Star.
London, England, 1803-02-10 00:00:00

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• elbly than Teem hope to do. lallude to Manterqufea, who, is
his Spirit of Laws, (peaking of thefulis et of high tinfoil .f.,y.--
• Nothing renders the crime of high 'realms more addax y,
than declaring people guilty of it for indifercer (perch, s.
—Meech is fo fubjeel to maims-rpm...den ; tfirrel. to great
a daft-tyke between indikretion rii malice, aye frequent-
ly fo little is there of the latter in the c.i.reilions tired,
Mar the law can hardly (object people to a Ctpital pa-
: nithanent for words only, utilrfs it esi reftly deelai , I what
I o.nds they are which meter A man guiitr.' lie cowl. tue.-.-
. Words do not conttitute an ov, r: act—they remain only m
idea. They generally, when confulered by themfely.s, have
no determinate fignification; for this drp0,..... upon the tom in
which they are utter d. It often happens t:.at all reheating the
fame words, they hue not the fame me.thiaz; this meaning
depends on their connexion with ink r things; and fume:Mies
more i. repealed by liknce •han by any diteourte wbarfoever.
'As there i„, nothing to equivocal and ambiguous as all this, hew
is it pd lible to convert it into the crime en hag:, : reafon. When-
ever this law is eltablitbed, there Is an end, tot only of liberty,
but even of its very lhadow--uven acts are not things that hap-
pen every day, they re liable to olifervatlort of a great massy
people' ant a falle charge with n:fpeet to fads may be cailly
detected; words joined to an action aflkme the nature of an
adtion. Thus, a man who goes into a public market place to
incite the fubjeds ,o revolt, incurs the guilt of high trealon, De-
cade the words arc joined to the action, and partake of its na-
ture. It is not the words which are punilbed, but the adtion in
which Words are employed. Every thing is confounded If
words arc confider-II as a capital crime.'—Gentkmen, it is lies
poi:able that the idea of an Engliet Lawyer can be better es-
prelfed than if is here dune. if any Met be proved—if a tnau
went into a public market, he could bring many witnrifes to
the co nduel. he held there; but what would be the fituation of
a m ti if he were liable to be charged and convicted of the
crime of High Trenton, for words which were (pokes In a pri-
vate room, and upon the teftlmony too of witnelks who were
fo infamous, that no human being would give them credence.
In vain has the the law of Treafon been fixed, if the rules of
evidence are fo unfixed. Gentlemen of the Jury, lam aware I
may be tokl that going to a meeting for a treafonable purpole Is
an oven act of treafon. I admit, alto, that Cob Defpard was at
fume of theft. meetings.end that it is (worn he froke the obnos-
ions word., hat before you can conviet hint !Dew roe that he
h knew tc meeting wan a treafonable one, Gam me where you
wilt hod the evidence to ha upon him a knowledge of its hang
a tredundae meeting, or that he attended it for tr.:jumble par-
rots. The learned Attorney General has called upon me ro
explain the meaningof the printed card be has produced . Our.
perhaps, I could ;;lve tome explanation of it, yet I am oft celled
upon to do it; Is it ruanteted with Colonel Delpard at all? I
lay there is not a ilogle tittle of evident.: to conned hint with
that paper, except the teltimony of Franck, the molt infamous
man alive. Is there teftlosony of the other charge? I fay nut,
except loch, as if received, would leave nO !kitty for the life, li-
berty, or foray *fatty MAIL Let us compare the cafe with other
cafes, of like stature, which havegone before it. In Layer's can,
did the Crown content thenffelves with merely proving as Muth
as is here proved? No, they proved that arms were found.
'They thawed the Maid writing of Layer, to prove Ms panic:A-
rlon of the attempt. I call upon the Learned Lawyers for ta
Crown to thew me any other cafe lime the Revolution, where
a nim ha: been convicted on fuch fort of evidence. I fay fine;
the Revolution, for, before that period, Judges were O.; o fjai
fulpicion, and not as they are now, objeds of Ripen and TO.
neration. I challenge the Solicitor General to produce me ti
tingle inßancr, fur I fay no Jury will belifte that a traitorous
intention c silted without the indication of Come nacous of ant rye
ing it into effedt. I can, Indeed. conceive a ea's of freaft",
where it has jult been moillated, before the meanslfte • •
procured; but was that the tale Isere? vias tim watt's' E
he l
inchoated ?—They fay it was all fettled, the Tower was to
carried, defended as it is by a brigade of guards, and yet ICU%
not to evld'ence that a pokereted arse pftpared for the am
-4:entlenten, I fay, If the Met terkedlahle ve.tnelres hi
proved lack ah improbable fehime, you could not bellsve
them, you would fey In this you mutt bc.mUtaken. If they
arc no deeds, then ate there any writings? Can It b
laid that the Colonel Was •fo cautious that he prevented
any writings being found upon him—was he cautious . .
