Star.
London, England, 1820-10-13 00:00:00

THE QUEEN.

Never was therein any Court such a lengthened cross-
examination as that of Mr. HowsAM, which was con-
chided yesterday, or so many heads employed to rack
aman to the confession of truth, had there been any
ground to doubt the facts stated in his examination
in chief. Never—no, never did any witness, in any
Court, on any cause, give a more practical illustra-
tion of the invincibility of truth—of the sound policy
and wisdom of avoiding embellishing or putting even
truth itself too forcibly from the conviction of a pure
conscience that he is thereby serving the cause of
Justice—an error which sanguine temperaments are
apt to fall into, without any intention whatever of
warping the truth, or hiding any part of it. Mr.
HOWNAM'S straight forward manner of stating un-
_ _ _

varnished truth was, that, of all others, best calculated
to defeat the object of those who had, or might ima-
gine they had, an interest in destroying his evidence,
to serve the cause of innocence, and vindicate his own
immaculate integrity.
His

has been and will be read with
wonder and conviction by all the world—with won-
der, that the physical and moral powers of any man
could have gone through it, without being pressed
down by lissitude and tatigne--with conviction, be-
cause no man who ever lived on tie earth could, by
any possibility, have maintained perfect consistemy
throughout such an ordeal, had there been the slightest
shade or-colouring of falsehood in any one part of
his evidence. But this does not surprise us more
than the correct notions his experience of the world
has enabled him to form, respecting the fitness
and propriety of human conduct. Had the framers
of the Bill of Pains and Penalties profited as much
by their reading or travels as this honest Lieute-
nant in the British Navy, they would never have
presumed so much on the ignorance of the British
Nation as to imagine they migght possibly succeed
in persuading Parliament and the Public that it was;
criminal in the Quesx, when in foreign countries,
to conform with foreign manners. Mark the fact.—
The Quesc, by the machinations of her enemies, was
left without society in England, that she might be
forced to seek it abroad [for what else could be the
object n; and, by the logic of the 4° Pau cad Pe-
nalties" contrivers, it is attempted to be now esta-
blished as a crime, that her MAJESTY Conformed

with foreign manners when abroad—without ding
which, she could there have had as little intercourse
with society as she had when at home. In this view
of the case, the Bill of Pains and Penalties against
her MAJESTY becomes a Bill of Condemnation against
all the World—excepting only the Aristocracy of
England I Not only can no manners be correct but
suck as are measured by this bed of Procrustes; but
anything different is, forsooth, to be held as immoral
and degrading. But let us not talk of immorality
and degradation at the present moment—as the

common sense of mankind will know on whom to
fix them, so far as regards the present prosecution
and tho 6 concerned in it, without seeking light and,
information from the enactments of any anomalous
cx post facto law. But let ns return to our British'
Tar, and learn from him something respecting
propriety, good manner{; and correct feelings.—
We shall not Stop to point out the incorrectness of,
pressing questions of mere opinion and belief on al
witness before sworn to give true evidence as to
matters of fact, and not as to his own private con-
victions; we shall not, we say, dwell on this impro-
priety, but satisfy ourselves with repeating here two