The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-09-02 00:00:00

SUlittEY SESSIONS. AuGust 31.

SEDITIOUS PLACARDS.
.Setivia/ Wrsdrlinglon, whmw ewe, we wiewliwee4 a few days
ago wilder the head of " Police," was 'lied upon au Pullet-
mewl charging him with hawing published a few days ago at
Limited' a seditious printed he nlbill, f .or tlw purpose of
calling a public meeting ut Susiihlirlill mud thereby totiviiditig
M stir •p, Puede, and provoke Inmult, rem, seiliti tttt ,
disaffection sat such meeting. The Prisoner pleaded No 4

The Prisoner objected In three of the Jury. l'pou being
told by the Court, that he must give a reason for so dolor,
he sant, he understood it lu be his right la challenge any of
the Jury, without any obliestion to tell why.
The l'outte—N.it p.•rempterdy
The Psis eeeee .r replies', that he bail no other reason than the
seaport eeee that they were dependant isl the kl,gtortsiers Ir
their trade; and when a poor Irvin like bun haul to content(
'nutty against Ilia King's lawyers and a Reno It of Magis-
trate., Leapt:hi be mused for bring cautlllllll.
The Cwatanall (D. Trotter, East) caub••oed bin against
snaking arch ivantnatioos. They sought prtjuduce Ins yaw,
bat certainly could not benefit It.
The Pr softer sa:tt, he meant within; persuisal it his oh.
jerlion•, and did not pros Ilwin
Mr. CourtAtif ennoluersl lb. prosecution. He %puke at great

