The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-04 00:00:00

jai
Put the case in a course of enquiry before one of the
thejtili fudgesof the land. All matter of excuse or pallia-
ktiace
be discarded from their minds ; such only could be
kit) In defence, and 'must be for the consideration of the
id.ltirY, and not of the gentlemen he had then the honour
the essing• Their duty was simply to inquire whether
itiod. es of these two children had been sacrificed by the
the of their parent. It was a case certainly entitled to
kl:gatest compassion, for it appeared that when the
woman committed the crime with which
'"JI4t as
;„,,e""rged, she was in a state of the most
to ,11-`l7 and distress. Her agony of mind amount-
%le s!'draction, and in this state she committed her
4tokirdn'ls• These were topics which, however they might
tieir,; their sympathies as men, must not interfere with
falveolities., as grand jurors—they would hereafter be care-
factered, and he was sure with that kindness which so
44115 e called for from every humane mind. The Learned
tltrreeef ;having complained of the delay which constantly
90410,41, the transmission to the Court of the depositions
deb ea Prisoners were committed, and which every ses-
Illiee'L'arred him from giving to the grand jury all the
'bttrvae,!lci assistance he desired to do, said he had no further
1,115,„,auce of their important duties.
The dPAGET V. HOLT.
ialigt,:efendaUt in this case, a prisoner in the Bench under
th Of the Court of Queen's Bench for a series of libels
I44ll''t 'lke of Brunswick and Mr. Valiance, a solicitor, was
14440,.!1P in custody to plead to an indictment found
the ;In, two or three sessions ago, for a libel published
e'seo--o ge newspaper upon Lord Wm. Paget. The matter
keri 't of the too celebrated case of " Paget v. Cardigan,"
Nbirit week in the Court of Common Pleas ; and the libel
Iltole nod of consisted in a statement to the effect that the
rtinaffair from beginning to end was nothing but what, in
Lket Phrase, is called ""a plant," on the part of Lord Wm.
,e '4erh,extort money from the Earl of Cardigan. The pri-
e rhs" tried, but ineffectually, to remove the indictment
kwe",`°?ari into the Court of (ueen's Bench, for trial, and it
1441 e on for adjudication in this Court.
t'lfeol-IRE:sox stated the case to the jury. He said the
hitt' w. 'lt appeared to answer an indictment which charged
tlt having wickedly and maliciously published a libel
of tijis d William Paget. Whatever might be the result
tiff I
incluirY, there was no doubt that the plain-
idj!to the cause was a most unfortunate nobleman. It was
fetellpo'.aPPose there was any one in Court who was not
41,14hgnizant of the circumstances which had recently been
e, oonceruin the wife of the noble plaintiff and the
efeardi g
f truth ban, and that upon the trial. which was to test.
"the of those statements, a verdict had been returned
tCht Tdefendant. Neither he (Mr. Clarkson), nor his noble
qtliat"°td 'William Paget, desired to question the propriety
14),1:ktlict. They cast no reflection upon it, or upon the
lata.° gave it. They felt that the jury was not sufficiently
Itottsi"' with the character of the testimony given on that
tive c4l' anti that therefore they could not conscientiously
141,jeelY other verdict than that which they had done. The
ditlq„‘ 'natter, however, before them that day was altogether
'lotly,llt. It was a libel of the most cold-blooded and atro-
ktio47,lracter upon Lord William Paget, published by a
4 t "40 never cared for one moment whether it was true
ththeft'' and who, having himself fabricated it, best knew its
taza absolute falsehood. The charge of this fellow Holt
it4ithat Lord William Paget had wickedly and diabolically
toit opred to tarnish the fair fame of the wife of his
rl 'on'ith the view of extorting money, from the
Cardigan. He was charged with putting his
deatro.ito equivocal situation, so that she might
d„Y her own fair fame, and tarnish his own honour,
sitroy his own happiness for life—with sacrificing her
,7/14,„. ce and virtue, with the sole and horrible object of
`4„tri'''' Money out of the pocket of that wealthy noble
f• „", ow, no one was more anxious to meet and to rebut
1,`,14 Purpose char e, than Lord William Paget himself ; and for
he offered himself to be put into the witness-
Mve -I would be so put there, so that the defendant might
,%, Very chance of substantiaing his calumnies, if he could.
?wever, he could not dot; and it would be for the jury
sit
all the circumstances and the evidence that would
fi,lkritV,eect, and give the only verdict which, in his (Mr.
tO4l t(4l's) opinion, the justice of the case would permit
Lord )14°.
kilit,Allliam Paget was then called and sworn, and exa-
q AwuY kr. DoANE—I am the second son of the Marquis
tlvell -' te,„,we3ea- I have been married to Lady Paget, my wife,
fiftehe.4ll Years. I have had three sons, the eldest of whom
4t,t on the 13th of this month. In the month of August
the yirt communications made to me, I had suspicions of
kcil• ien,ne of my wife. On the 7th of that month 1, in con-
L'4let, Le, gave certain instructions to John Thomas, my
l'a to Frederick Winter. Until within three or four
Ilk, of}, that time, I was living with Lady Paget. It might
It'..4t;len a week. On that I received a communication from
• and Thomas. When this communication was made
jir 11,1118 at the corner of Berkeley-square.
°Rnsivonni (counsel for the defendant)—The car
4et Ce materially shortened if you would ask him if he did
ko n° certain things with certain persons in order to extort
ite°Y?
(continued the examination)—I jumped out
,Ilt on that communication being made, and went
had an interview with Lady Paget. I afterwards
Vas is Military friend, Major Close, to Lord Cardigan. This
Baven half an hour. After a lapse of six or seven days, I
144tim'rections to have an action brought. There was no
04 ping between Lord Cardigan and myself. I did believe,
t4tioi?' oath, and I do believe, every syllable of the represen-
IPY G,' made to me by those two persons. I never had, before
Rtori Z, the slightest intention of making this a matter for
kcl -;,g money. I know the meaning of the word " plant,"
t•
of n';fY oath before Almighty God, I am perfectly inno-
Mt° '"sof every thought of extorting money. In a mo-
,I °ls dreadful excitement I— (The Learned Counsel
010,*, 4)ocked the witness whose examination in chief then
144 Clerk of the Court then read the words considered
bY Lord Paget.
4 cA,,. °tinsel for the plaintiff stated that he was not desirous
lkitZlng the witnesses, Messrs. Bebb and 'Winter, the last
&);:s having been disbelieved at a late trial.
tk we conversation then took place whether Winter, who
I:tated not to be in Court, should be called or not.
Itilth:.eolTßT stated that it had no means of interposing its
h, warity to compel that witness to enter the witness-box
frost, Inot subpcenaed, and was stated to be at some distance
evt,„,"ue Court. The prosecutor was not obliged to call upon
Of
teetheess for evidence whose name appeared on the back
u indictment. The Court should not require the pro-
, Al-rt,lo call upon the witness Winter.
446;„`joRpswouni then addressed the jury for the de-
and was left speaking.