The Sun. — London, England, 1803-02-10 00:00:00

THE .4‘- • , I ' 4 lll l 14. 4" 1 11) 1! " 6 1 , •t 4 # '-‘"- 41) • / 4 4 "tv • 434(1. :fllkt - NIIMBR R " 4 4 ) • 7,11 URSD.IY, FEBRUARY 10, 1803. [PRICE SIXFNeIi. SPECI,4L COMMISSION. .NEW COURT-Roust, SOUTHWARK. Second Du—Madly, Feb. 7. ThE Judges having taken their seats, and the Court being opened at nine o'clock in the morning, Colonel Despard said—" Before the business commences, or rather proceeds farther,' am anxious to do away some unfounded aspersions, lest they might have an injurious impression on the Jury ; ?o4 they arise trom certain libellous publications withrespen, to me —.;--"• The LORD CRIEP Jusrrcz answered- 7 " At prqsent there is no Jury called, and you have no ript to address the Court upon the subjed of any injurious impression made upon the Jury. Neither have you, at any time, a tight to make the obser. Various which you now appear to be launching.". Aldorman Ilibbert addressed the Court, with a liew of being excused from serving on the Jury, 'nn account of his being obliged to attend to the a d. ministration of justicein the City as a Magistrate ; and o b serve d , that his residebee" in the County. of . Sauey was occasional, and it would be severe upon himself, and other Magistrates in the same pre. dicatuent, to be obliged to attend, from..such bccasional residence ; that the Lord Mayor and other Aldermen were in a similar situation, and 'fie trusted the Court would excuse him from serv. i ngz,uppn public ground s . the Lobo CUM' jusTrcr said, that the Public Fete indebted to these worthy Magistrates for the share they had in the administration of justice, and entertained every wish to accommodate them, but the points rested upon by the worthy Magistrate, Ivere of minor importance to the duty to be now discharged in that Court. However, the Jury Should be called over, and if it could be formed without calling upon the worthy Magistrate, they Would be ready to excuse him. The Clerk, of the Arraigns then proceeded to call over the names of the Jurors, when. the following Gentlemen, were sworn in, after a number of chal. lenge s had taken place ; Grant Allen, Esq. , William Dent, ot Battersea, ESii• William Davison, of Clapham, Esq. Gabriel Copland, of Clapham, Esq. Nr. William Cookson, of Gainsford-street, Soutolmark. ).Ir. oleo Farmer, of Southwark. Nr. oho Collinson, of G rave l-l ane , Ch r i st Ch urc h . t Mr.lames Webber, of Surrey-road, Christ- Church. Mr. filbert Hancliside, of Greerv-wallt, Christ Church. Mr. John Raymer, of Bankside. Mr. Peter Dobree, of Clapham., M r . john Fired, of Geme.street, Lambeth Matsh. Mr. Robert Dent, who it appeared did not claim his privilege of exemption from age, to which he w.is entitled, being above 70, was, by consent of both parties, excused. The Clerk then proceeded to read the Indictment, 'which is very long, but was in substance as fol. lows :—That the Prisoner, together with c e r t a i n 'Ott persor s therein : named, on the loth of No. "other last, did conspire, &C. compass and ima. gine, &e. the 'death of our Sovereign Lord the. King. The first Overt.ael wait, that the Prisoner, With certain other persons, on the above day, did en. &avow to seduce certain - Soldiers therein named, and divers other Subjeds of our Lord the King, and• to persuade them with force and aims, to seize and destroy the Person of our Lord the King. The second Overt.at was, that the Prisoner and others, on the same day, did conspire, consult, combine, agree, &c. to administer Certain unlawful Oaths to divers persons, tending to 'bind them to certain unlawful Associations, with . intent to sub. Vert the Government of 'this gealm, as by Law established, &c. and to destroy the King. The thirdADvert.ati was, that, they had secretly endeavoured to obtain and procure, and in their custody to have and keep; divers cards, &c. con. tainiog an oath, engagement, and so forth; for the purpose of binding certain persons to such unlawftsi associations, &c. with intent to administer to such Per Sons the said certain