Star.
London, England, 1820-11-06 00:00:00

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eesponsibllity "eras involved in on; but he (10ed
&tine) had not to billuenie jtitpconviction as a Judge.
With the Ring be ltd blllr Nnt arta-lion as intimate as any
one who now heard him ; the time was when there was nothing in
his Majesty's power to give, which be would not have given at his
request ; and, though political circumstances had caused his re-
moval from a high function in the Government, he had no rea-
son to Believe that there was any alteration in his Majesty's dis-
position towards hint. If the King's life were in peril, he
would risk his own to save it ; he would do anything for his
Majesty but desert his principles, which he conceived he Would
be doing, were he to give his consent to the present 13i11--(Hear)
" I have (said the Noble Lord) as strong a passion as any man;
but, were I living in that criminal intercourse which has been
imputed to the Queen, and were as much in love with a woman
as the Princess was said to be in love with Bergami. I could.
not have sought the gratification of my passion at the shrine of
our Samoa ; and yet the Queen bad been charged with doing
this. I never saw this unfortunate Princess in my life, except
once; and what interest can I have in advocating her cause, when
all the feelings and inclinations of friendship draw the other way?
If a woman be absent from her husband, and goes to the bed-
room of another person, with whom she has no connexion, and
can have nothing in view but improper intercourse, that in law
would be proof of adultery ; and, if a man goes into the room of
a married woman, and remains there, it would also be suf-
ficient proof." If there had been such proof as this against
the Queen, it would have been conclusive ; but he
contended that no such proof had been adduced. The
Noble Earl opposite had said, if there were• any doubts
or suspicions of the evidence, the Queen must have the
benefit of it ; and the evidence against the Queen was such as
could not be relied upon. He would now come to Catania.
Here De Mont was again the only witness. " The time was,
when the brains were out the man would die;" but De Mont's
evidence, " with twenty mortal gashes on its head," still rose
to push Majesty from its stool. The Noble and Learned
Lord then noticed the evidence of Sacchi Rastelli, and the
other witnesses against her Majesty, and he declared they
were not entitled to credit; many. of them bad been flatly con-
tradicted, and several of them came strongly Interested in giving
evidence against the Queen. Evidence had been admitted against
the Queen which would have been refused in Scotland in any
cause. Whatever the House of Conunons might think of this
case, they could not pass this Bill ; they were the Representa-
tives of the People, and to represent the opinions of the People
they must reject it. This House ought not to pass a Bill against
the universal opinions of the people. Was the object to benefit
the King? No, be was declared to be no party to it, and there was
no avowed prosecutor. He would next notice the evidence re-
specting the polacca, which was improbable in the extreme,
and by no means conclusive as to O.; guilt of the Queen.—
The whole of the evidence could, at most, only induce sus-
picion, and afforded no proof of adultery—(Hear, hear).—
Gargiulo bad been brought over neck and heels, though very
liberally paid for it, to give evidence against the Queen. Whe-
ther kis not getting the six thousand dollars be expected had
made his evidence less strong than was anticipated, he did
not exactly know, but neither he, nor the Mate, Paturso
had in any way proved the adultery. He (Lord Erskine)
could not believe that any adulterous intercourse took place on
board the polacca; it was too absurd and monstrous to be cre-
dited for a single moment. The Bill of Pains and Penalties
bad been said to be more favourable to the accused than a Trial
by Impeachment; but he denied it. Were be upon a Jury, he
would not, upon his honour, find the act of adultery proved.
Of the sixteen overt acts which bad been charged against the
Queen, every one had been abandoned except the Polices
charge. Every part of Europe had been ransacked for witneee
sea, and now the evidence of the whole was abandoned, except
that of Garguilu and l'aturzo, who for anything he knew might
belong to the same gang. Not a single witness of respectability
had deposed to a single fact against the Queen ; and within the
last three years the e was not a single witness to depose against
her, although she had been received at all the Courts of Eu-
r?pe where she visited except Vienna. His Lordship, apparently
in a state of great exhaustion, concluded by declaring that he
should not have been happy if he had given a silent vote on this
momentous occasion. Had he even been assured that the pre-
sent was the last time he should ever address their Lordships,
and he certainly was not in good health, he should still have felt
himself impelled by an imperious sense of duty to come down to
the House to express the opinion he entertained—(Lead cheers).
