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

did not believe it wis done by the Cheshire Yeo manry. Witness came from Stockport ; he didnot kaow at what hour be left Stockport; it might' be seven or eight. Between eight and one or two, he, with others of the Yeomen, were .led through dif ferent parts of the z i ntntry. He saw nothing parti• culat. uilless the people running away, and the Stock port Troop had nothing to do with them. He saw Rio banners till he saw them in the hands of the Ca- , ;alry ; some of the banners were in the hands of the Stockport Troop : lie did • not know how they got :hem. o.le of the young men of the Troop got one in the crowd some way, and they took it back to Stockport. Nearly all the people were gone before. the ti.ockport Troop came on the ground : they were ordered to draw their swords before they came there. ile 0 , people going to the Meeting, but none Mary array. He only observed two or three pass by a tine. Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Cnoss.—Witness vas not stationed with his Troop in sight of the 'lust in :;s ; his Corps were not so stationed that they could set. them. Bcntly, being sworn, said, be lived at Eaton Norris, near Stockport. He saw Mr. Johnson on the afternoon of the Bth of August ; be was then on foot. hut lie afterwards saw him in a gig with Mr. hunt ; th- y were going towards Stockport ; he did not see where they went, but they turned off towards a place called the Union Room ; he saw them the next day, with Sir Charles Wolseley, going in the di• rcction of Manchester. Cress-examined by Mr. Hunt.—Witness was a clerk in a counting-house; fit went in a coach' to Manchester an the 16th, but saw no person cut ; he was at the back of the hustings, and saw no act of violence till the Cavalry came ; he saw one or two men very insolent, they would break through the 7 t.lks of the Constables ; it struck him that there •,:reflity or sixty thousand persons present ; he went t. , ere merely from curiosity; he was not alarmed till aiter the Cavalry came on the ground ; he was then rather aii aid ; there were two or three who would go the the crowd whether or not .;* he saw' no • Ls hers. n cut ; there was one Constable pressed down h) the crowd when the Cavalry came ; witness took refuge ainong the Constables, among whom he had some relations ; he saw a double low of Constables from the house where the Magistrates were, up to_ the hustings ; Mr. Nadin was on the ground, close to the Magistrates' house ; witness saw -no person in sult him ; he heard hint (Hunt) requesting the peo ple to be quiet and peaceable ; the relation whom be had amongst the Constables was Thomas. Examined by Mr. liartnow.=Witness said, he knew Mr. Moorbouse; he saw him in the carriage, but could not sav he was upon the hustings. Examined by Mr. HoLtocK.He saw Moorhouse, Hunt, Johnson, and a Lady, in the carriage ; it was attended by a crowd, and there was plenty of flags ; h did not recollect that there were any banners among those who surrounded the carriage; he saw Hunt leave the carriage to get upon the hustings; he passed the Stockport people that morning; they were upwards of a thousand ; he recollected Hunt's saying, " if any people broke the peace, they must get them down, keep them down, and make them be quiet ;" he recollected no other word. To a question from the JUDGE, he said, he could not tell how many might be able to hear Hunt when he spoke. _ _ _ Mary Cadman being sworn, said she was servant to Moorhouse, but had left his service ; she knew Mr. Hunt ; there was a bed made up for him at Moor house's. Here Mr. Hunt rose, and admitted that he slept there; it was not, therefore, necessary to examine her further on that point. Cross-examined by Mr. BARROW.—Witness said, Moorhouse was in the habit of frequently reading the Bible; she went to the Meeting for curiosity ; there was a vast number of women and children there; Moorhouse took his wife there ; she was in the family way ; she saw none of the children of Moorhouse there. Samuel Morton said he lived near the St. Michael's Church public-house, at Mandlester ; he saw persons assemble near his house on the 9th : there was a great noise that Johnson, Hunt, and Moorhouse were corn ing ; there Were three or four in a - chaise ; there was a large collection of people round them ; the g:g stopped opposite the church, when Mr. Hunt got on l.is legs and began to speak; he began by making allusions to the Manchester Magistrates, he compared them to nine tailors on a shop boaro. ; witness thought his reason for saying so was, because the Meeting was forbidden ; encouraged the people to be firm, and no doubt they would prosper ; the Meeting to v . ilich he alluded was :los Meeting of that day ; wit ross did not know it was for 14idden.