The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-06-13 00:00:00

MR. JUSTICE FOX.

The Order of the fhii;titgteid for their Lord-
i -;, tug into a Committee for the rafter corn-
a.sa. • •••e matters
0, m 4, in _thaw wins
Mr 44 Wei
The Marquis of RucKmanAm, in reference
to the !Leafing case of that judicial eh:wafter,
hogged leave to call their Lordships' Attention to
the cacernitanee of an eh of the Irish Parl;atnera,
mad^ in the stcond year of the reign of Co.r I:
lie benef.t of the laws of that per of the United
gen'n, thong'', in some instances, separate and
dicing from those of England, was fully sees:red
to the people of Ireland, by the A.' of Union. Ile
troileded, on former dist:ties:tens, from the Noble
Led on the Ward.aek, and front ocher high law
authorities in that House, that in a case of the pe-
(Ain imporraeoe of that adverted to, the pro-
ceedings of that House should, as far as courcl pro-
pet be had, he enalageus ro the course of proceed-
ing, and tit, practice-4
the Courts below. On
that general pound, he conceived it would be pro-
per t • render their *levant proceedings analogous
to tante which obtained, under an Irish Aft of Par-
liamere, in an Irish Court ofJustice. He had enter-
* deed hop-s that the Leaenel Counsel would have '
saved him tree trouble of making these observations :
that not being the tale, he ter eight it may be
ere-diem, that (if what he stated was worthy of at-
tentien), the attention of their Lordships, and the
Learned Counsel, should be called to it in this way ; '
tbey would recollea, that the principal part of the
charge tinder consideratien consisted of allegations
of wors's or.token by Mr. Inttice Fox. The Mt to
which be 'denied, took its rise from a particular
occasion, connefted with the conduCt of a person
then executing the office of the highest trust and re-
hpedsbility in Ireland. It provided, that no per-
son, after tile 24th of Inne, 1795. should be prose•
noted for word; spoken, unless information was
OVC'n upon oath thereof. within a given rime, &c.
Hews% aware this could be nn rule as ro their Lord-
Parliamentary proceeding*; but he submitted
the consideration, how far, in a case of each peculiar
tenure as the pteseat, occurring ie that part of the
United Kingdom. and where a question for an ad-
etess for removal was peridinil, and consid •ring
what undoubtedly would he the praftice of an Irish
Court of lase under the statute, the operation of
Sat Act was worthy of attention, with retpeet to the
410 of the Learned Judge. Ilk objeft, in address-
:4't their Lordships on the subjeft, was, that the
learned Counsel may have an opportunity of con-
7,ne the operation of the statute alluded to, and
sir Lordships of giving that degree of attention
a, it, that they should think proper.
The LORD CHA NC i.LLOR observed, that an
?)meinnaturally could n it be expelled from him,
•!lether the Learned Counsel were aware of the
'ante alluded to by the Noble Marquis. tVith
!'neCt to the provisions of the Aft, he thought
h-7 could only apply to those proceedings ineoti"-
din the enacting clause With respect' to the Clll-
- of the Learned Comex!, is rale...nee thereto,
e observed, that if they Should think proper to
round any question arising out, of the statute, it
nodoura, he duly attended, and tAirly con-
*red he the House.
The NI i-vis of BUCKINGHAM explained
by the declaration of the Noble Lot d on the
eolsack, his purpose in aidre sing their Lord-
Pi WES fully dilsoreJ, from the moment it was

..

