The National Register. — London, England, 1820-07-23 00:00:00

cB6 PAOCEEDINGS AGAINST TIIE QUErN. ~. How every principle of English jnriFprodence seems to be inverted the progress of the proceed- ings against the Queen ! The meanest offender against the laws is Confronted with his accusers before commitment, he hears the time and place definitively stated at which he is charged with the offence ; he hears the depositions of the witnesses against him, and he is at liberty to question them. Being thus fully acquainted with the evidence in tended to be brought against him, he has every op partunity (if falsely accused) of proving his innocence. The time when the alleged crime was committed being distinctly painted out in the indictment against him, he is prepared, probably, to prove a complete and satisfactory alibi—or knowing the whole charge to be a base and wicked conspiracy, founded on the depositions of perjured and worthless wretches, he is able to shew that their testimony is wholly unworthy of belief. But in the case of the Queen there is nothing resembling all this. She knows neither the, time nor place where she is charged with guilt. It may be any time in the space of six years: it may be in Italy, or Greece, or Constantinople. Then, the witnesses against her, who and what are they ? That she is expressly for bidden to know. Report certainly does not speak very favourably of them, and she may be able to shew that they are suborned and perjured villains; but bow is she to do this while kept in ignorance even of their names, until the very moment they are called into Court? Coming from a country where daggers are to be hired, such evidence should be looked upon with some suspicion ; at any rate the person who is to be tried upon such testimony ought to have (and according to the principles of English law she has) a right to sift into their characters; and if they are the viprous and loathsome spawn of Sir John Leach's Milan Commission—if the 23,0001. has been expended in teaching these reptiles their lesson, and in making it worth their while to come to England, nothing but a full conviction that their testimony would not bear examination, and that their characters would not stand the test of inquiry, could have urged Ministers to the desperate act of refusing Lord Erskine's constitutional and just demand—that the Queen be allowed to know who are the witnesses against her. The base conduct of the ministerial press was never snore fully developed than on this occasion. The Italian gang call forth their loudest expressions of commiseration—any attempt to question the purity of their motives or the correctness of their testimony strikes them with horror.- 6 ' Why," exclaims the Courier, " does the law sleep? Why does not the Attorney General prosecute the calumnia tors of these injured men? " But towards the Queen they scruple not to use the most atrocious language. The Morning Post calls her "an Alien " and unworthy Object, a person not 'of sufficient importance to create division," and recommends " as " she alone stands in the way of arrangement, that "• she should yield to the universal good, whether " as a Cravat/at or a Martyr." It is pretty well known who and what are the supporters of tl►is Paper, and the source whence this most unparal hailed and atrocious paragraph must have proceeded. NOW suppose any man had written such a paragraph of the King—would he, we ask, have been out of prison twenty-four hours after its publication? If these words have any meaning, they compass and imagine the Queen's death. We therefore, in our turn, say " Why dots the law sleep?" Why does not the Attorney General discharge his duty ? "It is equally Treason" says Blackstone, by the statute 25th Eawarl 111. to compass or imagine the Queen's death, as that If the King himeelf." Now if any man had asserted that the King was "an unworthy object"—that he was " not essential to our national interest...that he stood 'in• the way of our happiness, and that ho ought to yield to the THE NATIONAL REGISTER. universal good, as a Alortyr, or a Criminal"—if any man had used such expressions towards the King, would he not justly subject himself to a trea sonable charge? Undoubtedly he would. If then the author of this atrocious paragraph be not prosecuted by the Attorney General, the people of England will be at no loss to conjecture the reason. Such conduct is in perfect consistency with that before adopted by ministers, whenever a victim was to be hunted down. The 'base conductors of their press have always been ready to discharge their poisoned arrows at every individual whom they bad marked for destruction. Every day before her trial, will produce some infamous lie, some slanderous whisper, some malicious rumour, or some treason able attack. Her majesty's enemies hope that after long agitation, the public mind will become weary; that the public spirit will evaporate, and that the public will be weaned from her cause by degrees. They deceive themselvess. Every fresh outrage upon justice will bat the more endear her to them. The English people arc more united in their determination to support her claim to a fair and legal trial, than on any public question that ever occupied their attention. Surely uever were heard of persecutions so implacable as those which have pursued her. She has been pursued by a spirit of persecution of the lowest and most malig nant description. It was not enough to shut her out of courts, of which she was " the grace and orna ment." to exclude her from all circles of splendour, to drive her from the cheers of an affectionate people, and the embraces of an affectionate child : bereft of father, mother, brother, child, and country, she was still thought to enjoy too much happiness. She was thought to be too happy in the :enjoyment of that gratitude and those feelings of affection which it was well known she would elicit from those by whom she might be surrounded. Nothing, however, has been able, we trust nothing will be able to subdue her gallant and noble spirit. Her couduct since her return to England ; the circum stances under which she came; the spirit her coming has excited; the feelings she has awakened, all these will secure her safety. The zeal, the anxiety, which the people feel in her [Majesty's cause are wholly without a parallel, and the more her enemies strive against her, the more heavily and severely , will their machinations recoil on their own heads. PARIS PAPERS. PARIS, JULY I.s.