Manchester, in the dead hour of the night, five, six, and even ten miles off, which were of a nature quite unprecedented. The Magis trates thought it necessary to take measures forthe preservation of the peace : they felt that the calling of a Meeting by a person who had no connexion with the town, who had no property in or about it, was likely to lead to serious mischief. They determined to ward off the evil; and the prudence of their deter mination appeared evident when they were informed, that on the 15th of Auguit, in thc night time, a number of persons assembled at a place called White Moss, and had been observed going through the evo lutionsof military discipline, in such *manner, that no one who had seen soldiers performing their exer cise could entertain a (1( übt that the persons thus . ' employed had some ulterior object in training at such an hour. The two persons who gave the informa tion drew near to these individuals —so near that they were discovered and pursued ; they were followed by bodies of men detached from the main body, and, when overtaken, were beaten most unmercifully.--,. One of them, of the name of Murray, was discovered' to be a Special Constable ; be was obligect, in ordek to save his life, to fall on his knees and abjure his at. legiance. This circumstance would give the Jury some idea of what the object of these people was. • Mr. Hunt here interrupted the Learned Counsel. He wished to know how the Learned Gentleman meant to connect this circumstance with the charge alleged against him and the other defendants? Mr. Justice BATLEY said, the Learned Counsel was, perhaps, introducing this as a matter which would be connected by collateral evidence with the general charge. Mr. Hunt objected to the introduction of the cir cumstance which the Learned Counsel was stating, as having nothing at all to do with the specific charge. Mr. Justice 'law-Er said, he had a right to sup pose that the Learned Counsel would not introduce any circumstance which was not material to his case, and that he would not advert to any fact which he did not believe that he had evidence to prove. If be acted otherwise, the iesult would be beneficial to the ' defendant's case, and certainly not to his. Mr. Hunt said, he felt himself happy in being placed under his Lordship's protection. Mr. Scarmait)voceeded. He had, he said, too long been acquainted with the duties of his profes sion, to introduce, to the prejudice of the defendant, matter which he did not think he was warranted in stating. He *Old inform the defendant, if it were any pTeaswe to him, that he would endeavour to connect him deeply and criminally with the circum stance of which he' had just been speaking. He ex pected to prove that Xt.. Hunt was most deeply and criminally connected:With the proceedings at White Moss. Those *ho were clothed with 'authority in Manchester, having thought it their duti to forbid the Meeting called for the 9th, and Mr. Hunt hav ing taken upon himself to preside at another, called for the 16th of August, the Magistrates found it ne cessary to have recourse t 6 those Precautions which may be lawfully applied to all large Public Meet tines. They accordingly made those preparations which the nature of'the case seemed to demand, and now he had to open to the Jury a scene, which, among all those which had been witnessed in this our native land, had had no example. He then pro-i ceeded to describe the Meeting of the 16th August, and, from a large county map, he pointed out to the Jury the situations of the e villages in the neighbour• hood of Manchester, from which the Reformers , ntirched on that morning, 'to assemble in' the area near St. Peter's Chbrch. The majority of the popu lation of Manchestethe described to consist of a prior laborious people. Their numbers and their condi tions would alone* have justified the Magistratei in adopting some extraordinary precautiOns to preserve the public peace, had the Meeting been' confined to the inhabitants of Manchester alone, when called at a time of such general distress. 'tie then shewed, that from such being the case, bodies of men were seen, on the 16th day of August, marching from all points of the compass towards Manchester. —At Middleton, the defendant Bamford would le shewn to have been busy in arranging in military order a body of three thousand men. 'Though they were not in uniform they had made considerable progress in their military e;ercises. Under Bamford's directions, they dressed and formed a hollow-square with great regularity, and tiley put laurel leaves in their hats, that they might be distinguished from others. This party was joined by another, two thou- Sand strong, from Rochdale. From mOldham a Cbdy of men had marched, with which it would be proved that the defendant Healey was connected. In the first instance it did not appear that he assumed the command of those with whom lie marched ; but, in their progress towards Manchester, he would be proved to have expressed a strong opinion on the probable effect of the Meeting, and to have declared that he looked forward' to a glorious result from the' proceedings of that day. From other parts in the vicinity of Manchester, bodies of men were idianc ing, and he believed that on every highroad leading to the town a similar spectacle was To be seen.