The Sun. — London, England, 1820-11-28 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Nov 27. TUE KlN'q. J. Silt EItANCIS BURDETT, BART. The,Court ,pronotteced judyneet this naorning - upon the motion made in this iltiportant case for a lie* trial. As there was 'a diiision in -the Court Ipciti• the question, the Judges delivered their Each of their.Lordshiys was most erudite.and elaborate in the• exposition of 4 reasons for the opinion he pronounced. The curse thus adopted, necessarily occupied a sitierahle portion of the day : ----nearly four hours. the Lord Chief Justice, Mr: Justice Holroyd, itn`'d Justice:Best were of-the same opinion, liTed Mr. Justice Bayley was dissentient. ,Mr. 44itiCe Best being the junior of the Puisne i.tad t les pronouned his opinion first, and he was fo.llOAred by his' Learned Brethren in succession, a.c'cgriling to Seniority, , and the Chief Justice sl-;,-)1,6 last. The Chief• Justice and Mr. Justice tkoiroyd delivered their• respective opinions in 1:, - 41iting-;.. and Mr. Justice Batley and Mr. Jus- tie _ Best 'delivered • their's orally. The latter vls eloquent, declamatory, and forcible. ; From the very great length into which their rdships entered upon the subject, it is impos sible to,give in, detail each opinion. The reasons twigned by the majority of the Court for refus themew trial, were concurrent and similar in eery respect. It will therefore be necessary only to give a succinct recital of the principal points decided, and the grounds upon which they ere foiinded. -There. were. four leading objections. to. ,the verdict a's- recorded. First—That there was bo . rvldence that the alleg , ed libel was pub ihhed Leicestershire.. Second—That the publication having taken place : in Middlesex, v 1 ere the crime. of libel was completed, the venue ought to be laid_ there, for in misde- meanours theindictment can only be tried where the offence is complete, and not ,where it haS commenced. Third—That evidence was impro perly rejected, .Would have gone to prove the truth of the facts, upon which the libel, which . was a mere commentary. upon, those facts, was fuutided ; and fourth—That the charge to ,the Jury, on the, part of the Learned Judge, was partial and..unjtp.l. As to the',question, whether the mere writing of a libel, without publication, was an offence; the " Court declined to give any , oplitionolie question not being necessarily raised in this case, for there was here. in fact, a4u6li cation. 'Tie Learned Judges who were of opi- Itiort that no new trial ought to be.,„granted,- ad= dyessed thernsov,es: entirely to the four pointz! above-mentioned, As to the first, the j- ruled that there. was sufficient evidence to go to the Jury of publication, and that the Jury had drawn a just and proper conclusion from the facts given. in evidence.. The objection taken in argument against the presumption of guilt 'without 'facts to• support -it, did not apply to this case, be-. cause there were facts gi'Ven in evidence from which a reasonable . presumption that publica tiOn in .Leicestershire had taken place must be drawn. Publication, in its legal sense, did not necessarily import a corrumlnication of the con tents of a written paper to another. The mani festation. of its contents was snfficient to satisfy the legal sense of the .word publication., in this -sense wai to, be taken the publication of a or an award ; in neither of which cases was it ever supposed that the : testator or the arbitrator‘com municated the contents of his testament or award at the time : of publication. Both the Civil Law and the Law or England. were concurrent in this sense of the word. The. facts of this case corn irlefely Pore out this definition, even supposing the popular meaning of, the word publication aid not apply to-it. But in this• latter sense the case Was made out, for it was quite evident that the letter containing the libel must have been deli %ered in the county of Leicester, unsealed, to Mr. Bickersteth, by whom it was transmitted . to Mr. Brooks. Supposing, .however, that. the let tcr was .sealed, still the putting it ,into( the post admitting that to have been the -fact, would