The Sun.
London, England, 1818-01-02 00:00:00

THE CHASE.

HINCKLEY, DEC. 311,---Since.the.comit4t,of Sir
Bellingham, Graham's hounds.. into
.this, country,
it has. been'the resort of au unexampled number
of sportsmen. Sirßellingham, huuts„ the Ather-.
stone country, vice, Mr., Osbaldeston : My. 0.
takes the Quorn country, vice Mr.. nos, Smith,
who is gone to hunt the fen. country in,Yorkshire,
Lord Lonsdale's,capital houndsihnnt the eastern
side of the, country ; and the Duke 'of Ittitiantrs
grand pack hunt five days, a week, from Belvnir
Castle. They all, hav,e showed remarkably. fine
diversion (luring the season.—Mr. Osbahlestow's.
hounds. and country are.allowed to he the best, in
'England. Mr. a and.lis servants are all,moum-
ed on the finest thorough-bred horses, and.very
frequently race a; burst of. ten and fifteen- miles,
without a check, over grass groundi. Mr, Witt
very popular, and, shews..so. much, politeness to
every one,. that the farmers say, the, clays of
the late. Me.ynell are now., returned.'! Several
new, clubs are established. at Melton, welear;
and the. price of.good bunters is: inere,aserd at. least
• one,,thirtl, since the season canwie,aceti. • • -

[PRIC E ISEVENYENCE.

II 0 UNTRY.

FROVINCIMt. JQUKNALS.

(From The Holt POcleet Ville 30th ult.)

" MR.llOlNa,_:'S •TRIAL:

" Since our last, the public attention liK's been
almost exclusively occupied: by the three' trials
which have; taken place, the King versus, Hone-.
Our readers are aware that three several':ar.
tihns were --brought• against the' defendant, for
having 'published. various political parodies of
the Litany, Catechism, Creed, Commandments,
and other passages from the book of. Common
Prayer and the Scriptures. The defendant, who
is a bookseller in London, conducted his own de•
tence, anti 'was acquitted on all' the charges
brought against bitn.---In our last page we have
given 'as long 'a report. as' our limits will permit
not from, choice, because we should have been
glad to have passed•them over in silence; but be-
cause something will be expected' from us.—
Throughout the whole of those Trials, our readers
will observe that we have beencareful to give
statements of all the essential
.parts of the pro:,
ceedings, without inserting the offensive matters
which formed the ground of the prosecution.—.
This lioe.w.e.have deemed it the, moremecessnry
to pursue from a full persuasion that in ayepeti7
tion of those impious productions, we should be
instrumental to a certain degree in spreading the
delusion, and thereby partake of the guilt of those
by whom they were, originally prptuulgated. But
we shall probably be told, that three sedate anti
independent Juries-have decided that such paro.6
dies on,the Scriptures are. not.biaspbemous! The
conseqiiences.then may be easily torseen ;--4.thex
will be circulated over the empire without legal
restraint, while vulgar curiosity will be their ge-
neral passport. The whole country may now be
inundated with.such.Execrable Ribaldry, till not
only popular, odium and out cry are. excited against
every honourable servant of the Crown, hut even
the hope of that salvation, which, is the first bfes-
sing a beneficent tieing confers on the children of
men, by. the corrupted mass be slandered, ridicgil
ed, and despised.
" The trials have exhibited scenes which can•
not fail to affect with feelings
.of deep concern
every religious man of whatever community, and
every friend to the Constitution, _ That the most
solemn and sacred parts of the. Scriptures, the
Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments,
should be grossly libelled;'and.that upon the trial
a r umoltuotis mob should fill the Court. of Jnstice„
and by applauses and marks of disapprobation en,
deavour to intimidate its proceedings, are Marks
of the had spirit of the times ; and•carry us back
to those, scenes, of the French Revolution, in.
which the tribunals of Justice were under the cons.,
troul of the mob. It is also extraordinary that
it should,be urged in palliation of these libels, that:
their; tendency; is principally political;.as if it were.,
not an aggravation rat her, than a mitigation
'libel, that it speaks evil of dignities, and labours
to subvert our respect for our superiors in the
State, as. well as to vilify what is sacred in the,
'Church ; that the writer neither " fears God, nor,
honours the King." This is no-mere party ques-
tion; it affects the very vitals of our existence as
tree country.; and)if:such practice.be not cheek._
e(1, there most be, an end both to, religion,and to,
law. Mr. Montgomery, of Sheffield, a writer,
:whose zeal in behalf of the trial by Jury, and the
'liberty of. the Press, is well known, loss candidly
.stated his 4`
.perfect conviction," (see the ,last
Sheffield Iris), " that these publications are, the
" most gross, flagitious, and malignant series of
"• libels. and blasphemies, that' have' appeared'
" The. Age' of Reason,' and such we ap-.:
prebend must be the sentiments of men of what-,
ever party, who retain a respect either for refl.
gion or time Constitution of their country.
" Mr. Hone since his trials has published a let-
' ter, in: which he says, it is. not his intention tntee,
pnblish the parodies, in any separate form, or even,
to write similar ones, He adds, '' I shall feel it,
my duty most earnestly to exhort my fellow-
citiz,ens, to abstain from parodying any part of the
Holy Writ, or the Service. of the Church ofllug.
•

• ". Parliament, we trust, on the opening, niche
Scssioo, will see the necessity of i►s, interterence
in suppressing impious parodies ;
.tor 4 , is high
time a check was given to the circ►Mlation ot,
pamphlets and other publications tending to bring
religion ioto,contempt

(From The Greenock Advertizer Dec. 28.)
"The result of Mt% Hone's third trial has been'
similar- to that of the two preceding. He has been,
pronounced Noi Guilty. His address to the Jury.
'on • Saturday occupied .upVards of seven hours,.
and certainly displayed considerable ability, and
.extensive reading. To make any reinarks now
on Mr. Hone's conduct, as the publisher of these
parodies; would, of course, be highly improper.
He has been acquitted nn three different infor,
mations, on. three successive days, by a Jury of
'his countrymen. That the parodies themselves
are contemptible and detestible, is obvious,; and
though we have no doubt that Mr. Hope's inten-
tion in publishing them was merely to serve a
political purpose, we conceive his having done so
ap..aCt, of great imprudence, to say tlic_l4o of 4.".