I understood that if they thought the previsions of the
Aa alluded to worthy of their attention; they
should be enti•led to argue upon them.
Mr. Justice Fox then made his appearance; the
Counsel on both sides having preeiniisiy been et Cie
Bar, and the witnesses in attendance—the Learned
Judge took his seat on the left. within the newly-
erecied inclosure below the Bar;—the examination
of evidence began.
otrestettce to Are eeinione repeatedly eeptceeer,
the siren language held by Cie high-.t Ie J aqlor.i:, a,d
the ()nicht! Organ of the / louse, wit reSpi.ct to the proce•fd.'
legs. tie de4hiu gitiuo; s osvnnss, . of the
Esi.tenee aJ lucrd this r mune the teen eleecislly, at it wet
noted Flythe Learned C s ince, in pnn,g.J initanee, that
the Elsa inioation in chid. should only he ipv.d, aid the Out,-
enoinatioms strived for a fast ors 4.. y.)
The first wiwess brcinght for sv Id. was big.
Dieting, a Gentleman of tt.e. Irish BA:* who bad'
beta prwmt at the greater pm, if not.thi whelk of
the trial of Fletcher, Sharp, and goys, fur mur-
der, at the Autumn Assizes to 1803, for the clammy
of Fermanagh, It was. with re:pet% to the crenduet
of ' Mr. Justice Fox,. prin.-4)41y relative to the
Jury on that trial, that the article of, charge, at
present under consideration, was founded.
The account given by the Witness differed very
little, as to the tneteetel substance, fewn. that given
by one of the former Witnesses. As the prekeet
Witness Wu proceeding in his statement of what
had been said by Me. Justice Fox on the occasion;
Mr. Adam, leading Counsel for Mr. Justice Fqx, '
interpcsed,.and observed, the Witness had gone
and was going isstp a detailed acconnt from bis
rv-
colkEtion of what Mr. Justice Fox said to the Petty
Jury and to the Grand Jury, and on diEereat days;
this, when it was considered,, that the word. Al-
leged to be spoken may be of a crimineting nature,
involved some degree of embarrasiment. Sonic tee
their Lerdships were acquainted with au At of the
lite Irish Legislature, containing certain provisions,
which, as going to zffeit an examination, such as
that before them, may be matter of serious coNi-
' derttion. Upon tins groun he felt a degree of
embarrassment, and l'e wished to submit to the con-
sideration of their L vdships, whether, in the si-
tuation in which he stood, the Aft of the frith Par-
t amen alluded to. being new to him, he could be
duly prepared tp observe upoa tile qaestinn arising
out of it, in the way in which It ought to influence
the minds bf their L irdseies ; a case, where the
words alleged, of a criminetory nature, were
spoken a considerable time back.
After a few words from Mr. Romilly ;
The LORD CHANCELLOR direfted that the
Statute Book, con:eiping the Irish Al alluded to,
should he handed to the Counsel tor the Learned
Judge, Messrs. Adam and Nolan.
.titer rennieg vet. the Ada-.. .
Mr. A.lam continued--lie "wisliel That his em-
ber, iernent was removed by a peiusal of the Ad.
In the preamble it was set forth, that, whereas there
vats no time limited by law for the prosecution of
persons for words spoken, Cc:. great inconveniencies
had taken place, which would not hive arisen, if such
cues wetetried in a short time after. So tar the
case in ceiestioti was 2 Teeied ; were it by impeach.
anent, it would precisely represent the grievance he
had to complain of. Teis was the more to be re.
gretted, as he was able to prove by evidence,
that, in the loeg lapse of time, t'.e Learned and
venerable Judge, for whom he had the honour to ap-
pear as Counsel, had been deprived by deoth a a
most important party. In one point of view, the
al met the case as fully as if it were expressly named.
With respell to the enaaiag part, as he tould infer
:rom the hasty perusal, the present proceeding cuss-
- idered its penal effect sufficiently in point.. W tea lie,
submitted was, that an opportunity should be allpwed..
him of consulting with those, who, from their kite-,
curnstances, situation, and emetic:, bad better
means of being informed upon the than him-
self, especially, with regard to the proceedings
which obtained, acid the cons:re:foils put ueen the
law in the course of praltice in Ireland.
Mr. Nolan shortly followed on the same side.
Mr. Romiity did rot deem it necess.ry to of-
fer any detailed observations to their Lordship; upon
the subjeft.
Mr. Adem, in further ohserving upon the point.
contended, that in a cafe where words spoken formed
the principal part of the matter in charge, it we.: his
duty to bring it under consideration. However, in
the present instance, he did not mean to interrupt
the examination.
Mr. Deering continued his evidence for some '
time longer, after which, he underwent some cross-
exerninatioa by Mr. Adam ; some periratlar points
in which being objefted to by Mr. Romilly, a short
argument took place between the Learned Counsel,
tae result of which was, An agreement betwee s them,
that any further cross-examination should be post-
petted to a future day.
The nest Witness ca/led was the Solicitor for the
Crown an the North-Western Circuit. His name,
at we could hear it, was Mr. Galbraith. He stated,
he had been in Court during the whole of the trial
adverted to. He had taken notes of the evidence
hoven upon the trial. It was a general rule with
im, to take a note of the evidence upon every
case he was concerned in, where it conveniently
could be done. Of the case in queetion, be thought,
were he permitted to secur to nis notes, he could
give a good report of what passed upon the trial ;
Le was confident that no man could give a better
account of every thing matei eel that occurred. He
did nut profess to have made his notes so monosylla-
bly, as to take down every iota that was said.
It seemed to be the sense of their Lordships, that
the Witness should be permitted to read his notes as
evidence. The Witness, in the outset, answered
one or two questions which were put to him, with-
out re.urring to his notes; on which
Mr. Nolan took the opportuaity to remark upon
the novelty of a Witness deliverieg testimony, partly
written, and partly prear.
The Witness then proceeded, and delivered his
chief examination, which repeated the evidence