The Sun. — London, England, 1820-10-04 00:00:00

PARLIAMENT, HOUSE OF LORDS-YESTERDAY. THE QUEL\' DEFENCE. • [Continuation of the Proceotlings of Yestertlay.l iiitoucuAst ; in continuation, spoke to the following effect now call your Lordships 2. attention, to that whiA has' resulted'' from the proceedings against lit; Majesty, ail& to ttititurtelit itpoti 'the peculiar .f . 4!•aturea o 1 the stnry which; has :been . got up on 0 1 1 . -oreasiotf. • I have tic.V to remind your Lord t4l4o4. of that which has' not been brought to your net:ottection, brit which has rather been oblite raredlroni 'your memory by the. evidence—the st.f.tetrietit' of the Attorney General. In the Is'ort.N‘oftny Leartiedfriend himself, I Will bring tefore'yea the plan of hisopenitig'speech. This will he found of material ' importance. My Learned Frietut did not make that general speech withaut book Or instruction, but it was - transcrib ca for hinf(atui in what way it was .transcribed fel. him will leave your' Lordships to judge) fronithenoitiths of the witnes...s, I believe my eigintiti Friend '(the Attorney-Genera I), as every -te=`,linistiBllOktrow;'his honoarable'nature, when . ht `sditlLL-." I Will not state any fact against her A.lajeity . wlittli I 'do not believe in my conscience to"establish 14 proof ; but at the stattlirne, - -in' the ditcharge of my-duty, I shall -withhold nothing whiCh can be so established." that'ie spoke most conscientiously. ::Notliit he failed to prove 'what he stated, I know equally, and there . can be but one cause for this failure. ' .. 31y - Learned Friend has failed, becaitie - h e told you what had been copied into his brief frOm the mouths of those witnesses, who lrad sworn a's . falsely -- before as they have done since they were brought to your Lordships' Bar. will. now call your Lordships', attention to one or two samples'of 'the evidence given, which will enable your Lordships to judge pretty accurately 'if the value of the whole of the testimony of the tritnessys, - coMpating what has been stated in evidence - , with the 'facts set forth in the speech ..ofi , the Attorney-General. For this purpose . I 10441 select but One - or 'two of the leading wit , it'ees. In the first place, it was - stated by My Learned Friend, that the improprieties imputed 0'66 - Queen extended almost down to the pre :s.ent time. Now, it so happened, that the facts ski:urn to by the witnesses - extended but to within -three - years of The preset" time, that is over just half of the period which they were said to have fr7Jed - up. I pray yoirtO look, my Lords, in the 11 - -st place, at the way in which ,the Attorney -C:eneral opened his case, and the manner in-which attempted to prorve. it. I will chew you, says z:ny,Learned Friend, the Attorney-General, the flearand 'decisive marks of 'two persons having 4 ;1 4 13 .1 :, 1 4' Majesq' , s; bell` in Naples;--4 will Stiew you, that' this occurred when she came iticate early and unexpectedly from the Opera, on 11 , i4 - Se6ilid night after her - ret.rival at Naples,—l ?hew yen , that she went to Bergesni's, bed- TOGILti, • where he then was, avtl that she was not vislible'to 'the Nobility, who flocked to see her, • a late hour on the following day. These - Were the eXpressions used by my Learned Friend iti.:lW-'opening - 'speech. 'They contained asser ' Otie above another' in regulat sifcces von, and each succeeding tke othier in. motnen tous,aggravittion.: !hit when my Learned Friend liiS'pfoofS,' every one of'his assertions ris4 . nnly fails liiin, but is negatited, we may sav, rby •tlie'Very tiiitriesses . called AO substantiate the s4liternerit. Dtiuiont is -asked, c Did - she know itli"efetlie Princess. went on that night?' No, she viikuivoCally says, she knew not the . fact. Did sh 4 know'.tvbere'the Qiteen went when she came' Verne that ti:ight:,No, she knew not where. Did .sti6 knblir where Bergatni: Was that night' No, she knew not where he wenttO bed, or where he , i'ltlit . . — Did . 'sbe* know when-the l'rinCess got up folloWing morning ? No, she did not recollect ti, l,:fact. Did sh recollect the crowding of vi, • to pay their respeCtS that rhoruing ? sl4l-eol le cted .not that. So that instead of giv trig an 'affirmative - to • the Attorney-General.'ole gave him an actual negative' in the particular . bq:iiestion ) ,whichshe unequivocally answered ; for &!I‘.; said that. 