The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-10 00:00:00

COLD COIN BILL.

On the motion for a Committee on this. Bill,
after some 'observations from Lord Fol,Ks-rot:l3,
-.who objected -to this Bill, and protested against
it on the same grounds which be and the other
opposers of it have so often repeated, and con-
cludzd by saying, that he understood that Ciorern-
:anent were reduced' to such. a state for want, of
specie, that they were obliged to send 800,0001.
in Bank of England Notes to Canada.
Mr. W. KEEI,IE again spoke in favour of the
Bill, and

The Rice Bill %vent through a Committee, in
which,. on the motion of .the CHANcELLoti of the
ExcitEaunß, 'it was resolved, that an additional
.duty of ten shillings should see laid on every hun-
dred weight of Rice' which was inlported from
any part without the British' dominions, or the.
territories of the East India Company. The re-
port of this Committee was ordered to he received
to-morrow. The House then adjourned.

MAILS
AItRIVEO-1 Dublin. ')m —1 Cadiz, I Gotteoburgli, 1 Bra-
zils, 3 Al'M.ol.ord%

PRICE OF .tiTOMS
THIS DAy TIVKLvE 6'CLOCK.
Consols 61,1 Gbi Red. Anil s9:i 59

Fri E SUN.

SDLEM (JUIS DICERE: AIIDEAT 2.1

L 0 N I) 0 N,
THURSDAY, DECRIVIItR 10, 1812.

Our readers wilt see, by the perusal of our Yr..r-
mouth and Harwich letters, that the Russian feet
has arrived. It passed Yarmouth yesterday, and may
therefore be expected at the Nore this day. We
know not on what day they sailed from Gotten-
burgh, or whether they bring any further account
of the sacceses of the Russian army. This decive
ineasure of his IMPERIAL LIAJEST affords not
only a strong proof of his confidence in the
honour and good faith of this country, :.but.
also •of his determination, even if his affairs had
not taken so glorions.a turn, to persevere in the
contest to the utmost. We shall wait with the
greatest impatience for the next arrival from the
North. If it should turn out, as we trust it

will, that BiioNAi,Atini has failed in his at-
tempts to make his escape, and that he
has either fallen by the hands of the Russians,
or is in their possession as a prisoner, we may
look to the almost immediate cessation of that de-
strUctive contest which has so long exhaCisted
Europe ; an honourable and, in all human proba-
bility, a durable peace would be the result.
We have no official account of BuoNArAriTt after
his arrival at Smolensk°, but all the private ac-
counts agree in stating, that he left that place
with all the cavalry he could collect, and took the
direction of Mallow. By this route he will have
very near 700 miles to travel, before he reaches a
friendly frontier. If he has so large a body of
troops with hint as has been stated, his progress
Must necessarily be slow ; if he diminishes his
escort, he increases the probability of his being
taken.

We yesterday mentioned an intercepted Letter
from BuoN:krAßTr: to his Secretary.of State, MA-
RET, and gave an extract from it Nte,are happy
now to have it in .our power to lay the whole of
that curious Document before o►►r Readers.

(TRANSLATION)

COPY OF AN INTERCEPTED LETTER FROM THE EM-

PELOR • NAPOLEON, TO THE DUKE 01, BASSANI:),
DATED MOSCOW, OCT. 16, ISI2.

" Duke of BAssAIN-o,—l have with inc at this
-*.,. two Prussian RenimPnts, who have distin-
guished themselves in the advanced guard of the
Grand 'Army, but which, as may h6-expected; have
sufferel severely. Might not the King of Piws-

SIA r:!lieve taeSe 710g1111CntS by two others, fresh
and well mounted ? The former could then re-
turn to Prussia, and become fit for service again:
The King would he a gainer by this.arrangcment
in every respect, since there would not then be
occasion to make sash an il-2.mediatc expenditure
to remount these regiments, and it would besides
add to tae number of his skeleton regiments,
..vaich have bees disciplined and practised in grand
manoeuvres. have given to the Prussian con-
tingent its natural direction, by sending it to
Riga ; but I should wish greatly, that the aid of
my 7th division were no longer necessary in that
vvsh to know, therefore, from the
King of. PRUSSIA, whether he would not make
an augmentation' of QIIC thousand cavalry and
6000 'infantry, which might proceed to Riga and
take the place of the 7th division ; the KING may
easily draw these troops from Konigsberg, Col-
berg, and Graudenz, and thus they could arrive in
a few days. These last would be replaced by those
which might be drawn from a greater distance,
by rendering effective some skeleton' regiments, or
ordering troops from Silesia ; in this manner the
King of PRUSSIA would form a cordon of 4000
cavalry and 20,000 infantry-.

