The Sun. — London, England, 1819-10-15 00:00:00

, •ii menrioneci, Tb ; -. raper ( . le‘crirlit'il iolasplic- , At e'lle'tt' esf4P,'"liii its • ' - • •.:s • . hg r• ,' rf pru , o shewaliat it meent I ,„Erb ero a !gush alooted,lan'it 'had - been used by men in re ittiurs 'to describe the conduct pursued •ty the parties•cogaged tin either side in a religions 'rontroversy.• In-mathematics, it remarkeii, there eie tin disputes lilte those which arose in veli e eious clatters, because in mathematics no man NVIIS so absertd as to attempt to compel another to approve erf . a propositition which he could nor itederstand. The ‘vriter could not ennreive how any man -- rould he guilty of blasphemy, ns, if he •apoke of a'Reieg who could commit e vil, i f was not of God that he spoke, but .of the Devil ; and in the same way it was contended that God could riot lie •blasphemed, by the names that ignorance or folly -might bestow ne an idol. It therefore interred that to commit blasphemy teas impossib!e. [During the reading of this esaay, some fresh papers,'and additional books to he referred to in -the -course of the defence, were - bronght into - court, and placed on the table ; whence it was - iereired, that while the defendant was labouring ithin the Court, somelciend was employed wit!i out in reputing matter for the proloegation of the defein. , e.] This svork, continued Mr. Cathie, teas edited by a gentleman of high respectability and inte wiry in the Christian school ; • a gentleman at the head of a respectable body of Dissenters ; he meant 'the ties'. Robert Aspland. It- was •pub lished in IS) 7. The same author, is ith equal strong, h, ‘iadicated the most extensive tight of -curious liberty. Another Christian !klioister, the Rev. Christopher Wyvill, had written a If's ourse, entitled " Intolerance a disgrace to Chris tiana," (which was published in IPS), hi which, with the most animated nod glowing language, be tittered sentiments io the sante spirit of Christian liberality, acd with so much force that there were ears of those in Court which would tingle at his tvordS—he was a noble man, sego still lived one of the worthies of the age. [The defendant then read several extracts front the discourse to which he referred.]--This author generally contended for the propriety of unshackled freedom of discussion iu religious matters, anri urged that the Christian doctrines would thereby he accepted throughout the •uni verse, rather t h an remain a subject of doubt and dispute. Towering above all other authors, rose in the solemn dignity of truth, the good, the wise, and the virtuous Archbishop Tillotson, who sv a the friend of all that was exalted, and the admira tion and the glory of English Prelaer. That 'great man had not escaped the shafts of malice end the charge of Athitsm ; but he had invariably advocated the tight of inquiry, - and the folly of persecotion. Io support of this ploposition, the afetendant read a short extract from this learned roan's works, and added, that he 'could, had he had time, have covered the table with authorities on the same subject. He then proceeded to argue against the impolicy and gross injustice of such a prosecution as the present—a prosecution which, he said, was at vatiance with eVety - ,principle of justice and good sense, as well as repugnant to every principle of Christianity. There was one other authority which he would read, on this point---he meant a letter written by Dr. Furness to Mr. Justice Blackstone, respecting a pas sage on the Act of-Toleratiou,••in that celebrated Commentator's work on the Lte.tvs of England.--- This letter was pregnant with able and conclusive argument, and contained many just animadver sions on the passage in question.—[While read lilt.; this letter, more books and papers sere brought then contended that the At torney-General had endeavoured to excite preju dice against - him, by saying that he was nut to address the Jury by arguments drawn from rea son. Ile did not publish the woiks of Paine with a malicious intention. Ills trial was-a mockery, and he expressed a hope that the•Jiiry, by their vet diet of acquittal, world open the tloor to free ' dam of discussion upon matters , of faith. With out it the liberty of the press world be a farce.