The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1805-11-25 00:00:00

!ii 1 'thing that could fall from the Court would tend to es'eerturn the precedent of the seven Bishops ; hut thil rase, his Lordship conceived, was very different froM that. Before the examination of Lord sunder• land, there was no evidence against them ; bur a confession of signing, extorted frosts them, in the presence of their Sovereign. In this ease, as he col- Jetted from the statement of the Arroes t N.-GEN E. RAs.. there was a strong presumption from the wording of the libels themselves, that they were transmitted to Mr. Cobbet for publication. On the whole, his Lordship was of opinion, that there was evidence suftelent to ro to the Jury. The other Judges united in opinion, that it was for the Jury to consider, whether the previiius cern muntcations with Mr. Cobbetr, to know whether it would brag reeable whim to teceive commtaticet ions, an. the subsequent delivers?, was not sufficient cri• dente to convit the Defendant. I'he libels were thee read by the Officers. In different parts of them, as observed by the Attar ney.Gertera), they referred to other publications, and Lie latter libel recognised those of an earlier date, by apologising for an unintentional offence offered, in one of them, to the author of a certain paper, signed I.',lnt3r etas. Tat: libels being read, Mr. GA R ROW begged per mission of the Court to ask Mr. Cobbet a few questions. Leave being granted, Mr. Cobhct was again tolled, and said, in the lever he first received from yeeeree, there was an inquiry made, whether it would be agreeable to him to receive some useful communicate,ns from Ireland ? desiring him, it it were agreeable, to say so in the next number of the Re ! , , vier ; hut, in order that the people in the Post Office in Dublin might not intercept his letters. he was req'sestrd to give the hint, as if the correspoed eat lived at York, and to tell what house they should be alre.led tn. He then proved the number of the Begirt-r in which this hint was inserted. and the pa re graph was toad by the officer. It stated, that the communications of their York Cerrespandent, would be received at Mr. Budd's, bookseller. in Pall Mall. In conseqiience of this, the different letters were sent. On cross-examination, he said, the first letter he received was, he believed. lest ; at least, he did not keow that it was in existence. Lt was sent to the Printer's, and oart of it was published in the Revere ; the part that was not published was only struck out with the pen, to shesv the Printers that they were not to curtipcee it. He had not been at the Printer's to search or it, but he b. heves, if it was not dese-ot ed, it would have bees sent back to him. The Pr eiters generally threw We waste-paper into a large hoe, which, obeli full, is destroyed, or disposed of in any menner they please. Mr. Pewee submitted, that the printers shenld be called, ard examined with respcst to their hav ing searched for the letters. - Lord Lie RN RORC{:011 said, that as it was general for the prnacre to tend bac!: the manu.cnpts which were not thistleyed, and as Mr. Cobbet had found the second and third, the natural inference was, that the others Pere not in existence. Mr. A D•M hoped the rloiirt would keep this point in recolledion, if. hereafter, it should be the su.ljed of investigation. Mr. Justice Le 1.11. A rtC desired to know the form en which th: y wished to put the question. Mr. Ar A .1. "T. e short objoftion is, my Lord, slat these is no evidence of the search for the letters at the printer's." To a question put by the Court, Mr. Cohliet an swered, the: it WA. usual for some printers, on certain works, to file the manuscript after it was composed. but with him it never was. - 'The appointment of Lord Redesdale to be one of the Privy Council, was thin read, from Tne is 1 sd G and the Arrionsev-Getite A L informed the Court, that the evidence on the past of the Crown was here closed. Mr. ADAM m ale a most able and eloquent de fence. nearly as follows : " My Lords and Gentlemen of the Jury, as Cettn sel for the Defendant in this case, I have been called upon. in the course of my duty, to snake those ob. ji-dions which have ( - lectured to me. In addressing a tribunal like you, I am confident nethnig that has passed can have raised a plei.l .ice in your