r The CHANCELLOR of th“,r3CCTTEQUEIi, Saiceit
was needless to recapitulate • those argnmeuts
which had been urged in favour of'the
Lord A. HAmiL-roti—moved, that the House
should receive further instruction on the subject,
before proceeding further'in the matter:
The 'SPEAKER observed, that the motion of the
Noble Lord came too late ; it should have pre-
ceded that then before the House, which was
that he should reave the Chair.
The House then resolved itself into a Com-
mittee on the Bill, the report of which was or-
dered to be received on Friday. next.
The Jamaica and St. Domingo Intercourse 'Bill
was read a second time, and ordered to go through
a Committee.

" The same language must be held to Austria,
the same to Bavaria, at Stutgard, and every where
else. I not only desire that reinforcements be sent
to me, but I also wish that their force may be ex-
aggerated, and that those Sovereigns do order to
be inserted hr their:Gazettes, not only the great
number of troops which' they send off, but that
also they double the number in their statement;
and it is to be welt understood, that the Prussian
corps at present at Memel is not to be included in
these reinforcements. I pray God to take you
into his holy keeping.

(S.igne,rl)

" NAPOLEON.

" Moscow, Oct. IG,

Sir FRANCIS litimMETT ye,terday gave notice,
of,a motion, for le:lve to bring in a .Bill to secure
the Regency to (lie Princess CHARLOTTE( OF
\\TALES, in the c,,ent of the demise of her Royal
Father, during the life of his Majesty. As the
Hon. Baronet could not assign his motives for
bringing forward this motion, on giving the no we have no possible means of guessing at his
object'. The motion certainly, is unprecedented
in its • nature, and appears to be wholly un-
necessary.

Yesterday his Royal Highness the PRINCE RE-
GENT held a Court at Carlton House.—At two
o'clock a Privy 'Council sat, which was attended
by,

The Lord President of the Council, the Lord Chancellor,
the Lord Privy Seal, the First Lord of the Treasury, the
Chancellor of the ENcheTier, the First Lord of the Admi-
ralty, the Master-General of the Ordnance, the Secretary of
State for the Home Department, the President of the Board
of Control, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the
Lord Chamberlain, the Lord Steward of the Household, and
the Treasurer of the Household.

Viscount eiIETWYND attended as Clerk of the

After this Council on State business had closed,
another Council Was 'held, at which the fiEcottnEn
of LO,NDON was admitted, when he made his Re-:
port of the following conVicts,.capitally convicted
at the last Scntembei•--Sessioa, in the Old Bailey,
at Justice gall, viz.

. _
JOhn Price, for stealing goOds in .a thi'ellin-
lionse;. Thomas Williams, Robert Monier,. Ann
Watts,, John Rogers, John Roberts, and Stefano
Haskett, for like offences; 'William Young and
William Lewis, for burglary ; Margaret Palmer
and Mary Turner. for privately stealing. goo,L ins
a shop ; Joseph Aurora, Catherine Forester, and
John Johnson, for like offences ; Francis Ship-
.man, for forgery ; James Westbr,ok and
zabeth Phipps, for house-breaking ; Mary Ro-
gers, for uttering counterfeit money ; John
,Babbitt, for highway robbery ; William Birch,
for burglary ; George Bell,, alias George William
Porter, for horse stealing ; Thos. Wright, for
privately stealing in a shop ; Aim Owen, for a
like of ;. Abel M`Donald, for a highway rob-
bery; :-ind Thomas Seminester, alias Davis,' for
stealing goods in a dwelling-house ; when
Francis Shipman was ordered for execution on
Thursday next, the 17th instant.

. His 'loyal Highness gave audiences to the Earl
of HARROWBY, Viscount SIDMOUTH, the Loan
CHANCELLOR, the Earl of LIVEarooL, Lord MuL-
GRAVE, the Duke Of MONT.:WSW, and Viscount
INlErstm.E.

