Star.
London, England, 1810-07-21 00:00:00

MI. lIMNIERTT AND MAD CASTLLRICAOiI

NO. In, IItDVG&D.OPTILILtro COVENT.OAID
!9, 1810.
Qua iTION.—" Ought my Lord Cactlereagh's conduct toward.:
Mr. Finnerty. during the late Expedition to Wakheren, to be ap -
proved as a salutary measure of precaution to preserve order and
discipline among hip Majesty's forces, or reprobated as a Intuit
infringement upon the liberty of a British Subject; and a noward/y
net 1 filmdom spire! as innocent individual 4
Ihe statement of Mr. Finnerty's treatment by Lord Castle-
reagh, as it appeared in The Morning Chronicle of Tuesday, the
93d inst. has been read with the most lively emotions, and has
excited universal astonithinent and alarm : Mr. Finnerty has ap-
pealed to " the pod elitist, likeralita, and jors'ire" of the Britioi
Nation, to give their decided opinion on the subject. So far as the
Brltith Forum can lend its aid towards collecting anti proclaiming
that opinion, neither his appeal nor that of diy ot1,:, 'roamed et-
defame:les: indkndual !hall ever Ire made in vain ! It the gentle lord
Castier,ugh can muster sufficient confidence to I,toterc roto a pride*
esnreily of free and ird.pr.4.nt Englishmen, he may rest.a.sured
that he shall havefairptc;. There is nothing for which the Ma-
nagers of this Institution more ardent'y lotg for than an opportu-
nity of meeting All Lordship and his warrens, face film', and Atari*:
then vindicate their eharacter and ll'ort as satrap/ and insaketi
Country.

AD/OtRlllll DEIATIV-TRIAL Of LORD CAiTLERIAOII-1111*
71SH tORUM, NO. 35, Ittneolto-sTititT, COSINT•OARDRN,
MONDAY, YEIRO•RT 5. 1810.
QVRSTION-..-44 aught my I.ord Castlereagh's conduct towards
Mr. Finnerty during the late expedition to Watch. • n, to be ap.
proved as a salutary measure of precaution to preserve order
and discipline among his Majesty's forces, or reprobated as a fla-
grant infringement upon the liberty of a British subject and a
cowardly act of oppression against an innocent Individual r
Last Monday. notwithstanding the reran aid malignant aNnett:
to Nine the cbscusaion of the present Important question by Sri,-
iv dm/ agile/6th% the bills ; a crowded assembly (among whom
were several Noblemen and Members of the House of Commons)
attended, and after a very interesting debate the Opener war
about to reply, when a Gentleman intimately mid persenally ceneerval
entered the room. and having pledged himself to attend on the
next evening, and either open the debate or take a part in the es-
/Onion ; the Question was, with the consent of a large majority,
adjourned. Several important and extraordinary diselosswes will
be made in the course of the evening, land Lord Castlereagh arias
Adherent, are peremptorily sunimonrd to attend, and Imeeat,
rusiile, his eharaster from king sonsiforrd to merle:trial Misery miles
grace. The datlffertst respectiv the Ixerrition Wm. Orr, in Ind entl,
UNDIR TYR ADMINISTRATION 07 THIC SWILL Ltd, /MOO M.
tertlesale names eras laid iefvre him preying his immerser, eves roof
fries Mr. Finaerty's liter, sad excited la the esersersre ei,iiiresseiser (
horror end disport. Early attendance Is earnestly requested. it
being an adjourned Question, any Gentleman will be at liberty to
resume the debate.

Then followed a third publication :

Law Monday, after two evenings discustiun, a eront'ed assem-
bly unanimously decided, that " I.ord Castiereaglis conduct to-
wards Mr. Finnerty ought to he reprobated, as a flagrant infringe-
ment upon the liberty of a British subject, and a cowardly act of
oppression against an innocent individual."
In consequence of Mr. Finnerty being detained at the House
of Commons, he was unable trb,attend until late in the evening.
when to the universal satisfaction of a most respectable audience.
he entered the room, and delivered a most animated statement et
the proceedinp at alcheren, and the conduct of Lord Castle.
reagh. It Is unnecessary to add, that Mr. Finnerty eiperienced
the most Battering and unequivocal proofs of public approbation,
while on the contrary est a hand was hills, in Au Lerdshils defame.
Thus has been furnbhed a memorable Ind striking la.taoce 'fibs
folly and inutility of attempting, at least in this country, to op-
press :std bear down an innocent individual ; by this discussion
virtue and ',dependence hare received their just and adequate •tie
ward, while pride and arrogance have been humbled to the dust I
The Managers enjoy a heartfelt satisfaction in thus announcing
the decision, and feel conscious they have done their duty.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL here rested his case.

