Jenks's Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland [Me.]) 1799-1802, 1801-02-23


y varioqs a6drelIe,' VA, be prevented from
addUcing them No. H. was, Oh he contra
( ny, permitted % adluce their He was in
deed told ,, the court and moi truly told,
that thele cxrads from newspapers were not
legal evidence hui that nrdeg the particular
sccufttions OF the case lie thon,d be allowed to
give them il evidence. He was told that he
might read in evidence Whatever he thought
proper He Av4iIed h:r4eif Of this permiflion
in its full extent He read thcf- extracts in
evidence indeed, far Gle greater par, Of bis
defence. whi,h LATED foi nearly three hours,
conGited in reading and commenting on the
f.eddents anlwers 20 addrehes
VIII any one deny this fact Nc: it will not
be ceriet. 1t c2nrot be denied. Ittook place
IN the pTelence Of many wilneAes; of many
who nov hear me. AMI it proves inconteRi-
BIZ, that greater LATITUDE Of indu' gence could
rnt politely Be given in making defence, than
was given to rhis 'fon. And yer, this IS one
Of the in!tances addncsj, OF opp,elion, Of de-
nena! Of jattice, unter the edition an.
The ncTt iniance is brought from Bo9on.
We are rold a melancholy Qory, decorated
with al! the graces Of The pathetic, about poor
INNOCENT printer in Bottom, who was indicted
under th's law for a libel on the federal govern
ment, oonvided, impriloned aod at length funk
under the cola and dreary dAmpnefs of dun
geon, and yielded up his life a yiain, to tie ty-
Tanny Of the lelit'on act. This diinlal tale,
thus pitsouly told, IS found to be completely
deaitute of truth 10 all its parts. This poor
wretch, whole life fell facriHce to the Tigors
cf imprisonment under iedi:ion act, mins out
20 be lil alive and in health, lie is found
to have been indicted in Gate court, under
fhe fate laW, and for libel on The govern
ment BY moa fngu'ar nfelicity Of exact
n5fs the fact appears, n every point, to be pre-
cilely the ieyerle Of the tory.
The Ian inQance is bought from Richmond.
There too, according to gentlemen, perfon
indicted under this at, va, denied the oppor-
tuaity Of producing evidence ia fupport Of his
publication Let il be rccolleGed Mr.. Chair
man, that Ibis Perfon was indicted FIR lbel*
10 attrocious, that 70 pe'fon, except its author,
has yet been found pI oAgate eaough to defend
or even quore il. A libel not Oh the admin
iaraton merely ofthis government, or On The
government itlelf, but ca the nation, the conAi.
tution, our independence, the war Of our revo-
iudon, the Patriots who conduaej It, the char
a4sr Of our people and country, and on the
American name. a litel on every perfon and
lhing that is American, except ore individual,
whom alone it diihonors, by its Praife; whom
II ditgraces as far as diIrace can be i1hiGed
by the commeEdatons Of the wicked, whom
Is place, alone on that bad eminencc, where
not even generous enemy could with to fee
him ltanj 4 libsl, Sir. which has made its
tuPpor:eFs blufh which they f-dulnu0y en-
dedvored to lupprels, leat hould dithonor the
cauie which it intended to defend which they
have made to lhun the light, and palIed fecret
ly from hand 70 hand, lc& il Ibould produce
rePulfon ii the minds Of thole whom Il was
tbeir with TO feduce. This, Sir, was the libel
for which the perion in queaion was ind6e1,
and which he had the sfFrontery to fay that he
wilhed 10 prove, 10y the tefimony of honora-
bic men. He wilhed to call men Of charaaer
into court, and iniult them BY a05ing them on
their oaths, whether " The Profpe6t before
U.s. was true. Is there one man onsearth,
Sir, proHgste and hardened enough, to fay.
that he believes It Would the gentlemen
whom he pretended that il was his with to fun.
mon, have appeared in cour; and laid they be.
lieyed what the book contained No, Sir. One
OF them was in Richmond, and was fummon-
ed. He, Sir, is man of honorable fselnos.
Ct a manly charadtr, Whole political preiajices
and party anImohties, ltrosg as they are, never
BETRAYED him into mean OF paltry action. He
was iummoHed, and what did he anfwer !,
Let he lcoundrel run away and | will pav
ms recogoizanee; bus as to appearing for him
III court that would be too much" This IS
iaid t0 have been his aa(wer and whether he
gave it or not certain It is that he did not at
tend. The other Peflons propoled to be fun
moned were witha reach, and might have
been had.-NFhat did the court fay? +" You
Hall have continuance till the next term, if
you en'it'e yourl-lfto il according to the rules
OF law, by dfcloGng to the court, ION affidavit.
The matter which you exPea to prove BY theie
witnehes, ard fbewirg that it is material
Even without complying with lhefe terms, you
ihall have PofPonement from day to day in
order 70 procure your witnehes as long as the