Star. — London, England, 1817-12-22 00:00:00

Perfect Knave and porter Fool ; of unsparlas despotic views; oar overarratned taxation subsisting; Equal to Oki Bags as timeless grave Trickery; and inferior to the tiottor as touching his Mummery. Wi•i, although be be Knave anti Pool, yet he la not two, but one M ale.. r. One; n by a coeversion of the Charlatan into the Minister; but b. sh.iniing A more showy Juggler. who wanted, and *ill wan•s, II b. • Minister. ' One aliogether, squanderii g in prolusion oar substance; by ewes of corrupt majorities For as by pow - er ot Dupery, and our Money, he makes whom be will hi. own; so by Intrigoe and Cajblery, be is Ministers Who to mit for our ha yawn descended to kiss the Nether. most had in ; and rose again as %giant refreshed;' He ascended into a higher Place be Worth at the right head of the Chair, from wt.eree be shall hear kw those who being starved,-- , by tug Viii a. roe r Goo,--became Dead. At whose nodding an Siiircipiess shall the &ga l s an d slain; and with their voices cry Ayt ! aye! and the Laureate in token of joy, shall mo urniiiity chant the most slides' Lay hi his works. And they tbai love said Ai t ! Aye! shall so into Place ever. lasting; and they tbat have sand No! shall . so into everlasting Minorities. • . And Cawley shall have a Jew's Harp. and a Rabbinical Tat. on:cf, and a i.omin Missal; and Wird:owed shall haves Psal• ter, and a Primer, and a needing made Easy; and unto &Alp Sacksbut shah be dub added; and with Harp, Sa c k-b u s, an d Psaltery, th y hbal make merry, .nd discover themselves before Derry bown Triangle, and Hubs his most gracious meaner, whose Kingd.ini stall have no end. Ibis is the S.necurist's duty, from doing more than which ex. itept he abstain fatthlnlly, be cannot be a Stueeurist Obey be to Old Bags, and to Derry Down Triangle, and to the Doctor. As It was in the Beginning, is now, and ever shall be, if such !kyr be, withnu , end Any a eadera he Creed sr Belief] (1) Triangle, e. a Wag having erre* tidal the meanest .04 most tinkiit.g of eh musical autrastras ; machinery used In W. Wiry tectena.—Dictionary. (it) Allameettle:-- 'Vaults, er a. to prate, gabble, chatter, talk idly.—Entick's Vitt. (I) Neither born nor begotten,, but the bellool.lol' . ll SAYINa. Mr. Hoax then commenced his defence. He was most happy to see his Lordship there to-day. because he had, iii the. course of yesterday, sustained what appeared to him to be a mist grievous injury. He .knew that in making any observations on his Lord ship's conduct, whilst presiding on a solemn trial, he roust be most guarded in its expressions; but he .must say, that in his Lordship's charge to the Jury • last tiiglit, his Lordship had done him great injustice. Lord ELLenteonotiou here observed, chat he could not allow the defendant to proceed in this strain of observation. The defendant might proceed to ob serve on the particulars of the case-before the Court ; but he, as a Judice, could not-flit, there rind bear ob. servations made on a charge dclivered4ty him on a former occasion. _ The defendant resumed. He would not have stated any dung ffelt.ive ; but be would, after this intinsa. more on the subject, but address him self to the Jury, who, to-day, were his judges, and who aloes were his judges. He then proceeded to observe at large upon the law of libel as established by Mr. Fos's Bill. and contended that, under that act, the Judge was not bound is give any opinion on the question, whether the thing under consideration was libel or not, but that it was left discretionary fur him to do so or nor, as be thought proper. His Lordship seemed to think otherwise, and that it was pastl of his duty to• give that opinion.' His Lord app would, therefore, no doubt pursue that course, to-day; but he trusted his Lordship would give his opinion evil r and 41, lui,sioa4Bs y ) . without using either expreiskin ur gesture which could be construed as eouveying an entreaty to the Jury to think as he did. He was now brought to answer to a third accusation for a similar afledged offence, by his Majesty's At tothey-General. He did pot know how tar be acted in this business from his own private judgment, or in what degree he was subject to Ministers. He was unacquainted pith the relation in which be stood ; but bad he received any intimation from Ministers to that effect, he believed he would not that have pro.. coded to bring him into Court a third lime ; he • should mot have been once More dragged from his bed to appear before a Jury. Before coming into Court, he was so ill that he thought be should not 'have been able to proceed. He had taken nc‘refresh. meet since yesterday, esoept cute glass of wine, and • wee on feeble last night, that be' could not get