The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-01-16 00:00:00

'Woe ofJsulemetst. I slid not know that this win written in ri-
dienle of Southey's Vision( ref IltettpueNt.
(The beamed Counsel here read the following onstage* from the I
Liberal, in reference to Southey's Vision o(Jotlytneal.)
"At length with jostling, ellsnwieg, and the aid
Of cherubim appointed to that post,
The devil Aatundeus the circle made
His way, and look'd as if his journey cost
Some trouble. When his burden dowel he laid.
• Whet's this ?' cried Michael ; ' why, 'tie not a ghost ?
I know it,' quoth the incubus; ' but lie
Shall be one, if you leave the affair to me.'
" Ile ceased, and drew forth an MS.; and no
Persuasion on the part of devils, or saints,
Or angels, now could stop the torrent ; so
Ile read the first three lines of the contents ;
But at the fourth, the whole spiritual show
Had vanish'd, with variety of seentn,
Ambrosial and sulphunsms, as they sprang,
Like lightning, off front his melodious twang."'
Mr. St; All I,E T T—Do you understand the following line?
" Hut ere the spaviti'd dactyls could be spurred."
Witness—With some hesitation— No.
Mr. Sc*AN I. T —Do you understand this—" Stuck fast with his
hexameter."
Mr. SCAR I. ET T (the witness again hesitating). Do you know
what an hexameter means ?
Vi'itnesa—Yes. You are e rarnittingi me. (Much laughter.)
The Learned Counsd was proceeding to ask kik:albs: questions re-
specting other passages of the poem.
The Loan I'lllr JUSTICE interposed. and suggested that jt
was not expedient to persist in that course of examination.
Mr. Buckinaster 'le called, and spoke to the identity of Mr.
Hunt.
Cross-examined—l am an army clothier; I read The lifer,!;
I am not • subscriber to the Association. lam called by Mr.
Murray here.
M;. riC•ll T T —And only to say you know Mr. hunt F—Yea.
Mr. SC MIL E T --( /0d bless me! I thought it was to give your
opinion of this poem ?—No.
Mr. A nut. Pll vs requested that the part of the Poem set forth on
the record might be read.
Mr. SCA iL r. T T said, if that part of the poem was reed, he
would require the reading of the whole poem.
The passages above quoted in the statement of Counsel were here
mr. SCAM. ET T —As a eet-off to those passages, I require that
thel;sor,hile poem he read.
CHIEF JUSTICE—Yoursi only mention your wish, Mr.
Soviet ,to have it complied with am nut the penman who will
have most reason to complain of it.
Mr. Abbot, jun., then read the whole poem, which furnished
the matter of libel.
The following stanzas, which were read from the poem, are thou
which refer to Mr. Southey, in ridicule of whose style the Counsel
for the defendant, in his address to the Jury, insisted that the
Mims of Jolitotent was written:—
" Ile mind—(l only give the Itcado—he said,
Ile meant no harm in scribbling; 'twas his way
Upon all topics; 'twas, besides, his bread.
(If which he butter'd both sides; %would delay
Too long the assembly (he was pleased to dread)
And take up rather more time than a day,
TO name his works—he would but cite a few—
Wet Tyler—Rhymes on Blenheim—Waterloo.

