The Sun. — London, England, 1820-10-05 00:00:00

PARLIAMENT, TIOUSE OF LORDS-YESTERDAY. -......... THE QUEEN'S DEFENCE. Mr. BROUGHAM concluded his Speech yester day as follows: " Let me now remind your Lordships of what is represented to • have taken place at Catania ; and observe that here, two witnesses might have been .called to this transaction, if it really did take place, both of whom are mentioned by the Attorney-General,. but only one of whom is called. . 64 Two maidsi" says he, Were'sitting in the next room to that of liergami; both saw the PrincesS come back from - that room. at .an early ' hour ; they both heard the child cry in the Corm - tesS of Oldi's 'town ;" and they both must have knoivn all that really, took place. The Attor • trei;General not. only does 'not venture to call both; but,only one ; 'but he does not venture to state,. that those two had ever -communicated to gether froin that day to this upori ,a tittle Of 'What hae . pasSed. They never' did' Communicate ; they could'nOt communicate together ; ;nothing of the kind'had passed.. The thing . 4as false .; but Du mont alone is called, and what. is the story as she tens it - ?- I now pray your Lordships to attend to it,,and let me ask yon, notwithstanding all the 'multiplied improbabilities . of this ettse‘ can there ' be any . thing 'more i'mptobable than this ? Her gami, nsually slept not only not near to the 'Queen's bed-room, -hut-on the other side of the court which formed_ the, centre of the building, while well; but ne became sick. He was seized with a severe fever, and brought over from his .• usual room -into another room belonging tO the Countess.Oldi, I believe, and there he was when he. was sick •Now is it not, my Lords., a little extraordinary , that the scene of this amour—l • won't say is ordered to be, but is laid at a time when Bergarni was in a fever, and not when he was.in. good lietilth-? Well, there he was lying, more as a patient than as , a lover. • And•sheis ,particular (for that is what is meant to be under stood) that he shoUld he placed there. And the situation in which she wasplaced togo to his bed . room, is to be; sure the' niost difficult and embar ras,4ing that can be• well conceived, for she must go through a room where two maids are sleeping, before she can. by any means • reach his. The Queen, too, slept in Oldi's room, and what had been Oldi's room- now became her's. • The child .was also removed, and the witness tells you she undressed the Queen, and her Majesty went to Bergami's room every night, and returned every, morning. Now is it not extraordinary, that for the accomplishment of her design, if such design She ever entertained, she did not make an altera tion in the bed rooms of these maids, rather than expose herself to the risk of discovery ? Is it not curious that she labours under the same risk both at Milan and at Naples? Alt she had to do was to make a different disposition of the rooms—to place the maids in Bergami's room ; and then he could have slept in the room next adjoining. It is most wonderful that all the wit nesses in this case would impute to her Majesty that it was the uniform tendency of her tactics to . multiply damning proofs against her own charac ter, and to destroy every happiness and comfort which can be dear to her! This is the plot ; and she is never to do any one act which can injure her without providing ample proof and evidence against her. And now I am told you can call Mary Ann (Dumont's sister) to contradict her. I say, she is your witness, and not ours. We are the "defendants, the accused, the oppressed, and you are not accused or oppressed. This is a cri minal-7-4 is worse than a criminal proceeding ; it is of a nature higher, at least, in its exigency. I say, a Bill of Pains and Penalties ought to be sup ported by evidence, better, if possible, than a proceeding which is to take away life or limb. .1 say, she is your witness, and not ours, and you ought to call her. You have not called her, in this overwhelming charge ; then I say, you have 1;?t proved us guilty ; and therefore, if justice reigns here, we ought not to be called upon for a defence. In the lowest crime known to the • law, the best testimony ought to he adduced, - whether on their side or ours ; and I will put a case to remind your Lordships. Suppose a rob bery or murder be committed, and a man be put on his trial for it. Suppose an accomplice, infa mous by his own character, a spy, degraded by his calling—or any other witness, tainted and im pure, be called, while pure and unsuspected wit nesses remain uncalled, is it not the duty of the pro secutor to call them? I say no man who is to be put on a trial for his life, ought to he called upon to produce in his defence, the relations of those who are witnesses against him. The prosecutor must call them. But, my Lords, painful as it is to my illustrious Client, the manner in which she has betin oppressed and persecuted, and the means that have been adopted treacherously to betray leer, must open her eyes, and awaken her sus picions. on all hands. After such persecution, whom could she trust ? Even - the sister of Du mont was corresponding (so she said) in a cypher with her sister. I say, Ido