'tO her. recollection, she rather il::3ltght; the •PritiCeSs' . 'wis up . at her usual. early i;ee.r on the Morning; when' it was his object to itetV she bad remained' 'until a late' hour in her r , tfoOrn'. Affl: stie dicl not say one word about . :de*-:visitors of rank, who thronged; to pay their ir?snects, on the ta)riting- after the Princess's ar r. 41 at Naples was known to the::Nobility. T,here 'is one observation. which I must beg leave reVecting-. the allusions made by my Isal'arned, Friends (the Attorney and SOlicitor- C*'s:itt6rali)','fo'the rnanuer of Italy, They, doubt le`.lS., act according to the tenor Of their instruc tl/2i.:2R;10r it is quite clear •they have never been . d knOW little or nothing an orethe, practico of the country. TheY; in fact, sit.e.'w no sv'mptotns of knowledge upon the•loCal ('' . e.4tO:7is of Italy.' They seem to express. asto n7s!-iment at theTrincess's appearing out of her co::.tnou dress at a masquerade ; they are surpris qll2lfer going to such a Place disguised ; they t it t there . er .a , 13 e o going ere in disguise n:Ctnhrtingl - 1 a private door, she had not gone, 4itlt 't;26 . Eyes of ail the world Uponher, in a state <Vit'tll ) ,'With' her Co'cichuien" g'orgeouslY bedi:zened, lacqueys plastered with finery t'rom head to ASlOnishing, 'that inst4d'Of all this, she '.Y^tit fill . a privd.te and a hired 'coach out GI a lack '?lff? - d , i':!' They Who . eiPe'cfed - all this, knew little cir file royal recreati , ins of Merit's Court, or of zeni-Continental circle. In'•al.liisiOn to this trip ui .11 le•Qa e i e n to the masquerade, the Attorney ( er,al, using' the term " - Anil I am'instructed„" , • that he shall prove the dross then worn by tee Queen, was " indecent :find disgusting." Ile as‘ter.vard-s- says, " that it was. or the 'most inde, rent description," and that for wearing it, she irr, 'actually hooted oat or the public theatre. r, • . 3N;:iw - When - he cam e f cao' the proof., What turned , • toy be the fact? Why; ac.aordmg to Dumont, O.:At her ,(the Padoesa's) ;dress Was tc extremely ' ) .- -that she wore ;!.'• tifii - 4`s.'`'"'it 'was very strange that she should wear a mask, and that at a• masquerade. ,Now, in my opinion; this astonishment ought not to be of long duration, for if she did not wear a mask, ,she had - Ino busi ness there. L should, in fact, my Lords; fatigue your Lordships unnecessarily; were I . to go thrdligh, in detail:all the glaring variations be tween my Learned Friend's statement and his attempt to prove his assertions by evidence at your Bar. At Messina he said he should prove that Bergami and the Princess were locked up in a room together. At Sadonane, on the l2th of . April, for he was always precise as to dates, he was to prove that while one of the servants was in bed in the anti-room, the Princess passed through it into Bergami's room Nvbefe he was in bed, 'and remained there saluting Bergami for a considerable time. What wasthe witness's story, when he came to tell it ? Why that Majocei saw the Princess go into ,Lkergami'.s raorof, and•reinain there on one occasion for ten ininutes, , and another for 15—and heard them salute—n O-----but only whisper. Then again; look at the proof as given in Sacchi's stce.y, and the statement of it in my Learned Friend's speech. Sacchi says, that one , night when the courier returned late from a, mes sage to Milani (and . which courier by :the way, was Sacchi himself,) he did not find Bergami in his own bed-rooth, but coming out from that of the Princess—that Bergami seemed anxious to explain away- the reason of this extraordinary appearance, by saying he had." heard hiS' cry, and had gone to see, what was the matter. Did the witness give this account of the alleged transaction ? No : for though ,repeatedly urged to relate the anecdote in a particular manner, so as to suit the deseription of it by Counsel, he re plied,, he had no recollection of this conversation about Bergami's child.