Tenon of high station; world pet the same enratructiest 6t eft/
poem that Mr. Murray has thought proper to put upon it. The
whole weight of this prosecution is thrown upon the shwa-
den of Mr. alurray. Who is Mr Murray ? Dam lko
understand this poem ? r doubt it. Had he been in the whores
boa, perhaps many of his answer', would not be more intelligent.
titan the witness he had than day iironght forward. He (Mr. b.)
would say that he had brought into('cart what near had bee
prosecuted before, and which ought nut to be brought into or
now. The character of a tlect.asul king, toe criticism of an b
genious poem, was nut a tit hUbil•'t for a J nry. Mr. Murray may
be a respectable attorney, but he is not a judge of the units of a
king, or the character of a statesman, or the qualities 8(a putt,
Mince he (Mr. S.) was compelled, however, by Mr. Matra,. to entet
into this subject before a Jury at Westminster, he would deny. in
terms the strongest and most iingtittli tied, that it was n crime in r.t.v
man " to intend to have it Leheved that a deceased king was is
bad king, was guilty of mi.rule, and a protector of tyrants.-
If one was precluded from commenting on the reign of George the
Th'rd, why should he nut also be prohibited from own.
menting on the reigns of bit ancestors? If this Ise •
libel, then, was it not (also a 1u ,d to say any thing .
rogatory of the character of his grandfather. Did Mr. Slums
know there was such a pet u Shakespeare? Did he know that
the present King was descended from Richard the Third.
and that Shakspeare drew him a.s a murderer ? Vet this was a play
which his Majesty mileht, without any strong emotion, eretswia,
though, in the opinion of Mr ;Hurray, it may be a polite-al libel.
The present King, was descended also front James tie Fine, yet
Sir Walter Scott., in one of his late novels - (Mr. Sisriefl apologised
for mentioning the name of At. Walter Scott)--he meant an ur -
knowo period, the author of " Waverley," had described him in
one of his late novels as a most contemptible character, as a pet-
son destitute of all the qualities which constitute • rod
King or a good man. 11 by was out this work prosecuted by Mr.
Murray ? Does Mr. Murray think that there was such a King an
Henry the Eighth and that no person ran mention his reign with:
out describing his tyrannical coishict ? Dors he know anything e
the memory of M'aldegrave, one of the late King's tutors? Hu
he read the Memoirs of George the Second by Lord OrcerA ? Her
he seen an account of the funeral of ileorFe the SecOntl, or a Cor-
respondence of those times which should have never men the Witt
He (Mr. Scarfed) believed that Mr. Murray had not, au!
that it was his ignoranie alone thet could bass inducted
him to institute such A prosecution as the present, or led hint
to entertain a hope of its success. lie now dismissed this
part of the case with mixed emotions of contempt and Indig-
nation. The next charge contained in the indictment WO
that the death of the bow King was uaregretted even by those who
attended his funeral. Mr. Murray would fain make it an dread
that • king should not be regretted. This was *fitly • new way
of flattering the reigning sovereign. The funeral was described to •.
have been conducted with great pomp and ceremony. As to regret
for • sing, the very condition that makes him • king excludes
him from sharing in that sorrow with which his subjects are AIM
followed to the grave. Ile is 8) far raised above his subjects in Ka.
t 00, that he cannot descend to that level where private friend+.
ships and close intimacies are formed and cemented, and he is ex- •
eluded and shut out from those endearments and those solid
which his subjects store. For ilis reason, a king is rarely
except for political consequences. There was a class of h6is
Majesty's subjects in whom his death created a very lively sense of
sorrow ; he meant his Majesty's present Ministers, for at that time
there was a report afloat that they would not be in office twenty.
four hours after his funeral (a laugh). Lotus the X Wth and
XVth were examples of the little share ofprivate regret •

" lie had written praises of a regicide;
He had written praises of all kings whatever;
114 had written for republics far and wide,
And then against them bitterer than ever;
For pantisocracy he once had cried
Aloud, a scheme less moral than 'twee clever;
Then grew ■ hearty antijacobin—
fli

followed monarchs to the grave. Louis the XVtli. who
of the small-pox, was deserted by his own ministers, and ~
the menials who were left to attend hint did not administer to
him the common offices of attention due to a dying man. It Wait
further alleged in the indictment, that it was sought by the present
publication to divturb the mind of the present king, and to being
his family into disgrace and contempt. If by the expression •• •

Aad eZrnett his enit—and would have turned his skin.
" He had sung against all battle•, and again
In their high praise and glory ; he had called
Reviewing 'the ungentle craft,' and then
Become as base a critic as e'er crawird_—
Fed, paid, and paniper'd by the very men
By whom his muse and morals had been maul'd:
Re had written much blank 'I'M. and blanker pow,
And more of both than any body knows.

bad Kink," were-aimed to disturb *his !ifitjesty's puce of mind,
he would admit, that whether the allegatio: . were true or aim,
the intent and motive of wounding the Kirg's feelings were of
themselves libellous: ~ut no such Intention was entertained
by the present publisher, or, he believed, by the author. Tho
purpose of the work was, as he would immediately sheer,
quite different. Indeed, • political writer might, in pros
speak much move strongly with impunity on the events of
the late reign, than was to be found in any passage of OW
--- He wu not desirous of ' consideration

