The Statesman. — London, England, 1812-12-12 00:00:00

f I r • ill 1 1 1 . . , 1. . . • , 1 L 4, A k, . 1 . ~... 1 '. .4. 1 3 . , , ,t. i ; .1 . ♦ 1 4 ~ !~ Til 'ATFAMAN. ~. •. .~ mpoviejikimmonormignlPENE" . .riNglea MR. LO PELL'S ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC. The Proprietor of this Journal, yielding to the repeated and earnest request of numerous friemis, ventures to call the attention of thu Public to'llie privations he is still doomed to sailer, by the recent sentence of the Court of Kings Reach. Heis fully . aware of the delicacy of the task he thus feels him self imperioto s ly called upon to undertake. It is f►r free.; being oaf pleasure to him to be obliged to speak • of hiessetf, nod It shall be his portiellar endeavour to *event any Supposed feeling of resentment, or of self-partiality, froth disfiguring a narrative, daw n vpinore with a view to defend the liberty of the press, than from any motives personal to himself.— . nose who know him, and those whose good °pi llion he is anxious to deserve, will neither take his Character from the sentence of the Court, nor from the harsh and unfounded imputations of the Sown foa-GENEn ti . To such, therefore, the only de fence he shall attempt to offer, will he a series of facts, accompanied with such reflections as may ap pearpecessary, toenahle the Public to form a clear and correct opinion on the 'chole bearings of his case. To drop the style of the third person, and speak in the first—the publication, which is the cause of my present imprisonment, had, I cotifeee,in its composi tion, what I fully admit to be a criminal ingredient in libel-I mean falsekood. I place this acknowledg ment in the front, because it comprises all the guilt with which I can, in justice, be charged, and which has brought upon me an almost unprecedented seve. rity of punishment. The Public are already aware, that on the 19th of last March, an article appeared In the SraTesmae, signed HONESTUS, imputing to the Transport Board gross and fraudulent miscon. duct in their manner of Managing the funds appro. printed to the maintenance of Prisoners of War.— Of the insertion of that article, I was perfectly ig norant. I had er;aged an Editor to superintend the Press, and I considered his judgment and integrity, as good, securities for a judicious and safe selection •of articles. It was not, however, till the 14th of April, that I had any knowledge whatever of that . publication, when it was put into my hands, toge. tber with a manuscript answer to it, signed a FRIEND TO Tetley, dated the 25th of March, from Oak hampton. On this unhappy discovery, to say the I was overpowered by a mingled feeling of sorrow and indignation, is but a feeble description of the distracted state of my mind at that moment. I immediately gave orders for the instant publication of the contradictory statement. I offered a reward for the discovery of IL:mutts. I addressed a Let. 'ter to the Transport Board, in which I made use of the sincerest expressions of regret and sorrow, for having been made the unintentional instrument of 4 , traducing their character; and I offered to make them any further atonement in my power. I did more. I felt it to be most respectful to the Board to offer no defence, but to suffer judgment by de __ fault, to convince them that my sole reliance was __placed on their justice and humanity. I could not possibly recal the publication, but I destroyed the 'effects of its poison by an explicit confession of error, and a •speedy dissemination of truth. These points, which it was expected would plead power. fully in mitigation of punishment, the eloquent and enlightened Advocate whom I retained did not for get to urge, in a speech addressed to the Court, full of just views, of strong reasoning, rind deliver ed with admirable feeling. But though it was to little purpose he struggled to lessen my mis. fortunes—yet his labours will not go unre warded. As a Lawyer and a Statesman, Mr. Buovertam is now hailed, and will be long re membered by Englishmen, as the ornament of the Bar and the pride of his country. Sir W. GaRROW, however, could perceive no circumstances of mitiga tion in my case. Though three reputable persons had made affidavits of my ignorance of the publication till the 14th of April, mid though the Doctor had also made affidavit of the very prehrious and declining. state of my health, the SOLICITOR-GENERAL over. looking, or entirely disregarding these unquestionable I testimonies, struck. off inks hi.