The Sun.
London, England, 1808-06-17 00:00:00

L.4IV REPORT.

,COURT OP KING's BENCH,•TiIunIDAN, 141:•!iz i 6.
SITTINGE EETOitE MR, JUSTICE GROSE AND A SI'ECIAL

JURY.

INFORMATIONS FOR LIBEL.

THE KING V. JOHN 11. HART AND HENRY
This was an information against the Defeodants,
for publishing a libel upon Lord Ellenborough,
.in a
weekly paper called Ihe Independent Whig but
Mr. Justice GROSE, previous to' the. Jury being
sworn, inforMed Mr. CLIFFORD) as Counsel for the
Defendants, that application had that morning been
made to him, at chambers, to amend the record ;
that the required alterations had been made, and
that, if he wished, he might have time hiconsider.
of the amended record. .. - •
Mr. CLlFrortn, .after some .altei-cation, said he
would take time to consider the amended record ;
and was allowed till Monday next, either to plead'
Not Guilty, or to suffer judgment to go by default:'
In the former event, the trial to take place on Sa-
turday sennight..
THE KING V. J. H. HART AND 11. WHITE.
This Was also an information tiled by the ATTOR-
NEY GENERitI. against the Defendants, the former as
the Printer and Publisher, and.the latter as the sole
Proprietor. of a Newspaper, calla The independent
lPhig, tor, inserting. three several libels,
.the one, on
the 'l7th, and the two others on the 24th of January"
last, with intent to arraign the administration of jus-
tice in the country, and to bring therrial by Jury,
into disgrace and contempt. The Detetdants were,
also charged with au attempt to overthrow the go-
vernment.of the country by the aforesaid means. To
these allegations they had pleaded Not Guilty.
iheATTORNEY-GENREAL made a very able speech
to the Airy. He began by saying, that he felt it
te be Ms duty to prosecute the Defendants, assured.'
that their intent was what the information charged
upon: them, namely; to vilify the administration of
justice, and to' bring the trial by. Jury into disgrace
and contempt. The means of doing it were, by
libelling the conduct of the Judge and Jury, and by
questioning the purity of their decisions. Couldiltat
end be ended, he said, the consequences were ob-
vious for if the public were ow, brought to be-
lieVe (he taws of the land were corruptly admini-
stered, those laws would soon be brought into ab,
horrence and disrepute, and the Government of the.
Country endangered. That such wars the/ntention,
:of the Defendants, he should repeat, he had no
doubt ; but he was at 'a loss to know what the
'writer of the libels in question could substitute M
their stead. The Learned Judge too (sir. SIMON LE
BLANC)
.whom the libeller had attacked, was one
of the last persops. to be anspeOed.of-,c4reptioa in
11i, high office; he ivas,. on .the centrary, most dili-
gent, discreet, and attentive to extraa the 'Lath
:froM witnesses, and eagerly desirous to have all
'ases that came before him fully and fairly in-
vestigated on both sides.; and whether the learning.
with which he discussed all points of law sub-
mitted to him, or the even hand ,with which he
held the balance between 11)0 accused and the ac-
coser,,were considered, there could not have been se.
iejfed air individuarless deserving of the rick made
',upon him. The Learned Counsel then went into a
abort biilory of the tams proved on the trials of Ben.
net, fort hesupposed murder. ola boy named Rickman
ants of Chapman, for the supposed murder ofltubert
Punn,.both of whom were acquitted. Those trials
had formed the ground-work, lie said„ of the libels in
qUestien, and though tie! first was tried before the
Chief Baron Macdonald, yet they were both brought
;into the account of Mr. Justice Le Blanc. The Jury,
he -laid, upon a review of the 4vidence produced
against the prisoner, and the/doubt and suspicion that
:hung upon t;hapnian's case, Would have dkgraced
themselves it' they 414.1: found any other verdict than'
they did. Bnt _they felt as honest and upright men,
t hat they could not tv:th safety doom a fellow-crea-
tore 6-death ution the evidence placed before them,
an 4 leening to the side of mercy, they acquitted him.
On that condua the writer of the articles in question
had thought proper to:utter theanost scandalous libels,
and to impute niotives to the :.'dge and Jury the Most
corrupt and disgracefid. The Learned Counsel then
commented more minutely upon the 'testimony given
in chapman's case, remarking upon the mutinous
state of the crevasse board-the ship, the •contradidiens
in their eVidence, and the enmity and of . the
Dotior,who was the Captain's principal accuser; but'
above all, he dwelt upon the testimony of the emi-
nent medical men examined on the part of the pro-
seeution, which went to .prove that the deceased
must have died of some latent disease, that at once
stopped the futietions of the heart, and not from
the treatment he had -previously received. After
dwelling on this part of the case for some time, he
next proceeded to read the libels, and Commented
upotr them sentence'by sentence, paragraph lay para-
graph. Heobserved, that he had before Well papers
of an inflammatory nature, but it was reserved for
the Libeller before the Court to exceed them all,
and el language the most inflated and scandalous
Ito attack the -motives of a British Jury, sitting
upon lite and death, and to reproach them with
injustice and. inhumanity. He, would ask, where
was the country to look for Juries if they were
to be thus .publicly maligned and reproached ?
Who would be prevailed:upon to do their duty, if in
the fait execution of it he wa to be held up as
venal and corrupt by the pen of a libeller ?. What
security was there "for the property, the lives, and
liberties of individuals but tee purity of our admi-
nistrative justice? And what would become of that
purity if Juries Were to be overawed ' by the malice.
,of a libeller ? The objeti of the Defendants was to
terrify and keep Juries in check, and by that-means
to become" the arbiters between the accuser and the
accused---to keep then under the tear of reproach,
and lead them to a consideration rather of what the
libeller may say of them, than of the question they
are called upon to, deeide. That the publications he
,alloded to were libellous he would not take up the
time of the Jnry in enforcing; their good sense would
_ immediately perceive it, and the meltiplicity of libels
would shew a diSpositioe in the writer to arraign the
administration of justice he would therefore repeat
what he set out with, by saying- thatdhe wri; er's eb-
jea wits to bring the jtwice of the country into dis-
repty,,!, by yilityhe4 tali individuals engaged in 4$ ad-.
ministration. employed were, by miH,
reirreSenthig the I:l,tas of the ;by giving Those