Star.
London, England, 1820-04-12 00:00:00

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, ,1820.

THE ROAD To A FIGHT. •
This day Was published, price I4s. plain, or £1 coloured, neatly
done up in a box for the pocket; also, framed and varnished,
ael 12s. plain, or 41 las. coloured,
APICTURE of the FANCY GOING to a FIGHT
at mouLsgv HURST (measuring in length 14 feet);
containing many Original Characters, many of them Portraits;
in which all tha frolic, fine, fife, gationsit, and trying-it-
nit, are depicted, incident t the pursue: of a Pri4s D
cased, by permission, to Mr. Jacrson, and the Noblemen sad
Gentlanen composing the Pugilistic Club.
This•Picttire commences with the Night before Starting, and
depicts the Interior of the Cissri.E TAVERX—Amateurs betting—
and the Drieli high Spirits. Also, the Bustle at Peep of
l) y, in setting ato the Scene of Action.' The Roal, in an
that tariety of sly/.' and costume which the Smartt:a Woato so.
amply furnishes--exhibiting the Corinthians in theirlang-up sets-
out of blood and huge; the Swells, Nib Sprigs, and Titty Oats, in
their Tandems, Gigs, and Trotters; the Lads, in their Battlers,
Heavy Drags, and Tumblers, including the Bermondsey-boys,
and Tothilhelds Coster-mongers, in all their gradations, down to
the Slain/ en, etc. Groups of Sporting Characters assembled at
Lawrenc.:s, the Red Linn, Ilsinpton. The Amateurs in boats
crossing the Tnanie rtin Mutikey Hurst. The fund ca:
my—the RING, with all its extensive contingencies. Tie
Humours of a BULL atm for a Silver Cular, a isi-larist mita kl
and the Defrosewitt—a peep at the Interior of Tairtaitsails's
upon the .Day. Throughout the Nevins, not a Pink
kis been overlooked, nor an Out-abd-Outer forgotten : the whole
(ornung " d bit if good truth !"
.
A copious and ch3rzicterisdc ley accompanies the Picture,
written by P. EG AN.
" For I am nothing, if not CHARACTER !"
London: Published by.lt. Jones, and sold by all Printsellers
and Booksellers.

SPORTING.


t`. -

NIGIIT'S GAZETTE. •
• -WHITEHALL, APRIL
The King has been pleased to command, tgthe 24th day of
tills instant, April, shall be in all respects Observed and kept as
his Majesty's Birth-day, instead of the 12th day of August.
As the Court at Canton-house, the Bth. of April, 1820; pre-
sent, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council ;'this day
the Right Hon.- Datid Boyle, Lord histice Clerk of Scotland,
was, by his Majesty's cOmtnand, sworn of his Majesty's Most
Honourable Privy Council, and took hit place at the Board
accordingly.
• Ills Majesty having been pleased to appoint Major-General
Sir Benjamin D'Urbatt. K.C. B: to be Captain-General and
Goverttor-in-Chief in and over the islands of Antigua and
Montserrat, he this day took -the usual oaths appointed to be
taken by the Governors of his Majesty's Plantations.
Commissions in the Royal Rifle Corps of Militia, signed by the
Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire.
Edward Davenport, Gent. to be First Lieutenant; William
-St:ince:oft, Gent. to be Second Lieutenant.
BANKRUPTS.
-John Wadsworth, Lang Buckby, Northamptonshire, dealera.to
Surrender April 28, at four' s:9, atilt Alay 214 at eleven, at
"" 'the lied Lion Inn, Long Buckby. Attorney, Mr. Becke,
Devonshire-street, Queen-square.
Henry Phillips, Henry Phillips, jun. and Thames Pole, Bir-
-mingtant, toy-makers, April 25, 22, arid May 23,.at twelve,
at the Woolpack Inn, Birmingham: Attoniies, Menus. Bea-
ter and Hawker, Gray's Inu-place • or Mr. Bird, Birmingham.
William Fisher, Avon- Clift, Westwood, Wilts, innkeeper, April
21, at six, 22, at eleven, and May 25, at twelve, at the An-
gel Inn, lath. Attornies, Messrs. Dax and Co. Guildford-
street; or Mr. Stone, Bradford, Wilts.
Tohn Miller, Burlington Arcade, Piccadilly, bookseller, April
22, 3Say 2 and 23, at ten, at Guildhall. Attornies, Messrs.
Allen and 0► Carlisle-street, Soho.
Robert Ilaziedkte and Thomas Davies, late of Briclgoorth,
iron-founders, April 26, 27, and • Al.ty 25, at eleven, at the
Raven Inn, Shrewsbury. Attornies, Mr. King, Serj;:ar.t's
- Inn, Fleet-street ; or Mr. Gitton, liridgnorth.
Czsar Berry,• Caversham, of:Aferdshire, saddler, April t'.o, 21,
and May f 3, at eleven, at the Lower Ship Inn, Beading.
Attc.rnies, Mr. Handlton Berwlck-street, Soho ; or kr.
Smith, Broad-street, heading.
• DIVIDEN DS :o lie made at f; LDH ALL.

,

C ..

Apr.l 1.9, W. Park-_r, high-street, Whitechapel, oil and co-
' lour-manufacturer. at oae. April 29, W: Adam, Narrow-wall,
Lambeth, timber-.lJ!rchant, at one. April 29, W. S. Evans,
late of Chaitl"-streo, Lamb's-Conduit-street, bricklayer, at
twelve. April 29,.11. Richards, Beacansile7d, Bucks, carpen-•
ter, at twelve. April 29, J. Peters, Dorking, Surrey, lime-
burner, at eleven. May 50, G. W. Wye, Newington Butts,
merchant, at ten. April 29, W. Lewis and J. A. Henderson,
Little Tower-street, wine-merchants, at ten. May 8, T. Trigg,
Milton next Sittingborne, Kent, butcher, at twelve. April 29,
B. Burford, Clapton, merchant, at twelve. ,May 9, J. Greases,
Fish-street-hill, leather-hide-seller, at eleven. May 2, S. Rim-
ingten, Chatham, grocer, at twelve. May h, H. lienshall,
Wheeler-street, Norton-Falgate, silk-dyer, at ten. May 13,
Wm. Woods, Crawford-street, Mary-la-bonne, linen-draper,
at eleven. May 6, L. Foster, Farningham, Kent, miller,- at
eleven. April 29, P. Blaikburn, BloOmsbnry-square, merchant,
at twelve. April 29, J. Sheppard, Horton Mills, Colebrook,
Bucks, leather-seller,-at twelve. April 1.5, S. Amhurst, late
of Market-street, Westminster, copper-manufacturer, at ten.,
May 2, S. Dowaett, late of Stewart-street, Spitalfields, silkman,
at ten. April 29, D. C. Marsh, L. Deane, R. Westbrook, set.
and H. B. Deane, Reading, bankers, at ten. May 6, S. C. Ge-
taldes, late of Broad-street-buildings, merchant, at twelve.—
Arley 6, J. Churchill, Stanhope street, Clare-market, brewer,
at eleven. Oet. 7, W. Hadrian, Clements-lane, Lombard-
' street, tea-dealer, at twelve. • April 99, R. Hodgson, Fleet-
street, oilman, at ten. May gs, T. W. Baseley and W. Sta-
pleton, Newport Pagncll, brewers, at ten: April 29, A. Gom-
pet ts, Great Winelester-street, merchant, at ten. May 6, J.
Healing and E. llornblow, Bishopsgate-street, jewellers, at
eleven. May 6, Nowell and J. Burch, Jewry-street, Ald-
gate, wholesale-stationers, at twelve. May 4, C. .W. Walker,
Brighthelmstone, stationer, at eleven. May 6, J. Heraming,
Long-Acre, linen-draper, at eleven. May 2, H. Waddington,
Bridge-street, Blackfriars, merchant.

PRlem -tiEvEN -.11.1DA B•

CHESTER, APRIL 10.