ViSCOHIIt MELBOURNE was the Lord in waiting,
for Lord CHARLES SPENCER j and Col. BRADYL
wos the Groom:

Letters from St. Petersburgb confidently state,
that Lord WALPOLE had left the Russian Capital
on a secret mission to Vienna, or rather for the
frontiers of Austria,where, it was added, he was
to open a negociation With the Leaders of the
Austrian armies.
A Manifesto'is said to have been issued at St.
Petersburgh, in .which the Emperor Ar.r.DEtt
solemnly retracts all former acknoWledgments of
BUONAPARTE as Emperor of France, and once
more declares, that he will never conclude a
peace with France while. that villain is acknow-
ledged as her Ruler. It is even said, that when
LAVRISMN came to beg a truce of KuTusow, the
Hero nobly demanded the • dead body of his
ter as a pledge of his sincerity ! with such evi-
dence of the spilit in which the Russians view the
present contest, where is the Man who 'wo'uld give
a sixpence for .the reversion of all the crowns in
Europe, at BUONAPARTE'S disposal ?
The following stratagem is sai(l to have been
played off by 'I3I7ONAPARTE, preparatory to his
leaving Moscow. He caused it to be.teade public,
that as salt was scarce in the country round MOS-
COW, the peasantry might come to Moscow, and
be there provided with as much as they re-
quired for preserving their meat througn the
winter, at the rate of 3 copeck's, per pood. The
proposal tempted some peasants in the immediate
vicinity of the city, and a few days afterwards up-
wards of 700 carts were assembled at Moscow,
the purpose of bringing !.away salt. The conse-
quence was, that drivers, horses, and carts, were
all put in requisition for the' service of the army,
and employed in removing stores and baggage.
The Protestants of the County of Roscommon
have entered into very strong resolutions against
the Catholic Claims.

A meeting of the Clergy, and certain of the
Laity, within thc Archdeaconry of Chichester,
was held at the Library of Chichester Cathedral,
on Wednesday, at which was franied a Petition to
the two Houses of Parliament, against the Repeal
of the Catholic,Claims.

" It will b&an easy matter for You to make him
' comprehend that it is his own interest that this
war should be terminated quickly ; because, in the
mean tune, he mast be greatly inconvenienced by
this struggle ; and that there is only one .effectual
way of bringing the same to a termination, which
is, to spew to Russia, by the powerful means which
the Emperor possesses of , recruiting his armies,
not only in his own States, but by the succours
furnished by his allies, that the hope she cherishes
of ruining the army be void of foundation, and
perfectly illusory.

cant

SECOND EMTTIO'i.

SUN-OFFICE,

liALY-PAST TWO O'CLOCK'

MORE GLORIOUS NEWS

We stop the Press to communicate to out
Readers the following most glorious

gence

the French, General AUGEREAU, together whit
his whole corps, have been compelled to lay (lowa
their arms, and a, :e prisoners of war.

Generals WIFTGBNSTEIN and TscHITcH4GOFI

have joined.

KuTusow, witli Lis Grand Army, is at KG'

loona.

Smolensko is completely surrounded.
The Russians have in all taken TWO MIS'

DRED 'and FIFTY PIECES of CANNON.

THIRD EDITION.

S.UN OFFICE.

HALF-PAST THREE O'CLOCK..

We again stop the press to add the following

additional particulars :

Government have this morning received ac-
counts from Gottenburgh to the 30th of Novew,

ber. No dispatches have been received from Lc '4
CATTICART, but the accounts from the Bussioo

armies are of the most flattering description.---
General PL•ATOW had taken 900 men and two

pieces of cannon, at-the passage of the Dneiper,
below Srnolensko. A Corps of 2,000 men, under
the command of General AUGERAU, brother of

the Marshal of that name, had surrendered

descretion, to Count ORLOFF DENIZOW.

The last accounts from KUTU;iOI;I, were- datell

the 13th of November, at Lol)kovo, 40 wemts to

the :Jouthward of Srnolensko, Nothing at that:

trine wa kErl4wn of BUONAPARTE.

NAVAL NFIV,v

ARRIVAL OF THE RUSSIAN FLEET.

YdiRMOUTH, DEC. B.—A fleet from the BiAtic,
under Admiral florE, are now at the back of tfie
Sands ; it is very hazy, but there appears to be a
convoy with them.

