The Sun.
London, England, 1804-12-22 00:00:00

S'4 A aw.g.....4.• 4.4
4,11 IL, 4-0 .1%.1111.
•

TRIALS FOR PERJURY.

ICantinuation of the: interesting Prereedinzs of the Meet-
, ing at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, en Wednesday, from
our Paper at yesterday.]
Mr. ROWLES,---." I rise, Sir, tosecond all the Re.
solutions just read, 'but I cannot satisfy .my.mind
by a silent approbation of them. Feeling so deeply
interested as I do in the cause which it is the ob.
jra of this Meeting to espouse and promote, I
hope I shall be permitted to say a few words on
the very important occasion which brings us to.
gether. J cannot help congratulating this Meeting
on the great and important events which have taken
place .siece we assembled last, as Freeholders
of the County of Middlesex, On that occasion a
very clear anti able statement of the Proceedings at
the two last Middlesex EleCtions, was made 6y the
Chairman ; a statement, which exhibited the cha.
tatteristic featores of truth ; but as oriall political
tubjeCts,. prejudices are supposed to operate upon
the human mind, it is satisfatiory to know, that
this statement has been fully confirmed by the
trials which have lately taken place. The faels
which transpired upon those trials, and even those
parts of the evidence 'which have been 'read from
the Chair, prove that a most extensive and com.
plicated system of perjury existed at the last Elec-
tion. Having already gone so far, in order to,
bring that system to light, and its authors and
agents to punishment, I think we shall not bs sa-
tisfied to stop where we now are. I am for taking
a leaf out of our enemies' book. Although I ter_,
tainly do not approve of their principles* or their
praaices, yet there are some points in which I
think they are worthy of our imitation. They
never stop half way, they never are discouraged by
difficulties ; and whenever they have gained an
advantage, they follow it up with the greatest spi.
tit and effect. I am for imitating their =dun in
these respects, and for following up the advantages
which have already crowned our exertions. You
have stated, Sir, very properly, the difficulties
which stand in our way in bringing forward the
persons who have been guilty of perjury ,at ahe last
I eleelion, and I beg to state my decided opinion,
that independently of those difficulties, it, is not my
wish to bring forward any very great number of
those persons for puniihment. The jUstice of the
Country would not be satisfied by infliCting ven.
geance' on those poor low deluded wretches who
had been made 'the instruments 'in the hands of
others. It is not to he supposed' that such persons
would come forward spontaneously 'to perjure them,
selves for any Candidate. When we see puppets
move, we know ehat they are moved by wires, and
that there ate hands which aired those wires, al.
though both wires and hands may be invisible ; hut
here it appears, that they are not invisible ; the
evidence on the trials point out pretty clearly the
wires and 4nm: of the hands which move them ;
and, therefore, though I conceive the guilt of these
poor wretches to be very great, and that it is in.
dispensably necessary to make some examples, to
prevent others from listening in future to instiga.
tions of this kind, yet I think public justice calls
loudly, for punishment in a higher quarter. The
receiver is certainly worse than the thief, and the
sober net is far more guilty that) the suborned; and ,
I think it is due to these poor wretchei themselves,
that justice should not stop with them, but should 1
ascend to the polluted 'Source• whence the tempta.
tion leis been derived. The most cogent and im.
odious motives 'call upon us not to stop here, but
• to exert all our zeal and energy 'to give an affec.
!mil check to this nefarious system. The cause in
which we are engaged, is not, as has been truly
said in one of the -Resolutions, a mete eledion.
contest ; it is a national concern, 'involving the
dearest interests of the Country,prilitical and
It is not local or partial;"i't does not effect the,
County of Middlesex only;' Cornwall is as deeply
interested in it as Middlesex. It does not con-
cern Freeholders alone-; all the inhabitants of the
county, and of the kingdom, have an bitterest in
it, in Many respects ai• deep as the Freeholders
of Middlesex theMselves. Sir,' we have long been
accustomed to consider bribery at an eleClion as a
' mortal sin against the Constitution, and very
properly, since it pollutes the sources whence our
constitutional privileges flow. The Legislature,
sensible of the evils which must attend such an
offence, have endeavoured by the best means in
their power to restrain it. But, Sir, was there ever
such gross and complicated bribery, as at the two
last Middlesex Elections Bribery, however, in.
deed, was not the worst of the practices which
there prevailed : Bribery stalked hand in hand
with perjury ; these crimes were associaaed Loge.
then, not only to overthrow the eleitive franchises
of the Freeholders of Middlesex, but to overwhelm
all eleetive rights whatever ; and to introduce,
what our moderninnovators., have been desirims of
establishing—the Revolutionary System of universal
suffrage. Sir, i am sure it would be unbecoming
for me to expatiate on the enormity of one Of the
crimes to which I have been alluding. The moral
feelings of every person present, and of every per.
son whose mind is not perverted, must shudder .at
the very Mention of the abominable offence of pet.
jury. Every person, indeed, who exercises his
reason upim the subject!, besides being shocked at
the impiety of this crime, 'besides being filled with
horror on seeing a fellow.creature call' down the
"engeanee of the Almighty on his guilty head, must
see, that if this crime were to become familiar, if
an oath were to lose its sanftity, our laws would
lose their efficacy, our tribunals of justice, instead
of ',torching the innocent, would only expose'thern
to be the victims of perjury, and no man's life or
property would be /safe. I trust, therefore, Sir,
that ,when such 'interests are at stake, interest,
which involve whatever is dear to society at large,
'and to every man as. an individual, the Freeholders
of Middlesex will not be. the men to flitch from
such a Cause; but that they will follow up the ad.
vantages already obtained, until it can be said with
as much confidence as any thing of this kind can
• admit of, that the Country-is safe from .such roc-
.tices in future. I. beg pardon, Sir, for urging any
further consideration as an • inducement to pro.
► cerd in such a cause, but I cannot refrain from re.
marking, that it is through the want of such ester.
SWI3S (45 the Gouty "lave lately made, sad,