,

, •
• .71. e expeite3 trial of Sir CnAnr.ti Wookotsr.tythis'
day attracted ucrowdcd iteditorf to the Court at to- •
early an hbur as half rast seven eiloci. -Several
elegantly-dressed Ladies occupied the seats at both
sides of the Bench ; the-Gentlemen of the Grand Jury
. were in the gallery over it; and the spacious ar a of
the Court was so•thronged, that the people might be
said to be almost literally wedged together.
• SENTENCR OF AI'INNLSAND BRUM
At nine the Judges arrived, and Jamb Innis and
Jame Geo. Bruce were brought up to rezeive sentence.
On the prisoners being 'asked what they had to say
why sentence of,death should not be prenounceit
upon them i'• M'lnnis said—" My Lord,- this -man
,(Bruce) is innocent ; am the man who shot 'Birch ;
but though I shot Birch, there.was not a man that
came against me but swore falsely. • Birch himself
swore falsely, and Pearson -swore falsely. I repeat,
that I aim the manwho shot Birch, and 1 can give
tour Lordship several -reasons for it but no man
k*ew of my shooting Birch except myself."
The 1 r 59 ter I rite then addressed his Lordship-_
• '4 My Lor d—The very unexpected light which As-
misturY GOD has been pleased of his infinite mercy
to shew the circumstances cf my case, through the
instrumentality of the prisoner M•lnnis, has induced
me thus to trespass on the attention of your Lord-
ship.
I beg, with all humility to state, that from my
inimcy I have-had so far a knowledge of the religion
of my country as always to bear in mind that divine
maxim of our blessed and most merciful REDEEMER.
of " doing unto all men as I would they should do unto
me!" I ant also well acquainted v•ith, the prioc:ples
of humanity, and leok upon the detestable crime of
assassination as equally repugnant to both ; and, my
Lord, if ever I had, either by my words or thoughts,
or even my actions, been accessary to the attack on
the life cf Mr. Birch, far from declining your iudg-
ment, I could not even pray for the mercy of my
GOD. I declare most solemnly to your Lordship,
that I have had no acquaintance with the prisoner
M'lnnis, nor did I, to my knowledge, ever see
his person until the time of his.examitiatton in the
Castle cf Chester. My connection with Harrison was
by means of his employing me as an assitant in
his school, in which situation I remained only six
weeks. Yopr Lordship has said that the innocent
man has nothing to fear. I say now, as .I have
said before, I am not afraid of the sentence which
you are about to pronounce upon me. I can face
my Gon, and with a clear conscience ; for I am in-
nocent of the crime laid to my charge. I ani ready
to die ; but if I die, I die innocent. I shall not be
affected by your sentence, my Lord -; it is the law,
and I will submit, I must submit to it. But I shall
appear with. confidence and composure before my
GOD ; and my sentiments will be found use same at
the hour of my death, if I am to die."
Bruce having concluded, sentence was given.
The CHI EF.JUST/CE.•••••se Jacob Mglnnis, and James
George Bruce, it now becomes the duty of the Court
to pass upon you that sentence which the law has
most properly provided for such climes as yours.
You, Jacob M'lnnis, who have just stated that all
;die Wee who have sworn against you have sworn
falsely, have beer convicted upon evidence as clear
as ever was adduced .in a Court of Justice. The
persons who have sworn falsely are the persons who
swore that you were a hundred yards distant from
Birch when the shot was fired, when you yourself,
since the verdict has been pronotinced, have acknow-
ledged that -you were the man by avhdm the crime
was committed ; and you: M'lnnis, stood by while
they swore, and heard them perjure themselves in •
the face of their GOD and of their country. You-
have confessed yourself to be the individual who
attempted to-murder Birch, an innocent man, who
was acting only in the discharge of his duty, and
who had never given, either to you or Bruce, the
smallest provocation ; you acknowledged this, not
with any symptoms of regret or remorse, but by a
bold avowal of your crime, as if you stood here not
to repent, but to justify and to boast of it. Your
conduct here tallies with the evidence of Pearson, as .
to the conversation ybu had with him in the place
called Gee's Field, when you said, I am the man
who shot Birch ; this .is the pistol that did it ; and
any man who informs shall have the contents of that
pistol, if I should come from America to do it:
Your case is one of assassination, a crime repugnant
to every English 'feeling ; and a more aggravated
case has seldom come before a Court of Justice.
" James George Bruce, you have been found guilty
of aiding and abetting in this heinous clime. You
have stated that you are innocent, and that you are
1 a moral person. The evidence has satisfied the Jury,
that, whatever your former conduct may have ben,
you are guilty of the charge
.adduced against you.
You have said that you are a schoolmaster. If we
are to judge from the conduct of which you stand
convicted, your schiSol must be a school for assassi-
nation, and your scholars would inevitably be 'in-
structed in such principles'as would lead them first
to crime, and eventually to punishment: The sen-
tence upon your crime is death ; and it is the firm
determination of the Judges of this Court that your
sentence, and that of M'lnnis, shill he carried into
execution on Saturday next—a period more early than
is usual. Prisoners, you have not long to live: the pe-
riod of your days is fixed ; and I would entreat of you
to pass the small remainder of your time in humble
prayer to the GREAT DISPOSER of all things, to
whom alone you now can look for pardon. In this
world the hopes of both are doted. The sentence of
the Court upon you both is, that you be taken from
hence to the place from whence you came, and from
thence to the place of execution, there to be hung
by the neck until you are dead ; abd the Lone have
mercy on your souls I"

Al4-Innis:—.4 Thank you, my Lord; k's a good
cure tor a tpirming in th'e head,"
'The pi isoners appeared quite unintwed by *a.m.
tcnce pronounced upon them. Bruce spoke aid con.

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• 46.

ducted himself altogether with the most peifect corn-
' -poiute. .His-langtrage and Manner were elegant. •
TiLIAL OF SIII\CTIARLES WOLSELEY, BART. AND
OF JOSEPH HARRISON, FOR SEDITION.
The Court was excessively crowded at an early
hour,- with the expectation of hearing this trial.—
Mr. of ale Oxford Circuit, attended to
conduct Sit-Charles Wolseley's defence ; Mr. PARK,
of the Northern Circuit, was with him. Mr. DENI-
SON,. of Liverpool, was his Attorney. Sir Charles,
who had arrived here on Saturday night, attended
early in Court.
After some felonies had been tried, the case was
called about eleven o'clock, and the following eight
Gentlemen of the Special Jury answeirdlo their names:
James Wilde, Eaq. Foreman. Edward Jones, Esq.
James Stanton, sq. W. H. Worthington, Esq:
Booth Grey, sq:. James Bailey, Esq.
William Worthington, Esq. George Eaton, Esq.
Mr. Barron, Atto.ruey-General for Chester, prayed
a tales.
James Allen, I Richard Woodfin, and
George Butts, I • John Banks,
Common• Jurors, were sworn, to complete a Jury.
, Mr. LLOYD' stated the indictment to be against Sir
Charles Wolseley, Bart. and Joseph Harrison, School-
master, on two grounds. The first count charged
that they had excited to tumult and insurrection, by
holding a'numerous Meeting on the 28th of July,
and addressing seditious words to them, calculated
to bring the CTovernment into hatred and contempt.
The second count charged, that they had agreed
together to stir up the- People to tumult and insur-
rection, and to excite hatred and contempt against
the Government.
Mr. BENYON rose on the part of the prosecution
No doubt, the Learned Gentleman said, the Jury
As-ere already as are that the present prosecution arose
out of one of those dangerous Meetings which had
been held in Cheshire, and the adjacent Counties,
during the last summer—Meetings which were cal.
enlaced to terrify the peaceable subjects of the realm,
and which had been headed, and principally pro-
Lioted by itinerant orators. The Jury, however, were
called upon—and from the knowledge which he,
(Hr. Benyon) had of many of them, he doubted not
that they would fulfil their duty. They were called
upon by their oaths to dismiss from their minds every
circumstance which they had previously heard upon
the subject, and to try the case upon the evidence,
and only upon the evidence, which would be adduced
before them. The two defendants, Sir axles Wolse-
ley and Mr. Harrison, were well known : the firA
was a Gentleman of estate in the County of Stafford,
and had inherited a considerable paternal property,.
together with the rank and tide of Baronet, which
had been conferred upon one of his ancestors in the
reign of Charles the First: the second defendant, Mr.
Harrison, had been, until lately, a stranger in the
County of Chester ; he was, the Learned Counsel be-
lieved, a Dissenting Minister ard a Schoolmaster.—
Upon the ‘2Sth of July last, a Public Meeting had
been announced at Stockport, and, previous to that
day, the residents in the nei4•hbouthood had been ad-
vised. that a Meeting was to take place for the real
or pretended purpese. of Petitioning for Reform in
Parliament. Upon the day appointed; a number of
persons, net less than five thousand, and, according
to the statement of one ef the defendants, amounting
nearly to ten thousand, assembled ; and it would be
found that, previous to that Meeting, Sir Charles
Wolseley and Mr. Harrison had been known to each
other, and that they had corresponded; and it would
b: 3110\71 that, upon the 28th July, they were in in-i
t.tr:ate conversation for at least an hour before the
Asseinbly took place. It would be • seen, therefore,
th ,c these defendants were not persons accidentally
cmin-,, together in consequence of the hand-bills
which had announced the M‘e-,ing, but that they
etme there together in consequence of a preconcerted
scheme. The Meeting was numerous, and was at-
tended by men who bad bludgeons in their hands :
those bludgeons were not merely carried for shew,
or for intimidation, but a Constable, whom they were
p:cased to call a spy, was nearly put to death by
some persons in the crowd. The Meeting in ques-
tion, the Learned Counsel would shew, had not been
a peaceable Meeting for the purpose of Petition. It
had bee:: attended by persons carrying banners, in-
scribed with the common cant terms of—" No Corn
Laws"—" Universal Suffrage"—" Annual Par:ia-
ments"—and " Voting by Ballot." At a particular
house a platform had been erected, upon which the
leaders mounted ; and the Jury would find the two
. defendants taking a leading part in tire ensuing trans-
actions. It having been previously agreed that Sir
Charles Wolseley, as a Gentleman of rank and pro-
. perty, should be called to the Chair, that individual
took. the Chair amidst the acclamations of the crowd;
he then opened the Meeting, and used the seditious
words imputed to him -by the present indictment.—
. Those who were concerned in prosecutions like the
present found great difficulty, the Learned Counsel -
continued, in bringing forward evidence, because no
prudent man would venture to attend suoh Assem-
blies ; but there had been some persons, upon the oc-
casion in question, whose curiosity had overcome
their prudence, and several perscns would be called
before the Jury, who would distinctly state to them ,
What had been said by Sir Charles Wolseley at the
onset of the business. He (Mr. Benyon) would not
state, word for word, the evidence which would be
given ; he would only shew the general effect of
what had passed.
Mr. PEARSON (Counsel for Sir Charles Wolseley)
requested that all:witnesses might be ordered to quit
the Court.
The CHIEF-JUSTICE.—" Let the witnesses on both
sides leave the Court ; and let notice be given, that
no witness who remains sbail be permitted to give
eiidence."—Proclamation to-that effect was made..
Mr. BEN7ON eontinued.—lle was about to state
to the 'Jury the erpressions used by Sir Charles
Wolseley, when he accepted the office of Chairman.
Sir Myles Wolseley had said, " that he was in
Paris' at the beginning of the Trench Revolution:
that he was the first man who made a kick at the
Bastile; and he expressed his hopes," and the Jury
would bear in what direction he then pointed, " that
he should be present at the demolition of another.
Bastile." He then abused the Ministers of the Crown,
and said that he could not find terms in which to
speak with sufficient detestation of them. He spoke
of spies, and said that.. he detested their employers,
Sidmouth and Castlereagrf. Hi-Said, that *here the
people were not represented, no allegiance was due;