He had written Wesley's life :—here, tuming round
To Sithan, ' Sir I'm ready to write you*,
In two octavo volumes, nicely bound,
• With notes and preface, all that most allure.
The pious purchaser; and there's no ground
' For fear fur I can choose my own revtewers:
• So let me have the proper documents,
' That I may add you to my other saints.'"

pnem. _ _ as of going into the - .. of this
late King's reign, but u Mr. Murray had compelled him to eager
upon the subject, he would briefly touch upon some of those events
of the last reign which would probably be most conspicuous to
posterity. He would preface those brief remarks by the deck.
ration that it was his connection that the personal virtues of the
late King had, at critical moments, the effect of promoting the
prosperity of the nation, and of averting impending calamity from
It. The events of his reign supported him an this opinion. Time

. -
Mr. SCARLET,. appeared for the defendant. /lie learned friend may be persons, however, who may not think that his reign was one
(Mr. Adolphus) had said, that they would hear from hint an ad- that contributed to the general prosperity of the empire. We might
dress of great eloquence. Ile did not possess those talents ai,d arts suppose an individual to consider, that when his late Majesty mo
which his learned friend seedbed to him, nor could he even lay send ed the throne, a wise body of men cotelneted the &freers of thee
claim to the humbler merit of facility in co iiiii Junketing his old- nylon ; that the people were respected &healed, and filippy and con.
Pions, which experience and daily practice usually give. Did he tented at home ; that the country laboured under no encumbrance
pleases thesphe should be happy, on such an occasion as the pre- that the King might be truly said to be Lord of the Briudi
Oft, SO em oy whatever resources he could draw from nature or Isles, !and of the mighty ocean that separates them front the
Mott art, i 'forcibly expressing the contempt, the ridicule, and the vast continent and distant countries; that no desire then existed
latignatton with which he contemplated the present prosecution, of altering the government ; that this King, ascending the throes
otd with irhich every honest man ought to look at it. Never did 'ender auspices so favourable, placed an unlimited confides.
Winer. lament the want of them talents than now, although he in • nobleman who had been hie tutor. and the advisor of his
feared that if he possessed them, the energy of his own feelings at mother ; that a consequent jealousy arose Itirongst the 'Ability of
the present moment would deprive him of the due and efficient (ler- England, in consequence of their exchteiun from office and sow&
litifirsibegarol%fri did
!II:Intel tho ta heat
publicatitognia:fejinuyrged,
opinioniai "or at that moment e far , that an
nintdigtrluglavofnngo great
i issinualmted that a
sentiments respecting a.deseased mongrel' was • and a libel partiality was harboured in the royal breast toward, this nobleman g
affecting • living sovereign. Ilis learned friend anxiously abstained that in consequence of his publication of a newspaper called the
horn the law of this case, and with good policy left it to his Lord- North griton, he was made an object of vengeance; that he was
ship to lay down. !netted of laying down the law of the ease, he prosecuted for a number of this paper, to which was prefixed •
betook himself to topics of declamation, calculated to excite some. motto from Ovid.--" Ne aniki rewribits, anamen ipse very ;" that
whatofparty feeling, that should never enter into the administration ministerial majorities were got up with no other view than to do-
of justice. He (Mr. Scarlet) would wish that his learned friend 'troy Mr. Wilkes; that a House of Commons expelled him, and
had conducted the undemanding' of the Jury to the law of libel ; that another House of Commons expunged nom its journals
that he had stated to them under what head of law this prosecution theme resolutions, and thereby declared them to be foolish._
was founded ; that he had pointed out to them the difference affect- Passing over the ferment that these events created, suppose it to be
ing the Kings/id ordinary one, in order that they might have the stated, that in this King's reign the question of taxing Americo
t benefit of his epinioes, and that he (Mr. Searlett) might know with arose—America then growing into wealth and power and grantor
what he had to grapple. Demerits not in the indictment formed —that after an ineffectual struggle the King lost the fairest poetise
the subject of his declamation ; and he would rein disguise from of his empire—and that he was obliged to sign a recognition of the
them the real matter set forth In the record, by sour.ding epithets independence of those who before gloried in the name of British
and imposing tones. Bina his learned friend, then, had abstained subjects. The independence of America he would not say was the
Iwo the task, be would bespeak their indulgence whilst he immediate cause of the French Revolution,- but he would say, thee
szplained 10 them this point, and undertook to prove that the in its successful opposition to the power of this country were NOS%
