The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-02-22 00:00:00

= `~ ~1 MIP " Tr" F ;Z. .ice t • . • matter 'bare - charged agalust Von ; t'houg'ht be wac instroded to come Into Coart fee such afar pose, and in obedience to such iestritaion he were to goon* the seme topics of &eta mation here treated :al, there would then be an extensive and abundant field far his splendid talents ; b ,. ..c.iuse it *maid em brace one of the most extraordinary and eventful circumstances in eile most extraordinory and event eful Revolution that ever , the hi .try of mankind has hitherto recorded; but I 'cannot 'help thinking that to a discretion much Inferior to that of my Learned Friend, this would appear an ineligible course. I say discretion alone would be sufficient teguide as both in this case, to avoid that course. What brings me here, and what has induced me to bring the' Defendant here, is this: I prosecute this ruldication as a Libel, because I say it has a teaden en Co endanger the security and peace of this come t: I. This is the cause which brings us both here. If I am right, that charge Will be supported by this information, and you will go alon g iirttli me .in t hinking that the befen4ant, who is the.author of it, bught to be pronounced gailty ; and when the Court shall be called upon to pronounce what punishment stall be inflided on him, if the spirit of this Libel shall be repeated in the defence, I shall think it my duty to remind the Court of the course of the defence, in order that the trial of a,n offence against the law, iu an English Court of Justice, should not be made the vehicle by which the mischief is increased which its proceed ing was instituted to prevent ; for it is fit it should be kndtva, eot only in France, or over Europe, but throughout the whole world; that a British Court of hstiCe will not endure its own proceeding to become the means of spreading defamation with impunity to those who seek that unworthy purpose. I say, this consideration operating upon the discre tion of my learned friend, as I have no . doubt it does, leads me to suppose that the curiosity which this cause has excited, will be disappointed: but teither the gratification nor the disappointment of curiosity is our business; we arc to satisfy the de rnands of Justice. by administering the Law—that. is our business. We are not to be concerned for any disappointments, except the disappointmeats of the Law—we.areto take care that the I.aw shall not be disappointed.; and with that view, I am desirous of stating to you, not only what this prosecution is, but what this prosecution is not. This is not a prosecu tion for a publication which may be said to be an effort to give to the world an historical narrative of events which might have taken place in a neighhour ing country, and which might, or might not, as an historical narration, contain philosophical refiedions on the condua or charader of the persons who may have beta the actors in • the scenes this is not a -narration of historical truth, 'which should not be complained of when written in the spirit of an his torian, although with a boldness and a freedom that may give gain to others; nor is it that larratioa which being written with honest real, though wi:h a freedom hot-daring on licentioasness, which may be excuseable ; neither is it that piece of flippancy or impudence, or insolence towards the persons who are the objects of it, and on which account it might be treated with contempt.: but this is the case of a pub lication which, as it seems to me, is originally a libel and defamation; that .has defamation for its object—for its entire, or at least, for its best object, and its general object. Its further ohjea is, to direa that defamation against the First Consul and Chief Magistrate of France, whom our own coua try recognizes as such, and is at peace with ; that the object of this publication further is to excite the subjeas of the French Republic to rebellion against tier Chief Magistrate ;—her Chief Magistrate de fano, and to excite such subjeas to accomplish his assaasination and his murder. That being the ge neral objet and charader of the pithlication which Is now before you, I have to state to you more par ticularly the nature of the charge contained in this prosecution. The information charges, that these publications (for there are three of them) were with intention to traduce and ''=fame Napoleone Bona parte, who is stated jas he is known to be) First Consul, and as such, Chief Magistrate of the French Republic, between whom and this country there exists peace and =hat, and to bring him into hatred and contempt with the subjeas of that Republic. It further states, that the libel was published with intention to excite the people of France to assassi