The Sun. — London, England, 1820-03-22 00:00:00

toga Haat, dating Wk. st }viol bed wbila id not linglp• e read Neva yf cb4 ten at' (1 st l4 tnigkti lierect thou n tlle e that W Slia. give l to the ctly• being with ri Veit tend e ob ;oscio (1 not Colll' tzCllt . ins 4 Y tb a to ;nurse of my life, previous to our confinement in the , esv Bailer. Now, Gentlemen, with respect to Mr. Hunt, it , 3 necessary in this stage of the business to inform you, I am what is commonly called a coach proprietor, that is, I employ c(,adlcS to travel between the torus of Stockport and Man chester; and it sometimes happens, though not otter, that a Passenger may want a bed, who, from a variety of eircum llanvoss May prefer a private house to a ',oldie one. I was ' "Bolted to by some one to inform them where a bed could ' had; to which I replied, I have a good bed, provided the 'inout will be approv.d of, it tieing small. The room was seen 41 1 , 1 approved of, and on the evening of the sth of August, lir. Hunt slept at my house, atid left on the 9th for Manches tel, in company with Sir C. Wolseley. From that day until the H ith of August, I never either saw or heard any thing from Hunt. On the 16th, in the morning, 4 little after ten 'o'clock, I left Stockport wnh one of my coaches, and near the second mile stone I passed theTrocession from Stockport, con , listin g .1 nearly one thousand men and buys, and nearly one hundred women and younq girls, several of them being the Wives and daughters of the Olen ; their conduct was perfectly praceAle. At the mid-way, while watering my horses, the ilr , teessim i passed again, and we did nut overtake them until a e gut into Lung Sight, a little on the Manchester side of which we left them, and got into Manchester ten minutes befor e them. While the procession was passing the White bear, Piccadilly, it was proposed by some of the passengers that the coach should he taken on to the ground fur their ac eummodation, to which I consented, provided they would Ogre, : t o pay we one shilling each, fur the accommodation of standing on the roof. But this WAS dune at the suggestion of Isay son, who said, otherwise there would be so many crowd ing o n, that the roof would be broken in, and I should have 1 01. damage done to the coach, though I might not make one 14 )' upon this it was given up; I went to the ground a lit tle after twelve o'clock, where I saw an immense coucour:e of People assembled ; after I had been there some time iu con versation with various persons, , • who all appeared to be de_ sighted with the orderly moaner in which the various proces 14ms came upon the ground, with joy beaming on every to untenaoce, and several I heard declare it the most gratify ing sight they ever beheld io the whole course of their life.- 3 unte one pointed out the constables, formed in two lines, space betwixt them, from the hustings to the house Where I was informed the 'Magistrates were sitting; and cre rdat teas given to the Magistrates fur the judicious plan they InKl adopted to bring before them any one who might he gouty of disturbing the peace of the meeting. This WitS ac tually the opinion I had formed of the purpose for which the u nstables were thus placed... After listening for some time to the music, which was playing a variety of nations' airs, 4 "ds amongst the rest, " God save the King," I went into b eausgate, to get a little ,refreshment, where I had not l'eeu long before Mr. Ilunt was announced ; and on going the street, near the Dog Tavern, on the carriage passing w here I stood, Mr. Hunt perceived me in the crowd ; he "lied out to me, "Mnorhoose, will you get into the carriage, we will make room for you." In an instant the door was I P'"ed; I was seized by the arm John Collier, and shoved i nto the carriage, but before I had time to take away my la nd...the door was hastily shut, and three of my fingers were taught at;d must severely trappeil, so as to give me very great Dais, and immediately on the carriage arriving at the trust ing*, I got out and went to the public-house, to get some b randy to allay the pain; I remained in the public-house LI th e dispersion had in a great measure taken place, and on t o lng down stairs to leave the house, I found Mr. Trentlow at the first door, fur the put pose, as I supposed, of prevent ing any ono from going out that way; he directed me to the back d oors and I left the house in search of my wife, who was at t hat time six months advanced in her pregnancy. I was tit arlY two hours before I met with her, during which I was several times informed she was thrown into a cellar-hole, and crushed to death, but, thank God, it was not so; we met at t he Flying Horse, and while