Mr. JO\ ES Counsel for the Defendant, commenced
by stating, that he rose with conscious fear, after
the luminous oration he had just heard from the Attor-
ney-General. Yet the motive which influenced him
was his support—it was his pride and honour to de-
fend the unfortunate—nay moru, it was actually praise-
worthy. G. FOrt Gentlemen of the Jury, how could
I see the victim, who is now at my back, without pi-
tying him—without feeling my very heart's blond
burning in the noble and sweet cause of dejected hu-
manity ? But I would have you to know, I'm no re-
lation of his ; my client is a Middlesex-man, I come
from Carmarthen, in South Wales, and so I can be
no relation of his. I say this, Gentlemen of the Jury,
and my Lord on the Bench, because I would not
have it thought I turned Counsel for this unfortunate
victim through any blood relationship or family fond-
ness ; and yet I may say it of my client, Mr. Jones,
that if he had been but a little sharp in the world, he
would have been somewhat of a clever fellow ; but he
took to minding other body's business more than his
own, and there he is for his trouble. Gentlemen, thertis
a great difference in 'the ranks of men in this life—
there is a great difference between the man, thit it
you give a verdict against him, must run and hide
himself in a hut, and such a man as my Lord Castle-
reagh, that may go any where he chooses, and nobody
cares what he does, or what becomes of him. My
bard, I am digressing from the force of my feelings,
but the truth is, I only got notice last night to plead.
Mr. Jones came to me, to ask my advice whether he
should not plead guilty, like the other fellow, that
gave up this morning. The defendant said he trusted
every thing to him. He inquired if he could put his
hand to his heart and say he had not been dictated to
by vindictive motives, to send forth those publications.
Defendant assured him such a sensation had never en-
tered his breast. Then, says I, stand up to it, don't let
afraid like those fellows—spew yourselfbefore thecotur
try, and try your cause. For my part, Gentlemen of the
Jury, I can see nothing in the paper but a fair ques-
tion—Was my Lord Castlereagh guilty or not of
what was said against him ? And this riper, referred
to in the indictment, and the placard, was Mr. Fin-
nerty's, who, however, after bringing my client into
his misfortunes, gave him the slip, and pleaded
guilty. This was said to be something like a trial of
my Lord Castlereagh ; no, it was only a trial of elo-
quence. The British Forum was a gt)od school for the
debate of political questions and others, and it was in
that kind of places that some of the most famous ora-
tors at the bar had begun to practice. Mr. Ftnnerty
was supposed to be the personal enemy of Lord Castle-
reagh. Now it is well known that the Noble Lord is no:
extremely popular in his own country, our in this either