nate him. It states also, that the Libel was pub lished with intention to interrupt that peace which aubsists between that country and this. With these Intentions it is charged to have been published, and cacti is charged to bathe tendency of this publication. Gentl ' e:Mee having stated to you the outlines and nature of this prosecution, I do not feel that I am called upon to lay down any general principle of law as to what extent the Government of another Country with whom we are at peaca, may or may not be the aubjed of discussion, because that, as consider it, is not necessary in the present case; but there are some pehns which I consider as being clearly laid 4ihrirre. No man would suppose that I mean to cortend, that any publication which pro f,esses to consider the state of another Country at peace -with us, and to reason on it, or to give an historical account of it, and which mite contain the eefletlions of the Politicians er Philosopher on the events historically detailed. If this be published "fairly and lona fide, and not under covert far Jan .der and defamation, such-a publication I shall sever -deem the aitbjed of preseeetion in a Coen of Jus tice. ,let if the case this--that delaatatitre 4s. the 'tend oitjr pf the publication, id:hough it may plaiting re be written in the ipirit of an history, with political remarks and pliracephical refledions, 'and that the tendency of it.ie an excite the jmtlousy and hatred_ of that Coven y to wl•ath the peblica nion is direaa4 arytainet ahat Country front which that publication isms. I think it is not likely I shall hear it said in an English Court of Justice, that soeh a ptiblicittion is not a libel, or that the Anther of it ought not to be punished for such a pubEastion. The offence here charged to have boon 'committed by the Defendant is, that this his publi vatiee'is tt dire& eaciteximmt and erhortation for the 'whole people of that. Republic to .rise alp in urns, to resist tht power l . woiali they are at .present governed ; postai .ienbe hands in which .de fat% it fis placed, and take away, the life of the Chief Ma gistrate- I say that such a publication is an o ff ence aet:nst t;he law of this countryin which 'we live. It is ant merely onpriaciple that I contend this; *tut I submit to Ina that {base -cues decided and .adjudged, held ing precisely the same &marine. The • first is, the case of lord George Gordon, for a.l kaainst the Qtteen of France; the other is :1 the •cuse sif sta. 470t0liaCii Of a libel on the U Impel - et of Rus.,ia. 'The charge for the last Libel I will read to yoa, and then .1, shall beg -of you to • tompate that with the language of tht present' in foemation: that - information stated, that the. Libel set forth, " That the Fenveror of Rnseia was ren deringhimstlf obnoxious to .all his subjeets by alts of tyranny, and ridiculous by hi; caprice: he had passed an edit for prohibiting the exportation of d e al.feein hi s dominions, and that the consevence of it was, that 103 ships were likely to sail wulumst freight." This was the whole of the libel, and yet It was charged with having been published with in tention of traducing his- Imperial Majesty, and•of luterruptiag and destroying the friendship which -subsisted between that country and this, nod'. with great danger of interrupting the tranquillity-het-wee:l tour sotereign lord the Kin:g and his imperial Ma jesty.—That irtS the cdrence of which that Defend ' ant was charged. He had the advantage of beim , defended by Mr. Erskine, but he was convietesr. However, if you do not think that this was pub lished with any such intention as that was ; if you should not think it has any tendency like that ; if you think it has no tendency towards disturbing the peace which subsists between the two countries, then the Defendant will he entitled to his, acquittal. Bet if you think that it was written with the inten tion, and it has the tendency here stated, which is the same as the intention and tendency stated in the case of the libel against the Emperor of Russia, then, upon the attthority of an adjudged case, as well as upon the general principles,. I am justified in saying, there is no question that this an offence punishable by the laws of this country. • " Gentlemen, I have now to call your attention more particularly to the Libel itself which is the subjea of this prosecution, and I do not think it necessary to g 3 over the whole of the circumstances stated in the Libel s my Learned Friend who opened the pleadings to you, by his distinetness in reading she Libel, having rendered wt unnecessary. The °hied and general tendency of it are two, as charged by this information : First, we charge that it contains a dire d elle:elation to the subjeas .of the French Republie to assassinate