The Sun.
London, England, 1817-12-19 00:00:00

luded ; they were the Ministers-of the country,
and he never had the slightest intention of attack-
ing the Religion of the country; yet that was the
very offence,chargcd against him by the Attorney-
General. Why were not the multitudes of paro-
dies similar to his, which hid been published so
long, prosecnted by the Government ? and why
should he be the first
.person to be singled out
and made a victim ? He knew that the Attor-
ney-General, in the rectitude and integrity of his
mind, secretly disapproved of this prosecution ;
and whether he should that night go home to his
family, or to prison, he should feel the most per-
fect consciousness of his own innocence: The
law of libel was altogether undefined ; it was a
shadow ; no one 'knew what it was ; and a thing
charged to be such was not a libel until it was
declared to be such by twelve men in a jury box.
A parody was written some years ago by a Mr.
Jekyl, now a Master in Chancery, upon the song
of Black-eyed Susan, in which he alluded in a
humOurous manner to' Lord Castlereagh and Sir
W. Curtis, while in the Downs.
The Judge did not suffer the defendant to read
this through, since public characters were not to
be unnecessarily ridiculed in a Court of. Justice.
The defendant next produced a parody on Mil-
ton's Address to the Sun, supposed to be spoken
by the Devil
,at St. Helena. He also produced
a caricature, describing Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheri-
dan, Sir Francis Burdett, the Duke of Bed-
ford, &c. in the most odious manner. After
a variety of other quotations too numerous
to be noticed, he maintained that it had been
the constant usage in this country to publish such
parodies as that he was now charged with, and
that not one of them was ever before prosecuted.
He therefore would say, that it was a disgraceful
thing in the Ministers of the Crown to select a
poor defenceless individual like him, and mark
him out for the vengeance of a law., the existence
of which he had been wholly ignorant of. Had
he written such parodies in favour of the Mini-
sters, they never would have meddled with him :
but he was prosecuted only on pretence of his
having made an attack upon Religion ; whereas,
the real cause was the attack he had made against
public corruption.
The defendant was npwarda of four hours ad-
dressing the Jury. Several times in the course of
his speech, the populace, who filled the inside
part of the Court, applauded him, and particu-
larly when he concluded.
He then called the following witnesses:—

Mr. George Butler said he lived at Castle-street
in the Borough. lie said he applied at Mr. None's
shop tor a copy of the pamphlet, and Mr. Hone
refused to let hint have one. Witness and de-
fendat►t had been long intimate ; and .thfs affair
produced a coolness between chem. Witness
could not recollect the day of the month, but it was
in the early part of this year.
William Macdonald lived with Mr. Hone as
shopman. He went into his service in the mid-
dle of April : he had been repeatedly applied to
for one of the pamphlets, but was not allowed to
sell any.
Benjamin Griinston lived with "Mr. Hone when
the parodies were published in Februa!y last., A t-
km. the 22d day of that month, none of them were.
sold, although numerous applications had been
made for them by booksellers and . others. This
witness went away in April, and was succeeded
by Macdonald.
Jamei Hitchin said, fie had, in the end of Fe-
bruary, applied three or four times for one of
these pamphlets, and could not obtain any. • He
went to purchase a copy merely for curiosity.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, he should exer-
cise the ptivilege he possessed of replying to sonie
of the observations made by the defendant.' fie
had no pet sooal enmity to Mr. Hone, or any
other person in his situation. Here the Learned
Gentleman entered into a defence of the practice
of striking Juries by the Master of the Crown
Office. With regard to Mr. Hone being allowed
to be at large on his own recognizance, that was
an indulgence ‘vhich did not proceed from any in-
tention to stop the proceedings against him ; for,
from, the thne the information was filed, the pro-
ceeding went on regularly. Defendant was the
author and the first vender of this poi Son ; and he
was the proper person to be prosecuted ; he sent
it forth and had not the power to stop it. Mr.
I-lone had alluded to a great variety of other pub-
cations, but no man could justify himself by the
evil actions of others ; and he, had no hesitation
in saying, that these were libels, which it was
much to be regretted had ever appeared. Even
the publication of that great and excellent man,
Martin Luther, was improper; but it was known
that the attacks made then by hostile parties
against each other, were carried on by great vio-
lence on both sides. When Dr. Boyce parodied
the Lord's Frayer, he did wrong in doing so. As
to the publication in question, no man could read
it without perceiving that it was calculated to
produce the worst effect on the public, and to
shake that reverence which all persons 'ought to
feel for the Christian Religion ; and he was asto-
nished to think, that a man with a family of young
children, would send forth such a work as this.
Mr. Hone bad said, that nothing was a libel until
declared to be such by a Jury. According to that
doctrine, no person could ever have been con-
victed of a libel ; and he felt confident that the
Jury were bouni; to find the defendant guilty.

Mr. Justice ABBOTT, in his charge to the Jury,
declared it to be decidedly his opinion, that the
publication in question was an impious attack on
the Christian Religion ; it was an attack on the
law of GOD and of the Country. And with re-
gard to the intention of the defendant, a man's
intentions must always be judged of by his acts.
A great number of similar parodies had been quot-
ed ; many of them were gross libels ; and if none
of them had. been prosecuted, it did not follow
that such another libel should not at any future
time be prosecuted. , The defendant had certainly
stopped the publication soon after it appeared, but
that was no defence, and could only be adduced in
mitigation of punishment atiome future period.
The Jury retired for about half an hour, and
returned with a verdict ut—Not Guilty. •
The moment the verdict was pronounced, the
most tumultuous shouts were uttered by the mob