The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-12-20 00:00:00

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-isos A r GUILDIIALL, w,,hompoi"T.-.Diso. is\
5,.
DE44. V. OrtiNt..,
Toprf NG stated, that this Was SO &mkt* of
brought by Mr 'H . ugh Bell, a respectable
ii:,;„, iii this City, against Mr. NiChnlas yrne,
r .4„1 rt.pprictor of the paper called.nic
The Defendant was charged, in Alle de.
with publishing a false and scandalous
t the injury •of the Plaits tig - (isolinii and
• • • . -1• JJ•lf•
ll'leter. • •
Ned Counsel, 'flea SOM.. 01164 Ozer.
vale,„', went into the history of dig transaction.
.bt the period when the arrest of Sit Francis
wrielt engrossed so mph, of the public attention,
s poinlen re, Welly consiatinclo( letters and
under the name of Kr. H.uger o:Con-
hd%l ~!;.eared in Cobbett's Political Register.
4.2peared in l'he Morning Post of the
~f ItW 11 ay, purporting to be an abstract or
re•ort of tlx si,eech of the Attorney-General for
I,lod, at the time wit-mit* motion was made in the
irj,h Hoot! of ConNuna telatise teL Mr. O'Coonor
aid 0040 State Prisooess. The speech compre.
kodeisevera,l letters, slopwhig the connection be-
ige.'.l the Irish State Prisoners and wants perions
vh, hild attracted the attention of the overt!.
scat in this country: These letters, were Jul.
1001 in the article, by comments on,. the aurae.
sets alluded to ;, and the comment attached to Mi.
gellls name le the Wide, watt& that he had been
coofned on a charge of high treason, in Beglands.,
Fibrairy, 1708: • This was totally untrue; and
1t its effect uputt lhu character of apeaceable and
respectable man must be most serious, if it were
outdone away by the sacaaarria which were now
*toed, at once to clear the Plaintiff's character
awl to punish the Dyfontiiiit. lie (Kr. Topping) ,
Lew very little. of The Morning/1100,ns it seldom
fill way ; but kt•stratt apparent that the circa.
tgi,on of such a charge, in 16pridni, mast be NAV
it'etri.oental to any mane in a country where repute.
cum was the great unsafe of a Mall. But the cha-
/Eta of a due regard and obedience tch the laws and
reernment under-which he'tired was most essential,
and it was that important branch of character that
4,Apidur 4 the libeller was intended to cutaway.
In the present instance, there could be no defences,
pAO there might, be a feeble attempt at justi-
leafier,. But that woathl sink • ander the ads°.
pie, and this. Jury would only hate to, consider,
!lot sh•fald, be:the- compensation to the
flu MAO WAS. AIM many eircurostanoNi a singular
re; but oOt the. least of its shiguratities we, that
jt produced the Attorney.Qetteral in the new cha.
nct.r of defender of q gross, malicious, slander-
0, sisal. That Learned Counsel had been used to
whet exertion of his great powers : he had now
to al the Oa of one screening the malevolence of
t 11),,Iler. At other times, that Learned Counsel
vac seen, pressing in a different direction, and mus-
t:6.lg the.whole of his strength to beat down the
ow of the accused. Of these efforts, ono must
thy, in the see tinteat of Shakespeare.,
WO 1 It is ezeellem
" To have a gisat'sstre,nch ; bat it is tyrannous
" To tusklike &giant.
Sousa, in the present instance, even Ms
toescsamet fail I defence was a new field to him ;
)p ppi rwor perform on a new, instruments and
ire would probably be es awkward a performer,
spa that as he was upon the flageolet case, yester.
dry. The present case was, oit' the part of the.
Plaoiff„ of the simplest order. 01. reputabld man
iwl ben traduced—the injury' had been offered
Omagh a medium that must make it the must ex-
tensive. A compensation for that injury was sought
of the Jury, and there could be no doubt that they
mid do what justice rcluirede •• , _
A Fort fro* the Stutp-ofAce attended to prole
the paper of the 15th of May. -