record of this indictment was a disgrace to this Court of Justice. the seeds of that spirit of liberty which afterwards ripened is
A libel is defined "to be •erime, because it tends tee breach of France, and which was too unfortunately followed by scenes of
the public peace." Why does it tend to do so? because it excites disaster and blood that the heart recoils at the reoollection of
•desire of vengeance, inconsistent with the public pewee; it is the What then was the situation of Britain ? A war was inevitabte
polisy of the law to take redress of injuries es much as possible it wee entered upon ; but not persevered in on the declaration of
out of the hands of individuals; and unless the law laid such re- any specific object. It might have been right then to enter upon a
oinsint on our feeling.. we should return to a state of savage na. was ; but re object of it should he also declared—if the object was
tore. A charge against a living monarch is not • libel, because the restoration bf the Bourbons it should have been declar•'—if
be cannot be supposed to feel a desire to beak the peace. The the object was the restoration of an island, that island might be
sovereign is entitled to reverence and duty, and all outward forum given to us. No ; there was no specific purpose declared, 'sod
of submission consistent with law. Any attempt to bring him into the cant of the Parliament of that day was, indemnity for the pant
contempt, or to insult him is Adelina, and is a crime of a different and security for'the future. What was the indemnity ? What the
Mum from ISO attempt to insult and degrade his subject. It Is a security The loss of two hundred millions in the American eon .
crime, not because it tends to provoke the monarch to break the test, and of six hundred millions in the war that followed, hid
public
_peace, but because it tails to weaken the civil allegiance loaded the country with an unequalled burden of taxation: and
of the King's subjects. In this. end in all free countries, Govern- where was the indemnity ? A few brilliant actions at sea commie:4
OWN is the result of public opinion ; the strength is with the mut but did noeindeninify us fur this loss of treasure and of blood.
dtwle the executive acts as their agent ; and the sentiment is Then let it be remembered that the /faxes Corpus Act was son
well inculcated on the minds of the people, that every attempt to pended in that reign; he was ashamed to say how often; and all
bring its bead into contempt should be checked, because such at- those safeguards were withdrawn, and principles violated, on whisk
tempt obviously tends to weaken those boucle of opinion which go the British people were wont to revolve and repose in quiet. And
to constitute the strength and security of Govemment. His learn- now had that peace had arrived, where, he would ask. was the rea-
ed friend had said that the good fame of the dead must be protect- ligation of this promised indemnity, and much talked of security ?
ed, on account of the living, because attacks on our fathers excited I—Such a view might be taken of the reign of George the
OS
to break the public peace. ('an that besaid of a monarch? He I Third, by same persons in this country. Mr. Adolphus might
hoped never to see the day when it would be received as a maxim if he pleased write a history of his reign and in his praise, but that
in • court of justice, that observations on a deceased monarch I will not deprive others of the opinion,' which they may hare fanned
amount to • libel on the living sovereign. If such a maxim be upon it. If such a comment rot 'it be made in prose upon the
laid down, history is et an end. It destroys liberty and freedom of , reign of tho late King, why might not allusion of lees strength, sod
opinion. nel gore to the very root of our civil institutions. The conveying less censure be permitted to be made in poetry? The
case is different between kings and individuals: we may descend I Learned Gentleman again resumed the topic of the importance sat
to on graves ; our v irtues and our vices may descend there with us, I permitting free eiscussion on the reigns and actions of kings; it
and it emitters not whether they are remembered or forgotten. Fir • was of not less important* to kings themselves than to the roa.
different is it with kings and rulers : their lives are connect. dons they governed ; for the achievements of their Tripe, do
ed with the times in which they rule; their virtues and wisdom and success of their councils, were sae-rile:A to them,
their vices are recorded and preserved, as memorials foe history ' and the generals who may have achieved, or the generals when
and lemons for posterity. The divinity which "hedges in • king," • may have advised, were flung into the shade. It was a cos
'leaves him in his grave; the sanctity of his character and sacred- tributlon which posterie• paid to them. brink at Elizabeth,
nem of obligations, which he enjoyed whilst living, are transferred who, though she had t'ecß for a Minister, wee herself regarded as
to his successor when he is mingled with the earth and lies undies the centre of all the glory of her reign. Such, too, will be the