P. S. We bare just learnt that with the above
Acct there are five sail of Russian men of war, and
three frigates. •••

liAaw-tenc DEC. e have just time. to an-
nounce to you, from telNraphic Wm.:nation, tlott
seven sail of Russian men of wail., and an Engli4h
brig with them, passed up this afternoon, with
the wind at north-west.

CORK, DEC. 3.—Yesterday afternoon arrived
in our harbour his Majesty's ship Stork, Capt.
COULSON, from Plymouth

The Sybille, Capt. UPTON, and 'Stork, are ap-
pointed convoys for the next West India fleet.
Th.: Sybille is taken off this station, and after
seeing convoy to their destination with the Stork,
we believe, will proceed to Halifax, to join Sir
J. B. WARREN'S squadron on the coast of America.
There are at present eighteen ships to-take in-
structions.

The Fortnnee frigate, on her arrival here, will
prodeed to Loughswilly, it is said to relieve the
Leonidas. • The Brisk and Trinciilo arc attached
to the Leonidas.

THE THEATRE.--7-1111'. RAE, Who performed thc
character of Humlet, at Drury-Lane Theatre, (»n
Tuesday appeared in that of Yoiing Norval. The
latter character (loci not make such a dernall,:
upon the intellectual potters. of an getqr, and 4
therefore, though MI. RAE_ uegnii.tpl himself re-
spectably in Hairilet,,lic, appvL'ed to nwyc a,civan,
t:i4re in Nu/7;a/,

The Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Northamp-
ton hare unanimously agreed to petition Parlia-
ment against the Emancipation of the Irish Ca.
tholics.

Orders have been received at Cork for the pre-
puration of two squadrons of Germain Hussars—
oue defined for Gibraltar, and the other for Ali-

SEVERITY OP THE WEATHER.-1111C cold and
damp -air, at this Season, affecting 'generally the
human frame, should be carefully guarded against.
The Teeth and Gums, however, are more parti-
cularly liable to be affected.—Frir their protection,
the Chevalier IixsPINI, from 50 years experience,
can confidently recommend his DENTIFRICE anti
TINCTURE, which, by their bahlatnic and astrin-
gent qualities, are of powerful use in defending
the Nerves connected with the Teeth. For violent
Tooth-aches, the Chevalier recommends his
Elixir, which will almost instantaneoufly removz
augniih,

GOTENBURGE, DP, c. s.—During the retreat a

I

1 OtTI.V:

PLEBEIAN A'AIBITION,

FROM " THE SATIRIST.']

UrtuTtiREAD, whose brains are still devising
Or how to raise, or to be rising,
To make Vacation shorter,
When in the House he Cannot die,'
First raises Drury to the skieS,
And then—he raises Porter.

LAW REPORT.

COURT OF KING's BENCH, DEC. 9.

The Clerk at Nisi Prins then proceeded to read
the libel, as set forth in the record, when

The SoLierrox-GENERAL asked, whether the
Counsel for the deleDdlluts ‘villed the whole
read ?

Lord ELLENnoaouoll—" If there are any other
parts of this publication to be observed upon, you
Lad better read the whole."

Mr. BROUGHAM—" only wished a few of the
passage: to be read, in order to save time, my
Lord; it is my intention to observe upon them."
Lord ELLETsnoßouGn—" Then let the whole
be read, in order that the context may be under-
stood."

The greater part of the publication was accord-
ingly read, entitled, " The Prince on St. Patrick's
Day ;"—and commenting on an account of a din-
ner given at the Preemasons"favern, by the Be-
nevolent Society of St. Patrick, on the Anniver-
sary. of that Saint, ankl what followed after the
health of the Prince Regent was drunk, " with
partial applause, and loud and reiterated hisses;"
the speeches of the Marquises of Lansdown. anal
Downshire, Lord Moira, Mr. Sheridan," &c.
Here the evidence for the prosecution closed.
Mr. -BROUGII.OI, for the defendant, addressed
the Jury in a long speech. He ridiculed the idea
that any public -mischief could result to Govern-

merit firoin the conduct of intemperate writers.
The exalted Personage alluded to had all the
powers of this mighty empire at his command ;
he had the virtues of his father arid the rights of
his ancestry, it, his support ; and though the Go-
vernment had not the wisdom of Cromwell, nor
the wisdom and virtue of Milton, in its support,
yet it was deeply founded in the feelings of the
people. And yet 'iromwell, without these ad-
vantages, had nobly set himself to despise all
the libelous attacks on his Government; declar-
ing, that if .it were meant to stand, it would not
be beaten down by such' paper pellets. flaying
urged these topics with much force and-eloquence,
the Learned Gentleman said they hoped only for
justice, and justice they would find in a verdict of
acquittal.
tr\Cl