taxl4oll was a robbery; sact Tr/stalls:4lo%l2e
*teat justifiable. A great deal More had been said;
but those were the principal points upon, which he
(the Learned Counsel) charged the defendant, Sir
Charles Wolseley, withthaviiig used seditious speeches
at this illegal Meeting, with a 'view. to bring into
hatred and contempt the Government and Constitu-
tion of the country ; language more calculated to
produce that effect could scvcely be conceived. Mr.
Harrison, the second defeedint, followed Sir Charles
Wolseley. He declared against " petitioning any
more, which hevelsidered degrading and humiliating.
There wouldiawk. a meeting (he said) of delegates
at Oldham, on-the-Monday following; at the Union-
room, for the purpose of establishing a National Con-
vention; and it would also be one of its duties to
devise farther meansfor extending and consolidating
the national waion.* The intimacy between the de-
fendants would .be clearly made out, and the Jury
would find that what was said by the one defendant
was adopted by the -other. This, indeed, would not
be necessary, nor -would it be necessary to prove the
intimacy, because the character of the Meeting would
sufficiently indicate, the intent with which the sedi-
tious expressions had been used. But he would shew,
and most fully, that the parties were acquainted.
The- first evidence upon this point would be, the
Learned Counsel said, a letter, written by Sir Charles
Wolseley a day or two after the Meeting, which
would prove that the deferldants had corresponded
previous to the Meeting. The letter was dated 30th
June, 1819, and was to the following effect Sir
Charles Wolseley begs to inform the Postmaster of
Stockport, that he much suspects that a- letter that
was written by the Rev. Mr. Harrison, and delivered
into his office on the 24th of June, before witnesses,
directed to Sir Charles Wolseley, and only arrived
to-day, has been knowingly delayed in his office, to
serve some corrupt purpose. Sir Charles Wolseley,
however, begs to say, that he would advise for the
future that no such delays take place; for he has
taken such measures as will ensure him the proof:
whenever Sir Charles, for the future, Shall think pro-
per to write to Stockport, he means to seal the letter
with his own arms, which cannot be counterfeited,
and, if broker, open, it is a felony. He thiuks,pro-
per to say thus much, as Mr. Harrison told him a
letter had arrived a day or two ago, that had been
broken open by some one, and it might as Well have
I been his or any body's else."
To Sir Charles Wolseley's letter, the answer of the
Postmaster was this :
Sta—ln reply to you letter of the 30th Jane, received yes-
terday, I beg to say, that no letters belonging to any persons
whatever have evet been detained or opened in this Office ; nei-
Ither has any one ever presumed, directly or indirectly, to re-
quire of me so gross a breech of my duty. lam proud to say,
that I am in a service where such base compliances never are
required."
This evidence proved, the Learned Counsel conti-
nued, that a letter had been written to Sir Charles
Wolseley by Mr. Harriion four days before the Meet-
ing. If any one should be of opinion that no sediti-
ous words had been employed.by Harrison,-till the
participation would be sufficient. He would nate.
however, leave the ease to rest upon grounds so
slight: a letter should be read to the Jury, written
by Harrison to a man named Bagueley, now suffer-
ing imprisonment in Chester Jail for a similar of-'
fence to that with which he himself stood charged,
two days after the Meeting of the 28th July. Bague
ley's conduct in prison had been so bad, that it had
been thought advisable to open his letters. The
letter was this :
" hir DEAR Fairno—l should have written yesterday, but
there is so much hurry and bustle attends a public Meeting, that
some time elapses before there is an opportunity of engaging in
private business; but I trust you will have the letter as soon as
if it had come yesterday, only posting them at Manchester often
prevents the postage from being paid. Our Meeting on Man-
day was by far the most numerous we have !pd. We had the
honour of Sir Charles Wolseley for Chairman. Mr. Lewis,
front Coventry, was with him; and Mr. Goodman, from Bir-
minghani or Warwick, I forget which. The Resolutions were
the same as those at Ashton, but rather stronger; and the ap-
peal to the nation the best that has been made. Our flag," Uni-
versal Suffrage," " Annual Parliainet;ts," " Election by Bal-
lot," and, the other side, " No Corn Laws ;" over which was
placed the Cap of Liberty. Toe principal speakers were Mr.
Lewis, Fitton, Saxton, Knight, sal', two sailors. and one sal.
dier. Great threatening!, bad been made to take the Cap, and
many loyal souls had vowed and sworn to bear it off in triumph ;
but no blackfaces. no besonis, no dandies, no military, at-
tempted to pat the resolution in force. We met peaceably,
stayed peaceably, and peaceably parted. Upwards of siuo sat
down to a good ethnics in the Union Rooms. Sir •C.-Wolseley ho-
noured us with his company until neatly nine o'clock; and then,
amidst the cheers of 10,000, rude off with Mr. Johnston to
Manchester. Messrs. Goodman and Lewis ac' ompanied him.
You will have a full account in the Paper of Saturday next. I
ant afraid Wardle will not be able to carry on. lie only printed
fiity last week, owing to his stamps not being 'arrived, which
will give him a check that be will not easily recover ; and there-.
fore, perhaps, it may be as well at present to continue the Paper
you have. It is the wish of yourjriends that you would now
and then furnish Wooler with an article direct; and that you
would publish the evidence in your faiour at your trial; at least
some 01 the principal parts of it. ,It may easily be Introduced
into a letter to Wooler or Sherwin, as the affidavits of die wit-
nesses. As scion as you have leisure, I wish you to write a po.
litical dialogue between Bagueley, Drummond.. and Johnston.
This method of writing alwa}s arrests the attention, and .ells
well. It will be the means of increasing the funds, as many
would buy a Paper who would not give a penny. The weavers
are the bast givers ;•.but, alas! they-have nothing to give now.
As the cause of Reform advances, it becomes more and more
expensive, and the meansmore and more circurnsesibed ;
Cote the greatest exertions must be made to altain a sufficient I
support tor those in a state 'of confinement. Inclosed, as usual,:
are two pounds."
—After this, the Learned Gentleman continued, it
would scarcely be said that Harrison was not impli-
cated in the transactions of 28th July. How far the'
evidence would bring home to • the. defendants, or
either of them—indeed, if it did to one, it must. to
both—the charge which was alleged against them it ,
would be for the Jury to determine. As to the se-
ditious language, there could be no doubt; the Jury
would judge of the intention, and of the tumultuous
meeting. If any words more strongly tending to
bring the Government and the Constitution into con-
tempt and hatred could be used, he (Mr. Benyon)
was at a los's to know what those words were. It
would, perhaps, be stated by Mr. Pearson, the Learn-
ed Counsel-for the .defendant, that the Meeting
ns
questionwas. a peaceable Meeting, for the purpose of
petition ; but 'it would be shown to the Jury that Mr.
Harrison had expressly disavowed any intention to
petition. The right of peaceably meeting. together%
for the purpose of petitioning the Sovereiga or the
Legislature against grievances, either real or sup-
posed, was the right, the birthright of Englishmen,
and HEAVEN forbid that he (Mr..Benyon) should
stand before the-July to deny that right. There.wns,
no impropriety in a anaceable Meeting, t the pur-.
pose of seeking Reform in Parliament, but the Meet-

