The Sun.
London, England, 1820-11-09 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN.
THE NATIONAL TRIAL.
Ma. Entron--Tbe Case of HER MAJESTY-has
now undergone the fullest investigation—it can-,
not h,! t: s4id 4,h4t, her Judges have not before
them _ _.: 1 m?.lo4,ev,icience as to enab4 them
to -pronounce mitiCcleCiSion upon her guilt or in-
nocence. If any' testimony has been purposely
withheld, it is now clearly apparent that the back-
wardness is chargeable upon the opposers of the
Bill : what is now become of the effect which was
momentarily prodneed by the declamation upon
the absence of titAsTELLl,'when it has been esta-
blished beyond all possibility of
,doubt that nu-
merous witnesses have been held-back by her M-
ajesty's Counsel, who, if the facts of the case ad-
mitted ofisOradiction, .s-nusf. have . had the
amplest /14rister:,V$41,Sirying them. If there is
one circunistande-litlich more than any other must
operate to her _conviction, if there is one proof
against her • more damnatory than another=--it is
this. The Queen's Advocates have, evidently,
been sorely pushed ; and of this there is pretty
strong intrinsic evidence afforded, we think, by
their own speeches. We would request any un-
prejudiced. individual fairly to compare these
harangues of her Majesty's defenders and those
,who have supported the Bill, and then to express
ihii opinion as to. their relative character. We
would ask him whether the conspicuous characte-
ristic of the latter is not a studious restriction of
the attention to that which on every trial is the
object to be attended to—the intrinsic and com-
parative weight of the evidence adduced by both
parties ? and, on the other hand, whether that of
the former is not a- substitution of topics by which
the passions are inflamed, for those by which
the'reaien is convinced ? This plainly shews that
argument has not been found, as a Noble Lord
has asserted, useless, but unavailable, and that
in the default of argument, it hasleen -considered
expedient to resort to other means of conducting the
contest—to dark insinuation and vociferous re-
pro4 ch. . With regard to what has passed with-
ou he walls of Parliament ; invention can add
nothing to the vulgar abuse that has flowed from
the fountains of Calumny and Sedition upon those,
who, in a conscientious discharge of their duty,.
and in contempt of popular outcry, have given
their support to the Bill. But falsehood, and
impudence, and scurrility, now act their parts
with diminished effect. Intimidation is now the
thing principally employed ; the supremacy of
Public Opinion is now the exclamation ; and
Public Opinion; we are told, has been loudly
pronounced- against the measure. That there has
been 4t4tDisd, exTeression of disapprobation withL
out the house, no.man will deny ; because every
man of common sense knows, that the voice of
disaffection is naturally loud and boisterous. It
is now, and has been. on a hundred former occa-
sions, the last resort of popularviolence. Every
man of common understanding knows, also, that
this inflammatory state of the popular mind is a
necessary effect of the pestiferous incitements,
administered by a. flagitious press. Is it possi-
ble that suds deleterious stimulants can be
taken day after day—dose after dose—without
strongly operating upon persons, who, though
they cannot. -detect
.a fallacy, have passions
to be roused ? Such angry demonstrations are
a consequence proceeding of necessity from the
cause here adverted to. The mere mob are now,
as they always have been, the machinery by
which wicked and designing men have sought
to accomplish their destructive purposes. If
it be meant that a sentiment of decided hostility
to the Bill has gone forth froth the people, in
the proper sense of the word—that is, in a sense
not excluding the respectable portion of the
community, elements of society, except the
rabble and their leaders—we flatly deny the
assertion. What! beCause the road to Ham-
mersmith has been covered with the puppets of
sedition ; because the Legislature is beSieged by
clamourists ; because the streets and . roads have
resounded with their yellish exclamations ; be-
cause the farce of addressing her Majesty, a farce
how easily got up we all know, has been so long
' performing ; are these things to be construed into
indications of Public censure ? We think it the
more incumbent to raise our voice, at the -present
moment, against that favourite metonymy of re-
bellion, which speaks of 44 the people".for " the
populace," because we' regret to observe that
the artifices of faction have succeeded' in mak-
ing an impression where we did expect that they
would be scouted with contempt. Surely, the
high-minded Noblemen, who have been called
upon to act as judges in this vitally important
question, will not suffer their decision to be
swayed by any manoeuvres that party-spirit can
put in motion. The people—they to whom this
designation is justly due—look to that august
tribunal with a confident expectation that its il-
lustrious members will uphold that honourable
fame, which has never yet been tainted ; for the
People are well assured that the stability of the
laws cannot long remain unshaken, and the re-
spect due to their enactments will soon cease to
be observed, if, influenced by the base. motive of
fear, they once deseend from that dignified emi-
nence which they now occupy, if they once bend
down that "erect and manly port" so long ac-
customed, " cce/unz tucri," to truckle to a set of
noisy ruffians. Will they not, in the animated
language of Lord DE DuNsTAiiviLLE, " rather
be buried in the ruins of' the Altar and the
Throne, than be intimidated from acting accord,
ing to their sense of justice ?"
AN OLD CORRESPONDENT.
o„,* We are sorry that we were obliged to pustp.me this
Letter.