-,--Afterwards came- the narrative of the disgraceful scene at the Barona, so disgraceful and disgusting, as stated by the Attorney-General, that it gave the house more the character, of a brothel, than that of a palace. It was this licentious conduct which even shocked her servants, end• drove from her circle all society of rank. And yet, singular it was, after this conduct became publicly- known through all the servants, that Lady Charlotte Lindsay renewed her visits to the Princess. The servants of Lady Charlotte' must dOubtless have communed with those of the Princess ; there was no step taken to keep this : graveAike secret, and yet, from first to last, We. hear nothing of its blasting operation upon the minds of the visitors of unquestionable - honour, for such were Lady Charlotte Lindsay, Lord and. Lady . Glen hervie, Lady Campbell, and the other ho nourable . personages in her Royal Highness's suite. These joined her Royal Highness after the scenes at the Barona ; some met the .Princess at Naples, some joined at Rome; others at Leg horn. Aye, at even much later periods her Ma jesty was attended by illustrious•company„ She was received by' such after the long voyage : she was courteously received by the legitimate Sove reign of Baden, and the still more legitimate Bourbon of Palermo. She . was courteously treated by the legitimate Stuarts of Sardinia, whose legitimacy stands contradistinguished from the illegitimacy of the family whose possession of the Throne of these realms stands upon the basis of public liberty and public rights. She was re ceived even by a' Prince who ranks higher in point of legitimacy—the Bey of Tanis.—(A laugh l)—She was also received with the same- re spect_ by the Itepreentative of the Ring at Con stantinople. in fact, in all those countries she met with that reception due to her rank and con sideration. Ile then proceeded to comment more particularly on other partsof the statement of the Attorney:C eneral,,and the sort of evidence by Which it was supported, in which the parties were represented to be so,totally unguarded as to corn ' mitthose.acts which, in all ordinary cases, would have been done in the greatest privacy, in the presence of so many witnesses, - and where the number of the witnesses, and. the positive strength of"the evidence, seem to have been uni formly wrought up the higher, in proportion to the 'criminality of the particular acts of the par ties deposed to. Their Lordships might easily suppose that persons so wary against themselves, persons so cautious and diligent for their accu sers," would not be wanting to do the finishing kindness for their foes,.and grant one another the last favour in the presence of others. Accordingly the parties are seen sleeping together—this is said to haN;e taken 'place habitually, nightly by. land as we 4 as by sea, and on the latter element us the presence of all the passengers. Nay, to such a. degree was this . done, that ilergami could not retire with the Queen for an hour to an anti chamber, where she was to change her dress and alter her trabiliMents from head to foot, without care being taken to post the honest, trusty. in triguing Swiss chambermaid at the door—without telling her ‘c there you are to wait for three quarters of an hour while we are going for- such a purpose inside.".--(A. laugh l).-,-But dieir Lord ships. would all along perceive, that in proportion `as these . disgusting scenes were of a nature to £l - 11ItOy and offend every body of 'virtuous disposi tiOn—to inspire with disgust, alMost with horror, every well, regulated. mind compelled to be ac ''quainted with them; in the same proportion es pecial.care had been taken that they should not be acted in privacy, and under the veil of decorum atiirl reserve. The things alleged were not done itt some of those receptacles of iniquity appro .priated to unlawful and . infamous intercourse ; not in any of those hidden haunts which vice had consecrated to her purposes; not in any luxurious retreat, whose seclusion and delicious pleasures Might pamper every sense, and perpetually mi nister to" voluptuousness and sensuality ; not in any of those •C y prian islands of old, devoted to the pleasures of itoinan Monarchs---no : but before witnesses—in open day-light, when the sun' was at its meridian; but that Was not enough, care Was to be taken that they were to li e seen by a courier of their own, a :nan only three Pr four days in their service, without everi any:part of the furniture of their carriage, dr their own dress arranged so as to their disgracefel SittratiOni. He asked their Lordships, had vice ever before been known to be so - unwary, so improvident? whether unthinking folly, .even