oath, engagement, &c. and that, by the said oath, engagement, and so forth, the said Subjelts should .become Members of such Asiociation ; for the purpose of subverting the uvernment of this Realm,, as by Law established, 4C. and to murder the King. The fourth Overt.a4t was, that the Prisoner did a thninister, and cause to be administered to Thomas flake and others, such oaths; &c, &c. • The fifth Overt-aft was, that the Priloner, with ethers, did meet, conspire, , co n su l t , agr e e, &c, to lay in wait to assassinate and murder the King. The sixth Overt-AO was, that the Prisoner, and others, did malici ous l y , traitorously, der. meet 'and consult with others,. for the purpose of attacking the. tank -of England, and the King's Tower ot Ic cindon; in order the moroeffatually to fight with, iil:and.des tro y, the Forces, and other liege S u b. Jqts of our Lord the King, and to raise insurrec tion. and It Anllion within the•Kingdorn. Tice seventh Overt.att was, that the Prisoner, .with others, did 'Secretly, traitorously, &c. meet, vitiSult,' and agree, to procure and obtain means to ;destroy the King. The eighth Overt-ail charged was, that the `,Prisoner did meet and agree, that divers. of them on a certain day, when the King should go to meet the , Parliament, lie :in' wait to . attack and shoot the King, and that they should surround and trice themselves masters of the House of Parlia anent, and should' sei;e, on the Bank of England, *ln d the Tower of London, and seize Magazines, &e. in the neighbo ur ho o d tondon ; to arm them. ,selves, in order to fight with and kill the Forces of the King, arid others who should be true to the King ; that they should stop anti detain the Mail ,Coaches, &c. and prevent them from setting out,. arid, according Ito a signal of attack, to 6 14te. a Rebellion, &c. against the Statute, and against the King'i Peace, &c. A second Count stated, that the Prisoner, and others, &c. oh the same day, maliciously, traitor. ously, &c. did conspire, with intention to imprison and restrain the Person of the King, and'did ex. pressly utter and declare such intention, by divers ads and deeds, stating the said Overt-ads and deeds as evidence' of such intention, &c. A third Count set forth, that the Prisoner, toge. ther with others, did conspire, &c. to depose the King, and to deprive him of the Kingly Name, and Imperial Crown and Dignity, &c. of this Realm, and then stated the said Overt.aas as proof of such intention. On which IncliCtment the Defendant had been arraigned, and pleaded Not Guilty; and the Charge to the Jury was, to inquire whether he was Guilty or Not Guilty of the said Charges, &c. It was then agreed between the Counsel for the Prosecution and the Prisoner, that the Wit. nesses should be examined separately, with the ex. ception a certain Honourable PersOnei4rhirvrere permitted to remain in Court. Mr.ABLIOTT opened the Pleadings. Mr., ATTORNEY GENERAL proceeded to state the caste to. the Jury, in the course of which he Ob. served, it was obvious that attention was excited iii proportion to the importance of the subjeCt, and he could not permit himself to entertain a doubt, the Jury were already sufficiently acquainted with the nature of their present inquiry ,to induce them to attend to hiS statement of the Case, and much more to the Evidence which he should lay before them upon this occasion, which was certainly of the most solemn nature, both as it regarded the Gentleman at the Bar, . and the Public at . large. In either sense, no question of greater importance could be presented to a judicial examination ; for, ii was an inquiry into the guilt 'or innocence of a per. sop, on a charge of High Treason. As to the Prisoner at the Bar, they were aware, that his ho. *flour, his fortune, every thing that ,was valuable to him in life, and even his life itself was at stake. As it respetted the interests of the Public, nothing certainly could be more important, since it involv— ed the question of an attack, immediately and di, realy against the best interests of the Public, in