The Sun. — London, England, 1817-12-20 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, DEC. 19. B LzIS P 11 EMY. THB KING V. HONE.--SECOND This morning all the avenues to the Court were crowded, long before the doors were opened, and at half-past eight the door of Guildhall, next Coleman-street, having been unbolted, the crowd assembled there rushed into the Court, and nearly filled it, to the great disappointment of those as sembled in King street, who, on ,entering, to their surprise, found every situation - occupied. The general prevalent notion was, that Hone ffiriving: been acquitted yesterday, on one of the iriformations, the Attorney-General would not proceed against hint on any of the others. It ap peared, however, that this was a supposition un 'founded in fact, and at a quarter after nine, Mr. Hone entered the Court, with an immense pile ot 'books, regularly tied up. He took-his station at the end of the Court-table, and having untied them, he ranged them before him, covering nearly a fourth of the table. At twenty minutes 'before ten, Lord Ellenho.: rough entered the Court, and took his seat on the bench. The Attorney-General, and other Coun sel, for the prosecittion, next entered, and took their places. . . ELLENBOROUGH.—Are the Sheriffs in Court ? The UNDER SuERIFF.--They are not, myLord. Lord ELLENBOROCIGH.—Theis let them be im mediately sent for. The Siteritis were then sent for. LAw, the Clerk of the Court, then an .cep{ that the case of the King and Hone was. to he tried. The list of Special Jurors was thetrcalled over, and only six merchants answered. The ATTORNEY GENERAL then•prayed a Tales. John Austen:shoemaker_. of Aldgate, was dial ' lenged by the Crown, at which Mr. Hone ap peared much surprised. • The list of Common Jurors was then called over, and six Talesmen were sworn in. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated the case to - the Jury. Ile stated that the defendant was charged in thie hist count of the information with an im pious and profane libel, being a parody on the pa of the Common Prayer called the Litany, and the second count of the indictment charged the libel as a seditious one. To the nature of the, libel, as described i,i the first count, however, he would pat ticularly direct their attention ; bee fuse he would broadly and flatly assert, that soy marl who scoffed at, who ridiculed, who made parodies of the Prayer of the Established Church, was guilty of blasphemous and impious libels.— If ever there was a prayer constructed by any human creature for the purpose of 'offer-, ing to his Deity, if ever there was. a supplication offered to the Redeemer for the forgiveness of the sins of men, which was sublime and solemn, that which was ridiculed in the present instance was one. It was utterly impossible that any man could parodise that sacred form of prayer, without, hav ing imilous and profane ideas in his own mind, and inculcating those ideas to the weak minds of inners. •It was not possible for any person to read that publication without honor and disgust, mil, ss that person was one to whose mind were raised the impious and hlaspnemons principles which it was the nature of the libel in question to inculcate. . Here the ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in au impressive mantier, read that beautiful reiteration of the name of the Redeemer in the Supplication, and then ad verted to the incitation in the libel. he Was so doing, the. -proCeedings were diStllLbcd, as they were yesterday,' by the indeeent laii4hter of the mob below the bar. Lord ELLENBOROUGH.---" Where are the She riff, I—l desired their attendance, and ahey shall act cod. — The UNDER SHERIFF.—" My Lord, 1 have seta for but they iive a great distance frOm this, and they have not yet arrived." Lord ELLENBORIWGI-I.—" Very well." The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then pr6ceeded. Alrotdd any- one say now, that that dangerous pablicatiOn did not raise seoffiing among the scoffers ? He would ask the question tromwhat had passed that moment, and . he would say that there never• was, there never could he a St longer practical elucidation of the dangerous tendet►cy of a libel, than the indecency which had just dis turbed the Court--an English court of Justice. If we were not to be governed by law, if the social bonds of society were to burst asunder by the indecent conduct of the rabble, the. Court might as well discontinue its proceedi►►gs ; but if that conduct were supposed to have the effect of intimidating him in the execution of his public