The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-05 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 5, 1831.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

CO tilt T OF KING'S BE NCH, MAY 4.
CRIMINAL INFORMATION.-E% 'PARTE THE LORD

MASON OF LONDON.

The ATTORNEY-GENEKAL applied to the Court on be-
half of the Lord Mayor of London, for a rule to show
cause why a criminal information should not be tiled
'ir:ainst Mr. Byrne, the E liror, and Mr. Payne, toe pub-
lisher of the Morning Post newspaper, for libels pub-
lished against him in that paper of Friday and Saturday
last. In the leading article of Friday it was all,Ted,
" that on Welnesrhy night bands of the lowest ruffians,
with the connivance of our liberal Ministry, and under
the authority of their still more liberal Lord Mayor, pa-
raded the principal streets of the metropolis, destroying the
property of its most peaceful inhabitants." And after-
wards it went on to state " that the Chief Magistrate of
the City—but yesterday the whining deprecator of the
people's indignation—now, by the people's grace, the
lordly arbiter of our lives and property, thinks proper to
ordain a general illumination, and, with the permission
or the tacit acquiescence of the Noble Secretary, places
in imminent peril the lives and property of those who are
not content to obey his shameful edict." In a subsequent
part of the same article, there were the following words :--
" The criminal conduct of the Lord Mayor, in causing
the peace of the metropolis to be disturbed, and property
to be demolished to the amount of thousands, by. his
atrocious order to illuminate on Wednesday, will not, we
hope and trust, be suffered to pass unnoticed or un-
punished." The article proceeded to dwell on what was
called the atrocious conduct of the Lord Mayor, and
added, " Yet, so far from making any attempt to protect
the peaceable citizens against outrage, the order issued on
the occasion had a tendency directly the reverse; for the
Police were forbidden otherwise to interfere on the occa-
sion, than to keep the way clear for carriages. Was such
conduct on the part ed a Chief Magistrate ever before wit-
nessed in this or any other country? and shall such unpre-
cedented criminals be suffered to go unpunished, &c."—
And then in a separate passage came this paragraph :
" The following iniquitous notice was extensively circulated in
the City, previously to the illumination
ILLUMIVATION.

" The Lord Mayor gives notice that on the present occasion
of general rejoicing, the City Police have orders to confine their
care to keeping the carriage-way free, and that therefore they
cannot be expected to protect the premises of such persons as
shall be so disrespectful td public opinion as to form an exception
to the general conduct expected from free citizens.
" N.B. '1 he county police have the same orders.
" Bourne, Printer, Clerkenwell-green.'
Vas this, or was this not, we ask, a direct encouragement and
incitement to every de,cript ion of outrage and destruction ? Let
the Lord Mayor give an answer. Had thousands of lives been
sacrificed, where would the moral guilt have rested'.' On whose
head would that blood have cried out for vengeance ?"

The leading article of the Paper of Saturday proceeded
to inveigh against the atrocious conduct of tie Lord Mayor,
in the same style. Now, on the subject of the illumin.i-
tion, the Lord Mayor stated, in his affidavit, that he gave
no such order fur the illumination as he was hers alleged
to have given, nor had he given any encouragement what-
ever to any impropriety, alhough he had expressed his
concurrence in the great principle on which his Majesty
had dissolved the last Parliament. But it ought not to
be forgotten that his Majesty, in his speech for the proro-
gation of the Parliament, with a view to its dissolution,
bad thanked the Parliament for the provision which they
had made for his Royal Consort, and therefore he should
have thought that there were no grounds for any personal •
feelings of animosity in any quarter. But on the subject
of the illumination, the Lord Mayor stated that he heard
on Monday that there was to be an illumination, and al-
though he had not ordered it, yet lie did commence some
preparations to illuminate the Mansion-house. He teas
then waited upon by several respectable citizens, who stated
that they had no time to make preparation, and they re-
quested that it might be postponed till Wednesday,
and he accordingly gave notice to that effect, and be,
at the same time, gave strict orders to the police to pro-
tect the persons and properties of the citizens, in case there
should appear any disposition to injure them ; and he him-
self paraded the streets, and did not leave them till between
two and three o'clock in the morning, when the crowd
had wholly dispersed. But as to this notice, mentioned
in this Paper, he utterly denied having issued it, or havirg
any connection with, or knowledge of it whatever. He
bad caused every inquiry to he made that possibly could
be made, and was utterly unable to discover that any such
notice or band-bill bad been circulated or stuck upon any
wall, or published in any other way. He stated that he
never saw nor heard of such a notice, till lie saw it in the
columns of the Morning Post, and that he was verily per-
suaded th .t it was an atrocious forgery, got up for the
purpose of calumniating him. He also stated, that he
had caused inquiry to be made at Clerkenwell-green,
order to discover the person of the none of Bourne, whose
name appeared in the placard as printer, but that no such
printer could be discovered there, nor probably anywhere
else. lie hoped their Lordships would think that he had
shewn abundant ground for the rule.
Lord TENTEEDEN-Take a rule to show cause.
THE KING V. CARI.H.E.

