The Statesman.
London, England, 1813-08-03 00:00:00

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XING'S BENCll.—Tliff KING v. JOHN MAGEt. I Will tenture to itesOtte I
-- nee to whom it
• •'- had been addreseels -*lll net &Uwe the eeensple a-
nt-mei) DAY. - • ' forded by the lecturer they will +not tread in the.
Al! the avenues leading to the Court were crowded footsteps of the advocate who mixeli polemics and.
to mess at an early hour, and a most numerous Religion=if indeed all wont and absence of tole-
body of policemen were stationed at the entrances. ranee CM be ct W Rellgiete • witt his address to a
The Chief Justice tools his seat about eleven o'clock, Jury, when he should havd talked politics and the
and , Law of Libel. 1-. will also assure him, that Ido not
Mr. O'CoNetet immediately proceeded to address envy him his own elaborate praise, nor any of that
the Jury : i hireling praise which is so grateful to him, and which
is I rise, Gentlemen or. the Jury," said the elo- :the hints paid and sup_ported out of the public purse,
Anent advocate, s' to discharge a cheerless and nue; so unceasingly offer. I sholdi not, however, take
pleasant task, but mY•duty to my Client tenders it leave of this praise, without tellilighim, that a good
i,•cutebetit open me te.perform it. For my own deal of that which he had les !elfishly bestowed upon
part I regretted since I saw you last, that I had not himself, was unfounded.
obtained an opportunity of addressing yon, when my I " I now come to the Attorney-General's boasts of
mindwas full of the farrago with whirl] Mr. Attor- his crusades against Boards and Committees, and
eey.General had thought proper to treat you. I re- delegation, and representation. lie tells you, that
fretted that while my thoughts were fraught with : the Catholic Beard of Ireland is composed of men
C.a. language of that teamed Lew-officer, and the to- + acting under rev/404+1mq principles and motives of
pit's introduced by him were fresh upon my memory, . rebellion. Good God! is it then to be supposed,
1 bad not addressed you. But upset a little reflitc-.! that we who using every effort to be put in pos-
tern 1 have hewn convinced that this feeling was session of the blessings of the British• Constitution;
%tong. It frequently happens in the course of -itu- : are really anxious to destroy the very object of our
matt ereies, that the circumstances which we were' search, and to frustrate our own views, by destroy-
t:i-e,sed to regr'el at the moment of their happening, ;ins that ultinuttegood upon which they have all along
tart, cut upon reflection to be fortuttete occurrences. been fixed ? Is this•reasonabte ? Is itscredible? • Ills ,
5.,1 ant eating to.think it has happened in the Pre- t neither. r We admire and venerate the principles of
sent instance. Whatever loss I may sustain myself., the British,Ceostiliftiots4
from want of animation, I' ate convinced that •my. 4 objection, to •eny of its, details, it is only to those '
address will be more temperate, when made as at which contradict its principles; which Assert that
present, under the influence of feelings softened, and.; right of superiority in one -part. of the sebjects
I trust sutellied, le truth, upon consideration those over another, that kis the best
,principle of the
things which at the first blush excite anger, will be Constitution lei' disilairii. 'Yet he charge* us. with •
after found deserving of pity; those matters that at-heeditious•views; Bet -tray be mistaken: I trust
first arouse indignation, are frequently found to am : troth 13 sometimes misunderstood. I rectal-
Teeter outy contempt. That discourse hich had ex- lect that on a former occasion, when I had noted on '
citd m► indignation when I heard it, appeared upon my brief, seventeen distinct accusations of
.treason
a little reflection to call only for my unmixed corn- made by him against the Catholics, he said I was
passion. Yes, the manner and the matter of it, claims mistaken, and denied having used them. I hope
and receives my entire compassion. It had little may have been under a similar misapprehension in ,
, logic. and no poetry. lam at a loss to conceive • the present case, and shall therefore pass him by
where he could havecolleetod the contemptible terms here, and•take a ground beyond him. But first I
in w!+tch ittad- been-delivered—Mr. Attorney had will say, that any man who charges the Catholic Board
talked of Billingsgate, and in'a language suited only with sedition or treason, asserts a falsehood, and
to the atmosphere of Billingsgate. .• I pledge myself to brand him here, in the city, or in
"Mr. Attorney had been pleased to call my Client the field, with the title of Liar! The Constitution of
a Ratflau— he hail condeviesnuled to use the lowest the Catholic Board is perfectly legal, its members are
and etagerest epithets,—he had compared him to a • men loyal and honourable, engaged"—
common biotite! keepme—hati described him as a' The Otter Jusviee asked, whether this was con-
kind of a hawd in breeches—as a malefactor—es nected with the subject before the Court ?