functions, it was a most mistaken no tion. Whilst be had the honour of filling the situation he did, nothing should deter him From executing his public duty, and he would not swerve in tl►e least from the course he was taking. If he had not brought the de fendant this day to answer for this publication, be should have conceived he was neglecting his duty towards his country and his God. He suppOsed that the defence to-day would be as it was yes terday, that the publication in question was not a libel, because many other blasphemous libels had not been proceeded against, and that all the libels ‘v o i,hl be raked from those old books on the table, ►which he %visited had remained on the shelves whence they had been taken, and rotted. But th a t would not be the sort of defence that would answer any put pose ; for it was' not because many persons had published ether blasphemous libels, that therefore the defendant was less criminal in publishing his. OF the publication of the libel in. question, by the defendant, there would be little doubt, and it would be for the Jury, as religious men, as Christians, as men who loved their coun try, and revered their God, to say whether the publication was or was not a libel. Here Mr. Sheriff Desanges entered the Court, and Lord ELLENISOROUGH addressed hint thus,:— " I have sent for you and your colleague, Sir, as there is an absolute necessity - for your presence. There was a most unseemly disturbance in the Court yesterday, I understand, and there has been another to-day. You are the persons who-are re sponsible, - and shall be ouprmsible ;• And There.; fore you will be good enough to use your utmost activity in apprehending . any persons wl,o dare to interrupt the course of the proceedings." Mr. Sheriff Desanges assured the Court, that no endeavour should be wantiug on his part to put a stop to a conduct so disgraceful and so indecent. Lord ELLENBOROUGu:—" 'Yon will understand me ; my oily motive in admonishing you, as to your duty, is, that you may attend to it." The defendant here commenced his defence.= He preceded it by remarking, that lie conceived every man his enemy who interrupted the pro ceedings of the Court by any thing so indecent as laughter. He then commented the same line of argument which he took yesterday, contending, that unless the Jury found -that his intention was t o crea t e impiety a nd irreligion in the minds of different persons, it was no libel. He then com menced reading a parody, • Lord •ELLENBOROUGI4.—" It would be well to tell vo,f, that if yon are about to read irreli gious parodies made by others, I shall not receive them. The commission of a crime by many in dividuals,.does not lessen the guilt .of any one indi‘idoal. It is my decided purpose not to re ceive.them, as it would be illegal, and ther'efore you may - use your own discretion whether you chuse any longer to dilate on that which I declare judicially ought not to be admitted." The Defendant.—" I would ask your Lordship whether you mean to send me from this place to a prison ; If you do, you may prevent me from addressing the Jury; but if you do not, let toe make my defence.". LOIIIELLENBOROUGH.—" YOU may state what you are now stating, if you think fit ; but that shall not be received as evidence which from its nature and dcsrription cannot be legal evidence." The ljefttidant•—" I state seriously that I do not know what your Lordship means." Lord Et LEN BoaouGH.—" I have stated enough to be inte;iigible." The Defentlant.—" NoCto me." ELLIiNEOROUGH.--- Welt I cannot help it.—Go on. You %%ill use your own discretion, whether you choose to dilate." Here the defendant remarked, that he did not know what was meant by receiving what he was about to read as evidence. He only intended to read a simple parody which was in the Edinburgh Magazine, and which was stated to. be a transla tion of a Chaldean manuscript. He then com menced reading it: It was a relation of the facts - of a literary dispute between Mr. Blackwood, of Edinburgh, and another bookseller, and was written in imitation of the style of the Scriptures. Here the noise again proceeded from the crowd in such a manner as'to disturb the proceedings:, Lord ELLENBOROUGLI.-- 7 " I (10 really wish that, people would have a little decency ; and I hope that the racers who, ought to be there, if they are not there, will go there, and do,their duty, arid bring any person here whom they shall find dis turbing us, and he may rely he shall'meet the re ward lie so justly merits." . _ Mr. Sheriff DEsANGEs.