— Things were in this state up to eleven o'clock on the morning of the 16th, when that party was seen ap proaching Manchester, - which had been observed on the preceding day training at White Moss. Murray, the man whom they had so cruelly beaten, was then lying in bed, unable to move, from the bruises he had received. When the party from White Moss came opposite his home, they made loud huzzas, halted, and by their whole conduct proved that they: exulted in the recollection of the proceedings of the anteriof day, and hailed the sufferer to confirm him in the oath they bad forced Mtn to take, or to give ' him a..warning of what mighterestat froth his purpl ing kdifferent course from that Which it was their Pleasure to enjoin.'; It was at' elibut eleven o'clock that Mr. Hunt and his party were seen entering the town. He came in an open carriage, and Johnson, 3loorhouse, and Wright, accompanied• him on his approach. The Middleton and Rochdale parties bad united, and Mr. Hunt entered, therefore, as at the head of an army of 5000 men. But the numbers that accompanied him were greater than the amount l i he had stated, as such an army is usually much in creased by the stragglers picked up on the way. He (Mr. Hunt) first approached Murray's house. Here he stood up in the carriage, seemed to 'assume the tone of a Commander, the word to "halt" was given, and the same token (wl , ether it 'A' a 5 to be taken in good or in bad part it was for the Jury to consider) of a knowledge of what occur red on the preceding day at White Moss, was given, that had been given by the .party from White Nloss.. Thence pas , ing on, Hunt and his party arrived at the Star Inn, where the Magistrates were engaged in the discharge of a most arduous duty. They were greeted with hisses and groans, and va rious expressions of contempt. They next passed the Police Office, where the Constables were in ete same' way saluted . with hoots, hisses, and groans'; and from thence the party, prooeeded to the intended place of meeting. This had been engaged for their reception by Bamford, Healey, Ikloothouse,and Knight. art ton and Knight were employed in -arranging the mob - to receive Mr. Hunt. It would be found, that , the 'Magistrates having taken their station in a heuse lon the ground, had established a line of Constables,. extending nearly to -the hustings. The mob, upon • this, closed, so as to form a thick body of men round the hustings, to guard against ;any atrempt to _ap proach. It was then announced, that the Committee desired certain bodies of men, forming the mob, to' take their places at certain distances,. and when Mr: Hunt arrived, to open, that he might pass, and then immediately close their ranks again. They were fur ther admonilhed, to " take especial care to admit none but their friends, as their enemies were known to be near at hand." 'niece arrangements were made with .great form and regularity ; and when the body, at the - head of which was Mr: Hunt, approached, it would be proved, that he was escorted by men bear ing large sticks on their shoulders. They came four and six a-breast, bearing banners with different in scriptions, and moved like troops well disciplined to march. When they drew near, they were ordered to wheel off, which they did with the precision of re gular troops; and, indeed, all their motions indicated a considerable proficiency in military exercises. Mr. Hunt, at the head of the body of men who had been described as leading, then proceeded to take his place on the hustings, or dose to them. One banner was inscribed " Equal Representation or Death."— He put it to the Jury to reflect what was meant by this. It was not for him to go into the question of Parliamentary Reform. en that subject, many ho- nourable and patriotic, men differed from each other. But whatever varieties of opinion might exist on this subject, there was no honest man who would not resist to extremity, rather than countenance, any at tempt to. alter the Constitution by force. But did not the motto, " Equal-Representation or Death," go to intimate that the parties composing the Meeting were - determined to obtain Equal Representation, or death would ensue ? Did it no t, in effect, say, hat ' those who displayed the banner considered Equal Re presentation to be with them so far a sine qua non, that they were determined-to obtain it by force or perish. Another banner was inscribed " No. Corn Laws."