of itself - be a publication as far as the de fendant was concerned, inasmuch as by that act it was .no longer under his controul—he had no peniteirtkr to retire ' to— the envenomed arrOw was shot, all the mischief intended was effected. These. were the facts upod-Which the, .presumption of guilt was founded.. This was the pritha facie evidence of criminality, And the cares probandf lay upon'the defendant to rebut the necessary inference arising from-it, as it was in his, power to have done, by calling Mr.. .Bickersteth . (of whom the CroWn knew nothing,) to shew An what manner•and under what circum ,Ntanceg the letter' came into his possession.; It ,was - quite absurd to say, that guilt could. not be • preinmed, when once. the facts from which. guilt .could be presumed were.made oat: True -it was theta foundation must be laid, by shewing that in fact a crime was committed before thequestion a rose upon whom the guilt wasio 'be attached. was the-principle invariably acted upon from all tirne, even .in treason', the highest crime known to thelaw, in murder, !:obbery. and every species of ' felony: If this were trot so, it would be utterly impossible, in ninety=nine cases out of a hundred, to bring-home guilt to, the Most atrocious offe.n . (refs . ,- because such', crimes' were generally com-: • ,:uatied. in secret,—obvious to no human eye—ma nifest.bv no decisive actyand therefore could only be'discovered 'by circumstances- froth which the guilt of the party could be presumed., -For-these reasons the case had been well left to I . he Juryi . to" dta4 - 'the cbiiclusion aye or no, whether a pub-. liCit tion had taken place in Leicestershire. Then, -se?ond,assinning that puliliCation;in the popular or • • 'legal sense iifthe word ,hadn tA.takenplace•in'that wasVie4ndictinent . propt6y laid there? Thiideventleil'uport the gnestii)n, whether it was, ecessa'ry• that the wholobf the offence of" writing; composing, and publishing," must be shewn to have taken place in that county. Their Lord /Akins were cleArly of opinion that these were all several and separate acts, and the proof of any one of them having been Committed. in Leicester shire, was sufficient to give jurisdiction to -a Jury of that county over the .Ofrenee., This they rated to be a sound position law, after much consi deration of all the Authorities which had been cited in, argument, and was the rule applicable to all cases of misdemeanour, in contradistinction to that which bad obtained in cases of felony, where the offence could only be tried in the county, where it was_ complete and final in its result. Here it was not disputed that the defendant wrote the libel in Leicestershire. That fact be- ing established was sufficient to giVe a jury of that county cognizance of the whole offence, and what afterwards took place as incidents and par cel of the offence, in pursuance thereof, in an other county, might well be inquired of by that Jury.. Then 'as b: the rejection of evidence to prove the truth of the facts upon - which the libel was supposed to be founded, they were clearly of opinion that such - evidence was utterly inad missible. According to the established princi ple, founded upon a current of the most unq ue s:. tionable Authorities, the truth of a libel prose cuted criminally, could never be given to purge a defendant of guilt ; . but in this particular case, the injustice of admitting such evidence must be appa rent to time commonest uuderstanding. For; what would have been the tendency of such evidence ? %\ hy, to show that persons,. not upon their trial, were guilty of the atrocious crimes imputed to, them in the libel. To suffer this would be the height of impropriety ; and subversive of every principle Of justice. -But supposing - the evidence tender ed, had been admitted, would it have the effect of negativing-the Malice of the libel in other parts? Would it have, justified that part of tl libel which talked of "a reign of terror and of blood ?" Would it have shewo the veniality of other parts of the writihg e - qoally ,offensive - Certainly it would' not, .and therefore the•atimlS'Sion of such evidence would have - fallen so far