The Sun.
London, England, 1827-10-25 00:00:00

ut here

ip'd,
;

hat has
the VII
inst ine'
I have
ow the
of the
of 31a:(

ale, more
iore don'
efigiod
an Peri'.
realed re-

Where,
is naive;
s`? Isis
1 cover
a_ I wear
7eopaglA
;fatigable
uni versa'
priduct is
oad bas"
ose vole!
se seat 19
!xistence
hadoiv 13'

man"

ron your
,n, I hayq
•- in Eng'
the pro'
intention
t actuated
virtuous
r con fitly
them, 09
entletneut
I should
ntls only;
fritters or
At is, the i/11
we is none
than this
of these,
charitable
,re it, 13116
hoever ,
e
e common
to
iced uP -
is nation'
300 Yet/
centuryol(.ieg
great 101°
toiled theta '1
rn, Where
tsdictinne'
as being
it Wad
after
; 11'
rum Cog'
i Laws
of the 00'
used forty
for their

false judgments; and one Justice Cadwine is par-
; Titularly specified as having suffered (and he deser-
t'q it too) for the crim of sentencingone Hackwy,
l'eheri three of the twelve Jurors' had pronounced
41tn not guilty By the common lapr one convicted q heresy and refusing toabjure it, Was 'to be burned
' "*-- . b Thio—that
Y virtue of the writ de 'heretic() com ur 1%, for burning the heretic --which issued out of
(.1h - his conviction but
ancery, upon a certificate of
he forfeited neither lands nor goods, because the pro-
eeedings against him were entirely spiritual, and he
Was to be burned, as the writ expressly stated; pro
salute ainice—that is, for the health of his soul.
This writ de h •
eretwo comburendo pro
for bur • ning the her
still in force by theetic for the good of his soul, was
common' law, and was put into
execution Upon two Anabaptists„ in the seventh
year of Queen Eliz andupon t O 'Arians, in
the 9th yeas , Elizabeth
te of her successor, the mostand high
..
mightyf 4l James. If common law be still in
rnorce With respect •to the offences charged against.
e. and you should b • in an adverse verdict, the
writ de keret' ring .
Smithfi ~, Cleo comburendo would be revived, and
Christ e'u 'lli ht - • witness the burning zeal
of ia,,i.g once more
I•ora „, tY.
..
the ' - A tel'Enbizsi. Certainly not; that is not
state of the
Mr. 7, 1 law.
tordd,;," °r"--Nly Lord, I will soon rectify your
*ill 1
n•e's misapprehensions. But, Gentlemen,
_. you
piease,
to
there is also in England
i"eh a th. b
o serve, that
• ten law—a
~, mg as the /ex scripta, or writ
contained in fixed, determinate, and prescribing
‘tfitutes of b
644. t..e realm,•of ' hieli,.since the.
by virtue w
B
~. of tiles Gloucester,
.is the statute of
•ta of Edward which
i I., now preserved upon a statute-roll 1
Tower tl • left for the pretext
fleea count ' ' '
lere Is no round , m
to 1
.. ervailina•
a CO-exlstence ot co i mon la*,
t thing any Mott • Wel this statutelaw bath
once i, t el on w ' and fixed
1 erposed its - • p amount authority,
I,ts Batted fiat. The at
power of common law, then, to
urn the heretic for the d of his soul, and ec!nse-
-1 ntly the r,
i cot, or sewer to punish him by fine or imprison-
's t° loth) • in any way for the good o
s soul, w,, torment him .
9th of ' of a statute of the
s abolished by virtue . e
of heresy
ected t Charles 11., and the crim .sub-
liethe good of
° ecclesiastical censure only for
lie ,0„,
izithiet: That crime,t
cog-
ill
1.1,,, Jo, this Cour therefore, is no longer .
For surely, Gentlemen, .it
.
'
that when the 'power of in-
icti„," the
pretended • . 'common law was
,bOh,,P t"e greater punishment at .
, --led, there could have been. a reservation to
41410 n law of a owe', to grapple- with the same
i',,te
'A1,17 under another name,
and to inflict inferior
- tles • •that when Christians were deprived of
le.i , on,
t:',.p easure of burning the enemies of theirfaith, they .
still to be indulged in the evangelical luxury of
4'1?1, and loelci them.-in a and might say,
Tis true ng up a cag , twat h, we must not burn them any more—vye
li4, n" hail them any .more—sad times—but we'll
lire
‘our spiteout for all that !" A verdict against
i., then, oe any pretext of common law, however
kParently sanctioned by precedents of former trials,
‘.whicli unrighteous verdicts have been obtained,
!toultliald be n
kbte,-orighteous and however bolstered into
rice Judge llieged oinions of the Judge, or
Ytorline - be treason against you
ountty, 1 r , would
8 al"
Id be treason against os ri h ---it would q hug ta of inan. For, gentlemen,
einit:ltle charter of your rights as jurym
• t the coin,
here I present
jurymen—the
rights.
his • et' trlY acquittal, if you maintain yourm.
p,4Bratute law, the Act of the 32d of Geo..
•ig,,i,i constituting in juries a right, or rather re-
theli right, which has existed from the days
lea .
law as
all a ' FllOO5 Alfred, of being judges of the
batertaai°` she fact, of which, if you can possibly
not dOUbt, and my unsupported reasoning