the Person of our beloved Sovereign ; and if such a crime, or a conspiracy to commit it, could be proved to have existed, it was essential that the punish. mein of th:::Law should be put in force ; and nothing could be more wise than what the Law had enaded for our general defence in that respeCt. He 'was ready to admit, in'behalf of the Prisoner at the Bar, that a person charged with a criThe of this nature, ought to have the full benefit of the principles of the Law, and that the enormity of the offence, instead of ex citing prejudice against the Prisoner at the Bar, .should induce the Jury to give him the bedefit of that salutary, indulgent principle of the Law, which held every man innocent until he was proved to he guilty ; and therefore the Prisoner would he entitled to that which he knew he would experience at their hands, as well as that of the Court, namely, i full and patient hearing of the whole case, and that the case.should well,sifted, and 'the Jury well and perfeetly satisfied of his, guilt before they should pronounce hirrriao: ' 'But, the Jury wotdd also give him leave to express a confident expeetatiOn, that if the charge was made out, there would not be in their minds (liticause - there ought not to he in their minds) any hesitation to pronounce him Guilty' o f High Treason, more than there would be in any Other case of a criminal nature. He then proceeded to observe, that WWI re,gard, not only 'to . the indivi duals who compoe His Majesty's present GoVern, ment, but to Government 'itself, there_ never' was a period in which there' was less: danger Allan the pre sent, to be apprehended froin any Conspiracy what. ever, or any period, in Which common human pro. dence could 4e more allege:4e to' secure us' against the effedts of such a plan of Conspiracy as that which was now übuut to be' made the Subjed of inquiry, and therefore there could be no period in which the indivithials who compose the Government could be supposed to have leis feelings of interest in an event like this, than the present.. There was therefore nothing but the public interests, and those of the De fendant involved in this question, for there was now no politieal party Whatever concerned ; no clamotir to be opposed, nor any thing to.be cunsidernd as ac. tuating the Prosecution, but the purest motives of Public justice. „It was an issue, which, the Jury would, of course,' try, not only with impartiality, but with perfeet calnmess and composure. He there.. fore should proceed to the statement of the case, with as much brevity as possible ; and in doing so, he would state to them the nature `of it. The fads he should recite as simply and as shortly as pos. table, and his observations- should be made in ti way, best calculated, according to his judgment, to bring the minds of the Jury into a due considers- Lion of the evidefice to be laid before' theth. The substance of the charge - agalnSt the Prisoner at the . Bar, 'he observed, as had.been. already stated to thein, was that of High Treason, in coMpassing and imagining the,Death of the King, restraint .6f. his person, and dethroning him front his royal stare and dignity. . The first part, containing the charge of intention to destroy or take , away the Lite of the King, laid in the Indititiient; was founded upon 'the old Statute of the zsth of E;t1w;"41• The se. coed head, that of imprisoning the 7 Kang ;' an d the third, of dethroning . hith, and depriving him of the' royal .stateTanddignety, was founded on amore re cent Statute, enacted for 'the purpose of 'removing! doUtiti concerning High Treason, and by which it: was enacted, That any attempt to imprison or de. throne the lti.iug, should be. Considered in the same ! light, as that of compassing and imagining , the Death of the King, and therefore, it was probable; there would-be no embarrassment between him and , the Learned Gentlemen on the other side, relative to the point of. Law upon this subjed, for con. spiting either to imprison or to dethrone the King, were now made substantive Ads of Treason : If, therefore, either