The part of the article to which the cmtekei- for
the Plaintiff particalarly eatery:ell, was *Acne/
from Mr, Arthur ()Tonna to his bream+, Mf.'
I. O'Connor, mentioning • that be had Aimed, of
low property to Sir pvnietts and poieting
out the present Plaintiff as the agent to Whom.he
lull left the conduct of the sale, and other particu-
larhnsiness of the same kind. This was followed
by the comment of. the Irish Atterney.Generld,
that the persons iho were alluded to in the corres.
penitence were of the must suspicious order, such
as Sweeny, a state prisoner, Hugh Bell, a man
Oohed been arrested in London, in February,
1798, on a charge of high treason, &c. This re.
port was reprinted in The Morning Post of the
15th of May last.
The ATTORN&T.GsmutA.i., on the part of Bhps
Ddeadatit, said, that as the Counsel for thp'
nation had professed to give a simple statement, it
should be met, on his part,. by a simple defence,
The circumstances of the publication were few, In.,
artificial, and.such ;s most perfectly do away the
tinge of particular malice against the Plaintiff.
When on an oration which was probably fresh in
the memory of. the Jory, Mr, Roger O'Connor
Ind brought himself into the public eye by certain
Cerilpontlences; it hecaine the habit of his filen&
titsl; of hire as a man of uniin peached loyalty. Those
!"'esitendessees were canvassed in the different pub..
he prints; and among the rest The Morning Post,
not having, probably, the same faith in Mr. O'Con.
kit'sraerits, gave its readers a. report of a 4peech
/P''keni by an eminent Law Officer in the House
of Commons of Ireland. The report touched upon
swe cirennistauces of his connection with personi
highly reputable as loyal or honest subjects.'
Phis report was taken from the DebliaJouinul of
lu"'e years back. The Jury had already heard 'how
fat the present Plaintiff's name was animadverted on.
It was merely in a cursory and accidental manner ;
sittiout any peculiar allusion, without any peculiar
'nark of malice, but merely as a part of the
e'rrott paragraph. If the printer had exercised
anY thing like thought upon the subject, he ivonht
Prusably have omitted the Plaintiff's name. 'I heat
whole statement was taken from a paper openly,
published, openly circulated, and yet untainted by,
the Plaintiff in his zeal for vindication. If theretver
had been evil in the thing, it had been done, and
14d. p3SSeil away in the years which had sinco
passed. This was to he looked to, and to be the
Ire!' consideration with the Jury. The trial of the>al
'clout intention lay with them; for the chargf

. -
o(malire was only to be substantiated by proof of
inteution. It was, in, this sense that he (the
Attorney.Q.eneral) was inclined to judge of the
language which had been so singularly used by the
Learned Counsel on, the opposite side. It
was impossible not to consider it as extraor.
dinavy, as very extraordinary and strange.—
The proper name. for a charge of that nature 1
coming against. a
..person in his (the Attorney.
Geueral's) situation, was, stapderous and scanda.
Was hut as there was, it was to be presumed, no
malicious intention, it should receive an answer.
What ! was the charge of professional, severity, of
pushing hard against the persons accused of libel,
to. be laid upon, him ? The whole course of his
professional life was, before the world. Me was
known from his boyhood, and there was not an
hour of his life that had a stain upon it; he had
never pressed the law ; he would make up. other re-
ply to the singular and most unnecessary expressions
which hatlso hastily escaped the Counsel on the op-
posite side. It was to be presumed.there was no ma. .

licious intent in this;, and the Plaintiff in the case
ought to feel in the sane way. Wheve could.be nOin-
kention to inlisre him ; the pilblication or the paper
was fora pskrpoile,-with which ho had no possible
connection. Thecci was no imputation of treason
meant now to be fixed on the Plaintiff. He was
exonerated from it, and of course the injury was
nothing. It would be admitted. that loyalty was a
•valuable part of the character of a Britisfi merchant,
or of a British meal but the Jury would consider
the desire to injure, and the injury dune. kf they
came to the qudstion of damages, they would Make
it a short one. The case seemed clear, and the
Jury would proportion their judgment accordingly.
Mr. Paley, from the Secretary of State's Office,
warealled tirgive evidence, of the warrant fur ar.
resting the Plaintiff, in March, 1798.
° The warrant was read ;it directed that Mr.
Hugh Bell,• of Charter-house square, should be ar.
rested on suspicion of high-treason. The warrant
was signed by the late Duke of Portland. - Mr.
Paley knew nothing of the trial of Arthur O'Cun7
nor, at Maidstone. .

