The Sun. — London, England, 1820-10-31 00:00:00

Se ' L y. ",e e,Xpetted they were iihOut to call Oldi, 2Lvuti, Hie ronymus, ,an d others,,,ea to answer the co ' a e ; " 4 ' 6 '4 stopped 'mid , osek. a different for a week devoted themselves eu to Yto t i .y s .by all means, regillaiand,iiregalar, ti .out this charge of conspiiracy,' which ul withtelY)hoiveyer, thy Were obliged to abandon th e . shame and confusion. Rut then'came atio;• thi ; : euarge, t h e sending away = Why, \V as. a fact well' knoWn hiS' , Learned W.,fl ends • As early as the 48th 'of 'September :it 04 7. Peublicly stated in another, place that he -was• ° ll ' the kingdom. Yet on a Subsequent day Mr. a nd S h atiril, with the greatest apparent simplicity cc w!nnoCence, sayB , to the Attorney-General— I nv L II You now put Hastelli to the bar:"-,--And be g told that Hastelli was uot'hiere to be pro anti the fire burst out, and all the fury of obser kas°t°s all the force of eloqUence, was pouredont on eon °ll's devoted head, and on the heads of those Learned Friends in the prosecution ; and one of his ut Friends charged on' those:Who sent him f rou With h av i ng sp i r i te d hi m awa y-to save him of Prosecution andpunishment for the perjuries P l ,, l ieh. it was assumed‘he waS .. guilty. Mr. 11.,: s ed Was called and eXaritined; to explain why , t i o --.. t eni was Sent away. He gave this criPlana vai li c but addition to this, Mr. Powell. was ti r to produce his correspondence with Mr. cor '''''9 91,1 this subject. It was prodiieedthis letters was found to consist of several b e :rs writle,, at a time when it could not-have 4 arl Possibly antiCipated that there would' be E xt , - irsiity to : prodnce them. Yet theSe letters. ce , a ` w ed the transaction beyond a probability a s ; us Phion. 'Colonel Brown had. been charged P r jheipal in this conspiracy ';'''and' the smi to. virtu ous innocent Mr. 'Omarti, was called sub stantiate this charge. The Learned Cowl- - 14 ' 1 than proceeded to comment' on the 'test i- CO u l l , ' of Omarti, and t asked what dependence he 'Placed on a charge supported by such C ede "co i 'lt was said that Colonel 'Brown • le aded to tare charge by the instructions he had l ea: ' • -for cross-examining Omarti. He would yi t : e again say, no such instruction had been l imi t ' . All the foundation of this cross-exand t,q,'°4 Was laid on a letter of Col. Brown's, writ -os'irhe time ago, relating the circumstance of th-tarti's visit to , him, and declaring his o p inion a j ul t he visit was' a planned Circumstance in con ',` et ;° ll with Codazzi. Yet, thus 'it was, that „ charge against the Commission at Milan was 4- 11 1 : 1 Po . rted. He ' had now, to the best of his fairly before through die evidence, and brought , ` e ar'ne'd before their Lordships' view. His e4s-arirca Friends, and himself, had perform -314 the 'task assigned them by their Lord r,,Ps) and had now to take their leave of this question ; and long and tedious as Cr laboUrs 'had been, painful AS was the t l jn -t Y theY had to perform, its pains and its la ai-urs had been greatly ameliorated by the co urtes y 1,1 kindness of their Lordships, whoSe a ttention arl reatly lightened their labours!; and to have ill'ljred deed,without acknowledging' this' fact, would, have been ingratitude. Never, he be v"ti, had a cause existed in any Court of Jus ticeD for which so great an interest had been ex ur in which a defendant had possessed fl are abl e a d voca tes. HerMalesty's Counsel had 4 1 114 'aled t o ' e very passion on het behalf ; they ' 1 (1 faithf u ll y an d w ell discharged their' duty to their illustrious client. He made no, complaint of 4 ' 41 ) but rather rejoiced thats her Majesty had 1 I ,7"essed d e fenders so powerful — p ossessin g ta j f i rtt s so rare. In the course of t heir address to ,hear, Lordships, his Learned. Friends had appeal ato every passion of human nature—the noblest 41 1 4 ' the basest ; to the basest of all passions— ,ee•Passion of fear. In that high and august As- A ti l44 l.)r—an Assembly composed of t h e P e ers of zaation, whose character was to despise all e • t ar l- his Learned Friends had attempted to.ex- One One. his Friends had told the ir Lord "Ps, if th e y' passed this Bill they would thereby `a l %lit an, act : of -suicide: Another (Mr. aj° ll gliam) had told their LordShips.t