minds against this stranger ; as to neticnal prejudices. they are entirely out of the question. Whether this or that person has been libelled or not, or whether this be a libel or not, or even whether it was published er not, does not form any pert of my case. I have to address you upon one of the mist interest ing cases that ever came before a Court and Jury ; and I should ill discharge my duty, ii I did not en deavour to make some imps ession on your minds. Mr. Justice Johnson is now nearly GO yeare and has passed a long life with an unblemished cha ra.ler, in :he honourable exercise of those important duties demanded of him from the high satiation of pulsate trust and core: knee he has held, and which he hes discliarged with integrity, fidelity, and attachment ro lis King and Country. He has held a must responsible situ 'non, of great difficulty.-- He was not called upon to assist occasionally, but was the constant and permanent assistant and adviser in the most important branches of the reveaue, during all which time he held a seat in parliament, until the time of the Union between the two king doms. I'he first Ad, after this measure, of the per sons who had the advising of His Majesty, was to represent who were the most eligible to fill the seat of josti.e is that country., and almost before the seal re . Union was cool, the great seal of the kingdom was put to their appointments, and among the foremost, was Mr. Justice Johnson. This is the charader of the person .1 have to defend before you this day ; and when I contemplate the man, worn down into a state of decrepitude, whose whole time and attention have been devoted to the support of the Government and Cesinitution of the country, and the laws, in the administration of which he has Fad so large a portion ; aSent indeed would it be, to have it recorded of him, that he had been guilty of so heinous an offence, us sending into the world an anonymous and ma licious libel, to destroy the f,me and charader of the representative of the King; to vilify the lint jaw officer nil the Crown in that country; to letHeig. , Qpinrthe honeur, cherader, and integrity, of • ; to defame one of the mess • a"e lids of the Government ; and, by the of the publicalon, to excite a spi. mong the people, and dissatisf sc. - Majesty's Government, and the `~~~•~ .. • 4 .. .. . 42 eminent end exalted persons entrusted by him with by the gentlemzn who was the amliew or the libel ; the higher funaions of the State. From traesterring . e could rot be mistaken or imposed uprn, as the his tribunal from Dublin to Middlesex, I fad 1 e most Judge, was never out of his sight during the whole sincerely for him. Ido not mean now to enter into i time This, ate said, was done for the purposes t f . 1 any discussion urn n this point. By a late Aof this cause. Parliament. he rs to be tried before a Jery in the Dr.diodgkinson, examined by Mr. ',nese A yr: county of Middlesex. If he could have tranverri4. said, le was ii senior Felines of the Univerat7 of you to Dublin, he would he much better sriisfied ; ' DAM, and a Bari ister ; he had known .1 tidgeJohn not that justice can be dispensed any better son, intimately, for npwards of twenty years; lie than by an English Jury, assisted by an Eng- wai. his bother-in-law ; corresponded with him the lisp Court of Judicature, but lie would have had whAle time-without any interruption. Having mi the opportunity of bringing forward his friends I nutely examined the manuscripts presented, he de from everyquarter, who could have spoken tohis cha- oelared, they were totally i:iirrent from the Judge's ratter ; but, from the enormous expellee of the Law, i hand-writing, and he had no hesitation in saying, he he was only able to bring over a few for this par- 1 disc not believe it to he his. pose. After 'Le act of P ar li ament hrd received the Upon his cross-examieation by the Sot ICITOII. - - • (loyal assent, in June, 1804, a bill of indictment was preferred agains him, and he did agitate the ques tion befere Ole Judges in Ireland, as to the tight of bi ;Tieing him here ; when three Judges, in one Court, out of tour,were of opinion, he could not be sent here to be tried It he bad not tried that question, they would not be able to compel him to take his trial here; and it was of importance to him, to ascertain whether he would have the