ir p,;;;'officiently persuade you, I beg to epgagee
cige C'cular attention to an authority whichne tehr.
Ile.re';rt'self will be induced to reaped—the
JohnT
4le, attl legal judgment of the learned Sir
tois'eallicitor-General to King William 111.,
,v'eliti 1` Thu pamphlet of sixty pages 0n1y,.. en,-
rt'' (I.,,,lrYman's Guide ; or the Englishman!
- . --a
"'dand right which every conscienti-
jurynttin e
lia about and every virtuous Englishman,
should
tablet of
he t his neck, and write upon the
3', r,i'sbould -talk of it when he walketh by the
)'
all'iL,Wilen lie lieth dawn, and when lie riseth-
t the -"'s most learned and • upright Judge points
ty 4, Palpable absurdity of, supposing that th.e.
of ‘ts;lci not be judges of the law as
which
Ltosa ~,e: fact, by mooting a case in w,mco
," roan ht be charged upon just such • ano-
lilted went as these with which we are
/' fear „Pr that "he as a false traitor, not having
thed"4 ••13(1 before his:eyes, but being instigated
144, did traitorously,, pres.tiMptrusly, and
11
' with intent to affront his Majesty's per-
, 4sd (-I
'Nur ,°,t4nunent, in breach of the peace, and
'honour et,igious lawyers would say) to
tire
great
i.torl,,,43_kinughty God—did pass by the man
tlarbQ;'4, at Q.l ‘' g•cros without pulling off
t 4; RThji-1141,111 nitylin-p-r.ess'io'n.of reverence there-
hat sh w`terel:'y - excf whereby, and whereby."
ould yokt
think an
ereh .
d of a Jury who, for all the
to pork 1111- Wher .
- ,, tesea ,
is no help for it
e the I,
.'"otild say, ~ There _
d inistered.—
renat
not la as it is, it must be a IP no • no
e nail :et run against the law." - WhyL ° nor
• 1514,,e`, run
pump run against the
law,
nor
hit ,s oeast that wants discourse of reason
~..
woatiomer than these would be the,block.sseatele '..
0 'd suffer theirphysiognomybe chl I u
_O,l,
to .
Itetiances of such
eat,.. grinning fatuity ; for the
rty 'A and intention of a Jury is, to guard the
it of the subject, and 'to prevent oppression
'r ni,, retext of law. The very terms of
1y -Tifitttions are—that they " shall well and
stY ; which it is ;impossible that
(444 l.-.01 do, who
try • but half the clues-
Ore : fact but notthe
law. Gentletnen,
lavv,',°t °eers,
stipendiaries, and. serve is of
01i1i4,44
toyb any necessity bound in its trammels,
to'-' do what it prescribes to you, but you
I.4lerescrihe the law itself, you give the law its
0t,,.)1.ir, justice or injustice; yours is
administered,
high
Nil I,t be wisely and humanely if an i,
4 he Nooe the folly and the fault , oill3t
t la:hl)lsl;eBSati by it. See you, gentie.menn,ttiiinat
an
tile 1-e 'airlr administered to me, a kofhang7
rot and I have no favonr to
ask
the 9th
10th ‘,.-ie..ete I present to yoti the Act of
.rno
,e.
'do, e' Livin W• 1 • iii capite trigesss l
en a i ham ~ Effectual
Pressing I.: An Act for the more
"'taking
41atter - °-
'laaphenny and Profeneness,
~__
) out _ „(21 blas„bemy and profaneness (as you
atidoi the i 1'
ess effectual cognizance of common„e
et A rendering it a statutcable offence, as tu
to et of the 29 1 of Charles 11. had taken the
,Ererb,„ ti. ,
Ikt. e'esY out of the common law,aed render-
-tz,,s.earint eeelesisstical offeuce. After this Act (upon
eiTathematical principle that-on'inernagif in se .
titninsts,every greater Contains in itself the less),
°ll._ mon law, with respect to blasphemy and pro-
-01742 became absorbed in the statute law, and was
Igor in that respect a distinctive, existence. But
ictoust especially put You onyour guard against
hted sophism which I have seen set in array
titeli.iB deer rand, irrefutable argument,—a so"
l's LotiLvetl fro of mere annotation to be found
eh,, !)Its, butno authority in' law whatever,
le4liti!s pretended' that this statute of the 9th
kly °„,.W,, illiam that has not altered the coin-
ea"Au re • but has only
Nib ic,,; Vett to. blasphemy let me
you forllye punishment. Gentlemen, cr !iv our dear country's sake, and for her.
ho liberties our
set notseal to a principle of
t! trible , . your.
cumulative punish-
p.. , . onstruction. A
Name
sseh umshinent heaped on punishment. h i„-
c!,t hit4,•„thi'?g,---let a British jury endure,t ere _
4 of Y."endropounded to them, and that,sac . d
th
to leaf and m-
kt ho s liberty is turned
'lot Coping. thht it may not be "P''.
- and that we
the crush-
ltitt,,.e4r of a still existing potency in s
kett: Yenoin, allow me to show you. that, a
1001( "I of the 9th. and 10th of King William
the co matter of blasphemy' and profanenesshe
be,,,te,Filizance of common law, so erel
__
kl e-14`let of the,'lS3d of Geo. 111., cap. id°,
ett,...-4 Act to relieve Persons who iMPugant, irioe. of the Holy Trinity.," Upon • the great
i. 04 eale---Leger posteriores, leges priore i
iiivhgant—that later laws abrogate Prior were votary to them, abolishing the lair