— :Here the placard forbidding the Meeting was sliewn, and wit ness said he saw many such posted on the walls.] There was a great noise among thc people ; previous to the last placard witness saw another of the same tendency ; Hunt told the people to meet again on the Kith, which was received with loud cheers, and cries of " We will, we will :" Hunt they waved his h:tt, and laughed quite heartily ; Johnson sat by ;unt's side ; they continued from hail an hour to three ouarters before they moved off, and then drove Mr. Johnson's house. On the ;following Mon day he saer many thousands moving •about. lie saw Mr. Johnson come with his retinue ; Mr, Hunt was present v..ith Johnson in a carriage; the people were niter :hero five or six abreast ; fhey stepped like sol ders ; he could not say how Many there were, but 411 an hour elapsed before *they all passed; they came either from the Oldham or Rochdale road ; 1 !ais he concluded from seeing them come down the he heard a bugle, aficl they halted .niote than once witness stood-looking on ; he heard a ' 7 .°"'- from a man, end- believed it was the Word halt there was- a black flag; with . " Liberty Of Death;," or something • similar-;:" No Corn La o s," as on another banner ; there were several other Rags, Caps of Liberty at the top ; one was " Hunt lr,d Libatty ;" _tie recollected nothing about 'miser. eat:tion; witnes s foll owe d t h e M till, they got tolls .. • lu rray' s h ouse ,. who was, a constable at the time ate Ik.a-sin his room ve r y ill ; w h en the mob tgovaPP°' his door, they hissed achis• family, who - ,ivere at the windows, and cried out, ‘-! that-they w4nted se ni l e White Moss humbugs the carriage at this,tinse had 'One on, and was no longerin. his sight; the Amalfi not quiet ; it was very tumultuous, and for him s7ll, witness was alarnied i he had hued in the to*n 4') ;ear.,, and never saw anything so tumultuous be • • fore ; neither public nor private business went on m e the usual way; witness is a manufacturer, and ccitild not attend to his business, there were so *any people running up and down. To a question from Mr. BARROW, witness said he did not see Mr. Moorhouse in the carriage; he did not know Sixton, one of the defendants; he did not know such a person. • Cross•examined by Mr. Hunt.—Witness said he was a fustian-manufaidturer. There was a great deal of confusion. The business of witness was carried on in Bessen-row, No. 5 ; not in theroad where the pro cession passed. Withy Grove was not near his resit dencc ; he stopped there to seethe people pass, and Was alarmed. Witness did not return home ;mile diately ; he stopped at the corner of Flanging Ditch ; he was alarmed at the black Rag, and thought they were going to level something. Witness is a married man; his wife and chP„, -en were at home; he took care that none of them were at Peterloo; he. was cet- tain they were not there. Witness did -not go to the Meeting ; he never attended anything of the kind.— Ile saw the black flag pass Withy Grove, with the inscription, " Liberty or Death." He thought there would be a disturbance and a fight ; there was no fighting while he was present, but there was some thing lie did not like—a trumpet blowing—people generally fought idler, and not before trumpets were blown. He saw the weavers, run up to Mr. Hunt, many without coats ; there were numbers of women, as well as girls and boys, all mixed together. What witness alluded to was on the 9th, - not the 16th ; he could not say whether the women marched or not,. or whether they -were alarmed. He saw some ac quaintances from Oldham there, and many of his own townsmen. W itnesswent home about one o'clock to his dinner; he went to no Magistrate to express bis fears ; none of the processions passed his house. Witness was in York since Sunday night last ; he, saw flags and people marching in York, but was not alarmed. The Meeting there and at Manchester had' a different appe trance, and were different things:— one was like war or disturbance, and the other like merriment or rejoicing. [Here some slight manifestation of approval took place in the gallery, and Mt. Justice BAYLEY re marked on the impropriety of such conduct, request