— He commented on this, and shewed the extreme dan ger of exhibiting such a motto before a multitude like that assembled at Manchester, of sixty thousand persons at least; but, according to some statements, that Meeting consisted of not fewer than one hundred and fifty thousand persons. Ought the people, at a period of such severe distress, to be thus inflamed ? Let them meet to call for a Reform, if they pleased; lint was it to be endured that they should assemble in such immense multitudes, to dictate the measures which they wished to see adopted, and tb declare,- that if that which they demanded were not conceded, they would accept of nothing else? He briefly touched on the four items of Parliamentary Reform, Univer sal Suffrage, Annual Parliaments, and Vote by Ballot. To the Jury he submitted, that the weavers, shoe makers, and cotton-spinners, by whoin these ques tions were agitated, were not the most competent judges of the effects of _those changes whiCh 'they wished to introduce into the Constitution. He shewed that the People, once made dissatisfied on these sub jects, ascribes to the want of the recommended changes all the evils with which PROVJDENNE might afflict them. The folly of the mob, in some respects, he instanced. by referring to the Meetings which took place, and the complaints which were rai s ed, whe n it was found necessary to alter our Calendar. Because eleven days were added to the date of the day en Which the change took place, many had the weakness to repine, as it they had been actually robbed of eleven days. Hogarth, in allusion' to this subject, had most felicitously pictured the absurdities of the mob, by representing them, in one of his pictures, as throwing up their hats, and franticly calling out-. " Give us back our eleven days !" There was about the same degree of reason in this cry as there' as in that of " Annual Parliaments, Universal Suffrage, and Vote by Ballot." But he had not yet done with the banners :—Another of them was inscribed, " Let us die like men, and not be sold like slaves !" Who, he wished to know, had been selling, or atte.mpting ' to sell, the people of Royston, Oldham, Middleton, and the other places which had that day poured their thousands into Manchester ? Ile, for his part, had heard of no selling for slaves, or anything of the kind. What, then, was the object of exhibiting such a banner ? One flag was surrnounted by a pike, and another gave the representation of . a What did these mean but this (though no man had the courage and audacity to say it with his' lips), that. such instruments might • be useful---might pro cure the Reform wanted to - benefit the. People ?, biit our laws did not teach that any such should be used td reform the English C2nstitution. What was -this Meeting of the 16th:of Atqtust Was it a Meeting 'of the town of Manchester - the L'Onnt bf Lan caster ?--or of Oiyfpartiettla; : - 4;i467,-,. - it hy any person rctlnneetedlsviilallhe No.! What then avaa the alqt—solhat=then.Wasthe purpose for were questions to which the Jury wotild have to di rect their most serious cortsideration. He must sub , mit, that it could only be for the purpose of inspiring terror and alarm; and he would put it to them, if any man of property could without alarm behold such bodies of weavers, shoemakers, cotton-spinner..., and other mechanics and 14ourers, as moved on Manchester on the 16th of August, with all the threatening characteristics of an invading army._. Could such assemblies be lawful in a country where laws were framed for the protection of property ? If they could, it might be well that they should 4is peme with the laws altogether. It was impossiltle for such Meetings to be tolerated. Were they to be continued, they would compel the Government to maintain a larger military force than any friend to. his country could ever desire to see in England.-- What could the Civil Power do in such cases, v. ie.+ nut the aid of the Military ? What could the tsv. - hundred Constables of Manchester do against a rnr.a.i of sixty thousand men ? The Magistrates finding the mob increase, as it did on the 16th of August, knc7t not how far its tarni::cations might extend. Hew could they be certain that the people of Birming ham, Coventry, and Proiston, were not coming down upon them, as well as the Reformers of Roch dale, Middleton, 'and Oldham ? The Magistrates, in consequence, became alarmed, and properly alarmed, for the safety of the property and lires of their fellow -townsmen, and, in consequence, they were induced to issue a warrant for the ap prehension of the leader of the multitude. The law declared, that Meetings called to inspire alarm and terror were illegal. The Meeting of the 16th of August, if such were the law, must evidently be unlawful. This would, he doubted not, be madeout much stronger in evidence, than