LIBEL. •
THE XING V. HUNT AND ANOTHF.R.
triliS was an inhumation against the Messrs,
writs, the opt; as printer, the other as proprietor
and editor of a Sunday Newspaper, for a Libel on
.the Prince Regent. The Libel, which was read,
contained,an abusive and scurrilous attack on his
Royal HighnesS, accusing 'him of a breach of his
'word with respect to the Catholics of Ireland ;
arraigned his ,Conduct in the 'choice of his 'House-
bold, as associating to himSelfthe profligate-and
abandoned ; stated' 'that he was over head and
- ears in debt and disgrace ; that he had done no
'one act for the benefit of the present times, or to
-excite the respect of posterity.
The S.OLICI-TOR-GENERAL then addressed the
Court and Jars nearly as follows :
" Gentlemen of the.Jury—lt now becomes the
duty of my office to present to your consideration
the Libel which you have just heard read by my
Learned Priem!, Mr. Riellardson, Who has inform-
ed you, that this Cause comes before you for trial
in the shape of an information, filed by his Majes-
ty's late. Attorney-General: I requested of my
Learned Friend to read this Libel from the record,
and I pot it to you the bare reading of it does
not convince every cool, thinking, dispassionate,
honourable, hottest man, that if this is not a libel'
on his Royal Highness the .Prince or Wales, no
man ought. to be convicted of a similar offence.-
- There is no necessity for nice distinctions or sub-
tlety of language to lead your at Lids to this con-
elusion ; but I would ask you whether, if such a
libei We applied to any individual; in any rink or
station in society, and presented to you 'for your
consideration, whether you would not feel the ob-
vious tendency to be,,to reduce hint to the lowest
point of degradation and disgrace ? Ido not de-
sire you to consider it as against his Royal High-
ness the Prince of Wales; but, looking at it dis-
passionately, you will judge, as Jurors, without
considering any thing you may have seen or heard
before this cause came on for trial, if, as honest
men, laying your hands upon your hearts, you are
not bound to say it has such a tendency, I noed
not say to you, pronounce the defendant guilty.
If I could anticipate any arguments that: inig:A or
could he urged for the defendants, I 'should en-
deavour to answer them; but I am quite at a loss
to conceive what argument can be advanced, ex.
cept those arguments that have been urged in an-
• other place, to excite a prejudice in the minds of
those who are to try the cause. I believe, lan
• sure toy Learned Friend will not avail himself of
them, :Ind I rest contented. It is .ny wish to
address you -Again, Gcnilemen, 7 or to
have the libel read once more ; and unless my
Learned Friend shall orge something which calls
for a reply, I ehall not again trouble you. , You
will be attentive, and receive every thing that can
be laid before you in the defendants' behalf; and
when you have admire:l
.the eloquence of my
Learned Friend, and That energy And firmness for
which he is so peculiarly eininek, you will turn
back to the real question before you, you will keep
your miads unaffected by prejlelice, and I feel you
‘vill do justice to yoursei and to Cie public,
and your verdict will be transmitted to posterity,
who will say, you have had the fidelity and the
courage to do your duty. .•
Mr. Henry .1;u1;:win avert, the only witness
called, produced a certified -copy of an affidavit
from the Stamp Office, stating the defendants to
he the sole proprietors, printers, and publishers of
The Examiner. Ile also produced a copy of The
Txaminer of the 22d March, containing the
which he had purchased at the- office of the de-
fendants