drinking a glass of wine and wat ers and returning God thanks for delivering her from the Perilous situation in which she was in, being betwixt the coostahlcs and the carriage at the tine the cavalry sue tounded the hustings, two police-officers, Platt and another, %lie into the room, and told me I was their prisoner. I de their authority; they produced their staffs. I ob served, that is no authority, you must produce a warrant, and :II go with you, to which Platt replied, " If I did not Rho to go without a warrant, he would fetch some soldiers who would not be trifled with ;" I then ruse up and went 4 :4 with them to prison. This took place betwixt four ill ! five o'clock in the afternoon on Monday. I remained v / . he New Bailey from that day until the 27th August, o n n 'elt day I was admitted to hail." t r l 2his was the simple statement of Mr. Moor ., "se, and i t w as now for t h e J ury to determine the merits of the case. tf l ‘,,,lr. H OLT t h en a d dressed the Court on behalf thi " . ll % Saxton. It w as not t ill the third day of ttiai, and at noon, that the name of Saxton tel_sotentioned ; it was then mentioned by a Po :‘,.,fficcer; bait the charge made out in evidence, as thai n: led him (Saxton), was so extremely 00 _ 11,e thought the Counsel for the Crown would L...,al.tave exercised a laudable scretion if they bstained from calling on hid, for his defence. ii',,ittiroceeded to show that his case was distinct sta te !hat of t h e other defendants, included in the 4_44,t.nrlietnient. It did not appear that Saxton was h c ue ..tnted with any of t hose with whom he had been o( 1 1 11 4'd in this supposed conspiracy. Saxton had tvhe ' is tny to do with the Smi th field Meeting; and t h __ e Mr. Hunt went to Bullock `Smithy, he was not Iris From the Ist July to the 9th August i t e( !ble . slid not occnr. Saxton was not con- L e " . ,4 l %stilt the proceedings at White 'Sloss, and th : not Seen 11141chiog in any of the columns 1 61 , Came into Alanctiester or, the morning of the th ere of August. Till the pasting of the late Acts 1417tetvw„a.seinocslegal check nn popular meetings like rhad ttt Learned - Friend had supposed, or e.those meetings which rook 'dace in 14„.. n e ar tli.e Metropolis been put down, and th e I ; e 4 s punished by whom they had been called ? k h ; nit Was not prover' that the meeting Was tile- I nxt ; r) and all that bad been pr ove d aga i nst h i m, i • ' was 'his —that lie had be e n on the bust . bur ttl 4 o 3 be WaS not Shots•O to have committed 'oll' ex ces s • The e b ee meeting w as not prove d to gnid if n a seditious meeting by its numbers, no t by its numbers, he wished to W r' l:, t w t n v :bat else there was ro m a k e i t so. — a nti there in their marching it) an orderly triode'. ‘r , y i o. but aY . r ts hartbeencalled " milit a ry call ed t was there in it, that i t s h ou ld tlet it 1 'tray ? Some inde e d were sa id to have hinted with sticks, but none bud bit n pru , ductal to the Joy, and therefore they had no right to suppose that the parties coming to the Meeting carried any thing more than common walking sticks. What military character had these per sons but this, that they marched three or four a-breast, with sower hiog like a measured step. — Some of the inscriptions tie regretted ; but, with the exception of the motto, 4 ' Equal Representation or Death," he saw none that lie should have ex pected would be corned seditious, and it would he somewhat harsh io pot such a construction even on that. In calling for Annual Parliaments and other chane.es, he showed that the people of Matiebester had dune nothing that had not been (toile repeatedly before. But the alternative equal representation or death might be considered as seditious, but that banner could not he traced tonne to any of the ndanrs—it might have been sent in by an enemy. Suppose at the meeting in the Cast le-yatd rn ellethy had sent in such a banner ; would it have changed the character of that meeting ? Batt the words " Equal Repri sen tation or Death" merely embodied strong expres sions of feeling, and by 110 means indicated a fixed determination, as his Learned Friend (Mr. Scar lett) had conten fed, to have Annual Parliaments or proceed to gain them by acts of violence. There were no outrages committed at Manchester as at Spa-fields, and Mr. Holton had no more right to say that Manchester would not have been standing but for the dispersion of the meeting, than lie had to say that Loudon would not have stood if the Smithfield meeting were not dispersed. But what ever the proceedings had been, Saxton was found committing no excess. There was 110 evidence of a conspiracy whatever. The charge of attending a seditious meeting depended on the view the Jury might like of the character of that meeting; and he then p . oceeded to the third and last charge, of its being a riotous assembly. Saxton was RI the hustings as a reporter for The Manchester Ob server, and'Mr. (l ,,,rtun, who attended as a reporter tor The New Times, might as well have been taken (or a rioter as Mr. Saxton. Mr. Fitzpatrick might as well have been proceeded against for rioting at any of the disturbances which occurred at the Smithfield meeting, for he was in the same cart with Mr. Efir.t, and close to him. 