Lord DE DU NST A N VILLE complained that the public
Newspapers, some of them factious, bad given garbled accounts
of the evidence, and yet their Lordships, who had heard the
whole, were called on to defer to the public opinion, which
bad been formed on the reports in the Newspapers. He thought
the Public incapable of judging on this important case. He then
noticed the sudden elevation of Bergami, and the patron-
age extended to ee_ whole of his family, except his wife, as
a very suspicious circumstance. The Noble Lord then prise
seeded to read the evidence from the Minutes at great length.
1
His Lordship concluded, by caning upon the House to maim.,
tarn their own dignity, by reading the Bill a second time.
Lord Al AN NE RS spoke strenuously in favour of the Bill. He
at the same time put out of his view of the question the evidence
of the servants, not because they were foreigners, but because
they had spoken with some degree of asrerity. He thought one
circumstance was of great weight—Mr. Craven had cautioned
her Majesty, and expressed his fears that there were spies upon
her conduct. Her Majesty felt there was no foundation for that
suspicion, and acted accordingly. The Noble Lord then ad-
verted to the polacca scene and the advancement of 13ergami,
and declared that the Queen.* conduct, all through, was a vio-
lation of all decency.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE said, that, from family cir-
cumstances, he had not been able to attend to hear the examina-
tion of witnesses, or the speeches of Counsel, for the Defence ;
he had, however, heard the Case in support of the Bill, and
read over the rest of the testimony with attention, and thought
himself competent to give an opinion upon the present question.
_(No, No.)—Ile thought the Queen not only guilty, but guilty
in the most disgraceful and disgusting manner; and he was pre-
pared to vote for the Bill, and hoped that the full penalties would
be inflicted.
The Marquis of LANSDOWN, who had risen at the same'
time with the Duke of Newcastle, was glad that he had given
the Noble Duke an opportunity of making that explanation
which he thought necessary, but which the House and the
country would dunk very far indeed from satisfactory!—(Hear,
keer).—lt appeared that the Noble Duke had been present during
the whole of the prosecution, but that he was prevented by con-
siderations of his own private convenience from attending during
the progress of the defence : it was admitted that he had neither
head the evidence of witnesses, nor the speeches of Counsel
for the Queen ; yet, thus uninformed, (thus misinformed might
be almost said, as he had listened only to one side), the Noble
Duke had asserted that he was prepared to vote, not only *
the second reading of the Bill, but for the infliction of the se-
verest penalties it contained—(Loud and continued cheers).—The',
Noble Duke, like other Members, must of course decide for
himself ; it was not for him (the Marquis of Lansdown) to say
that his conviction would not be conscientious; but bow the
Noble Duke had arrived at that conviction was a mystery nut
yet solved, and to the solution of which the Noble Duke had
in no way contributed—(Hear, hear).--Was the course the
Noble Duke had pursued anything like even-handed justice ?
Was the intelligence he had obtained anything like sufficient to
enable a juror, a fair and impartial juror, to arrive at a fair and
impartial verdict?—(.Hear, henr).—lf it were, the great safeguard
of our Constitution and liberties was worth nothing: the Trial
by Jury, fur which our holy sanctuaries of public justice were
admired and reverenced, was a mockery, because its chief, if
not iu only good, was, that it compelled those who were to de-
cide upon life, character, or property, to hear both sides—
(Cneers).—Only a few minutes had elapsed since a Noble Lord
op the cross-bench (De Dunstanville) had stated that the Public
was incapable of judging on this important case. Why did be
say so, bat because the 'Public could not have bad the oppor-
tunity of bearing the witnesses examined, and watching duds
demeanour. What, then, would the Noble Lord think of we
of kis fellow jurors who affected to form an opinion, and to de-
cide fur the utmost extreme of punishment, when he bad only
beard what was advanced in accusation, and had not listened
to a single syllable of the defence, whether proceeding from
the Advocates or the witnesses--(Hear, hear).—lf the Public
was disqualified because both sides reached it under equal disad-
vantages, was not the Noble Duke still more disqualified, who
had been so attentive to the proof of the charges, and had with-
drawn himself from the House at the very moment when those
charges were to be disproved ?—((rreat cheering).—Did such
',Deduct become one of ;ha Judges en this great and solemn trial?
or, if it did, did it become tip; judge to declare that he was not
poly ready to yo.e for the Bill, but for its heaviest inflictions?
lee (Lord Lansdown) spoke warmly, because It was impossible
go ontt not to feel wannly when he beartielgh irehtiPlaWh;