— The Attorney-General, who had scarcely a will Of his own, ought not to judge how far the li berty of the press ought to , sgo.- - 1-1e had been charged with publishing a book filled with bias . phemy : he should not' have•published it , had lie not believed it was a tnoral good book. He ex= pressed some doubt on ilia 'ability to make an inoer pres , ion in hislavourupon the•iuty, " One of you," said he, '' has 'declared that you should like to give that rascal, Cartile, five years' impri • lonment on bread and water." One of the Jury exclaimed, " Name, name ? Who is it ?" The Judge—lt is not true, Gentlemen. It can not be true. Mr. Car hope it is not true. Gentlemen, the allusion I have made is perhaps imprudent, but it gave me pain. 1 heard of it this morning wince I have been in Court, and I can only say; *honkd it be necessary, I will avail myself of - it in moving for a new trial. He then complained of persecution : three informations had been filed against him for libels -(l-!one's rndies); he was eighteen weeks imprisoned in the King's Bench, Ild then liberated, the record being withdrawn. Ile had no redress ; but he was told that the hing was his prosecutor, and there was no ap tit:al, Ile had been charged with publishing the 1111 twopenny pamphlet for which Mr. Hone I,siai tried and acquitted. Another information bad been filed for a deistical publication, and one for a political libel. The motives of the prosecu tors were vindictive. It had been said, that the (, - ;billtian Religion was established by law; if so, Bust could the doctrine of the Trinity be impugned ? Take away the Trinity, and the Christian Itch gion•was no more. The Dcfei.dant entered into the history of the Act of the stll of the King in favour of Unitarians, and read the correspondence on the subject between Air. Wm. Smith and Mr. J. Bentham. His object in reading those letters was to explain the intention of the parties who were concerned in bringing it forward. He found ;ire first bill on the subject introduced tvith the action of the Archbishop of Canterbury. it opposed by the Lord Chancellor and an her Noble Lord, end was thrown out in the bolds, A second bill was allowed to pass botb l/ou“:s. The Act under the intention of those ....hi ) brought it in, was a Statute to take away e pains awl peuiskies attendant upou (hose sittio ;ii „ scurtal from tic dovvioe of Cue tf' ,allow f, „,f m , v ) o f op in can upon religion. It did not establish the porit3vof the Christian bad taken away the polity, by allon big persons to impugn the doctrine of the Tiittiry. 1 was the o pittion of some persons. that the Common Lsw could not 'supersede the ictistnte Lacy; he could not yield to that opinion. Under the above statute, he had ventured to pub lish the work in question. it was mockery to hrin , z him to trial, if he was not allowed to jos evely part of the libel. The refusal to allow him to justify the rosertions made against Bible, had done that book more injury than the work which was the subject of prosecution. As a Book seller, he could not read and know the contents of every book published ; but he did not mean to deity that he had read the Age of Reason before he published it. His conviction was, that it was a hook strictly moral. Never did man do more to refute Atheism than Paine. He appealed to the jury as commercial men, as husbands and fathers, as good members of Society, to do their dory to the community, by tiudiog a verdict of not guilty, which could not tail to ameliorate the condition of society, by putting a stop to prosecutions for re- Iteious opinions. They would give by such a verdict, dignity to the mind of man, and encourage honest feeliug, and sentiments, corning from minds well stored with knowledge. By a verdict again,' him he should be for ever ruined. A verdict for him would perhaps rub) the Attorney-General, who was expected to obtain a coavicion on this his first information againt,t religious opinions. He concluded by returning thanks to the Jury for the kind attention they had paid to him. Hir defence ended at half-past two o'clock, when the Judge and several' of the Jury retired from the box. On ihe return of the Chief Justice, the defer' slant was allowed to explain the effect of the evi. deuce he had to offer —lle said his intention ori. ginally %vas to bring before the Jury several etni, neat persons, the leading