o p ass this at their peril. The . word peril hung_ long th ll ' t he lips of his Learned Friend;• it was visible 'every ont with what feeling he,uttered it, and , ate for,onefelt surprise ,beyond . expression that. Learned Friend should have given utterance: sentiment only calculated to injure his client. well . a e wasware their Lordships dared not do ._ 141: s tice ; but what jestice req uire d he' kn e w Y would do. But it was not at the Bar alone , l irLordships had heard this langaage , had threats 4' 4 also b een held out withoutside • the walls of lionsei to deter them from doing justice,— . ~;i v e" the name of her Majesty had been enrolled this cause, though he cou ld. not be l ieve a i s was with her knoWledge ; if it, was, she °, mast be arrayed against the Constitution, th- I tierarchy, a4ld every order of the State. .He • k n as vertain this was 'not done with liet.Majesty's cioali vi i (!ge, but by individuals,. who, under this "oped to conceal their own dark ale . signs ; l e .Could believe it 'was with her Majesty s :, °l 'l•edge, he must at the same ti me believe it .wish to overturn the Government. Their a'' ) ti ru •s • hips would look cantiously and impartially TL: e "id,ence for and against the:Bill . If, on "al investiaation, they should evenbe convinced t i ()ra llY of h er Majesty's guilt, yet if they sh o uld rrtk there'was not the . clearest legal proof, their p l°rdship s would.adopt the words of his Learned ti erld, and say to her . Majesty, " Go, and sin •••° '2','Qre." But if they should be satisfied, after -a c airn dispassionate 'consideration of . the whole: c ase, that gu ilt was ma de out so clearly as to le ave riot the possibility of doubt, kno win g the t r lbunal he was addressing, he was certain their i f i: Ti lships would p rono unce that verdict wit h the ; ' 4l nOiS consonant 'to the high and exalted station 11 vYni.l • cathey_were placed. ai.4fter a pause of a few minutes, t Baonca L tat said he on Friday sta ted that wo n letters of the Baron Ompteda had fallen, then pois j eS s lon, and said, he should have con , "ed himself as not doing his duty if h e did. to their Lordships to permit their con . iltts to be put upon their Journals, and that he sho uld tend er them. The time was now arrived f t ' r ' t aut. to make that tender, and he should, now state that he Consiaered this eithieke as adniiss sible on two grounds; first, as to the time of tea: fiering , il. • In - It•procegding:like; the present s 11-9 time previous to final judgment could b e toO late to tender evidence for the defence, subject to cross examination and rebuttal. He must next call their‘Lordships'.attention .to the way in Which this evidence was important. It brought home to Ompteda that _charge of. which his Learned Friends-observed-so much had been said and so little proVed. • They would fix him as an agent, one of the most active—if not one 'of - the most active, one oldie least scrupulous ; though it was diffi cult -to say who was. the. least scrupulous, when so -little scruple existed on any side. He was like wise one of the most anxious to obtain by any means any thing which he thonght he could by possibility twist to serve the purpose of the. cause iu which he was engaged. He would Prove that the Baron was engaged in con junction with a Police Officer; that lie managed the correspondence between Dathont and her sis -.ter, and that too at a time when Duniont was in the .very toils of the Milan . Commission. Ile vould ,prove that the Baron acted as the agent of Count Mupster, who was the Hanoverian Minister, and that he expressed hopes of bringing over Dumont's sister by Hieronymus, to the party. The Baron also alludes to her Royal Highness having lately got several Romaa, servants, and expressed great anxiety to be informed of . their names'; and asks all these questions with a bait of 1000 Louis - in tis.hand by way of-temptation.. These circum stances would account for his not calling Hiero nymus or Brunette. These proceedings were, he believed, Hanoverian, and the British Minis ters were alien in the business. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, this was a re petition on the part of his Learned Friend, of ail application the most extraordinary and unprece- . dented he had eve" . heard. If he possessed the talent and the power ot\expression, possessed by his Learned Friend, he might. indeed exclaim in his . words, " My Lords, is this a Court of jus tiCe'?" -His object was obvious : his Learned Friend's object was to get an . opportunity of making a:speech.; if such had not been his ob ject, he would have . contined his application to these supposed Letters being received,-and would not have indulged in the wide field of remark which lie had indulged in. It did happen that his Learned Friend's application .was made most unopportunely. It -was made at, a, time when their. Lordships had' permitted him to withdraw for a time in the course of his address. He shoUld submit, that even if they were admissible .evi,.; dence, they were tendered at too . late -a period. But he must now contend they were not ,admli- Sible evidence at all ; they were merelYthe . let ters -of Baron- Ompteda ; they might state that he was agent to . .the Milan Commission, and de tail how lie had conducted himself, yet 'they could not he received. The declarations of an individual could not be received, neither could his letters, which were only his writte n declara tions, reply to his Learned, Friend's, speech, he would say, allegations proved nothing. Here was not a -single word as to whom the letters were addressed, or -When, written. Mr. BnouquAm. , l,have no objection to give the dates, and read the letters.—(A: laugh.) The ATTORNEYZENERAL said, his Learned Friend's dexterity -might be-good for his client, but-he-objected that too much of the letters had been already read ;, and he 'would again repeat, they could not be received in evidenCe.. • Mr. BROUGHAM did not intend to take -any Advantage of his Learned Friend by this, appli cation.. The letters in question were dated, one, the 24th of February, 1810,, and the other, the 6th of April, 1810. With respect - -to the per son. to. whom they- were . addressed,, unless he. • might be allowed to call ~him as a wit ness, he should not, name KM to his . Learn ed' Friend. lie was, however, a . person' en gaged -in- the .P . olice of Pesaro, and might be said : to : belong to the home, Department of that State.--(A laugh.)—He had no wish to beyond the strict bounds of order and regularity in . his reply to 'his Learned Friend's objection, as he was not alarmed either, by the eloquence or fide lity with which:ills Learned. Friends had com mented on the evidence in their summing up. His Learned Friend had first accused him of hay ing. produced these letters at too late_a period:of the ,proceedings; but . afterwards he turned round, and accused him of coining too early. He had considered it his duty - to produce the letters before - their Lordships at the earliestperiod pos sible after they cams into his possession, if ,it was only to justify himself for not having called Ma riette, Hieronymus, and the other witness alluded to by his Learned Friend. had he, in arash mo ment, been led to do so, he might probably have seen them-turn round at the bar ; and whilst they were •nominally his witnesses, have become, -in reality, those of . his Learned Friend. ,He -contended he: had a right to produce these let ters, inasmuch as, by the evidence of Ma.;- jocci, Rastelli, Sacchi, and Hownam, he had proved Ompteda an agent of the. Milan Commis sion, and strewn Maurice Credi on his knees before the Princess beggin g forgiveness, and receiv in g pardon for the part he had taken iu this busi ness, by the direction of the Baron. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to read several passages from the evidence of Howriam, Majocci, and others, to:show how Ompteda was connected with the case. They might have called Credi to the charge against the : Baron, had they thought pro per. They had .not done so, and Credi was safe from him, as, whether he was in a Dutch fort, in the citadel at-Milan, or in the verdant depot at Cotton-garden, Mr. Credi was equally beyond . their reach. -He now called on their Lordships to receive this evidence on grounds that they could not resist, if they wished to ,administer sential- justice.. In the Courts below he , was ready to acknowledge .such evidence _would be refused, but their Lordships were not sitting as a Court of Law only ; and he would -ask, would their Lordships, whilst passing a private Bill, an ex post facto law, which was utterly to ruin an -individnal, and . which .was preferred for party purposes, and urged on the grounds of state ne- cessity, suffer thetiiselves to be prevented from going into full Inquiry by any such argument ? t The . ATTORNAY;•GEXERAL said, his Learned Friend had on this 'LIS Mi other Occasions, taken the opportunity of irregularly making a speech, and, had .tiot confined himself, as it was his duty as Counsel to do, to answering an objection to evidence. His Learned Friend was in the ha= bit of suiting' his arguments to his purposes most happily. When it suited him their Lord ships were to be bound .by no rules, restrain- - ed by no limits ; at other times their proCeed inos were to be confined strictly to, the 'rules of the Courts below. He contended no. grounds, had been laid to induce their Lordships to re= ceive' this evidence ; he should, however, •expe rience no alarm if their Lordships were to de cide in its favour. Ile denied, however, that on the evidence there was , any proof that, the Baron Ompteda was at all connected with the Milan Commission. It was true Credi was shown to be on his knees, begging pardon of her Royal Highness ; but it'did not appear for what. His Learned Friend had now, for the first time, in troduced the name 'of Hieronymus, and many other topics, which had nothing to do with this objection ; and he must again complain oftheir regularity of his "Learned Friend's conduct in this respect, who seized every opportunity of making a speech, whether regularly or irregularly, with avidity. The Loan CHANCELLOR said, the rules of the Courts below certainly were, that the Counsel should confine themselves. to observations strictly to cases cited ; but,. after five-and-forty years' experience, he had generally found them endea vouring to deviate from this rule, which was a rule founded. on sound policy, and the necessity of adhering to which could not but strike their Lordships on the present occasion.. Now, with respect to the admissibility of these letters, he was at a loss to know how they could be admit.. ted on the' evidence of what Maurice Credi had said ; for Maurice Credi had not been examined, nor could they tell what he would have said if lie had been examined by their Lordships. The testimony of one man as to what another had said only proved that man to have said it, but did not prove that it was true. Upon_ all the circum stances of the-case, he was decidedly of opi nion these' letters could not be received. by their Lordships in evidence. Lord CARNARVON thought the question was not as to what would be the course of proceeding in the - Courts below, but what was the character of these proceedings -before their Lordships ? Was it to be English or German ? He intended nothing personal to the Noble Earl opposite, but these proceedings had been principally-:made up by agents of the Government of Hanover, whose sovereign . tras . also sovereign of this country. He now understood . the measure was to be pressed forward, and he thought-they could not proceed a step further in this extraordinary Bill without thoroughly investigating every step. - He was decidedly of opinion they , should now, receive the evidence tendered : without which . they, could not thoroughly understand the conduct of the Milan Commission, or do that justice to her Ma jesty which, as Peers of Parliament, the country looked to thein for, • and which her Majesty had a right to expect at their hands. -The Duke of -HAMILTON was sorry his Noble Friend had sat down without making the motion which he now. -intended to. make. He had heard the various allusions made to the Milan Commis sion, and to Hanoverian agents, and he was sorry th'e Noble Earl opposite had not in the course of the several discussions upon them, taken an op portunity to disclaim Hanoverian agency and in fluence altogether. He could not but consider the Strict course of justice to he to receive these let ters, and he Would propose that the. letters be received, and should-take the .sense of the House Upon it. Earl GREY had originally objected to this course of proceedings, by a Bill of Pains and . Penalties, and entered his protest against it. That course of proceeding had however been adopted and persevered in for near 60 days ; and, during that time, they had as closely as possible adher ectto the rules of the Courts below. • The, ques tion now was, whether