tingulsbed in mortality. When he returns to that earth from which , future award pronounced on all monarchs, according as the*
he sprung, lie beconies the subject of free and full discussion. This' reigns may he attended with 'dory or clouded with misfortune.
after-judgment that posterity will pronanince upon him operates as After taking • rapid review of the progress of the Duke of Wels,
a restraint to deter Ii i iii from bad actions, and as an inducement to lington on the Continent, who, he said, fought more pitched
stimulate him to gaol ones. It he deeply interesting to mankind, battles than any of er great commander, and after having owe.
std of the utmost inieortance to Englishmen, that this right of ells- thrown many French Generals, and finally member', the greater*
cussing the merits of a deceased wavereign should not be surrendered. of them all, the Learned Illeatlernan stated, that the present pub.
What mum nothing he said of deceased sovereigns, but what is lication arose out of the jealousy of rival bards, in wham- ineeeiblie
said in the language of praise and panegyric? if nothing is said contentions he was unwilling to interfere. They had probe*
of them but what is pleasing to their sucemeors, what becomes of heard of Mr. Southey's work, which bore the same name as the prow-
historical truth ? It we are condemned only to panegyrics, what sent publication, and in which the same character' were inn*.
faith is due to those who ;rather from the peat rules for future dumd. It was written in a strange metre. in imitatiou of Latin,
gayer -nt ? The greatest of ancient historians (Twin's), the most an attempt in which Milton had before failed.
perfect master of hunwn wisiloni, speaking of the difficulty of The Loan Ciityr .Ire-eft:v.—l believe, Mr. Scarlet', the
finding persons to speak the truth, says. " In the reign of Augustus, I Hardy was the poet who made that experhnent.
there were not wanting persons who could tell truth—there Mr. Seentscr I. end Milton also, my Lord. lie essayed an
were many bright geniuses, but adulation prevented them."— imitation of Horace's ate in that style, commencing—
Snell that lie said too in this country ? Shall a Jury sanction it? "(Juts molts gradles to pun in nese Patusu, liquidis,"
, lie fervently hoped there would be found no record of such a Southey introduced George 111. at the gates of heaven. He alms
venlict. lie would concede, that if any man write respecting • introduced the persons of the Deviltry, which perhaps it had ban
deceased monarch, with a view to insult the existing monarch, it is better not to introduce. Wilkes, Junius. and Washington "Of
'cri iii inal, and ought to be punished ; and if the defendant has done the persons in the original poem. This vision was sere from the
so, he would convect to a verdict against him. But that is not so. If hill of Skiddaw, in C berland, where the Poet !Aureate mode%
all the virtues of his piedecessor were stated as a contrast to insult . The most striking similarity prevailed in even page, on that ao
the living monarch, it wombl be criminal also. 11y learned mistake could arise as to the intention of the writer. winch was
Friend has said that this prosecution proceeds, not from the Crown t expose the laureate, whose poetry he coneidered as dull. vapid, awl
it was not advised by his v inisters ; he called it an effusion of stupid. He recommended the Jury not to be too'eritical on the
his subjects, of certain individuals who had erected themselves into lines of a poet, The sporting of the imaginattuo ought not to be
the character and station of State Nome-units. On political events dealt with too severely. What would they think of such a hue se
it was nut for him to dwell ; but he could net forbear from &eking this, in Milton
to wl was the memory of his late Majesty dearest—by whom "ln the prison of his tyranny we are doomed."
was it held in the highest veneration ? Surely, to these Ministers No 'meth% surely amuse Milton of impiety. He only pointed
who now surround the King; fur they are the same persons whom to ttet'snline to chew the danger of scanning poetical words and
the late King raised to power. There is not one of them wbo has phrases with too match nicety. It was strange that the oily hum
not read this book, for it was not designed fur the vulgar end int- which might be cekellimed to disp:-...e his remit Mltially. IMO
terate ; it can only be underetood by men of education and letters. emitted in the indictment. The lines were three :---
This is indeed forbearance rare and unceampled The Attorney- " Except that homachold your, most unorantraos,
f incest, who may be supposed to be the best judge of such a mit.) Of constancy toe had ugly woman."
ter, has sot noticed it. It was not because he had not noticed it Pion the illusion contained in these lines to events that were knows
that he called for their verdict; but he inferred from this mimeo's to them, some objection-pay be made ; but none other la the
to notice it, that no man of letter, of education, no statesoon, no hook could he said to afar, ia any degas, to the proms Rine,

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