nor, are aetcrillinect ro
persevers rt.'', about two
YeirS i go, thaeWe are reduced to the necessity. of
exerting. ourselves at present. If the perjury which
tvas caromitted at the PeCtion in t Sox, and which
.
ch!clar:3, by the highest authority, to haye
been carried to a most awful and alarmiog extent,
b, en fillowed up in_ the manner we h,ive already
followed up that which took place at the last efec.
tine., I think I am not presumptuous in saying, that.
the dreadful scenes whiCh we. lately witnessed
would not have occurred. , 'but see the consequence
of suffering guilt to be attended with impunity.
Perjury was unpunished at the former eleClion ;
the conSequinee is, that at another ele4ion it was
practised to a greatly increased ratio, notwith-
standing.the very important difference between the
two eleetions, in respect to the chsrader of the
Returning Officers. For, although, at the latter,
they were men of uprightness and integrity, vet
they could not protect the rights of the Freeholders
of Middlesex, and could scarcely prevent the re-
turn from being again obtained by systematic per.
jury. I trust, that what has taken place, and par.
ticularly the consideration; that the second, mis.
chief has been principally (swing to' the first having
passed with impunity, will operate as a. deciaive
reason with the Freeholders of Middlesex, to do
every thing in their poWer to prevent its ever oc-
curriig again. It was observed, Sir, that one of
the witnesses on the late . trials fell into a cOntradic,,
tion, which tended very much to discredit him ;
but I think it is material to observe,..that the Lord
Chief Jestice, in sumtrang,.up an.
,trial, far
from expressing an opinion that this witness was
undeserving of credit, observed, that excepting in
the circumstance in which he cOntradiEted himself,
no other part of his evidence was broken in upon..
Indeed, it is manifest, that with tire above excep.
don, his evidence was substantially confirmed, by
other witnesses`; but had* this witness been out of
the way, there was complete evidence to satisfy the
Juty of the guilt of the Defendant, and the case
would have stood extremely well without his
dence. I think it also material to notice, that the
question on which' the difficulty arose was wholly.,
irrelevant to the cause, anti did not at all 3%41 the
guilt or innocence of the Defendant"
Mr. TIIOItNTON.--." I happen to have the part
before me, to which the Gentleman alludes, and I
will read it :—Lord ELLENBOROuGH says, ‘ Ido
not think that by any other circumstance in the
cause he is broken in upon.; I believe there exists
a doubt whether the witness meant to say what
was supposed he said, he had written she whole of
the paper which he had in his, hand. The Cotinsel
asking him, what was the paper he had'in hips hand;
he was obliged to produCe it, and he affirmed, that
he had written the whole*of it except the part that. ,
Was rubbed put.. It did appear, ort,inspeetion, that
it was in the hand.writingof two persons, but that.
no part was rubbed out. A doubt does seem to ex.
ist, which the Learned Judge. himself suggeated,..
whether he meant to, say, the wbolo that was writ.,