'kite charges of conspiracy, sedition, and violence, all fell to the ground in the case of Saxton ; lie was proved to have been present at the Manchester meeting, and that was all. Should the Jury con ceive any of the defendants guilty (which he was very far from assuming), he was sure that they would have no wish to confound the innocent with the guilty, by giving a verdict against Sax ton, with those connected with him in the indict ment. Mr. Rumford then rose to make his defence.— He commenced by stating, that he had deemed it expedient to sketch out the leading points of his case on paper, and should, with the permission of the Court, occasionally refer to them. Before he entered into the mut its of his own case, be was anxious to understatid the meaning of an express sion made by the Learned Counsel in the opening, that he was seen training and drilling 10,000 men on the morning of the meeting. lie hoped the Learned Counsel was justified in making use of it; the evidence certainly did not bear it out. The Learned Counsel also said, that the inscriptions on the banners clearly indicated an intention to subvert the Constitution. He contended, that the banners only demanded what they considered their fair political rights ; they did consider them so now ; and if they were in error, they ought not to be construed into a crime. He would again refer to another part of Mr. Scat lett's speech, namely, the exhortation to the Jury to dismiss from their minds any previous prejudice that might have ex isted. He hoped they would do so, and decide entirely upon the evidence and facts laid before them. In the course of the last six years Man chester has undergone very serious calamities—the people there have been most wantonly and unde servedly attacked by the venal, and he might say, illiberal part of the press ; this has been the pri mary cause of those movements which have been deemed '' military training ;" and the witnesses he should produce would establish his observation. As to the training immediately before the meeting, he would refer to the Papers laid before the House of Commons, from which he proceeded to read extracts of letters from Mr. Norris to Lord Sid mouth, and which he contended clearly chewed th a t it was only until just previous to the first meeting on the 9th Aug. that these meetings took place. Mr. Hulton in his evidence states, that the Reformers came on the ground in perfect or der, and in a regularity of movement which indi cated the greatest uniformity. By the evidence he should produce, he would prove that numbers of persons assembled at Middleton on the morning of the meeting, and that lie then advised them to avoid giving offence, and rather to receive an in sult than give one ; he objected to any sticks being taken with them, in consequence of which several were left behind. The people went to the meet ing with their fathers and their mothers, their wives and their sweethearts ; and these are tl►e persons who have formed that strong body that was only to be penetrated by the fresh•ground sabres of the Manchester Veotuan►y. He should be able to prove, that at the time of his being charged to be on tl►e hustings lie was forty or 11 ty yarns distance. He would advert, and draw the attention of the Court, to the con duct of Mr. Ethelstone, at Manchester. Upon his arrest a number of papers were fou n d upon his prianises, sod taken to the Police Office, Man chester ; Le was anxious that nothing that was trot his ot~ n should be introduced amongst them ; he, therefore, saw Mr. Ethelstone, and obtained front him an appointment, when the papers were examined ; some were kept, and the rest given hack to him : the Rev. Gentleman was trying to filod something to implicate him ; he met with one O llie papers, which was a OttiDoSCI ipr ut Hoylet game of drafts, which he would not deliver up to him. lie meant to say, that it lie was so weak us to pay attention to so trifling a circumstance as this, it was not surprising that an indictment so uncalled for and untenabl e as !be present should be prosecuted in. Much had been said about midnight drillings ; l►e should