. ; *,

.0

1 ,

ing at Stockpot* had not been a Meting of
rater. The language, the conduct, the sviawm
signia of that Meeting sheaved that the purpose was
not- petition, but intimidation. One of the banners
used upon that occasion bore the inscription-4, No
Corn Laws." Opinions Upon that subject were va-*
rious. There were many persons of character and
information who disapproved of those laws. He
(Mr. Benyon) was not of their opinion, and probably
the Jury would be in the same situation ; but no one
would assert that there was any impropriety in peace-
ably meeting to petition for the repeal of those laws.
It was the character, the- tumultuous and seditious
character, of the Stockport Meeting which the Learn-.
ed Counsel protested against. There were men of
character in the country, who thought- Reform in
Barliament desirable; but the conduct of the Meet-
of the 28th July had been calculated not for the
reform of the British Constitution, but for the sub-
version
of it. The Learned Counsel would say, no
more, at that time, to the Jury, as he should proba-
bly, in the course of a few hours, have an opportu-
nity of addressing them again.
John Kenyou Winterbottom, examined by )Ir. Sedeant
Caoss, said, he was a solicitor in Stockport. He saw a Public
Meeting in the town of Stockport, between one and two o'clock
on the 28th of July last. He attended in a building (a Sunday
school), near the Meeting. The place is called Sandy Brow.
He should think there were four or five thousand assembled.
He was not so near as to observe whether they were strangers
or inhabitants. They were quiet at first. Most of them had
sticks, which appeared to have been newly cut from hedges'.
They were not walking-sticks. The population is upwards of
twenty thousand. There were hustings, or a scaffold. Several
persons were on the scaffold. Sir (Atari:3 was pointed out to
him as one : he knew Mr. Harrison, and saw him there. Mr.
Harrison taught a school there. Sir Charles had no connexion,
that he knew, with Stockport. The first thing he observed was
a hissing by the whole multitude. The next thing he observed
was passing some Resolutions. There was a Chairman—he be-
lieved, Sir Charles Wolseley. Tale should think they had some
persons of common sense in Stockport, who could act as Chair-
man; that there was no necessity for sending for Sir Charles;
he heard all indistinctly ; he only heard Sir Charles say, on pass-
ing the Resolutions, " unanimous;" he was in an upper room,
about one hundred yards from the scaffold. The people held
up their hands; he saw them hold up their sticks, and conjec-
tured it was on account of the noise made by playing on an or-
gan. He was there to see, not to take a part ;he saw no re-
spectable inhabitant of Stockport among them ; at the time. he
I did feel perfectly secure, and entertained no apprehension for
peace or property lie continued to feel that confidence through-
out the day. Ile conceived that if they continued together till
night it would be dangerous. He heard Harrison say-7" The
House of Commons were the people's servants ; that it was as
absurd to petition them as it would be for a master to petition
his groom for his horse. He said that there was a barrier be-
tween the Throne and the People, which must be removed,
either by force from heaven or hell, in order that they might see
whether a man or a pig was upon the throne !" Ile thought
there was laughter. She expression of derision was general.—
Harrison said, " The united will of the people was sure to pre-
Vail. It was an axiom that could not be confuted. It might
be necessary, in some cases, to petition the House of Lot ds,
who were, by the Constitution, placed in a differeut situation to
the House of Commons; but, in the resent corrupt state of
firings, it was useless, -and he would not recommend it." He
did not remember anything else. The discourse was certainly
received with applause. Sir Charles Wolseley was on the same
stage, not two yards from Harrison.
Cross-examined by -Mr. PEARSON...4Ie was perhaps kits, per.
paps more, than 100 yards distant. There were women, about
100 or 200. Perhaps there were children, he did not see any.
He would not say that there were not many children playing on
the side on which he was. When he spoke of sticks, he meant
that the whole Meeting had stinks. The sticks were held tip
only once. He could not take upon himself to say, looking at a
meeting of 5,000, what proportion held up sticks. He lived
with his father and sister. They had not been removed from
the town on that day; no old or feeble person had been re-
moved ; no shop had been shut ; no alarm was expressed. The
organ was in the room in which he was. He did not know
that a Chairman had been sent for. He had not a remarkable
memory ;he was not Accustomed to attend Meetings. His at-
tention was not particularly called to Mt. Harrison. He heard
Mm very distinctly.
Here Mr. PLAZA'S( read .a speech of Mr. Harrison's from a
newspaper, and asked the witness to repeat it after him.
Mr. Serjeant MARSHALL said, it was not proper to read that.
Mr. PEARSON said, he would have taken any other piece of
writing as soon.. His object was to try the witness's memory.
Witness said, he could not repeat it. He saw nothing in the
laugh to distinguish it as ridicule. He beard all the speakers,
but none of them distinctly, except Mr. Harrison.
Cross-examined by Mr. Harrison.—lle took notes that day;
he had not got them now. The expression "indistinctly" ap-
plied to others; he heard Mr. Harrison-distinctly. Mr. Har-
rison was one of the whole—a prominent one. He did not hear
Mr. Lewis ; he thought he did not attend to him, he had
heard enough. He had thought Mr. Harrison spoke figuratively,
but did not understand his figures. He thought the word pig
was mentioned to excite contempt of the Throne and King. He
had read in a quotation that Mr. Burke had called the people
the swinish multitude. lie had heard that a teacher in that
school had said to the poor boys, if they attempted to be rich,
they would ride in their coaches like pigs.
Rezexamined.—Willan, Lewis, Fitton, and Knight, were
there—none sf them inhabitants of Stockport.
Thomas Bolton examined by. Mr. As-owns:rm.—Lived in
Stockport. He saw numbers of country people coming into the
town on the 28th of July. He was lately from London ; he
had heen eleven months in Stockport. He thought those that
passed his house were country people. They had nothing more
than -usuaL Some hid walking-sticks, and were walking with
them. He was at the Meeting. He had before seen Sir Charles
Wolseley go up John-street, directly towards Sandy Brow. A
young Gertlentan named Lewis walked arm in arm with him.
Ile raw a flag at the Meeting; on one wide was " No Coin
Bill," on the other " Universal Suffrage, and Vote ,by Ballot."
He bad seen k first furled, and when Si; Charles arrived it was
lowered. He was first thirty yards from the hustings, and he
thee got within ten yards. He knew the Rev. Mr. Harrison,
Winton Faton,• Knight, and Johnson, whom he saw on the
hustings with Sir Charles Wolseley. Mr— Harrison at one time
stood neat to Sir Charles. Both appeared to bear past in a cons
isonation that was going on. Sir Charles, on his arrival, was
received with loud huzzu. Great numbers of the people were
townsmen . be saw no unusual sticks ; they were not more nu-
merous about the hustings than he should have expected. He
!food amongst the crewel, and gained high ground when he
could. He saw no chair. The first attention be paid was to
Sir Charles : be heard what he said. He made- a minute about
-an hour after, and could state that Sir Charles had said what he
had there noted. [He was allowed to read it.] " He was happy in
addressing the people of Stockport from Sandy Brow; it was a
place consecrated to liberty by the absence of friends he would
have been b'.ppy to meet there ; and he trusted Sandy Brow
would be more famed in history than the field of "Waterloo.
Was there a peace-officer present, he trusted they came to keep
the peace, and not to break it. But was there any of your
spies, your note-taking, or black-book gentry, tell your em-
ployers, the tools of a Castlereagh and Sidmouth, that I bate
them—that I detest them—that I eternally Execrate them. He
was proud to any, that he was at the taking of the &stile he
France—he should be happy to be at the taking of a Bastile in
England I" (He saw nothing but the action of speaking with
force and energy). '1 And.were all hearts but as firm in the
cause as his own, they would soon put an end to the present
tyranny and corruption." He heard Mr. Harrison, but took no
note of it, and now recollected riethint of it. Before he had
gone to the Meeting, he saw sk man taken to a druggist's shop,
-with his head broken, and blood flowing down his cheeks.
Cross-examined by Mr. Nov.—The man had been wounded
before sir- Charles came to the Meeting. He was a cotton-
broker. He felt. not the least alarm. He remained at the
.Meeting two-hours. The Meeting dispersed quietly. He had
put down only a said! Ott of his speech. It was not all ut-
tered in the same continuous way. His address was generally
to the people to peaceable. At the tirue the Cap of Liberty
wasput on the flag, Sir Charles turned round, and said some-
thing he did not hear. There was a demur. The Cap of Liberty
.was then hoisted.. .
John Johnson estrus-mei 4101 r. wu.Leine,—seht be 'yeas a