the goLterrot -Gs!zi?.tt.tt, replied fo tli
,2 tonics
urged by Mr.' BaouonAm, and „hewed the foul
and malignant intention of the authors of the
libel in question.
Lord ELLENEOROtIGH then addressed the Jary
in the following words : , •
Gentlemen of the Jury is an Informs +- against the 'defendants, Jiihn and Leigh
Hunt, as printers ami publishers of a libel,,set
out in, the Information. To this Information the
defendants have pleaded that they are not guilty,
and the issue joined this day, as we are to collect
from the language of their Counsel,who certainly,
if I am to judge only from his speech, seems to
have imbibed, in its fullest extent, the spirit of
his client, 'and to be inoculated with all the poison
of the publication; but law inclined to hop.e and be-
lieve better things of the person Who addressed yoa,
and that in t!:e view he has taken of what might
be convenient for their defence, lie has stated to
on rather the' principles of his clients than his
own. The issue yon have to try under the cir-
cumstance's is, whether we • are iii future to live
under the dominion of libellers, or under the con- '
• troul and government of the law ? For- this libeller,
with bold front (and I hare no difticulty.in saying
that the person who pu4shed this Paper is a 1
libeller), has put himself in defiance of the law ;
and he contends, not only thathe is to be acquitted
of 'this violation, but that in all after times, and
on aThoceasions, every person holding a Superior
rank and situation in society, is, from the very
nature Of tlu situation, amenable to this sort of
investigation, or rather. to this sort of attack ;
that even when his ancestors have accepted the
rank for him (and it applies from the highest to
the lowest, from the Prince to the. Meanest of-
ficer), he is compelled to renounce the protection:
of the law for h cbaracter. That, Gentlemen,
is the proposite.i ; tic-I: the interests of society'
require that the character, of indiVifluals are to be
assailable by tirades from rbe press, dictated by
any person who climes to attack them.—NlThat
would be thesittiation of persons so attacked ?
In manyinstances individuals do notknOwwhen they
are thus defamed; in many 'instances persons are
not disturbed even by the commtinication of the li-
bel; but supposing ,that it does come unkr their
eye—is the Prince of Wales' to accept the
his Royal, riighne'sS to appear tive
bar of this newly erecte'd tribunal ?-=-Is he to pail
in his answers through the preSs, frol must he thus
vindicate himself from the acusation of anony-
mons l'bellers, arising- perhaps from mere imagi-_
nation, or coined from the overflowiog mind of
slander ?--If such, indeed, were to be the case, and
we were th os compelled to resign the protection of
the law for the exculpation of their chum acter,what
man, who has any sensibility in his nature, would •
accept office or tank in the country ? This spirit
of libelling, indulged and unchecked, would be
productive of the must fatal effects. It would de-
stroy that. deep sensibility to, and that zeal for the
estimation of the society in which we lire, which
is the chief sus port and ..xcitenient to virtue ; in-
stead of and fostering virtue, it would de-
stroy all those fine'sensibilities by which virtue is
encouraged and Whit-lined. - •

Now,M(ientlemen; to advert to the libel. The
excuse hehi out is, that a person by'uniust adula-
tion provoked the disgust of the individual, miik-
ing, whavis termed a comment on. thit adulation.
adtnit„ thatif one person has tittered a fuliome
panegyric, any other individual has a right to ex-
press the disgust it excites, but it never can be
allowed; that because one person has-indulged in
unmerited adulation, the character of the indivi-
dual.so.kaised elaall be made juris, so that
he may he ii.,:chsed of every thing that is base and
calumnious. For instance: suppose a man in a dedi-
cation has bestowed undeserved praise to a certain
extent, (for the least degree of flattery is calcu-
lated to excite the disgust of ail readers) yet has
another man a right to assert, that so far from
the person applauded being wise, just, and ho-
nourable, he is foolish, unjust, and dishonour-
able, an'; to store' a variety 'of priVate transac-
tions to prove his statement ? Undoubtedly not :
amid it would be very hard upon a third person,
let his, character be what it may, thus to have
it ' compromised between the indiseretiOn
an adulator and the calumny of a
This, Geotlenicn, is the rave defence made this
day to you.and other auditors, or rather to Other
readers, to whom it will go forth ; this is the real
defence. Allowing thaf he has a right to reply to
unmerited flattery, and to reply in this tra, o an
adulator, yet does it not on the face of the libel
appear that the author asserts' these YariOus.accuav
sationst nst the Prince in his substqutive
son ? He adds, " Tilse are hard truths, but are
they, not truths ?'' sufficiently clearly pointing out
to whom they were directed.