the First Con- Napoieone Bonaparte, himself. This is to be found in the very first lumber of the publication called L'ilsnligu, published by the Defendant. Tire frontispiece was the figure of a sphynx with a variety of Egyptian embkmaticel figures, not very material perhaps for us to enquire after, but the • head of the sphynx has a resemblance that is ma terial for us to ceesider. I cannot pretend to say, whether it is a likeness or net, never haying seen the Chief Consul, linnaparte, myself; but from the pictures we have all seen, it cannot be doubted that this sphynx was intended as a representatjon cf the Chief Consul ; whether like him or net, is not ma terial, it is sufficient that it was intended to be so; and this we may discover by -observing that it is like tharpresentations which are made of him ; and by thiet I say, you may find in the frontispiece it self, thetelsject of the publication; but if that were doubtful, you will be nhnndantly satisfied by look ing at the publication itseif, and comparing it with the frontispiece, that the whole object and ten dency of this publication is to vi try the Chief Consul of France to the worll There arc two of the members of the L'Airkee made subjeCts of this prosecution, the first and the third. I will read Nett of them, and first call your attention to that which etands last in the information; it contains a supposed harranguc of Leppidas against Syila, by way of Address to the People of France, in which he treats the Chief Consul as a Tyrant. [Here the Ai roltlitY GENERAL read over seve ral parts of the Libel, and made observations on their tendency as he proceeded, and maintained it manifested the tendency, and was written with the intettion he had already stated, accusing the First Consul with having obtained his power by force and by crimes, &c.] . . " We are not to consider whether his power was obtained by force or by crime, or by what means it was ohtained . ; nor are we to consider what he is: he is de fall° the Chief Consul of France, aad he is ac knowledged by this country, and we have made peace with Mm as such ; at the moment of the pub lication of this Libel we were at peace with him, and thus is he treated in this publication. I wound then ask you, Gentlemen, whether you think it possible for such a publication to be hinocent?" He then proceeded to the second head of char g e against the Defendant, which was the second cation. This, he said, conveyed a dirt exhorta tion to the Subjefts of the French Repablic to as sassinate the Chief Consul, Bonaparte ) himself. It began, he said, with an Ode, and proceeded to in role Heaven to avenge the wrongs of the French People — then proceeded to compare the situation of the Freach at present w the Romans, after Cesar past the Rubicon, and thza after the la•:e of the bat tle of Pharsalia, and concialea with observing, that though Bonaparte bad neither a Pompey, nor a Cato to oppose him inthe striate, yet they had the means • left for .pacing as eat to his esistence, as an end was putto Crsar'a ; nears mending to the French pciatae to assmsinate B:mapartz, as the Rom'in Seveitors did Cc sae, arse concluding with the ensilhatical wort, Amea. **This was'ettrafted from L'. l / 4 14;air,_ of the 14th of July, 1 8 %. Upon these papers, of which we have thus given the out line, the Attr.rney General made many very able comments, and then procceird thus : "'Upon these two papers, when you shall have heard them read, I think yon will agree with me in thinking, and • I ImAieve .mankind 4 large will think, that :hest papers arc gross and scanaalams libels, and that it is contrary to the laei of this land to hall .out any exhortution to any body of msa to assassinate any one, .or to excite rebellion in any ccuntry with which England is at peace.— Gentlemen, if my Learrie.l Friend meets 1112 on there points, and he endeavours to induce you to believe that all this is fair narration, written with hones: views and intentions, we shall ma et 'fairly upon a plain issue, which you shall decide between us, and I shall be contented tb leave .it so ; but do ndt let me be told, that we are un equal to the task of determining on the intention in such a case as this, when we see..that. men axe insti oaateil to assassination. I will nut trouble you mitch further on that subiect—l hare stated to yo what I am convinced to be the objeft of Ctas publicati.en ; and now letm ask you, whether you au not with me, that an exhortation to the .people of a ccatntry With which we ate at peace, to assassinate efeir . thief Magistrate, or nay Nitta, is great crime.? I Iwill4o fyrther,asnd that not only is it.,SO :lathe titne of peace, but also in' the time of war ; there is in the bate proposition of assasslnatior., any time, something