—" I shall mark the first person 1 see acting improperly, kind bring him before the Court. Officers. do your duty."' Here the defendant resumed his defence. He contended strongly that his intention was not such as alleged in the informations; and by way of illustrating his argument, he asserted that if a man went into a room, and taking up a gun which he was not aware was loaded, acct jocosely level ling it - at another,,,fired and killed the person, that man could not be tried, because his intention was not to kill a fellow-creature. Lord ELLENBOROUGH^" I really am sorry to interrupt you, but upon my word 1 feel it neces sary, and do it for your own sake. You are not stating what is correct. That man you speak of wou ld b e wt e l oh , he would be wilily of man slaugh t er, and he would be tried." The Delendant—" I thank you, my Lord, for correcting me. Well, then, Gentlemen, if he was guilty of an.offence, it is under a late Act of Par liament." Lord ELLENgo . RotIGtI—" Now, you are wrong again. I interrupt you really for your own sake that you may pay a little more attention to your defence. You arc not stating what is true. It is,not by any new Act of Parliament that the man %void(' be a felon; it always was so." The Defendant proceeded,'contending on the substance of Mr. Dodiwell's Bill, and. Mr. Fox's Libel Bill, that the - Jury were his Judges, and telling them that Lord Ellenhorough did not sit there to try him, as they were the only persons entrusted with his case. He next adverted to the question of the law of libel, and the, object of Mr. Fox's Declaratory, Bill, which, for the first time, lie said, settled the law ota the subject. Lord ELLENBVROUGII.—" The law was the Same as it' now is, long before ever that. Bill ek isted." Mr. HONE resumed, and in allusion to the ob servations which had fallen from his Lordship, remarked that it was difficult. to imagine how a Bill which had been devised by a man of such eminent Legislative capacity 'as Mr. Fox, and which had only been carried into a'law after many and long discussions, in which the wisest and greatest men of their time - liad . participated, could be, after all . , superfluous and unnecessary. The defendant subsequently adverted with some warmth on the circumstance of his having been refused copies of the informations. Lord 14:4LLEsaortouGH.—'‘ You complain of that as a hardship in your particular case, which, if it be so, you only share in common with all his Majesty's subjects." Mr. IIoNP, —" Well, my Lord, for myself, and for all it Majesty's subjects, I do protest that it is a most grie‘oll6 and intolerable hardship, that any man should be calk.ul to plead to his guilt or innocence of a charge of which he is not allowed to have a copy." The defendant then entered into the nature of the present information _against- and com plained that the late Attorney-General on first moving it, had stated it to be an . informAtion against him for blasphemy—that the assertion had been reiterated by Lord Sidmouth night after night in the [louse of Lords—that all the Jour nals in :the interest of Government had concurred in assisting to.hold him forth to the world as a blasphemer and a wretch---whereas tl►e fact` was, as he now found on examining the record, that it wit. apt an inforatat low fur: blasphemy, but for ir religion and proreneness,witich were offences of very different die. While on this point, he could not help farther, and more particularly, requesting the attention of his Lordship and tl►e Jury, to an attempt made by two Journals, devoted to the in terest of Ministry, to prejudice the minds of the JHry. .Lord ELLENBOROUG/-I.—" It is impossible that the contents of Newspapers can be admitted as relevant matter here. What have the Jury or Ito do Mr. HONE.—" It is not you, my Lord, but I who am now on my trial." A loud shout of applause from the crowd-as sembled in the Hall followed this ixpression of the defendant, and occasioned a great sensation in the Court. Lord ELLENBOROUGH called upon the Officers immediately to arrest. and bring before him any person or persons whom tliey could recognize as concerned in this gross insult to the dignity of the Court—but the Officers reported, that with• every attention to their duty, they had not been able to fix on any particular offender. At length quiet being restored, he resumed Lis further speaking in the same strain until he closed, He then produced four witnesses to prove that he had sold none of the writs in question after he had notification they were considered libellous. .The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in