into bed without help. He was apprehensive that he • thoeld not have been able to stand spiroCourt ; but. -bad be not been able to walk.heabooid have ordered ' himself to be brought in his beds , ea& laid upon the; ' table, fc.r the purpose of make that dilate, even in a . .state of feebleness, whichhe unexpectedly found him 'self now able to enter upon with more strength than he bad hoped to possess.. He. should, even under such Circumstances. have defended himself effeiese lbe charge of circulating a pubhcatioa which wee called a libel, but which he knew, cad s h ou ld Few . to be no such thing. He should regret mash, it in' the course of his trial any such expression of feeling • should be manifested es occurred yesterday. They who were present ought to command themselves, and. remember that he was on a trial of life or death.. Such was truly the case; for, if found guilty, he night be sentenced to such a term of ,imprisonment as to deprive him of health, and eventually of life. Such as caused any interruption yesterday did what' was wrong, Kat It : Was not the only. weongtobeiein.: `plained of.. He had applied to the Sheriffs for per. mission to have two of his witnesses admitted into Ceut a but they were refused' that privilege by the persons who stood at the door. That little medal., Fern might have beep granted to those who livedl in his service, and entertained some friendship for' him, merely because he bad treated them kindly. it was attempted to torn the laugh which bad been sited yesterday in Court to his disadvantage. It was attributed by the Attorney-General to an irreligious feeling, occasioned by the parodies which he had I, published. This be could not cousider very f a ir it 1 bad a tendency to make the Jury believe that this' laugh was one of the irreligious effects as rising from , p r oggoitios be had published. The parody for which he was at present upon trial, had been reserved,' ''he believed, for no other' reason bet bieausti it was' she; weakest of the Ow. Thi Atom*, General, so doubt, had selected the parody on the Cute.,.l egos as the first object of iccusatlem, for owl Odle Mims bet because be looked tipon it as the strongest diet;.. that on the Litany was the nail; . tie. last .was beyond comparison .the wain& It gm a s old saying, than experience mad., loots finperisike,' Wenner, never mad* boll wise. "It mad, waif understanding !leer, but not goals. if there wit ant truth in be *Os* be amid out bar* been aims a third time bids. Court, after Wolf ;; ~ . ••• • !twice acquitted upon similar chtrges. He did not impute folly to the Attorney-General. On his part the proceedings arose perhaps from an error in judg. meat; but there were others who, after the expert. once of the last two days, were so foolish as to allow I him to be brought a third tints to trial, though the chance of being found guilty was reduced even to less than the proportion of I to 999. The Attorney-1 General, neither upon this, nor upon the former' trials, had quoted much by way of authority to en forte his opinion. All the authority was upon his (Mr. Hone's) side. It was contained in the books that lay upon the table. He had selected many passages from them which he should have occasion to read once more They all proved that parodies upon the Scrip.; nue had been in frequent use even among pious and enlightened men. The opinion of Sir Matthew Hale had been mentioned and quoted as the highest i authority upon the subject of religion as connected' with the State. He was, no doubt, an honest, wise, upright, and pious Judge. He could not say he was in error, is die particular opinion alluded to on a former trial, but he was not infallible, and might have been deceived, as well as others. That pious and uptight Judge actually condemned to death some persons for being witches He might have, been a great man, but this was a proot that he was weak at least in one respect. With respect to the authorities he bad Quoted upon the subject of parody, there was a great difference of opinion between him and 'the Attorney-General. He shoutd, however, quote them again, and should tell the Jury that Martin Luther was a paiodist as well as William Hone. In i the tide page of Wilkes's Catechism he had stated that it was never before published—be afterwards, however, discovered that it had been printed and published before. Tnis information he had from a %temleman of the bar, Mr. Adolphus, who came into his shop to purchase use Catechiim, and seeing it mentioned in the title-page that it had never before been published, informed him that it was printed and published in the first volume of the Msrsing CAromitk, remarking, at the same time, that the title-page was an imposition. Such was the fact. WAS Mr. Adol