- favourite inter. rogatory ,style, in the following extraordinary manner:—" Was it to be believed, that a per. son in Newgate should not see his own Paper, when that . Paper was not only pnlilished ip London, but in Fleet-street, close by the Prison of Iceagite ? —Would not such an assertion astonish a foreigner ? But how much more surprized would he be to hear it produced as evidence in this Court ?—The circumstances of the Defendant were likewise to be considered. Ile is the Proprietor of this Paper, and has found to his experience that a News paper: Is. ii dangerous machine. Ile has al ready had several explosions ; but he has ern- Plnynd another—and he hes caused another ex plosion. find out Hosresrus, sa, • he, I am innocent. I only gave him my machine.—And is a public Libeller, now in Newgate, to use suet an ar gument?" All n this was said by Sir W. CAnaow, after he had declared, " that ha had not any desire, in calling on their Lordships. for. judgment, to out-: strip tie line of mercy." This was Sir VITII.LIAIes first and maiden effort in official warfare ; and if he thoeght such an address calculated to move the corn. passion of the Court, he must have entertained singular opinion of their Lordships' tasteand feelings; for it would be difficult for an inexorable enemy to penceies any harangue more likely to provoke re. r 11 it sentmeut, or call down on the head of. oecused , geed reason why they should be doubted, the De the heaviest vengeance of the law. ' Tlni ?Pan who 1 f!ndent's ignorance of the insertion of Mitt libel, expresses a wish favourable to mercy, and, at the ; and of course of the injury done to the Trans.is completely established. New t same time, employs the whole scope of his arguments L or ds, Trans port o"rd, • i . l my let us see what sort of ,atonement :aid ' rea coning to aggi teat. the imputed offence, 01 of to be makes for this injury, done solely by the Lave;o'clalm to any credit for the sincerity feeling which his own langeago clearly proves he i l negligence .of others, to the honourable charnc apprised of the insertion of the could not possess. Hut, perhap, in making his oil}. I ter of these Commissioners. The very first me_ cial debut, , he was hurried away by the force of a . enent he is - libel, new-born zeal, beyond the limits he had previously i he condemns the conduct of the Editor and prescribed to himstlf: Making every possible allow -1 Printer in the bitterest language of reproach, from a , : supposition, suggested .by the unexpected and alarm ' ance.for th is sort of defence, it was sorely not too i . .. ; ing discovery, that they had conspired together to much to expect, that whatever course Ids feelings ; complete his total ruin. He expresses himself in the , might take, and however imperious his duty, he , strongest terms et regret and contrition, for the titan ' ought, at least, in the selection. of topics, to have . I dalous end unfounded attack made on the character confined himself to truth. 'There are not wanting ! of the Board, the sincerity of which can scarcely be advocates enough to applaud zeal even is a bad cause; but where is the man who will openly and boldly ,uq estioned, when we advert to his painful recollec ; 1 tion of past sufferings, and to his consciousness that justify deliberate falsehood, employed to Injure the 4 , thin libel would, in all probability, lead to their pro onferttinate. It is not true, " that by living in 1 traded duration. He orders the refutation of the Newgate, I must necessarily have seen my Paper of ; libel to be instantly in'serted—he offers a reward for the 19th of March, before the 11th of April, be- 1 the discoiery of the writer—and he addresses a letter I cause published in Fleet-street." In addition to ! to . the Beard, stating his ignorance of the libellous I three a ffi davits, pointedly and distinctly-affirming i the contrary , I can Italy assert, that since - any inn -1 publk.a . t i ion, the distressing hardships of his case, and his rea diness to make ill the atonement in his power. prisonnient, my health has so materially declined— -1 My Lords, neat to doing a good action, is a speedy unceasing and corroding anxieties of mind, coupled I I and sincere reparation for a bad one : and here • with long and close confinement, have mule inch i inroads ou my constitution, that there are 'days (and troth and candour compel me to acknowledge, that those too of frequent recurrence) when I can neither I know of no step in the way of atonement, which it peruse my own Paper, nor any other. And what is was in this Defendant's power to take, and which' there in all this to astonish a foreigner, or even Sir the severest justice could demand at his hands, that he has not taken, and that too with promptitude.