members of diffetenl sects, who would state the opinions they held o the Christian Religion. Chief Justice—ls that your object %—I-1e an swered in the atEtmative. The Chief Justice—Then I am clearly of opi nion they cannot be examined. The truth of the Christian Religion is not• a matter in question. We all know there are many denominations of religious persoto ; awl it would be irrelevant and most indecorous to call upon persons in this Court to give au account, of their modes of faith and their opinions. , • I\lr. Carlile, for the satisfaction of the persons he had called, declared that he had been led to believe that the, question would turn upon matter of opinion. Tim Chief J►►stice observed, that declaration might do as an apology to the witnesses, but it eouid be receive►! in no other shape. Mr. Carlile—lf matter GI opinion be objection able, I can say no more. , • The Chief Justice—The Jury are to form their otTn opinion, .fro, hearing the Attorney-General and your defence. , e ne—fe The defendant then called— William Cummins to prove his moral charae , ter. The, witness had known the Defendant more titan seven years ; the Defendant had been his apprentice ; his moral character had been good. James Venn had known the defendant six years; had always considered him a moral man; the wit ness was a tradesman retired. , Thomas Walker,. a messenger to the Navy-Of fice, with whom the detendant had be9,e:iodger, deposed that he had known hint five years. ~.He always considered him an industrious, honest , men.—This closed the defendant's cue, The ATTORZ;EY 7 GEt;ERAL then rose.—He - ,said it eves unnecessary to detain the Jury long, If any proot of time defendant's guilt had been want ing. at the commencement . of the trial,he had since removed all doubt by avowing that he,knee. , the quality of the work he'published.. But for a, few points of law which,the defendant had oputed, he shpuld no ha - ye found it necessary • to•address the .Jury in re4 , ly. ~ First, with respect ; to the law to which the, defendant adverted reading the letter f aaf Mr. Bentbasn,to Mr. Wol,,,.*ith, it was clear from that correspondence, 4hat rite Bill had been sanctioned as a jpittei• of toleration ; was never the intention of the Legislature to maki strike at time very root and fountlation,ofChristian ity. Could any reasonlble man suppose it would sanction the wild publications of Atheists and Deists, sent iu:o the world to destroy all that was good and holy ? Thank God ! the time had not yet come for sweeping religion away, and taking. from it the law of the land.. The law inteifred with no opinion, but it could not allow men, by wicked and abominable publications, ,to.produce chaos and contusion, throwing down the, most sacred institutions. The, defendant had objected to the common law. • Ignprant he must be, or, be would know that the punishment of crimes, and the rights of persons„Aepended on tise,common jaw. We had hithertoenioyed a Constitution ccsM,tin ing happiness with,eeligious freedom, and God forbid its laws should . be ,done away. The law protected religion, and happily denied men the power of reviling it by the publicatith of wild delusions. Whets the learned and reverend per sons were consulted respecting time. Lill for site case of scruples entertained by the Unitarians, they said to the promoters of : time bill, take care you don't repeal those parts of the ninth and tenth of William, which go to estabi sb not only your own religion, but every other branch of Christianity. Every man might wor ship the Deity in his own way, but it could not be presumed that a ennui:lsel on, publica tion should revile Christianity. Mr. Justice Blackstone held, that contumely and contempt of the Holy Scrptures was punishalle. Attar the strongest forbearance on the part of the Learned Judge, the Defendant had venturec' , to controvert the law laid down by that Learned Judge ; but the Jury well knew where a . lu9t CXpObitioll of the law was to he found. The Attorney-General denied the assertion, that he was an unwilling in strument in the prosecution, lie had beets con sulted by his esteemed friend, the late Attorney- General, and had considered it his duty to advise bringing the publisher of 4 work to justice. He denied the charges made against hint with respect to his religioto