•

besialfVeyor, at Stockport. He *as at the *lading before fir
Wolseley appeared. Mr. Harrison was there when r e
up. He bad witnessed the collection of the people. lie
.wens in the centre, and could form no judgment of the number.
There was nothing done tin Sir Charles caste. As soon as Sir
Charles got on, be began to speak. Sir Charles *as appointed
to the Chair. Witness heard him proposed. Sir Charles began
to speak immediately. Witness was about six yards from him.
Sir Charles said he was the first at the taking of the Bettile in
France, and he hoped he should be at the demolition of the
Bastile in Ibiza ebuntry soon, pointing his hand north- (est. lie
said they should be firm and united, for in a few weeks the
struggle would be made and ended. The place they stood nu
was sacred, for there they had defeated their enemies. Sr
Charles said a good deal more, which he did not recollect. r.
Harrison stood next to Sir Charles, and spoke, and said they
wanted to get to the Throne is order to see whether. there was
a pig or a man on it ! and if there were ten thousand waist be-
twixt them, they would blow them up either to heaven or to
hell ! The expression about the pig, and that of the walls, eels
received by acclamatiolfse Sir Clarks was next to hit.
sun while he spoke,
Cross-examined by Mr. Peastsove--The first account of this
he gave to George Bullock, about a fortnight ago. He never
mentioned it to his father or brother. George Bullock v:of
here ;he was xon of a man with whom he lodg:d. Here the
witness repeated most faithfully, word for al ord, the same ex-t
pressions of Sir Charles which he had given in ci.i:f. He
'thought of those expressions when he heard of the trial to come
on at the Assizes. He did not remember the order in which
the speakers addressed the people. Sir Charles Wols::ley spoke
twice ; be did not. know whether the whole he mentioned %WS
spoken at once.

by Mr. Harrison.—George Bullock T72a bi
bed-fellow, and was now a prisoner here for felony, in which
witness had no hand. _ _ _

Thomas Welsh examined by Mr. Dices".
Mr. Peaeson requested to have Johnson called back, aed
asked whether he had not been convicted on a charge of th't
vet), felony which had been alluded to ? This was orderee,.—
He was in the New Bailey priaoa fo: the same felony. He v..z.s
not a witness against Bullock.
By Mr. WII.U.A)II.—Iie was discharged on the hearing before
the Magistrate.
Thomas Welsh, a clerk to Mr. Harrop, in Manchester, lens
twenty yards distant from the hustings, and heard Harrison read
a letter. He made a few r.etes in the evening, on bis retu:a
home ; the paper he now held was not the same. He had wi
ten loose notes, which he had embodied in this paper, and then
destroyed the former.
Mr. Prestos, objected to this paper, as not purporting tc I•e
even a copy of the notes. His memory might as well be re-
freshed by any newspaper of the time. •
Mr. P. 4.1.1 argued the same ribjection.
Witness, in answer to the Court, said this paper bad been
written a month atter the Meeting.
Mr. lizatrox contended that the paper was admissible to re-
fresh his memory, but declined to press it.
The Cismv-Jusrace said, it was the same as if a note had
been made a month after the occcasion.
Serjeant 111.easnau. thought it dangerous to allow thispaper.
Witness desired to trust entirely to his recollection.;_said tha
Mr. Harrison had read front a letter that the Wiry had in-
tended man for happiness, and provided a sufficiency of all pled
things to make him so; but as the majority of that Meeting WNI
extremely unhappy and miserable, and rendered so by their
rulers, the intentions of the DOTY bad beep frustrated, and re- ,
hellion against that Government became almost a duty. Sir C.
Walseley was net there at the dine. lie did not recollect any
thing further Mr. Harrison said. Sir Charles arrivtal while
Mr. Harrison was reading, who then ceased. Sir Clarks wit;
proposed to the Chair, he thought by Mr. Harrison. lie be-
lieved they shook hands. Sir Charles thanked them for the ho-
nour done him; he was no orator, but a determined friend of
the People, and a friend to Annual Parliaments and Universal
Suffrage, and if any spies or informers were hearing him, let
them tell their Castlereaghs and their Sidmoutbs, and the others
who employed them, that he abhorred and execrated them and
their proceedings. There was much applause. Sir Charles
read the Resolutions, and put them to the Meeting. One of the
Resolutions was, that Lord Sidmouth had been guilty of High
Treason! Another was, that a General Meeting of Delegates
should be held at Oldham, or other places,to be agreed uEon.
Mr. PILARBON objected to parol evidence of written ReSOlll-
- The objection was overruled.
Another Resolution was, that a subscription should be entered
into to defray the expense of prosecuting his Majesty's Minis-
ters. The Resolutions were put separately. He did not recol-
lect who read them. All the Resolutions were apeedao. Sir
Charles afterwards said, that he was a most determinedifriend
of the People, and should rennin so while there eves a drop of
blood in his heart; his political career had cOmmenced in France,
and he was' one of the first who mounted the ramparts at the
taking of the Bastile io that country, and he would not shrink
from attacking the Bastiles in this country. Willan spoke is
slow that he could not hear him, and Johnson read a very dull
speech. A person in a sailor's thew had nteatioated a panic that
had taken place, and said stick conduct would not do when they
met at Oldham; he then said they would soon minim Commo-
dore Sidmouth and his crew! One of the flags was surmounted
with a sap' of liberty. Mr. Harrison recapitulated the speeches,
and said a Deputation from the Delegates should present their
Petition to the Throne, and remove all impediment, fur they
did not know whether there was a man or a pig there I •As
Ministers, Mr. Harrison added, had screened themselves with a
Bill of indemnity, this Meeting would indemnify the speakers,
in case anything seditious had been said. This was carried with
cries of " We do, we do."
Cross-examined by Mr. Patx.---the Meeting dispersed
quietly at four o'clock. He was at the Meeting quite undis-
turbed all the time. He would have thought it troublesome to
carry the sticks; they might have thought otherwise. He felt
no alarm. He was sent to watch the Meeting by Mr. Harrop,
'publisher of a Newspaper in Manchester. His memory might
he assisted by the paper, and he would not'teke upon himself to
swear with accuracy to the expressions. He did not recollect
Sir Charles calling upon every one to assist in keeping the peace.
To the best of his belief, be thought Sir Charles did not read the
Resolutions. He believed the Resolution was, that as the Stew-
ards of the Crown were amenable to the law, a subscription
should be recommended (or enforcing the law. He did ndt be-
lieve they were so silly as to recommeed a General Meeting of
the Nation at Oldham. It was a General Meeting that was
proposed so be held there. Johnson read a legal speech, and it
was very dull. He *quoted several Statutes. At could net say
whether there was more than one Sag. •
Re-examined in chief.—He did not think it safe to hold up
his band against the Resolutions. He saw sticks held rep; be
thought in defiance ci the soldiers, an alarm having been occa-
sioned by a report that they were coming, and some of the peo-
ple having at first given way. A great shout announced that Sir
Charles was coming.
Re-examined by Mr. Peae.-e-lie saw no troops there at all.
After the supposed alarm, be remained on the-pound and felt
no danger.
Edward Shawcroft examined by Mr. Leoes.—Was at Stock-
port on the eath July, and at the Meeting. As soon as he at-
t rived on the ground, Collier, a Police-officer, was knocked
down. They said he was a spy, and they would do all the rest
so. Sir Charles Wolseley was not there then, and Witness did
no take notice whether Mr. Harrison was there. Sir Charles
Wolseley said that he.began his military career--(he was not
sure of " military," but he said some career. He took notes,
but gave them up to a person in Manchester, who could not
find them.) Sir Charles said, he had been at the taking of the
Bastile in France, and be hoped soon to be at the taking of the
Bastiles in this country.
Cross-examined by Mr. Paaasox.—He was there assisting
his father, who was clerk to the Police. He thought military,
warlike, or martial, was the word used, or to that effect.
John Staively Barrett, a constable at Stockport, saw Sir
Charles Wolseley half an hour before he went to the Meeting,
with Parson Harrison, near the Union-rooms. They appeared
to be acquainted. He was at the Meeting as a spectator—he
was well known to be a constable. Sir Charles Wolseley said,
he had began his political career at the beginning of the Revolu-
tion in France, and at the taking of the Bastile, and had no ob-
jection to be so in this country. There was a cry that the ad-.
diva were coming, and Sir Charles called upon the populace to
be firm. They held up the sticks. They were not walking-
.sticks, but pieces of peeled oak. He heard persons from the
Parish of Romilly, and whom he afterwards saw at the Meet-
ing, say in a public-house, that they wished the Cavalry would
came that day, for they were prepared for them; Sir Charles
Wolseley was their friend, and many other Gentlemen would
soon join them.
• Cross-examined by Mr. Papa.—lle knew two or three of
the men 'in the public-house,- and had had one of them in cus-
tody a short time before, and they knew him to be a coostabte,