be able to [nose, and wooled reter, iu cotroboratio n , again to the papers laid before the House of Con:moos, that these drilliubs took place in the open air, and on the highway. Ile then referred to the pat.ers laid before the House of Commons, and read extracts from them. The JUDGE explained that those letters could not be received in evidence ; he might read them if he liked, but he could not consider they could be of any use to him. Bamford therefore waived them, anti said he should be able to prove in evidence that these drillings were not midnight drillings, but in the open day, and without any clandestine tn,ivements at all; but he contended that these drillino could not be considered unlawful, sinless they were fol lowed by son►e unlawful act ; this was not the case, and he expected the Jury would dismiss the charge altogether from their minds. He then again adverted to his Address to the People at Middleton, in which he exhorted them to be ex tremely peaceable, and stated that the flags were used to enable their own people, in case by acci dent or design any riot should ensue, they might re:orti home, and by their banners know their own party ; and so tar from the place being dis affected, he stated, anti did it with pride, that there was not a single special constable in the place, or any military quartered there. lie could go into detail of the proceedings at the meeting, but he would leave that to persons of greater ta lent. lie hoped he should not be accused of any impropriety in thus undertaking his own case—he assured the Court it did not arise from any vanity in his own abilities. The horrible and lamentable results of the unfortunate 1611 i of August would be detailed to them, if suffered at all, by indivi duals of greater talent than himself, and he should leave his case with the utmost confidet,ce in the hands of the Jury. Mr. Joseph Healey (commonly called the Doc tor) had a paper, of which the following is a copy, read by the Clerk of the Court, as he was himself prevented from leading it by a severe cold : " My Lord, and Gentlemen of the Jury—Permit me to offer a few prefatory remarks to your serious consideration. I stand here accused of a crime against the laws of my coun try; but I should wish to impress upon your minds that just and equitable muscirn, that every man is considered innocent until proved guilty by good and substantial evidence ; and I therefore hope, that what I shall think proper to introduce for my defence this day, will be duly weighed and reflected ou by you. You to e sworn to well and truly try, and just deliverance make of this case, to which purpose I beseech you to lay aside party feelings and itocrests, unrohe yourselves of all party spirit and prejudices, if any you hare, and let nothing weigh in your decision but what you hear well substantiated, on oath, from credible witnesses, who are completely dis interested. In our political opinions and feelings we may perhaps differ, but as you are countrymen and Englishmen, I will not believe but that you glory is fair play—you glory in suffering every man to think for himself—anti in short, in suffering every man to enjoy that privilege you would wish to enjoy, fulfilling the beautiful saying of Scripture, " Doing to others as you would wish others tv do to you."— Liberality of sentiment is the greatest proof of a well-cul tivated mind. Having premised thus much, I shall now come to the subject of the indictment. It is divided into such a tissue of repetition as never before occurred.—We are charged with a conspiracy, which is said to have commenced irs July, mid been consummated on the 16th of August. At once I deny the charge altogether—neither has it, liar can it, be proved against us. If meeting, my felluw countrymen, to petition Parliament or the King fur a Reform in the representation in the House of Commons be a con spiracy, then, I confess, I am a conspirator, and am ready to bear chains, racks, and dungeons for such conspiracy. But, Gentlemen, I trust I shall convince you that neither I nor my fellow-prisoners merit such a severe name. lam un skilled in the forms of laws ; it strikes me that no act or acts can be considered as a coaspiracy, unless such acts are intend ed to further and mature unlawful matter, and I wish to keep this in view through this all important trial—a trial in which the liberty of yourselves, children and country, are at issue. I apprehend if mere association and communion of ideas constituteconspiracy, then areyou very conspirators—for from distant places for one purpose, you must consult, devise, and associate, and why not while doing so, being conspirators? Design can alone constitute criminality, and