Star.
London, England, 1822-10-24 00:00:00

. .
first looked up and then looked down the staircase,'
before he went into the room.
Cross-examined by the defendant—There were two
rooms on the first floor, but whether there 'was a bed
in one of them she could not sat ; there was no fur-
niture in the rooms on the third floor.
The passiges of the libel were then read by Mr.
Abbott, and were of the description stated by the
Solicitor-General.
The case for the erosecutiOn was here closed.
DEFENCE.
The defendant began his defence, by stating, that
he was brought here by Diabolus Regis (Diavolus
Negii, is he called bins) the King's Attorney-General.
lie then proceeded, in a very incoherent and uncon-
nected manner, to justify, as he said, the conduct
which he had pursued. It would seem, according to
his statement, that the Attorney-General was deter-
mined 'to get at him by hook or by crook—that his
pro'seeutors, right oe wrong, were bent upon his de-
strUCtion but 'their cunning was not equal to their
ill-will, • for on the present occasion they had utterly
failed in proving him to be either the publisher of or
trader in the book in question. Why had the Attor-
ney•-General, Who was the Diavolus Regii (Wadding-
ton's words), brought an ex-officio prosecution against
him ? An ezathikio was one of the relics of the Star
Chamber, arid tyrannical proceeding : let the Jury
look well to the matter—what was his case to-day,
might he their's ca-morrow. They wanted to make
Min the. victim of a false conspiracy. Who were his
prosecutors ? Police-officers and spies, hunters of
lib:sod:money, pursuers of game—the Jury knew all
that; and besides, there was the Society for the Sup-
pression of Vice at the head of all this ; and who were
they ?- The Bishop of Clogher was one of them ; and
who was he ?—a man who had done more to profane
the Christian religion than all the blasphemers and
deists that had, ever lived i yet this Bishop was per-
mitted by the Government to escape, while he (Wad-
dingtor4 was prosecuted. Why did not the Parliament
inierfereA—they were.sitting, at the time. A former
Parliament had interfered with the concerns of a Bi-
shop,in the relgnof-Queen Ann. Here it is, said the
delendant, holding up an eld.boels ; and there would
be found the proofof the confiscation of the Bishop's
hods and possessions:, so that. one Bishop was let to
escape the g:allasys, and the other to have his lands
seited:l Wad this fair dealing of -the.Governrnent ?
T 44 LORD CHIEF JosTree.;—.Had you not better
apply yourself to your own case ? We know no-
thing here of what you are alluding to; perhaps, for
aught that can be 'now said, the case may yet be
brought here: apply yourself to your own case. •
The defendant...-I am doing so, my Lord; I must
clear myself to the Jimry in my own way.
.The Lows CHILF.JUSTICE.—Yes, you can do so;
but it must riot be in an irrelevant manner.
The defendant.—But have I not a right to know
what the Government was about, when they seized
one man and let another go ? Ile then proceeded to
deny all knowledge of the publication; he had no-
thing
whatever to do with it, it was no affair of his;'
but as they had brought him into Cow t, he would ;
sliew them, their folly, as well as the irnpolicy of
selecting him for such st prosecution. It would have
been much better to have let him remain at home:
not that he was sorry they had dragged him into
Court, for now that Ile was before his country he
should explain the matter. He would say as Paul
did to King Agrippa—" How happy am I, if only
allowed to answer my accusers." Now he would set
one set of.opinions against another, and he should ask
how the Clergy would come off when the balance was'
struck between them, for their gross and scandalous
neglect of the doctrines which they preached, and
their covetousness and immorality? " Here," said be,
" ere two boOks, one of them relating to Whiston's
Memoirs of Dr. Clarice, and full of information re-
specting the character of the Clergy." He was in
the act of reading an extract from an answer to Whis-
ton upon some controversial point, when
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE said, all this is irregular
and irrelevant.

The Defendant.—No, it is not, my Lord ; it is, I
contend, quite regular.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE said—No, it is not; you
must go on in a regular manner. If the passages
which you seem desirous to read are meant to apply
to the Clergy of the present day, they are a gross
libel upon that body, for none are more active and
zealous in the discharge of their duty.
The Defendant.—Well, then, am I not to be al-
lowed to convince the Jury how impolitic this pro-
secution is?
The LORD CIIIET Jusrtcs.—Endeavour to *con-
vince them in any manner you please, so you proceed
regularly.
The Defendant.—lt. is my duty to defend myself
in the best way I can: am I, my Lord, to have my
defence shaped by the Judge?
The LORD entr.v.Jusricx.—No; but it is the duty
of that. Judge to tell• a defendant who is proceeding
irregularly, that he cannot be permitted to utter libels
upon others,. not in any manner before the Court,
villa:1)m is himselftcalled upon .to answer a specific
charge having no connection with them.
The...defendant—lf what I am uttering is wrong,
and what J read a libel, then the Jury will visit it
upon me; but I hope I may not be interrupted.
The.Lonn CHLEV JUSTICIL—I shall not interrupt
you, except where my duty requires k.
The defendant then recurred to the controversial
book which he had been quoting, and was again in
the act of reading a passage reflecting upon the clergy
of that day, when.
The LORD CutEr JUSTICE again said—l will not
allow youco go on in this manner.

Several of the Jury rose at this moment, and said
that they could mot listen to matter so irrelevant.
The defendant.--My Lord, I did not know before
that any Judge, that any man at the bar, or that any
juror, could distil' b any defendant when he was ad-1
dressing them—is it right? Consider my case, Gen-
tlemen of the Jury ; it is your province alone to do'
so—the Judge has nothing to do with the matter.'
I am in your hands, list in the hands of the Court—
it is you wbo have the power, Gentlemen, in this
case—you can do more than the King, he could not+
send me out of Court : but you can by acquitting
me—you can do so at this moment. If I am sentenced
by the Judge, without the Jury being allowed by that
Judge to hear my defence, his name will be handed
&Atli. to :posterity as the roost nefarious and, tyran-
nical Judge that ever sat upon the Bench,