ing that it might not ipe repeated.] There was a report of large numbers to come to Manchester, and coining in that way with Caps of Liberty, and banners -with -44 Liberty or Death," he was vetv much :alarmed ; witness saw none of those at the Manchester. Meeting drank ; he. saw one rather intoxicated . at York ; but it was the sober procession that appeared to him like war, and not the - drunken one at York. . On being cross-exathint d by . Mi . ..ClWee. witness said, he kept his family at home, the streets were so tumultuous ; he thought it dangerous for them to go into the streets. . To a question from Mr. Hunt, witness said; he did not know why the Magistrates were compared to nine tailors. Johnson asked, whether there was any man a greater leveller than himself? Witness said he had paid many of the debts for, which he was committed to Lancaster; he was discharged under the Insolvent Debtors' Act; he never fought with any person in High-street. Johnson here wished to know whether he might put questions relative to the conduct of witness's family ? Being answered in the negative. he asked whether the witness paid his debts? He did not pay any of the money since leaving Lancaster jail ; he was unfortunate in business, lost all he had, and was not now in a capacity to pay ; he had a wife and seven or eight children to support. James Standrick was the next witness. He saw Mr. Hunt on the 9th of August, in Manchester. He got up to address the people horn a gig. Witness was at his work. There were about 1000 people assembled. Mr. Hunt said, the first he heard of the Meeting being postponed, was when he got to Bul lock-smithy, and saw the nine Magistrates' names subscribed to it, and it reminded him of the old pro- , verb—" It took nine tailors to make a man." He then said, that he knew the Meeting was a legal one, and that another was to be held on the following Mon day. Witness did not hear him say whether he should attend or not. Cross-examined by Mr. Hunt—Witness said he was a timber-merchant ; he took no notes, but wrote down what he saw for a person whom he thought to be employed by the PolicA Witness did not state that Mr. Hunt mcntioned his having important business to attend, and could not be at the Meeting, nor his alludin:, , to a blunder of the Magistrates in the Bill. John Chadwick being sworn, said he lived at Mus chester, and was a shoemaker; he went to meet Mr. Hunt on the 9th of August; he did meet him in a gig with . Johnson. Sir Charles Wolseley, Mir Moor ! house, and Parson Harrison, were in a carriage; they passed through various parts of the town, accompa nied by about 300 people; the crowd increased; he heard Mr. Hunt asking those round the gig to shout, which they did, and it was repeated till he got to the 05serter Office, where they halted; Hunt then got up and twirled his hat, on which the people shouted; he made no speech till he got to Dier's Crop; they , stopped at Johnson's, and shouted three times three, Mr. Hunt having previously twirled his hat; when they itnived at the St. Michael's public-house, he told them he was invited to manufacture the Man chester Committee of Reform ; be then stated, that he saw a proclamation of the Mayor—that it took nine tailors' to make a man, and that it took nine Mayors to put out that proclamation. Such a procla mation never ease from a shop full of tailors ; bnd, alter turning round to the Stockport people; said he hoped he should see them oft the 16th, at Manchester. They then passed on toJohnson's house, and Mr. Hunt told them to disperse, butadvised the Stockport peo pk.to bririgns many of theirceighbours as they could on the /6th : witness knee a place called White Moss:; is _was about- five miles front Manchester, on theßistekney. road - witness was at White MOss on thelAth•Angtist ; he get there before daylight ; there seerelmstny people there; witness was • attended by another young man from curiosity, because they heard ' there were some men to be drilled ; there were about 300 at first, bur kept in - creasing. They heard a horn btrwingg~ and fell into ranks like soldiers . ; different L people : commanded ; when the horn blew they fell • httrrrank like soldiers, acid marched about; they made the- whitest fall - into aank ; 'all tell into their re • spective places, and formed different companies, from Mo Bib was Mo K•a) Cht asse i:ig a1:1 litoi Lis the his nes Thi to I to the cri Lai 1;1 !.) da ;.11 cii ca : . 