it had been stated by him. In conclusion, he called on the Jury to p:ry all attention to what might be urged by the defen dants, and to give, as lie was sure they would, a con scientious verdict, expressing their belief of the nature of the case, and the real character of the Meeting. Thomas Fidler was the first witness called. He . keeps the Red Lion public-house, three miles from Stockport ; was there on the Bth August; saw - Mr. Hunt, ..lho came in a gig, with a servant, dined there, and remained about four hours. Witness knosscs:tlie defendant Moorhouse ; he is a coach-proprietar aad auctioneer, 'at Stockport. Moorhouse was there that day; he came after Mr. Hunt, accompanied. by his brother ; he inquired if Hunt was there, and; 70 - ,opped five or ten minutes; wituers informed him Cunt was gone towards Stockport. Moorhouse was there be fore, -while -Hunt was in the house ;"but /le did not come in, he only stopped . opposite the stable: that was half an hour after Mr. Hunt's arrival. Hunt—Then it is not true, as Mr. Scaxlett stated, that I was met liy Moorhouse, and by him con duced to .BtockpOt ; that is not true. Witness—NosXe (witness) did not know whether Mr. Moorhouse ingnired- for Mr. Hunt when first he came ; he knew Moorhouse for twelve years ; he WAS in the habit of calling when he passed that way ; he knew him intimately before that time : he could not say whether he was in the habit of attending Meet, ings before•3ugust last or not. Cross-examined by Hunt—This was the principal house at Ballstruck. Moorhouse was not the only person who asked the question that day as to Hunt's being there ; it was a pretty general Inquiry.. Wit ness did not know Mr. Johnson, of Manchester ; the only person who inquired for him was a person named Jump, whom he did not.admir. Witness kpew mare of the persons charged with Moorhouse; he heard of no plots going on ; he merely conducted three parties of two. Cross-examined by Serjean - t Huttoca—He said he knew none of the parties who were injured, ex cept Jump. • - Henry Lomax being sworn, said he kept the White Lion at Stockport, on the.Stli of August last. - Oa that day, late at night; he saw Moorhouse and Hnnt together; he saw them also' next morning about eight o'clock; Mr. Hunt went into Moorhouse's late at night, and they came . out together in the -morn ing ; they were afterwards joitked by another, whom he did not know, but they called him- Sir Charles Wolseley ; he also raw Parson Harrison; there *as a crowd about them.; he thought the object of the crowd was to see. Mr. Hunt; he saw no crowd in Stockport, except when Mr.-Moorhouse or Mr. Hunt were making some of their speeches; they went into- Mr. Moorhouse's ; Hunt, Moorhouse, and him they called Sir Charles. Mr. Lunt and Sir . j pwles went into a gig, and Moorhou s e an d klarmon:into one of Moorhouse's chaises. Cross-examined by Mr. BA anow—Moorhouse was not in the habit of taking in horses to bait. but On this occasion he saw Mr. Hunt go into the, yarki ; he •cOuld .not say- whether. Mr. Moorhouse ever made any political speeches before August..but:then and after great crowds were often assembled botind his house. He could not say whether any of his speeches were made before Hunt came from the New Bailey Prison. Examined by Mr. Huttoex—Witness said he kept chaises, but was not a rival of Mr. Moorhouse. He • knew Meetings to be held at Sandybrow, but never saw Modrhimse there; he must have noticed him if he was there. He did 'not 'attend on - the hustings upon any of those occasions ; witness was called uppu to serve as a 'Yeoman, and attended on the same business at Man c he s te r ; Mr. Moorhouse, however, might have been at those meetings without his know- He.-never saw the Duke of Wellington pass threugh SrOckport, nor a crmyd round Mr. Serjeant Cross upon any occasion ; he did not see Mr. Cross after the Derby trials ; he was- at Manchester as is Yeoman of Cheshire—;Here the witness smiled). Himt.—Oh, yol laugh at it; did you see anything at Manchester to laugh at? Witness saw nothing particular there. Hunt.:—Did y ou see nothing particular; why th em did you laugh ? . Witness laus.theJ at nothing particular. He went there for his king .and Country, and always should. if necessary ;• he saw no particular transactions; he was dressed in uniform, and had arms: nothing tock place that struck him as being particular; he saw some banners, but no marching in array, extent the Yeomanry and soldiers ; he saw. many in coniusloa . t i mil i k i e t wilt. .I.le was at St. Peter's-field about an *pc, or an - boor and a half; ho saw frothing parti cular. The Cheshire Yeomanry had nothin to do biat:statid on' the ground. He raw people disabled, bui it did not ' attract 114 partici:ilk. attention, for he did nut look at them much. Sonic were cut, belt he. V fe ci or Or Id 1K sa: to H, ho 1 .