short of its ob ject, as to' leave the defendant still criminally liable. Lastly, as to the charge of the Learned 'Judge, it appeared to them that the observations complained of :were perfectly: jitstiffahle, • and such as all their Lordships would have made under the like circumstances. . Indeed, it ap peared to them that the case had been left to the Jury in a manner the most favourable to the de fendant. For all these reasons the . Afendant was clearly ,not entitled to a new trial. Mr. justice 13,A Y LEY concurred in general with the rest. of the Court in What had been said, as to the admissibility of the .evidence rejected, and as to the charge of the._ Learned Judge-to the Jury upon the law and the-facts of the case. The difficulty he felt, and which, from tl*, first to last, he had not been able to overcome, was, as to the direction of the• Learned Judge respecting the publication' of the libel in- the county of Leicester. This Was a. technical objection be yOnd all doubt, not- at all interfering with the merits pf the case.; but whether a technical ob jection or not, it was such an, objection, as upon the most careful consideration, he was not able to get over. Ale should be falling from that which was his duty as a Judge, if he did not avow that opinion, and give the defendant the full benefit of it whatever it might .be. It ap peared to him that there uas no peinuz facie case made out, from which the presumption could be drawn that the libel had been published in any rational sense, in the county of Leicester. lie fully admitted the right to presume guilt from facts Once 'established ; but here there were no facts proved Which . could justify such presump tion. It was the duty of the prosecutors'to have gone much farther; they, should have culled Mr. Bickersteth to supply the deficient link in the chain of evidence, in Order to shew under what circumstances the libel was delivered to him by the defendant. WithoUt i therefore, consider ing the question whether the fact of putting away a sealed letter, was in law a publica tion, he was of opinion - that the . defendant was entitled. to have lhad the sircumstances left to the Court ,by the Learned Judge, put into the shape of a, special verdict, in order that lie might have the benefit of alwrit of error.. This he was deprived of,; and on this ground he thought the case ought to,gobefore anotherjury. But he was not at present prepared to say r that the mere fact of Putting a sealed letter into the'Post Office was a publication. This. was at least a doubtful point, and the cases upon which the position was founded were Nisi Plias decisions,-and had never Undergone a solemn review. His Objection to the verdict, however,' did not stop here. It appeared to him that pAlishing and writing was one entire offence, and, consequently that proof. ,of writing only in Leicestershire, would not be . sufficient to give a . Jury of that county cognizance of • the Offence. This was his;bpinion, after the best consideratiOn. lie could see no distinction between misdeMeanours and felonies in the appliCation of this principle, and after his Lordship had gone through an elaborate examj mation Of the cases upon ,this subject, Itee-xpreSs ed-himSelf clearly of Opinion that the defendant was entitled to a new trial. _ , The majority of the .Court being therefore agaiust the application, the ,rule. for anew . trial was discharged. The SorAcrrort GENEnAr;theniese, and said, that the counsel for thes Crown having. dispeiiseil, with the-attendance of. the,defendant (hiring the discuSsionof the motion for a new trial, it pro bably. wonld not be expected Mat he should be called tap for. judgment this 'term, not having, had any notice upon the subject. . • jus'rtctHrt was so understood., and' therefore he cannof be called upon this " • - • DlTious THE W.U.LTAAI GREATJIEAD The SoLtcprort,,Q..t;NEßAL prayed the judgment of the-Court upon this defendant, a bookseller of . COVentry, who : was convicted at the last Aisizes, for the County. of 11.rarwick, before Mr: JtistiCe: Best, for publishing a seditious libel, Concerning the transactions of Manchester in August, 11819.