1 cr 1) tj !,1 1.0141 Am, niacliestea, aria other places ; they mates.' couuter;eiarclied, and halied-; wits* he?rd the ciOrdi inake — ready, present'," and on the wo r d !' fire'' slatiing given, they all clapped:theirliandi about six lo r elcick they all. fell into line, land witness among the rest the commanders were country people, whom the witness - did not. know. 111 i. Runt submitted that this Was not evidence, as the witness did not knew any of those present ; it had riutcmnexion with the . Meeting of the 16th. • 4. inie3s proceeded.—Tie saw Murray, and heard a cryrcif,' a A-spy, a spy I" The first person he saw on the•l6th leading- Middleton and Rochdale up, was a man be•saw with a 'letter at•the White Mors. Arian brought it about two hours after witness saw Mur ray. When he brought the letter, they formed into •a solid square to hear it read; the ma n wh o received it was placed in the middle. It was not read, for, as it had no name, they said they would have no thing to do with it. The man who got the letter was on the White Moss before witness, drilling the, persons assembled there. Witness saw Murray on the Moss, and the mob running after him, but he did not follow them. There was another with Murray whom he did not know. He went to meet 41r. Hunt at Smedley Cottage ; there was a party cortected there. There were different crowds going, till Hunt left the place ; he was accon'tpanied, so far as witness knew, only by the Manchester crowd. The Middleton and Rochdale parties came down the Old. Road, And 4)asied, on to the Meeting. Witness accompanied' them ; they marched along in rows ; he did not per-. ceive they had any Officers. He went to Shoe-hill with this patty, and then turned back to meet Hunt, who was accompanied by a great crowd. .He, with Johnson, were standing up in an open top chaise, to gether with Knight, and a man they called Carlile. The cart iage was in the middle of the crowd ; they did not march in ranks, eicept a few lads before. They halted when They came to JOhnSon's shop, and shouted. They next halted at' the Exchange, and, shouted also. The crowd kept increasing as they' went ; on passing Murray's house they hissed as loud as they could. When they came to the Exchange' some hissed and some shouted. Witness did not go to the Meeting with that party, he went a shorter way, but could not get near the hustings. There was . a woman in the coach who'carried a flag. Cross-examined by Mr.Hunt.—Witness said he was a shoemaker, residing at No.:;0, Miller's-stteet. He lived there nine years ; he worked for. himself and others;. he was positive he heard him call on the people to shout ; be went to White Moss for mere curiosity ; the person's name who accompanied him was William ; he did not know his other name, nor his residence; they conversed after on the subject ; the other person works in Miller's-lane : he told this story.many a time, and Mr. Milne took it down, but never asked him to produce the young man who ac companied him ; last Tuesday was the first time he communicated this to Mr. Milne ; he was not asked whether any other witness could be produced to con firm this testimony. There were many spectators besides himself, who were ordered to fall in with the rest into a rank ; they said, • all must fall in, for they would have no lookers on ; witness was looking on about two hours and a half; he never said how many were drilling when he got there ; they were not there in rank ; they were sitting about, and got into rank when daylight appeared ; he could not speak as to their number; at first there were about as many lookers on as fell in ; the former did not fall in till ..they formed the long line; there are houses round White Moss, the inhabi tants of which could not miss seeing those assembled; they were altogether more than four hundred: wit ness went home about seven o'clock, and told what he saw to different people; he could not recollect all the different words of command ; he heard the words " March," " Countermarch," and many others, but did not recollect exactly what was done at the word gg Countermarch ;" they had no arms or sticks ; be saw none of those in the carriage hiss when it passed Murray's house ; he went withthem as far as 'the Exchange ; saw some flags, was not alarmed, but thought the business at White Moss would lead to mischief in time ; witness saw no arms or aludgeons with the Rochdale or Stockport parties, nor did he see any disposition to db harm ; he saw the Cavalry coming into St. Peter's Field, and then began to be alarmed for the first time; when he came to the field it was full, and all standing peaceably ; he saw Ca valry come into the field in a kind of trot, and got away, as he was fearful of danger ; it was very well known in the town that drilling was going on at the 'White Moss. Robert Wild, one of the defendants, examined the witness, and put some questions of little importance, as did Johnson, another of the defendants. Examined by Mr. SCARLETT.