ten upon the paper" was written hints or oply:
that part wlpch was Clridcrlqy his owobaott.terit.
ing tbia, hoWever, Was wholly irrelevant:
cause, and it cannot be supposed:thati the,atitra,,
diftion arose at all from the suggestion u 1 othercper.
sons, ---Tile several Resolutiotis Were'7.trie*plo,4,4l4‘
,carrictr unoimously.
Mr. BENNITT auggested;
could not distinilly hear, whitht,e,it, Waufkilotitie,
desirable that the PrbieciitiOna ,sboula,,lie„ciirried
by the' ATTOAKEY,GENERALI, go behalf ofesche
Crown.'
Mr. Bowt.eq..—" I am itire, „should GS:,
disposed to pay ,every attention to the suggestiFtntil
of the Gentleman who has just spoken, but I. earls.;
not coincide with him on the present occasion. „Ad.:,
though I do not deny that it ,is,;4;casise„whi,ch
serves the attention both of Or GOVernturnt and she.,
Country, and that the ATTORNE,i4lt4Eitni,:ottigl4,,
with great propriety take up .tfieSePtosecutione,,,
yet I think they could Oothe taken tip ,with so
much effect as they will heir ihey'are instituted
the spirit
.of the County. It behoves the quinsy
of Middle'sex, to vindicate ita rights, and while•it
does, Chia kind Of aCtion and reabion will be rtes
mid; it will derive fresh energy rrom its exer.
Lions. We have heard a great .tleal of the outraged
rights,of the Freeholders of Middlesex : the litre
trials prove, indeed, that the rights of. the coUnty
of Middlesex have been grossly outraged ;. but
appears, that it is by the very parry complaining:
fi
_that those outrages have been committed: it is the„
poor innocent larlihs that made the outcry,. who now
turn out to be the criminds.—So much for Jacobin.
mOdesty. 1 beg leave, Sir, to observe, ,that it is
of great importance that Out Resolutions should be ,
made as generally known as. possible, and as $P9n...,1.t5;
possible, thronghOtat the COuntry. I date say,,, that;
every Gentleman will use his effarts to promoc7alien,
Subscription among conoeftions, and in his.
neighbourhood. As this 4is an universal concern,,
it may, perhaps, be the roust natural, as well att,
the Most elf-caul mode 'of accomplishing our 0bj,;44
(a liberal Subscription), to subscribe small SUMS,
five or ten guineas, or 'eveo Icisver, from one guinea
to ten, for who would hesitate
,to contribute some.
thing to secure the Country against a repetition,of
such pra6lices as have token place storing the', two
last Middlesex Efetttions alai to have it under,
stood, that there is no point of lionUtir about the
amount, but that every one feeling himself to,
,he
interested, may contribute what he thinks ptoper, ,
—A number of aniall streams will furnish a very
large one, snifiCienr, I doubt oot, to carry. Our
Vessel prosperously through ail her, diffn;ulties.-a-
Enough has been said, 1 hope, to shrew that this is
not the cause of the Freeholders only, but of the
Copyholders, the Leaseholders, anti,iosiced of every
individual, of whatever rank or degree.l.l ,
Mr. THOR NT,nl.7-" A Circular Letter may
,be
sent round to every Freeholder, and we filial) trust
to every Gentleman to nrocute ithscroptions, in his
parish or neighbourhood.".
Several Gentlemen offered to procure Sobscrip.

