Star.
London, England, 1820-03-24 00:00:00

law, for every military man knew how to conduct him-
self so as to avoid punishment. But no man could tell
whether he might not be prosecuted for anything he
wrote. The whole system of the Law of Libel
had been borrovied from the slavish Imperial Code,
and had flourished in full vigour under a succession
of Roman Emperors, to one of whom the Learned
• Counsel had alluded, and whose names were-syno-
nimons with infamy ! It was 'the mean by which
they had contrived to banish and destroy all the obi-
' rent men whom it was in the nature of their tyranny
to crush. It was maintained amongst ourselves by
trick and deception; and as a libel could not be
construed into a breach of the peace, it was de•
scribed as haying a tendency to provoke a breach !
It was by this strained construction that the Courts
obtained a jurisdiction over offences of this nature.
—According to the old law of England, there ought
to be a corpus dclicti, some substantive offence, in
evert criminal prosecution. He would venture- to
• assert that no man could give a satisfactory definition
*of what was called a libel. It was altogether an ex
rOstfacto.laW, and the most honest and virtuous man
in the country might unexpectedly become the victim
-of it. On this principle, whatever was offensive to a
Minister'Of the Crown might be construed into a libel,
and be made the subject of a criminal information,
by the Attorney-General, who, he must reoeat, could
only be regarded as the Minister's creature. When
Mr. Somers published his Appeal in favour of the
Church of England, the Attorney-General of that
day, aiming at the re-establishment of popery,
.pro-
nounced. that work to be a libel. Indeed, it appeared
to him, from the principles laid down by the Learned
Gentleman (Mr. Serjeant Vaughan), that he would
have made a delightful Attorney-General to the Em-
peror Nero. He had told them, indeed, that had he
lived at the time of the Revolution, he would have
applauded the seven Bishops for what they had dour.;
It wasoinkrtunate that the Learned Gentleman's pa-
triotism should he antedated, and that the country
could not reap the baneiits of it at the. present mo-
Incur. The Learned Geedeman was a man of classi-
cal literature, and lie would therefore remind him of
the line in the Roman poet—
" News est gravis net-cusses Achilles."
Had Mr. Locke written his work upon Government
a feW years sooner than he did, the Crown Lawyers
z,uld have described it as a wicked and seditious
libel. It had, however, ever since its appearance,
heed regarded as a: most valuable and instructive
work. Wifil regard to our enjoying a free Press, it
was a blessing enjoyed in the face of an cx-oficio
information, which the Attorney. General might
file and abandon as often as he pleased. He might
indeed resort to this proceeding till he had effec-
tually accomplished the ruin of an individual. It
was not, perhaps, likely that he should go to these
extremes, though, in this present case, be conceive-d
that the power had been scandalously abused.--
Nothing could Ise more vague or indefinite than the
charge against him ; he did n • t believe a precedent
for it could be found upon the tiles of the Court. It
used to Le the dractice in indictments to use the words
vi et aratis, and to allege that force had been; used.
In an action, he might justify by proving the truth of
what he_had wiitten ; but under the cieLorastances in
which I.e.was placed, it was imdossible for him to
make any defence. Ile was kit utterly bare and
unprotected. He had been deprived of the ad-
vantage resulting from the intervention of a
Grand Jury—an advantage which, he most con-
tend, was one of the birthrights of the subject.—
Sir Francis now entered into an examination of
the Letter be was charged with writing ; and ob-
served, that he could not. conceive why it should he
considered dis iffection in him to lament that soldiers
had cut people to pieces ! or how it ought to excite
didofection in the military, to tell them. that our,
was not a Government of the sword ! NVere sol-
. diers, because they had served creditably abroad, to
be sanctioned in cutting down their countrymen at
home ? There was no calumny in repsobating
conduct of this kind—for nothing but false wed
could be calumnious. No ddubt his Letter ex-
pressed dissatid-action—but its v.-hole scope was
to procure legal inquiry and redress. He wanted
to excite no disaffection, but to ask for legal redress,.
by appealing to the laws of the count' y ; and in this
he contended there was no libel. • Ile had addressed
the Letter to his Constituents, and to the Country
Gentlemen of England, with the very view of ob-
taining legal redress. Theo! was nothing in the
Letter more than the words which it contained, for
no inuendu could be made out from it ; and it was
most unfair in the Learned Counsel to attempt to do
so. In the Letter there was no slander thrown on the
military, arty more than on Government ; and it was a
justification in his favour, that he had stated in the
Letter,that he had his authority only from newspapers.
As to whether the Manchester Meeting was or was
not legal, he would o4serve, that it seemed to be the
wish of the people assembled to put themselves un
der the protection of the law: they did not think 1.
they were acting illegaily ; and the very Magistrates
did not know whether the Meeting was legal or il-
ledal. The Magistrates had, however, done the same
thing which the Attorney-General charged him with
doing, namely, they had provoked to a bleach of the
peace, for instead of arresting Mr. hunt in the fist
instance, as they might have done, they waited till
immense_ numbers were collected together, and then
vat the military to attack them. Ile contended, that
the Manchester Meeting, which was the subject of
this letter, was not illegal ; fur he had been in Par.
Lament a quarter of a century, and he always under-
stood that any number of pet sons might legally
meet to present petitions ; and it was not until very
lately that a Noble and Learned Lord had twisted
out some obscure points of law to prove, that a
Areeting, when it became very numerous, became
illegal. Until that declaration was made, all Public
?.fleetings were considered as legal. In support of
this assertion, he quoted the opinion given by Lord
Chief Justice Holt, who declared that any person
x ho killed another on account of being in a great
• li:,eting, was. guilty of Murder ! As to reading the
P..'.ot Act, no such act might to be read until there
ss as a riot. Even then, an dour was allowed to the
people to disperse ; and there was nothing in such case
to justify the sending of military among the rioters.
The Honourable Baronet proceeded to read nu-
merous extracts from the works of men of the highest
intellectual authority from Clafendon, Locke, Swift,