—Witness said there was no public road nearer than a mile or a mile and a half to the Moss, neither was there a village nearer than one mile. Samuel Morton was again called in, and the pla ! card calling the Meeting of the 9th handed to him, but be did not recollect to have seen it, or any such, posted up. • James Murray said, he lived at Manchester ; he knew Mr. Shawcroft, was with him on the 14th of August; he left Manchester on the 15th. Rymer, and Rymer's son, accompanied him to White Moss; they left Manchester at twel;re., and reached White Moss about two. They heard people shouting, and turned out of the way to avoid them ; some were be fore and some behind them. They went to the place where the men were drilling, their numbers might be six or eight hundred ; they were drilling on a squaw piece of land; the thickest,part onlais right, and were in detached parties,. and a drill ser- Jeant at the head or end of every sqtiad.: • The man at the head gave the orders ; helteard the words' march—wheel--halt," frequently: ''They wheeled and halted as they were ordered: He llierd nowords of command given but -those;. =t•Ogethet With "'eyes tight," forward," and others. i ifit stopped but a few minutes. ShaVretc!oft ftt - . with hint.' A drill, serjeant, named Catterill,:iaid to him, " Fall in ;"—:1 they 'continued cominriip-few When asked to fall in, witness said be thought• he should soon ; they looked at him stedfastly 4 anti began to cry, " Spy 1" The voice came frorirthe nearest quarter, and passed along the line,: They then shouted, Constables !" and the answer was, " pima tbemy murder them !" Eighty or ninety men pursued them, an 4 knocked Shawcroft into the ditch. -..• l Mr. Hunt submitted, that this was evidence which Ad& not; be received.. ' "The objectiott was overruled by the Junco, who said, at the same time, that 'he had his dOUbts about and•ihould pct the objection* on his notes. .Murray being again called in said, that front twenty • to thirty of the men followed, and ov er t ook him, Land beat him violently with sticks. Ile implored 'them to give over, and 'said it looked more like mur der than Parliamentary Reform. They asked how they would be treated if brought prisoners to Man chester? 'Witneis'said they would be treated as p • ri 'soners and gentlemen, but not murder them. One said, " Shall we kill him out and out, and put him 'into the pit, or let him go ?" Another said, " I thiok he has had enough, if he has any more he will die." They then consulted for a time, told him to go down on his knees, and asked if he was willing to swear 'never to be a king's man again ? he said, yes, for be thought his life depended on it. They then formed a ring round him; he went on his knees and repeated the oath. Witness got up and went to Middleton, not being able to proceed further; he was conveyed home in a chaise. On the ICth, the day after, he heard some noi , e in the streets, and the sound of bugles. The enowd - stopped opposite the house, and those in the centre stoOd in order siif abreast ; the bugle sounded again, and he heard the word:' march" pronounced. Those that were marching six abreast pointed at his house; and - some hissed. There we; e cahoot 5 oh 6000 marching in like, and a p eat crowd besides of men, *onien, and children ; he saw no wo. men marching iii line: this was about eleven. At one, another party came by, in the centre of which was an open carytage'; they moved very slowly, ri!'t he did not think they halted; the trOwd hissed, and pointed at his windows ; witness was sure they locked up at his house. This body consisted of between 3+ 09 and 4900, and amongst them a great number cf chil dren. From Smedley Cottage to St. Peter's Area the nearest way was not by his house ; it was a round cf 500 or 600 yards. Cross-examined by .Mr. Hunt—Witness was nat employed by the Police ; he is a District Constalile, and is sworn in by the Magistrates yearly. Ile went to White Moss, in consequence of the alarmed state of the country, of his family, and himself; he went of his own accord ; but told