assistance of all those pnsons. There is no question for yen now, whether the matter contained in this publication is libellous or not. You are vested with the power of pronouncing guilty, hut anothertribunal is vested with the poor' of punishment. It has been truly said by the At torney-General, that it could tio! be c( ntended, that this publication was not a libel of the most scandalous description. The resul: of the question for your enquiry will arise from prohabili:ies ; and when you will hay* heard the contrariety of evidence you will have to determine whether Mr. Justice Johnson could have written such letters. You are trying this gentlemen, and not the writer of the publication, acrd we must support our case by negative proof ; how is this to be made our, but by proving every nessative inconsistent with an affirmative ? And if he be to go farther, he ' most account for every hour of his life, from the transmission of the libel to England, till the present hour. In cases of mere belief like this, the witnesses may speak with the spirit of an angel, and yet speak false ; they may he deceived in the hand-writing ; sail, although the Col may be sworn to, the matter may be total's false ; there may be a possibility of a nits eke; and there is no mode of encountering this evidence, but br those witnesses who will vete a contrary hrlief. He then observed, upon the general evide .cc on !he part of the pro secution, and remarked, that none of the wit. nesset had seen the Judge write for tht'se last five years; he was grow ng old, and had a bodily infirmity, which might have altered 11;s hand, and it was rather singuLir that !hey had calied no pelvs, who, from his situation in life, or muse-Rion with the Learned Judee, could have a recent intimate knowledge of his hand-writing. No clerk from the Post-Office was brought to state the method of his franking letters, Sec. . The Learned Counsel ens cluded, that 'he question of the 114enJant's crime. nality consequently depended upon the c mpara tive reliance to be pieced on the testimony of the Witnesses. As the Crown had prods:: ed only four Witnesses, who, speaking from their know- I.dge of the Defendant's hand-writing, S. or six years age, conceived that the manuscript was written by him ; he should, in opposition to their testimony, produce morethan ass equal number of witnesses, who had been the intimate Live& of the Defendant during the whole course of his life, to the present moment, and who were as intimately acquainted with his hand-writing, asv.ith the features of his face. These would prove that the libel, in stead of being the produAion of the Defendant's pen, had not the least tesemblance to his manner of writing. The proof then would be equally balanced ; and, as the first principles of justice were not to pre sume guilt, when innocence was equally probable, en he trusted the Jury would take into their consi deration the chereeter and long habits of life of the Defendant, and the utter impossibility of his being capable of publishing so defamatory a libel, and in cline to that decision which would restore the De fendant to that rank in society which he fermerly enjoyed. The first Witness called on the part of the de fence, was Sir Henry Jebb, an eminent and respeA. able physician erti surgeon of the city of Dublin, who holds a high rank in the Conege of Surgeons. He was examined be Mr. PARK e. and said, he had known Justice Johnson for near thirty years; and, during the whole of that time, was in the strufest habits of intimacy with him. He was a ruin of very bad health, and the Witness always attended him ; he had had a paralytic stroke about two years ago, which left him in so weak a state as made him apprehensive he had got a pressure on the brain. They had kept up a constate correspondence during the whole time, and lie could not, by any possibility, be mistaken, he was so familiarly acquainted with the Judge's herel-writing. The first paper pro duced to him, ke thought bore some little s•mili7ude to it, bet Mr. Justice Johnsen wrote a lager and freer hand. The second paper was still more dis similar, and his belief decidedly was, that neither was the hand-writing of the Judge Upon his cross-examination by the A TT OR N /Y. :ENetAL, he said, there was a general similitude between all hand-writings: some persras might think