length opens the law ul holding public meeting., by winch he
10111151. AI the people possessed the right of Arsenals!mg toge-
ther, provided they did so without any viola of the pubs
lie race. The bill en questi is hail a tendency, which all
tonal see, to endotiger the safety eat the people.; rod its pub.
11C.111114 was uudoobadly 4111,V/101i( of punishment, as a
seditious mot iufammatu,y Itin I. A meeting of each ien•
income mognitude as out. of 200,4010 r 300,000 men could
not possib y take place without mischief; and the execution
of Hogarty mud Holloway proved that the mere motion of
hands, without hostile intention, was premiss(' see of leash;
thissrlien the cry of " Hats off!" was raised, 1Z , people were
killed by the obedience of the mullitude to the call. At
mach crowd. d assemblies their timid he 'milling like diseurs
Ilion, for met Inure thou a sixth part could hear any 4.f the
proceedings. Ist fact, history had not siveu any insinesee of
a peaceable WWII:111CM to ineetings of such a desciipt
111 r. Cowley then quote 41, upon the sobjeci of seditious libels,
the authority of Chief Justices Holt sail Pratt, both of
whom were, he said, open' the stile of populsr Isbeily. 'flu
hill in question, instead of calling the people together with
a view to the calm discussion which the law recogtoletl, set
out wills au appeal to the passions of men, by asserting that
atrocious acts of viol. nee and 11131111•Crc lind heron committed
by the Goverimirot upon tht Sr fellow-countrymen, soul it
called tipou them to join its au appeal to the Prince Regent,
to stay the 113111 l• of bloody and remorseless tyrants. He
would put it to the Jury in decide whether such capressious
' hail not a tendency to excite sedition and ilisaffretiou to.
wards the Government, and he 51 glut it quite ruough for
hint to prove the publication of the libel ley the Prisoner, in
order to establish their verdict.
Robert Hall, a constable, slated, that he saw the Pri
saner on the 23.1 of Angnst, yes Kenitiligton Common.—
[We refer our readers fur the evidence of this witness to our
teas' a few days ago, touter she head of Polito. The
bill, it will he temembercd, invited the people to Smithfield
to discuss the subjert of massacres said to leave taken place
at Manchester.]—Fhe officer added to his former evidence.,
that the Prisoner bad made a sort of resistance, which was
ineffectual, nut from fear but weakness.
'llse witness underwent ail ingenious crnsa.examination
by the Prisoner, in she course of which he elated that Wad-
dingtou had beets twice liberated up lois own promise to
ahead, and that he had been punctual in sppeariog before
the Magistrates, one of whom could find mashing to charge
him wish.
The Pr i ))) tier was called upon for his defence. • He begged
to be excused until the Counsel for the Crown bad dense his
utmost, as far as words could go.
The Court haven informed him that the Counsel fur the
Croats was entitled to reply, if by thought proper—
Mr. IVaddingtuu cunitionced hit defence. This was the
Aril instance he had ever known to have °centred in which
a poor fellow, who incr. ly ried a board, was prosecuted
for publishing a sedition, libel, breause • few words of the
Engli•h language were reamed upon it in large letters. When
he took that board upon his shoulder, and wailtril dawn to
the Common with it, be kuew he was doing what was legal,
notwithstanding the large volumes which might Ire dig-
lofted to his prejudice. As to the resistance with which he
was charged, was it not natural that he should feel a thsposis
lima to check the violence of a mast who had no *Ohm illy
but that wills which every ignoi ant foul Willi clotherl—a high
opinion of his owu importance—to justify 11:e part he hail
acted in this Ministerial Force? But what had he (the Priso-
ner) door? Why, notheeig inure than the public journals had
dune. No, not balls° much; fur both Judge and Jury would
fiad opou hooking into the Papers, that the bill appeared in
all of them embellislied,willi cOmments which 'Made it more
cusaspictious than he couldeender it, if hes tailor cat his clothes
from eau other potteries nod why were they out premertited
iustead of the humble 1100:1111M ketone the Court, alto had
Inothing to protect him fr ha effects of prismie and public
malignity or folly but his integrity end inelustri tttt s habits?
As to the character giveb of the lull by the lawyer, who avid
that it tended lit excite smbtion, and was likely to produce
these other !risible things which had such furious name.,
she result of the meeting at Smithfield gave the lie pretty
roundly to ill that part of the lawyers eloquence, which
might be called poetical, from its *strueg resemblance to the
facts related in rhyme. There was aright ofwhich the peoyle
of England could nut be deprived without the certainty of
losing all ethers—the right to inert awl discskss their grit V-
aIICCM; • thing of such powerful impottance, that mu
Billy Pitt and the Duke of Itiehmund•wery known private ly
to adore, and publicly to adopt sltr 'flue Counsel for the
CCOWII had -quoted very largely tram various law authorities;
but there was ma authority mush higher, from which lie
should have quoted. and which tom should be used *genial
him. But, indeed', the ietitlernen in she liberal profession of
the law but seldom thought of any laws 'of higher'consttue.
ti tttt ; and when he should produce the •Bible, he believed
Ilse boldness of his antagonist would droop from the con-
sciousness of his inferiority.
111 r. IVadelington then took from his contspocket a Bible,
and read several chapters whirls treated or the iniquity of
bad advisers, and prepared for than the turrisents of the
damned, " waiting and gnashing of teeth." lily dwelt with
peculiar emphasis upon the following verse in the Proverbs:—
"'rake away the wicked (ruin before the Prince, and his
throne shall he established in righteousness." Upuu chess
hag the acrid book, be called upon the Jury in consider
the efficacy of the Christiaii religion in the remission of Viols.
The biers he quoted were admitted by all Christians to besti-
rs-Mr to all others, from she divine Palace of their
Viola them lie relied; but be called open his coantrynieu to
consider the nature Jail power of the opposition he bad tea
contend with. Those 'against him were num of expensive
educations, and habits of professional boldness. He was an.
informed and obscure, but he knew that a Joey would do him
the justice_of thinking that he was out working fur a change
of Governnient, although Jhe old nod bast argument might
be used against Min, that be had nothing to lose, soil there-
fore revolotion could nut make him worse than he was.
The Ctiatiusan, in 611111Mille up, said, be.. red every other
Magistrate Oil the Bends acre of opi tt ion that the bill was
certainly a seditious libel, the-pablication of which bad a
teodeues to excite ill breaches of the pewee. • •
The Jury, after nearly an hour's cumidaratioo, returned a
verdict of Not timitiy.
i The Prisoner, who couditeteerhintself with great firmness
and propriety during the trial, then weird the board on which
the placards were fixed, and left the Court a triumph,' fol.
! lusted by great numbers.

. .4
Mr. BRYkNT on Toescloy,. pt twelYe.&elork, et•
tended Mr. Baran GRAtimis 410,.. . Mr. Ja*toee
14oLoolro, and .svitlnirevt, 14w application fur the
Makes, torpor, Mr.. littrir. bowing been -previously
-liberated. .
.. • -- • - . - - ..
- " A Dr. GA RLIC/C.,-Of Derby; hos had a verdict or
%WO/. lawasfdp.l4viistst•liiicier *siting...kit .chalk
oolitic noel admit talon, to the drbibteo* af WWl'
other prirtieioitol am.. . . 7- • ... i • 1
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