The National Register. — London, England, 1820-04-02 00:00:00

:.~:.. r S S ..... :,> 4 ). :1J Aji No. I,ol.—Voc. XIII.] HIGH TREASON. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS-HOUSE, CLERKENWELL. MONDAY, MARCH 27. This being the day appointed for preferring to the Grand Airy of this County the Bills of Indictment against the Conspirators apprehended in Cato-street, the Grand Inquest was assembled at nine o'clock ; the officers of the Crown were in attendance, also the High Sheriff of Middlesex. The witnesses thirty in number, amongst whom were Monument, who has been confined in the Tower of London, and Adams, who was detained in St. Martin's watch-house, were in waiting in a room by themselves, and in another room were the pike-handles, 38 in number; the arms and ammu nition which had been seized, as well as in Cato street as in other places occupied by the con spirators, were also collected, in readiness to be produced for the satisfaction of the Jury. At ten o'clock his Majesty's Attorney and Solici tor-General came into court, and shortly after• wards Sir Charles Abbott, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Kings Bench, and Sir Robert Dallas, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, two of the Commissioners named in Special Com mission for this occasion, took their. seats on the Bench. Proclamation was then made by the Crier in the usual form, when Lord Chief Justice Abbot deli vered the commission to Mr. Dealtry, the clerk, in court, to be read, and it was read accordingly. The names of the Grand Inquest were then called over, and 23 gentlemen were sworn as the Grand Jury, by Mr. Abbott, clerk of the Nisi Prius. Proclamation having been made by the crier for silence, The Lord Chief Justice Abbott delivered the following charge:— " Gentlemen of the Grand Jury,..-We are assembled on this occasion, under the authority of his Majesty's special commission, for the purpose of hearing and inquiring into certain Bills of Indictment, which w.II be laid before you, charging certain persons, first, as ith high treason ; se condly, misprision of high treason; and thirdly, to inquire touching the wilful murder of Richard Sicilbettl, and any other crime or offence touching the death of the said It. ' Smithery, and any other offence or offences against, touching, or concerning the ',woos of Frederic Engel*. rence, William Legg, James Ellis, John Surinam ' 5 alliam IVestcott, William Charles Brook, John Maddock, and Benjamin Gill, or any of them, conuary to the torus of au Act made and passed in the Lid year of his late Majesty, Minuted "an Act for the bather prevention of malicious shooting, or attempting to discharge loaded ;ire arms, stabbing, cutting, wounding, poisoning, and the twilit:ions using of means it, procure the miscarriage of women, the malicious setting lire to buildings, and other Miami:es *herein ni violent, ;" and, Gentlemen, tt Toes become my duty to uti•'r for sour consideration s ale remarks touch ing the offences charged against the parties in the Bills of Indictment, which shall now be pi esented for your deli beration. Gentlemen, the clauses elpOn as bid, the eliargt of high treason io those bills are founded are to f ie found in the statute of the 25th of Edward 3d, and in another statute or the 3611► of his late Majesty. By the first of those statutes it is declared to be high treason, vs bets holy person cloth imagine or compass the death of the King, or. shall attack the person of the hog, or attempt to depose hint Irumh the crown of these r, alai., or sball levy war against leis Majesty, or attempt by Jul ce to oblige I lib change the measures of his Government, or shall by rheas or tumult attempt to overawe his Parlia ment in tlio it pi oreedings, each of the persons so offend ing shall be decoyed guilty of high treason, and sutler the petialttes incurred thereby. You