there was some likeness between the manu script and Judge Johnson's hand-writing. There was no material difference in his writing now, and before his illness. He had seen essays written by the Judge, and briefs closely noted by him, but no writing prepared fur the press. lie had seen writ ing vet y like Judge Johnson's, and had an oppor tunity of knowing it was not Isis hand-writing ; but it was so like, he could not distinguish the one horn the other. This writio was produced to him at his own howe, in Stephe n s-green, 11,ibliri, by a Ceielemaa who brought it from the person, who, he understood, was the equal author of the libel, and would hive come for el to avow it, hut his father held a situatitaii un •r Government, and such a disclo ore would be the :Me of his family Mr. Thomas Johnson, the )udg-'s brother, a Mr. Irvine, the Judge, and himself, were present, when they signed their initials in the cornet of some blank paper, which V.. 3 carrieu away he a gentleman of the same of (Aord.• of Chetharntereet, iu Dahl n ; and wes again twoirehe kick 'it' a few hours, smitten all over, la a bate/ so like Judge Jehnson's, that, wheo et ropared, these multi not be distinguished bon sacs tome. kid: tiri.tattoott it m be Ned= GE , :lit A L, he said, there might be some Rise "blaster between the hand-writing; he never had particular. ly noticed the manner the Judge spelled the words 'could and would. He som.aimes spelled them with cut the I, sometimes with, and sometimes without an apostrophe ; he saw a letter, and annotations on two briefs, like the handwriting of Judge Johnson ; the former he saw with Mr. Toni Johnson, and the 'latter with Sir H. Jebh, and since his coming to Lon• don, he saw them at the lodgings of Judge Jvhn son ; t'ley were so like he Judge's hand-writing, it r was almost impossible to discover a difference. He L bad come to London upon his owls domestic con cerns, and did not know he was to be called as a witness, until he was subpeened, in Westminster( lall, on Monday last. Sir Henry Je'sh was again called, and stated, that briefs were also marked, and sent along with the blank p iper, and were returned with those annota tions upon them. Mr. Mervyn Archilall was next examined by Mr. Riettanoson. He he had been in habits of stria intimacy with Judge Johnson for about four teen or fifteen years, while he was assistant to Mr. Waller, Solicitor to the Revenue, and had frequent and constant opportunities of seeing him write Opinions, Letters, Aas o' Parliament, &c. After examining the manuscripts, he declared they were by :n means like Judge Johnson's writing, and he could positively say they were not his. On his cross-exasninattin by Mr. Ea setter, he said, it was about ten years since he left the Reve nue ; he resigned his enap:isyment, and ever since did business for a Mr. Barlow, an eminem. Attor ney, in North Great George's -street, ttiola.:ci sqoare. lie thought there was a similitude between all h.tnds, as there was between faces. fie had seen some writing very like Judge Johnson's. A Mr. Giffard, whom he did not know, called one day to his house, in Cuffe-street, and brought him to Smock-alley, to see a gentleman write ; he frank e I some letters, in - his presence, in the name of .ludg. Johnson, so like, that he scarcely could dis crumi tate betwec I them. Mr. Giffard Was .1 total stranger to him at the time ; he did not hesitate to go with hill, as he was afraid of no man. \fr. John Giffard was next examined by Mr. ADAM. He said, he was generally a resident of üblin ; had known Judge Johnson most intimately for thirty years, and was perfeAly acquainted with his hand-writing. On a minute examination of the m sisuseripts, he said, he did not believe they were written by him ; there might be a little similitude in the first one that was ,hewn to him, bat not the least in the last. ('he Judge wrote what he termed a more large and dishing hand. Upon his cross-examination by Mr. Gaseous. he said, he was not of any profession at present ; he lately held a situation in the revenue, and the cause of losing it was, that Lord Hardwicke had turned him out, because he was a Protestant, aced had pre sented a petition to the Imperial Parliament, praying His Majesty to support the cnnstituti in of the coun try. He asserted this, he obsessed, upon his oath ; and Lord llardwucke avowed