of the 9th-and 10th of King Wililatti TIT., as that law
bad abolished the common law, and, consequently,
leaving neither common law nor statute law in force
against the imaginary crime of blasphemy, but send.;
ing it after its kindred crimes'of witchcraft and magic,
fo " the tomb of all the Capulets." If it be urged,
as I have heard it insinuated, that the Unitarians
who do impugn the Holy Trinity, are still punish-
able:at- common law, this statute notwithstanding,
I eat why is it not•done ? There is not the Judge
in England who would disgrace his 'sacred office by
suffering such a question to be mooted, and, the
mere pretence without the power, betrays the mi-
serable vanity of defeated malice—it is the venom
of a serpent that bath lost its sting—that would but
cannot; it savours of the genius of Spain and of
the Inquisition : not of England, nor of England's
ornament, a Tenterden. Now, 'gentlemen, hear a
demonstration as clear as the multiplication table.
If the doctrine of the Holy Trinity be not the very
sum and essential substance, the totems
,illud, the
every thing of Christianity, I defy the wit of man
to give us a definition of what Christianity is. And
if to hive liberty to impugn that :doctrine—that is
literally to fight agairist it, to revile it as much as
you can revile it, to deny it to be true, and con-
sequently to deny all consequences and-corollaries of
it, is not to have all the liberty a man could wish,
and all he could avail himielf of if he wished, there
can. be no possibility of defining what liberty is,
and a man .may be told he has it t 0414, and be
trapped into a pretended trespass to-morrow. An
unbaptized person, you very well know, is not a
Christian. All' Christians are baptized in the name
of the Holy Trinity—all edicts, 'ukases; and trea-
ties of • Christian States, are promulgated in the
name of 'the Holy Trinity—the division. of the
law terms, and all public acts, of this country, re-
cognize the festival of the Holy Trinity. So
that to make it penal to impugn Christianity, after
it has, ceased to be penal' to impugn the Holy
Trinity, is entirely to ',have altered the nature of
Christianity : it is to declare the doctrine of the
Trinity to be no longer the Christian doctrine, or
Christianity to be of no earlier date than the 53d of
1 Geo. III.; or rather, it is not Christianity, but.
Unitarianism, that has beconie part and parcel of the
law of the land, and 'God knows the worst part of it.
For could this act of the 53d of George 111., I ask,
if it had specifically intended the entire abolition of
all pretence to prosecute unbelievers, without intend-
ing the abolition of Christianity itself, have marked
that intention more distinctively ? Hath the Uni-
tarian liberty to deny the divinity *of Christ, and
'lave not I liberty to deny his humanity ? Is it.
lawful for them to maintain, and teach, that he whom
the Christian Creed sets forth as God of God,
Light of Light, Very God of Very God, ,was no
God at all, but a mere Jew—a slave—a .beggar—
the base-born son of a Galilean peasant, and not
lawful for me, shuddering at such blasphemy as I do,
to maintain that he who was only such an one, might
be any thing that any man might call him ? The
shield which, covers the Unitarian blasphemer must
be broad enough to cover me, for to charge me
with taking any greater licence than that which is
by this act of the 53d of Geo. 111. legalized to
them, is to charge me with downright impossibilities..
I have certainly not blasphemed more than the Unita-
rians do—if it were only for.: this • sufficient. reason,
that I could not if I tried. But taking this Act of the
53d of Geo. 111., .to repeal the statute of the 9th and
10th of William 111., only so far as to relieve persons
impugning the Holy Trinity, but leaving those
Who impugn Christianity with a more honourable hostility,
as liable to prosecution as ever, though this distinction,
without a difference, bath as little of justice as of logic in it,
I'll stand the issue, even upon this reckoning, and claim no
further favour than, if I am to he convicted, that I may have
the benefit of being so upon some certain definitive statute
law, the prohibitions and penalties of which might have
been known beforehand and sa avoided, and that I may not
be trepanned upon a mere ipse digit of pretended common
law, which may sleep like the couchant tiger, in the Judge's
breast, ready to pounce on the most innocent, and sacrifice
the most virtuous man in society !--a principle which once
established, the name of law would be but another name for
the most galling yoke of tyranny that was ever imposed
upon the necks of an insulted people ; for it would always be
in the power of any tyrannical bigot on that bench (his
Lordship will• not for a moment think that I mean this
offensively, but it is a power which no wise man would
wish, and no good man hold,)—under pretext of something
so measurelessly vague and undefined as common law, to
grasp a power to punish whomtoever he might please,—to
make himself sole autocrat of :the nation—
" His wont the law, and he, the Lord of all,"
Gentlemen, " opinion is not law," do me hitt justice to
remember that great principle. " Opinion is mot law ;"
neither the Judge's opinion, ner any opinion of learned or
unlearned men which he may quote, bath claim tb a straw's
weight in the scale of justice. Should an innocent man,
by your verdict, be subjected to punishment, each and
every one of you in particular, will have brought the whole
and undivided weight .of that crime upon his own con-
science. Gentlemen, by the Ist of James 1., cap. 12.,
which is quite rational as any pretext, either of statute or
common law, that can be brought against me, his Lord-
ship may probably recollect it was expressly enacted that
" any person invoking an evil spirit, or consulting, cove-
nanting with, entertaining, employing, or feeding 'any evil
spirit, was to be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy,
and suffer death." Now as a rational jury, ere they gave
a verdict against a man for feeding a spirit, would first in-
quire what a spirit was like, and what sort of food the
stomach of a spirit would digest, shall not you, in like
manner, when I am charged in this indictment with
putting dishonour upon God, inquire how it could he
done, or what notion of the Supreme Being they would
have us form, who suppose him to be liable to such
an injury as I could have power to' commit, or you
have right to , punish? As a public lecturer on the
noble sciences of Astronomy and Physiology, and after
minuctheog
hoflonty life expended in deep and labo-
riouses
ical criticism and biblical litera-
ture,agrea rtceedre7tarl t
certain convictions v ietions have forced themselves upon my
mind, which would have forced themselves upon any other
mind, equally capable, equally curious, and equally-con-
scientious as mine. Nor would his Lordship, nor. any of
yourselves, have it in your power to be of different opinion
from mine, had your mind expatiated over the same field
of inquiry, and been formed like mine, to be determined
by the result of that inquiry. Am I to unread what I hive
read, to unlearn what I have :learned, and unknow my
knowledge ? Can I erase the inscriptions from the tablet
of my memory, and make nay faith obedient to my will
Show me how to do it, gentlemen, and I shall no more
offend you by denying the reality of miracles. But practice
not on me alone, while there are thousands in this falsely
dlca.nificll.reuedsaesd, and mindsChristianing
country-and
b
ounte u
ryc—itainvdated,
if literature and science be
there will be every day
thousands--as far from being Christians as I era,
differing from one in nothing but not in having honesty to
avow, and fortitude to brave, the consequenc4 of avowing
it. But judge yott
, Whether it be a conquest worth the
winning, to • BUbUni•aad,suppress the expression of senti-
ment
inu
t haeth eradicate,pyouromoca.nteanetrer.prevce of
i or. whether' you shall
hpneur, honesty,
and truth among men, .by making; hypocrites where
you
could:not make converts, sad by enfoteing from the tongue
a cold consent to what the heart abhors. Yes, after all,
gentlemen, if I am really in grievous error (as who, of
woman born, can be sure that Le .4, not), I our so far from
any principle of obduracy or obstinacy in that error, that
you never in your lives beheld a man so glad to correct his
errors. If there be, in any of .my orations or writings
published, or in process of publication, a single fallacy of
reasoning or falsehood of statement—if there be
" One line which dying I should wish to blot,"
I shall hold•that man among my dearest friends who shall
point it out. Gentlemen, I have now only to entreat you, '
as wise and good men, to be faithful to your own convic-
tions, and to the high and sacred trust which your country
.reposes in your hands.. Let not the alleged opinions of a
Hawkins,:a Blackstone, or a Coke, or the sanctified stupi-
dity who sacrificed aged women to the wild
conceitof
Judgeof Hale,aharbarus fanaticism, away you from the direc-
tion of your own better feelings and better judgment.—
Allow me rather to remind you of one (I do it respect-
fully), the perfect resemblance of whose case to mine would
insure my acquittal, if Christians would but reverence
their own professions, for it was of Him that the elders of
the city said, " Jae bath spoken blasphemy," that the
people said, " let him be crucified,. but Pilate said, why
what evil bath he done ?" And. why, I ask; gentlemen,
what' evil have I done? why should I be cruCifled
why should my country seem' to sanction the' cruelties.
which private fanaticiim hatly already inflicted upon Me ?
why'must I be' cut off from the cheerful ways of men,
have my spirits broken with vexation, and in the Meridian
of my lifr's usefulness, be condemned to pine away iu
the horrors of captivity ? Only divest yourselves of that
partiality to your . own * religious persuasions which you
would feel iu be utterly subversive of justice if it operated