There might be some small allusions in the British
Forum, where seats were sold for a shilling a-piece,
to curious things of the lathe kind, that were slap-
posed to be done in better places. And after all there
was nothing very magnanimous, nothing so mighty
generous in Lord Castlereagh's attacking Mr. Jones
at that time, for heixas just then within the four walls
or his chamber in Newgate. And for Lord Castle-
reagh to strike at him then, was cruel ; it was like
the kick of the wild ass at the sacred head of the ex-
piring monarch of the forest. Mr. Jones is a man of
shining abilities, and my Lord Castlereagh is net fit
to 11,,11 a candle to him. As to the quarrel between,
Finnerty and his Lordship, I know nothing about
either of them, thank Gon ; but I hear they are two
will Irishmen, who had a kind of -a dispute in Ire-
lanai, and Finnerty was put in jail, and found it hard
enota;ll to get out, and so they both came over here,
and were not a bit better friends than before. For
my part I think they ought to have fought it out at
home, and not come over here to go to law with one
another. The Attorney-General has said nothing of
the British Forum, and so I'll say nothing, but I have
its rules and regulations before me now, and can see
no harm in them. I admire debating clubs, Gentle-
men, for constitutional knowledge. I remember one
day, when I was at Kiel, in the North of Germany,'
studying law there, that Professor Cllivaiius took-it '
into his head to ask me, what I thought it was that
made England so free, while all other countries were
slaves as it were I answered—the free press. No
(mys he) you're wrong ; it is not your press, for that
is chained up and beat down by stamp duties, and
other things of the kind ; but it is your Parliament,
or still more, your debating societies: it is the pri
tilege that every one has to make a debating society,
a little parliimelat in his own house, and talk of the
affiirs of the nation in any kind of way he pleases.'
Gentlemen, if my virtuous friend had not been
delivered up 'by the cowardly shrinking of Mr. Fin-
nerty and the others, he would not have been here
to.day ; but they begun the business, and when they
got him in, left him tn. I have nothing to do with
the two wild Irish; if they love fighting affir the
manner of their country, let them tight it out any
*here they please. I don't think they should
Live brought their quarrels over here among us, or
lugged poor Mr. Jones in for a share. But lam
from Carmarthen, and not acquainted with any of
those people. I entreat, Gentlemen, you will acquit
my client, if irwas only to set my mind at ease. I
will think, as long as I live, that if you condemn him,
it was through my want of exerting myself in his
defence. But what did Mr. Finnerty do ? He wanted
to go on Lord Castlereagh's Expeditiqn. Gentle-
men, you all remember the time, when that Noble
Lord went out like Sancho Panes, to fight, not wind-
mills indeed, but the three plagues of the world to-
gether, the pestilence and Lmine, and the fever and
the French. Mr. Finnerty went out as historiogra-
pher to the expedition, which Lord Castlereagh did
not I,ke, and so they quarrelled about it, and Mr.
Junes was dragged some how or other into the dis-
pute, though he had nothing in life to do with it :
he therefore threw himself on the good sense of the
Jury." _

Lord ELLVOOROUGH.—GentIemen of the Jury
This is an indictment against the defendant, John
Gale Jones, and it charges that before the time of the
printing acertain libel,Lord Castlereagh had been one
of the principal Secretaries of State of his Majesty ;
and,, Gentlemen, there is another allegation, that there
had been, on the 23d of January, a scandalous and
seditious libel in the form of a letter, concerning Lord
Castlereagh, published in a certain newspaper called
" The Morning Chronicle." That allegation in-
volves, first of all, the fact, and text the construction;
first, she tact, that there was such a letter published in
the paper. That has been proved by the printer of
the paper, who produces a paper, which he states to
have been published on that day, containing a letter
signed P. Finnerty. Then has that letter the quality
annexed to it ? It is alledged to be a scandalous and
malicious libel. That certainly is a material allega-
tion. The whole scope of that which has been read
in detail to you from " The Morning Chronicle," does
impute to Lord Castlereagh the purpose of persecut-
ing and oppressing this man ; summing it up in the
last paragraph, that he had made use of his Ministe-
rial power to gratify prejudice, to invite the persecu-
tion of his person, and to fix an imputation upon his
character, and the whole of the statement which is
contained in the letter, goes to maintain that, which
u the summing up of the libel is stated to be the mo-
tive for Lord Castlereagh's conduct. Gentlemen,,
there certainly can be nothing more libellous, than to'
impute to a man in a high public office a gross abuse
of his public functions, to degrade and injure an indi-
vidual. The question, therefore, upon this part of the
ase being, whether this letter has properly applied to
it the description of a scandalous and malicious libel ?
the description is maintained by adverting to the
terms of the letter itself. But that is merely a preli-
minary step, for it is not the publication of this libel
for which the defendant is indicted ; but he has ad-
verted to it in the three libels, for which immediately
he is questioned, and it is to those papers and the con-
tents of them that your attention is to be particularly
drawn, inasmach as it is in respect of them only (re-
ference being made to other matters merely for ex-
planation) that he stands before you to-day.
The publications in question are three in number ;
the question is, whether they are of a libellous nature,
and whether that description which is applied to them
by this indictment is justly applicable to them ? I
will read them and comment upon them as I read
them. The first begins thus, “ Ought my Lord Cas-
tlereagh's conduct towards Mr. Finnerty during the
late expedition to Walcheren to be approved as a sa-
lutary measure of precaution, to preserve order and
discipline among his Majesty's forces, or reprobated
as a flagrant infringement upon the liberty of a British
subject, and a cowardly act of oppression against an
innocent individual ?" Now, Gentlemen, is it to be
borne in a country where people have any estimation
°•1 character, that it shall be allowed to any man to
put in this alternative mode a question, for the discus-
..ri of all mankind, whether a man has been guilty
,_)t a base and cowardly act of oppression, whether ho
il?s not been guilty of an enormous crime ? and to have
;hit matter made the subject of debate by all persons
v:ho chu SP ' -ie shilling to come within
of assembly where this is
.bate ? Is it not calumnious
his name held out to the
respecting whom it may