of these Ads were ptoved have been committed by the Prisoner at the Bar, the Jury would have to pro6ounce him Guilty ; but however criminal the intention of the Prisoner might be, his guilt must be proved, by some Overt-ad, clearly expressing the intention of doing some one or other of those things which he had already stated, as contained in the Ad • of Eaiw. 111. or in the modern Statute of the 36th of the present reign. He then stated the charges of the. lodiament, the substance of which we have already given in the opening of it ; and proceeding to , observe on the nature of the Ovett.ads, he said, it was not necessary the ad itself should be completed, but it was sufficient that the aft should demonstrate the intention of completing the thing ; he observed also, that an Overt.aft which might in t itself, appear to be innocent, might be given in evi. • Bence asproofof a criminal intention, when combined with another ad, and so an ad, howeverinnocent in itself, taken abstractedly, might be deemed eri. minal when explained by others. Gad fotbid, that the hiring of a boat should • be deemed n crimi nal aft, but if a boat be ; hired for thepurpose of Joking 'the person who hired it to France, to invite, persons there hostilely to come• into this country,•or toinvade it, then such act, 'combined with subse. (pent aas, demonitrating such.. intention to invite Foreigners to invade, this land, will he. deemed criminal, the hiring- of the boat in such a case, being a part Of the cc intention cure a hcistile invasion of this Country,. which was the 'case of my Lord PaEsTON, who was conyiaed. Nothing was more innocent than the putting a letter, in the Post Officee but if it should appear that atteli letter contained sentimeots tending to excite others,. to whom it was sent, to Rebellion, the at of put. ting the leper .in the Post Office, ,being in flint:cr ' ance of an,intention to create. Rebellion, 'will be deemed an Overt.nd of Treason, and which was Dr. Kr NC EY% case, who was convided. So here, there 'was nothing more innocent thineto haveea card, Or paper, in a man's pocket, for anseman mayita ve cards' in his pocket, but if, sueli cards contained Gaiters which tended to excite those who read them to Rebel. lion, or to seizing ar iniptisoning the persOn of the King, then, the having such a card was evidence of the intention of the party, when combined with, other :IE4 tending, to slew sucloiutetition.' This 'seas' the case with the Prisoner at the Bare', Hosing' stated these general observations, 'he should now proceed to she fads, upon which there would he: two quess tions for the Jury to 'cousider s and to which the. evidence was to be applied. The: first eqeestion was a general one, whether such a Conspiracy as that stated in the Indiftment existed or not ?—Secondly,. whether,• supposing' this Conspiteicy t be it; enee,. •the In so the Bar ttopket;n c z trn ,...,, On the first question, whether a Conspiracy exivrth' or not, the JuTy must necessarily inquire into' the ads of others as Well as into ttio,e; of the Prisoner at the Bar ; because; a Conspiracreotild never be.ear. ried on without a number ofsindividuals being eon. cerned in it ; and 'it could not 'be proved but by chewing; the condua of those individuals.: But sup. posing a Conspiracy to be established, and supposing the: Prisoner to be conneeted in it ; then, not only his' own ads, but the ads of the other conspirators would be, evidence againit hini : anti nest's he should proceed to the fads. He then read the names Of the thirteeti Prisoners, included' in theintli6rDent, and observed, that the thirteen PriSotiers, iecluding the Gentleman ar the Bar, were taken tip pti . the 16th of November last, at 'the Oakley - Anna Pub.. lic,house, where was held, one of the Nleetieots charged by the Prosecution to bean .Art of High' Treason. ' He then proteeded toestatesethes reasoos why, 'although Government had long beep in pus. session of information ,concerning the conspiracy of theie persons, they had not caused them to be, alp. prehended. He