The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-07 00:00:00

did fire fh4 moment they were seen—the people all threw
down their weapons, cour,ht the refuge of their homes
as soon as they could. Gentlemen, there was one cireum-
stance which occurred on that day which I Consider to be
by nu means unimportant. Mr. Frost's papers were seined,
Aieve before his person. Mr. Phillips, as he stated in
his evidence, proceeded to his house. He saw there Mt s.
Frost. The daughters of Mr. Frost assisted him by
giving to him all the papers which apparently belonged to
their father. These papers are still in the possession of
Mr. Phillipt, He had a march-warrant, which enabled
him to ask for and obtain every paper on which he could
lay his hand ; and yet, Gentlemen, the Crown has not been
able to find one private paper in which there is one single
line, or one single syllable worthy to be laid before you,
to prove any concert, or intention, or treason in any shape
or way. I halc a right, therefore, to say, that these
three circumstances pet together, demand the most care-
ful attention ; that the papers of Mr. Frost were searched,
and nothing in them has been found to corroborate
the Charge which has been brought against him ; that he
had a bill due on that day, for which he had made provi-
sion on the Friday before, and those he loved, and by whom
he was beloved, were living that very town which he is
supposed to have assailed on that lay, for the purpose of
making it a scene of bloodshed and ruin, Taking then,
Mr. Frost's conduct, his character and his demeanour on
that day, his prompt surrender when accused of the part he
had taken in the transactions, the issue of which he had
witnessed but did not expect, I see nothing which can
warrant the imputation of the treason with which he is
charged, and still less of that strong, clear and convincing
evidence which my Friend admits must be produced to
work out the proof of it. Gentlemen, under these cir-
cumstances, I again say that I know no public mea-
, sure that would tend so much to the honour of

the country, to the peace of the community, and more
to the quieting of that alarm which these lamentable
transactions have created, than a verdict of " Not
Guilty" from you, if it can be pronounced by you with
truth. There is here no question of safety—there is no
question whether you can with safety pronounce that ver-
dict. The single question is, can you pronounce it with
truth ; and if you can, you will provide the largest measure
of safety to the county that can be bestowed upon it. If
you can pronounce it with truth—if you can assure her
Majesty's subjects in all parts of the empire that the thou-
sands and thousands who assembled on that lamentable
occasion did not meditate rebellion—that their object was
to enforce certain claims en behalf of a suffering brother
Chartist—that accidentally prisoners were made up.n the
spot, where only they had the means of demonstrating
their strength, and that, in attempting to rescue them,
when blood was shed in resisting this rescue, they fled in
dismay from the field which they had never intended to
enter. I say that nothing can occur more effectual to re-
assure the county and the kingdom than your verdict of
" not guilty," if you can truly pronounce it ; and more
safety will be produced by such a verdict than if ten thou-
sand troops were marched into the county to enforce obe-
dience to the law at the point of the sword. You will free
the county from the large stain—the imputations that
have been cast upon it, and I think I may call in aid
the fact, that, except the misconduct of some few isolated
individuals, some thousands of persons, with very little of
aggression or violation of private life, with none of the ap-
pearances or demands of a rebellious or tumultuous meet-
ing—ten or twelve thousand persons assembled and
marched to Newport without a notion of levying war—
that when the first shot was fired they dispersed, returning
to their homes—and, mark this, Gentlemen, I do nut find
it suggested that any one single act of aggression of any
sort, or that any violation of the peace or the security of
her Majesty's subjects occurred afterwards on that day
or since that slay. Gentlemen, the rest of England
would hardly believe the quiet, the peace, and security
with which these proceedings at Monmouth have been
conducted. It was perfectly right where there was the
remotest suspicion that an extensive treason existed in the
county amongst persons who were to some extent armed,
and who were capable of being combined—l say it was
perfectly right, in order that the high authorities of the
law should be protected, and the peace of the town
in which justice was to be administered—that soldiers
should be marched here for those purposes. But, Gen-
tlemen, their services have been superfluous, as you have
heard ; and it is right, then, to view the meeting and the
marching of those men and the objects of it, with atten-
tion to this point—whether they eould have been dispersed
without danger. It is for you, Gentlemen, to ascertain
what is the just and reasonable conclusion to be ar-
rived at after you go through all the circumstances of
this transaction—those which have preceded, those which
accompanied, and those which followed it. If you think
that the solution of them which I have offered is true, and I