the meanest of maokitel—he had called him a ruf- Mr. OTO It IS, intimately. The Attor-
flee a second time. What ateinvitative animal matt ney-General has introduced the subject: alit is a j
is; it was but yesterday- that we heard Mr. Attorney direct reply to him ; he has been heard with patience.;
use the term 'Apia% and•this day, we find it adopted and I truityl shall he allowed to reply to his obese.
andtraitscribevl into one of his favoured newspapers rations. •I tutderstand him to make three most se-
-one of those licensed vehicles for slander that are rious, and most enjuseifieble_ charges against the
'paid, and enjoy the privilege of libelling without in. 'lntro, and lam only answering-them. gut, per-
cutting the danger of punishment, as they do not haps, it is unneeestery. I OE. disposed to hope, '
dispraise Mr: Atteiney or his Grace of Richmond's that the Attorney-General was incapable of accn..
Government. We see these unpunished Proclama- sing men with hostility to their country whose
ticn papers catch, almost instantaneously, the tone, highest honour would be 41 die in its defence. The
the very words of the Attorney-General. It was great cause in which we are engaged is proceed-
but yesterday )ou heard hint call this respectable tug straight forward to the goal of success. The'
Yilstog Gentleman (turwitte to Mr. Magee) a Bofe 'toed seuse of the Legislature will net fail to en.
ban, and this teeming. we find, the D'obiin Journal sure its triumph, in spite of Attorney-Generals, and
calling the Writer for the Freeman's Journal, a base (with great respect) the Aldermen. of %inner's-
awl malignant Ruffian! alley. Indeed the nature of the address of the wisest
" Where was it, I again ask, that his Majesty's At- and discreetest man in the world very clearly proved
torile)-General could have heard such laneuage-o• bow:m..ll founded his claims to good seuse and dia..;
where could he hare found it ? The List Law-04- cretion are. Ile had heard some of you, gentlemen,
ter uf the Crown—he. who, by stades:, is the head talk of signing the Protestant Petition—you had a •
of the Irish Bar—who hai been for.fullthirty years right:to do so;
.God forbid that I should think of re-
living in the circles of the first society its this country fusing to, any man the privilege of expressing any
—and who has the hottour to belong, for the same opinion which his conscience may honestly dictate
length of time, to the first profession in the world he !ward you talk of that Petition--he knew you
(the military, and that alone, may be said to be equal had prejudices (and no ono is without them), and he
to it), a profession in which .he has seen a Burgh, a calculated upon catching your votes by his boast of
De Carey, a Plutiket, a Burston, a Ball, and, in having put down the Catholic Committee. But,
despite of politics, I will add a Btlshe! Gentlemen, his besets are greater than his deeds.—
" How such a men—so distinguished a member of lie has only changed the Committee into the Board ;
such a profession—with such examples before him, and this glorious exploit he has achieved by the
could possibly hare collected the language lie had aid of the Law—' Oh! sublime and rare science,'
used, is to me matter of unfeigned surprise. But it which says that pretence means purpose. Ile has
did not, it could not injure my Client—it passed told you that the Board lives only by his sulTrage.—
ianoxious over his head, and if its venom fell any That we are too ridiculous to excite his anger; that
where, it must only recoil upon him who had used we are.crimieals, but such rare little criminals, that
it. Its rirulatico and malignity were too manifest he will leave the accomplishment of our ruin to
and undisguised not to defeat its purposes. Compas. ourselves. Really, Gentlemen, he putt 'one inland
lion and pity were the only permanent sentiments it of Domitian's reply to a Courtier who brought him
could excite in the minds of rational men. It is, a fly to torture. Domitian was a Moretti' Enipernr.,
however, impossible to avoid regretting that a nian who spent his MOritiega torturitsemen.:and con=
capable of using it, !beta, be invested with so sumed his evenings in the pretty amusenient of
much power and authority as the king's first Law. killing flies. A Courtier, aware of hit favbitrire
oirtrer possesses—it is impossible to forget, that the propeesities, brought
.himea -fiy, 'but Doinitio4 said
fate of this country may depend upon the arkice of to him, ' blockhead, why do you bring me that to'!