• - The defendant, who was without Coungel, put in affidavits, which complained of undue prac tices in the Crown Office, as, to tie mode of 44 picking, packing, or selecting" the Jury by whom he Ivo tried. lie urged, in mitigation, the fact that he was not the original publisher of the libel in question, for that it had been copied from a pamphlet Published in London. He then ktddreksedttt , e cgto':itt a ktroug;,boldttd ener - getic manner, in institicktion of the Purity 1f his. -sentiments, the integrity of his conduct, and the .detefmination with which he was disposed to brave every consequence in the avowal of those political and constitutional opinions in which he had beeit reared ; and declaring_ that he should consider himself guilty of baseness and pusilla nimity, if tie deprecated the pity or mercy of the Court by any hypocritical disavowal of his -senti thents. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL left the case in the hands of the Court, with this simple de claration, that the Officers of the Crown knew nothing of the pamphlet alluded to by the de fendant ; for if they had, they - would have felt it to be their imperious duty to prosecute . the author. The Court, after deliberating for a few mi nutes, passed as their judgment upon the defend ant, that he should pay a fine to the King of 501., be imprisoned in Warwick gaol for two years, and at the expiration of that time, to enter ;nto security for his- good behaviour for five years, himself in 2004, and two sureties in 1001. each. TILE KING V. EDMONDS. • -.On the application of the defendant, the judg ment in this case, fora libel by default, was post poned until next Tenn, the defendant undertak ing to give security for his good behaviour in the mean time. THE KING , V. 'WOOLER, C.kaTWRIGHT, MADDOX, AND OTHERS. In this ..case 'a rule to shew cause why there should not - be a new trial was obtained by Mr. Denmau - but it appeared the rule had not been drawn up, arid' the Court allowed _argument to stand over to the first day of next Term. TO CORR ESPONDENTS. As we were prerr.nted on Saturday last, and have been since, front insetting the next Number of that valuable series of Articles on HOLY Orin Ens, which it is °kr wisbalWays , to • insert on that day, that our Country Readers may devote due attention to the subject on . the•Stinday, we shall now defer it _till Saturday next,. and endeavour to assign the same day to the remaining parts of this interesting and • important discussion. PRICE OF STOCKS . TIItS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Bank Stock • 11 9 s per Cent. Red... 681 69 (38 g 3 per Cent. Cone : 69iAi India Stock '225 2241 ntlia Bonds .... '24s. 455. pr. Old Annpilies fiBai 31 per Cent. ,__ . .- 73 4 per Cents BG-4 4: ner Ct. Nary Ann.....105ii Bank Long Ann l7i Bills, 4ti 2s. Ss. pr. Oinnium . Cons. for Opening .. 70L-1 70 HIGH WATER AT LONDI Itl9rning. 43 innutt:s aftrr 8. BRIDGE TO-MORROW. Erenine. 10 unitiirs - Ilf ter 9 THE SUN. SOLEM QUI'S DICERS FALSUIII ,lUDE.4T? - LONDON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER ‘2B, 1820. It was yesterday:Neported that wiser and less interested Counsell6:,) tlian Sir RonEit WILSON, Alderman: WOOD, and others of the innovating breed, had dissuaded THE Quuxfrotn.persever ing in her intention to disturb the peace of the Metropolis to-morrow, by her Visit to St. Paul'i. he inconvenience and injury which a vast por tiou of the people will suffer' by this unnecessary parade are deeply to be deplored.. The Bankers in general have required the pa - yruent this day of Bills not due till to-morrow, -..and it is evident that grievous difficulties may be the result, as people, who may be fully able to discharge such demands to-morrow, may find it absolutely im possible to be prepared for them to-day. All the shops in the line of the Procession, -and in most of the adjoining. streets, must unavoidably be closed against the ruffians who expect to reap harvest on this ostentatious and dan- This mischievous parade is not gerous occasion. necessary to confirm the opinion of those who are favourable to her cause, if the, evidence does not ratify them' which has satisfied