phus in Court, he believed that gentleman would have no hesitation iu admitting it—truth was always axis leading principle, as it should be that of every other man. He defied any person with whom be had the least dealing to bring a charge of falsehood againq him. With respect to himself, he wrote the . parody from a manuscript which had been put into his hands by a gentleman, who told him, at the same time, that it was never before published. That gin. unman belonged to the profession of the law. He was a regular attendant upon church—but whatever might be the consequence to himself, no considers lion could induce him to disclose the name oldie palm who furnished him with the manusesift of I Wilkes's Catechism. If he conceived it to be-a bier' phemous publication, or to have the evil tendency at tached to it upon the trial, the gentleman to whom he alluded would have been the last man to put such a production in a train for circulation. The Attorney General, in his reply on a previous day, seemed to think that the Litany was not published before. The, truth however was. that three weeks previous to its being sold in his shop, it had been circulated widely in very populous districts. It was sent to fuss, mot by the author, whont he did nor know at the time, but by another person, of whom he never heard voy thing since. It would* have been courteous in that person to visit him in prison, or at least so have s.utt him a line, were it only with a view of coaviling him in his trouble. It was true be (Mr. Hose) made some alterations in it. He introduced the sup plications, the Glory be to George," and w Oft 'enlighten our darkness." This last prayer, however, had no effect on Ministers, for otherwise, alter being acquitted twice before, they would not have pat hint a third time upon trial. He did nut pi rtend to be well acquainted with the law of libel. If any person were to be wantonly calumniated or abused, or grossly reviled in any production, he would not hesi. tate to admit that it was a libel, and deserved pu nishment. Ia such a case a man must be looked upon as clearly guilty ; - but he was far from thinking .that all truth was a libel, though there were many things true that should not be told or written. Were _heoor instance, to give a history of all he knew, or 'Could learn, of a certain great personage, from his birth to the present day, however true or scandalous it might be, nu person could say that the publication of it would not be equally scandalous. Suchepubli. cation differed very much from what might maidens tally or carelessly occur in conversation, Or slip hem a person's pen while writiog. The doctrine of libel was quite undefined; but he had. no doubt that the day would come when nothing would be considered libel until it was declared so by a Jury. Parodies, it was said, should not now be defended by the produc tion of similar publications, by other persons, and at -former periods. But why, he would ask, single him out. after he bad been twice before acquitted by two Juries, even after all the picking and packing of the Crown Office ? Why send him now a third time before another Jury, selected in the same way t With respect to p. rody. it was as ancient even as the tim e et Homer. .the guest productions el griller were produced in ancient as well as modern times. They were parodied because they were generally known, and were in themselves original and be a utiful, o h: taming for that reason art extensive popularity. The thing was not done from motives of contempt—quite the contrary. If parodies on Scripture were criminal, they must have been so at all times. and whoever might have been the author. The informations against him were filed by the Lite Attorney General. He was brought into Court on the 5.h of MAY last, and that very day Sir Williath Garrow resigned his situation. He would no; s a y th e res i gnat i on arose tram his being ashgenedof his conduct, but the info,. mations filed by him upon that occasion were the last acts or his political life as Amuse, General. No laformatfon Was bled against others who had wikten parodies. An information bad not, and wofild not, he believed, be filed against Kr. Calming, ler his parody on'ltib. The tealint was. perhaps, that Mr.. Canning en makes good defence, while be (Mr. Hone), who was ilnabk to Utak. one, Was hiought before a Jury three clouts successively. He never be. fors in his life spoke in the presenie bi more than tea persons. It •Paoennuren ever interfered to protect weak and defenceleis men, that interference was most' surely Manifested in his case. It had interposed to' protect a:helpless and sieleseeleas man against the wage and malice of his cumin. Re could end= bate his defence to do other agent, fot he