At the sitting of the Court this morning the above case
wds called on.

Mr. Carlile (who was brought up in custody of the
Governor of Newgate) commenced by stating that he at-
tended their Lordships to support n Writ of Error which
lie had brought against the judgment passed on him by
the Recorder of London at the last January Old Bailey
Sessions. The indictment charged him with publishing
a seditious libel; against that indictment he had eleven
distinct points of err.r to urge; in doing which he
prayed their Lordships (as be hail no Counsel) to extend
their merciful indulgence. The first point was ap-
plicable to the general nature of the indictment
—it charged him with no distinct offence, it was
therefore bad, for no general charge was an of-
fence at common law, as the injury was proved. He
should contend that there could be no offence in law, un-
less there was distinct proof of malice. The words, ton,
in his case, relating to political subjects, where so much
difference of opinion existed, it would be unfair towards
him to infer malice.
Lord TENTERDEN—Y.O are much too late to argue
this point. The law of the land and our predecessors
have declared, that publications like the one on which you
have b, en convicted are calculated to disturb the peace and
quiet of the King, to bring his Majesty's Government into
contempt and hatred, and also to excite the agricultural
population to acts of illegal violence. It is impossible for
us to say such a publication is not libellous, and therefore
the time of the Court, which is the time of the public,
cannot be wasted.

Mr. Carlile would then proceed to the second point,
He was charged with provoking and inciting the agricul-
tural labourers to the commission of crimes. There was
no allegation of any distinct crime, and therefore,
Lord TENTERDEN—It is not nece,srry; there is a ge-
neral allegation that the publication was calculited to dig.
turb the peace of the realm—that is a sufficient crime for
the Court not to allow the law to be called into question.
Proceed to something tangible. You are, however,
charged distinctly with inciting the labourers to the crime
of arson.

Mr. Carlile—That is my third point. lam charged
with inciting to the crime of arson. Now the words cannot
bear any such interpretation, but the reverse. (Mr. C. here
read the libel, and contended that if the allegation of the
Government rioting in luxury and extravagance, whilst
the labourers by the swear of their brow were obliged to
pay for it, at the time their families were starving, &c.—
he contended that if these allegations were not true, they
ought to have been disproved at the trial.)
Lord TENTERDEN—We have nothing now to do with
the evidence. We can only hear errors in law, and fact.
There (lin be no doubt, however, to every man of plain
and common understanding, that the meaning of the pub-
lication was to excite the people to violate the laws.
Mr. Carlile—My fourth point is an abstract error in
the indictment. It did not state whether the words
charged as libellous were either spoken or printed, and
without such an allegation an individual could not obtain
a fair trial.

Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE—A charge was never brought
more distinct; it is not necessary.
Mr. Cathie-11.1 y fifth point is, that lam not properly
described in the indictment; I am there described as a
labourer. Now, I have looked into the law books, and
I find that is not a proper description of a person in my
situation of life, and.—

Mr. Justice LIT;LEDALE—If it was a wrong descrip-
tion you should have put in a plea of abatement. We
cannot bear it now.
.Mr. Carlile—My next point, 113 y Lord, does not ap-
pear on the record ; neither does the general character
and conduct of the Judge before who►n I was tried ; I shalt

therefore let that pass without any observation. I muo
say, however, that I feel myself much injured at the man.
Iner in which the proceedings against me have been con.
ducted. I have an affidavit, which shows the manner it
which the verdict was pronounced, which I pray your
Lordship will attend to.

Lord TENTEHDEN—We are bound by law. We cannot—
Mr. Carlile—l have two errors of fact.

Lord TEsrERDEN—We will hear them.