— I Wicta'Asr Gannow himself? It isnot many months, Indeed, I confess, had it even been referred to myself since that Learned Gentleman -Was, for a consider to dictate the terms of' submission, and to suggest the able time, confined to his house, by severe iodispo kind of atonement to be mania fo the Commissioners for • sition ; and, during his illness, it was reported,, and this libel—high as I hold their honour', and much as believed, he could neither read papers, nor study I respect their character, I tonic' not possibly have briefs. If he then, with all the advantages of sepe asked more than has been thus voluntarily Offered by rior accommodation-L-with. all the comforts (which the Defendant himself. In forming* . correct esti domestic attentions can procure, and with the local mate of human actions, the distinction betweeielegal 1 culable benefit of a pure air, was nevertheless re duced to such a condition, what is there wonderful and moral guilt, Must never be overlooked—the law, very properly, makes the principal responsible for the in my case, pent up as I have so long been in a tingle misconduct of his agents; but; As in the case of this room, cut off from the enjoyment of many friendly Defendant, where there is no criminal participation offices, and inhaling at every breath, if not a faint in, or even knowledge of, the o'e/see r there -is no ed, at least a gross and unhealthy, atmosphere. /t resisting his claims to compassion, and I sin sure the i is not true " that I lent HONZSTUS my machine;" Court, in passing judgment, will nottherefore 66 Out- I and in the face of my affidavits to give such a torn to I the subject, if not base, was shameful and .unmanly. strip mercy." My Lords, in the discharge of my nfficial duty, I have most attentively examined the The veracity of every man Sou -character is deputed , and the So- character of those libels, for which this Defendant , CITOR.GENERAL makes no scruple to substitute his hits already suffered two years' imprisonment in own silly and unprincipled conjectures for the facts Newgate. Neither of the two, I observe, were the! established by testimony, giren on oath. But that , te" The Learned Gentleman, is not the only person who has or i gina l • oublications of the Savres 'st • firs t indulged in a little conjecture on this unfortunate was literally copied from a Morning Paper, called I affair. There have also been conjectures on the other the Day; and the other had been previously inserted I side of the question ; and, however unfouuded, they in two Manchester Journals. Now, however reprise ' cannot possibly be more so, than these just lionoible his conduct in the re-publication of thesel libels has been deemed—yet, by their having bees noticed. It has been repeatedly insinuated to me, the productions of other men, he stands at least ex. as the opinion of certain parties, that if ever H o- empted from the imputation of malicious motive,. and NE3TI'S was discovered, he would be found on the ' list of Ministerial myrmidons, who knowing that this part of his case, should not, therefore, operate rthe - expiration of my imprisonment was fast Bp- to weaken that sympathy, which his present con. ! I dition is every way so powerfully calculated to proaching, and being well aware, not only of the state lof my health, but of the cares and anxieties which excite. In a word, my Lords, thotigh standing here as SOLICITOR-GENERAL for the Crown, I have no , occupied and distracted my mind, reckoned on ten hesitation in saying, that severity of punishment, in daring his employers a signal service, by accomplish ! cases where misfortune is more conspicuous than ing the publication of his letter. If' this could be crime, is not the best security for a willing seismic supposed probable, certainly the time chosen for the .on to law.—No, my Lords; law, to command uni t experiment was in the highest degree favourable ; m 1 for being then unable to pay any thing like constant versal respect and cheerful obedience, must here weigh justice in the balance of mercy, and appor. attention to my own affairs, the production of a . tune with scrupulous tenderness, punishment to ; pretended, bat fl aming patriot, would require for in ; sertion no other facilities than reputable composition, and a little negligence on the part of those I employ. What Sir WILL: tat may think of this speech, I ,ed to inspect the press. Time, the great interpreter know not, nor is it material to enquire. Of one lof doubtful events, who brings to light many -hidden thing, however, I am quite certain, and that is—if , secrets, may, on some future day, reveal the mystery. he place the slightest reliance on truth for promotion lln the mean time I will not imitate the conduct of to the Bench, this speech might make him a Judge— the SoraciToe-GENERAL—iii the absence of all proof i i his own never will. Having thus dismissed the So -1 I wilt not impute guilt even to my known enemies, 1 evcrroa-Geatenaz, I must claim the Reader's atten dnor will ' I take the mere conjectures of any man, t don to the sentence, and leave him to decide for however keen his discernment, as equivalent to' himself, whether it has, or has not, " .outstript truth.