writ-mak and ;scalable himself. (litre a misled *mum applause and pity was heard from the crowd amen-, Wed.) As the law of libel stood at. present, it was not possible to be understood. It was, in its present state, only calculated to entrap and deceive people into punishment, and reminded him of the conduct of one of those despots, who, in all countries, fie quench get into the possession of power, and Use it only for the purpose of punishment and opt/session.. The person to whom he alluded was the tyrant of Syracuse. It was his custom, when laws wereipro mulgated, to have theni written in very small Witte, and placed in so high a position that they could! sot be read ; but whoever dared to transgress them were punished with all the severity of a despot, thmigb the wretches who suffered the punishment could not pos sibly have known the law for the pretended transgres sion of which they suffered. Such exacily was the I I law of libel. In fact, there was no such thing as a law of libel : or, it there was, the law was written upon a cloud, which suddenly pissed away, and was lost in vapour. Nothing was a libel until a Jury pronounced it such. He was pointed at, and :hewed as one guilty of publishing the most blasphemous productions. When in the King's Bench, he was shunned as a pestilence, even by those who were, or pretended to be, formerly his friends —by those whom, as David said of Jonathan. his heart loved. His ac quaintance, it was true, recommended him to Coun sel, but some objections were urged against all whom they pointed out to bins. Some from motives of eti quette, could not attend upon him in prison. Others, , though they might have talents, had not courage t-t undertake his defense. Without courage it would be useless to attempt it. The question he put to himself upon such recommendation of Couniel being made,' was, has he courage enough ? Will he be able to stand op against Lord Ellenborough ? It was neces. sary coat a person undertaltine his defence should be , a stranger to fear, tor it he persisted in saying any thing when mice his Lordship had made an objection, the consequence would be to lose his Lordship's ear. The Ammon Garoutai—l cannot sit here quietly and hear such language directed to the Court. I sub mit, my Lord, whether it is right ? Lord Eizisnonotma—Perhaps, Mr. Attorney, jou might have interposed your objection sooner; but you have heard the sort of attack which was made upon rte for the slight interruption which I thoitght it my duty to give to the defendant's observatioas at the outset, and I think, therefore, the best course will be to let the whole thing blow over us. Mr. Hens would, he said, entreat pardon if any thing painful to the Gentlemen of the Bar had fallen from him. Talent and courage, be perCtived, were necessary to his defence. As to talent, he possessed, if any, but a very humble Share ; but mental fear was a thing to which he was, and ever had been, an utter stranger. • He did not know what it was : and while he conceived himself to have truth and justice on his side, no earthly consideration could deter him from expressing his opinion. There was a circum stance which occurred previous to his coming into Court that gave him great pain. It proceeded from one of those publications that were always ready to perform any dirty work which they deemed accep table to men in power. It stated, that a person who was his friend, was to receive twelve months impri sonment on account of publishing one of those pare. dies, for which he (Mr. Hone) had been twice ac quitted. and would, be hoped, be acquitted again that day. This tended to deprive him of one of those friends who might otherwise be inclined to stand by him in Court, and assist him with advice or instruc tion. This man came up to town, and applied to a Solicitor. by whom he was recommended to let judg ment go by default, as the best course which he could adopt. The A r room Gann tc—l am quite sure nobody on my part, or by my desire, ever had any communi cation with the person alluded to. or ever advised him to either plead guilty or not guilty. Mr. Horst: observed, that all he meant to say was, that the man first pleaded not guilty on coming up to town; he withdrew that plea, and suffered judg ment to go by default. There were, however, com munications between this man and the solicitor, who conducted the present prosecution ; and yet he re ceived a sentence equal in extent to any thing which might have been expected, even by a man who lied been found guilty by a jury of his country; and what was very extraordinary, on the very morning he re. .ceived his sentence, he (Mr. Hone) received notice of, the present trial. It was equally estraoruinary that this person called on him three or four