Mr. Carlile—My first is, that when the verdict against
me was given, there was only one of the Justices named in
the Commission present, and it was necessary that tsr
should have been on the Bench at the time. My secore
ooint is, that at the time sentence was passed, the verdict
had not been entered on the record. * With respect tip
the first point, there niv authorities which all agree
in stating that when a commission is issued to Justices for
the trial of offences, and it specifies that two or more of
them are necessary to constitute a Court, that if onh
one was in attendance the business could not be carried on.
O❑ a recent occasion, when Mr. Justice Bailey found
himself alone on the Bench he stopped the business until
another Commissioner could be found. There were also
several precedents in " Chitty's Criminal Code." With
respect to my second point, I contend that the verdict
ought to have been immediately entered on the records.
Lord TENTERDEN-The verdict must have been pro-
nounced first.

Mr. Carlile—My argument then is, that it ought_ to
have been immediately entered, and I can distinctly swear
it was not.

Lord TENTERDEN—It was before judgment was passed,
and therefore there is nothing in th it abjection.
Mr. Carlilo—Then I will rest entirely on the fact of
there being only one Commissioner in Court at the time
the verdict was given, and consequently the Court was not
competent to give judgment.
Mr. \VEIGILTMAN, for the prosecution, said, not the
least obstacle had been thrown in the way of the defendant,
but everything done to facilitate the present application.
The Learned Counsel then contended, at considerable
length, and quoted a great number of authorities to show
that the receiving of a verdict was not a judicial act. In
fact, with exceptions in cases of life or member, a privy
verdict might he received out of Court. In the present
case, it was competent for any one of the Justices named
in the Commission to receive the verdict.

Lord TENTERDEN, after consulting with the other
Judges, said the Court would take until Saturday mornin.,:
to consider its decision, and the defendant must then he
brought up again to hear its judgment.

GENERAL ELECTION.

BERKSHIRE.

Yesterday being the day appointed by the High
Sheriff for the nomination of Members of Parlia-
ment for the county of Berks, the freeholders assem-
bled in very considerable numbers in the Town-hall
of Reading, which, large as it was, was so completely
crammed, that, but for the state of the weather, the
meeting would probably have been adjourned to the
Forbury or the Market-place.
Long before the arrival of the Sheriff and candi-
dates, the hall were completely filled. Three cheers
for Reform was propo-ed and given eon amore. A
further degree of bilrrity was produced by an an-
nouncement from Dr. •Mitford, that he was autho-
rised by Mr. Roberts, the agent of Mr. Palmer, to
say that that gentleman had declined being put In
nomination. Abundance of placards and
,jeux
&esprit were handed about, and kept the meeting in
good humour tia the arrival of the High Sheriff,
about half-past twelve, who was followed by Mr.
Monch, Mr. Throckmorion, Mr. Ramsbottom, and
Sir F. Burdett, who was received with loud plaudits.
The candidates were then requested by the High
Sheriff to come forward.
Mr. RAMSBOTTOM said, that as an individual
claiming no pretensions by distinction or influence in
the county, he should not have offered himself to
their notice had he not been strongly solicited to
propose their old, tried, and valued representative,
Mr. Dundas.—(Applause.) If he had any preten-
sions to offer himself, it was because he had had the
honour of being for twenty-one years the represen-
tative of a town in this county, distinguished alike
for its loyalty and independence, and as being the
favoured residence of our beloved and patriotic
King.—(Cheers.) But fts he saw amongst the
crowd many freeholders who were his constituents,
he would ;ay that they had done themselves the
greatest honour, and shown themselves an example
to all England, in returning two uncompromising
friends to Lord John Russell's Bill.—(Loudt
applause.) Happily the cause of Mr. Dundas re-
quired no advocate. Having said thus much, he
should trouble them no further, but propose Mr.
Charles Dundas, of Barton Court, as their repre-
sentative to Parliament.—(Cheers.)
WIIEBLE seconded the nomination of Mr.
Dundas.
Mr. DUNDAS thanked his friends for their kind-
ness, and particularly Mr. Ramsbottom, for the man-
ner in which he had introduced his nomination, and
expressed what he believed was not only his own
sentiments, but those of his constituents. Mr.
might,ile bi
Ramsbottom had told them that he (Mr. Dundas)
was a very old Reformer. He was so : he believed
he was the oldest Reformer in England. He had
supported Mr. Wyvill's great Yorkshire petition in
1780. lie had always been a decided Reformer;
he had been nine times returned for this county,
and all that time he had not only professed, but
shown, the greatest zeal for Reform—a question
which had never had lair justice till the present op-
portunity.—(Applause.) Any man who had sup-
ported Reform so long as he had done, could not
but know that Reform was impossible, unless the
King, the Government (that is, his administration),
and the people, joined together in carrying that great
measme.—(Cheers.) That period had now arrived;
the three powers had joined together, and the whole
kingdom had iesolved that that measure of Reform
should be adopted which, he believed, would give
sati,faction to the whole country.—(Applause.) lt
was a
readiness to answer any question that
to proposed to him, and hoping and trusting
measure for h
the restoration ovf
stilttedoCwonn,satifttu•
e;
del3
g his
e the honour of their support.—(Appause.)
Aha voice
in the hall, " You have not said one
wordisse aout negro slavery."--KMingled cheers arid
h
Mr. Duseras sair; that he was ready to answer
that gentleman., At the last general election he had
declared himself to be a friend to the abolition of the
.)b
slave trade ; he had declared, at the same time, his
hope that when the measure was carried into effect,
it would be accompanied by a compensation to those
me(t_ ikoeenprispl►uada
puvaose
tent;leittistiirdia;)elte( fewtehoe:
debate
Isb,esale,blttsue,. Theti)ionnpuat
to whom the measure would otherwise be ruinous.—
st
p;leoi
an
House
eoheruolatsss
eeubroaeidschbooe:
mgrounds.td.:
(Cries Your
of,,c Quite, answer;s is
thought
noto u
g
.Nr G m: i
R
dissolved before it came to the vote.
A freeholder, whose name was Harris, said
,
perfectly satisfactory."—
ht this not an appropriate
°cession for such a discussion.
Mr. DUNDAS said he was ready to answer that or
any other question.—(Applause.)
Sir F. BURDETT rose amidst loud plaudits. He
observed that the most pleasing part of his task
was to propose for their representative the nephew
and venerated, and valued indi-
vidual,t
Throckmorton, who, long as he
'3 f
lived,tha by Sir
venerable,
a l lj
the means in his power, and under all
the disadvantages under which he laboured,—and
thank God no one now laboured under them,—had
never ceased to give the aid of his utmost exertions,
disinterested as they were, to the great cause of
honest freedom.—( Applause.) Many of those who