Bolingbroke, Pitt,•Fox, dm in support o 4 Paxliamen•'
tary Reform, . for promoting :which the people Of.
Manchester professed they had mei. He adverted, at
the same time to his own uniform determination to'
uphold the prerogatives of the Crown,. as strongly
marked in his acts and declarations as was his unex-
tinguishable hostility to the Boroughmongering
Usurpation. To impute to him any wish to promote
insurrection was to think him mad. What motive
could he have ? Were not the natural, influences of
his situation the other way Then why should the
Attorney-General, without the shadow of proof, and,
in the teeth of the very words of the letter which de-
clared that his object was to obtain legal 'redress
for theinjuret, and consolation for the sufferers, im-
pnte to him bad motives ? He was as little likely to
be thus influenced as the Attorney-General, perhaps
less so, as that Gentleman had his fortune to make,
while he (Sir Francis Burdett) was content with that
whiCh he enjoyed. As an English Gentleman, he
conceived himself bound to assist in upholding the 1
rights of his countrymen ; and he could chew that
this had ever been the prevailing bent and• disposi-
tion of his mind. On. all occasions be bad endea-
voured to impress on the minds of other independent
Gentlemen, that the greatest danger arose from the
want of union between the more powerful classes
and the people. Such exertions had for their object,
not to excite disaffection, or to produce separation,
but to establish concord and mutual good will.
Sir FRANCIS afterwards read over a great number
of extracts from Newspapers and other publications,
for the purpose of justifying what he had written, by
shewing that similar sentiments had been exr:re‘,,e,ll
respecting the business at Manchester, hi various
Papers, and at numerous Public Meetings.

Having concluded his defence, which occupied
nearly four hours, Sir FRANCIS proposeJ to call se-
veral wiznesses, who would !wove that the Manchester
Yeomanry had done those acts to which he alluded
in his-letter. The Junoz declared such evidence to
be inadmiss'ti le.
Sir .I.'n A Nets bowed, and sat down.

M. Serjeant VAUGHAN made an animated and
able reply, enforcing all he had stated in his open-
ing speech, and at the same time replaing to the legal
objections which had bees taken by ?!r. DENMAN.