so disgraceful and base, that it is ' impossible to support it, being contrary to the whole 1 tenor of the law, and repugnant to the feelings of ~ the people of England. It would be base and dis on-ace:lld to us in time of war ; what•rheu must it be in the time this was Written, which wasa time of peace ? Why then there is no que,tion here between us,•ex cept t'le tendency and intention with which this pub lication was published. It is of no importance to the issue which you have to try, what the Government of France was at the time of this publication. It is immaterial whether the libel was directed against a Monarch sitting on his throne, which descended to him from a long line of hereditary descent, or a person to whom the power fell by the events of a revolution, from the choke of a country, or from any other cause, it makes no differtalce in this issue. '1 he Chief Consul, Bonaparte, is Is lath, Chief Magistrate of that country, and by oar law he is to be respected in like mantle:• as if he had been on the Throne .of France, and had taken it by descent, which had flowed for many centuries, and through a great number of generations. Both cases, by oar rules of law, arc =ally the same. We may be told, that there are many libels in French newspa pers, some of which are supposed to speak the lan guage of their Government ; that The Nensicer, publishes a number of scandalous falSehoods and abuses upon the Government of this country. To which 1 say, What have .we to do with that ? If they publish libels on its, let them take the fate which will attend sudh labours; the fault is theirs, which is no example to as. I say, that the publica tions here stated are offensive to the law of England. If there is a feeling in any other Country envious of our prosperity, and they think they can answer any purpose by slandeting others, let them have the full isenefirsof it, but do not let us have the disgrace." The Evidence was then called in support of the Prosecution ; which consisted of proving the publi cation of the two Papers, at the desire and by the • iequest of the Defendant, Mr. Peltier, by Mr. De bolfe, against w!lo:n an Information was also filed ; but he has suffered jedgment to pass by default. Mr. Miliiroso and Mc. FEROUSOS, who weve Counsel for the Defendant, at first waived the right of calling upon the Prosecutor to read the whole - Charge of Libel in the Information, first in the original, which was in French, and then the English translation, as stated upon the Record, but upon reflection, observed, that ;they did not in a Case so important, give up any thing that might possibly be of advantage to their Client. and therefore an Inter preter read the whole of the original, and then veri fied an Engliih translation, and aiso, at the request of the Defendant's Counsel, read a number of camas out of L'iimbgu, which were not included in the Information, which they said was necessary in order to give to the Jury the whole context of the publica tion. _ _ All the readjusts, both French and English. being concluded, the case fur the prosecut►on closed. Mr. NI , It+ r o.:it commenced a splendid and elo quent speech, of which we profess to give no more than a very brief and general outline. He Coln-. tnenced lay observing, that he undertook the de fence of his client surrounded with difficulties, and called upon to urge topics, which he feared might 'be considered of an invidious nature. The Defend. ant had thought proper to selea him, to'defead him from the charge of which he was the objea ; and his professional duty-neither allowed him to decline the office of his advocate—still less, after having under tnicen it, to betray the trust reposed in him. The Defendant had a right to expel from him a zealcus and fearless defence, unawed by the apprehension of offending those at whose instance the present prose cution had been instituted. He should avail himself of the privilege which belonged to his professional charafter, to state, without reserve, whatever. he thought calculated to shield Mr. Peltier from the strong hand of power which was raised to oppress him. Were it possible to silence the voice of the Bar. an English Jury could hot be sitting for the ad ministration of justice. It was a sanauary in which fear never entered the heart of any one, except a cri minal. He desired the Jury to refle&, that the red prosecutor of this indi&ment was not the Attorney. General, but a man who was the.uncontrouled mas. ter of one of the greatest empires the civilized world ever knew. The Defendant, cm the contrary, was a larosceibed, helpless, and defenceless. French Roy alist, who, in the month of August 1792, bad, with many others, been compelled by.tbe revolution in France to fly his country. At the period of that