pentstasion. Tl3e pitgadant had, no Lnnwlecige of Lis 'contl-uct to the as- He felt no other intereNt in the pro ,eptition than- that felt by all who supported mo ral and religious establishments. The Defend ant should not be arrogant enough to suppose the holy Christian Religion could he affected by such a publication as this. It might excite a painful feeling in those whose faith was not confirmed ; but all the writings of Gibbon, Hume, Paine, and other infidel writers, had fallen harmless, Opposed to Christianity. If the Jury gave a verdict of acquittal they would hear soon that the Command ments were nil a fable ; that theft and murder were not crimes. Was our sacred religion to be the subject of fable ? It was a proposition revolt ing to common sense, and which the Law and Constitution would • not allow. The question, therefore, was, whether the defendant bad publish ed the libel alleged or not. lie had avowed the fact, and added that he considered it a benefit to society. The Attorney-General read several parts in the work, which he considered worse than the passages in the loforow ;on. H e conc l u d e d a most animated speech, by observing that the ,Jury, no doubt, instructed their children to lisp the Lord's Prayer. if they gave a verdict of Not, Gniity, they most tell their children not to ',ay that beautiful prayer any more. It was all false. Paine had discovered the Bible to be a book of lies, and both the Old and New Testa went' were ho'inore to be :real vith interesr.and devotion. Vain assertion ! 'Vain delusion I. What had they to expect front the Age of ; 13.eas'on and the Light of Nature. Look to Socrates, look 'to Cicero, look to Plato. They were men wander ing in the dark. They had no notion of futurity. Nothing was known of futurity until the Gopei was propagated. Then, men had a notion of a future state of rewards anti punishments. If a man took away the hopes of his fellow -creatures, he did that which he never could redress. The Jury had a solemn but an easy (ash to perform. They were not to mind the scoffing of any per sons, but discharge their duty, looking neither to tip. right nor to the left. The CurEF JUSTICE then proceeded to sum up the evidence to the Jury. His Lordship- Megan by stating, that this was an information, n ,, t charging the defendant with any loose or indefi nite bla,phemy, but with publishing a certain wicked hhophetnous printed hook. In the infor mation, • there were Counts relating to both the Old and New Testament, settinl out that the in tention of the defendant was to revile, scandalise, and defame the Christian religion. In the course of the proceedings in this prosecution, much had beets said, which he was convinced must have pain ed the - mindS of every moral man who heard it, He trusted, however, the Jury would not sutler their minds to be inflamed by those feelings ; but that they would decide epolly,calmly,and conscien tiously,opon the charge . Made against the defendant. In the course of his defence, the defentrant had endeavoured to read passages tram other deistical and atheistical works. He had; previous to this trial : coming . on, given this subject . his fullest consideration,.anti upon that consideration lie had • determined, that sitting as an English Judge, he could not admit such a course to be pursued, and he had rejected such books. - and prevented the de fendant from proceeding• io his course, satisfied That he had discharged his (Intro his God - acrd his country in . adopting-this'determinatiUn. The de fendant hid also said much on the subject of. rc sii-aining free discussion. - It Would indeed be much to be- regretted, that such a restraint should ever be imposed. •God forbid it ever 'should.--. But was, .tie publication now under conSitlera tionsihi-ork of fair discussion on the merits of ovir raigioil? The defendant had one part of his' address spoken of his (tile .Chief justice's) Teligion'as:donbtful, He must .again, -therefore, dielare'himself a true•and zealous. Christian.