Gentlemen, it is important that the characters
of persons tilling the most momentous situations
should be held high in public estimatisa. The
performance of many of our duties, and the most
important of them, depends upon the opinion we
entertain of the person whols the object of them :
many of those moA iniportaut duties centre in obedi-
ence to the person upon whom the sovereign autho-
rity in the Government is for the time cast. , Can
those duties be properly or completely performc4,if
we are taught to believe that the individual claiming
them H.the basest of mankind ; for in that light the
Prince of Wales has been held up to 'the world.
He is pointed out as " a violator of his word."
For the character of the Counsel, I am sorry to
see the sort of defence made this day. Ile says
that the libeller does not mean to impute. any to the Prince Regent in his private charac-.
ter tie does not tell untruths as a man, but be
asserts that he tells untruths as a Prince Gen-
tlemen, does that mend the matter ? in his almost
regal character, he imputes to the Prince of
Wales that he is guilty of telling untruths ! Can
any thing be more calumnious or degrading than
such an ipetation ? Then the Learned Counsel
enters into a detail of transactions in Parliament;
relative to the payment of debts ; but in referring
you to the passage in thelibel, be dropped the con-
text : the author asserts that the Prince " is a,
libertine, over head and ears in debt and disgrace;"
so that we are to understand him to say, that the
debt were disgracefully contracted : he is, besides,
a great libertine and (iebau.chee.,; Then•he is " the
companion of gamblers and dernireps." That is
defended on the supposition that his Royal High-
ness has taken into his Councils a person against

•
ivtiotti claniageg had been recovered for criminal
conversation: Iby no means say, that the reco-
very of such a Verdict is a light imputation upon
character; but there are Venial circumstances in
some res?ect connected even with that offence,
anti is his tioyal Highness the only ..person who
tlite into his consideration ? If we look
hack to the last reign, I mean the present reign,
that of the Prince Regent's Royal Fathers which
- was most exemplarvin the discharge ofinoral duty,
I will ask, was there never any person associated
to his 'Majesty's Councils,. or entrusted with a
high office of great confidence, who had had a.si-
milar misfortune : I choose to give it that name,
,because there are circumstances 'to chequer and
vary it from a crime of the highest encr:mity to a
.venial offence. What follows goes on to,
state that he is a man " who has just closed half
a century without one single .elaiin on, the gra-
titude of his' Country, or on the respect of pos-
terity."—Gentlemen, it would ill become my
place (and I should be doing here what I
have never done_ any where) to flatter a per-
son in a high, or indeed in any situation.—
I do not stand ,here to address vou in the language
of commendation of this great Personage, but is it
to be endured that the Prince Regent should be
held' out to the subjects of this country, to the
subjects of h;s Government and protection (and
hope Objects of the exercise of many virtues), :sis
a person who".has not done one act to form a.
_claim to the gratitude of his country, or to the
respect of posterity; as one 'worthless for the past
and- .hopeleTss for the future ; who has bithertti
lived without bestowing •a benefit upon, or re-
ceiving the respect of a single individu,r ?•—I( so-
ciety can subsist under such nnlimited libels, let
us all shirt for ourselves ; let each man seizq what
he can and do ‘vhat he can in the general disor-
ganization and wreck of the community. It, 'Gen-
tlemen, there be any man who sits among you,
who, laying his hand upon his heart, and pledging
only the veracity of a gentleman, assert that
this is not a foul libel, letihim say so ; but if theme
be any man there, who, governed by the more
:-.,)cred obligation of an oath, will state the eon-
trary, then pronounce this publication, as I feel
it my duty to pronounce it—a foul, atrocious, and
malignant, libel. ~Whether it shall so appear to
you, in the same light will appear by your
verdict. •

The Jury then turned round and consulted a
few ininates, when Iqr. Lowten inquired if they
were agreed in their verdict. AJayman (we he-
lie've.Mt...l):awson) replied, that only one Gentle-
man dissented from the opinion of the other eleven.
They then retired to 1) room provided for their
acconmodatron, and on their return intO Court in
a quarter of an, hour, pronounced both the de-
f*ulants • Guilty.
The Court and Westmiirter Hall were crowded
to excess during the trial, and it was with the ut-
mostilifikulty that a great number of special con-
stables and Bow-street ()dicers could maintain
artier and traquility-: The Chief Justice could not
reach. the Court without some inconvenience from
the pressure.