Mr. Justice BEST, after having observed, that all
that had been said on &1.-officio Informations, on
Special Juries, on Parliamentary Reform, and en
evidence respecting the Manchester proceedings, was
extrieneoi .;, proceeded to sta,.e his opinion, that
Leicestershire was the pace of publication, and was
properly made the plate of prosecution. Libel and
Sedition were not charges that could not be grappled
with, and that could not be understood. It was un-
tunate to base quoted from Bolingbroke and
Swill, who we.e both discontented. If the paper in
question was written with the same pure spirit with
which Locke, that great and immortal wiiter, wrote,
it was no Without Liberty of the Press there
could be no free Government. Gun forbid that he
should ever discontinue to feel attached to it. But
the question wa, whether this paper did not excite
to disaffection ? or, in other words; was net addressed
to the passions? If there were only a few intempe-
rate expressions, it was no libel. But if the writer
stated what he could not have known to be true or
false, if he addressed himself to the laver orders,
he felt it his duty, in terms of the Act of Parlia-
ment, to direct them to find the defendant guilty.—
If they had no reason to suppose him wrong, they
were to take the law from him. He had then no
hesitation in saying that it was a libel. Was it-proper
that a man of education and high station, like Sir
Francis Burdett, should state that blood had been
spilt, because he had found it in a Morning Paper ?
Nothing occurred that could form any excuse for the
most intemperate men, in saying, that a reign of ter-
ror and Wood was commenced in this country. It
terror and blood were on one side, what must have
been upon tne other ? Ile was sorry to find the pas-
save :here which stated, " a man can die but once ;"
there never was a more striking instance of the mock
heroic. The defendant knew perfectly well that no,
attempt would he made to interrupt the Meeting at
We,tininster. .Could any one tell him that an; thing
could be more pregnant with mischief, than the pas-
sage respecting the punishment of soldiers ? . The
Government rested not on the army, but on the af-
fections of the People. If the paper was calculated
to do infinite mischief, that mischief must have 'oeen
intended. More poisonous ingredients were never
cuii.i.;:n:ed in one paper.
The jury conversed together in the I•ox for about
two minutes: the Foreman then stepped into his place,
and called out, " Guilty of Libel."
Mr. DENMAN remarked, that the verdict did not
find the publication in Leicestershire. •
Mr. Seijeant VALadiA,l contended it did.
Mr. Justice BEST (to the Foreman)—Do you find
the libel published in Leicestershire?
Fweman.—Guilty of libel, in Leicestershire.
Mr. Justice BENT.—You find the publication of the
libel in Leicestcrshire?---Foreman.—Yes.

Mr: Justice I3uvr.-11ad you not better, then, find
the enei•al verdict, Guilty? that is the common form.
The Foreman assented.
Mr. Justice BEsr.—Was not that your meaniitg
when you found the verdict'—Foreman.—Yes.

The verdict was received with marked silence by
the very respectable auditory of both sexes within
the Court; but on its being announced •utside, the
crowd expressed their disapprobatio'n by hisses.
On his departure front the Court, Sir FRANCIS
BURDETT was accompanied by a r umber of personal
friends, and by some thousands of the inhabitants of
Leicestershire, who followed him to the Three Crowns
Inn, repeatedly cheering and waving their hats.

After he had retired into the Inn, the crowd in-
creased, and shouted out for Sir Francis to make his
appearance at the window. A Gentleman came to
the window and addressed the poptilace. He hoped
they would excuse Sir Francis for not addressing
them on this occasion, because he was so fatigued
with the long defence he had made, that he was
quite exhausted. This announcement was received
by the populace with loud applause.

Sir FRANCIS BURDZTT afterwards appeared at the
Window, and begged that the people would go quietly
to their homes. This request was immediately at-
tended to, and the: multitude, after givirg three
cheers, departed.

• - •

THE EVENING STAit..

LONDON.

.

FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1820. •
TILE FUNDS.
PRIG OF STOCKS THIS DAT AT ONE O'CLOCK ;
S per Cent. Consols 681,4 3/g
5 per Cent. Navy 104 1035 •
India Bonds 13s. 12s. pr,
Exchequer Bills (2d.) 2s. 3s. dis.
Consols for Account 68% ;id.

In addition to the accounts we gave yesterday from •,
Spain, we have to notice tint the private letters of
the same date speak strongly of the general exulta-
tion and joy that prevails, in consequence of so mighty
a Revolution having been effected without bloodshed.
The general hilarity was, however, interrupted for a
little time on the 9th, by a rumour, that the Duke of
WELLINGTON had arrived with offers of aid and pro-
tection to the KING. Madrid was instantly in a state
of commotion, a civil war bein.,; anticipated, in which
foreigners were to take a part. This had some effect
in hastening the KING'S acceptance of the ConstitU-
tion. The People were all in motion : the immediate
installation of the Provisional Government was de-
manded ; and that the KING should takes before it,
for the Nation, the Oath to the Constitution. The
assurances and protestations of the KING had the
effect to restore tranquillity, and the People soon
came to be satisfied that the rumour which had
caused the momentary alarm, had no foundation in
truth. The Elections are going on throughout the
whole Kingdom, and before the end of this month it
is expected the Constitution will oe in full actisity in
all the Provinces.

