The Sun.
London, England, 1820-08-05 00:00:00

and In but those principles down by force,
they could not conquer by reason, has
'been .the industrious endeavour of Government
for some time past. Ile commented on the ge-
Heral character of -Meetings for Reform which
had been allowed to be held. If the proper
.authqiities did not interfere with the existence of
such Meetings, they were privy' to their crimina-
lity, if. indeed it were so, and ought not to en-
trap, as it were, individuals into the commission
of acts, of which they afterviards took advan-
tage. lie challenged the Learned Gentleman
opposite to produce any statute that by the most
Ike construction or interpretation could induce
the great body of Englishmen to imagine that.
these Meetings were illegal. Ile contended that
lie had a right to maintain the free exercise of
any political opinion he, might think proper to
adopt, and without being obliged to answer to
any one h:s reason fur entertaining such an opi-
ion. With these few remarks he -should pro-
cued to the consideration of the particular_
Case before him ; the first notice that he or any
oile else had received of the illegality of such
Meetings as those complained of, was the pro-
clamation of the King, published about twelve
months ego. He then; went into the history of
-which he detailed wish considerable
ability, and commented in strong terms on the
uuhecoming end unfair manner in which the case
had, from its commencement, been so- unblush-
iogly persevered in by the prOsecutors. He al-
luded particularly to his favourite topic, the
striking of :`..;pecial. Juries, and said, that a more
k case of mat-administration of justice, ever
in 'the most prostituted country, had never oc,
curred. His great objection seemed to lie
the small number of individuals who were on the
Jury list of the county; the greater part of
whom, he said, were in the Commission of the
Peilce, and several had been on the Grand Jury.
He alluded to the case yesterday mentioned, in
the person of Mr. Peech ; he thought the impro-
per conduct of the stinimoning °nicer had been
.clearly proved to any unprejudiced mind. His
Lordship did not certainly say the pannel was
vitiated, but he observed, 0121 it was not a ques-
tion upon which he was
,competent to de-
cide. How far that might be just in law
he knew not ; but the Learned Judge must be
aware that it afforded 'a strong reason for
corrdemning that system which, admitted that
error in one place could not be corrected
in another. Ile had- been charged with
an intention to degrade the House of Commons ;
he would refer the Jury.to every article which
he ,had Written on various. subjects; and he would
defy the Learned Serjeant to prove in any one
of them the remotest aim at any thing of the
sort. If then he had not clone so in that charat-
ter in which he had the opportunity of diffusing
his sentiments, it would be too muck to say, that
by any particular act, or on any particular oc-
casion, lie had evinced that desire. Such an at-
tack came very badly from the Learned Ser-
jeant. Was he not, by this very act, which
.was
cemplained of, begging the House to recur to its
privileges, and upon them to act ? They merely
asked for the restoration of the House of Com-
mons in the purity it fOrmerly held, and that
alone. It surely would not be said, that no
abuses existed in that House, and was a petition
for the remedying of those abuses to he consi-
dered a crime, and punished 'as- such ? Then' as
to the right of representation, the people Of: Bir-
mingham had as inherent a right to representation
as any' other town or county in the kingdom.. If
the real offence -Charged by this indictment was
committed; then the Jury ought immediately tp
find a verdict for the defendants,' as they would
thereby have established a great national advan-
tage. But the Jury would recollect that this
was a case occurring every Sessions ; there were
many instances where four Members have been
returned; it wits so at Bishop's Castle the last
election. Surely there was a conspiracy to return
two of those Memberq, and yet the House of
Commons had not punished the parties interested.
—Then as for -the objects of this Meeting. The
defendants were charged with an intention to

the ca

effect a change in the Constitution as by lazo esta-
blisAed (the last of which words furnished Mr.
Wooler with an opportunity for a speculative ar-
gument, which he did not lose sight of, as he oc-
cupied the Court for some time with a " play"
upon those words). Nov, from all the evidence
produced, he did not see the least tittle which
went to establish the assertion of any such inten-
tion on the part of 'the defendants ; indeed the

charge was equally consistent with the Learned

Serjeant's introducing, hi his opening speech, the
existence of other meetings, which had no more
to do with this case than with any criminal case
that might occur in the other Court. He then

, .
commented on the evidence relating to the meet-
inf.'. of the defendants at MajorGartWright's,
who formed the only part of the conspiracy.
What was the fact? Did they meet in private
were they closeted together for any length. of
time .j No ; on the 'contrary,. they casually
dropped in, and the house was open to any friend
of.the Major's who might call upon him; but
then there were flags, and these are designated
ensigns of rebellion : the flags carried for the
PuPpt-shew of Punch and Judy were not so
termed. But he understood,• the inscriptions
were considered inflammatory; he reminded- the
Jury 'Of. the nature of them, and asserted that
they had not the
,least semblance of sedition or
even i•apropriety of exkession. One of them,
" the Sovereignty of the People," was a toast
universally given at the Fox. Anniversary,. even
before the health of 6C the Kinv, and generally
.adopted at other meetings of a similar nature.
ffe would not have taken up the time of the Jury
With them triflin
•remarks, but they were
'g
brought • in condemnation against him, and it
was necessary for lii'a to refute them. Another
inscription related to himself, It was ful--
swne. for him to- speak of himself ; but he
wotag merely remind the Court, that for three
Y's*Oe had not been selected as a proper object
of prosecution, and, therefore it was a fair infer-
ezce.that. heAras.nnt- a libeller—that he was not
addicted. to any thing of the kind ; and as soon