in the last 'stage of the pro ceeding they should depart from them. lie was of opinion no case had been made out to call on them now •to 'do so. The Courts, below certainly would not 'receive such evidence, and consistently with their whole course of . proceeding, lie should Oppose the present motion ; and, if. the House divided, vote against it. Lord CARNARVON was ready to admit, that, sitting as a Court of Law, their Lordships would be bound by the rules of the Courts below ; but sitting as a Legislative Body, bound to inquire into the policy of the measure, and sift it to the bottom, it was their duty to investigate every thing connected with it, and to inquire strictly if this was an English .or a German measure ; they could not assimilate this procee& ing to a proceeding in a Court of Law, to which it had no more resemblance than a parody would have to a classical performance. If the House 'were to depart from the principles of jus , - tice, and shelter itselfunder the hand of power, they might reject inquiry; but •if they were 'to come to a decision as a Court of, Justice, they could not give an honest vote, as Jurymen, with out the fullest investigation of every circum stance Connected with this extraordinary Bill: Before they proceeded further, he would call .on them to recollect that they were Peers.of Parlia ment; that the eyes'of the country .aril of, the wo rld w ere-turned towards them ; and that they would not be doing justice to the people or Eag land, or to their Queen, if they refrained ,cruut going into the fullest inquiry. Earl GRosvENolr was against receiving the evidence. They had adhered to the rules of the Courts below up to this period, and s h ou ld con tinue still to do so. Lord HOLLAND was already tired of this in quiry. His reasons lie had already stated, and would not-repeat them. lit was, however, against receiving this evidence for one reason only, which he would state, and Which. he trusted would prove satisfactory to the country ; that *as, his deter mination to vdtt against the Bill. This relieired him froni the necessity of further inquiry ; but or those Who' had riot 3o determined, ht was of opinion, . they. 6(141 not conscientiously vote, un less they opened the . 4.100 i to the widest inquiry. He was. already satisfied, and,.should-, when. the question was put, on conscientious and constitu tional motives, say, "Not Content?' on the mo- - tion for the second 'reading: • The Marquess_of, LANSDOWN must oppose,the, motion .for receiying these papers as evidence.— It was urged that it" Was necessary to inquire into' . the circumstances: " Connected with the Milan Commission. It might be So: He was ofopinion. It was so ; but it was one thing - to :say inquiry• was necessary, and another to'say that evidence,. which had nothing to de -- With the Bill now . before their Lordships, should, because it was eon- nected with the Milali Commission, be:received in this stage of the business. had understood: the Noble Earl (Liverpool) to say, that no Fo- reign Minister had been employed -in this in quiry, but that the whblerested With"the Milan Commission. After that declaration; the NoW Lord must be anxious for full enquiry ; but what everanxiety that Noble Lord might'' feel, it would not justify their Lordships in going into any investigation which must delay the decision of this Bill for an indefinite length of time.— lie did not feel that the evidence now ,tendered. could be 'read, , Without departing from the rule they had laid 'down for themselves ; that rule' was,indeed,attended with the same inconvenience which hung over every part of this proceeding.. lie had frequently adverted to these inconve niences, and should now only do so, to state his that on the second reading of the Bill ;hey.would entitle her Majesty to all the advan-, Cages which the House cotilitgive her. The LORD CIIANC'ELLOR again put the ques= tion, and declared that the Non-Contents had it. The Duke of HAMILTON pressed a division. Strangers were ordered to withdraw, and in u few moments word was brought out to the Re porters, that the numbers were — For receiving the letters Against it.. 143 The House was then adjourned to Thursday next THE LETTERS OF BARON OMP,TEpA. ROME, FEB. 4 24, 1819. SlR—Convinced of your amiable complaisance, of which you have already given decisive proofs, I