obsereSed, that apprehending Omit sooner might have created -some embarrassment to Government ; for although, so catty es the spring-of last year, many ads: were done indicate ing the same- intentions as' had been after watds made more manifest ; 'yet, 'hod the parties d', Q u been taken up, Government might perhaps have been tinder the necessity'of disclosing the means of its information, Without perhaps establish. ing a case which might cunvift all the parties. But when they were apprehended, the evidence against them was so clear, that he believed no doubt weiald he entertained of their guilt, and this evidence would be sufficient Without bringiog forward thelesources of information which Government possessed as to the early intentions of several -of the parties. • He then recited the con Linet of Several of the Prisoners as connefted with that of the present Prisoner, [which' we pass aver because it app:ear in the Evidence.) He pros cc led to read a paper ilea wits found in the room 'at the Oakley Arrni, where, the Prisoner ' was appreheteted, and in posli - sion o f sonic of the Prisoners, though not, of him at the: bar, as stating the objet of the parties coecerned in this conspiracy—it set forth. in, substance, that they aimed at. the. •Constitutional Independance of Great Britain and Irel,trtd, 'and :.the qua. lixation of Civii, Political, and Religious Rights: —an ',ample provision for the famiiics of those he. 'roes who should tall in the contest—a liberal - reward for distinguished .merit,., Sec. These were the ob.. jeers for -which we contend, and to obtain those ob., jcas, we sweat to be united, tic. - This was the purport of the Oath, and the Oath was, that :" In the awful presence of Almighty I, A. B. du solemnlydeclare, that will ,endeavour to the tit_ most of my power. to .oVtain . the objects of this Union, naniel*, to recover those rights, which God in hiS infinite bounty has given to man--and not to give evidence against any Member of the Associa. lion, &c," Such was the substance of the Oath. The ATTORNEY.GRNERAL then proceeded to ob. serve upon the natnre of this engagement and this .oath., and argued, that it was impvssible to infer, that it meant nothing more than an alteration, by peace. able Means, of any part °four system,-but, that .they manifested an hostile intention of overturning the whole frame of our Government. Thi, engagement and oath, were incapable of any interpretation that was consistent with the innocence of the parties ; and that the more especially, when these Oaths had been administered to Soldiers, sworn to defend the Government of this Country, as by Law establish. ed ; and - that these, parties had done so, would most abundantly appear in evidence ; And . that 'the .Pri soner at the Bar had been aftive among them - would also appear ; that they had held divers meetings to this effect, at various Public-houses in this Metropo- ‘ lis, and its vicinity: at the Hand and in Windmill,sureet at Bleeding Iltart, i.. fiat t;)ri. Girden; at ToW , er.Hill, at Whirechapd, at the Fly,' Wal wtit tk ; at the Flying Horse,l%Tewing,„ ton; an.d . at theo,akley Armi. !nail these places, at. tempts had been tuiide 'to seduce soldiers from„thrit duty. Here he recited the circumstances, as they afterwards appeared, in evidence, of thmic var,om attempts, until the'period at which the pariies wt : re apprehended at the , 'o4lcley Arms, and on which he a variety of eciminerits. He then proceek,led to observe upon some topics, which )se apprehe,nd. ed the ingenuity of ,the Learned G'•entlernen, tni t!te other side would, bring forward it, rlciLisicc,. They w Might say, that it .as highly itopr96o - 4 - that it person of the Oltizt:.er and station:of•the Defendant, should embark in such a cause - as thiity and conriret himself with persons of the loWest destYriptio7l; he ma st Lye 7 aware of the danger to '',AH..s!! • posed'him, and that he must iiievitabtl, , , in the courSe of it ; bur, upon, the snhje;zl. c.it pr babili ties,' t jay should eridez , eutir 'not how things would, appear to t I.!C InSO they were likely .to appear to such a person as d.e Pri4oner the - 44r,.anit to enter as far . as• porsible into his imaginations; they were to rernember that entliu.iastn was applicable to many'sithictts, that it was the charaeler of cnihnsiasin to MagisifY the value of its objea, ant' the probability .of ,sucCcss in the.'