- The Christian religion was one holding out' peculiar advantages to -its professors'. - He never read the Cornihandinents; which the defendant had held up as'Arikbles, without a peculiar feeling! of 'gratitude to the Almighty. Man had never been sO kind to man , ,•es God had been ill giving him! the'Sab talliAtty • for a day of rest. The Christian religion was also a.religion of hope. , It -afforded a hope of the highest kind to afflicted man in the depth of his misery; by the bleiiings of religion', by'patienie and comfort liere,l'ilutl. by tke hope of eternal 'joy hereafter i and this 'hope .svailield ou't 'to' ill' classeit 6 t he' higti 'and the low The rich 'and 'the poor, - the'leartied'and the unlearn ed. In seemed to him, that' no one who wished well to mankind Would approach to enquire into the truth of Christianity - without a 'feel ing nt, awe and reverence; What, accord ing to the•arguMent of the defendant, wat'to -be put In the place of the Christian Faith ?' Why, the Creed of 'the Deist` which had been sits en.' logised. - The Christian religion was addressed Co all'; but particularlylo the poor, whilst Deilm wail cold, 'proud, and 'presumptuous. According to the system of the' defendant, the very' good it erc to enjoy a portion of happiness hereafter ; whilst the very bad'were to stiffer some degree of puni . 3hment ; but the great mass of human beings, who Went to no extreme or 'were 'altogether too insignificant for the notice 'of the'Deity, were to perish entirely, and'be annihilated for ever. Thus the vain and presumptuous• mall alone, who thought,himself better than his fellow;could hope foijtit'UtO happiness ; while the more modest anti inia' , iiitpbg' had only to look forward at leav ing this 'sublunary scene to annihilation, This was the Creed which the defendant had eulogiked, as worthy to overturn Christianity. Nluch had been said, in the Course of the defence, us to free dom of discussion, and long extracts, in support of that object, had been read .by the Defendant ; but it' was worthy of remark, that most of those extracts had been read from the works' of Chris- ' tiao writers, who by the author of the Age of Reason, were described as Infidels to God. The Defendant had also said ranch on-the effects which a v'er'dict of conviction would have on his (wore life. The Jury were told, that in so doingilrey would hand him over to the linplisition. The Jury had saicient knowledge of the world, and passing events, to say whether in their''oph , ions, the handing' a man over to . the Judges of the land, was handing him over to tie Faquisition. As a Judge, it was his duty to give an opinion of the character of the publication now under +heir consideration. As ails tradipg of the Detenchmt f on, ire bat: maeie a c ew tio'.es from his hon , I In varioi.s parts the Bible was celled the I.4inK Book—the Book of Frauds—the Rook of Isle' and Fables, too contemptible for criticism--a Book as false as God was true. &c. He would ask. 4 was this the language of fair discussion, or was ic the intention of the writer to vilify, tlefime, and scoff the Christian Religion, and to deny the truth of the Holy Sci iptures ? In his opinion, it was the latter : it was an unlawful work, and deserved the appellations given to it in the information. That was his opinion, and had been the opinion of other Judges and former Juries, but the present Jury would recollect that they were to judge for themselves, and give a verdict according to their oath and their consciences. Some witnesses bail been called by the defendant to speak to his morel character ;' but thete was no act of immorality charged against him, independent of publishing the work now under consideration. He was now charged with an intention of vilifying and defame ing the Christian religion. The Jury were to say whether the charge was made out or not. They would now retire and consider their verdict. He trusted they svotild not be deterred fiorn giving sech a one as their consciences dictated, by fear of any cry that Might be raised against them as intertering.svith toleration and free discussion, or any charge which interested persons might bring forward of bigotry or fanaticism, but that they would, by their verdict, discharge their cots.. sciences ; and whether that verdict should be one of Guilty or Not Guilty their consciences would decide. The Jury then retired ; and after being out five -minutes sent for the neiv Statute which had beets so frequently alluded to. The Cut et' Juslnos desired that they would again come into Court ; and being again in the box, his. Lordship said, the Statute of the 9th Rod, h of