venture to ask a. favour of you. It is my wish that the enclosed letter, written by the late Swiss femme de chambre, Madame Dumont, to her relative, who is still in the service of the Princess (and who, accord log to the Address, is called Marlette Bron, although I be lieve that she is also called Dumont), may be delivered ac cording to the direction which I have received, that is to say. into the hands of Bron herself, without the knowledge of the Princess and of her confidante, who intercept all letters ad dressed to persons of her suite. Yon will doul►tivss find means of conveying the letter to the girl without her linoiving that -- • . the authorities of Pesaro have had any thing to do with it, and also without her learning that it has 'passed through'iriy hands ; .and it would be well, perhaps, to lead her to suppose that the letter was sent from Bologna. The person wh6 da ncers it to her should offer to take charge of her answer, which you would be good enough to tionstuit to me, and which I shall forward according to its Address. ,What i doing with you? I Iniihe nu doubt of the buitle and trouble wkich the length of the. Princess's fatiguing visit Occasions. . • • Use your endeavours, therefore, to make her embark, and try to persuade her that it is absolutely false that the Englisil Gentlemen propose to conic and find her at Pesaro. 1 learn that that snpposition induces her to delay her departure, aiel .1 think that in this manner she might wait a long time..die assured, Sir, how alive I am to all your proceedings; and be lieve me, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem, Your very humble and obedient servant, D'OMPTEDA, Minister of Hanover. P. S. Is Hieronymus, the Maitre d'Hotcl, still with,tbe Princess ? and do you think that he still is attached to her ? To Monsieur la Chevalier Bischi,• Director-General of the Police at Pesaro. • ROME, MARCH 6, 1819. Addressed to Mt n *tear la Cheralier Bischi, Director-General of the Police of l'e,nro. have received with much gratitude your lines o; the QSth, and regret extremely the embarrassment and the trouble imposed upon you by the favour which I requested •of you.. I hasten, in consequence, to tell you that I decide for the mea sure which you propose in intrusting the letter to a'person of your acquaintance who would hand it to Mad. 8., without enjoining any other secrecy than that the delivery of it may not be seen by the family of the Baron. If Hieronymus were to see it, I do not think that there would be much danger. The essential point is, that the girl should he informai . of thc contents. If afterwards, hr any follror :treachery, it-'should. come to the knowledge of the I'lincess, the misfortune would not be great. We must endeavour . , however, as much its , p'a3- sible, to avoid such an inconvenience. I desire only that the person whom you may choose to execute the commission should have sufficient address,and inspire sufficient Confidence, to enable him to deliver the answer which Maclaine return to the letter in question, and in respect to which I arts anxious, that it, should pass through my hands. ' It appears to me that the attempt of the English at Milan rests : on a very false conjecture. have the goodriesi to tell .me, your opinion of it, as well as of the illspositidhs of M. .oliTieri, towards the Princess, whose service he quits. What opinion is to be formed of Vassali ? I learn, likewise, that ~several new Roman servants have been received, whose names •, : I. should be curious to know. Exense all the trouble to which I put you; not being able to testify to you sufficiently bow grateful lam fur the • pi oufs of your zeal, and fur the kindness of the person Who has procured me so interesting an acquaintance. With sent.,- , men u o f the sliest perfect esteem, 1 have the h""F to he ' Sir, youevery humble and obedient servant, D'ONIIqEDA. The Brewers of Oxford have at length _reduced the prices of ale froni 91. 12*. to 21.; and . strong .. fre'er front 31. 10 s• to 31. per barrel, in consequence of •vetiitili•Alle publi cans have lowereiltbe.rctail price of ale from tid . . to. sd. ;• and strong beer from ad. to 73.. per . quart. It is 139tected, front the great rednetion in the priceof - malt ttnd hops, that it will L be still tower. • • veri ;fir• an~~ ti dal nt i° ii e fej i n ar in de Tas ;o, 'all ar