awful emigration, when the Proprietors, ivirkis- traces, and Public Funelionaries, civil and ecclestas . tical, were driven by the daggers of their country men from their native land, our shores were filled with unfortunate men, women, and :children, who hastened -to it, as if they had been flying before an artily of barbarians. At length the greater part of those who were saved from the horrors of the sword, were permitted to revisit the soot which bad given them birth. Thankful they were, even for the sad privilege of dyinr , in their native country. Their retura was, however, coupled with such conditions of allegiance to the ruling Power of France, that the Defendant and e few others, aatiated by sentiments of loyalty to their legit mute King, thought the:sac:l;es bound to 416st:in from acoeptiog the-proffered boon. 'lle learned Counsel said, he could not blame the present Governmentcf France for eructing that allegiance from Emigrants Tetiu-niug to the eeontey ; all he desired was, that the Jury would not think unfit vourahly of his elieat, for refusing to avail himself ofdie offer,.by acceding to a tot.: t! : n his consci ence and principles of loyaP.4 .revolted at. No one, • he was at.urel, woisk.' think the worse of these wretched Emigrar. , . who had been cast on our shores, for persevering with stubborn fidelity 1) tU,e laws and government of their fcrefathers. The un fortunate Defuidant was .a iGoatlainan who had been bred to the study i4' ,literature ; when, by tt, e misfertums of.his,coitil;ry., he waistripi,ed 4.4 his be .foundhirat.t.li.corripelled to ft to it, as a source .of existence. He had prod' :ed a variety of works sof zotgiderable interact ; but, sine/qtr conclusion of the peace with the Pfen,;ll RepabFc, lie had dime gaged.his attention Srurn these pukka: and serious ;produaions which hail before occupied his mind, aad had devoted himself to the putaication of this :trilling and sabscure Journal, which liaa.bettn iirorgat tvort by of being made the subjea of s r ttLA:c prose :C*Po2. it Was a Jour .the MAE metlionious ler •the.ptitpose irstputed r *o it. It could rot•Le read, at lista bit partinllp, in heglenJ, becaust 'it was..eot .w,rittehin .tie k ngli>li -language : it c - old not be read in France, becanse the m.iadate ,If the Sore. e:gn Power had prohilaired its admisi,vn into that. cotmtry. It was a Journal which could have no other possible effect, than that of amusing and con `'soling the fear companions of the Defendant's exile, by occasional pleasantries on the faetions which di vide ksrance. It was a Journal .remarkable for one circutnstance alone ; and that was, it was the only Journal that had dared to speak in favour of the un fortunate family which, fourteen years ago, was flat. tcred by every wrack, and guarded by every tribu nal. It had been truly stated by the Attorney- General, that the last libel of a similar descripttna prosecuted in this country, was against the unhappy Queen of France, who had been since inhumanly butchered by her subjats. lie dial not say this for :he . purpose of questioning the right of his Majesty's mi. niters to protect ;he eharafters of those wHo were ;it the head of the Government of a county , in :finance with tr, whether it was a goverionunt of yester.ur or one which had existi,il for a thousand years. He alluded to it merdy, that the Ju.ry should attend to the case of this helpless exile, the Defendant, whits the stern hand of authority was endeavoming to drive from the last asylum he 'had on earth. Ter. haps it WAS owing to the lenity of his Majesty'S Mt nisters that he still enjoyed that last a , ylurn, and they were entitled to his warmest thwiks tur relasiny , to violate the rights of hospitality at this request qf any foreign Power, however formidable. Ihe fendant felt the most fervent gratitude ton at ds tie .Prtaedor of this empire, who, amidst the ruin of the surrounding kingdoms and principalities of Eq. rope, had allowed impartial iastice tO be iiinini4. teeed to him in this ()cm ancient sang - nary: Tut Defendant, conscious of the justice he bad to erpe& from a British Jury, Lad waived his right of being tried by a Tribunal, partly composed of tizcigner: The learned Counsel said, he considered this as t 1 first contest between the greatest Power on earth a A the British free press, the only one now remaining, 'I hat it was so, w- as a melancholy redecction to the friends of human nature. Till that great earth quake, occasioned by the French Revolution, had swallowed up the presses of the Continent, tin re had, by the indulgence of the larger Powers;esived many States in which a free press had been tokerat •ed. This had been the .ease. in Holland, Swltzert land, and the free towns of Germany. Haar/ and Switzerland were no