Cox, •King's Messenger had received the warrant
on the tfth of March, 1798. He arrested Mr. Bell
at eight o'clock in the morning of the 7th Of
Mar.ch. lie searched the bureau and desk for
papers,,and intercepted the. Prisoner's letters. At
eleven, he conveyed his Prisoner to the Secretary
of State's Office : Mr. Wickham was there : did
nqp think he saw Mr. Canning. About half-past
one, Prisoner was discharged from before the pre.
sence of the Priv.). Council. Witness had then
nothing more to do with him, and heard no more of
him till this'time. _ _

AP. TOPPING' in reply, could not repress his
astonishment at the manner in which the Attorney.
General had taken up words which he had used in
the opening statement. It wax not becoming a mats,
'to bring his personal feelings before the Court ;
but he would be unfitting his station—he would be
unAttins the gown he wore, as King's Counsel—if'
he could be silent.tinder the language which the At.
torney.General had used. No ; he was tint to be.
deterred, he was nut to be inttuenced by the
". vulgar instantis tyranni."—" Scandalous and
slanderous !" Did the Attorney-Getters! think he
was to stand up, and to
" Bestride the Bar,
• 04 Like It Colossus, whilst others
" Were to talk under his huge legs, and peep about,
" To find themselves dishonourable graves. '

No; life was not to be endured on such a covenant.
To use the words of the great poet again,
" I had as lief not be, as live to he
• " In awe of such a thing as myself."
'the Attorney.Gcueral should be made to feel this.
I.l4i:raid bets lesson to him the longest thy he had
to live.
Lord, Et.LaNSOROI7qII.•—" Mr. Topping, it is
perhaps better aut to pursue this line. The words
which occurred could not have been meant so
strongly as you think. They merely passed as
1 things of that kind generally do ; it is painful when
they excite such notice as at present."
Mr. ToertNak..". My Lord, the language was
not tq be enditred, or passed over. I owe a vindi-
cation to the Court, I owe it to myself."
Lord ELLENBOILOUGU.—_-" I know, Mr. Top.
ping, there is. no malignity in your disposition. I
cannot doobt that ; hut it is' better that things of
this kind should go to as little length as possibly'."
Mr. TOPPING.—" My Lord, I have the highest
deference ftir. the Court ; and 1 will not enlarge on
what has been said. But I know that what passesl
here must go forth to the public; and I owe it to my
profession, I owe it to myself, to throw•off so de-
grading an imputation as that thrown upon me by
the Attorney-General. The sentences shall be
brief and few. " But I must not sink before any
man who think, to browbeat me into submission."
Mr. TOPPING proceeded :--tle had but few op.
`pcirtunities of addressing a Jury, vesd he now could
not suffer any thing like a stain to be fixed on him.
The Noble Judge upon the Hench had known him
from his youth up. lie hail nothing to conceal from
any m4O ; there was nothing that could authorize
insulting language ip his professional habit; or pro.
fessional life. He had not charged the Attorney.
General with persecution ; be. had nut charged him
with malignity ; and the sudden burst of that
Learned Counsel's opinion was perfectly willed
for by any thing which had occurred. lie had on.
ly said, that the Learned Counsel must find himself
iii a new sitstation ; that defence of libel must be
less easy to him than its accusation. A few loth.
Brous allusions had been made to his rant of ease
and practice on the flageolet, and no observation
had been made that ought to have disturbed him.—
If
he had thought the Attorney-Getters; ono who
pressed the severity of the' laws against the unfor.
tuuate persons who incurred their punishment—if
be had thought him malignant to. that degree—he'
could not have associated with that officer; and yet
they walked .home side by side yesterday. He
4Mr. Topping) was not fond of speaking of hiM.
.eelf; but he must be allowed for once to say of bias-
.self, that he would fasten an unjust charge on. no
man, and bear it from no mall.
de then recapitulated the facts of the case, and
concluded by saying that the. Defendant, from even
i the justificatiou which he had put in, must have
been conscious of ttio falsehood of the charge) and