not believe they did so correspond. I .say, my Lords, we ought not to call witnesses ; your Lordships will agree with me, that we ought not to be required to do it ; but my Lords, we shall bring forward Dumont's sis ter. The Queen sees these who were fostered by her have appeared against their mistress, and she knows not but in still retaining Dumont's sister in her service, she may be cherishing ano ther viper to sting her. Still, however, she has never found her act improperly, and she is resolv ...e . dto call. her. She has been watched and spied . . • by- the Grnnms, the Omptedas, and the Badens, riot; forgetting the Ornptedas oilier Own land, and it is hard to• know who is her enemy and who her friend:. Nevertheless, she will run the risk of Calling- this woman :'she, knows if she speaks the truth she will fully and flatly contradict her sister, and she is convinced that her tes timony - will be annihilated. Perhaps she may not entertain a charitable opinion of the witnesses when she knows the manner in 'which she has been foiloweA by the Ompte das abroad, and still more scrupulous ~mot she be after the infidelity and perjury . such-ritnesses-as Majocci, Sacchi, and PUrnont. I am ,satisfted mle Loirdsin my own mind, that you will agreef:her :Majesty is not bound:to. call the witness I have spoken' of.of. Perhaps as : legal advisers, in the exercise of a cautious pru dence, we should advise her not to do . so, but still as I said before, her Majesty w ill produce that witness before you. S.. Now; , my Loids, let us come to the transaction at Charmetz. Dumont swore that on the night Bergami returned with the passport to Charmetz, he went to the Princess's room, and there remained the rest of that night. It is false ; I will prove that her Majesty set off on her travels, within an hour and a half 'after the arrival .of the passport, and that time was scarcely sufficient to pack up,. and prepare for travelling. She was lying on her bed while the things were getting ready, in her ordinary tra velling dress, in which she had slept, to be pre pared to set off at one o'clock in the morning, should the passport so soon 'arrive;, the door of her room was open, and all the persons of her household had free access to that room during the preparations, as well as Bergami. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to comment on .the observations which had been made elsewhere, in reply to the supposition of this being a plot It had been said, that if this were a plot, why did the witnesses not swear home ? Why did they leave any. doubt on the minds °I - mankind ? But did they not know that in laying plots the great aim was to avoid swearing too hard.? Could the person who argued thus have forgotten that the safest way.to prepare a plot was not to swear too hard s but to build the fanciful fabric non the natural course of events, to state the facts'as moderately as pos sible. The architects of tkiis plot were perfectly acquainted with this art, and had taken their steps accordingly. Why at Naples had they not called other witnesses ? For the very reason that they studied to avoid calling 'two persons to speak to the same point of evidence—fdr fear that the cross-examination shoald explode their story. On . one occasion her Majesty was de scribed as being hissed out of the Theatre. This, if true, must have been known to more than one persqn-e--it could not be Concealed. The concealments of a masquerade, . the fabrica tions in their case, could never withstand the light which the following morning -was sure to throw upon them. Why were not other wit nesses called to prove the state of the beds ? Why 'not to speak to the linen ? Where was Ann Tryson ? He could inform their Lordships she was here-- 2 he had got that fact from a witness in cross-examination. Why was she not called then ? That, too, he could answer—it was be cause she was not an Italian. For the marks— she was the Princess's own waiting woman ; for the bed, she made it—for the linen, she had the care of it—she could have proved the case, had it been capable of proof—she Was the only person who could prove it ; and yet they had not called her. And why, he would ask, but because they did not dare to call her? They were. practised in the examination of washer-women, in the adulterous plot they called ; but here they had omitted so to do. This was a witness, he must contend, whom it was imperative on them to call, for she must have proved what Dumont had sworn, if what Dumont had sworn were true. Tie- contended that having already shaken the testimony of the witnesses from their own mouths, he had given a complete an swer to this case ; for if part of that which a witness swore was proved to be false, all confi dence in what remained must cease. He now adverted to the observations which had been made on the origin and character of Bergami.