The National Register. — London, England, 1817-10-27 00:00:00

OCT. 21 Buonaparte's complaints respecting his situation at St. Helena, would not, I think, have excited much atrentien if they had not become a subject of discussion in the House of Lords ; fur as he denied our right to consider him a prisoner of war, in opposition to the most obvious principles of reason and law, it was not to be expected that any treatment lie might receive consequent to Ilk being so considered, would be Acceptable. On the other hand, admitting him to be a prisoner, it is difficult to imagine upon what grounds he can complain of the limited restraint under which lie is placed at St. Helena." ▪ Two motives may, I think, be assigned for Ituonaparte's enreasunahle complaints: the first, and principal, k to keep alive public interest in En rope, hut chiefly in England", where he flatters himself thot lie has a party► and the second, I think, may be traced to the personal character and habits of Ititonaparte, who finds An occupation hi time petty in trigoes by wiCeli these complaints are brought tbrward, anti an unworthy gratifiestion in the traeaswies and annoyance which they produce on the spot." • We lett St. Helena on the 2tl of July, and arrived at Spitlica.l Ohm the 17th of August, [KIT, on tlie whole, perhaps, more gratified than disappointed with the various occurrences of the expedition." CHEMICAL AMINEMENTS. An extremely interesting little volume has just ap peared, under the above title, front the pen of Mr. Arum, so well known for his talents as a Practical Chemist. It particularis;!s upwards of one hundred entertaining experiments, illustrative of the most strik ing facts, which the science of Chemistry has to otter. And what renders it more valuable, the author has tontine' himself to such experiments as may he per f ,r.a.:(l with ease and safety in the closet, and the exhi bition of which requires neither costly apparatus, nor complicated instruments. To make it still more acceptable to the young student in chemistry, an explanation accompanies each individual process, enabling the operator to contemplate the phenomena with advantage, as particular objects of study. We subjoin a specimen of the manner in which Mr. Acorn has executed his task, referring our readers to the book itself, from which, we doubt not, they will derive much useful knowledge even without effecting a single experiment. EXPERINIE.NT XVII. To MUC an invisible writing to lISTII me n block colour, by posting oder it ;colourless fluid. " Write on paper with a dilute solution of green sulphate of iron; when the writing is dry, no letters are vi.ibtr ; but if • feather, oi sponge, moistened with tincture of galls, be gia.s ed over the characters, the writing will instantly become vi sible, and assume t b'aek colour. Ratiosule. —This effect is produced by virtue of the tan ning and g.illic acid of the tincture of galls, uniting with the oxide of trots of the salt, and producing common writing Ink." •—• EXPERIMENT XXIV. ro render bodies !ominous in the dark, l 9 as to give a sullcient light to sites the hoar on 14 dial of a ;oath, at night. " If a four or sis ant: 0 ;0111.%:. I` :.ttai ii ii a few ounces of liquiJ phosphorous, bo mistiliyed in darkness, the vacuous spare in the bottle coii:s a sufficient high for spewing the heur of the night, by uoldnig a pocket watch near it. When the phial is again corked, the light vanishes, but rc.appears instantly on opening it. In cold weathr, it is necessary to warm the bottle in the hand, before the stopper is removed, without this preewitiun, it will not emit light. Liquid phos. phortis may likewise be used for forming luminous writings or draWlags it .nay be smeared on the face cr hands, or any warm •• ct•rt to render it luminous ; and this is iu nowise hazer!, •. If tubbed ou the face, taking care to shut the eves, C. .1111:eall'aflee is most hediously frightful: all the parts at i • tear to lie covered with a luminous lambent Haute, of a btu. colour, whilst the mouth and eyes sue de picted us ?DMA spot!. " llatioiotte. --This luminous appearance is a real, though slow, commistion of a very Winne portion of phosphorus pre sented to the air, which is partly wafted away in Minim:ins vapoara,and partly converted into phosphoric acid." EXPERIMENT LXV. rit.A consstation of giro metals :o4cts bruaglit igto contpt with rathuthcr. " Mix a train or two of potassium with a like quantity of so.;iiiin. This mixture will take place quietly ; tint it' the alloy of these two bodies Ire brought into contact withal glo. bole of quicksilver, the compound, when agitated, instantly takes lire, aad horns vivitliy. " Ratio/stk.