This Revolution, however .it may he viewed by
some men, we consider As the most important •event
that has occurred in Europe since the overthrow of
BONAPARTE. Its leading feature is striking, and
brings to our recollection the first real overthrow of
the Bourbon family in France in the early period of
the French Revolution. 'II% was when the • Army
refused any longer to lend their aid to. nrliuld . the
former system. So in Spain. the mi..initnt 'that. the
Military refuse to continue the obedient tools of un-
defined power, that :lower becomes annihilated. The
Constitution of the Cortes, it is true, is not a perfect
work ; for it has not established liberty of conscience
as the natural right of every man, with which
hu-
man laws cannot interfere without committing in-
justice : but, nevertheless, it embraces many funda-
mental points of the first importance to.the security
of civil rights; and by its very foundation, being
made to rest on an elective representative Govern-
ment, establishes -the means of future improvement
and amelforaticm. -None but fools will ever look for,
the form of a Constitution impossible to be amended :
nor can any Constitution be good that carries not in its I.
essence and structure the means of bringing it nearer
to perfection by the application of remedies for such
evils as time may shew have not been provided against.
According to private letters, of the I lth instant,
received yesterday from Barcelona, the Constitution
was proclaimed in that city on the preceding day, by
General CASTANOS, supported by the principal in-
habitants. At the close of the ceremony, which was •
conducted with the utmost order and tranquillity,
the attention of the inhabitants was directed towards
the Inquisition, whither they repaired in a large
body, and were admitted without resistance, none of
the Inquisitors venturing to brave their indignation, •
or even make their appearance. The inside of the
building was completely gutted .of its furniture,
hooks, manuscripts, and all the instruments of tor-
ture destroyed. All the prisoners charged with
crimes against the state, or religion, were set at liberty.
—The prisoners of other classes, who were also con-
fined in the same building, made a desperate effort
to escape, but were pi evented. Nineteen of them
were killed before they could all be secured. Besides
Barcelona, Tarragona, Rios, Mauro, Gerowa, Fi-
gueras, Villafranca, Villanova,' Manresa, Saragossa,
and several other places, had declared for the Con-
stitution.

We are glad to learn, by our acconnts from Ire-
land this morning, that the peasantry, in the dis-
turbed districts, are fast returning to their duty. It
was rumoured that a general rising would take place
on St. Patrick's Day, and such was the apprehension
that the Guards on the town of Galway were doubled.
The rumour, however, proved unfounded.
The present calm is thought by many to be merely
momentary ; and to be owing partly to the necessity
the peasantry feel themselves under of planting their
potatoe crops, for the subsistence of their families,
and partly to the intimidating influence of the As-
sizes. When their crops are an the ground, and the
Judges are gone, it is supposed that the Ribbonawn
will resume operations. We anticipate a different
result—we hope drat the energy of Magistrates
and Country Gentlemen, the numerous parties of
Troops and Yeomanry, with the just punishments
.which have taken place, have convinced the deluded
men that they cannot continue in the perpetration of
abominable crimes with impunity. We also hope,
that this conviction has led to serious reflection, and
that, in consequence, the peasantry have discovered
the positive inutility of attempting schemes which
experience has taught them to be impracticable.

The KING arrived at Carlton Palace at five o'clock
yesterday afternoon from Brighton.
DIMADPUL llM—Last night, at nine o'clock, the
premises of Messrs. GYE and BALKS, Gracechurch-
street, printers, were discovered to be on fire. Some
of the workmen were compelled to escape through
the roof over the adjoining houses, as the fire broke
out below stairs in the warehouse. The whole of
the premises shortly. fell a prey to the devouring ele.-
ment, and the destruction to the surrounding build-
ings has bcen immense. Little of the destructive
effects of the' fire are perceived in front of Grace-
church-street, as it took its direction backwards to-
wards Church-court, Clement's-lane, and Eastcheap.
A great quantity of tea, lodged in the back ware-
house, was also destroyed. _