be fairly doubted whither he has not been guilty at a
cowardly act of oppression ? Put it to you awn
breasts, Gentlemen, and make it your own case; sup-
pose a man to pick dp an anecdote. of your private
conduct—any thing respecting yourconduct in' social
life, and that he should publish it as a question whe-
ther in a particular circumstance of your life you had
been guilty of a base disregard of your duty to wife,
to child, to friend, or any other person, and should
make that a matter of discussion for all the assembled
careless people who might chuse to resort together for
the purpose either of holding or hearing that discus-
sion, can any thing be considered as more calumnious,
more destructive of the peace of mind of the indivi-
dual so held out, more mischievous to the public, or
more irritating to the feelings of the individual so held
up'? Taking only in liming., the first paragraph, I
feel myself in the solemn discharge of my important
functions, bound by the oath of office I have taken,
and by my duty to the public, to state to you that I
consider this as an highly calumnious publication.
Then, Gentlemen, it goes •on to say, " The state-
ment of Mr. Finnerty's treatment by Lord Castle-
reagh, as it appeared in the Morning Chronicle, of
Tuesday, the 23d instant, has been read with the most
lively emotions, and has excited universal astonish-
ment and alarm ;" alluding all along to the publica-
tion of Mr.. Finnerty in the Morning Chronicle, which
has been read to you.—,, Mr. Finnerty has appealed
to the good sense, liberality, and justice of the Bri-
tish Nation, to give their decided opinion on the sub-
ject. So far as the British Forum can lend its aid
towards collecting and proclaiming that opinion, nei•
ther his appeal nor that of any other persecuted or
defenceless individual shall ever be made in vain."—
Is not this an allegation, that this person to whom
they are lending their aiJ, is a persecuted and defence-
less individual, and by whom persecuted, the whole
scope and context shews clearly that it means to im,
puce that persecution to Lord Castlereagh ? Then it
goes on-7s If the gentle Lord Castlereagh can mus-
ter sufficient confidence to venture into a public as-
sembly of free and independent Englishmen." That
is an imputation to say that he is a person who cannot
venture into a public assembly of free and indepen-
dent Englishmen. aHe may rest assured that he
shall have fair play." Now see how this word of
promise to the ear is kept. 4, There is nothing for
which the Managers of this Institution more ardently
long, than an opportunity of' meeting his Lordship
and his adherents face to face, and hearing them vin-
dicate their character and conduct before an outraged
and insulted country."—Gentlemen, is that a fair
trial, to tell his Lordship that there is an outraged
and insulted country, which the context shews must
mean outraged and insulted by him ; and to say, we
will give you fair play by your coming before those
whom you have outraged and insulted ? It is, I
think, impossible to state any thing to be a libel if this
is not.