—This combustion dewing combination, ap pears -to be analogous to the app.:rant combustion of copper tiliiigs with sulphur ; fur neitbe.r of the constituents parts of the cumpounil appoars to suffer oxidation. Fur this beau fol experiment I ant indebted to Mr. Edward Forster." S'FRATAGF:NIS OF CHEiS. The French who have always excelled us in super ficial accomplishments lay cairn to the merit of be ing the most skilful Chess players in Europe ; and that their skill might be the means of improving their neighbours, the members of the principal Chess Club at Paris some ,time ago made a collection of the critical situations and masterly moves, which owe their origin to the must eminent players, which they published under the title of " Y 4 tratajemes des Echoes." The whole of these situations were disignated by alphabetical letters upon 'the squares of the board and from the great num ber of examples, left hardly a move or situation unex plained. This volume bas been recently translated and printed in a very neat form with Pio wood euts repre senting the board, but instead of the pieces being dis ignated by letters, as in the French, the pieces them selves arc engraved, and the critical moves more fully described. The description of the moves, . which the tyro will have recourse to, if his genius will .out lead hint to discover themby a view of the situation of the Loard, is clear and satisfactory, and well calculated to amuse and instruct those whiyare disposed to devote a portion of their leisure to the practice of a game ituacp tilde of the greatest ingenuity and of Amijesse variety. , THE. NATION, STATE TRIALS. MONDAY, OCT. 15. rIgTER: The Court met precisely at ' S o'clock. Mr. Clarke stated that the Attorney-General would be in Court in two minutes, and had antlionsed him to say that William Turner was the next prisoner to Le tried. William Turner was brought to the bar. He seemed a man of about tti, of a slender make and rather a long face. with Hat nose. His look was somewhat melancholy and dejected. He was dressed in a blue coat, red and spotted silk hand kerchief, coloured waistcoat, corduroy breeches, and light woollen stockings. His appearance and dress clearly indi cated him to be one of the lowest rank in society. Mr. Lowudes began to call over the list of jurors, when M. Denman stated, that they did not object to those who had formed the last jury, merely on that account. • The ju rors were then called in their order: lint just as the elei k read out the first name, a long diseussiue arose on the violatiou of the order of the Court by the Courier newspaper, in hosing published garbled accounts of the proceedings upon the trial of the first prisimer. The Counsel on both sides, as well as the Judges censured this conduct in severe terms, hut as the Court was unable to ascertain by whom the comma uni cation had been made to the paper in question no proceeding could be instituted upon it. Eighty juors were then called before a jury was sworn.— All the members of the former jury were excused. 'two of them expressed a willingness to serve, and were challenged for the prisoner. The following Jury were irupannelled at a quarter before 19;—Thomas Ensor, of Marston.on.Dove, farmer • Henry Spurner, of the same place, farmer ; Thomas Michael Goodall, of Marston-Montgomery, farmer ; Thomas Hall, of Sutton, earmer ; Samuel Dean, of Ashieyhay, gentle man : John Wagstaff, of Atlow, farmer; Joseph Wheeldon, of Alvaston and Bonbon, farmer; James Osborne, of the same place, fanner ; Thomas Crompton, of Datley•ahhey, gentle man ; John Glover, of Fender'', fanner ; John Hallam, of Little Chester, farmer; and Thomas Ordish, of Mickleover, fanner. The indictment was then read, and the trial proceeded. The Solicitor-General loose at 10 o'clock, and opened the prosecution against William Turner, the circumstances of whose case SeCilled to be closely interwoven with the facts established on the trial of Brandreth. The Address of the Solicitor-General did not occupy above an hour, containing a clear narative of the supposed conspiracy, and was marked by a careful abstinence even from oho expression of any opi nion on the legal question, which he desired to leave alto gether to the exposition of the Judge. Antony Martin, the first witness on the List trial, was the first called upon the present. His evidence was in substance precisely the same as on the former occasion. Other witnesses were then ex amined almost precisely in the same order asou the first trial, and deposed to the value effect. TUESDAY. The trial of William Turner was continued this day : the Court met at its usual hour of 8 o'clock, and the business pro ceeded i 1111 l sediatly : William Turner looked even more de jected than yesterday. Mr. Cross then addressed the Jury. His speech was much more striking than the previous one : he professed, indeed, that both himself and his learned (itemd had despaired of success in the former case, on account of the taint of' murder which was' upon, and the general ferocity of, the prisoner's character ; but in the pre sent instance, the simple question of whether the facts I roved amounted to treason or not, would alone be entertained by Ilse jury. He hinted that he hail no doubt of the firmness of a Derbyshire Jury, though he saw souse season to roar whe ther men whose lives and properties had been at stake would not come with prejudiced minds to the evamivation of this important question, and be apt to ovei look the distinction between riot and treason. He went over his former ground (but with more precision) of the object of the Itiut Act, and contended that even a declared design to use. throw the state could not, except by the grossest perversion of common sense, be called treason, when there was an utter