William and Mary was passed for'the pro tection of the Christian religion. It Provided, - that if any person should deny the persona of 'he Trinity, or . allege that there were more Gods than _one, or deny the truth of the Christian religion, or the Divine origin of the Sciipturea; he ,hould be liable to certain pains and penalties. The !tit of the 53d of .the King repealed that pate which related to the denial of the doctrine of the Trinity, but left all the rest remaining as in the original Statute. It gave no protection to - persons revil ing and denying the Christian religion altogether. The Jury again .retired, and were out better than half an hour. In the interval Mr. Carlile lett the Court, and was not present when the Jury delivered their verdict. A little after five the - Jury returned, and delivered iu their verdict —is !Then the verdict was announced a voluntary expression of triumph was evinced in various parts of the Court by the clapping of hands, but was soon silenced by a sense of the decorum due in 'tourt of Justice. • • 1-• During.. the absence of the Juiy, Mr. Hurt ',rose, and asked the Chief Justice whether be was ready to call on the case ot.the King v. Stud' dart. The Chief Justice—l thought, Sir, the case stood over to a future day, nith your owu cow. sew. Mr. Hunt—l have had no means of rommuni. caring with the other side. .The case was fixeil tor to-day, and I expected it would come on. 'l•he Chiet Justice—lt will not he takcir to-day; Mr. Hunt—Very well, my Lord, I only meant to say that 1 was ready to go on. When.the verdict was announced to the crowd in the area before Guildhall, some expressions of dissatisfaction were manifested. Mr. Hunt wal cheered as usual. 111ANCE-lE'rE'R, OCT. 12. The Meeting which was to have been held at Bolton to-morrow has been postponed Messrs. FreTElier ti . vb of the M4 ll ' 'Chester , Magistrates, together with Messrs - .. %Vat' kins and Ridgway, all as Magistrates for the distriet, of BtAton, state the meeting to Italie bee" 'collet!'" in direct opposition to the Opinion Of 11) 4 boioughreeves and constables ;" warn heads of f=t' naes, ~Ste ; , that all attending " riotous and town!' tuous assemblies are legally as liable as the rind' pals, eiiid Fidnihe the vigorous' application of 'all . the torte' at their. disposal,' to preserve the peace. ' Mr. BOWker, 'boroughreeve of Great Bolton, seoLl Mr. Stanton., constable, publish a flit denial of the assertion, that the meeting was called cow rary tO their opinion. Another handbill' advertises thoC the meeting is postponed in consequence of all informolity in the calling of it, but gives positito promise of a' meeting in the course of the oast week. The three hand-bills are dated the 11th -cg October: Lord SOMBIivILLB died, on the sth inst. at two :o'clock; b) the morning, -at Nay, Switzerland :his Lordship's remains will be interred in.Glou' cestershire. A letter from Portsmouth, dated October OP flays It ii a;melancholy task to announce th. death of Captain JOHN WAINWRIGHT, C• Lientenant-Governor of the Royal Naval Co!leg° of this (fort; he died on the Ilth instant, having entered upon the office for which lie was so peo" liarly qualified, , only on the Ist of this month." Mr. JOHN GREEN, of Bramvaid, in H ere fora• shire, and ELIZABETH, his %kite, died a few daY I ago, withina few hours of each other. The" , united ages amount to one hundred and six t y years. They had been, married fitty.nine yea r ; and had 22 children in little more than Di ne teen years. ' NIARHIED. On the 15th ult. at Ponipiznan, near Toulouse, Fraricoei the hardness de C:hesnel, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Light Infantry of the Pyrehees Orientalrq, to Mary LOU, Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Bentl)o4 11-S,( . of Berry-lodge, tI ants. - DI At Aslitend, in the County of ED: Surrey, o the 14th inita ntt George Nlustyn, Esc. aged 51. l o ba On the 12th inst. at Langhorne, in Carinurtlienshire , - o f Lailqiiarne, Esq. trice-Admiral of the White Squatirou his Alaj.siy's Fleet. LONDON: Printed by J. B. CARSTAIICS, of No. 4-9, 4, l , re A. 11 o'lol , o-street, Queen-square; and published by "4,i0 hCRIPPS, of No. 7, South NIA - on-street, xt "rue t op Otl; ce, No. M. Strand ; where. AdweitisealerV32 Letters, &c. (pog-paid) mast by address:J.