— He denied that his elevation had been so, prompt as had been described, and submitted that it arose from any other cause than that base one to which it had been attributed. Bergami was a man of family—his father had been a consider able land proprietor,but from rnisfortunes,had been reduced to distress—his son had shared his fate. lie still, however, lost not the character of a Gentleman ; he was recognised by General Pino —the Commander-in-Chief of the Milanese—he dined at his table, and was treated with the re spect which was due to his former rank. To the Chamberlain of the Queen he was introduced by an Austrian Nobleman, and was hired as a Courier to the Queen several days before he was seen by her Majesty. At the time of his introduction, his Noble Patron represented him as a man whose ideas belonged rather to his former character than to his present situation—and in fact he en tered into her Majesty's service with a distinct promise that when opportunity offered, his pro motion should be attended to. The topic to which the Learned Counsel next alluded, was the estimation in which her Majesty had been held by our late venerable Sovereign, who he submitted was no incompetent judge of the hu man heart. In confirmation of this he read the following letter from his late Majesty, written in the year 1809 : Windsor Castle, Nov. 13, IRO9. - - " My dearest Daughter-in-law and Niece—Yesterday I and the rest of my family had tin interview with th e P r i nce o f Wales at Kew; care was taken on all sides to avoid all sub jects of altercation or explanation ; consequently the conver sation was neither instructive. nor entertaining, but it leaves the Prince of Wales in a situation to show whether his desire to return to his family is only vcdial or real, which time alone can show ; I ;tin not idle in my endeavours to make in quiries that may enable me to communicate sonic plan for the advantage of the dear Child, for which you and I with so mach reason must interest ourselves, and its effecting my having the happiness of living more with you is nu small in centive to my forming some idea on the subject ; but you may depend on the re being nothing decided without your tho rough and cord i al concurrence, for your authority as mother it is my object to support.—Believe my at all times, my dearest Daughter•in-law and Niece, your most affectionate Father-in-law and Uncle, (Signed) " GEORGE R." Such is the opinion which our late Sovereign, a man not ignorant of human nature, and capable of forming a just estimate of human conduct and motives, always entertained of his dear and che rished daughter. I will now read a letter from his Illustrious Successor, not written, indeed, in the same tone --not containing the same senti ments of regard for her Majesty, but yet . by no means deficient in 'expressibns of respect, and cer tainly not indicating any desire harshly to tram mel. the conduct of his Royal Consort. It sug gests, indeed,.that their happiness would be best consulted and purftted liVing asunder "; but it states distinctly that her conduct should never be subjected to that,. watchful, • rigoroni scrutiny which has been since employed in the production of the present Bill of Pains and Penalties. • " Wlndsur Castle, .11)61 30, 179 c. " Madans,—As Lord Cholmondeley informs rue, that you wish I would define in writin`g, the terms upon which we are to live, I shall endeavour to explain myself upon that - brad with as much clearness and with as much propriety as the na ture of the subject will admit. Our inclinations are not in our power, nor should either of its be held answerable to the other, because nat ure has not made us suitable to each other. Tranquil and comfortable society is, howeser, in our power ; let our intercourse, therefore, he restricted to that, and '1 will distinctly subscribe to the Londition which you re quired through Lady Cholinondeley, that E Veil in the event of any accident happening to toy daught , er, which I trust Pro vidence in its mercy will avert, I shall not infringe the terms of the restriction, by :proposing at any period, a connexion of a more particular nature. I shall now finally close this agreeable correspondence, trusting, that as we have com pletely explained ourselees"to each other, the r e st of our hires will be passed in nnintefrisPicit tranquillity. "I am, Madam, with great truth, very sincerely your's, (Signed) " GEORGE P." My Lords, I do not call this a letter of license, as it has been termed. It is, however, such a letter as was calculated to remove '3.11 suspicion from,the mind of the person who received it, that her conduct would ever become the object of unceasing, unsparing, most unscrupulous scrutiny. My. Lords I again implore you, even at the risk of repetition, never to dismiss from your minds the two grand points upon which I -rest; first, that they have not proved facts by credible wit nesses, who were within their • reach ; and,, se•- condly, - that the witnesses, whom they have 7iten tured to call, are unworthy of 'credit. How is it possible that.a plot can be discovered except by means of these two principles - ? There are in stances in which plots have been discovered through the mediuni of the second principle where the first has. failed. When witnesses of fair character have tome forward, when persons above all suspicion have lent themselves for a time to impure plans, the victim has providen tially escaped from the snare by the operation of the second principle ; by the evidence breaking down where it was not (,xpected to be sifted ; by a weak point being