—lf Sir WILLIAM GARROW had been realty I nterty."-- . -- - To enable hint to form some opinion on desirous that the Court, in passing judgment upon i the probable influence of Ministerial partialities on me, should not 66 outstrip the line of mercy," he !sentences for Libel, I hare to notice the case of the might have effected men a purpose, In perkte eon4l:l7ltor - a the Doi. This gentleman is far from sibtency with the honest and faithful discharge of I being unfriendly CO Ministerial politics, and from his public duty. He might, with perfect truth and his Paper I copied theJLibelzespecting4ir FRANCIS confidence, have addressed their Lordships in ! Bonnet-es committal to the Tower. lie was gen. ! the following language. My Lords, on the attoci- 1 tenced toTwelveMonths' impris'onment lathe King's cious nature of the libel for which the Defendant is i Bench, and was permitted, during that ptiriod, to brought here to receive judinent, there cannot, 1 lite within the Rules .et the Prison.--1 was 1 among impartial men, he two opinions ; but, as the I sentenced to ONE TEAR'S imprisonment in NENTGATT, Defendant has himself characterised it in aliening 4 and, at the expiration of that time, to find security terms of reprobation as language can command, I for my good behaviour, in the sum or 10001. for shall not press that point further on your Lordship? ; THREE TEARS. One of the Peitors•of the Manches attention. Undoubtedly, proprietors of News-1 ter Journals, who had first published the libel on the pupers must be taught by example the danger of not ex- : Tax Commissioners, o hid; was, afters ards inserted ercisiug a scrupulous and unceasing attention to every I in the STATES/11V, was a thorough-paced disciple of article intended' for insertion, which can be construed the Morning Post, and was n e ver called upon at all, injurious to the honour and reputation of either pub- nor in any manner pnnishea —I wan ageiii sentenced ;lie or private individuals. Without, however, wish. to ONE YEAR'S tweetstr:mesyr in NewoAvz, to COM. ,mg to weaken the necessary and salutary restraints menu after the first year had expired, and to find H;of law, I feel it due to truth, to any own character, 1 security fOr my good behaviour in the sum of 10001. land to the justice !of the Court, to submit to• your: for mice TEARS. Rut there is a case on record, .......--- Lordships' consideration the favourable circumstances that, above all others, deserve; particular attention.o reinter,' which distiognish this Defendant's case, We have During the short administration of Mr. Fox (that ex- teucy at Cadiz, with a met 700 . r 11 , le ... ea of Video, is stated to ha beep had three a ffi davits to prove that he knew nothing of eellent man, whose rare enclownments and transcend- the garrison Monte her voyage 4 wrecked about the end of August, on The St. Salvador, which wass t ei cw it out by the .. ) ... . the insertion of the libel till the 11th of April ; and ant Waists supplied the title to this Paper) there what seems strongly to countenance the truth of was only one Ex-officio Information filed, andatb _ T he lima* brigade is expected rat Dottrel t° li 'l. no these a ffi davits is, the one from his-physician, Touch- that 4as against the most- vile and anprincipt, ' em b ar k i m mediately. Six troops of the the r i ver , . w ith the loss of upeards of SOO me:" ing f or his i l l state of health. So far, then, if these • Journal, that was either then, or is at this time, in that neighbourhood, hue received the ir " de ' s ' affidailts are to be crectited. and I palm 4 see no robil . An expedition win, 4to gg oil : and4arlng 4 .A. 01 to etabaik as gees es possible. ate.., I w l icked. y " : l f f o o r u i r t i s da d t e i p o a n rt i n u r t e r , u t t h h, the withoutpreparations tiiclast c. ornln t p r,,, maliciously asserted, tl at the ships in wl I t itc tae s o diers were to be conveyed to their dent ' • [natio n w e not sea -worthy, and that, therefore, the lives of t ! men would be exposed to the most imminent dange Here was, indeed, an incitement to mutiny wi th vengeance! Such a libel as this had neve r h e r o , come from the English press ; and Sir Azte.ter t p„ nor; the then Attorney-General, with all Ilia w e t known regard for the constitufioral rights o f people, felt himself compelled, by a stron g „ of duty, to file an information er-njirie ag.