an the 611* We of A faith Pectly opposed to yours do a.s
you: Would, be "done:Mito.; reason for me as I would i-eason
and entreat for you if you stood at the bar of some savage
Saraeri, who might look on you and your religious per-
-nasions with as little charity as my persecutors bear to
me,

" Strip black oppression of her deep tlisguise,
" And bid the hag in native horror rise,"
- ' -

and you shall see her through every stage of thiS barbarous
persecution waging her horrid war against sincerity and
' truth. Of my sincerity and truth I gave the world a proof,
when, nine or ten years ago, when my present Deistical con-
viction first 'took possession of my mind, I resigned my
preferment and expectations in the Church, because I would,
not receive what I considered to be the wages of iniquity—
because I would not preach to others what I had ceased to
believe myself. Shall Abe meanest peasant in the king-
dona—the most illiterate, barbarous hind, in doating age,
Or driVelling idiotcy, obtain the magistrate's licence to go
a-preaching, and a man of education, be denied that pri-
vilege. Will rational creatures say that this is justice, or
that a religion can possibly 'be true that hath need
to be defended by such, a policy? I have valued
What I hold to be truth above all things; I have
sought it more than my necessary food, and loved it
with a perfect love. Had I been that bad man which my
enemies represent me to be, I should never have fallen
under the power of their hostility, for I might at this day,
by a very facile hypocrisy, have held high rank in, :?re
church, whose holy orders I still hold, and to whose,
highest dignities I am still eligible ; and that very ability
which my enemies view iu me only as an argument to
call for heavier punishment, would, in another direction,
have seated rue in the stall of a Cathedral, from whence,
like another Leo X., I might have buckled over. ." The fable,
that brings grist to the miller, grasped the rich harvest of
successful fraud, and laughed at those who pay to he de-,
eeived, and like them best that do it best." But the motive
of my infidelity was the most ardent piety. I fear God,
and therefore I dare not be a Christian, because Chris-
tianity sterns to me to be unworthy of him ; I see
enough in its doctrines to startle my apprehension,
but not enough in its evidence to 'reconcile my reason.
Gentlemen, I have shown you that the societies 'for the
suppression of which this prosecution has been instituted,
are blameless and inoffensive. I have shown you that the
pretended evidence brought befbre you• has wholly failed; I
have shown you that, even if the evidence had been re-
spectable, which it is not, this prosecution is untenable on
Christian grounds, untenable on moral grounds, untenable
on legal grounds, untenable on any grounds whatever but
those of the ascendancy of might over right,—of rampant
-hypocrisy over prostrate innocence. Therefore, gentlemen,
with the modest confidence of a man who never intended
offence to any one, nor would, for the world's wealth, per -
sist in any mode of ronduct that could be offensive to so-
ciety, or wound the feelings of a single virtuous man in it,
I ask you to deliver me now from the power of all judg,
merit but that to which every individual in this Court is as
responsible as I am. Gentlemen, in God's most holy name,
I am not guilty.
Mr. Taylor haVing finished,