more, and 50 of the Gen. manic free States had been erased from the map by a dash of the pen. These States he considered as very interesting part of the ancient system. Great stations could not exist without considering their mi. litary system, but small States were obliged to do. • ' vote themselves to industry and the sista of ,peace s and they formed a kind of controul over the supe. nor ones,; for no depravity could so sink any man in his own esteem, as tc reader him regardless of the opinion of the rest of the world. The undieturhed repose the States he had referred to were suffered to enjoy, had enabled them to become models at.: testing the .civilization to which Christian Europe had reached. Nothing so much proved the civil. ration of the Continent at the period te.referred. to, as the freedom enjoyed by The little Republic of Gc. Lusa. It had been suffered to remain undisturbed 'itad unthreneened, while surrounded by .myriads the armies of France. All this was n4sv past and goee. What the new system was to be, was not fur him to conjefture ; but he was perfealy convinced that the arbitrary violence of ambitions monarchs, had been checked bi a t i . z h i : dread of the opinion of the impartial audience d among the smaller States, and in which no sooner were any zas of oppression known than a theusand presses were set to work to communicate them to the world. At present then; was not such a thing as a free press from Palermo to Hambnrgh.—Not one asylum for the liberty of discussion remained—no public v ei . ;:e. the expression of which could contrbul the despotic attempts of arbitrary tyrants. Happily, however, these presses were still secure which were protected by the British Government, and by the valour of Englishmen.. The ancient fabric, raised by our ancestors, still en.. dured ; though surrounded with ruins, it stood solid and unshaken. He had observed, that this was a tomcat between despotic power and the free. dorn of the press, and he considered the Jury as the advanced-guard, fighting the first battle in the cause of liberty. He recommended to them, to he extremely cautious how, in attempting to repress a. libel, they violated the freedom of discussion, whisk was the best guardian of the State. The offence of a political libel differed from all others in this re. speelthatin all other offences, thepunishment could alone strike terror into those who meant to be guilty, but in this it filled with dismay the innocent. It rendered it impossible to define the boundary be. tween history and libel. It had a tendency to re. press, not enly the most innocent aelions, but the most meritorious duties a man owed his fel. low-creatures. Even in the case of the most unjust and amhitious attempts against the independance of the oountry, A Can would be fearful of taking tip his pen, lest he should overstep the boundary of disousslon, and write what might Ise construed as libellous. He next adverted to The relative situa. tion of this country and the continent, as it had .stood since the period of the former having waived any interference with regard to. France. Gre4t Britain c:nild now have only 'two objeas to look to—. her own nararalsafety and liercommercinlprosperity, Her national safety depended on har pur.uing an una. form cony* of justice at home, and interfering ins f:- . be to co p 7 r ti ev e e ti n a t n a ger ny o o u n s. e tiler inthe concerns of foreign countries than was n:.- cessa soast rl o li rr er °ln ec could only be att , „ . „ nn bd Peact .ansa the labour and industry y a the Inibaur and industry he cions;.derea c,nthic.soureo.s.of wealth, and wealth is * tae means of civilization. Under these cireum stances, he conceived it obviously for the interest of !this country, that a bold examination into, and the public and free discussion of the conduit of the &her powers, 'should be tolerated. -It had been said by an ancient orator, 'that no man ever had been the 'enemy of the rePutilic, 'ttu he had at the same time been his enemy. in . the same manner, no man had ever intend,;(l ought against the 'liberties of the great Republic of Europe, 'kut as the.first step tosGards the promotion of his design he had di rOted his endeatours against .England, justly con sidered the guardian of the rest of the world. In all • cases when the liberties of Europe had been endan gered, England had always been placed in the first of the battle. He then drew the attention of the Jury to thelibel, observing the Attorney General had expressl y stated that it was not his intention to attack histori cal narrative. He had saids that the essence of the offfice wat,-.shat it-was published with the intention of disturbieg,the peace of the state, and that it had go reference whatever to bistaric.g skcussion. He I.