The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-22 00:00:00

LORD CARDIGAN'S TRIAL.

It is hard to decide whether the conduct of the prh-
secution in this case, of the defence, or of the Court,
has bean most equivocal.
The AttornaaaGeneral began by protesting that " he
was rejoiced to think that the charge against the noble
prisoner at the bar did not imply any degree of moral
turpitude a and that if he should be found guilty, the
conviction would reflect no discredit on the illustrious
order to whioh he belonged." After stating the law of
the case, and laying before the Court an outline of
the faets he intended to prove, Sir John declared, " he
should offer no evidence—indeed he could offer
no evidence—aS to the quarrel out of which
this duel had sprung ;" taking care to aid, that " he ac-
quitted the Noble Lord of any thing unfair in the course
of the duel ;" that "he did not suppose there was any
grudge, personal animosity, rancour, or malignity
against Captain Tuckett, in the breast of the Noble
Earl ;" and that "he had no doubt that upon this oc-
casion the Noble Earl only complied with what he
thought necessary to the usages of society." In short,
the manager of the prosecution took care at the very
outset to convince the Judges, that the Earl of clarai.
gan was put upon his trial for a mere, technical viola-
tion of the law, more out of respect to forms than for
any serious offence. He at the same time restricted
the tinge of inquiry within the narrowest possible
bruits ; taking care to prevent any aggravating circum-
stances in the conduct of the accused to appear—al-1
though, the crone charged being of that class in which
the Judge possesses the power of increasing or diminish-1
ing the punishment within a limited range, such circum-
stances were essentials of the case ; and thus laid him-
self more open to be defeated upon some narrow techni-
cal objection. The suspicions of collusion on the part
of the Prosecution, arising out of this preamble, are
rather strengthened than diminished by the subsequent
proceedings. Sir John Campbell has the reputation of
of being not only a sound, but what the Scotch call a
loopy lawyer ; and Mr. Vizard, who had the getting up
of the case, is a sagacious and experienced mar of busi-
ness. If any knowledge confined to the practitioners in
the Criminal Courts were necessary, the Crown Law-
yers could have commanded any assistaece they pleased.
Yet, when the counsel for the defence urged objections
to evidence which must have been foreseen, the Prose- '
cution was, or pretended to be, unable to supply the
deficiency. And lastly, when Sir William Follett ob-
jected to the validity of Captain Tuckett's card as
evidence, and argued upon decisions, Sir. John Camp-
bell, an experienced lawyer, knowing that the opinion
of Lord Denman would guide the Lords, instead of
meeting Sir William's argument, talked about " in-
ferences that would be drawn by reasonable beings out
of Court." From beginning to end, the conduct of
the Prosecution shows a predetermination to allow the
accused t 3 escape ; and the sham fight was not even
kept up with sufficient appearance of earnestness to de-
ceive the bystanders.
The conduct of the Defence was, under such cir-
cumstances, no very difficult task. But the counsel
for the defendant went beyond their brief, and indulged
in certain Old Bailey practices, which, as quite unne-
cessary, were in bad taste, to say nothing of their mo-
rality. For example, Sir IVilliarn Follett, finding in a
memorandum of Dann the miller, a note of the num-
ber of miles he had travelled on the business, remarked,
" You seem to have gone about a
.great deal after this
affair ;" and folowed up the inuendo subsequently by
very pressing inqu;ries as to whether be had been paid
his charges. Sergeant Wrangham's cross-examination
of the miller's son—a boy of fourteen—closely resem-
bles the account of a parallel process in the " Pickwick
Papers." For example : "Do you then mean to say,
you could at the instant distinguish who the parties
were kneeling:''—" I could see who they were." " That
is distinguishing, is it not?"—" Yes.• (A laugh.)" And
when the boy attempted to show the Learned•Sereeint
that he had misapprehended one of his answers—" Oh,
explain your answers in any way you like, Sir." The
same system was pursued with Mra Dann ; who was
pestered with such questions as—" All the gentlemen,
then, had red faces, had they ?"—" Who has been
tuning this story ? who has been examining you 'r" and
with a silly laugh raised against her when she said, " I
can sec better on the Consinon—where I am more
prate ised,"—the fact that she could see better on the
opus Common than in the dim Painted Chamber being
app-e•ent, whatever might be her expertness or awk-
warlaess in explaining the circumstance. This attempt
to -shield the accused by broWbeating honest witnesses,
and insinuating charges against their veracity, is com-
mon enough at the Old Bailey, but we should have ex-
pected more regard for right feeling among the aristo-
cracy of England, than to permit such vuraar licence to
counsel at the bar of the High Court of Parliament.
And now as to the Court itself. Notwithstanding,
the care of the Prosecution to withhold the evidence,
and of the Defence to divert attention from what could
not be withheld, the following facts were established.
Mn.s Dann saw two gentlemen knee! and load pistols,
then rise, stand back to bask, walk asunder some paces
each, place other two at the points thus fixed, put pis-
tols in their hands, stand aside till they fired at each
other, give them fresh pistols, and stand aside till they
fired again. Mr. Dann saw the combatants stationed ;
saw them fire both times ; never lost sight of them till
he reached the ground ; when he sa y one gentleman
wounded, and took the pistol from the hand of anataer,
that other being one of those who fired, tied also Lord
Cardigan, the prisoner at the bar. Sebastian Dann
saw the kneeling of the seconds, the 'firing of the princi-
pals, and the wounded gentleman with a grt at deal of
blood on the ground. There cannot exist a doubt that
Lord Cardigan discharged two pistols at some indivi-
dual, and wounded him the second time ; it having been
also proved that he said to the inspector of police—" I
have been fighting a duel, and have hit My man." Then
as to the identity of the wounded antagonist of Lord
Cardigan. Dann allowed him to go home with his sur-
geon, upon giving his address ; thiit address was " Cap-
tain Harvey Tuckett, 13, Hamilton-place, New-road."
Dann called three times ; and each time, on asking for
Capt. Tuckett, wes ushered in to the wounded gentle-
man who gave him the address ; and on one occasion
that gentleman sent a note by Dann to the Magistrates,
which he signed with the name " Tuckett." Mr. Wal-
then gave evidence to the effect that a gentleman of
the name of Harvey Tuckett had rented business cham-
bers from him for upwards of a year, who gave his card
of reference " Captain Harvey Tuckett, 13, Hamilton-
place.;" and that he had sent a hamper to the gentle-
man by that address. It was proved that the Earl of
Cardigan deliberately discharged two pistols at a person
of the name of Captain Harvey Tuckett, and wounded
him. This was the charge against the Noble Earl,—a
charge which, as stated by the prosecution, admitted by
the Court, and not questioned by the defence, if proved
rendered him liable to punishment. The counsel for
the accused objected to the production of the card : it
was proved without the card that the wounded man
gave the name and place of residence above mentioned,
that he was repeated y seen there during his convales-
cence, and that a person of that name and title resided
there. If there were anything extenuating in the cir-
cumstances out of which the duel arose, that was a por-
tion of the defence. The criminal act was proved, and
brought home to the Earl of Cardigan. And yet the
Members of the House of Peers, the conservators of the
piety, morality, and law of the empire, after commenc-
ing their proceeding. with a solemn appeal to the Deity,
rose up one by one when called upon, and each in suc-
cession, placing his right hand upon his breast, said,
" Not guilty, upon my honour." Alas for the honour
of the British nobility ! it is much upon a par with the
veracity of the fiery knights, who, in the first part of
Shakspere's Richard the Second, thrust the lie down
each other's throats.*