here unless it can be shewn, by good and irreproachable evidence, that we intended to break the peace, and bring the Constitution into contempt, it is cleat we have committed no crime against those existing laws of the land. This meeting, as well as others I have attended, was called by public advertisement (which he bad here read.) The document will speak for itself. You see it is for the purpose of considering the most lawful means of obtaining Reform. The day arrives — [Here he described the meeting to consist of a promiscuous as semblage of men, women, and children, with music.) — You have been told of the military array of the people, but did the laws of the land then point out in what manner the people should go to the meeting; I fearlessly say, No. Then my method was lawful. You are told of the people carrying waking sticks ; but it will be proved they were very rare on that day. It was said the people had flags riej de vices. Were they forlsidden by the then law ? I say No. It is said they came with music ; was that forbidden ? I say No. It is said that meetings called fur a lawful purpose might be. conic unlawful by their numbers. Did the then laws specify how many made a lawful meeting ? I say No. St. Paul has laid down, that where there is no law there is no transgression ; and, thank God, the laws of my coun try say the same. That )0a will think wit►, the great Apostle of the Gentiles I am confident, and therefore expect an aeqittal. I are anxious to iliforin you, that in Lan cashire, where military habits are almost interwove n with the people, the scholars walk in procession With music and Hags. It may be attempted to he said that the Reform we sought was nut constitutional ; this was a new doctrine im ported from Algiers. I apprehend the right of petition or remonstrance is a chartered right, anterior to all forms of govermnent, being plaited by God in our very natures, and a right enjoyed in the most despotic States, in Com stantinople as well as London. It is expressly laid down in the fundamental laws of the land, that every body has the liberty of petitioning, and adds, that all committals for it are illegal. If the people had the right of petition, they must also have a right to meet and discuss grievances. The laws of the land are conclusive for us. Would a petition for the repeal of the Septennial Law be penal for the disfranchisem en t of Gatton, Old Sarum, &c.? He then referred at large to the Act of Settlement, and said, if this be not sa, farewell reason and justice, and Duke of Richmond, Earl of Chatham, Fox, Pitt, Sir Willia m .tunes, Granville Sharpe, Sheridan, and thou sands of other great Men. I trust the meeting is now pima d legal. The Magistrates, I wish to :I.l:press upon you, that the Maghlf•itc3 lu nut appear to hae t . o,:,ov:ed the meeting lc be illegal until twelve o'cloch ; if they knew it before they were criminal in not giving notice of it. lie then impeached many ut the witnesses for the prosecution cm account of their connexion with the Police, and eulogized the witnesses he had to adduce, and then concluded thus—" And now my Lord Judge, I pray you not to say any thing to prejudice the minds of the Jury, but leave the matter with thew; and to you, G.:ntlemen of the Jury, t would suggest a word of advice, namely, that the law considers you the Judge in this ease; and, therefore, you will judge fur yourselves, without tahiug any notice whatever of what may Lie advanced as to this opinion or that opinion. I only seek to repair our :Id Constitution, and make it a far simile of the sentiments of the people at large, MI. Swift said his situation was very embar rassing to him, as he had never addressed a Court before, and inure so, that lie should be held no as a man %eh° had attempted the destruction of his country; he had fought for his coon' ty when a child, and would do it again velieli a ailed upon. He admitted that he %vas present at the meet. which he considered was inettly to petition tot a Retorm in the House of Commons, viol it stieh a meeting was to take place again on the then existiog laws, lie would attend it. He lived in Loudon upwards et ten years, and never omitted the place svhury the meeting was held, or its neighbourhood, until v. ithin a few days of his apprehensioo. He linew nothing of Hoot pet - sonally, though he lad attended werrings with him for upwards of IU years. He oid attend the m eet i ng , an d lie helloed he had se"! something like that which Mr. Orton hail said I I ie ; only exhorted thi.in to be quiet, and ii was his earnest and most desirous wish that they should remain and depart so. Ile hail be en falsely charged, and for the part he had takeit in the meeting, he