Lord TENTEILDEN, in addressing the Jury, observed,
that the defendant was not charged for any 'opinion he
might entertain. The right of private judgment was not
forbidden by the law of England ; and however injeriods
any opinion was to the interests of society, so loirg as a man
kept that opinion to himself, he was not amenable. All
that the defendant had said relative to his own opinions did
not relate to the case. An accusation 'for those opinions
could not be preferred before a court of common law; al-
though at one period of our history,' after the judgment of
the Ecclesiastical Court, a writ de heretico comburendo
might have proceeded from the other Courts. The charge
preferred was, that the defendant, endeavouring to bring
the Christian religion into disbelief and contempt, did un-
lawfully,. wickedly, and blasphemously hold a public die-
course concerning, amongst other things, our Lord and Sa-
viour Jesus Christ, and did then and there declare and
utter the several sentences stated by the witness. His
Lordship here recapitulated some'of them, and asked, war
it proper that persons admitted for a shilling a head
should go to such a place to discuss the truth of the Chris.-
tian religion ? It would be for the Jury to decide
whether it was proved to their satisfaction that the de-
fendant uttered the words alleged. If he uttered them
as sentences not proper to be approved, but as part
of what he meant to expose and refute, they would' not
find him, guilty: but if they were uttered with the view
of obtaining the approbation and assent of those who heard
him, he was an offender against the law: It would he a
derelection of his duty, if he forebore to state to the jury,
that the Christian religion being a part of the established
law, was entitled to the protection of the law, in the same
measure and degree as any other civil right. It had been
said, that the 11th William 111., relating to persons im-
punging the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, repealed the
common law, and that since that act -blasphemy could be
no offence against the common law; and 'that statute hav-
ing been repealed by the 53d of the late Kink, it was ar-
gued that blisplaemy.wits not now an offence either by sta-
tute or common Jaw. But the statute of William 111.,
like any other statute passed for the puipose of inflicting
any particular and special punishment upon that which.
was an offence before, never was, and never could be, held
to abelisb the punishment of the common law. On many
statutes there had been prosecutions, nod sometimes the
prosecutors had resorted to the common law. The repeal
of the 11th William 111. by the 53d George HI. had left
the common law just where it was before the statute of K.
William. Having made these few observations, his Lord-
ship said4re would riow direct the attention of the jury to
the evidence. The witness (Collins) was not a man of li-
terature; but was, as he thought all the jury must have
seen, a man of plain common sense; he professed to giVe
only a few sentences out of a long oration. .If those words
were uttered for tile purpose of refutsilion, or if the jury
should think the witness had not sufficient intelligence' to
lay before them the intention with which they were uttered
(though it did net require much learning to do that), still
they would bear in mind that, as the sentences were spoken
in the hearing of a great number of persons, any of those
persons might have been called by the defendant, and have
given an explanation of the manner in which they were
used. The question was, whether it was made out to the
satisfaction of the jury, that,the words were spoken with a
design to' bring the Christian religion into disbelief; for if
so delivered in such an assembly, hisrLordship gave it as Ilia
opinion that it was an offence against the law. , The jury
would discharge their duty according to their own sound'
and 'sober judgment, unawed by any thing they had heard
from the defendant or his Lordship.

The Jury retired for !about half an hour, and, at five
minutes; before four • o'clock, returned into Court with a
verdict of " Guilty."
Mr. Taylor, in delivering his defence, had at intervals
recourse:to a written copy of it, which was held by one of
his friends. His voice was clear and loud-?.... not unlike Mr.
C. 'Xemble's—and his action rather redundant. He twice.
stopped to request there Might
:be silence, as his • sense of
hearing was so very acute, that he could not help hearing
whatever was said, in 'however lOw *a
tone it might be
uttered, and he feared his attention would be distracted.
His appearance was peculiar.... He was arrayed in the
flowing gown of a Clergyman ; his neat clerical hat was
'Conspicuously borne in his hand, an 4e-glais depended
from his neck, and the little finger of either hand was or-
namented with a sumptuous ring. His hair was arranged
in the most fashionable style, and a pair of light kid gloves
Completed the elegant decoration's of person; After he
had concluded 'his defence,' there was some attempt at
cheering from a few individuats.at the end of the Court,
but it 'was immediately cheCked. •