at that period of life when the pas slobs swell high, nd the 'blood-boils in the veins, had pursued its bold Career - so'openly, reclaess ly, and carelessly as then ? and he hoped that this Most material consideration..would sink into their Lordships' minds, and have its due weight, and when they . camJto decide on the weight of the evidence, operate as a seasonable check. But all, this was nothing—their kindness towards their adversaries—their faithfulness to the plot against themselves, if it had stopped here, might have been all gratuitous-all their obliging corn pliances with the wishes of their enemies might have gone for nothing, because the taking advantage of it might depend on the- good - for tune of the opposite party. The proofs of their kindly disposition were to ,be carried further ; therefore every one of the servants who had been produced against them was tole dismissed with out any cause at all, or the "slightest in the world, and not only that, but they were to be refused to be taken, back on their.huMble and earnest ap piications, wizen there was every human induce merit to make'them do so. This was not yet all. Her Majesty was aware of all that size had done for 'her enernies, of all the elaborate devices ,he had described for her own undo ing, of her various' schernes to render conceal ment and impunity 'impossible, by turning away her servants causelessly, -rejecting their peti tions to be restored to her service', and thus, sending them into the ranks of her enemies. She knew the marches which had been made by those enemies, and size gave them the moat useful allies. 'S. - et t knewing all' this, she took the resolution of returning to her own king dom—she was Old - size was undone. if she did. so. She, was desired, besought, implored to pause, and weigh maturely the consequences, before she ventured-on so ,enormous a risk. Well, notwith standing all, the Queen came to England, and here on this shpt confronted herself those very witnesses whom, by her conduct, size had enabled to undo her; and menaced with degradation and divorce ; knowing too that this was not an empty threat, she up to this hour refused all endeavours towards a compromise of her honour and right — a magnificent allowance,—the opportunity of an. Unrestrained indulgence in any part of the world in her criminal desires—and even a safeguard. and protection froth the Court of England, where she might think proper - to be her residence abroad. tf these.were the characteristics of criminality, or the lineaments by which vice was to be traced— if they were the symptortis of that worst of all mental diseases with which her Majesty stood charged, then he had badly read human nature— , and the concluSion which he 'had drawn from all that he had heard; or even seen, or read, turned out to be most false and groundless—Oat guilt was wary, and innocence 'most unguarded. He should but exhaust himself, beSides fatiguing their Lordships, if lie stopped here to obServe on the connection between the part of his case which he had been laying before their Lordships and another part, on whkh it would be his duty to enlarge' hereafter. But there were one or two considerations so material, that he could not omit all mention of them before proceeding further. If an ordinary case were attempted to be supported by such 'evidence as had been here brought forward, he did not hesitate to say, that suspicions would be entertained •against the purity of those who , instituted it. He did not intend to say—he had no interest in sayingthat a. conspiracy against her Majesty had been formed. by those - who were the ma nagers of the present proceedings ; but he did say, that the course which they had pursued, in particular as. it regarded the nature of the testi rnony on which their case was founded, was such as would have . been naturally, pursued by those who could. be engaged in, such a foul design. Let it be, supposed, that a plot . were actually laid against the domestic peace of an individual, and,that' evidence were to be produced, of. facts which never took, place—te whom would the fabricators haves recourse to give the colour of, truth and consistency to their tale ? First of all, they would have the servants who had been in the house ; without them it would be almost im possible to succeed—with them there would be the most