Ipposed the intended measure had been deceived
iito the behalf that the Crown of England depended
an the baseness of a corrupt House of Commons,
-Timmy of whose members carried on a base traffic
'n the liberties of their count v.- He advised that
horoughmongering faction not to endeavour any
longer to usurp those important rights, and thereby
call down upon their heads the retribution of an
injured people.—(Cheers.) He advised them—
net with no friendly voice, for he was their sworn
and deadly foe—to 'desist from fresh attempts, and
ro be content with at least indemnity for the past, if
they could not get security for the future.—(Cheers.)
As soon as he left this place, he should have to
proceed into Derbyshire, where he had the honour
to be requested to attend, in order to nominate an-
other young candidate (Mr. Vernon), who had been
invited to stand forward to represent that county,.
long considered to be the most Tory county in
England, the freeholders of which, as honest men,
.hought that there should be an end of all filthy
corruption, and therefore did not hesitate to come
forward and promise their support to tams great
measure.—(Cheers.) After that, be should make
an attempt at Leicester, where he had to contend
with the Duke of Rutland. In no county, how-
ever, could there be a more exhilarating spec•aele
than in this (Betks), where, if they had even re-
turned their old Member, they would have had
eight out of nine Members in favour of Reform,
and now they had not a dissentient voice.—(Ap-
plause.) As it was, the representation was whole
and complete, and Berkshire at least had responded
to the call of his Majesty, and done its duty to the
country.—(Cheers.) His Hon. Friend, Mr. Dun-
das, had said that he was the oldest Reformer in
England. He (Sir F. Burdett) should say so, if
it were not for the miraculous declarations which
were now made. To his astonishment he had read
that the late Member for Dorsetshire (Mr. Banks)
lied been always a Reformer.—(Loud laughter.)
But we lived in strange times. Formerly he (Sir
F. Burdt tt) could not meet pith a Reformer nut of
the assemblies of the people. But the people had
always been true to the liberties of their country—
(Cheers)—they had always shown the same noble
spirit as they now did. But now, as if some poli-
tical spirit was abroad in the land, almost all were
Reformers. He begged pardon for having intruded
upon them so long.—(Cries of "No, no; go on.")
The subject was as fluent as the sea, and if all its
sands had tongues, this great theme would find
subject of eloquence from them all.—(Cheers ) But
as time was valuable, and as he had come forward
for no other purpose than to show his respect to the
freeholders of Berkshire, and to the nephew of his
long-valued and esteemed friend Sir John Throck-
morton, he would now conclude with proposing to
them his friend Mr. Throckmorton, as a tit person to
represent them in Parliament.—(Cheers.)
Mr. Morsaix, the late Member for Reading, next
came forward, and was received with loud cheers.
His Hon. Friend. Mr. Throckmorton, had every
thing to recommend him to the favourable notice of
the freeholders of Berkshire : he was the heir-ap-
parent to a large estate, he was the representative
of a most ancient family, and he was the nephew of
the great and good Sir John Throckmorton, who
was dear to all who knew him from the liberality of
his principles.—(Cheers.)
Mr. TnnocotoßtoN then came forward, amid
general cheering, to address the electors. His Hon.
Friends had truly told them, Reform had of late
seen many triumphs,—the victory was in truth
almost secured already—(Cheers)—but in no county
had it achieved so signal a triumph, in no county
had it acquired a success so unconnected with every
minor consideration, as that which it was just on
the point of achieving in the county of Berks.—
(Cheers.) He stood, therefore, before them as the
uncompromising advocate of that great measure of
Reform which his Majesty's Ministers had proposed
to the country.—(Cheers.) Not one iota, not one
tittle less of Reform would he consent to accept,—
(Cheers.) A plan of Reform had been offered to
the acceptance of the country—upon that plan the
King had appealed to the country—the country had
responded nobly to time King's appeal—the country
had shown itself satisfied with that plan—and it was
that plan and its principles that he now came for-
ward to advocate, to maintain, and to support.—
(Cheers.) Most happy was he to observe, that
this county had not been gulled by the specious pre-
text of moderate Reform.—(Cheers.) Let not the
county of Berks be deceived by any men who set up
so flimsy a pretext.—(Cheers.)
Here a person exclaimed, " And what do you
think; Sir, of the East India charter ?" This ques-
tion was received with cries of " Oh, oh," and much
laughter. _ _ _