a vast majority of the House of Peers, to say nothing of those of the community who entertain the same moral conviction of her guilt, who are, doubtless, in the . „sarne propoCtion'amongthepeople - • .at -laige.',Bitt on the other hand, those who pause on the proof of her incontinence, may see so much danger in her conduct as to be induced to indulge less favourable -sentiments. And . alBo, those who are convince . TOf:ller -guilt will think' that she'is; adding,the"inost 'daring blasphemy to the ,Most shameless wantonness, and will expect from a sUperintentlint Yrovidence that some signal in= stance of punishment will attend so horrible an appeal.to Divine J uAice. It is, not yet too late for her to yetreat, and none but the vain find the . wicked will feel disappointment that-so alarming an intention has been wisely laid aside. We - received this morning the Paris Papers o: Saturday last.—The following are extracts : " PARIS. Nov. 23.—Yesterday the King gave private an i.iences to M. Pozio di Borgo, the Russian. Minister Pleni i-Mtentiary, and to the Dult of Hamilton. His Majesty of tfrWaids transacted husiness with the DalQ de Richelieu., ' • ELECTION OF DEPUTIES. • 'DEPARTMENTAL CbLLEGES. . Avryron-Al. Charles de tAnstuejouls. . La Lozeue—M Iten6 de Berni . s. " General Rapp is stated to be appointed Aid de Camp to the King. (From the Gazette de Fralce.) " Madrid has been the Theatre of an insurrectional move. meat, which lusted from the I6th to the !sib inst. The no. ruination of General Joseph Mari?sCarrajel to the Vs t o , Governor of Madrid, and of New * Castile, instead (4 General Vigo let, was the muse of it. , The 'pretext '66:t that this nomination, which • was writt-en by tbe kl i O s hand, was not countersigned by a Minister: The V- P i pie flocked' its crowds to Vis kh place of the Sittings o the Cortes, where the permanent Deputation bad assenitile on the 16th at nine inAbc,evening, and called for the con; vocation of the Extraordinary Cortes. The Deputation 1) 61 a Sitting, at -the dose of which, a letter was sent to hi' r ' l ef 3 : jesty by an Extraordinary Courier, to inform him of th e , fervescence ,which he appointment of General Ca tvajac?3' produeed. Things remained in this state tell the next dal. / the agitation seemed to increase every instant; it was ko °ll , that the Ministers had sent Extraordinary Couriers to all Provinces, and this step augmented the disquietude. di "At half-past four a Deputation of the People pre sente Petition to the Municipality, sopplicating them to 34dre ; the permanent Deputation of the Cortes, for the ptar' e . assembling the Extaortlinary Cortes. The people *litto with impatience the reply to the communication of the D 4" ... puties of the evening before. ' • • that tb 4 " At 7, a Deputy presented himself to announcer • thg Deputation had received a very satisfactory answer fro? King. It purported, that his Majesty, in ,destining GO ' he Carvajal to the post of Captain-General of New Castile , , lieved that the nomination would be conformable to wishes of the people, but hating seen with surprise, th e° pt, quietude which it ,had caused, he only desired to do should be more conformable to the Constitational.q ttel* - His Majesty, therefore, directed his Ministers to pr01*L 44. 6 7 i . him three persons, worthy of the public con&d.encer to the situations of Captain-General of New Castile, Chief of Madrid, awl Inspector-General of Militia , th e thr .00 4. persons who occupied these posts having bzen now' Councillors of State. a „d • st " His Majesty added, that his prolonged stay at the ri had no other motive than the state of his health, and as s' A as. that was re-established, he would return to the Cart to tranquillize its inhabitants. - • o ple " This intelligence produced a calm, and the P e "' t , paraded through the strLets to the sound of instruvien to make it known through the whole city. " The 16th the Government had adopted meas ures.. 11 : whole Gat : l - ism' were under arms, and 400 men of ' th e .