exposed, where no pre paration. had been made to elude detection. Your Lordships will recollect that passage in the Sacred Writings, in which the conspiracy of the Elders against the virtuous Susanna, is described in language at once eloquent and poetical. The hearts of the Elders were turned away from Heaven to do the purposes of unjust judgment. Their story WaS clear, consistent, uncontradicted, and their victim was only rescued from the plot which was laid against her by the contradictory evidence of the Elders in the trifling particulars of the holm and the tamarisk tree. Of this de scription is that part of Majocci's testimony, which will be shewn to be false by the banker's clerk. This and many other particulars are of little importance with reference to the main body of the case, but they are of the highest im portance, as they affect the credit of the witnesses. These circumstances are not accidental. Men rashly and blindly call them accidents, but they are the dispensations of that Providence, who wills not that the guilty should triumph, and who succours innocence oppressed. Such is the case now before us. Such is the evidence in support of this prosecution—inadmissible to prove a debt —impotent to deprive of a civil right—ridiculous to convict of the least offence—scandalous if brought forward in support of a charge of the highest nature, the object of which is no less than to ruin the honour of an English Queen. What shall I say, then, if this is all the case—if this is the species of proof by which an act of judicial legislation, an ex post facto law, is sought to be passed against this defenceless woman ? My Lords, I pray your Lordships to pause--•you are standing upon the brink of a pi-ecipice. You may go on in your precipitate career—you may pronounce judgment against the Queen, btit it will be the last judgment you will ever pronounce. Her persecutors will fail in their object, and the ruin with which they seek to cover the Queen, will return to overwhelm themselves. Save the country, my Lords, from the horrors that await it —save yourselves from impending ruin—rescue that country of which you are now the ornament, but in which you will flourish no longer when you are severed from the people, like the blossoms that are cut off from the root and stem of the tree. Save the country, my Lords, that you may continue to adorn it. Save the Crown, which is in jeopardy—the aristocracy, which is shaken— the altar itself, which never more can stand se cure amidst the shocks that rend its kindred throne. You have said, you have willed—the Church and the King have willed that the Queen should be deprived of its solemn service, but in stead of that solemnity she has the heartfelt prayers of the people. She needs no prayers of mine ; but for my country I here pour forth my supplications to the throne of mercy, that that mercy may be poured down on the people in a larger measure than the merits of their rulers de serve, and that your hearts may be turned to justice." Mr. Ilno UGH Am having concluded his Address, a short pause ensued ; during which many of the Peers quitted the House, and the Counsel retired to take refreshment. Mr. WILLIAms soon afterwards advanced to the Bar, and was proceeding to address their Lord ships, when The Lotto CH ‘NCELLOR observed, that, as it appeared to be the intention of Mr. Williams to follow Mr. Brougham in a second address, he must remind their Lordships, that it Was at their discretion whether to admit the course contem plated by the Counsel for the defence ; but he was sure the House would agree with him, that, in so important a Case, discretion would be best exercised by permitting it. This suggestion was unanimously acceded to, and Mr. NVILLIAms then proceeded to address the House. lie could assure their Lordships, that no man could feel more oppressed by the weight, no man more sensible of the difficulties nv to encounter in addressing them, than hitnr o ol. He would not advert to the incidental Cl.r.' tel stance which had just occurred, of the e % t he sion of their Lordships' general rule, n orr.,, t o additional and severe demand upon theispo-se which had been caused by that extension• th i l rejoiced that the principal management of cause had fallen upon a person, 'competition w.cel whom would in any man be absurd. He rer t y that a cause, which from the beginning , world to the present time had not its para l i e lei t a cause full of evils, unmixed with the 51 04 possible good, whatever might be the he rejoiced that the principal management 13f ; , 4 - e e , a cause had fallen upon one whose power twO press, and whose courage to meet difficulty's,* produced that appeal, the remains of . „ 0 could not but even then remain in vibration u ,,r e - c t their ears. His task would only -be to C Oi 0 , the scattered remnants, the angles and cor ne e , so to speak, of the present case, which lind, b h , I left untouched by his Learned. Friend, 0 11 % 0 endeavour to fill up the outline which had'to drawn by his masterly hand. The first point te "" l d he should request their Lordships' attention O t u t io be the question, " who are the parties to ior proceeding ?" a question by no means an ri m e terial consideration