speech of great ability, then replied upon the defendant. He ad verted to the topics used by the defendant, and stated that many, most of theta, had no bearing upon the question at issue. Much of his reason ing, which went- to the propriety of the mode of prosecution by information, had nothing at all to do with the question. They were not there to discuss the propriety of existing laWs. They were hound by . the law as it stood, and had no thing to do with the policy of it. The right of legislation existed elsewhere. Juries and Courts were to decide upon the law as it stood ; •in this view of the case a great deal of what had been urged by the defendant had not the slightest hear ing upon the question. He then' again repeated what was the question, namely, Whether the de fendant had published the Paper in question, and whether it was .a libel,---That it was a libel he contended could not .at all be doubted, while it was admitted that the Religion of the country was part of the Law of the Land; or while it' was confessed that it was unlawful by ridicule and' levity to bring into disregard and contempt the established form of public Worship. With .regard to the •argument used by the defendant, that it was not his intent to bring into - contempt the religion of the country, he laid it down as. a clear principle of law, that a man was supposed to in tend all the necessary consequences of•his actions, and, if the necessary consequence as to degi•ade the established form of worship, it was no excuse to•say that be had- also another motive. Granted that he had an ulterior motive to attack those who differed from him in Political sentiment ; if he chose to pursue that motive by means which necessarily tend to disgrace and ridicule the reli gion of the country, the law implied that he meant also to bring discredit upon the religious establish ment of the country. With respect to the parodies which had been published by others, it was no ex cuse that be should do an illegal act because many others had also done it. One crime was no justi fication of another ; and therefore, admitting it often had been done before, and that it had been done with impunity, it was not the less a crime in the defendant that it had before passed without criminal animadversion. The Learned Gentleman pressed these topics with great force and eloquence, and concluded by entreating the Jury that they would give their verdict according to law and the established rules of justice. The LORI) CHIEF JUSTICE then summed up the case with his usual impressive dignity,of manner. He explained the law in a manner the most clear and satisfactory ; and earnestly recommended the Jury, to consider the impottance' of this case, and of their decision, to the cause of religion,. and to the vital interests of the country. His Lordship concluded with a declaration .that, according to his conscience, and upon his oath of Office, he be lieved the publication, which the defendant ac knowledged, was a most impious and profane libel. . The Jnry retired, and after deliberating for an hour and three, iquarters, returned a verdict of— Not Guilty. The moment the verdict was heard, the loudest acclamations of applause from the mob filled the Court, After the verdict was made known, notice was given for the attendance to-morrow of the Special Jury summoned for the third information filed against Mr. Hone, for' the publication of " The Sinecurist's Creed," which is alleged to be a paro dy upon the Creed of St. Athanasins. DUFFES. 7 —A Caution'. to Country People and Strangers.A gang of •fellows., -- .-known by the, name of Duffers and Sharpers, meet every morn ing at obscure pubic-houses' in vicinity of the Strand, one in particular near, Exeter 'Change, where they arrange their daily depredations upon the unwary. These .plunderers 'are frequently ob served lurking about' the entrance of Waterloo Bridge, in the Strand, and are dressed, some as horse-dealers, .countrymen, and' reduced trades men ; in general they wear boots; and flourish a swich in their hand ; (hey are of all ages, and accost people with seeming politeness, inviting them to walk with, them to a near public-house to inspect some smuggled silks, cambrics, &c. On Monday.evening lait the Port of Milford, audits neighbourhood, was ,visited with a very severe storm of lasil, thunder, and lightning; the lightning was particularly vivid and strong but we are happy to say,that no damage was sustain ed by the shipping in the•harbour (which at pre sent are very numerous), nor have we heard of any accident occasioned by it in the neighbour hood.... This morning, at ten o'clock, the last Day of Drawing of toe State .Lottery commenced, and soon after that hour No.