times previous to his going up to Court, to ask him for his advice, although antecedent to those occasions, he had actually taken advice, and had determined upon the course be should pursue. Williams was what was described as a loyal man ; that was to say, a sort of thick and thin man; who, it a person in autho rity were to say Go, and he goeth ; Come, and he conteth (murmurs of approbation from the crowd). He was in a corps of yeomanry, and be told him (Hone) that be had often printed fbr Government. His full conviction was, that it he (Hone) had been *gad guilty,thir Mgr would tart long have remained' in prison. He thought he had a sarong sight to complain of one or two gross and infamous false hoods inserted in a paper which was published every morning at six o'clock, and which then had been tinkle. therefore, for every one of the jury to have seen before he entered the bos. At six every morning did the ghost of Dr. Slop walk forth in Crane -court, Fleet stow. By this ghost it had been stated—for what pur pose. airless to prejudice him on his trial, could not be m a gfueo...sb a i Williams bad been found guilty by the verdict of a Joey for the same publication. This was as false as was another statement, that he was in the practice of selling obscenity, which he detested and despised is ouch as any man. Such falsehoods, put forth at such a time, when be wasstanding up in that Court in the hour of peril to vindicate his innocence , cited only have proceeded from one who was a lath tithe back bone.. As such he would proclaim him to his tees whenever and wherever he should meet bias. Lord ELIANDOROtIGIL—Do not use such expres. ions. Yoe sky you have got through life free from iZate and acrimonious framing ; do not say that which may hereafter provoke it. I say this leer* for your Qom preservation, and net with a nits* to intertitpt low. • • Mr. lions assured his Lordship that be sincerely acknowlOsitd the propriety of his interference, I though it was Melt for hint to restrain logs. It was neverth :less true that he c.,-1 hatred against this iielivideal ; he was tod. , , , jest of contempt, and not ie hatre t e an d w art! by him in no other li g ht th an as a lon, unti and abandoned matt. He had come into Coui strung feelings of irritation, which he could "restrain, when be found that this mates went to impute to him the publication of , blasphemy, and obscenity. He denied thp: ever suffered any obscene work in his shop it could- be proved that he had, he called upon' Jury to lard him guilty of blasphemy, in order under that verdict he 'might receive the pu t due to obscenity : for, in et to blasphemy, dered obscenity the greatest offence wirier could commit. He had, however, no hatred I. a man; and although Dr. Slop had attempted him this tejury in the moment of peril, it he distress tomorrow, and it was in his power to him, he would not hesitate to hold him nut a band. This feeling had been cherished in ever since he knew right from wrong. (Nu: oftlaute). He wished he toted have had it power to say that his trial had nut time on ti merely for the sake of being able to say sme lt favour of his persecutors. Those persons seer., doubt, to the Chapel Royal with their Puri on the Sabbath-day. If this were the case, be lamented that they lost sight of those ; Christianity ;vetch they were no doubt in accustomed to hear. lie by no means justice should not be. done; fur to neglect to oce would be injustice; but be thought, is case, they. might have borrowed a little of .racier, tee precept, and the example, of one name lie could not mention without revert., humility—he meant Jesus Christ. H. court read any passage to illustrate the character Divine . Being ; bet he well recollected that Jesus was on earth, lie continually ezherted lowers to the esercise of mercy, charity, lr good-will. This was exemplified in mall in, but in one more firmly Walt in all the tate heard various sermons on this subject, but them produced an impression equal to the:, by reading the passage .to which he referr ed Testament, when alone in his room. THAI.' be alluded. was where the woman was taken tery. The ; Phaiisres went to Christ in the , ani,brought to him a V/01714.1 whom they had in adultery, is crime which was the greatest was posaihle for a wife to be guilty of. Site deny her guilt, .but Christ, turning to the Pe, said, " He that is without sin, let him cast stones" and her accusers went away, leak woman alone with Jesus, who addressing a Go, and sin no mere." If there were nothing `this to excite veneration in the humeri mint Divine Being, it was sufficient; and .tie hid lament that such an admirable example had followed by those who had brought him were day. By the Jewish laws, the woman who h. gritted adultery was liable to be stencd lode, yet none of her accusers could say :Ley o were without sins. Were his prosecutors without be would ask 1 Were they not open to imp. He would impeach them ! They were irtilt, same crime for which they .sere now teekio nith him I The vrredcheel MarreerrAii . nehe That was a strong; a very stroll Seneeofilie mean to apply it to any pet son an iarticalar ; all meant to urge was, that ll4 accusers had diiL done what they ought not to have done, and ou, therefore to look with the greater lenity towards? He had now to ask the Jut y, tor it was too ' ask bit accusers, to follow the precept of our Say In another part of the Testament, vis.