The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-01

marked the end OF the trial.
The utter collapse Of the defense
made the rendition Of the verdict lit
tie more than formality. In sem
fencing the prisoner. Lord Chief Jus
tice Alverstone censured him severely
for his "wanton revel In such base
libel"
Myths accepted the sentence with
Myths explained his refusal to Of
fer any defense on the ground that
the absence of the King made it I'M
possible for him to present his case
adequately.
And then it would be no use," he
added. "Indisputable proof would be
of no avail"
That the government looked upon
the case with misgiving, despite. its
allegations of the baseless character
of Mylius' charges, was shown by the
array Of legal talent representing the
Crown, made more striking by the
fact that Myths was without legal
counsel. The State does not provide
counsel for a man charged with libel
against the King and as Myths was
financially unable to employ an at
torney he conducted his own defense.
Opposed to him were Attorney Gem
eral Sir Rufus Isaacs, Solicitor Gen.
sells Messrs. Rowlatt and Muir. A
more formidable array of legal lights
would have been hard to find.
Myths was brought into court at
10:45 from Brixton Jail, where for a
month he has been confined in de-
fault of 100000 bail Theoretically.
the trial was public but in reality it
was conducted secretly as everyone
was excluded except a selected few
passed upon by the Crown. Among
the spectators was Home Secretary
Winston Churchill. There was a
brief debate whether Churchill should
be admitted but the authorities fin
ally decided that he was a man OF
sufficient discretion and reliability and
gave him a seat we'll to the front.
The case was tried before spe-
cial jury chosen by the court Of err
rors. Nominally these special puries
are for the purpose of getting a super
ior class Of men but the oft heard
charge that the personnel usually suits
the purposes of the prosecution SEEM
ed borne out by today's selections.
Its a conviction jury" was re-
mark heard more than once In the
courtroom.
Society scandal mongers who hoped
for rich morsels from today's trial
were sadly disappointed as all such
were excluded from the courtroom.
Edward Holton James, the rich AM
erican publisher of the Liberator, did
not appear to help Myths, owing to
the certainty of his arrest were he
to come to England. He sent Myths,
however, the outline of the defense,
which the prisoner attempted to fol-
low.
In pursuance to James instructions,
Myths first demanded the return Of
his private letters which were seized
at the time of his arrest, alleging the
seizure to have been in violation of
the law. Lord Chief Justice Alver-
>l1I H.
"I wish to ASK Myths then con-
tinued, whether the King is present.
demand his presence because every
accused man is entitled to be con-
fronted by his accuser. 1t is also nee
essary for the prosecutor personally
to appear in connection with libel
suits. Unless he is present there is
no proof that he is alive
Here again Myths met with defeat,
as the chief justice answered him
sharply:
You know perfectly we'll that the
King cannot appear"
This statement was a distinct dis
appointment to the spectators and to
the public as there was the keenest
interest in the prospect of the King
disregarding precedent and taking the
stand. Rowlett made the opening
statement for the prosecution, declar-
ing that Myths had been accused
three times of publishing the scandal
Gus falsehood Of Georges morganatic
marriage to the daughter of Admiral
Seymour. when he was stationed with
the fleet at Malta and long before
his marriage to the Queen.
1.-THE prisoner admits that he wrote
these libels and mailed them to the
Liberator," Rowlett said. HE asserts
that this story is true and that it's
publication is for the public benefit"
Sir Rufus Isaacs followed Rowlett.
He began by saying that Mylius' we'll
the least Objectionable to the King and
that the prosecution was free of any
political luminosity.
1.-THE King Is likely to suffer the
loss OF his subjects esteem" Isaacs
continued, Shy this repeated assertion
that his marriage to the Queen was
sham and bigamous because the King
had previously married Miss Seymour
in 1890 and had foully abandoned his
wife and offspring to enable him to
marry the Princess Victoria Mary, as
brother making him the heir to the
throne
Isaacs spoke in an impassioned vein
and was followed closely by the pri-
soner. The prosecution promised
wholly to disprove the Malta marri
age. When Isaacs had finished Ny
Illus asked the privilege of question:
ing each Of the jurors as to whether
he was able to render an impartial
verdict. Once more the lord chief
justice refused his request although
Myths contended that the law gave
him the right to put this question to
the jurors.
Eo,,,,o a.. vITo nj, A 1c - q xx,n,.H