The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-04-28 00:00:00

abort tile death of the King, or to subvert the style ,1
and dignity of the Crown. I wil!, Gentlemen, say, i
and I say it conscientiously, that I never saw evidence
more defective in proving. a tr..asoriable intention than,
that which has been brefight forward on the part of
the Crown. Ihe charge rests solely e.on the evidence
of an unsupported witness, :del that witness was an !
accomplice. If sou tf.en disLeliere his testimony, the
trial is at an cad, and the charge of high treason falls
powerless to. the ground. I a ill add, teat if Adams'
is believed, Ciere is nu person, huwevi r black and die-'
graceful his character, alto may not henceforth ceme
into Court an.l dentate, that his evidence should be re-
eeived. It has ;seen said. Gee lemon, that it cannot ! .
he expected that an accompliee should be C 3111111111.11
in every particular. My own opinions upon this snli•
jest are so aWy expreseed io :lie speech of a celebrated
lawyer in a trial for high treason, which took place
at nu very remote period, that I will take the liberty
of reading to yon his words.—( I he Learned Counsel
here read a long extract trout a bunk in his han.l. lie
tuentioned no name or title, but we understood it to be
the speech of Mr. Serjeant Copley on tits trial of lir.:
Watson.)--lieutlemen, hail f employed my best friends
Ito embody my sentiments in the most expressive lan-
! page, lie could net have dune it so e•fectually as this
!Gentleman had done it fir me. If vuti can retain what
I kayo pet read, for God's sake'tio so, awl avail your-
iteivets ofQt, in judging of the eviden. e of the aecieu-
pike Adams. Gentlemen, in stating to you the out-
line of the defence which I intend to adopt, I may per-
haps not gratify in makings the concession that I
believe it nes his intention (in conjunction with the
rest of his party) to murder his Majesty's Ministers.
Hut in making this concession, I must also ob
that this is not the crime a ilia which the prisoner is
charged, and that unless vou find that this involved
another design, urged against the life sir authority of
thk Sovereigii, you are hound to acquit the prisoner
of high treason. It will be ne,-essary, Gentlemen, for
von to •lirect your a:t •ntion to three particular points.
In the first place, it will Is' essential to inquire how
far the evidence of Adams is to be depended upon. In
the 'text place, it will be tour ditty to consider how far
he is supported, or contradicted, by diderent parts of
his non evidence, or the evidence of those brought
lonian! to support 1' ; and, lastly, and Insist
partieuarly, you will consider how far he might
have been connected, had they brought forward a
witness, whom they have chosen to keep behind—l
moan Edwards, the man who betrayed his associates.
Now Gentlemen, let us look upon his evidence. Ile
tells us, that upon his first interview with lhistle-
wood, the latter told him " that there was not a man
in England worth 14.1/. who mould be trusted, and that
the shopkeepers of Loudon were a set of aeistoerats.-
Not a word, Gentlemen, was said which made the .
design of Thistlewood look like an intent t • overturn
Majesty, but it looked very much like an intent to rob
and plunder the wealthy shopkeeper's of London. Let
U. go on. The conversatiun then took a sportive turn,
anti we are told by witness, that the heads of two
great men were spoken of iu an unceremonious man•
ner. This `conversation took place on the 13th of
Jannilry. ",..,:son after, witness says, that be was sent
tto Wllttnteadllnsaireet prison. for slight. Thus, Itiovelaw+
could tact answer for his personal liberty one m iment. 1
Ipretends to tell us, that he joined in a conspiracy to
overthrow the Government of Great Britain. Well,
lon the 4th of February we are ton, they met again.
Harrison then proposes, that as all the soldiers and
police ottieers will be out of town on the night of the
:Kieg's funeral, that that would be a gout! opportunity.
' Fur what? to overtime, the Government. No, but to
kick up a row, and plunder different houses. Su tar
; this is consistent enough with the situation of a set
of half-starved men. But it seems, that on the leth, .
Thietlewood began to talk in a very high tune. lie •
mentioned the cannon in Gray's-inn-lane, and at the !
Artillery Grounrl, and observed, that if they gut pus-
, session of these six pieces, they might be in possession
.of London also before morning. is it possible, Gen-
: denten, that witness, a military man, could hay*
i agreed to this wild and senseless proposition ? But
it seems they hail method in their madness. As goon
as the tuwn was taken by these '25 men, the telegraph
at Woolwich was to be seized ; persons were to be
sent to the different sea-ports, and a " Provisional
Government" was to be formed. Good Hod, Gentle-
. men, are these dreams of the witness to be put shown
as serious designs of the prisoner : and are the lives of
! II men to be staked upon the oath of a man which
ought not to he admitted to decide upon a washer-
woman s Nil. These persons cannot timuher one man
of deveirt rank, or property, amongst them, and yet
we are to believe that a plan to overturn Govern-
ment was seriously cunerived by a set of beg-
garly wretches who conid not agree among them-
!selves in rimming a hand-bill, which, aceuroing to
the witness's story, was te be fixed fur the information
of the citizens upon the very houses which were barn-
-1,, In ll Bet. Gentlemen, the Witness has vrntured to
.1 tj yen' about Cabinet dinners being talked of at this
.
lie sass, that the assassination of Miuisters
' w to tar place at the next Cabinet diuner, forget-
I i
ting what he ha I just before mid its, that long before
li
. • the dinner cuald take place neither 3iiitis:ers nor a
I Cal Sine! litre to cis , but that a " Pr •sisioual 6tl•
TerlIIIIC;i1•• was to be established iu i:s place. Really
this falselieu I is too gross : is exceeds even every
. thin,: which I ever beard. Even aihnittieg it to be
true, it proses no mere than that poverty was their
goad, and pleader their aim, and that their stoicism
were not at ail connected with political motives. Wit-
! ties. prorerds to tell ns, that on Sunday, the 241 th,
another meeting was held, and Tidd to..k the chair,
.• pike in hand. Now, let as me what the majesty of
f TOW induced him to do. He used an repression,
'1 which I beg you will mark. 1 t was when he salted
. s their plan a '4 Kest End .lob." Brunt, a h.), it seems,
never spoke without an oath (I have a reason for no-
; tieing. this), then makes his proposal about appointing
each person to murder a particular Minister, and, in
case of failure. to be murdered himself. How this is
to be done does nut appear, nor sloes it Appear who is
to he the spare assassin reserved for the purpose of
i gest-ling the failure (if sarh should be the ease) of
hi- companions. There is another cite 'instance, Gen-
' tlemen, which passed at this meeting, to which your
attention is reanired. Tidd is made to propose that
I the first building which should be fired. should be
• '.l:uruival.• Inn, lio:iniru. Cnfortu esrey. tieutlemen,