many that he would go to see the drilling ; he might have told Mr. Nadia so. He never received any money for his services, but got £1.5 to pay his doctor's bill, out of the Sub scription raised for those who were wounded in Pe. ter's-field. Many of the inhabitants of Manchester knew of the drilling ; lie could not speak as to. the number of the spectators at White Moss when the drilling was going on ; there were not one hund re d . - lookers-on when he was there ; he did not hear the words—" make-ready, present, fire." Some had sticks, and some had not. Joshua Pollet was the first-to whom he mentioned this. He was examined before. the Ma gistrates, but did not think lie recollected all then. CHere a Lady fainted in Court, by which some confusion was occasioned for a short time]. The examination proceeded—Witness was so se riously ill that he did not recollect every thing so minutely when examined on Sunday. He made the deposition in his own room bef o re Mr. Norris and another Gentleman, whom he believed to he Trafford Trafford. He stated to them .all he recollected, on his first examination ; he.forgot the words " treating the nation as an enemy," and had them put in ; he does not recollect whether he swore to these words or not; he requested to have them added co his de: position r and he believed, but was not certain, that they were taken down by Trafford Trafford ; he - could not positively say what day ; witness could not say that he was a religious men ; he went to church and chapel ; he recollected no particular con versation with a Man named Mayor, or Morton, or saying that he used any violent expressions in their presence about the blood cf the Reformers ; he never said he would rather be rowed in a boat to his own house in the blood of the Reformers than walk the' pavement; he said he would sooner fight up to his. knees in blood, than submit to them ; if he said any thing like it, it was at the Cock, in C.7ockgate ; many people were at him there when he got in, but he recol lected saying nothing about the pavement; did not well recollect what he said, but he said a good deal ; would not swear he did not make use of those words. He knew a person named Chapman; went with him in a coach to Liverpool; did not then say, that if he had the command of the troops on the 16th, ould have put every bloody rascal of them to death; there were six passengers present ; by virtue of 'his oath he did not, to his knowledge, make use of such language; he would not swear positively that lie did not ; he was sober when going in the coach to Liver pool ; it was early in January; Mr. Chapman did not call him to an account abOut it; he got into a 'pas sion, because witness, in the course of conversation,. said he would not (neither would he) believe' Re formers on their oath ; witness knew the Spread Eagle, in Hanging Ditch ; he recollected going into l a private room with nine others, where he (Mr. Hunt) was sitting ; he did not recollect that a person named Button, or Newton, was present ; this was about twelve months back; witness did not recollect a door being broken open. Examined by Johnson.—Witness said he knew Ro bert Mayor, but not much about him ; he never said that he found nests of money after his wife, and went • to spend it in Liverpool. Examined by Mr. BuLtecit.—He never was at *the, Spread Eagle but once ; there was a Meeting held that day in St. Peter's Area ; there Was a great deal of speaking ; 'Hunt was the leading cha racter ; lie heard him speak ; he was only about five minutes on the White Moss on the night he went to •see the drilling ; witness never offered himself *for a Special Constable ; helves one oft and on for twenty yelrs, but derived no emolument from it ; he served on the whole as a Speeial . Constabre seven years. John Shawcross -said,' heTs 'n'clerk to the Police Office, Manchester ; . heileeellected the publication bf bills, and:these befits?.- (ftted to .the walls about the 4 23 d. of July, the dayogtheix being po s ted. The bill produced was taken off the walls wet(The bill was produced, and , it it ii Meeting irat alfpointed fdr 44 . 9th of Angust).—Witrieti went 'td 'the-White MocW s with Murray, they, arrived- befbre—daylight cth e y might be the a re p e rabout son' c a ten l l ed s PI .6 b i y 4 t.s u v, " "es : Lol bef : l 7 o:v it t e il h w ‘ e a e m ilY d , b a; ra i :i .l i da happened ; anothor, " Come baci ;'s )vet'e - then at least • 'Epivettih,tionidieredofuwssehmomblekda;ockiiti witness down, 1 1