his reasons in his presence. He then said, he thought . there WAS a similitude in all English-writing,as there was between the human rountenance. Q. Mr. G•satuw--.. And between Irish writing, I suppose?" A. --•• I thought we were an United Kingdom, netw, Sir." Q. Mr G AItROW--." And you think there is the same similitude between faces as between writing ; pray Jo you think there is any likeness between Tenn face and mine ?" A. (perf.asafile dewing) id Yon do me a vast deal of honaur, Sir." This answer excited much laughter. He then stated, that he knew Alderman Fleming, of Dublin. intimately well; but the gentleman in Smock-alley, who, he understood, was a relation of the Alderman's, and had taken his name, he knew very little about. They had only a passing iic quaintance, never having met him but once or twice at dinner. Mr. D tvid Cassidy, an apothecary, residing in Lon.lon, was last examined He had known Judge Johnson intimately fur several years, and was in the constant habit of corresponding with him. He did not think the manuscript produced was like his hand-writing. Here the evidence on the part of the Defendant was clo , ed. The Ar roareLy-Geacitat. made a most able and impressive reply. He considered that, however heavy the original charge against the Defendant was, it was rendered ten times more disgraceful. by the defence set up; and'he did not wonder that the Learned Judge shrunk back in the hour he was to bear up against it. by auch testimony. The charge was nothing ia comparison with the defence, nor could even a child be imposed upon by the story made nut ; it was a plan of perjnry, to impose upon a British Court of Justice, and a British Jury ; an!, he asked, could' this Gentleman be innocent, who had been playing off such tricks upon a Cum of Justice? After observing, at great length, span th e whole of the evidence, ire concluded, by saying, it WAS impossible the Jury could have any doubt spun the subject. Lord ELLSNIIOROCOII then addressed the Jury. lie said, the only questions for their consideration were, first, Whet) r this paper, averred to he a libel, was written and published by Mr. Justice Johnson? and then, if it were, whether it were a libel? With 'repo& to the latter q.iestion, he would first offer some observations, as it involved little or no doubt. It certainly was a libel, as it tended to de fame the Lora, Lieutenant cf Ireland, by describing him as a man of a weak capacity, and incapable or rigbtly administering that Government which has been entrnsted to I.is care. It also defamed the Lord Vharacellor of Ireland, describing him as ptac- - • tising scandalons pecul a tion, f or t h e purpose of es itching some o f his depend ants . M r. Justice o borne was vilifi.:d by an insi nuat i on that he hat been subservient to t h e ( :overmenr, in tl • dischar e of his ditty ; and Mr. Marsden was siso cletimel!. Front all these considerationt, his Lneds:dp ceived, there could be no question in the mind t kny person, with respma to its heittg a lihel ; indeeif there had been nu defence s up on that head. The whale question then was, whether it were written by Mr. Justice Johnson, and whether i wore pith li-hed in Middlesex ? As to the real publication, there WAS not the smallest doubt; but it was to be considered, whether the Defeniant procured the plia Itcation in diddle-er, by sending to Mr. Co In commenting upon the evidence, his Lord said, the Defendant's witnesses seemed to be at ere s . purposes : same of them x.id, the writing of the i,l, I Wilt not in the least like Mr. Justice Jolr s r t,. others said, it was so like, that be tween t h em it vet; very difficult to form an of inion. As to the spec;. meat of the hand-writing of Mr. Justice Johnson, went no farther than to prove that another petrol could write extremely like rim; but not in the led % lik :he libels. His Lordship then represented the great improbability, that fslr. Justice Johnson, know ing the real author of the libel, sloult!, fern compassion to his father, who is supposed to be in danger of losinr: his niece under Gove rstrn ,,,, choose rather himielt to tun the risk of is CluSgrisS . fist purishment, than d liver that person, wit terrr he might be. to the just vengeance of the law. la observing. on the different circumstances which Oa raaerised the Witnesses for the Defenhant, Lordship