Mr. THROCKMORTON continued. He said that
the question of the renewal of the East India charter
was one which, in all probability, would net be set-
tled before he should again appear before them for
the purpose of soliciting their votes. He and others
were now going to Parliament far a short time only,
and a specific object only.—(l-fear, hear.)
Mr. HARRIS (the same person who had interro-
gated Mr. Dundas) said that as Mr. Dundas had not
at all satisfactorily answered his question about the
slave trade, he roped that Mr. Throckmorton would
be more explicit. Mr. Dundas had talked about
compensation to the slave-owners. Now, it appeared
to him that the slave-owners were not entitled to
coy compensation at all, and that to talk of giving
them compensation was as absurd as to tak about
giving compensation to the boroughmongeri.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, I beg to be allowed
to say a word or two with regard to the order of
your proceedings. It is a great pity, I think, to mix
up any other with the great and important question
now on trial,—a question which, as Lord Grey has
stated it, is " representation or nomination,"—the
Bill or no Bill at all.—( Cheers.)
_ _

•
Sir Francis Burdett then withdrew from the meet-
ing amidst the general applause of all present.
Mr. TIIROCKMORTON trusted that they would bear
in mind the lion. Baronet's exhortation. He had
only a word or two to say in conclusion. Let them
be assured that he would not be backward on his
part. If talents were wanting in him, zeal bhould
not be. He would be ever at his pos,, and he would
never quit it until he and they had triumphed over
that enemy which the people had now risen to sub-
jugate.---t Cheers.)
The HIGH SHERIFF having asked if any other
candidates were to he put in nomination, and no one
corning forward, called for a thew of hands upon
the nomination of Mr. Dundas and Mr. Throckmor-
ton. The whole meeting raised their hands in fa-
vour of these candidates.

The HIGH SHERIFF taid, I have to announce to
the meeting that the nomination has fallen upon Mr.
Dunda-; and Mr. Throckmorton.—(Applaue.)
Mr. DENDAS thanked the meeting for the honour
which they had conferred upon him—an honour
which he had no doubt would be repeated at Abing-
don on Monday nest.
Mr. THROCKMORTON begged also to return thanks.
Three cheers having been given for the King,
three for the Quten, three for his Majesty's Minis-
ters, and three for Reform,
The HIGu SitEutFF declared the meeting ad-
journed to the Shire-hall, Abingdon, on Monday
next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon.
The meeting then separated.

OXFORDSHIRE ELECTION, 314 Y 3.
Major Weyland, in proceeding in his canvass to.
Chipping Norton this day (notwithstanding it was