‘ pnrstnit .of it, and to diminish all apparent obstacles to its COMpleti:3ll; 1114 L 'there politkal as, well as' rdigi9LlJ enthusiasm, . and that the Pri. soner'it.the 11.. t ivas a man ”dio bad beerrpreViously the •subjt:a of rite suspicions of:. the Govern. nlenF, and' might ptissibly . be irritated, by a miti. gnided view: Of what he suffered 'in 'con.sequence of his own indiscretion; that under';iitell impussitins he might 114 become desperate, and that to a mind so constituted, things mio . l; appear probable, which to a jury, in'their sober jadirments, mi, g b r ma. ; „ nifestly ;:t1 cid its t!,e t ; arid that chili. cultiei. should lippear to him as trifling. r The nest poi n t to ss hieliifq c, , ,ipetfled the Leamerlr Gentler:l , oton the other side woold. ‘':ill Illy.' ;it metli itkik of the Jury was, that of chi-credit doe to the %Vi ; ,i nesses. -:Finey Might Pay, that ct edit W4s'doe; tem itecomp!ice. In tbe first place, lie olnierved f (l)4 Of the Wiine;sses wltoin he should 'rail; 'although present at mony to tile itanWtlQtlS 4 W0,14,(1 come tinder the kilt, ut . :;11 at;COMpiice.; hot upon th e , , u hjoa of credit as accompae ; he adlnit. ted , , tnat an .accomplice -ItouLl be h eel by other:Wifm- :(-,) if h Sttt, :"'lt was. not or itself there wo vorif.rtattittif to 'SOC!) eVitiel)(:', not I.lly w as, " it atfriiistiiiiiC, t blAt it because Crediol , ::,. l o ;Tpreltendedalso,.th:,-. some : de - 4. fah might appear in the char..,':l,Jot %.»ne i 3 th o Witnesses who vitae accomplices—this was period. ly natural, for it , was highly_improliable, torn per sons, whose pre . 191.1' lives not ,st odd by many vices, could COMO at once to a determination hiernharking in so criminal'initi despetate imfbnit as this; and to make up their in:nds to the ;i:t)41 . 4) . :i, iion of so dreivittli a dced. • 'The iteComi.lll.f.-3 ‘,"'la would be eZ.,;e...1.,a of only be cotl . firizicd; 4:4E firinntion would be'abandant. of the Prisoner' w on! lead d trettly, to'4rt itifermix of l i tis guilt, .10d, wut,?..l, be absolt4.:cly,Xiker,-9411,413, .with any other inference:v..hatstiCW.,tt'i.;WhAft ).14 1 04(1, pined the Iroc4ediriks of the conspirators, that. the Prisoner was pieseqt• at all their 'prOceirdlli'iri t 'a4Ali o . anted 'in them, it would remain for the. Counseiven the other sick': to she w, why the Prisoner and how h could be innocently preset; t.---11 s o n e/ could not satisfy the Jury upon 'that point, theiocvitable inference would be, that he'wkis guilty. He copcluded with observing, that the Prlion. er at the 131i''W'iluld have the full benefit of the Law of England, administered by English judges ,and by an English jury, 'in a manner superior to any oiler Law in any Othcr parr of the world. If i t were' possible to suppose .. tnAtteeAtugs: cotnunssiou to the Prisoner, cold' it the jury to acgoit hint, notwithktanding'clear ploOf hiS g tilt should be pry. •duced, such a velditt wc:tild.be One nOt. only 1?e a tr:inicest breach of their dtify, 'butonc whielt,the PoHie wouldhavea ° l4ght t4,7,prc/. test and exclaim ; not that he had any, apprelterraiort of such'an e'veue in this case ; on tire contrarly . he was confident, the Jury' would Ahdystich ' O4 as the justice tho case demanticti,n , tie,woulknott occupy any more of tlieir,tiritC, I,l4t,ptocccd to t 1 ( ,.. his. Witnesses. . yap/ Stafford, Prace C/erk, it a l„c examined 1U.4 So t.i`cz r o'4 G cbtl;ll.‘ L.-011 Ttle4d4 sOth Nor ember la s t, 1 WiiihrcOctt by the Matt4trattu to so to the Oaklci Arms, in the Parish or St. M4tY,'Lainbtati. I went about o'clock in the evetitog, with Sa n I+,4 iiv and 1.1oi4; two Ottle4, , rt, met a hyge - body t . vt Dow.sttoot,: Police Oit'kers, sent ,by fit RiC,h4ol,