remarked, thst one of them, Mr. Gated, had stated, that he formerly held a place the ex cise, but was mated out by Earl Hardwicke, 1 r b e i ng a Protestant, a• d for presenting a petition to the Imperial Parliament, praying that the King and Constitution might be supported_ Mr. Gifford also swore, that E ar l Hardwief te had, with his t •vn mouth, informed him, that trait wits the reason he had deprived him of his place. in regard to this, Lord Et.tereottoene 101 l it remained with the Jury 'o cons de , w ethic • vip probable, that that distinguidistinguishedpersonage wcitit t t be gailty of so base an aft ? and, it he were, whethes he would acknowledge it? Ihe Jury retired for about Ave minutes, and re turned a verdift of Gisi.'tv. 'l'he oial commenced at ten o'clock in the morn- ing, and did not conclude until eight in the even ing. The Court and avenues to it, during the whole of the day, were crowded to excess. As the witnesses were respeOively admiited, it wes web the greatest difficulty the done-keepers could pre- vent the crowd from rushing in, reeardless of order, and the threats of immediate co.uniitment. Codd,,el for the C•owil—.The Attorney-Gon...•ra , , the Sa lieitor-Gederal, Atr. Er-k•oe, Mr. tiproo, an d Agent, Mr White. Cou,t‘el (or Mr. ju.tte • joh,..nn.— Ar. \ ,I,m, Mr . P.,rke, Mr. Leicirhatt, gni Mr. R..:ltaruhii Agent, Mr. Fled:Ate. 11411.11, 1 VTrI,LIGENCS. PoRTAVOUSH, NOW. ft Arrived I.e sloop (4 war,from the Dt . ns. Sailed tics Majesty's ships Camila and P.'eea, for Plymouth.—Wind N.W. MAT.. .V. ff. Remain in the Downs, the ships as p er l ast . TIT (buff/ cutter is appointed c,llvny to the homeward 03.;tend vessels to the Northward.—. Wind N.W. MEETINGS OF CRKMTORS AT GUILDHALL. TOM DIROM. Id S. Franci , Lowd, I.ttr• of Skianer.street, SJUlcre-town, St. l'ar:r.g, Mild care, Ullnw.chatidler . 9:0 David Evan., Solt`nanyton.court, &oil artalitota.rms, 94 ddl•oo2,lli,en-dmiwt . . $ 1.0 Richard nill.. AldernuoSurc, Loulnn, warehottae.i.ah 3 10 Thonui Jenkins an I Tho•na% Fteld.l.,-k Malan. ft %h. auc , l, Southwark, Surroy.and of 0.. h dagger, &latex, ' . liaeit.drayers . . • 91 p DIVIDE Kra. . Auplirs Read, Aldermant.n.r., Lund.so, wsrehouernart I Alexander u;o4 , les, laic of Capel-ewu t, itarthoiornee lane, but now of Wu- k Lune, Loudon, nirechaiit I.•he Tyler, Woreener. draper . . . Edward I).ekengon, Berners-street, Oxford-rnad, Mi,l dlosex, du uggi.t 10 . . John Coleman, late of Fetter-lane, London, painter and gluier . 10 • • . . CERTIFICATES. George IfamnunA, of the euty of Caurerbure, terasialsterer. Pl' vu..naker, d.4ler and aluapinao. lionjanuin Nunn, formerly or liounideditch, b u t si n ,,, of Lou on-wall, London, pawn-broker, insurer, dealer and ch.tpo‘an William Wind 'II, of Toelev.atreret, in the Is”rniugh of Fo u nt, wark, in the county of Sauey, sti.p.en.unithel, dealer mid chapm.sio . _____ PRIM , (71 , STOCKS, S.tTUItD %I. flank .Stock 191' 3 per Cent. Reduce) 5911 5 ovr t`..nt. Consols , tia 4 per Cent .. 5 per Cent Navy 3 per Vent Loyalty 99 Lone Annuittos 17 1 16 17 Shot Atmu Ow . . .—. 1 13-16 luiportal 3 per Celle. Ant.uiti6... In.ls It per Cent. .... l l l3 ' , Au B .11.1 , Exehelner RM. , Par. la. prem. Ypa!,.l.l.•,tterb Tickei. 1111 134. 1.:...a....1. rem T 111%11, 161...rit.brolter. No 4, C. o ,nhill, and 9. Owing-crow I 11l PRICE OF IRISH STOCks...yien. 19. Gov. nebe.totet, net Cent. 931 (kind Canal Loan, 6 per C.•nt.. '49 Royal Canal Iron, 6 per Cant . HIGH WATER THIS IMY AT LONDON BRIJ .1. Nom .• 44 mon Aar 4. 1 .n.... 44 , aftn, ♦ SALE BY AUCTION. PRINTS, DR AVVIN(.'S, AND NOOKS. )1 , 0 RDSON, At Art ll.nne , N 3t, in the Shand, • WSI)NFSDAT NEXT, 104 Earning , at Si 01;loeb. LION of PRINIS and DltAW hy amt 114 .I.•n krto•tg. Dra , viabg• li n (;t.y..n ; Enghsh Ann Fweign Port; a P. ,11 . 4 i"• with n....r Nllll Prints b. Callot, Deli. 6..11 4 , ;Gilman, Timer., se. 2e. Several carious ali4 urtonmatust BOWLS with to rtt, &C &C. Ti he *.ewer) on Toriday and al a sad. ogat.igua may bt had of Mr Ricbaulaot., No 31, Str./tJ. LONDON :—Printrd ONVIDSO%. No. 17. Co at, Bow Str..rt, Cnwrnt 61,den. ani Puliikolo,d trbd thrice. 5. Sack ot St. ileum-nes Chump. S rand. in W. S rucK, of. Nn 7, Neg. Bel. .n Sue"; Wig A. rd• Order., , te• lot Paler, $I to the tiGce famol-101. 4 . wtY be duly Mended to. `' i 'i I , ; 1 1 , J ] JY (J~ 1 i : i I r C~