ri-
to

of
ar
114

• :iewthing lie krevt. Ile did not hear Sir Charles desire them
keca the pep.ce, mid be &honk' have beard Alia he• had said
lie did not hear the beginning of his speech. The .11astile
• re:ntioned a abort time before he save over speaking., Pile
here said, unasked; I saw one nun who bad a pistol in
e. 3 paeket.]
)Ir. llarrison.”--How did you know ? Witness.—l saw the
liarrison.—Was it not the handle of a knife, or or a tin.
witnuis.,No; I know the handle of a pistol well. -
I:3omas Cartwright, a mercer and draper in Stockport, saw
-4(e.., from Ashton come to the Meeting with s:icks fresh cut
apt trees. The hark was peeled off, and some had knobs. Tile
r:zi certainly -truck with some apprehension and fear. lie went,
con,equence, to :Ir. Lloyd's office, and represented the dr-
t:aisz.e:yes. lie went then to the Meeting, and saw many of
• forni,ited with sticks. Several
.Meetings of the same kind a
y_d been there. lie did uce discover female or a child amongst
faere, excepting on the charade. Ile thought the first teeing he
bard Sir Charles :Jay war, " Three hisses to the prosecutors of
:Sagueley, Drtummond, and 3oliusun." Three hisses followed.
moic p_rsons had attended former Meetings there, and were
:,ere pas:nut:3l for consiiiracy. As an individual, he did not
tiiink the eTtct very agreeable. He thought, when inflamed
by lief •;,:eches which they had been aecestomed to hear made
• ,)Cll :4C:3,i,1!15, the coLse.piences might be serious.
weapons were Liu:. branches of oak
very I.trga:blughs. Ile saw a great many hundreds of them.
-Lae hi,ses were given, but he could not hear Sir Charles call
icon them to give hisses. Ile saw a Gentleman .come forward
and give directions for hilses. It was the person pointed out
to lam Sir Charles Welseley. No doubt any women or chil-
dren on the outside, would stand between the Cavalry-and the
people. There were no Cavalry.
MY. Para applied to have Mr. Barrett called back, to ask
tart resptetinz . an expression which he was stated to. have used
t.:t:r he had left the box, and which might, perhaps, give a cha-
r:et...l- to his evidence.

postpo.:el the point at present.
Palph postmaster of Stockport.—Produces

Dlr. John Lloyd looks at the letter, and believes it to be the
LTA-writing of Sir Citifies Wolseley.
The letter oT the .50th of June, front E-ir Charles Weiseley to
:he postmaster of Stockport, given try Zdr. Benyon in his open-
t:.g, 21:d that froin Mattson to Baueley, also Liven by Mr.

Eenyon, re..d.
Aaron Collyer.—Belongs to the Pollee at Manchester, and
was sent to watch the •:ectirg at S!ockpert. Arrived between
twelve and one in the day ; r great many people were. there,
;411 more ware nnit,::. Saw the hustin,,,-s put ty. D.d not
then see S.r Ch:aks Wolseley. Does not know Harrison. Was
s:-:ding rathur no the outside of the crowd. Some one said,
:cat is a NO. runner from l'ilanches:er. Witness took no
rocs , and walked or. abtrat ten yards, when he waa struck
wi:h a s:ick or something. As ho was gob; away belme the
Easy, h•_ heard snme or•.e saying he was come as a spy. Was
ht the head audknocketldown; was stunned ; and the next
Ldog he rememuers is lindias himself in a house, and a woman
wasiung the wocnd.
Couss-examitte.l.—As be came from Marthester to Stock-
Fn-; e:.l not seara.b any person. Did not take notice wilo said,
that is a Nadin's riinner. Saw no one upon the hustino.
Here the case for the prosecution closed.
Mr. PZAP.SON said, that it was now his duty to ad-
dress tlle J:.ry on behalf of Sir Charles \Volseley,
and on behalf of Sir Charles Wolseley only: and in
err in.lance, the Learned Counsel said, had he ever
risen to addrzss a Jury with nose ernbairassmcnt
and anxiety. Not that he had any doubts that the
merits of his ease must inevitably lead to the acquit-
tal of hi. cheat; kit he could not but recollect how
long that case lia.l Icon before the Public; he could
not forget that, dltring several months, that case had
been cauvatsLd in Ne;fsa-apers, and discussed in pri-
vate parties; the Jury would have heard such'con-
♦ersations, nay, they would probably have borne a.
part in them; they would have heard assertions made
where no contradiction could be offered ; and they

had heard circumstances stated as facts, for which,
in all probability, there had been little or no founda-
tion. He (Mr. Pearson) rejoiced that his client at
last stood in a situation in which he would have an
opportunity of clearing his character,-and justifying
himself to the world. Every word which he (the
Learned Counsel) uttered would be laid before that
Public, who would form their own opinion upon the
subject—who would re-judge, if the expression might
be allowed, the judgment of the present day. Ile
was confident in the understanding, the education,
and the integrity of the Gentlemen before whom he
stood ; but he would tell them that they had need
of all their integrity, all their education, and all their
understanding, to guard against the effects of those
conversations to which lit had alluded—effects the
more dangerous because they were imperceptible
even to the parties themselves. The question before
the Jury was not a political question, nor was a poli-
tical dissertation from him (Mr. Pearson) tobbe ex-
pected. In a Court ef Justice, in the Sanctuary of
the Law, the voice of party should be for ever silent;
and he conjured the Jury to consider that, if it was
incumbent upon him (the Learned Counsel) to abstain
from obtruding upon the Jury any political discus-
sion, it was still more incumbent upon the Jury to
guard their minds from the slightest shade of poli-
tical bias. The
_whole question which it was the
duty of the Jury to decide, was strictly of a legal,
and not at all of a political nature. It had been
opened with die greatest candour by his Learned
FA:id, the Attoi ney-General; and, ire the course
of his opening, that Learned Gentleman had stated
that there were two counts in the indictment; one
charging the defendants 'A ith assembling unlaw-
fully, for the pUrpme of disturbing the public peace,
and for acts afterwards; and the other charging a
•
conspiracy with the second defendant, Mr. Harrison.
The charge of conspiracy, the Learned Counsel
thought, scarce deserved an argument ; it had been,
by the evidence for the prosecution, completely dis-
proved; and he was only astonished that his Learned
Eiend had not long since abandoned that charge,
and confessed that his ground had mouldered beneath
his feet. A conspiracy, forsooth, between two men
who had not been proved to have met until a few
niorneats before the time at which their offence was
alleged to have been committed ! It had appeared,
he was free to admit, that some degree of acquaint-
ance had subsisted between Sir Charles Wolseley and
Mr. Harrison, previous to the day of the Stockport
Meeting. And what degree of acquaintance? A
itness had sworn that they spoke in the street ; but
that witness had been unable to speak to the subject
of their conversation. His Learned Friend had not
confined himself', in his observations, to the trial which
Zees at present before the Court; and perhaps he
(Mr. Pearson) might be allowed to allude for a
moment to a trial which had recently taken ylace—
a trial, upon which one of the most impartialludges
taat the country had ever produced had for many
days presided. That Learned Judge (Mr. Justice
Ilayley) ha.l observed, that the defendants were not
to be found guilty of conspiracy, although
Ler weie pursuing the same end, unless the Jury
eie cf opinion that they were acting in pur-
s,;,t;ice of a common design, with the privity of all.
V•;ore had there been a word of evidence to chew
tlig' a design had been laid by Mr. Eitriison, iu con,

•...