will, therefore, Gentle delibeinto wheelies Joe cl.arges submitted to sour cuosid,•r,ttion shall be ',loved to )(ter •stistaetiott, imputing to the pal ties the crime of imagining! • and com passing the King's death, or iniettiling to Imprison his person, or depose him from the throne of the•:' levy war against him; and it may be accessary to observe to you, that it is farther enacted by the statute la•t men tioned, that if a party shall express his opinion by wilting or priming in aid and furtherance of• such treasonable 111111.05C3, Ile shall incur also the guilt of high tieason; fns• the law hat. ',Welded, that in cases of i his ailine, the iotenlion shall constitute the mime; but it does, at the f. time, It quire, that the guilty intention shall be ma nifested by smut act of• the party to evince. his criminal purpose. Iteline the passing of tile late statute, acco•dimg to the opinions of all the nowt cannel., test-writers mom this subject, it was held to he Itie law of thii Mini, that all persons guilty of overt acts Co:. commas -big or imagining the King's Jcatli, were guilty of high tiedsOil ; and by the late Act, any attempt to I estraiii Isis reason, ur to levy war against hint, or to oblige him to change ilie measin es of his Government, is high treason. It way be also teeptisitc fin• me to state to you, that it is by no means necessai y, ml order to constitute the levying of war, tii , t the parties should appear open array of arms. Rebel:ion rarely makes its first appearance by a display iifintiotary force ; but,begiais by sect et ps cparation,and pmuceeds by deg h era. But, as I have already stated to you,any atieno.i by force to overawe his Majesty or his Govt.' ument, is of itself au .. -110 , .12 • ...1,...—"^,t • . e f... ; ,-,1 0 ~,,, 1, /, / , '" i • s ' .. " -- )- -- 1 i t--." --1 • ~~ ~~ ~~ [PiticE 90. True bills for feloniously shooting with intent to kill, found against J. logs, R. Till, J. W. Wasci, A. Thistlewood. The Chief Justice then informed the : Fore.-77an that it was not intended to prefer any other before them at present, anil that they might col eider themselves as discharged from the trouble of attending there at . present, unless they shoghl re ceive a special mileage to that effect. By direo:ixz of the Chief Justice, the Court was then adjournA till Saturday the 15th of April next, at half.pat: nine o'clock in the morning. REWARDS FOR RESCUING PERSONS IN DANGER AT SEA. The subscribers to Lloyd's lia‘e lateiy voted, up.nt the recommendation of their committee, the follow i:i sums from their funds, to reward parties for saving the crews of ves3els, at the hazard of their own lives, VIA:- 801.—to boatmen at Yarmouth and Gorlesion, for saving the crew of the Litona,Stobie, from DundaLe Lon:!im, wrecked on Corson Sand, 3d March. 501.—t0 Linemen at Deal, and 501. to. latiatmco at Ranisgate, for saving the crews of the Friendship, of Hastings, and the Flora of North Shields, which ves sels were wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, 3d ult. 301.—t0 boatmen, for saving the crew of the Ruby, of Newcastle, Hung, from Cardiff to London, sunk near the Reculvers, 3d alt. 301.—m the crew of dye John anti Mary of S.mdt r land, I'm saving the crew of the Thistle, of Dundee, upset in Sutton Wash,id ult. 301.—t0 Ramsgate, and 101. to Margate boatmen, for saving the crews of the Hope, of Wevinowh, and Vigilant, of Sunderland, wrecked on the Guudw in Sands in December. _ _ _ 51. 5.3.—t0 boatmen of Wivenhoe, for assistance ren dered to the crew and passengers of a vessel wrecked to January. It will be seen, by the followin; , votes, that the :Atli scribers do not confine their liberality, on such occa sions to the reward of their own countrymen, nor For the saving of the lives of British sui.j4cts only 25i.—to the Deux Scrag, M NaIIICS, for taking of t the crew anJ a passenger of the Friends, of Lancaster, Bragg, mister: which ship they fell in with at sea in the . gleatest distress. 