• the Publisher of the Morning Post. And whet,, , done in this extraordinary case of deliberate, and diabolical libel ? Why, the Ministry were cop. after dissolved, and Sir Vtc.tey GIRES havin g su , seeded Sir ARTHUR P IGGOTT as Attorney.Conera from motives of humanity to a pliant and ir os i one tool of the new Administration, so far from pu n i s h ing him at all, entered a roliprasequi upon his pi decessor's information. Lot this case be contrastet with mine, and then let it be recollected, that I ar a sentenced to pay a FINE to the KING of 5001 —t o be IMPRISONED in NEWGATE for ONE YEAR IND A UAL?, ancrthen to enter into recognizances to ke ep the PEACE for THREE YEAIIS, MYSELF in 10001 1 and Two SURETIES in 5001. each. Here I close_ it can be no Libel to say, that from the judgment of the Court there is still an appeal to the lodgment of the Public, and to the latter tribunal I re. spectfully- leave the neat decision of the whole . case. •LI the mean time I shall bow to my fate, consoled and cheered - with the reflection, that misfortune without crime, cannot make me wretch ed. In the future management of the STATE!. MAN, I can venture to premise, no compromise will be made with power—co principle will be sacrificed —nor any abatement of zeal in the public cause ever disgrace our columns. May the just and constitu. tional Freedom of the Press be restored and reenta. blished, and may the LI 'berfics of Englishmen be It mortal. RUSSIA r RECIS OF TIME OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY VNlalt DIARSIIAL PRINCE KUTIJSOW, FROM TILE QTR 10 THE 13T111 NOT. " Nov. 9.—The Aide.de.Camp, 'Count Odd Denizoff, bus successfully pursued several French fo• raging detachments, and taken 19.6 prisoners and V waggons. The loss of the enemy in killed amount. to '2OO men. " Colonel Adrlanoff has attacked a detachment of enemy near Ddbutotchina,put them to flight,aud takes a standard and 175 men ; also fire tumbrils of ammunition. " The enemy halted some time at the Convillt of aldiu, but on perceiving the approach of our ca. entry, they tied with precipitation, atter eipledieg 38 tumbrils of ammunition, bdrning some timbers, and throwing one cannon into the ditch of the Coo. rent. C 6 o u u i n e t hi O o r w lo o lf , o k b il t l a in in g ed wo cons o id f era the ble en a e dva sy n , tag e r n s a nea " r g p u ri a s r o d n s e . rs, lie of in w a n d o d m iti t o h l e i, g ea re p te r r ed pa v rt maki ng were F r e l n 4o c h provision waggons, which the enemy had collected 04 the road. • " Now. 10.--COont Orloff Denizoff reports, that several of hit detachments having overtaken the enemy near the Ferry of Solovino, attacked with impetuosity, and captured eight ammunition waft ens, loaded with cartridges, a forge, &c. and msda 155 prisoners. The same day other parties wider his commaud sent in 102 prisoners. " General Count Orloff Denizoff having been in; formed that the enemy, to the amount of 9000 m en i I were marching in three divisions on the road front Jellnia to Smolensk, the General haring formed I junction with three corps of partizans, resolved at attack one of the said divisions posted in tile village of Lewkowo. The enemy perceiving his intention, promptly occupied'a height on its environs. Havinif been dislodged from thence by our artillery, thef fell back upon the village, and were instantly sera ' rounded by our cavalry, and compelled to lay fhtga their arms after a feeble resistance. " This is the first instance during the present wa of a whole corps laying down its arms, it consisted of 2000 men and 60 Officers, under the orders Of Gen. Augereeu. 44 Some detachments of gayslq were seat by Of enemy to . soppart General Augereau, but Genert4 ° Count Orloff overthrew them, and pursued tbest with great slaughter. / 4 4 General Malaradoviteit reports, under date or the Btb November, that the enemy lost In his retrel ' from Dnrogobuz to the river Ougeat, three cannO and 40 men ; and of the 9th, that General Joes kossky, who pursued the enemy with his light es. i 'fairy as far as the Ferry of Tolowieuro, made 910 prisoners, took 18 cannon and 60 ammunition war guns. 44 Since the battle of Borodino, of the 7th Sept lour Grand Army has taken from the ei amy 400 I pieces of cannon ; Gen. Tormazof, 8 ; and Coant . Wittgenstein, 29 ; making a total of 246 pieces 01 cannon. " Besides which, there is no doubt that se/0i guns have been thrown into the rivers, or buried. et bogged in the woods ; this is corroborated by the prisoners and the peasantry. 4 4 The head-quarters of the Russian army were! the 13th November at the village of Balloatino, 40 versts from Smoiensko." ' T