cert with Sir Charles Wolseley? Not one syllable
of such-evidence bad been given. That the defend-
ants had pursued the same end, would not be denied;
but there was the . authority of Mr. Justice Bayley
for stating, that the mere fact of pursuing the same
end, unaccompanied by proof that they had origin-
ally laid the same plan, did not, by the law of Eng-
land, amount to a conspiracy. To prove the existence
of such a plan not one tittle of evidence • had been
given. But his Learned Friend (Mr. Benyon) had put
in a letter which he said would fully prow that fact;
and truly a notable letter it was. It was a letter from
Sir Charles Wolseley; dated two days after the. Meet-
ing was over ; and it referred to a letter from Mr.
Harrison upon some Subject or other, which letter,
at the time of the Meeting, Sir Charles Welseley bad
not received. Suppose, of which there was no proof,
that the letter from Mr. Harrison had been an invi-
tation to Sir Charles Wolseley to attend the Meeting
of the 23th of June, it had been shewn, even by the
evidence of the other side, that upon that day of
Meeting the letter had not been received. The whole
charge of conspiracy was gone;. and it would be
wasting the time of the Jury to argue it farther. The
other part of the indictment would depend entirely
upon the question, whether the Meeting of the 28th
was a legal or an illegal Meeting ? and to such a
question the Learned Counsel felt assured the Jury
could return but one answer. Upon that question he
would refer the Jury, not to the opinions of Lambert
and of Hale, although the opinions of those high au-
thorities would be most favourable to the defend,
ant; but be would refer them at once to the opinion
of Mr. Seijeant Hawkins, who had been declared by
the same Learned Judge to whom he had before al-
luded to. be the' best waiter upon the subject. The
opinion of Mr. Serjeant Hawkins was this—" That
any Meeting of a number of People, under circum
stances to create fears and jealousies in the minds of
the King's subjects, is an illegal Meeting." Those
were the words of Mr. Serjeant
.Hawkins, and what
did those words prove ? That it was not numbers
which would constitute an illegal Meeting ; there
must be circumstances, and strong circumstances, to
excite the fears and jealousies of the King's subjects.
It would be for the Jury to say whether there had
been any such circumstances attending the Meeting
at Stockport, and whether Sir Charles had attempted
to convene :a Meeting of such a description? The num-
bers attening that Meeting were unimportant ; and
he, the Learned. Counsel, would go at once to the con-
duct and to the language employed by that Meeting.
—What then were the Resolutinns which had been
passed at that Meeting ? 'lie (Mr. Pearson) would
venture to declare, that even from the partial detail
of those Resolutions which had been given by the
witnesses for the prosecution, nothing would appear
by which his client could be affected. It appearet
that, on a former occasion, a Petition had been sent
to the Prince Regent, which they conceived had been
prevented 'firm reaching his hands by a barrier in-
terposed by a Minister of 'State. It was natural to
feel anxious to prevent such a recurrence. They met
for Reform. In order to .carry their object into ef-
fect, the witnesses had told them that there was
be a Meeting of the Nation at Oldham to appoint
Delegates. Of Reform, whatever might be his opi-
nion, he would here say nothing. It was a legitimate
topic of discussion. It had formed a material topic
of political writers at various periods, ever since the
Revolution, and the wisest and best Statesmen had
endeavoured to effect it. Need he refer to Locke and
Bolingbroke, to Fox and Pitt? It was surely too
late of the day to make it necessary to argue that
Reform was a legitimate object of Meeting and Pe-
titioning. Universal Suffrage certainly seemed of
-all chimerical projects the mostchimerical ; but still,
it was not unlawful to discuss it and to Petition either
House of Parliament, or the Sovereign,.or, if the Pe-1
tition was refused, to remonstrate boldly, but respect.
fully. NVhere was the limit to Petitioning ? What-
ever Parliament could grant, the People could Petition ,
against, and they had a right to give force to their
dividual opinions by meeting and uniting their wishes.
He could not think of wasting their time by remark--
ing upon the absurd evidence that all the people of 1,
this great empire were to be assembled at Oldham.
That it had been seriously urged for the prosecution
was singular in judicial proceedings. It was beyond
everything in real life, -beyond everything in comic
action. The wildest of wild romances had nothing
like it. The flamers of memory and mathematical!
carving of meat in Gulliver's Travels, were not com-
parable to this: and the alarm of the inhabitants of
the Flying Island, that this earth would be destroyed
by the tail of a comet, was as reasonable as any
alarm for this Wild speculation of a national Meets;
ing at Oldham ! Say that they were to be delegates
who met. He needed not to tell them that that would''
not be unlawful. Need he to remind them, that it
Meeting of Delegates was held in London, among
whom was Dr. Jebb, Sir William Jones, r. Pitt,
Mr. Fox, the Lennozes, the Cavendishes, and the
Howards ? They were not prosecuted by the Attor-
ney4..;eneral. Why, then, should a Meeting in
Cheshire be thus visited? But such a Meeting would
not have been illegal. But if they had the dictum of
a Judge, which they had not, that it was illegal, still,,
.in the present case, it had, accirding to the evidence,
been only proposed. Then there. was a subscription
proposed for the prosecution of Ministers who had
violated the law ; but to the law, and the law only,
they applied. How•could this be a violation of the
public peace? Next, as to the conduct. of the
vaities 'at - the Meeting, there was notating illegal
in mere numbers. The Acts of the last Pasha.
merit were a distinct admission .that Meetings of
the kind were legal before. It had been laid
down by that upright and impartial Judge, Mr.
Justice Bayley, that if there were sixty thousand,
it was not, therefore, an unlawful assembly:—
Our ancestors justly conceived that the leave and
license of a Magistrate for a Public Meeting was net
the mude of raising the spirit and power of this coun-
try ; they knew it was the system in Italy and Spain,l
where even amusements were regulated by the Police ;
but they were aware that at Meetings men felt their
own importance, and they knew that men must feel
themselves important in their own eyes, before they
could become formidable to their enemies. Juries
might watch such Alcetings till they produced the
security of Italy, but with its security they would
produce its insignificancy, or they would reduce the
People to the necessity of rising, like the inhabitants.
of Spain, against the Government, at the hazard of
their lives. Here there had been none of the cir-
.. 4

_

t. .

cumstances proved to have ta/kin pace at the Meet-1
ing at. Manchester. If a Constable was hurt? .it
was before Sir Charles- came; even if ft were notb
how could he be answerable for that more than
for a pickpocket who might steal property in the
crowd ? Sticks for convenience, or even parade, were
not unlawful. If they were held up, so were hats.
Bat in no shape were- they connected with his client.
Why were not the men who were said to haie been
in the public-house, joined.with the defendanti in the
indictment? Did not Barrett give evidence with
the eagerness of a Police-officer—in such a manner
as to be unworthy of credit? But if they believed
him, he would again refer to that enlightened Judge
at York, who never suffered his mind to be biassed
on the judgment-seat by political opinions, and. tell
them, from his authority, that if six or ten did any-
thing unlawful at 'a Meeting, the Meeting or its
conductors were not answerable.. As to the cap of

liberty and the flag, they were aware that at York,
where such things ,were proved to have-existed to a
,much greater extent, Mr. Hunt was acquitted •on
every count,' similar to what they were trying at pre-
sent. Here he read the count on which Mr. Hunt had

been convicted,and called the attention of their Lord-
ships particularly to it. Perhaps the cap of liberty
was a bauble unworthy a the attention of men of
sense; but the multitude, men as well as children,
valued the symbol more than the thing signified,—
" Pleas'd with this bauble still as that before."
Of the rattles, titles, rosaries, or garters, mentioned
by the Poet, were they any more harmless than the
cap of liberty, originally emblematical of the manu-
mission of a slave, in England the symbol of liberty?
It had been used and abused in France, so had li-
berty. Heconld not suppose the Constitution of this
country could,- be destroyed, like a necromancer's
spell, by a breath, a hiss, cr a shout. What sedition
was there in hissing the prosecutors of Baguley and
others? They had not been tried, and ought to have
ben supposed innocent. But if it was improper, im-
propriety was, not destroying the public peace. The
informers, and not the King, were, in common lan-
guage, the prosecutors. Were they to be told in this
country that shouts and acclamations were not to be
suffered because they were offensive to delicate ears ?
Their ancestors thought, and wisely, far otherwise.
The Learned Counsel now adverted, a: length, to
Irthe speeches. If the Meeting was not illegal, the
speeches could not make it the Meeting described in
the indictment Seditious words might form a sub-
stantive crime, but it was not the crime before them.
If others used seditious words, Sir Charles Wolseley
was answerable only for his own words.- Here he
felt peculiar difficulty. Sir Charles Wolseley was a,
person of the highest honour and respectability; and
would not separate himself from a fellow-sufferer;
but he (Mr. Pearson) could not suffer considerations
of that kind to influence his conduct as his Counsel.
Mr. Harrison was here to deny, or explain, or prove
to be an idle joke, the allusion to an Illustrious Per-
son. Such expressions, he must say; were improper,
disgraceful, indecent, and mischievous. But Sir
Charles Wolseley was not answerable for. every ab-
surd remark made by others. The expression of.
" a struggle to be made and ended in a few weeks,"
if he could not contradict he might explain to al-
lude to the Meeting of Parliament, and the Bill of
Reform to be intrbduced. The Learned Gentle-
man then animadverted upon the manner in which
Johnson gave his evidence, and asked if they could,
as men of honour and understanding, believe him?
—The Bastile, it was evident, and he would prove,
had been mentioned only hypothetically; and Sir
Charles Welseley took no greater liberty in this re-
spect than Mr. Burke had done on the other side.
Sir Charles, in saying that he would assist in destroy-
ing similar buildings, if set up in this country, said
no more than every English Gentleman felt. Mr.
Burke had said, that our prisons were almost as
strong as Bastiles; yet none would say he wished for
Bastiles. He asked for the same indulgence for his
client which was given to-the elaborate and rounded
periods of Burke. Sir Charles Wolseley's fortune was
opulent, and affording the elegances and luxuries of,
lite ; his family, his rank, his wife and numerous
family, proved that he could not be influenced by
envy, or a desire to throw his property as a prize of
some desperate gambler in revolution. The Learned
Gentleman thanked the Jury for theinattention ; said
he felt the force of long intimacy, and that he might
have urged -upon them, the _consideration of Sir
Charles's 'wife and family, whom he (the Learned'
Counsel) tenderly loved. But Sir Charles desired
him to .meet the calumny contained against him in
the indictment in the face of day—to plead for. no.
thing—to urge no pleas of his family or liberty, or
his station in society ; but to meet the case upon its
merits. He had met it accordingly. He thanked
them, not so much on his own account, although a
stranger to -them, for their attention to him
.; but he
thanked them for bestowing their attention and un-
derstanding upon this case, important to the country
as well as to his client. He committed that client,
his liberty, his happiness, 'and the happiness of his
family, with most entire confidence into their hands:
Mr. Harrison began to address the Jury at four
n'clock,, and spoke nearly as follows:—" Gentlemen,
I stand before you in a very particular situation. I
was compelled, by force to plead to theindictment,
awl I pleaded Not Guilty. The cause was afterwards
removed to the Court of King's Bench, and as I
stand before you in the manner that I do, I think it
necessary to say a few things, perhaps a many things,
even for three or four hours. So 1 beg of you, Gen:-
tlemen, to exercise the greatest patience. And first,,
I must call your attention to the speech of Mr.
Marshall, one of the Judges on the Bench, as it seems
particularly addressed to my case, humble indivi-
dual as I am. (Here the defendant read the remarks
of the Learned Judge on the conduct of these des-
Tecate adventurers who were attempting to subvert
the Constitution of the country.') Whether it
tended to represent him as one, who, impatient of
industry, started from his obscurity with the diaboli•
cal object of overturning the Constitution of the
country, he,could not say, and of this it was for the
Jury to Jude. .When he (Harrison) began to ad-
vocate the principles of Reform, he was aware that he
risked incurring the displeasure of those who wished
to remain as they are.; but that risk he was deter-
mined to run, legally and constitutionally. He was
determined to act in strict conformity to those laws
under Which he had hitherto comfortably lived.—
He then; lead from the Judge's charge some pas-
sages, Alescribing it to be . the object of some