-2241 was drawn a 20,0001. Prize,. and shared by Bum in nine Shares; making the Second 20,0001. shared by ii►stl in the present Lottery, and he hopes oi Monday to announce having sold one or t►c.. more. TO CORRESPONDENTS.' A'REAL FRIEND To ORDER, AN OLD BARRISTER, and Co nios HALL, Worcester, are unavoidably deferred till golli day. We have many other Articles on hand, which we shall inset " as sown as convenience will admit ; but, considering t importance of the subject relati:ig to CERTIFICATED C°'. vEvascEus, we shall give that the precedence to all lai c ' nor matters, * 4 0. 4 Fur LITERARY REVIEW, and SPAIN AND HER CoLotoll see the Last Page. THEATRICAL REGISTER, Per Armed Last Night. Tkir THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LA NE,—Outwitted at Last: • - 4 . cipal characters by Mr. H. Johnston and Miss Byrne. • P ter which, kg' THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN.—The Apostate: —" a lit , Mr. Young ; Flovinda, Miss O'Neill. After which, L' bands and Wives.. To which was added, Mora's Love. A1:11 1,N.• ARRIVED-2 France, I Dublin. DUE-1 Flanders, land, 1 Guernsey and Jersey, 2 Waterford. PRICE OF SIOCKS THIS DAY AT rtvELvF. (CLUCK. 9 per Cent. Red. 81ih India 80nd5......985• 995 ' ' f t : 4 per Cents.... 99i 981 Excl.!. Bills l9s. 249 ,11 ' Bank L. Ann. 21 20 15-16tlis Cons. foiAccount..• • • fal ----- HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE To.mounovi c t , Morning, 6 minutes after 12. I Evening, 31 minutes after -I THE SUN. SOLENT QUIS DICER!: k'ALSUM AUDSAT LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1817• We received this tnorning three days' Pari s Papers to Wednesday last iuclusive. We gig` flow them an Abstract of the Budget, but %vs° of room compels us to be very brief in O f Extracts : " CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, DEC. 15 The Count Corvetto presented the Budget' Referring to the Budget of 1816, he stated the re suit as folloms " The lteceipts of 1316, estimated at 884,492,520, Francs. amounted to 893,430 ;019 " The Charge is estimated at " Deficit to be made good 60e1, 01 The particulars of the Budget of 1817 b e state:l as follows : " Estimated Receipts " Balance of other Receipts added " Total estimated Receipts 1,102,676,-9Q 44 CHARGE. " Estimated in the Budget 1,065,660,01 " ADDITIONAL CHARGES. Ministry of Justice Foreign Affairs ' • 6a0, 02° 2,924, 0°9 84, Interior, Compl etuent of 14 additional Centimes interior, Nin•ks of Charity and Aid iu the De- partments 2,500,0 " Expences of Negociations " Foreign Occupation " Bounties on the Importation of Grain " Total Charge 1,098,494,20 Revenue . 1,103,G76,9-0! " Excess... 4,4 52,644 " After descanting on the flourishing state of the Revenue, and the increase of the Sinking Fund, he observed— • li in the calamitous year which has passed, after two successive years of invasion, our Re' venue has kept up, notwithstanding the weight of the burden, as in a period of ease, what homago ought not to be rendered to the French character► which no longer recognizes obstacles to maintaio its honour by sacrifices, as it his been signalised bl exploits ? It is the developement of this characte(' Strengthened by your impulse, that has given tif the first Capitalists of Europe confidence in co n ' necting , their operations with those of the States and securing to the Treasury in six months a re source of upwards of 300,000,000 against thi pressure of our debt. It will not escape you, that in each of the Treaties regarding these loans the conditions have been successively better for the Treasury, the Contractors having taken the Loans 'at a SUCCeV sive increase of from 55 f. 50 c. to 61 f. 50,e. These Treaties will be laid before you.' " He proceeded to state the Budget for 1818. " ESTIMATED REVENUE. Francs. " Direct Taxes 259,054,931 " Patents, Windows, &c. " Registration, Sale of Wood, &c . . 162,400,000 " Customs 30,u00,a0 " Indirect Taxes 120.000,000 • " Posts . 12,800,000 " Lotteries .. 14,000,000 " Given to the wants of the State, by his !Via jesty and the Prins of the Royal Family 3,000 000 " Incidents, General Police " Deductions from Pensions 13,209,000 " Total. 767,779,C00 " ESTIMATED CHARGE. " ORDINARIES. Foreign Debts 140,782,060 " Sinking Fund • 40,000,000 " Itentes " Pensions " Civil List •‘ Clergy " Chamber of Peers - 2,000,000 " Chamber of Deputies ,, 68n,000 "