The conduct of the prosecution, defence, and Judger,
has all the appearance of being each a part in a common
conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice. The whole
proceedings of the House of Lords suggest a predeter-
mination to allow the accused to escape by some subter-
fuge or other. Viewed in this light, the Earl's appeal
from the Judges of the laud and a Jury to his Peers,
was an appeal from a tribunal in which an attempt would
be made to discover the truth and punish the guilty, to
a tribunal where, guilty or innocent, he thought he was
safe.t The privilege of the Pears to be tried by and to
try each other, wears the aspect of an exemption from
the penal law of the land : it seems to proclaim one law
for the nobility and another for commoners.
If the mischief coded with now and then allowing a
guilty Peer to escape the punishment incurred by his
crimes, it would be comparatively venial ; but the tri-
fling and equivocating with solemn duties, in the la,,e
trial, is worse than that ; for the House of Lords is a
Court into which any civil question may be carried by
appeal. There is not a case, where there is a sufficient
interest at stake to admit of the expense being incurred,
but may come to be tried in last resort by the same
Judges who, after hearing the evidence recapitulated
above, declared " upon their honour" that Lord Cardi-
gan was not guilty. Nay, this same corporate body has
the power, in its legislative capacity, to prevent the pass-
ing of any legislative Act that would alleviate or amend
the evil. As Judges, they have it in their power to
twist the law as they please ; as a legislative body, they
have a veto upon all reforms ; as the habitual associates
of the Sovereign, they influence the Crown ; as large
landed proprietors, they decide the elections to the Com-
mons. In them resides the real sovereignty of Great
Britain. And their conduct at the trial of Lord Cardi-
gan chows how loosely they wear the restraints of moral
precepts, and how little care they think it worth while
to take to conceal their levity from the public gaze.
" Wasps break through the cobwebs in which flies are
caught," and make a triumphant buzzing to call atten-
tion to the fact.
The question is between the Peers and the People :
Lord Cardigan's share in it. is scarcely worth notice.
To be sure, the Attorney-General was allowed to de-

From this censure the Duke of Cleveland, of all the
Peers present, is alone excepted. In exquisite irony he
declared, " Not guilty, legally, upon my honour."
t The prisoner arraigned before our Common Law
Courts claims to be tried "by God and his country;"
Lord Cardigan claimed to be tried "by his Peers." it
sounds like a disclaimer alike of Divine and human jur:s-
dietia.