—The King heard mass yester day in his apartments, after which he transacted business with the President of the Council of Mi nisters, and his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Almost all the towns and cities of France have begun to offer up prayers to Heaven for the safe deliverance of the Duchess of Berry of a Prince, to perpetuate the stock of the Lilies. Several journals have announced that M. Bartho lomeo Bergami set out from Paris, where he had been seen in some public places, on his way to Lon don. The passports of Bergami was filled up for Rome, at the office of the Prefect of Police, the day before yesterday, as also the passports of all the Italians in the suite of the Queen of England. About three years ago the Prince de Castcicicala, Ambassador from Naples to the Court of France, on his return from London to Paris, wss robbed be tween Beaumont and St, Denis. The robbers car ried off from behind his carriage a trunk containing a great quantity of silver plate, jewellery, and other valuable property. They escaped detection until witl in these few days, when they were arrested by the Police of Paris, They are three in number, vis. M. Cossard, and two brothers named Langlois, resident at St. Brice, near St. Denis. The greater part of the property has been founl with them, they having been afraid to dispose of it. M. Frediani, an Italian traveller, wiites from Egypt that lie has succeeded, alter 16 days of ex cessive fatigue across the deserts of Lybia and Mar merique, in reaching• the famous temple of Jupiter Ammon, called the Great Temple, which no parson appears to have visited since the time of Alexander tho Great.• M. Frediani had with him an escort of 2,000 men, and had to Sight his way to this ca le bated monument. GUARDIAN SOCIETY. Wednesday a Meeting of this excellent Society for the reservation of the public morals, took place at the gyptian Hall in the Mansion House, for the purpose of receivino the Report of the Committee, and contri buting to the funds of the Institution. A great number of ladies were present. Tne Lord Mayor took thy Chair at half-past one. His Lordship having briefly informed the Meeting of the occasion upon which they were assembled, and urged the necessity of making liberal contributions, the secretary read the Report. It stated, that two years hail elapsLarl since the last General Meeting of the Society, and that during the time the Committee had not been unfaithful of t he trust reposed in them. Since the last Report, 141 females had been admitted into the Guar dian Asylum on their own application, 42 been then in the House, making together 183, of whom 35 had been provided fur in service, seven sent to their respec tive parishes, two died, tit dismissed, 4ti are now in the House, making the total number received into the Asylum since its formation 572, of whom 153 had been placed in service; 183 restored to their friends, 32 sent to their parishes, 198 discharged or witlxlrawn, seven have died, and 46 are now in the House. Many of those who have gone from the Institution have become valuable members of society. Mr. DANIEL Wttses said, that at the first appear ance there was something of a repulsive nature in the undertaking, but toe greater wa's the merit in aiding a course which was divested of the ordivary attractions.— By contributing to this charity the Meeting connected themselves more strongly with their own families and with society in general. Those who were aquiline-4 with the history of kingdoms were aware of the politi cal miseries which grew out of the state of society, to which their attention was called. The disunion of States was to be traced to the progress of this vice, which spread its baleful poison through the whole mass of a people, and rendered them an easy prey to an invading enemy. (Applause.) To check the growth of such an enemy to the human race, was the proper business of those who thus associated. To remove from the public eye these examples of horror and shame, became the members of the Guardian Society. Who ceidd with hold his compassion from the hundreds of pour children who front the age of 14 to that of 16 were to be seen engaged, in prostitution, corrupted by flattery and the most malignant arts. Mr. Sheriff Rontwett, moved the Thanks of the Meeting to the Lord Mayor. Ile had, he said, fre quently witnessed the aims of the worthy Chief Ma gistrate upon occisions of charity, and could bear testi. ' mony to the excellence of his views towards the unfor tunate. The LORD MAYOR called upon the Meeting in the , most impressive manner to second the labours of the Committee by their liberality. Ile concluded by retnrii lug his most hearty thanks. The meeting then departed. The Report of the Committee appointed in the House of Lords to search for Precedents on the best mode of compelling the Peers to attend the second reading of the Pains and Penalties Bill, will proba bly be made on Monday, and proceedings adopted thereon. A general opinion is entertained by his Majesty's Ministers that the attendance of Lords during the important proceeding against her Ma jesty will not be numerous, unless seine compulsory measure is resorted to. The advanced period of the year at which this unfortunate business is to come on, is inconvenient to the Members of both Houses, who naturally look for relaxation, and retirement to their estates, after a very arduous and bustling Session of Parliament. They would no doubt feel much satisfaction, could they avoid the painful duty, imposed on them, a duty rendered unpleasant by the knowledge, that the public weal is not involved in the enquiry. The point in difference between the Queen and Ministers, as to the right of omitting her Majesty's name in the Liturgy, appears to allow of judicial decision, by any friend of her Majesty proceeding against any clergyman for such omission, in breach of the Ist of Eliz. cap. 2, sec. 2.—" That all and singular Ministers in any cathedral or parish church, or other places, shall, from and after, &c. be bounden to say and use the Mattins, Evening-song, celebra tion of the Lord's Supper, administration of each of the Sacraments,and all the common and open prayers, in such order and form as is mentioned in the said book, so authorized by Parliament in the said sth and 6th years of the reign of King Edward the Sixth." Any clergyman transgressing this statute is liable to the forfeiture of one year's profit of his spirit ual benefices, and six month's imprisonment, without bail. The defendant would of course rely on the proclamation, the legal validity of which would depend on the construction of' the 14th Car. 11. cap. 4, sec. 25—" Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in all there Prayers, Litanies, and Collects, which do any wry relate to the King, Queen, or Royal Progeny, the names be altered and changed from time to my, and fitted to the present occasion, according to the direction of lawful authority." A Brazil packet has brought advices from Ri o Janeiro up to the 7th of May. Lord Beresford arrived on the 3.1, in the Spartan frigate, having made the voyage from Lisbon in the short period of sp days. No intelligence from Buenos-Ayres had been reeeit ed at Rio Janeiro.