brilliant ',respect of a favourable result. But it these servants were foreigners who might be well tutored - to their part abroad, and then be brought to deliver their story to a place where they were unknown—if they • were to be placed before a tribunal that the cared as . little about as that tribunal cared for-them-(a laugh)—and if"' they came from a country . whither they did not care a rush if they . never returned, then this was the identical sort of conspirators that would completely suit the object in view. Not that all foreignerS were alike. lle would here observe that,' in his humble opinion, of all the places in the world, and all counfries in the world, the place, the country most , suited for the selection of delinquency was the country of Angustus and of Borgia. In all ages, in that,country perfidy had its price, and could be purchased fora given sum. Not, again he would observe, that, all Italians were alike. There were persons from that coun try with whom he would fearlessly trust his life and his honour ; but that the lower class of the people of Italy were the most abandoned on the face of the earth, the respectable natives of, that country would themselves most . readily ac knowledge. The Learned Gentleman then pro ceeded to notice the Milan CoMmission, and re ferring to the length and, extent of its labours, he observed . , thoSe thugs cannot be done in a week, or a month, it is the work of time, and can only be got through by cautious and slow degrees. And accordingly, we see the board sitting at Milan, there 'receiving the testimony that, was submitt e d t o them. And here ho wished to ob serve how likely it was that they might be im posed on ; he did not mean to charge them with suborning perjUry, but y“ it' was curious to oli• serve with what singular carethe system was con trived. Not 'a, sin Ale witness : was. allow ed to appear here at their Lordships' Bar, Without previously going through the ordeal re at: Milan. For ,if that be permitted, Might be some danger of their 1 1(4 t he actly agreeing. So that we find, that even 11 g Captain of the ship, who was exaqned, altu ° ,l o he was here in 1819, and examined here, r.:. 01 is )rought back to have a little converf ad o wit the conjurors at Milan. After all O e ts , cautious steps, and sagacious - moverro p ,,,,' their ingenious apparatus, and previous P r • parations, we find them saki; landed in uy land, deposited in the same depot, lockeek together, communicating - on the same subject7 a %f ultimately receiving the well-earned rewiru s their services. But there seemed to have been singular refinement in the art of drilling O e ' witnesses . , for they were kept in masses and set, and those sets, not regulated by the country fr°o whence they came, but according to the part i ° P ; lar part of the story to which they were to be t , testimony. 'He feared he might appear to th el e Lordships to • undervalue the character of tltes Italians. He begged to fortify himself by r 1; thorities on that subject, and he would brf i ' their Lordships back to the reign of Henryl l ', e and by a short extract from the history ottlin'f times, lie would be' able to skew the valu e , °- their testimony. It was a matter of great anx iety that opinions of Italian Jesuits should be tal‘. e he relative to , that divorce. And accordingly Learned Doctors of those times, after esatrd' it- t "; . and sifting every thing to the bottom, eatn e bo the conclusion, that Henry VIII. ought to divorced. But from the extreme' regularity an singular coincidence of all the Learned. Dac t° "; agreeing to this point, there was some susPic,' ° d that at that time, the same system of drilling n a , fl been carried on as there appeared in a certa' case that should be nameless, and they were 11 '; turally anxious to remove 411 those ; suspicin Accordingly, they all swore that they never " s s , the slightest communication by any sign, Sigg e , tion, or observation whatsoever. This being ' gularly sworn, the Learned Doctors were pie tt : e t o to. believe them. This precaution appear e ' d ,,, meet every objection that could pOssibly be In a , t ,' even by the most captious. Bishop Burnet, in 011 4 ; ing on that subject, and he was very muthdev nte s t to the King, mentions an agent 'employed at t b ile period, who was ekactl y the kind of person tha t i t ‘ i f ; Solicitor-General . haS described the agent at sc lan to be 7-." a man of aingular probity, andng t deeply versed in the laws of the land." P tl e there was a still more extraordinary coincide nc i; for the name of his: agent was Cooke. Here read a letter from this gentleman, which state ,y e , "My fidelity obliges me inform you that all W o ,, Lutherans, either from malice or some. other ' l ' ll tive, are opposed to the present cause. But Sti I doubt, not, that all the Christian Universit i T r if properly . handled, will conclude with Y ° d, Lordships." Now, to spew what kind of 1. 