The new Assenibly Room, at Alnwiek, was
opened on Fridaylast for the first time, for the usual
Grand Ball, at the Michaelmas Sessions. The accommo-
dation gave great satisfaction to a numerous and brilliant
party. Amongst the company were their Graces the
Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, Lord and Lady
Ilaveasworth, the • Hon. H. T. Liddell, M.P. and Lady,
111.. Bell, Esq. M.P. and Lady, the High Sheriff of the
Counti (Dixon Dixon, Esq.) and Lady, &c. &c.
According to letters from the North this
'morning, it has rained almost incessantly since Friday last,
with strong gales from the Eastward, There has been
such a high surf on Tynemouth Bar, for the last five or
six days, that no vessel has dared to put to sea. The 'Superb
steam-boat, which was to here sailed for London with
passengers, on Sunday laic, is still detained at Shields ;
and it'is reported, this afternoon, that the passengers, 21
in number; have all quitted the vessel, despairing of their:
getting 'away in any, reasonable, time:

On Thursday niaht, about twelve o'clock, in
the stillness which folloWed a fresh breeze from the north,
the atmoßphere being thick and suffocating, the master of
the Drogheda steam-packet, plying between Cork awl
Bristol, saw a column of fire about the height and thick-
ness of the vessel's tunnel descend into the water, appa-
rently at the distance of three ships' lengths from his own.
Long as he:has been at sea, he says he never before wit-
nessed such a phenomenon. It illuminated the entire ves-
sel, and disappeared without any explosion, or producing
any atroosphei lc effect perceptible to the senses.

E".
.
Pte, z--1431

LONDON,
THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 25, 1827.

The Paris Papers of Monday, and the Gazette
de France dated Tuesday morning, reached us
last night. The lattercOntains intelligence frOM
'Constantinople by way of Odessa to the 22d
September, by way of Bucharest to the 25th,
'and direct through Vienna to the 28th. Nothing
certain -of the intention of the Porte is commu-
nicated' by either of these channels,, but all con-
vey 'reports of a pacific character: The latest
. .
advices mention a report in circulation at Con-
stantinople on the 28th of September, that
the Porte had resolved to send the • Greek
Patriarch to the Morea to negotiate with
the Greets, and that the Ministers of France,
Russia, and Ungland % considered that step
as the first concession in this affair. It ap-
pears also that the Prussian Minister and the

Austrian Internuncio had given the REIS ER-
FEND! some conciliatory advice. This was pro-
bably the first effect of the intelligence of the
blockade of the Egyptian fleet by. the British
and French squadrons, and of the determination
expressed by the AdmiralS commanding them to
destroy the whole expedition, if any operations
were attempted. As for the report mentioned
as being in circulation on the 25th, at. Constar-
tinople, that 113 RA had agreed to an armistice,
we know that could not have any foundation, as
the last despatches from Sir EDINA ri b CO-
DRINGT(* came doWn to the 25th of September,
and left matters in the same state as the former
adiiices, waiting the result of IBRAllim's com-
munication with the Porte. . •

The accounts from Spain continue to. be
.favourable. Rebellion is disappearing by degrees,
though it still occasionally shews itself in fresh,
directions. Between 2000 and 3000 stand of
arms have been given up at Manresa ; the Royal
Army advances rapidly, and the siege,of Girpna
has been 'raised by the Rebels. The Queen of
SPAIN was to leave Madrid on the 16th for
Valencia. One report, indeed, mentions that
her MAJESTY had actually set out for Saragossa.
Extracts of these Papers are given in another
column, and we subjoin the price of theFunda•
on Monday, which had improved in consequence
of the pacific reports from Constantinople.

FR,ENCII FUNDS, OCT. 22.—Five per Cents. 101 f.
85c. ; Three ditto, '7O. 90c. ; Bank Stock, 2005 f. ;
Neapolitan, 77f. loc.; Royal Spanish Loan (1823), 631 f.
'Exchange on London=-One Month, 2.5 f. 20c. ; at Three
ditto, '9.5f. 10c.

Dutch Papers to the 23d inst. reached us
last night; they contain the substance of the
Speech of the Minister of Finance, explaining
the Revenue and Expenditure of the Kingdom.
The Revenue of the Netherlands appears to
have been considerably 'increased daring the last
year by the augmentation of the, import, export,
and transit duties. The sum' appropriated to-
wards the liquidation of debt in'the year 1828
is 2,600,000 florins.

We have given, extracts from these papers in
a preceding column.

Frankfort Papers of the Nth inst. have been
received this morning. They are barren of poli-
tical news, although they contain a paragraph
from Odessa to the 30th September. Count
WonoNzow was expected there in the middle
of November.

EXCHANGES ow LownoN.—Two months, 1484. • 4.

Gibraltar. Papers to the -, 4th inst. have been
received, from which we learn that two or three
days prior to that date the three SpanishMisti-
'coes that seized the Lord Rawdon some time
since, accompanied by their tenders,
.had taken
up their former Cruising ground in the Bay,
firing at, and overhauling or boarding, the vesselS
going out or coming into that port.
• The Spanish brig of war, Mal:zonal-Pi?, which
sailed from Cadiz, with . sealed orders,: in conse-
quence of an express from Madrid, went to the
eastward, either,to TarragOna' or to Barcelona;
and the French frigate—which was at anchor a few
'days ago, off Algeciras,
was suddenly ordered to
the eastward also.
With respect to the first part of this intelli-
gence, it caused a considerable sensation at
Lloyd's, and it is alleged that thought this ex-
traordinary conduct will ealllor some explanation
from the
•
Spanish Government, :it may also be
hoped, if a similar instance. should occur to that
of the, Lord Rawdon, 'that the garrison will
show more
from such outrage and insult.
vigilance 'to protect the British flag

'The trial of the .comparative merits of the
ships composing what has been called the Ex-
perimental Squadron having terminated, Rear-
Admiral Sir THOMAS M. HARDY has struck
his flag and come on shore.