Then, Gentlemen, we come to the second publica-
tion. That begins by stating the question as before, with
the words prefixed, " Triarof Lord Castlereagh ;" and
then proceeds, " Last Monday, notwithstanding the
mean and malignant attempts to stifle the discussion
of the present important question by tearing down
and defacing the bills." Mean and malignant at-
tempts. Gentlemen, if any of you or I saw placard.
ed, that there was to be a debate upon our conduct
and character by a number of persons assembled for
the purpose of that debate—is it mean to protect your
character as well as you can by abating as a nuisance
the publication to draw people together " Malig-
nant !" Against whom ? It is an act of self preser-
vation to destroy the noxious exhibit to collect people
together to murder my reputation. " Mean !" As
against whom ? Mean to avoid a discussion which
no person has a right to direct or to institute. In this
way it goes on. 46 Notwithstanding the mean and
malignant attempts to stifle the discussion of the pre-
sent important question by tearing down and defacing
the bills, a crowded assembly, among whom were se-
veral Noblemen and several Members of the House
of Commons, attended, and after a very interesting
debate, the opener was about to reply, when a Gen-
tleman intimately and personally concerned, entered
the room, and having pledged himself to attend on
the next evening, and either open the debate, or take
a part in the discussion, the question was, with the
consent of a large majority, adjourned. Several im-
portant and extraordinary disclosures will be made in
the course of the evening ; and Lord Castlereagh, or
his adherents are peremptorily summoned to attend,
and prevent, if possible, his character from being
consigned to everlasting infamy and disgrace. The
statement respecting the execution of William Orr, in
Ireland, under the Administration of the Noble
Lord, although incontestible evidence was laid be-
fore him, proving his innocence, was read from Mr.
Finnerty's letter, and excited in the audience visible
emotions of horror and disgust. Lord Castle-
reagh is here peremptorily summoned to attend."—
Now, Gentlemen, look at the extravagant power
assumed by this mock tribunal ; first, there is to be
fulminated against tile person an attack upon his cha-1
racter, lay these unlicenced petions assembled for,
the most scandalous and penal purpose ; for all the
persons assembled for that purpose constitute a dis-
orderly assembly, and are liable to be punished by
law, and then the party whose character is to be-
come the subject of animadversion, is peremptorily
summoned to appear before this self-constituted and
disorderly assembly. Gentlemen, that is a sort of ty-
ranny that I have never heard of as exercised in the
free land, in which I have the happines to live. I
have heard of similar things which have been done in
another country, by an odious assembly that we have
all heard ot, denominated the Jacobin Assembly at
Paris, where the foundation for the overthrow of the
monarchy, and of all civilized order in that country,
and I may add also in other countries, was laid in the
abused power and the arrogant pretensions of such
Societies. Here is Lord Castlereagh 46 peremptorily
summoned to attend, and prevent, if possible, his
character from being consigned to everlasting infamy
and disgrace." Is not this libellous ? If it be not,
let the name of libel be blotted out of our books.—
Let the thing be considered no longer a subject of dis-
cussion, or a matter of legal contemplation in this
country, if a man may in this manner be summoned
at tie peril of infamy and disgrace upon a charge
like this, to present himself before such a judicature.
Gentlemen, after this summons, we come to what
is considered as the trial, and then it is said, ".Last
Monday, after two evenings discussion. a, crowded
assembly unanimously decided," I should have ex-