$ 1 !: tiunal Guard had been called for to maintain the P ub : tranquillity. The. Municipality of Madrid, On the 17th, a Proclamation to the inhabitants, AO "'Several couriers from Madrid passed through Bor - A 1 4.0 the 22d ; one of them,, who left Madrid the Stir, reports fur several days a ferment prevailed amongst the re'l li ; and that at length it broke. out in the night of ta le 17t 4 in front of the Town I.e, .the people amid sticat6 Long live the King—The Constitution for ever—liter'"ln4. ing an extraordinary assemblage of the Curies, arta l u, a ; return of the King to Madrid. Groupes of persons theil to the houses where iron chains were kept,, and broke th e°. It appears that the disorder w.ai , not carried further. tv oi Time cobrier brought an address from the Municipa l '" 41- Madrid to . the Kink, complainingbf time apprehen s ions 0' ed by the - continued absence of his Majesty. . . Welearn, that the CoUrt of Tosoa4lias refused t °f c. cognize the new-Neapolitan Consul, ‘'rti_O had been. WI Leg horn.—(Gazsttede France.) FIVE PER CENTS. Friday L. 50 c. DEFERRED STOCK. Of the 22d Sept. ISO 93 f. 55c. 44 VIENNA, Nov. 15,r—Three of our most experience d(' nerals have received orders to proceed to take commands 1° the Ariny'Of W INDscat,Nov • 26.—,His MAstsTy at his Cottage in Windsor Park yesterdaY'; This the King, accompanied by his 3 s t tendants in waiting, attended , Divine: Servic e „ St. G-eorge's Chapel, where his Majesty wasi °l , - „: ed •by his Royal. Sister, the - Princess Aug,u s accompanied by her Lad V . in Waiting. Au : e ' r , , cellent Sermon was preached by the• Rev. Stopford, the Canon in residence, from the ` 24 t o. chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and the 1 6 0 , verse. Ms Majesty was received on bis e r trance to the Chapel by .the.R,ev. DNo rs. rtn i : Champagney, Heath, &.c.- The Reverend ,G e , o , tlenten also attended his - Majesty, - at'The' sion of the Service, and his retirement front Chapel: His Majesty appeared in - excel le d, health. The 'congregation crowded 'the 0 311 4 His Majesty accompanied the Princess. Aug tv fee from the Chapel to her residence at FrocrlsOlyi where he spent the afternoon with her I°s Highness, and dined with the Princess. Yesterday morning,at half-pa S-t eleven o 'cloc s t the KING arrived in his travelling chariot °i I.' , four, with out-riders, at his Palace in Pall -013 0 i escorted by a party of the 10th Regiingot Light. Horse from Windsor. _ . . 10 On Saturday last the KING sent a blessig -. _,l r - Lord GRENVILLE, and the,. Noble: Lord ~,,ii h forthwith an audience óf his MAJESTY, 0114-. lasted for an. hour and a half. - W understand, that in consequence of the • t peated outrages and street- robberies. which h i 4 .1 1, recently taken place, Lord StomouTti he s t i bt creased. the force:under the .coraniand. of Magistrates df the different Police. Offices * o f considerably, and that octive*.precaution s fre • taken to prevent, as much' as poSsible, the of quency of-such robberies,' Jo' which the Fr i e s season of the year is always favourable.—( 3lfil inb Paper.) Letters froth Vienna, dated Nov. 16, stag" Intelligence had arrfted there from Trol'i i a that the deliberations of the_ four Sovereign s : 1 .: 0 5 assumed a more - pacific 'form; that the tle sl ol against Naples were to be abandoned;. „ l ' o ei, so far from disturbing the tranouillity of t.: l - 11 ', ''ei t their efforts would he solely directed to th e means for its preservation." There has been a partial illumination - at .J. fries, which was preceded by i 4 o . rne curious l' as o f bills on different sidei. • • One from a socie t.l ,,, ladies is bold and carious : -it was as follov.vs ' " KOTICE.—THF: FENIALY, BENEVuLENT f;OCIE VYO Hare determined not, to nuhnate in honour Of 3 µnoo. who is adi race to her sex ; therefore, if any of th e; ' r ieti; dows are When, they•will repair them out of the 5',,,0e0" funds ; and they will, to-morrow, dismiss their charity'' in which they have educated 150 poor children for nine 04 0 ; gratis; and they will also stop giving 401. yearly " 05 0, 4 ' poor'families in distress.. Therefore, let the mob ca bcfo", well, why they will deprive th e Oar of such a blesbinP, • they throw a stone." Il it VI tio v , 1 ' 14 iavc. t apt B h Li hi 414 i