The ships are refitting with all expedition, and
our Portsmouth letter of this morning states that
orders have been received for their all being out
of harbour and ready for sea on Sunday. It
was supposed at Portsmouth that these ships are
to accon tpany his Royal Highness the LOAD,
HIGH A,Di tißm. as far as Plymouth (for which

pert his Royal highness will einbark on Sunday
in the Galatea), to afford his Royal Highness
an opportunity of personally observing their re-
lative qualities. Report added that they would
receive their final orders off Plymouth, and im-
mediately proceed to their respective destinations.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—(THIS bAY.)

FROII LLOYD'S.

DEAL, OCT.' 24.--Arrived froni London, the J.
Renwick, Triminer,'for Jannaica.
PLYMOUTH, OCT. 23.--Wind S.W.--Arrived
the Marshal Blucher, Davey,, from Malaga; Provi-
dentin, Yarnell, from Sevilln.'
PORTSMOUTH, 0cT..24..--Wind W. to N.N.W.
—Passed by the Salacia, Hearn, from Jamaica, in
tow of a steamer.
"lIHIGHTLING SEA, NEAR COLCHESTER, OCT. 24.
—A vessel' his just been towed into this River
(Colnej dismastediand abandoned ; part of her cargii
on board different smacks, which I have secured by
placing on board the Officers of Customs, for the
.benefit of, all parties interested, and shall be happy=
to render any farther assistance in my power.
(Signed) " J. ARGENT.
" Tide Surveyor of Customs.
" I suspect her to have been a brig or a very large
smack, and appears to have had a small cargo.
" To John Bennett,' Esq., Secretary, Lloyd's."

THE• FUNDS-(THIS DAY).

CITY, TWELFIi 0' CLOCK.

Every thing wears an uninteresting feature in the
City this morning, the only arrival being a French
mail, and not even a ship letter from any quarter has
come to hand, consequently there.is a dearth of in-
formation to a greater extent than usual. Consols
opened at 88h 3, for account, but Aid not support
this quotation for any length of time and receded to
88, sellers, they have since become bnyitis, at which
they remain with very limited business ; the Com-
missioners gave 88. The premium on India Bonds
continues at 97 9, and on Exchequer Bills, at 62 3:
The Foreign Funds have been nearly unattended'
by any transactions except in Mexican Bonds, the 6
'per Cents. havingheen depreSsed t0.54i; this has not
been caused,by any intelligence of an untoward des-
cription, but may be .attributed to the Bulls in this
Stock having come fOrward to'sell, whilst the Bears,
who are powerful "to-day, have banged the 'market
and caused the depression; Greek are 15,f 161, and
intelligence, important to these Bonds iahourly ex;
pected; Russian Stock continues to go up with the
late advance on Consols, and are 934 44 ; Danish,
62 InShares there is nothing new to report,
the enquiry after these speculations has become very
trifling, and there are few persons now desirous of
,vesting their, money in Mining.speculationS, after the
lesson they have received, by the lateproceedings in
our Courts. of Justice, of the way in which these
Companies have been got up.

Three per Cent. Console, 88; ditto for the Ac-
count, 88 i; India Bonds, 97 9 pm.; Exchequer
Bills, 62,3 pm.

FoitviGilii--LBuenoS Ayres, 59i 1 Chilian, 49 50;
Colombian, 1824, 27-1 I; Danish, 621; Greek, 15i 161;
Mexican, 6 per Cent., 42131; Ditto, 6 per Cent., 54 ;
Peruvian, 28141 ; Portuguese, 75i ; Russian, 93i. 44 ;
Spanish, 910 k.
MINE& —Anglo Mexican, 671 21 dis. ; Brazilian, 24 6
pm. ; Bolivar, 414 dis. ; Colombian, 4 6 per share ; Real
del Monte, par ; Tlalpuxaluut, 80 60 dis. ; United Mexi-
can, 23 2 dis.

Twe o' CLocr.

Consols are 88i 1, with few transactions; India
Bonds are a little !owe'', being 97 8 pm. The
Foreign market heavy; Colombian, 27 ; Mexi-
can, 541 ;on the other securities no alteration.
T _TIRE _E 0' CLOCK
Consols for Account, 881.

FOUR o'CLOCK—CLOSING PRICES.
Consols 88 Danish Bonds 62
Do. for Ac. S 8 • Greek Do; 1825,154
Brazilian Bonds .59, Me.xican Do. 182.5, 54i
13Lien'os Ayres Do. -- Peruvian Do. 24
Chilian Do. Russian Do. 93i
Columbian, 1R24, , Spanish Do. 10

TheVICE-CHANCELLOR and the Right non.
Cast LEi GSA NT visited ViscsuneGonratcx yesterday, at
his residence in Downing-street.