pected Such a soft of decision in such a place, and se
convened and inflatned, " that Lord Castlereagh's
conduct towards NM FinrieifyftotigTit to be reprobated
as a flagrant infringement upon the liberty ofa British
subject, and a cowardly act of oppression against an
innocent individual." Then it is said, In conse-
quence of Mr. Finnerty being detained at the House
of Commons, he was unable to attend until late in the
evening, when, to the universal satisfaction of a most
respectable audience, he entered the room, and deli-
vered
a most animated statement of the proceedings
at Walcheren and the conduct of Lord Castlereagh.
It is unnecessary to add, that Mr. Finnerty experienced
the most flattering and unequivocal proofs of public
approbation, while, on the contrary, not a hand was
held up in his Lordship's defence. Thus has been
furnished a memorable and striking instance of the
folly and inutility of attempting, at least in this coun-
try, to oppress and bear down an innocent individual"
I think that is a pretty round allegation, that such an
attempt had been made to oppress and bear down an
innocent individual. "By this discussion virtue and
independence," I presume, in the person of Mr. Fin-
nerty, " have received their just and adequate reward,
while pride and arrogance," I must collect from the
context in the person of Lord Castlereagh, " have
been humbled to the dust—the Manage: s enjoy abeam
felt satisfaction in thus announcing the decision, and
feel conscious that they have done their duty." This
is the record of the judgment on the unanimous deci-
sion of this respectable and well collected assembly.
Gentlemen, Toll have been told by the Learned
Advocate for the Defendant, that a Professor, whose
name I forgot, has said, that the great and characte-
ristic blessing of this county/ was not that we had free
laws or a Parliament of wisdom to make them, but
that we had these sort of subordinate Parliaments—
these debating societies. Upon my word that Learned
Professor has taken a very imperfect measure of the
liberties of this country, or the means by which those
liberties and laws are preserved. I am, in my station,
as much a friend to freedom of discussion, and to fair
deliberation, upon all subjects which it behoves the
subject, for the preservation of his freedom, for the in-
formation of his mind, or for the performance of his
duties, to discuss and deliberate upon, as any man sylio
ever sat in this place. Unequal as I may be to my pre- i
decessors in other respects, in that I am equal to any of
them, in having an ardent love for the constitutional 11
liberties of my country. But I cannot conceive any
thing so injurious to either as to assist in giving effect to,
or in suffering Logo unpunished when they exist—those
licentious 'attacks upon the happiness of individuals,
and upon the security of the state. The freedom of the
press is secured by allowing every man to publish
without the previous controul of a licenser, that which
in his judgment he shall think fit to communicate to
the public ;' but he does it at his peril, being respon-
sible to individuals whom he may injure, or to the
public whose peace he may disturb. Subject to that
responsibility, and to that risk, every man may pub-
lish what he pleases. No attempt has ever been made
in the times in which I have had the happiness to live,
upon that liberty so exercised in the first instance, by
publishing without the controul of a licenser ; but, if
every man was to publish without the fear of punish-
ment what his malice might suggest, or what his false-
hood might direct to be said to the prejudice of ano-
ther, no man would have his good fame, the most
estimable blessing in life, in any degree of security.
Gentlemen—ln the discharge of my duty, I am re-
quired to give you my opinion upon this case. If I
were to state a doubt, it would be to abandon one's un-
derstanding. I do with the most perfect confidence
pronounce to you, that it is a most scandalous and in-
famous libel, and I have no doubt; that in the dis-
charge of your duty you will come to the same con-
clusion, and will thereby be the means of resisting the
evils by which we are surrounded and oppressed.
The Jury immediately pronounced the defendant
Giilty.
This day concludes the Westminster Sittings for
this Term. The London Sittings commence on
Monday.

CONSISTORY COURT, DOCTORS COMMONS.
TAUNTON v. TAUNTON.
By this proceeding Mr. W. D. Taunton, a respec-
table Solicitor, sought to obtain a divorce from his
wife by reason of criminal conversation aHedged to
have taken place between her and Wyburn,
Esq. a Barrister, with whose family that of Mr.
Taunton was on terms of great intimacy.
The facts of this case are already before the public.
The plaintiff recovered heavy damages in an action
brought in the Court of King's Bench.
It was argued by the Counsel in support of the suit, ,
that the adultery was fully proved to have taken
place at the apartments in Boswell-court, and that
the identity of Mrs. Taunton, on being followed to
her house, was equally established.
The Counsel on the other side contended, that as
the witnesses principally consisted of the plaintiff's
servants, much reliance could not in consequence be
placed upon their testimony ; that the proof of Mrs.
Taunton's identity was very imperfect, and that there
was nothing in either of the parties' conduct to war-
rant a supposition that if they had the opportunity of
committing a criminal act, they would avail them-
selves of it.
The Learned Judge (Sir W. Saar) recapitulated
the principal facts detailed in evidence, and thought
that Mrs. Taunton's conduct, if not at first accom-
panied by adultery, was such as to warrant the con-
clusion, that adultery might afterwards grow out of
it. He was of opinion, that in the clandestine meet-
ings a criminal intercourse had taken place ; and the
only question then would be, as to the identity of the
parties, Mrs. Taunton and Mr. Wyburn ; this he was
likewise of opinion was fully established by the evi-
dence, and he granted the remedy of the divorce de-
manded.