1311 ,„ ling he meant, lie further proceeds, " still. to inform your Lordships, that ,albeit, 1 111 ' got one hundred a.nd fifty signatures of learn e r , Doctors, I doubt not that if 1 were properly fut a p nished, I. should have many more." This ` % a , the letter of the agent, but a paper that `; r : found some time after explains the matter ' Ll io ther, and perhaps some light might be throwr' i the tame way on the secret correspondence Of t c ' , Milan Commission. He would , read a short 6 0 , count of some of the items of the expences at te ' dant on that trial. Item I. To a Jew concerned in the affair, one crowo• Item 2. A Learned Doctor, two crowns. lot ° hem 3. The Clier ofSt. John': and St. Paul's, wh o ' s for the King, 15 crowns. Here, the author was better paid than the a' ' e 4 cate and from all these facts, the Bishop e °ll os , to this conclusion; that they must have v ery Pf eil tituted consciences, to be bought so cheap. I: o f the Learned Counsel referred to the stP r J.,,,,il General Acton, who although enjoying and military distinctions in that country, /v3 O/ 0.1 native of ,England ; and against whose lif e ,„ e cl , .honour a similar censpiracy had been fo r r. o , He then read the character, given by that il, tba t tleman, of Italian witnesses. It was no t or ious, t o in Italy witnesses could be Obtained to sol v e, any thing. The usual charge for an oath Wa' S t of :ducats, but it varied according to the abilitYoe the-person who required the swearer, and th e . re cessity of the wretch who was ready to Pe r i t ,o himself. In making these observations, b e kbe ir travelled rather from his' point. ,He wished l•the Lordships to pay most particular attention t°o3o opening of the Attorney-General, as to a'a named Mahomet. This person was describe t o, a most brutal, wicked, and disgusting scr e oo s, who made such gross gesticulations and tt cr t i o o, in imitation of that which he should not tne i 9 . es tyr 'for it was too disgusting, and before her Ala p i. this was saidto have taken place, and sh e t he expressed her gratification at it. Now, "PT ' evidence brought by the Attorney-Gene ra 'Or .fact was completely falsified. The Solicitor-. tio, neral asked Majocci what he saw Maltornieet c io All he said, " I - saw him dance." Pi cl ii . t } nothing else' No, I saw nothing else. 'II:, Ili' see nothing that he did with his trowsers • ) 1 3 - tro wsers were always the same. Such w a o ' t se° jocci's answer ; but he added, ". d ° him do any thing with his trowsers." 0, B.) had loudly to complain . of the menal!' - ' ro ce patching of the case. The first witne ss P si %vitaethe charge to be untrue. Another . ie 5 0, called—he does not venture to swear that ; yea desc r. 14' Mahomet act as the Attorney-Genera. , t iN in his opening speech; all he saw Was " 1 3 „t d e ; .hornet danced. Well, this evidence. will r , 1 1 , ( 1 b' and,a day after another witness is called, ",, t , swears point blank, to_ having seen the Attorney-General mentioned in his _ bor speech. He would boldly declare to t 1 s r tr o .ships, that this witness must have be en '" fail ed to prove that which the two first witn e i s n s e l. / o e ; in proving after They had been e7carn dan ce could assure their Lordships that the tlc, u ta Mahomet had been witnessed fr e q uen ere commonly by mothers of families, wl.'°,rstvuon'on,,-, pure in thought, and as honest and . 0 .t / the wives of the Noble Lords whom he et '.r AO a addressing. This he should prove . te " f it!' not a slight one, which he must re' f i rst the $ ,Lord Ships, was the circumstance of tbe % messes, the Matter and ik.ate -- "Pet s_ ( id e tO be trid e IT 4 4 1 1 ;! 111 t , li qr,d ih ,. " .14 1 . thi ti • r hti the, 14 . tt.t; wv t I~ }~,,~ '~l;