-6 , to du others as you wish others to do unto you." He much better to-day than yesterday. He wa. mated by the consciousness of having dime nu For any wrong he might have unwittingly was exceedingly sorry. He was exceedingly so any thing he had written or published had a tendency. His Lordship had misconceived the cat of stopping the sale of his publications. He hail as stopt it because be thought the publication ttrong, bop because persons whom be respected had been hurt by them.' He esteemed the hearts, thrugh he amid not respect thejudgtnent of those persons. He *mild hut: no metes mind. Sorry, eorry,Was he that the prosecution was not wept. Although his prosecutors had thought of bringing him to trial at all, and had actually cat him qn his trial; although they had done so a second day, after a Jury of honest Englishmen had acquit ted him; yet he should have been happy tor theft' own sake, that his prosecutors had made some core went by a twelfth-hour repentance. " See the odds against me," he exclaimed in a fervid tone, e it is one farthing against a million of gold. My prosece toriehave laid a wager with puelic opinion; but they will lose it to their irretrievable shame. Skin for skin,' all that a matt has will he give for kis life. I am here on trial for my life. If yon don't protect me, my lite must tall a sacrifice to the confinemeet that shall follow a verdict of guilty. My prosece toes, my persecutors, are unrelenting. I'll sbew yea 'that they *rimy persectiters. " I talk to yeti as fa miliarly as if you were sitting with ate in my owe room. But there I have not twelve chairs.-- My pride is the pride of being independent. None is supposed to be independent without property. I have never had any property. Within the last twelee months my children bad not beds enough in my house. At this moment there is not furniture sufficient for the necessary enjoyment of life. For the last two years and a half I have not had a complete hour cf happiness, because my family have been in such M any that it was impossible for a man of my tempera ment to know any thing of happiness.. I have trete asked, why I have not employed Counsel? I cot's not fee Counsel. I have been asked, when I 'rioted publish my trial! I could not pay a reporter ; and at this moment I have no reporter in Court. Genee meth You see I am not in that dress before you whir% my respect for you and for myself would make me anxious to appear in. I did resolve to get a suit of clothes for this trial, but the money I had provided for that purpose I w as o bli ge d t o g i ve f or copses of the information! again s t me. All th es e things 1 ate- Lion to thew you what difficulties I had to encounter In order to appear to possess indepeudeace of mind, and to let men know how cautious they should judging of men. Seven . or eight years ago I went into business with a friend in the Strand. Iliad then a wife and four children, and I was separate! true& rain Mt 1. t!.l clleti t b e d b•• Pt!, , tct at Itg o Unfilfilks COW ( ut mid not tin 1 1 slat 1 of Sedili 1 3 11 I thin he h ' shopt and le- led up on p in order :1 3 tE 117, ItN Con fr C,l.)ie.t a m 11!: tied fat n. . , mtnred to it he wo e • tit oer to relic wit a Eeipi n is. t!ts brea lad it in h 13 that ( L i ?1 s9l3l:thtng it imrtt wera, Prayer•bec, lie, it Wag E princip6 in that pl,. f I wished t rct to do j • in the pre • I of the ch of one s eyeliner an I COULI r d racier ot m d that w ittrtea trs tz.•' ty, love, a., I LI, inttnic, est. He h • , Nat nAlle :kat proine• tl mierred in t I 'hat to whi tl aken in ad! , h n the tempi. n ey had tak- reatest that • h Site •id n p :he Nam 1 cast the lit a leasing It ng her, Lai 11 e nothing b.. I mint for tI •• m only t had not im Were tit f rho had c • to deaus, an ry tientsel • 11 W1.310Ul flns upeacutnent. .;tilt, ul d, leek,ng I. pm the tresr:L) ittrhe MA tie: scalar ; All Its id ',wavelet: And ougia towards him as ton late to If our Saviour sGe to do unto m." He fit He was au Menu wrong. ngly done be tingly sorry if !d had a bad red the came He had not in wrong, bat