tions in their own neighboullood.. Tkinks were
unanimously voted to Mr. Titoilmrozit tor hil
dud in tin Chair.—Adjourned.

On Wednesday night some villains found mean,
to enter the house Of Mrs. ROWOOTHAM, Charles.
street. Soho.square, and stole 4 copper and a qua».
,
city of linen.

NyWittnif, DP.T. /Sp.—LW night, at Ii o'clock,
a. m )5t dreadful fire br,,ke out in the house of Mr.
jua. linen. draper, k the M srker.place,
which burned with incredible fury, and consinuri.
cated to a house below, which were in one blaze be.
fore tw,-Ive o'clock. The wind, providentially, was
N. N. E. and moderate ; for had it been S. W. and
b!oan hard, nothing short ola miraculous interference
could have saved the whole place, of near 6o lantise,
from being totally consumed, being mostly old build.
ings in front, with workshops, slaughter.hothes, and
old built warehouses in the centre, with one or two
exceptions, at the back of each house. The drum*
heat to arms; the picquets of the Royal Cornwall I,t
Battalion; and the Princess of Wales's Blttalion of
Plyin null Volunteers, were soon on their posts. At
two A. M. the fire raged with uncommon fury, and,
to add to the' misfortune, the water way frozen ; but
by greafexertions the stream of the town reservoir
was forced down. By this time all ranks of petyle
were alert and naive on the occasion : the engines of
the Dock.yard, Royal Hospital, Vitfivalling
Royal Exchange, Sun, and Phoenix Fire
and 'the private engine of Lleut..Colonel Hawker,
with those of the. Mayor and Commonalty, began to
play, as water by this time rushed down
tho' it still froze hard, and played with great energy
and force. Still the flames, raged backwards to Mr.
Nfirthente's ; 'Mr. Nnrrington's, lien. eastward; and
Mr.aibbs's, silversmith, the') ')ele Inn, the extensive
warehouser, full of butter, &c. of Mr. Harvey, west.
ward ;.and from the strange confoirnity of the various
buildingi, the risque was run of many valuable lives
being Inst in,pulling down the different pretnistN.
and pushing through the windows the pipes of the
enginei to' get the fire under. Near ten children, of
different housei consumed and damaged, were taken
out in blankets, ad, wih the book, paers, oral
writings of the-unnfortunatet sufferers, wish other
valuables, were conveyed to site Goilhall, opened
by order of J'. , Whiteford, Esq. Deptity ToWri
Clerk, and Other places of safe ty,—Abou t f mr, A.M.
the fire. stibsided, but in half an hour broke out in
Mr. Gibbs's house again. Some exertion wa4
cessary, at'every person was quite exhausted ; Mt.
Elliot, Mayor, Capt. Marvin, with a Lieutenant of
the Im,irtneux, Col. Hawkers Langmead,'
Major Hoot, Capt. .131rdwood, Mr. Whiteford,
Messrs. Fuges, merchants; Mr; SWero, the }lilt:
swain of the Virtu tlling.Otliee ; Nb!sieri„ fUtons,'
Mr. Rowe, &c. and all rue cnioo wol.k.ers, puiletf
dokVn theftiof of .Mr. Gihlasts h, use, and by that
means,' ffagged and tired 'RS 0+:011- were, extin.
guished the ;flames.—The damage is estimated 'at
severed tlinnskii'dtr.