LADY MILES V. SIR JOXATIIAN MILES.
This was a similar cause, but was grounded on a
charge of cruelty as well as adultery, against Sir Jo-
nathan Miles, late one of the Sheriffs of Middlesex•
The pleadings stated various acts of ct uelty, and
also that Sir Jonathan had associated himself with se-
veral depraved females, two of whom he had at dif-
ferent periods kept with very handsome establishments
at the West End of the town.—There was no defence
made on the part of Sir J. Miles.
After a few short observations, SirWlLLtam Sant,
being of opinion that the facts of adultery were clearly
proved, though the cruelty was not, pronounced fur
the divorce.

immediat,
dinli

',to may chuse to pay on
the precincts of the place
'')4! appointed matter of det
!r) any individual to have
public as that of a person

, . .
. '
e•
OLP NAIL.Er.
~
Pour „Journeymen Printers, severally named Get, ,
dart, Bradke, Little, and Adam:, employed at the li.i, t,,
newspaper Office, were brought to the bar. Tile,' .
had been apprehended in consequence of a bill ~r :,..
dictment having been found against them for chn-
- 4 ,
spiring to seduce the printers at the Timex d,iice to
quit their situations. They pleaded Not Guilty, and
were committed to Newgate in default of bail.
Three other printers, named Gee, flowka, :dui Per.
Ain, lately engaged at the Times office, were next i
brought to the bar to plead to an indictthent found
against them for conspiracy, and were also commit.
ted for the same reason.
Joseph dortin was indicted on a charge of Arise, in setting fire
to the house of Mrs. Hannah Thompson, of Saekviile-street, St. 1.
James's parish, ou the 17th of June last, with intent to Jest r. y i
, • ,
the same. It appeared from the statement of Counsel. as sera
ported by the evidence, that the prisoner was a va:et in the sir- li
vice of Andrew Tufton, Beg. a Gentleman who I ,dged in the 1
house of Met. Thompson, and oscupied her first flour. The pri.
loner was in his service about 13 months. On the morning of
the 16th of June, Mr. Tufton sent the prisoner to a banker's :il
Pall Mall, for payment of a draft for aelo3o, which the pri,.):ll r
brought to him in S 0 notes for sell each, 17 of which he put et:o
his portable writing-deck on his table, which he then Lucie d.—
He then went out, and did not return to his lodgiegs uptil the
next morning, when he found his apartments hat. been set on
fire, his writing-desk broken open, and his notes gone .
Mrs. Thompson, the lady of the house, had gone to bed about
two o'clock in the morning, and the prisoner had gone up to bed
before her, and at about four in the morning she was awaked
by a met of smoke in the house. Her apartment was on the
second n3ol*. She awaked her daughter, who slept with her, she
immediately got up and ran down to the first flour, opened the
dining-room, and the smoke burst out on her in great quantity,
but she saw in the room no light or flame; she imagined the
smoke came from a public-house next door, on turning round
again, she perceived the prisoner on the second floor stairs, a few
steps behind her, and saw her daughter also coming down stairs,
She could not tell whether the prisoner was with or without his
clothes, as she was mush alarmed. The alarm of fire was given
to souse firemen who were passing with au engine to extinguish
some other fire, and they came in. She assisted in serving them •
with water, and the Games in Mr. Tufton's room were got isms
der. When the firemen, of whom there were three, proceeded
into the room, they found it full of smoke. They immediately
threw several buckets of water on the floor, and also on a
sofa in the room, from whence the fire appeared to proceed. and
extiepdsked it; and after throwing open the windows and clear. I
ing the apartment of smoke, she pulled up the carpet and found
the boards of the floor, about the centre, burnt through, and •
that the fire proceeded from between the ceiling of the room be. ' i
low and that apartment. One of the men perceived the prisoner
with a writing box in his band, which appeared to bare the
hinges and the catch of the lock broken. They !waived it was
not opened by the effects of fire, bet they could not tell whether 1
it might not have been opened by the effect of a fall. None of
•
them, however, Recollected to have heard any thing fall In the
room whilst they were there. , l
Eleanor Gardener saw the primer that evening before the
fire. He came home about eleven o'clock. It was earlier then
usual. He went up to Mr. Tuftoe's apartment, and staid there
a considerable time. When he came down to the kitchen, she
remarked to him that be had staid a lung time up rain ; and he
answered, he had been reading Mrs. Clarke 's book. He went
up to bed about half put twelve ; and she was alarmed about 4,
with the cry of fire by her mistress. She came down stairs cry.
ing fire, and went to draw water for the firemen. She next
morning saw the prisoner sitting behind a screen in the back kit-
chen, a place not usual for him to sit in, and she afterwards saw
Miss Thompson, her mistress's daughter, with a bank-note in
her band, which, she said, she bad, found amongst some rub-
bish. She slept on the same floor with the prisoner on the night
of the 16th. She was quite•sure he was in bed at the time she
went up s she saw no candle with him then. There was a pic-
ture in her master's apartment, which be valued highly, and the
prisoner at the time of the fire took great care of it, and removed
it to a distance.
bk. Browne, Secretary to the Sun Fire Mite, produced a
plan of the situation of Mr. Tufton's apartments, taken the
morning after the fire, and he described from that the state of
the room.
John Foy, a Police-man of Marlberough-str;et, proved that he
was sent for on the 17th to examine the premises, and interroga-
ted the prisoner in the presence of his master, and asked him if
be knew how the fire could happen ? The prisoner answered—
" I suppose you suspect me i"—Foy replied, " I suspect every
body in the house until the business is traced to it's right source."
Upon this the prisoner's boxes were searched, and in one of them
was found some brimstone in a glove; he found nothing else in
them to excite any suspicion. He searched also the back and
front kitchen,and in a drawer, said to belong to the prisoner, be
found some more brimstone. He examined the desk, which ap-
peared to him to have been forced open with a chine, or some
such instrument. He asked if there was a chissel in the house ?
and one was brought to him by Mrs. Thomson's daughter, which t
he thought answered precisely the marks in the desk, and they
I were exhibited to the Jury, together with the chissel, for their
, inspection.
Miss Thompson proved that she found the chissel in a box in
the back kitchen, where such things were usually kept. •
Mr. Retton, who lives next door to Mrs. Thompson, proved
that he tame into her house the morning after the are, and assts•
ted in searching both the back and front kitchens, and on looking
up the front kitchen chimney, with the aid of a candle, he disco.
vered a tin cannister in a bole on the side of the flue. This be
desired the old servant woman to take down, adding, he believed
be had now found out the nest. She took it down, apparently
I much agitated. The cannister was taken up stairs, and in it were
found forty-six two-pound notes, which, with the note found in
i the back kitchen, precisely corresponded with the number taken
' from Mr. Tufton's desk.
This gentleman was croes-examined by Mr. Guiltily, and said
it was possible the desk might have been opened by a fall, but be
• rather believed it was opened by some Instrument. Here ended
the evidence for the prosecution.
The Prisoner, in his defence, asserted his innocence, and ace
1 knowledged the boxes found on Mr. Crap's leads to have bees
I thrown there by him, as containing the clothes of himself and hie
' wife, on the first alarm ofilre; and said, when be first entered
the room, after the fire was extinguished, he found the desk 17•
ing open upon the floor, with the hinge and lock broken.
t. Colonel Wood, with whom he had lived seven months, the
Honourable George Irvin, with whom he bad lived 13 months,
Mr. James Talbot, Steward to Lord Grenville, where the pri-
' soner had been seven months as Under-butler • au/ above t
other respectable persons, appeared, and gave him an excellent
character.
Sir ALLAN CNAMIRE then summed up the evidence for the
Jury, who, after having retired for three quarters of an hour, re-
turned a verdict of Nor GUILTY.
' This excited, from a number of persons in both galleries. such
disorderly bursts of applause, that the Court inuuediuely ordered ,
the galleries to be cleared.
A remarkable phenomenon presented itself on Mon.
day, at Ramsgate : during a squall of thunder and
rain, a stream of water, seven or eight feet in diame-
ter, issued from a very heavy black cloud in the eas: ;
' whielii after taking a horizontal direction towards the
south, for about half a mile, suddenly fell into the sea,
a very little distance from the shore, with a rushing
noise, agitating the water all around in a most extra.
ordinary manner, and rebounding again to the height .
of several yards. . ,
,
A fire broke out at the house of a gardener of the
name of Coombe, at Wycombe, Bucks, on Tuesd ty
11
night, and soon consumed it. The house was built i
of wood, and the fire vas so rapid, that a son of Mr.
Coombe, a youth five pars old, perished in the flames.
lie slept in a room over the ki cien in w.lich the fire
' broke out. The azcident was occasioned by a sr.rk
' communicating to some clothes which were left osi a
horse t 9 dry. •
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