The Count crALCUDIA, the Spanish Minis-
ter,
.and the Baron de Cairo, the Bavarian Minister, trans-
acted buSiness yesterday at the office of the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs,.in. Downing-street.

, Sir HERBRRT TAYLOR has left town to at-
tend the KING at his Royal Lodge, in Windsor-park:

Mr. Ptfif, arrived at his residence in Priiy7
gardens on Tuesday from Drayton-park, Staffordshire). the
seat of his father, Sir ROBERT PEEL.

MARRIED—on Tuesday, the 23d instant, at
All Saint4'. Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, by the Rev.
HOBERT GREEN, M.A., JOSRPAI BAINBRLDUE, Esq., of
that town, Solicitor, to susarmA, only daughter Of the
late Mr. JOSEPH WOODHOVSE, of Scotch ;Wood, Northum-
berland, and niece of MrB.• BULMiLIi, of Deckham
in the county of Durham. After the marriage ceremony
was over, the happy couple set off for Deckliamffall,. where
an elegant dejeune a la fourclietti was served up to•the
bridal party; and early in the afternoon, the bride and
bridegroom took their departure, in a chariot and four,
for the neighbourhood of London; where they intend
Passing the honey-moon. ' A party of 50 gentlemen,
friends of Mr. BAINBRIDGE, partook of a sumptuous din-
ner, the same day, at the Turf Hotel, Newcastle, (Tnomas
CAN:R, Esq., in the Chair), to commemorate the happy
event. The bells of all Saints and St. John's rang mer-
rily on the occasion.

FASHIONABLE ARRIVALS. -The Mar-
chioness of Hastings and family, from Ghent ;
,the ,Duke
of Hamilton and his Son, the Marquis of Douglas, yester-
day, at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, from Paris; J.
Thompson, &g-
and at ditto, from Yorkshire ; J.
rayer, Esq. at ditto, from the Continent; Sir Henry Wilr.,
lon,,phy, Bart. at the 13urlitigton Hotel, Old Burlington,
and Cork-streets,-frotn the Continent; J. ]Newbold, Esq.
at ditto, from Oxford ; the !Hon. John Townshend, at
Read's Hotel, Lower Grosvenor-street, from the Conti-
nent; M. CaVendish, Esq. at ditto, from a tour ; J. J.
Guest, Esq. M.P. at Fenton's 116 tel, St. James's-street,
from the Continent ; Robert Eden, Esq. at ditto, &Om a
tour ; 'Admiral and. the Hon. Mrs. Percy Fraser, at the
London Hotel,: Albemarle-street, from their seat, Hop-
wood Hall, Lancashire ; Mr. and Mrs. Staple, at the St.'
George's Hotel, Albemarle-street, from Paris.

DEPARTURES.-- The Earl and Countess
Cowper, for their seat, Pansanger, Herts; Sir George
Warrender, Wit. for his seat in 'Jerks ; Mr. and Mrs.
Jones, 'from Hanover-square, fin. 'their seat in Norfolk; C.
Collins, Esq.' from Fenton's Hotel, for CaMbridge;
liarri. Loftus,. Esq. from ditto, for Cambridge ; Mr. 'and
Mrs. MOffat and family,.. kun the Burlington Hotel; for
Winchester ;, R. Otway, Esq. from ditto, for Bath ; John
Nugent, Esq. and T. Trench,
_Esq. from ditto, for Cam-
bridge; Captain Spencer Vassal!, from Read's Hotel, for
Wilts; Captain Forbes, from ditto, 'for Brighton.
ARRIVALS AT THE NEW STEINE HOTEL,
BRIGHTOII.-Sir Lucas and Lady Phypajion. W. Blyth,
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey and family, Lady Morris Gore,.
colonel, Airs., and Miss Osborne, Mr. Richmond, Dr.
Travers, Captain Hainiltc.m. Mr. and Mrs. Cramp, Mr.
Lett, Mr. Ibbetson and Son, Alt.. Blake; Mr. Rothery
engaged apartments for Mr. Neale and family this day.

ARRIVALS AT TUNBRIDGE WELLS:---Mrs.
and Miss Barton, Sion-plaCe; Lady Montgonierie, Harvey
Ledge ; Rev. Mr. add Mrs. Horne, Sion-place ; Mrs.
and Miss Wake, Fairlawn House; Rev. T. and Mrs. Har-
vey, Langhana Lodge.

ARRIVALS AT THE KENTISH HOTEL.—
M'Cleugh, Sir Charles Lamb, Mr. Colbrooke, Mr,
.Alartin, R9Phow? Lady Moutgotaerie. - •

lii
LAW ItJ'tEf_.thhti.
I`TCE.-(THIS DAY.)

COURT. OF . K INU S BENCH.
nfiattlA v. pkwnrcitoss. •
The Court was necnpied during the morning in hu.ring
the depositions 'of witnesses .in the aboire ease, trhiat wras
in action for the amount of a Policy of Insurance, effected.'
on a large quantity of wines, shippecj on boao,a P.ortuge
vessel, called the Qui!trO's Amigos.

COURT OF .COMMON PLEAS.
(Before Mr. Justice GASELEE r.nd a Special Jury.)
GETTING v. FOSS, SEN. .

This maa an: action , brought by the plaintiff,
4gainst the defendant, far hawing published a certain and
►alicious libel, the tendency of which was to•proclaim the
illaintiff to be, a swindler and a'sharper.. The defendant
denied the-libellous tendency, but justified the publication.
IVerdict 'for the pWntiff..