inadequacy of the means to the end. He particularly entreated the jury to dis miss (runt their minds all recollection of Brandreth's peculiar cuse,and accused the Crown-lawyers of intinagetnent in bring ing forward that case first. He told the jury not to be inti midated or overawed by the unusual array of Judges and Crows-lawyers who had come to wage war against a miser able pauper. He then commented with great force and in genuity out the facts of the case , and insinuating, as before, that base means had been taken to exasperate poor and dis contented men into acts of public violence ; he concluded by desiring the jury to adhere to the oldlaw,as established by the statute of Edward and the Riot Act. and not to sanction the novel doctrine of constructive treason. Three witnesses were then called fur the prisoner, who had known hint for different periods of 33, 12, and it years, and who agrecid in calling him a humane, loyal, and peaceable subject. Mr. Denman followed, and after stating the law 'of the case, commented with great perspicuity and force upon the evidence. He insisted on striking out the evidence of Martin and Ashbury as perjured, and contended that the rest of the evidence proved nut a single circumstance of treason against the prisoner. In the conclusion, he appealed to the consciences of the Jury lu the most solemn and im-. pressive terms, conjuring them tp beware that no doubt upon the subject should hereafter agitate their minds on their death. bed, or overwhelm them with confusion in the day of judgment The Attorney-General made au animated and perspicuous reply, in the course of which be coutesided that the statute of Edward 111. was itself Waisted to mark the distinction be tween riots for some private purpose, and a war against the State or the King's Royal Majesty. The latter expression was at that time always used to signify the Guyer 1111 l rut ; and an attack upon any part of it, with numbers and force of aims, had uniformly been decided by Courts of Law to he a levy ing of war against the Kiug, in the sense of the ancient sta tute. He likewise took occasion to repel the insinuation thrown out by Mr. Cross, that some management had been employed in order to procure * conviction, by putting Bran sirens, who was tainted with the crime of murder, fi rst upon his trial. lie declared that he had not beets at 11 actuated uy this motive, anti that the only reason for trying Brandreth first was, that he had been selected as leader by Isis co-con spirators. The same reason had induced him to take William Turtles', who had been set:audits rommaud, theseeond in ender. Toe lAttorney-tienerat 'trial/ concluded about half past 12 o'clock, M Justice Dell's addressed the Jury, and sum med up the ',Weiser, which - occupied the Court till Orally hair past 3. Alter explaining the law with the utmost pre cision, he dwelt with torte en the peculiar feature of the crime tOr which the present prisoner stood before them. Olt seivations lie said, lord lieeu made tithe Jury, on their feel .nits at the boor of sickness or death s if they sbuuld hod kitty 339 had been mistaken iu their verdict. It was not for him, sit ting where he did, to weaken such impressions —he rather wished to give them force; bait lie would tell them, that in the hour of sickness or of health, at the day of death and in the final judgment, they would find their best con solation in the consciousness that they had done their duty and fulfilled their solemn oaths. If they really had any doubts as to the purpose of the insurrection, or the prisoner's share in it, they were bound to give the accused the benefit of those doubts, and to bring in a verdict of acquittal. If they thoughtotherwise, they should bring in a corresponding verdict, however painful, without any regard to consequences. The Jury then went out ; they remained in constellation about twenty minutes, and returned to the Court at hail past S o'clock exactly. It was easy to gather from their counte nances that they had a painlWl tavk to perfoi in ; their nausea were called over, and the usual question of Guilty or not guilty' being put, the forentananswered in a faint and dejected voice, Guilty. The prisoner looked somewhat paler dens before, but there was noother difference : he was immediate ly taken away. The verdict did not seem to make mode ite pression on the numerous auditory : and indeed it is hardly possible to conceive a people less moved by even common curl. city than the people of Derby. 