2Ul.—to -ix Frenchmen, who went from Dieppe on the 3d ult., and, with the assistance of the Captains of two Brighton packets, and the master of an English merchant brig, saved the crew of the John and Do rothy, of Shields, wrecked off Dieppe. 141. sonic Guernsey boatmen, for saving the crew of the sloop Ruse Victone, of Ilonlleur, in Ja nuary. ~~ ~~ Mroitiirr+ atiomU Our Muff, tronltttution anb 31 SUNDAY, APRIL 2, Ma overt acv of treason, and all the parties acting in aid of such a purpose, are equally guilty. In this crime, the law allows of no necessaries, for all parties so offending are deemed principals. Ilia Lordship having laid down the law as taceiinz high treason, next proceeded to define misprision, of treasou, as a wilful concealment of any treason existing against his Ma jesty, but in order to constitute the guilt of this crime, by which the party offentlinelturred the low of his estate and property, and other heavy penalties, it was necessary lie should actually know of tee treason existing, for mere hear • say without further knowledge wound not expose him to the penalties of cencenlmeist• But every loyal suhject would feel it his daty to communicate to the next enagiArate every thing which came to his kisowdlege respecting such treason, in order t h at measures might be tuken to bring to justice the parties concerned. His Loadsbip then pro ceeded to degue the laws as it affected the ether crimes charged in these bills of indictment.—First, with respect to the murder of Smithers, the Saw protected no house, except a dwelling-house,, agamst the forcible entry of the °dicers of jastice for the aporehntsion of parties charged with felony ; but, in this rase it would appear that the patties were assembled, not in a dwelling-house, hut in the loft of a stable in ass obscure street, nod that the officers upon their entry announced to the parties theobject of their coming, and called upon them to surrender, which they refused to do, and, as it was stated, fired (new pistols and presented their weapons against those officers in resistance to them, while in the execution of their duty. The law considered this an act of unlawful resistance. y If any ma gistrate, or officer of justice, called upon the persons so assembled to surrender theinselvestojustice. in any tone of language that was audible and intelligible, and that the parties refuse and resist by force, if any death shall accrue in consequence of such resistance, it was murder in the eye of the law. The next point respected the discharging of fire arms against the several parties who were siding and assisting in the apprehension of those men; Rod this act, by a Sta tute of his late Majesty (Lord Elleaborough't Act) made it a capital offence for any one to shoot at, or wound any person whatsoever in such manner, that if the parties so shot at or wounded, should die, the offender might be convicted of wilful murder. His Lordship concluded by desiring the Jury to inquire, with the utmost calmness ;Rd deliberation, into the nature and circuinstancejof the charges befere theta; to distnisa from their minds all Impressions which might have been made by previous rumours; and he had the fullest per suasion that their decisions would be governed by the dic tates of their own hearts and runsciences. The Jury then retired to their room, and proceeded to examine the witnesses.. After the witnesses had been sworn, the Judges adjourned the Court till twelve o'clock the next day. The Jury remained nearly an hour before they called any of the witnesses before them. The first examined was Mr. Bouchier, Solicitor for the Trea. sury, and he was succeeded by Adams, whose dis closure, as to the conspiracy, has been of the most minute description. The Chancellor of the Exche quer was in attendance as a witness. Firth (the cowkeeper,) one of the prisoners in the house of correction, is so much indisposed that little hope is entertainexl of his recovery. TULSDAY ' MARCH 48. The Chief Justices of the : King's Bench and tlar Commis Pleas, and the Attorney and Solicitor Generals, took their respective seats isi the Court soon after twelve o't lock. At half-past two, ideGrand J ury entered with true bills for vs treason tiesiiet Arthur This:lee - null, William Davidson, Jailleti 1111. , , J. 