The National Register.
London, England, 1812-05-17 00:00:00

OLD B4IILLY, FRID4r, .11Lir 13.

• TRIAL. OF BELI.INGHAM.
In the memory of the oldest nun ,living, this Court was never so
.erov.-ded. Every rank and every dec,ree of persons assembled to see and
bear the trial of the asszsain Bellingham.
At ri:tie o'clock, the Marquis Wellesley, accompanied by several dis-
tinguiphed personages, took their scats on the Bench. An unusual as •
sernolave el the iCentletren of the Bar appeared, and every avenue to
the Court was close up by thousands who could not obtain admission;
and dis:Tpointetl, were obliged to go away. Several ladies of dibtin
pvished rank carne at a very early hoar, and occupied seats pi epared fen
their' reception, in various parts of the Cour:.

MAY 17

So great was the press, that a great number of eminent persons of
both Houses of Parliament were compelled to intermix indiscriminately
with the multitude in the body of the Court.
At ten o'clock, the Duke of Clarence and the Lord Chief lestiee of
the Common Pleas, accompanied by the other Judges, via. Mr. Justice
Grose, Baron Graham, and the Recorder, appeared, and took their
seats on each side of the Lord Mayor, and immediately the prisoner was
produced, and placed at the Bar. At this moment a deep horror was
visibly depicted on every countenance. Even Bellingham himself seem-
ed dismayed; but in a few seconds he assumed the same species of de-
portment which he had all along displayed.
Mr. Garrom: called on the prisoner to plead.
Mr. Alley addressed the Bench, stating, that be ought not to plead,
being insane.
Mr. Attorney-General said, the usual mode for the prisoner to pursue
was to plead.
IVIr. Garrow—" This is the stage for the prisoner to plead, and the
only stage."
Mr. Alley said—" My duty is to state, that the prisoner is in that
state that he ought not to be called on to plead."
The Court—" He has no right to Counsel till he pleads."
The prisoner being called on to plead, he complained of the prosecu-
tors refusing him his papers, which were beneficial to him, and pleadsd
Not Guilty.
The Attorney-General and Mr. Garrow both declared that he had an
offer of copies of those papere.
Mr. Alley then stated, that, as his instructions were to the insanity of
the prisoner, he should confine himself to that. He then proceeded to
move that bis trial should be put off, for the sole purpose of producing
witnesses. He then read an affidavit of Ann Billet, stating in direct
terms the insanity of the prisoner, and that several witnesses knew the
face, but they were absent, and could not at this day be brought to Lon-
don from Liverpool, and elsewhere. The Learned Gentleman then
appealed in forcible terms to the humanity as well as justice of the
Court, to let the trial stand over till a more distant period.
Here the•Attorney-General and Mr. Garrow interfered, and said, that
in Arnold's ease the Court restrained the Counsel for defendant front
proceeding with any observations, restricting him merely to the readill
the affidavit ; which was accordingly put in, and read by Mr. Sheltoe.
Another affidavit was read, made by Mary Clark, of Bagnio-court,
Newgate-street, to the same effect.
The Attorney-General contended, that this was a contrivance merely
to impose upon the Court and delay justice. He put it to the Court
that the prisoner had been four months in town, transacting every spe-
cies of business, and he did Hot call for any of those to show that he was
in that deranged state of mind they would describe. The Attorney-
General then adverted ti the observations made by the prisoner himself
respecting his Papers, frost whence he deduced that the prisoner was
in possession riot only of a sane but a masculine mind.
Mr. Alley, in reply, maintained that the prisoner was entitled to have
his trial put off. With respect to the circumstance of not producing
those in town to testify his insanity, he said, that every effort was used
to procure the attendance of such persons, as well as Doctors Simmons
and Munro; but that one stated the impossibility of his appearance tu-
day, and no answer was received from the other.
The Court then consulted for a short time, and
Sir J. Mansfield pronounced the sentiments of the Court respecting the
application, and said, that the affidavits were not sufficient to induce
them to put off the trial, particularly as they did not specify what in-
duced the prisoner to go to Russia, and how he had been occupied since
Ins return, and how his mind had been engaged since his retern,
now two years. The motion was therefore refused, especially as the
affidavits did not state, that at the time when the crime was committed,
he was insane.
The prisoner was then arraigned, and at the arraigning was allowed to
challenge any of the Jurors, if he thought tit. Here the
of Cotheunselna m fore
the
Crown challenged peremptorily one of the Jury,
Brown.
11r. Alley objected to the right of the Crown to challenge, unless in
cases of High 'I reason. ,
Mr. Garrow replied ; and the obejection was overruled.
01
A Mr. Bighy was then objected to by the Crown, and not disputed el
the Counsel for the prisoner, and the Jury were sworn : on which pee
clamation was made, and the trial proceeded. The Jury consisted sl
the following persons :
Ephraim Lee, Foreman. .English.
Dar iel Haywood. I John
Thomas Whittington. Charles Rii.isell.
John Kennington. James Osborne.
'Thomas Juggins. James King.
Lee Waters. George Gay ton,
The indictment was then rend by Mr. Shelton, Clerk of the arraigns:
and Mr. Abbott opened the pleadings, stating% that John Bellinghacet
had committed the crime of murdering the Right Honourable Spe
Perceval.
The Attorney General then addressed the Jury.—He,began by saoeirig,
that the peinfel task devolved on him of calling the attention f t
Court and :he Jury to the case of the prisoner. He conjured thesis to
ceitsider, the: jnatice, and not vengeance, was the object of tle3 P"'"