hoped the Jury would conceive he had already received punishment enough, by be ing confined lot ten days io the New Halley, car ried toLancaster Castle, and alter wards coetletuned to procure bail to appear before 111C111 Oil t he pre sent occasion. Mr. Johnson then rose, and said that lie should merely state why lie attended this metting ; it was at the express lequest of several people of the town. He had sonic influence over the 'Mods of the lower orders, nod his whole 11M:1111011 was to prevent the people attending the meeting floor creating disorder, and tesitaming them altogether. The meeting was convened for the purpose of agreeing to a remonstrance to the Prioce Regeot, which had treeti previously agreed to, and refused to be presented. They were anxious that the So vereign should know the real state of distress they were its. As to the evidence which had hero pro duced ibis day in the persons of Mr. Willey nod Mr. Slater, he would admit to the Jury that, it ;E was true, lie richly merited and deserved their punishment. Was it at all likely or probable that he should enter into a conversation of this mimic with a man whom he knew little or nothing of He could assure the Court nothing could equal tha horror he felt at the proceedings which he had been charged with advocating, and he would state to them, that he firmly believed that Mr. Milne had suborned thew and induced them to swear falsely. He fortunately bed withesses litre to con tradict this evidence in such a manlier as to leave no doubt on the minds of the Jury. He then vented a torrent of abuse on the Police of Man chester, and he said he did it trout a knowledge of their transactions and movements, which lie was very properly stopped in by the Judge. lie should take his seat under the impression that they would dismiss all political prejudice from their minds, iii the consideration of the case, and kinder the con viction that he should be able fully to disprove, by unquestionable evidence, that given by Slater and Willey, end that be should then deserve a verdict at their hands. The Court then adjourned at half -past six o'clock, and at the earnest solicitation of Hunt, deferrt•d the hour of meeting again until ten o'clock, instead of nine to•wiorrow t»orning, TRIAL OF WILLIAM RAIYLIFFE, E;Q. On Friday last, at the Castle, Crown End, be fore Mr. Justice PARK., came on the trial of LIAM RADCLIFFE, Esq , Runge Croix, Pursvivant at Arms, of the Herald's College, for forging a marriage register, with a view to assist in making out his own pedigree, and tracing his relationship to the Derwent-water family. The alleged of fence took place in 1801, by the interpolation of a marriage in an old register-book. of the parish of Ravensfield, for tire 16th century Several :witnesses were c,iled to prove the interpol a ti ou to be Mr. Radcliffe's band-writing. From the Herald's College there were examined Norroy King at Arms, Somerset Herald, York !Jerald, Ric!-mood Herald, Windsor Herald, Portcullis Purinivant at Arms, and the Eirl Marrhal's Se cretary and Registrar. The case for tire prosecu tion was opened by Mr. SCARLETT i and Mr. Ser. jeant 1-lOLLocx was for the defendant. Mr. Jus tice PAUL observed, in summing up, that if the offence bad been committed in a register subse quent to the Marriage Act, it would have been a capital felony. The Jury retired for twenty mi nutes, and returned with a verdict of Guilty. Mr. Jun' ice PARK btnt,fic, d the defendant to pay a tine of and to be imptisoued three months in York Casile. CITY 11 USINESS—Yestettlay the LORD MAYOR held a Court of Aldermen at Guildhall, at %which his Lordship, fifteen Aldermen, and the City W het-is attes,deil, The Loan klAvokt reported he alltndance upon his MAJESTY With the 'Lents Of C indolence and congrattilation, and de livered iii his MASesTY'S most :zrßeions answer, which Wit 4 le.d and ordered to be recorded. The lion. and Right Rev, the Bishop ot GLooc EsTER , 'sod tl e Elev. A. R. CHAUVEL, LL. IL Rects,r of Great S antnore, 111i.ister and Inc:loth ut of Whit clitircl,, and Prtbendaly of St. Patti's, were re quested to prrach the Spital Sermons at Christ Chut ch, Nc W,zatc-street, before the members of the Court, and other Governors of the Royal Ho,. pal, on Monday and Tuesday in Easter u c a b, _The Chamberlain west Died a halt-yeerly at ate- Went of the piOcince of +he Orphans' Fil.ett, was read, and he was (Erected to take the nercs sary sue, s f ,r the discharge of 152 bont's of 1001. each, bring portion of the monies raised upon the • Credit t f the said Fund, and to give noti,e to the pat tits tot etc: to accordingly. lb* 0' se, $ tidos* bei (10 4 0 jogs oi ,ioof c if Pi! t rblcij e e"- ,r of ID‘