'I lie Judges, as soon as the prisoner was removed, asked the Attorney-General whether lie would proceed then or to morrow morning. The Attorney-General thought it. best to adjourn, as the Jury could be merely impannelled that . night, and might, without being of li ale, be confined two nights. Adjourned till 8 o'clock to-morrow. WEDNESDAY. • The Court met this morning at 6 o'clock, and on the motion of the Attorney-General, Isaac Ludlam the elder, already arraigned of high treason, was placed at the bar. The ph- Stoner is an elderly man, and of very decent appearance. The panne! wa, then called over, and after a considerable number of challenges by the prisoner's counsel, Mr. Denman, the following jury were sworn :Philip Waterfield, of 'fisting ton, gent.; Anthony Alsop, of Wensley, reinter ; William Dunn, of the same place, firmer; John Ueinsworth, of Ash. bourne, farmer ; William Campion, of Church Eversley, far mer ; Thomas Freer, of Cauldwell, farmer ; Thomas Brown, of Dumelen, farmei ' • Thouias Cooper, of Cliellaston, fanner ; Edward Stevenson. of Meacham, farmer ; Robert Cresswell, of Ravenstone, gets!.; Henry Wayte, of Milton, farmer; John Wright, of Bradborne, tanner. The indictment having been read, Use pleadings were opened by Mr. Balguy. The Attorney-General then stated the case; and after several witnesses had been examiwd, the Court adjourned at six o'clock. _ THURSDAY. The Court met at 8, and the triad of Isaac Ludlam the elder was resumed. Mr. Cross opened the defence, by submitting that the pri soner must be acquitted, notwithstanding the explanation of the law of treason contended fir by the prosecutor, and sanetimied by the Court, since there was no proof of a defi nite general purpose having ever existed in his mind. lie insisted that it wan mere delusion on the part of the ignorant villagers of Wingfield. that the simple are ever she dupes of audacity, and that it world be bulb cruel and unjust to punish for a delusion which they could-neither detect nor resist. After having examined the evidence wish great ingenuity and feeling, he conclinted by a most tolema carillon to the Jury against intimidation front the totter verdicts, or fruits the CO•11,111 , ` of their neighlronrs. Mr. Caton, the gaoler, gave evidence in a very lowneee t't eliug nianner of the prisoner's general good etasaluet, and affection to his sons since his confinement. Sir.l)lnmau beget) by pointing nut the peculiar stances of the prisoner's case. His innocence could not be proved the want of witnesses, his sons being indicted, and his wife inadmissible. He repeated his challenge to the pub lic prosecutor to 'nurture the evidence a hick they possessed of the origin of the mischief. The prisoner, as well as all the other prisoners, ass but an instrument of deeper, darker, and more ingenieas persons—of infamous shies and informers who created the evils they were employed to detect. Jet.. nprrieh lliandretles character and influence over the deluded inhabitants of taltigtield he embellished by a quotation from " The Corsair." He reprobated the insinuation, that the soner had led Isis soils into danger, in the finest strains of eloquence; and animadverted at great letxgth on the cha racter of the first two witnesses, and on the unilecisive nature of the rest of the evidence : concluding by soliciting the com passion of the Jury with great warmth. The Solicitor„General repiit d. 'the law was laid down to them by the Court, and they were bound by their oaths to receive it. The prisoner was proved to have willingly and actively engaged in the treason and outrage ; he must there hire be cuevieted. Air. Justice Abbott summed up with precision and candour. The Jury retired, but in less than than ten minutes returned with a verdict of— Guilty. While the Jury was out, Ludlam looked paler than inns!, but lie heard the verdict with tile utmost Ai •-• •-ss s ••••. ik . posure. His face was a remarkable ex, nuke et deb .y ranquillity. The Court then proceeded to the trial of George Weight man. He seems to be about 22 years of age, and very good looking. His youth, the simplicity of his looks, and strong apprehension of his future fate, excited a visible interest in all who saw him take his place at the bar. TheSolicitor-General opened the case for the prosecution with much brevity; and Mat tin, Asbury, .Shipman, and Tur ner repeated their evidence for the fourth time. At halt-past 6 the Court adjourned to 8 to morrow morning. FRIDAY. Mr. crow addresses! the Jury in behalf of the prisoner. He did not attempt to controvert the law of High Treason, as laid down by the Judges. He merely urgad, that Weightman had been deluded into the commission of that clime, for which he then stood arraigned. and for which, if found guilty, he must atone by the forfeit of his life.— He trusted, however, the Jury would see groutols for a merciful ver dict. He had evinced, even in the whist ot tumult and violence, a strong disposition to humanity and mildness. Recollecting that he was only the instrument of others, considering that he was young and unexperienced. and that he had yet, if it pleased those who had the dispensation of his fate, a long life before him, he had no doubt, be could never tail to reflect upon vic sutlering in which the incaution a early youth had involved bun. Tins reflection there was every reason to hope. would serve to correct his ermrs and restore hint to his country. a faithful and grateful subject of that Sovereign. to whose mercy a just appeal was never rustle in vain. Ile therefore biolt leave to ins. plore that the Jury would rear amend the prisoner to mercy. Ho was encouraged to hope that his api lication would not be unavailing. and that which wan the unniversar of tit. acciataion to our gab, iv, Sovereign, would form a new eta in reracoin goon harmony to the country. Mr. Denman followed. and made a similar a to v • • eney'ef the Jtuy. Tile Attorney lianeral, in reply, absarnid, that, lows