Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1817-08-01
INTERESTING LAW CASE.

the defendant. Tor printing and aubish-
ing libel IN the g Black Dwarf, No. s.
of Feb. the - 1t was charged onthe re-
cord 10 be a scandaious, malicious. and
seditiOus libel, of and concerning the
rights ot petition, of aud concerni,g King
john, Charles |. James ii. William iii.
&c.
The Attorney General stated the ma
ture of the libel: he admitted that it was
ludicrous i'll lis form, but it was perhaps,
the more injurious aud dangerous on that
account. He censured in strong terms
the endeavors here made TO draw down
contempt upon one of the most valuable
rights OF Englishmen, settled at what he
should ever call the glorious Revolution
OF 1888 and lac went through the various
para graphs, pointing out such parts as in
ms opinion were peculiarly offensive. He
took occasion 10 inform the Jury, that the
defendant mad singular facility of com
position tor, being Il printer, he fire.
quentiy had no need of manuscript, hut
printed from the dictation of his mind as
he proceeded.
The defendant as in the former case
admitted the facts authorship, printing
and publishing and Mr.. SieiIl proved that
he sold about $50 copies Of this number
Ofthc Black Dwarf.
The libel WAS then read as follows :
g RIGHT OFpE1:TION.
The people of ;his couniry iaveheard
great deal about Tic right of petition ::
Notwithstanding Il thousand proofs Of IFS
inetiicacy, they seem as fond uf i, as ever.
Bat some tub must be thrown out 10 ia
whale. There must be found some way
or other to dissipaie the well grounded
discomfort that so universally prevails
and like bredlwat +, the right OF petit
oning is tlurst forward to stop tie our
rent OF popular dissatisfaction AZ! this is
very well but What purpose viii il an
swer Like all other delllsions, ii WILDE
found out al last, and then good hyeto
peliiionlng. In the literal acceptanonlot
The term, nothing Is, or can, be SO rihi-
cuious. The right of peiitioning. Da.
vo ! John Bull. bravo You have the
right OF peiiiionng, have You? And YOUR
ancestors obtained II for you, did tlvN
And Hampton hled for the right of peti-
tIonlDg, did ne P? And Sidney was be-
headed, and Russell, for the right of peii-
tIonlng. And your ancestors sent Charles
TO the block, and drove James to the
for the right of pettiioning, did they ?And
YOU possess the right, johnny, do YOU
Well, you may call it one of your dearest
rights, for YOU have paid dear enough for
II, Ill all conscience. But YOU are good
sort of fellow and being no Judge of tue
value of diamonds, it is the same to YOU
whether you have glass or French paste.
1t must glisten little TO pl, ase Your INA.
glnation and you are pleased as the poor
Indian who gives his gold or his treasure
for bauble. But the savage is the bet
TER Oft of the two; for though he gets but
a bauble, il is something at least but you
John, have got nothing for your liberty,
6uf have had your pocket picked into the
bargain.
But you have the right of petitioning,
you say. Yes, you have indeed: and
you petition away with vengeance You
see those whom y on petition have vora-
clous appetite for such kind of food. They
swallow them as fast as the serpent OF
Moses swallowed all the other serpents.
Onl " yon have fed them little TOO fast,
and having 10 pick out so many, they
are now become little nice. They want
respectful petitions. They would Rave
tie pOltest epitheis bestowed upon
them; and if you will tlattcr tlreir vanity,
aud rely upon their wisdom, faith YOU
may use your right petiiioning as tre-
quentiy as you please. LAWYERS Wiilfind
II cheaper 10 make measures with.
Z" But in reality, Master Bull. Won esti-
mate all this boaSted right little too
highly. Are you not aware that YOU only
have It IN COnimonwiih the fee burgess
es OF the Mogul, and the Independent
slaves of the Dey of Algicls ? They say
they are very sorry too and that ycur Pc
llilon ought TO lie on the table for con.
sideralion and that pepper time ought
10 be taken for such consideration. But
Then they, poor souls are so busted Tor
your good, throughout the session, that
lie proper fine never comes and yoir
grievances are never TedreSsed. Il Is
limited that they are only lem
lorary, and will cure themselves and
here Is no doubt of tllat only be paii-
mt Tor halt century, and if the srievan-
,es do not die away, why YOU will and
NAT Is lie same thing. NOwyOu see, that
While you possess the right OF pctitioning,
md they possess the right Of neglecting
iour petitions, It's Just The same thing as
t you bad no right at all.
This is the best side of the question.
This is the view OF the case when your
petitions are deemed fit To be received
or you see that your right of peiitioning
5 confined to peculiar mode Of express
ion. lfyOur pockets are picked. YOU
must not pray tie House of Commons to
rang a Minlster-you must ciyilly ask
hem 10 be so kind as not TO let him do
t again. If your valuable constitution
s injured, or totally destroyed, YOU must
'nly ask for its renovation i'm the most mild (,
md genilemanly terms. The House
must not be insuIfcd Oh, no the House
must not be insulied. Although every
Jody knows tlrt the House Of Commons,
collectively taken, speaks neither ihe
,oce Of ihe people, nor attends TO The |
wishes Of Tie people although every bo-
~ knows Thai majority Of tl,at House |