Such a roan. torture which you perceived was going to put itself
" MeAttorney-General had divided his /peril into to death by flying into. the blaze of the candle I
tun branches.—Osie that had no connection •what- Thus Mr. Attorney-Gestecaltells you, 'that although'
ever with the subject before you--the other relaiing we have-violated the laiv;" he thinks our folly will,
to the question which you are to try. I will make a ensure our destruction without his interference..
few observations upon the first division of the ad- But I deny that we have violated ..the law. And,
1
riress, if, indeed, the flippancy with which Mr. At- further I tell you, and thet to his beard, that he it.;
tourney had hopped from one subject to another, and not honest if he suffers us to go unpunished, if we.'
back again, can he called division. Ile had been have • done so. The Constitution of the Catholie-
pleased to entertain the Jury with a lecture upon Board, I repeat it, is strictly legal, and it stands in
the conduct of Counsel in managing the Defendant's proud defiance of Air: tttietney-Getieral and all he!
(-rep; with a discourse upon the Catholic Qiles- can do. Although have 'not, perhaps, as great a
ti: e ; and an uncalled fur, unmerited, and tinjus- portion of black letterlearaing as other persons, still
Wiable attack upon the persons engaged in the con- I know enough of the laws of my country to make
slitutional pursuit of their liberties. Through all of this assertion in the 'most unqualified and deter- ;
these I feel myself compelled to follow him. With • misted manner. What are We seeking for ?—tihall
rtepect to the first, the lecture which be had thought I be told that it is just. and reasoitable, and consist.'
prelim- to bestow upon myself and those Learned I ent•With 'the-spirit'of the Constitution, that the da-
Fiiends, my inferior in station but superiors in la- s acendanti of the ancient Irish Nobility,, Idle Boa of
feet certainly, in conjunction with whom 1 act upon the Earl of Finitiill-La 'Nobleman ithoseirfelies beet
this triel, I fling it back with the contemptend scorn I Attorney-Genorals'must admit, though they. way Mot.;demands. Mr. Attorney has told the Jury that we ' admire, catmot +rise to those situations which are
made four hours the preceding day, a metal.- I open to the humblest individuals in the land; W they'
(holy exhibition. lamat a loss to conceive what he are not Catholics !—What GentleMeny 'Would be,
ens-ant by a melancholy. .exhibition, unless indeed he your sentimentsit yon were an circirnititsseed ?—.See
.illuded to the prosecution by which•he has brought what you world feel If 'the teene were' ravelled !
Yost here. He has told you, that the Defen. Change but a single Word-ereed,Tpreyyssu• ,for one
dent's Cetime' had wasted four hours unnecessarily. moment, the term PrOtestant.for Oathollei and then
nem it, the only point which was material (if, in- I tell me what are yaur staiadons. lolipose, for ea:
deed, ally thing_ which Mr. Attorney bad.said upon instant, that you are +Pretestents, situated' Its I de-
thf:- snbject was material) in point of time, he has scribe, living in a Catholic country, and that You.are
t'st:su teuiltyeaf gross misrepresentation. It war one pursuing the attainment' equal right'', by the very
clock before it Jury could be procured, and he means, in the very track eepressly piesciihed b)'the
Ras addressing them before three. Thus the four Laws and the Constitution-Isuppose all 'this, aed
t'"'art wile/Leeeltleed to less thau two; and it appear. tell nee what would he your. answer to the ruffian
t!.;:t %fr. Attorney unjustly (and I am willing to •spirit of intolerance which evonid tell you that it
107" aosetereiJeally) calumniates" the Geutlemeu was unnecessary to interfere with you, because you