'f. Itrunt, It. Titld, J. W. VS ilssei. J. I lac rios,s, It. liradleisii, J. S. Strauge. Ist, and it. C. Cooper. T:ie hills for high treason against Abel ILsll and H. Cooper were inured. The l'inemisn 'lieu requested, in the name of the Grand Jury, that li s Lordship a ould (permit his char,:e, delistred y este' dav , to the grand inquest, to be primed. The Lard Chief-Justice replied that every attention would be given to their request, but that it was not convenient for limn In areCIIC Li their desire at resent. He svissed to o au It wills his brother Dallas, and the other Commission ers; but the gentlemen ut the Grand Jury might feel assumed that their request %%mild be considered. Ills Lordship 'heti expressed to the Attorney-General his ish that the persons against whom true bills hud been found iiii4ht have intinsal ens, without the trouble of coming into Court, that their attoriiies and co u nsel would have ready ess to them. The Attorney-Green:l said he would attend to abet, and see that every facility should be given to tbeir communication with their iceal advisers MARCH 29. - This morning, at twelve o'clock, the Court was opened, pursuant to adjournment from Toe:Ably.— Chief Justice ALbott alone took his scat on the Bench ; the Law Officers, several Magistrates, and a few spectators were also present. Immediately after, proclamation being made in the usual terms, the Grand Jury entered, and delivered the remain ing bills which had been laid befiire them to the Clerk, who stated the result of their investigation to be as follows : True bills tot murder tound against A. Thistle wood, J. T. Brunt, It. Tydd, J. W. Wilson, J Harrison, J. S. Stiange. The bins flir murder not found as to W. Davison, i. Ings, R. l3radburn, A. Hall, R. George, J. Gil christ, C. Curler.. NEW PARLIAMENT. MEMBERS RETUUNED. Monmouthshire—Sir Charles Morgan, Lurd G. Somerset. Ratliiiir—ltich. hire, Esq. c —Lord Milton, and J. A. Stewart Wortley, Esq. Cheshire—D. Davenport, Eiq. and Wilbraham Eger ton, Esq. Bedturdsbire—Marquis of Tav Work, and M. Pyln Esq D . evon—SirT. 1), Arland, Bart .and E. I'. Bastard, Preston—S. tiorrocks, Esq.. and E. ilornhy, Esq. lladington (County )—nir J. Grant Stitt ie ' Hart. Westmoreland—Lord Lim tiler, Colonel Lowther. tit. Michael—Wm. 'l. Money, Esq. Sir G. T. Staunton, Bart. Stith:lg.:hire—Sir Chas. Erhnonstone. Pet th—James Urummund, Esq. Aberdeenshire—James Ferensson, Esq. Peehlts—sir James i‘lonteinnery. Renfrewshire—John Maxwell, jun. Esq. Giamorganshire.—Sir C. Cole. Tanaiton.—.Alex. Baring, Eq. J. A. Warren, Esb• SCO'CLAN D. I..lliutt, Lockhart, Esq. Elgiushitc.—Col, F• %V. GI ant. IttELAND. Carlow— (Co.)—Colontilis;:eii, Sir Ukases it orgh. Clare—Sir Edward O'Brien, Right Hon. N'. Fitz gerald. Closintell —H. RE Dawson, Eq. Watyrford (County)—Lord G. liere‘foril, and R. Potter, Eq. .loath—Lord Bectiee, and Sir M. Snii;rmille. ntetford (City)—sir John Newport. Ito,r , —Johil Carroll Esq, Tippperary (County)-I(ight Hon, W. Bagwell, Hon. F. Fret tie. Down (County)—Viseount Castlereagh, Lord Author Hill. Monaghan (County)—Chats. I'. Leslie, Eq. H. West aura, Eq. Shp' (Comity) —E.g. Cooper, Eq.Chie.. 011;ira, Eq. IVeaford (C ty)—Lord Stoptorii, 1.... r'.ireo, Es Cm ) Lord Hal e.q. ae.enis, Eq. we ex fo r d—Wrii. 1)1,11cSUI.-.-Eill I Morititclia, General !Tat t. Mayo.—Dounnek Brown Cq. lirewu, Esq. •4 )-- . 11 . i•;-\ ri 'vs,/ 4. • ... 4 .411 0/ :• . . ,44 1, • I% N C i 1 i 1