An elt',gant 11,11 was given on Wetlneslty even.
ing ICy
.the of the Brig hie of GotrAS at
Cbalka.6, in '4a- tr.itipor.iiry h0);,;,,i2; erenc,l for the
purpose. , 1111;g con,: gran tent of,
tho .14;nretlatn:n:.:ni.. A inlst SJl)per, con.
sisting of all 'the tletic.icis of the season, was sCrv.
ed tWt,,e"o'clock.. The COinpany separated.
tOith seetning regrq between five Ind Nix o'clock
the inornhig, highly ph.tasci with the p iliteneos anti
urbaniti.9f the (.)flicers. All the Families of dis.
rtnetliOnin tirie ritighnotitlfund *ere present.
Balls are, we understand, to be continued weekly
d 1 ring the Winter.
;501pc time ago we stated the very sad accident
whichhad befallen Col. IVIAte, who commands at
Itasca :Barra,cks, near Portsmouth ; we now heat
that tig.Colonelis greatly recovered—hut his left
arm, which was fradurea in live diir:rent place's,
Was amputated by . Mr. WRYMOUTIi. Surgeon, at ,
lortsea, in presence at Dr. Ku, the Assistant In.
spe.Otor of Hospitals in that ,thstria, What renders
this misfortune particularly severe upon the Colonel
is, that he had previously been deprived in a great.
measure of the use of his right arm, in consequence•
of a severe wound he received when a Litutcliant in
the Light Infantry Company of the 4.3,1 Itegitnent, .
on the Heights of Brooklyne, in the aElion of the
27th. August, 1776, near New York, in North
America.. .

Lui,r4rtnt,, who. se.arriVal we lately mentioned, is
preparing a Balloon for an aerial voyage in spring.
j; will l ,the. largest :ever made in England, ro
'consist orzOo yards of silk, and intended to.carry
up five persons, Upon his third voyage, he will
descend with a parachute, in A way never before
attempted.
. .
Accounts from an Officer on board the Phalan'
Frigate, dated Bencoolen, August 7th, state, that
the ainfort %mate Major DAV ts 5,, who commanded the
Detachment which was surrounded by the natives of
F.:eylon some time sincc,drags on a miserable
eoce as a menial servant ,to the KIND Of CANDY,
AleirtiVotl of his tongue and tars, and otherwise bar.
barougly mutilated ;
.and that the P4itton, Tremerg.
dour, Lanculler, anti Terpsichote, were jusi about 10
sail , to Bata*iii, in pursuit of Admiral LI No Is.
it was rather singular,that the:late worthy Al.
dermsn BOYoSLL should live just long enough tea
see the Slialtspeare-LUrtery disposed of, for on 'the
day he paid the debt to nature,' not a Ticket re..
'twined unsold.; and from the. rage that seems for
the Tickets' in the present .State Llttery, it is
highly probable not a Ticker will he left fur sale
when the. Wheel goes round.

Thtirsby tvvia.few boys, of pugilistic celebrity,
fought a pitched: battle on Tower Hill. They were
of the -true • Mendoza school, and wero.attended by
their seconds, and bottle.holders, lljce blscigsard;
of a more mature' growth. They fought fur an hout,
and. ten minutes, during which time they .lived 37
rounds, displaying uncommon 'kill and bottom.—
Bets' were iri favour of Levy, the younger buy, hut
hisadveleary,,young Solomona, having made a very'
severe hit, the last round, he •• was declared the con.,
queror 1 but in the moment of .exilltation, a press•
gang most 'opportunely sent young Solomon' on—
board the tender, and picked up son very useful
hands among the crowd crllletted.

Late on Thursday night, or early yesterday
morning, the lock of the shop door belonging to
Mr. Horslin, a poulterer in Clare-court, Clare.
marker, was picked, and his shop was robbed of
241, fowls, z $ widgeons, and 7 turkeys. The thieves
cleaved clear off with their booty, and there is not
at present-soy clue by which they car, be found out