incautious ?he emote be reptefented as both. If he were
cautions, can you then believe the 'amerce Chit he w,ie
tellinz every man the& wild febernes which they have natal
here today; if he were inandous, is it pale but Mow tali,
terevidetiee might have been fur:lined of his guilt,if he ready,
Were the traitor the wittielres reptefent him tote. Goldoni*
I come now to a Molt linpartigar It Is a mod importans
rule et taidebce that the cafe be made os by credible
%sancta. If lam and that, do yep fay t tat accompaci
ought not teibe called, Isle hot fay that they may be aided,
and may be credited to a 'certain totentlint I think I can fro
a'clou• fine of didnetko. They May be called to wide 4
tranfadioa Acta crime has boch roved by more credible Wit-
Perks ; fur I fay, if you Show him to prove a cafe which wide
out him could not he made aft, foie deliver every man into the
hands of an accomplice, hod his Oh 'and chatadter ia it the
Mercy of fo abandoned i Wretch. (The Learned Salautlere
put fevcral cafes tp Undone this point). . The niter dais
dence; he added, are Trained rather that the guilty &ma
dcape, than the Mooed* nould Cuter; and I intik that the
evidence of acceanklkes limpid not be let in gelid the char eared
guilt is made out by more uneleceptionable evidence. Let as
camp
then if there Is one tittle of proof slilicofe. bet what cornea
from the contaminated evidence of occompliceo.frih:re be net.
lit Is not the cede of Col.'Defoordl am advocating, it i.the cailf
of every toglinmsn, 4 dash& law, and of Entitle libeity..-‘
When yoit raditrto the ranks of today , from whence yes came.
and lay aide your charade of Jurors, If you civil@ on dala
unfuppated evident, you lay a fouodation for sditellief vrlorolx
may hereafter datroy yottrfelreo Bat 1 way bet. 14.Gattle-
men, that there are four witoeffei,' namely Buda, tinkly*.
Francis, and Wintlfor,aod that although you onght.out tti tom.
AR upon one, yet the calcarintu teltimoity of four is deci-
fire. It appears that thhle coo dike cafes where tie curlew-
rent teltiniony of one huOdred gives no &cog* to dui:ll =
tefiLnouy pf one Moimplice., Molt tendril, if.
come from dittant quarters. with combats with each othee, Mid:
glVe the tune account of the fame tranfaelion, this cancidaace
of evideha le fixable proof of he truth. But this shimmies
Ides ail its force, when applied to the cafe of confplfacy. For
amen mat and mediate to fate an obicet Found the neck of
au Innocent man, they will all agate in the material fada.-..
Then do you believe the codpirory. or do you not ? If Tint do
not believe It, there is in end of the cafe. If you do, tha
concurrent tcitimouy of there witnetes is of no more Mice shwa
ocie. Any more that an aggregation of broken records coon
convey any Mercer/01'0.7'14th. Gentlemen, I cons; now to
a snood. which I think pettedly declare of the relent cafe.
I Though you heard Me w ..40 telling a tale of borne which
' ahnott freeses one's blond, yet it is with the smelt amide
they taste it Mr. Emblyn f.k quite *named and &bond
dist be based tell the maid at the Flying Hark that he
would kits her, but the death of his King he mold Isar
planned without embdon. Let ears here. neadanall. dl.
red your attention to what has been faid by great
authority, greater than ever I 02111 attain, It was well
LA Daman a Rory is improbable, it does not follow
that, therefore, it is not tract bat Wien to what his
on the Ifienelrfaid, and gnaw/ authority there csonottrt%
to whom did he fay It? to she Grand Jury, not so pm, who
mutt pronounce a definitive "Wm of the Irak or ionocenso
of the seeded ; but to the Grand Jury, who were only to en.
quire whether there were graionde of Was:ion fußklent to put
the igrifone aro his defence. His Leonid, fold to than, if
you find the Racy Improbable, you will moire Me grater de-
gree of evidence. I have, therefore. the authority of his Lord •
hip In laying, that if the cafe be an improbable one, you
will require moor mosso evidence. It is a mod i r probable
ode ; I need not fay whet It la: Fourteen or lineal men at a
common tip-room. with no fire-arose bet don tobacco pipet(
men of the lowed order, of today, without mind or Incas
=were to fay the King, the Tower, tie lank, and the
of Doti Hodes :if Parham:at I How werrthsy to do
la Hive theyloridgo copactlions ? Have they of in the
.sillilmai ? It Was. htskol.tdhed of. Mt I fay it was ant taw; not
a Ingle guns deem: is thereat any hick thing In the cade. The
rasa sr:Carat:to norer defineatsd say thing war. 4 jicia...4
as this fuhcine All the mamas of Dsp Quixote were Gabor mid
rational fthanee.corapsred with thole of tins heroceof the Oak-
; ley Arms. what were their mans? an exchequer of tse. 6da
What alma? note pike,. piftol, or • rutty maker. Tate
.h no evidence, east their number ever exceeded Nay ; yd,
with this number, the Tow.r. delCaded by a huge& of guard%
;Was to be taken; the-Kitqrs palms fetoedja dm mold of hie
gultrilt, kr huyargr4 the whole of their oveloni end who