. .
' bisiciiiiiies to 'bring about •3 • singuinatal iiibilit:
Sion, in the hope of profiting by the plunder which
might be made in the confusion that might 'ailie.---a
This he considered at equal to coademntng 1 man
before:Alia!: If; however, he Must fall, it-shirald be '''' ~
by "...Wrice—he meant by the violence of his prose-
cutori, and so violent would the shock be, that the hi
.....
very earth would shake when he fell. He then no-
ticed
the indictment, which he called a sham docu:-
ment, which tied him and Sir Charles Wolseley hand- ' •
and' font together, to be cast—where?—why, into
Hell ! But for the remarks which had been made
by the Judge, ha thought he should hardly have had
anything to address to the Jury ; but now he would
defend himself to the utmost in the face of his coun-
try. It might be said, what was his country to him?
'He would answer, ' Every thing.' Should he be
torn ftom his affectionate partner, his country would
stretch out its arms to catch him when he fell, and
if torn from his lovely babes, his country would-pro=
tect them, and they would gain ten fathers for one.
For himself, he had endeavoured to the utmost to
stop the progress of irreligion,"by preaching the Goss-
PEI, of CHRIST. Doing tl is, .he .had perhaps been
guilty of ' going up and down the cormtry as a va-
ssabondizing Orator.' With thestrength of HEAVEN,
I shall now improve the opportunity affAled me, and
vindicate my character. I wish not for rapine, I
wish not for plunder : and however Reform may be
called 'a* nostrum,' I say, that whatever makes
knaves honest, and bad men good, must prove a
'service to the community. Reform would, I know,
in a great measure, effect these desirable objects. I
do not want the riches of others, nor do I think Par-
liamentary Reform v:ould make poor men rich,- or
rich men poor. If I give a wrong direction to my
Lord's speech, I hope he will rectify it. ' Once the
Constitution gone, it is gone for ever; so say I, and
6 military despotism will ensue;' that is what the
Reformers halm all along dreaded.. The cheering
doctrines of Redemption have been my constant
theme, and are still the delight of my soul. If it
be blasphemy to glory in the truths of the Gospel—
to be grateful that our DIVINE SAv:Oua came down
from Heaven, and stock on him the nature of man,
for the purpose of seeming us a victory over sin,
hell, and the grave—then, indeed, I have been a
'vagabond orator—then I have been a blasphemer.
Pamphlets, containing improper things, have bean cir-
culated ; but I consider it an Englishman's right to
read every work, and then think of it as he feels proper.
That cannot be considered as a right in any man, for
the exercise of which he may be punished. Now mark
the but, Gentlemen ; we have rights, but if once they
are exercised, they render men liable to be punished.
At the Meeting at Stockport, one-fourth of the inha-
bitants only were present : surety one is not a match
for four; but, indeed, it has not been proved that any
terrerem populi was used. 1 hope it will not be said
here, as it was said in Scotland, that Scotch law is not
English 'lake, and that Cheshire law is not also Eng-
lish law. It is not from your prejudices, Gentlemen,
that I expect or fear for anything. I hope you will
not defile your oaths; and if you give a verdict con-
trary to the evidence, you will do so. The leaders
of Reform are-charged with sanctioning military
training : 'I know of none who do so ; and if such
practices were now followed, it would be against the
law : that I know ; but then it is because of a recent
enactment that makes it illegal. But the Reformers
are charged with everything to bring them into dis-
repute. What is said of large Meetings of the People,
equally applies to Election and others County Meet-
ings. I shall dot- say the indictment was framed to
murder two innocent individuals—no, that would be
too strong ; I dare not say so ; but I say, the Afire
hat pierced to the vitals, and was only prevented .
killing because it could not reach far enough. Then •
we have something on the Cato-street Conspiracy,
as it is called, I suppose, to connect me with those
foolish, absurdfliash men, who engaged in such
.an enterprise ! Some Gentlemen behind me tion't
let me speak. Perhaps there are some men who
would accuse me of participating with the men on
whom sentence, was so solemnly pronounced this
morning ; but of that I am wholly guiltless:—
Why was sentence pronounced on them this morn-
ing, if not in same 'measure or other to be connected
with me by some association of ideas? The attempt
at Birch was an injury to me, an injury to the cause
of Reform, and if I saw the man lift the pistol
' against him, I would have interposed and saved him. .
'Birch behaved to me like a Gentleman, like alriencl,
and I hate the man who could attentpt to assassinate
hint, If we bad base designs, if we were such vil-
lains as are described in the Learned Judge's speech,
we would deserve the punishment that impends tipon
us. Ido not think it worth while to comment on
the 'praites" even to the Magistracy. -The Chester
Yeomanry ' flew to arms,'—civil war, Gentle Men!
' Hew to arms not against the Spanish, not to cut
down the Erencb or Germans; and should not I be
very neglectful to myself, if, as it may be, you are
some of these ptaised people, not to•noticehis'speech.
You are all strangers to me, but you are Englishmen,
'and emery Englishman I love. Butave are 6 pretended
Reformers; still hypocriteso—that hurts me; we have
been zealous and sincere, and we have shewn our-
selves in earnest to obtain redress for our grievances.
We have grievances, and while we use every zeal to
procure Reform, I cannot abide it that we shotild be
called hypocrites—pretended Reformers—(Leoelus-
tary langhter here burst forth, from the vociferous
manner in which the last passage was expressed).—
You might have hitherto heard that Juries have done
their duty ; so far good. I hope all Juries will do
their duty. So much for the Learned Judge's speech
as far as refers to one individual. I can't suppose
my dilating on his speech will offend the Learned
Judge, for he looked upon me while I .was 'Ling so
with a very pleasant countenance—( Loud and con-
tinued laughter through the Court).—Gentlemen of
the Jury, I hold in my hand another help, unbought,
unasked, unsought, and unexpected, as if that PRO-
VIDENCE, . who knew my condition, had given me a
help when most I needed it. That help is, " A fro
brief Remarki by Jeremy Bentham"—(A laugh )—a
great lawyer, one of the ablest in England, perhaps
I might- say in the world, and I dare say, if their
Lordships spoke of him, they wou!e say the same.—
Bat, Gentlemen,.l have not yet read over the in-
dictment, and I shall proceed to read it“—(Laughter).
He here read it, and as lie proceeded, it excited the
continued risibility of the crowds who heard him.
s [Harrison now commenced (a quarter to seven o'clock, trad-
ing lienthan's Remarks, and, if he perseveres in pans through
-them, the trial must bd resumed again to-morrow.]

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