even in the outset ; fon t the best attention be had given to the Pe' te case, he declared he. could not tell clearll' d whom he was opposed; though be knew . r well he must be opposed to somebody, 1 1 °.a ro . knew equally well that he was defending a x i o , secution the third with which his Royal hs t tress had been pursued. Quite clear it was 'O O he was opposed to somebody ; and perhaPs difficulty was somewhat greater from the P r „ cutor not being defined. Not to speak 4 .1 4 1 - s t spectfully or improperly of his Majesty, 01 4 , e s person whose very name is considered as a t ° ,,s of strength, it appeared beyond all doubt th at one side their Lordships must see, the Galrec r, ment—an expression s ' including all the 1 0 04 all the wealth and all the influence whiths, great country possessed; and on the other o_ 4 , was her Majesty, a Queen, by a series -of t rw , s ment, to which at present he should not apt: o p, , epithet, a Queen shorn of her beams—a Queetli' who, by the vicissitudes of fortune, by the & lf of some of her friends, the promotion into P° % t of others, and a course of other misfortunes u o necessary to detail, was deprived of all her f" i o able defenders. This being the situation of the , E , .parties, he, apprehended it would not be ince per in him to entreat their Lordships to casit' ll , themselves against the influence which may rally be made by the weight of one of these P, O ties, and the degree of prejudice which migb:• t raised against the other; it would be necessary- "f their Lordships should by some distinctesserti °P , ' their minds, a resistance, if he might use so c , phrase, a resistance to their ordinary feelings2 b/ :: i f their minds to strictimpartiality,otherwise it w°;: e , be impossible for them to administer i° ol o There was another topic upon which ,rode slightly touch. Much had been said course of this inquiry, and much analog ije been drawn from the rules of Courts below• r j , was glad of it for he would remind their ships that the duty of the Judas!, and Oa ' l e of the Juror, in the Courts, belo w w e re to their decision solely upon the evidence. conception, no presumption, no rumour wila; e : r e was permitted to interfere with their e t insio' cr i, tion. The evidence, and that alone, was ttl e , oo l tenon by which they were guided, and wyi t .,%o such a criterion there would not be .the i j 701 chance of their administering impartial without such a guide it was impossible I.o°o by what secret springs the minds of the J ti nd , and the Juror might be influenced. In pro, tion as her Majesty's means of defence Wer e be minished by that multiplicity of difficultie s ,' had almost said oppressions, which had es thrown in her way, should their LordshiP s b e e vigilant in examining the evidence agai llst .sti Among the difficulties against which her Anati had to contend, might be mentioned the dit" 4 ",id of giving any answer whatever to the cb, 3 0 0 against her, in consequence of the g reat di!`" 3 1/ of time from the period at which they we! l tj leged to have taken place. And this din ic t heii was not decreased by that refusal which t i o s Lordships' wisdom had dictated, of a specific Biel' of times and paces. These were difficulties t he her Majesty had to labour under ; but achi c ` i meanest subject in the country would' not be re lP posed to in a similar case. These were but Poe' urinary remarks, but, if he did not mistake , were extremely well suited to induce that tew bo of mind in which he contended their Lor ds s sis owed to her Majesty, not as a favour, b ttt right, to examine the adverse case. In sP ea lf et of the whole case, before he entered into 81 0 , 1 to those details with which it would be his a d ti t trouble their Lordships, he must remark, t f ete e was impossible not to see, and seeing, f better to admit it, that the assumptio ° " Learned Friend who had preceded hilm o jeil that the whole case was bottomed and N d 0 4 in perjury, was correct. In his opini° ll l s for he fearlessly pronounced it, the grotto"' c lear convicting the witnesses of perjury, were al tha t and distinct as that he was addressing 16 or House. Was there any thing so imP ss j o e extraordinary - ' in this as to make it app ear g " r d°' light of a novelty ? Had they never b e to tti/ cases before, in this or any other c'ear the wherein witnesses presented i themselves ' t of sole purpose of wilful perjury ? W as o f tfr; novelty to those who had read the histeff coo ti human mind, a that ill-meaning, low- bred 4 ,j e'ere should have disposition to insult those the objects of their resentment or WI d r e( Pl could they not itnag,itte that Italy eo eta rabble a that descciption It was not alto it g e a A il' 5 : t' unexampled in the history of lattn a . li e sho -e o f that a person without any apparent m°t l o p/ io worship the rising surf without being g ot hio4 4 idolatry. But was this all—was there° v i r th' , 4 evidence by which it appeared that srha t ,„ e sth 3 w ,s situation was in their own country, the,' Toget.' it o felt convinced that they Would not g o ° w ed unrewarded, if they came forward to sw e at ieo a Princess who was the subject of persec dust \vi tt titu jt), 1: 4 kA, Id: