VOL. V. No. 22.] THE TRIAL OF London, Saturday, 2d June, 1804. MR. COBBETT, For publishing, in the Weekly Political Register of the 5th of November and the 10th of December, 1803, certain Libels upon the Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Lord Redesdale, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland; Mr. Justice Osborne, one of the Judges of the Court of King's Bench in Irelaud; and Mr. Marsden, Under Secretary of State in Ireland. Tried in the Court of King's Bench, at Westminster, on Thursday, the 24th of May, 1804, before the Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough and a Special Jury. COUNSEL FOR THE CROWN. The At torney General, the Solicitor-General, Mr. Erskine, Mr. Garrow, Mr. Dalias, and Mr. Abbot. COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENDANT, Adam and Mr. Richardson. THE INFORMATION. Mr. PLEAS BEFORE OUR LORD THE KING AT Be it remembered that Amongst the in the Honourable Spencer formations of Perceval Attorney General last Term. of our present Sovereign No. Lord the King, who for our said Lord the King in this behalf prosecuted in his proper person, came here into the Court of our said Lord the King before the King himself at Westminster, on Monday next after the Octave of Saint Hilary last past; and, for our said Lord the King, brought into the Court of our said Lord the King before the King himself then there, a certain information against William Cobbett, late of Westminster in the County of Middlesex, gentleman, which said information followeth in these words, (that is to say) Middlesex (to [Price 10b wit) Be it remembered, that the Honourable Spencer Percival, Attorney General of our present Sovereign Lord the King, who fur our said Lord the King in this behalf prosecuteth, in his proper person, cometh here into the Court of our said Lord the King before the King himself at Westminster, on Monday next after the Octave of Saint Hilary in this same term, and for our said Lord the King giveth the Court here to un derstand and be informed: 1ST. COUNT.That William Cobbett, late of Westminster in the County of Middlesex, gentleman, being a malicious and ill disposed person, and unlawfully and maliciously devising and intending to move and incite the liege subjects of our said Lord the King to hatred and dislike of our said Lord the King's administration of the govern ment of this Kingdom, and to insinuate and cause it to be believed that the people of that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, called Ireland, quere oppressed, aggrieved, and injured by our said Lord the King's government of the said part of the said United Kingdom, and to traduce, defame, and vilify the persons employed by our said Lord the King in the administration of the government of the said part of the said United Kingdom, and especially the Right Ho nourable Philip, Earl of Hardwicke, our said Lord the King's Lieutenant General, and Governor General of the said part of the said United Kingdom, and the Right Honourable John, Lord Redesdale our said Lord the King's Lord Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal, and one of his most Honourable Privy Council, of and for the said part of the said United Kingdom, on the fifth day of Novem ber in the forty-fourth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, bythe Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, at Westminster in the County of Middlesex, unlawfully and maliciously did print and publish, and cause and procure to be printed and published, a certain scandalous and malicious libel in the form of a letter, intitled, Affairs of Ireland, containing therein divers scandalous and malicious matters and things of and concerning the said part of the said United Kingdom, and the people thereof, and our said Lord the King's government thereof; and also, of and concerning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke, being such Lieutenant and Governor as aforesaid, and the said John, Lerd Redesdale | so being such Chancellor and Privy Councellor as aforesaid, and also of and concerning Alexander Marsden; Esquire, then and there being one of the under Secretaries in the Office of the Chief Secretary of the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke, so being such Lieutenant and Governor as aforesaid, (that is to say) in one part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following, (that is to say) "SIR, Equo ne credite Teucri, was the advice which, in a dangerous mo"ment, Laocoon gave to the Trojans. It "will be remembered that the equus, against which that sagacious adviser cau"tioned his countrymen, was a wooden "one. His countrymen did not regard "Laocoon. They received the wooden re"presentative of wisdom. They approach"ed it as if it possessed authori y and "power. Its wooden head towered above "their houses. But, though the machine "itself was innoxious wood, the credulous "Trojans found its hollow head and exalted şides were nothing less than receptacles "for greedy peculators and blood-thirsty assassins. The ingenious author of the story did not mean to confine the lesson, which it inculcates, to the tale of Troy alone. He meant to take advantage of "that easy metaphorical expression, which, by the common assent of mankind, has "moulded itself into most languages, and "by which a certain species of head (which "the moderns, by various moral experi❝ments, have ascertained to be a non-con"ductor of ideas) has been denominated a "wooden head. He meant to caution fu❝ture nations not to put trust or confidence "in the apparent innocence of any such "wooden instrument; and not to suffer "themselves to be led to exalt it into con"sequence, or to pay it any respect. He " meant to tell them that any people, who "submitted to be governed by a wooden "head, would not find their security in its "supposed innoxiousness, as its hollowness "would soon be occupied by instruments "of mischief. When I found, Sir, this "portion of the kingdom (meaning the "said part of the said United Kingdom) "overwhelmed by such consequences to our "property as the rapacity of Mr. Marsden (meaning the said Alexander Marsden) and his friends, and such consequences to our lives as the pikes of Mr. Emmett and "his friends have lately produced: when I "could trace all these evils as the inevitable "issue for the 1Bead and body of auch a "govemment as that of Lord Hardwicke, (meatin it Philip Earl of lard wicke) and I am told of his innoxiouspess "and his firmness, I still reply the story "of the wooden horse, and I shall still, "notwithstanding the fate of Laocoon, raise my voice to my countrymen and cry, Equo ne credite Teucri. Not, Sir, that "I would be understood literally. I do not mean to assert that the head of my "Lord Hardwicke (meaning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke) is absolutely built "of timber. My application, like that of "the original author of the tale, is only "metaphorical. Yet, at the same time, I "cannot avoid suspecting, that if the head "of his Excellency (meaning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke), were submitted to the analysis of any such investigator of nature as Lavoisier, it would be found to "contain a superabundant portion of parti"cles of a very ligneous tendency. This, "Sir, is the Lord Hardwicke of Doctor Addington, against whose government "not a murmur of complaint has been "heard,-while our property has been subject to the plunder of his clerks, and "our persons have been exposed to pikes of the rebels. Still, however, the innocence "of Lord Hardwicke (meaning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke), as to any in"tention of mischief, is held forth. But, I reply in the words of Mr. Burke: they 6 who truly mean well must be fearful of acting ill. Delusive good intention is "no excuse for presumption.' And I may, "add, in my own words, that the govern. "ment of a harmless man is not. therefore, 86 a harmless government." And in anopart thereof, according to the tenor ad effect following (that is to say): "Inquiry "and research are the duty and resource of "the ignorant, and therefore I did inquire. "The result of no small attention bestowed "in this pursuit was, that I discovered of our Viceroy (meaning the said Philip, "Earl of Hardwicke) that he was in rank "an earl; in manners a gentleman; in "morals a good father and a kind husband; and that he had a good library in St. "James's Square. Here I should have "been for ever stopped, if I had not, by "accident, met with one Mr. Lindsay, a "Scotch parson, since become (and I am sure it must be by Divine Providence, for "it would be impossible to account for it by secondary causes) Bishop of Killaloo "in Ireland.From this Mr. Lindsay, "I further learned, that my Lord Hard"wicke (meaning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke) was celebrated for understanding the modern method of fattening sheep as well as any man in Cambridge "shire" And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following (that is to say): "While I have been writing, Sir, a map of the West Indies hap"pened to hang before me. My eyes wan 66 dale), which can entitle them to claim 66 one particle of trust or confidence from "the public, beyond the bounds and limits, "within which I have encircled their ex"ploits. On the chancery pleader, (mean "dered, I know not why, upon it, and fixeding the said John, Lord Redesdale) per " upon one of those little islands, which "have been lately, by the British troops, "redeemed from the capitulation of Lord "Cornwallis at Amiens. Give me leave to suppose, that, in the course of a few years, "one of those little islands should become "highly cultivated, and that a considerable "portion of British property became vested "in its land, and in its trade. Suppose, "that, by some unfortunate combination of " events, this little island should be deeply" "shaken by insurrection within, and should "be loudly menaced by invasion from with"out. Suppose a powerful fleet of the "enemies of the British name lay to wind"ward, ready filled with troops for landing, "while a desperate band of ruffians were secretly arming in its bosom, ready to aid "that landing, of a foreign enemy. Suppose, in this distress, a committee of West "India proprietors, whose money had been "vested in this little island, should apply "to the Doctor Addington for assistance: "and suppose he were to rise up and desire "them to quit their apprehensions, for that "he had entrusted the care of their island to a very eminent sheep feeder from Cambridgeshire, who was to be assisted in all "his counsels by a very able and strong"built chancery pleader from Lincoln's Inn. "Give me leave to ask you, Sir, who know "the city much better than I can pretend "to do, what would a sugar committee, " issuing from one of their coffee-houses, 66 say to such an answer from a British mi"nister? Why, Sir, the walls of St. Ste "phen's, and the chambers in Downing "Street, would be made to ring with their " vociferous reproaches. And yet, Sir, to "this situation is that portion of the United "Kingdom (meaning the said part of the said United Kingdom) reduced; on strength and vigour of which, at this mo❝ment, not only its own safety, but, as I "have in my former letter, stated, the safety of the British empire, and, consequently, I may assume, the safety of Europe "does entirely depend. Against the truth "of the description I have given of its <rulers, I may challenge the most daring "supporter of the present government to produce me one single act in the lives of "either of those truly great characters of the Doctor (meaning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke, and John, Lord Redes "haps I may have laid too great a stress; "he is not of the first consequence, thongh, "in a future letter, I may, perhaps, point "out to you the mischiefs which the inter"meddling of such a man in matters out of "the course of his practice may occasion. "But, with respect to Lord Hardwicke, (meaning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke) it may be replied, that my chal"lenge is unfair, because it is impossible to justify his having been appointed to the government of Ireland by any instances "of former political ability, as the accept"ance of his present office was his first po"litical essay. What! Is be one of the "tribe of the Hobarts, Westmorelands, and "Camdens? Is he one of that tribe, who "have been sent over to us to be trained (6 up here into politicians, as they train the "surgeon's apprentices in the hospitals, by setting them at first to bleed the pauper, "patients? Is this a time for a continua"tion of such wanton experiments? The gift of Lord Hardwicke to us, (meaning thereby, the appointment of the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke, to the said place and office of Lieutenant General and Governor General of the said part of the said United Kingdom), at such a period, can"not be compared to any thing else than "the prank of Falstaff upon Prince Hal at "the battle of Shrewsbury, when the knight "handed over his pistol to the Prince. For, "indeed, Sir, by the present to us of Lord "Hardwicke (meaning the aforesaid appointment of the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke), that sentence has been prov"ed to us in a bloody truth, which Falstaff "said in a good humoured jest,' here's 'what will sack a city."-To the great scandal and disgrace of the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke, and John, Lord Redesdale. In contempt of our said Lord the King and his laws, to the evil example of all others in the like case offending and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his crown and dignity, 2D COUNT. And the said Attorney-General of our said Lord the King, for our said Lord the King, further giveth the Court here to understand and be informed, that the said William Cobbett, so being such person as aforesaid, and again unlawfully and maliciously devising and intending as aforesaid, and also further unlawfully and maliciously devising, and intending to traduce, defamé, and vilify the Honourable Charles Osborne, then and there being one of the Justices of our said Lord the King, assigned to hold the pleas in the Court of our said I ord the King, before the King himself in Ireland aforesaid; afterwards, to wit, on the tenth day of December, in the forty-fourth year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord the King at Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, unlawfully and maliciously did print and publish, and cause and procure to be printed and published, a certain other scandalous and malicious libel, in the form of a letter, intituled, Affairs of Ireland, in some parts of which said lastmentioned libel were and are contained divers scandalous, malicious, and seditious matters and things, of and concerning the said part of the said United Kingdom, and the persons employed by our said Lord the King in the administration of the government of the said part of the said United Kingdom, and of and concerning the said Charles Osborne, so being such Justice as aforesaid, and the said Alexander Marsden, so being such under Secretary as aforesaid, (that is to say) in one part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following, (that is to say): "What I have now to touch upon must be done with a delicate hand I will confine myself to a bore narrative "of facts, and will not presume to give any opinion. As soon as the government had 66 fully recovered its recol'ection, a cómmission directed to five of the judges, issued for the trial of those rebels who "bad been arrested for treason committed "in the county and city of Dublin. This "commission having issued, while the judges 66 were on circuit, was filled up (and very properly filled up) with the names of the five "senior of those judges who were then on the circuits, which were likely to termi cr nate at the earliest period of time. Such "was the reason given by government for the particular selection of the judges "named in that commission, and it cer 86 "could not, and ought not to have given "offence to any of those senior judges, because, whatever opinion of them the government (meaning the persons employed by our said Lord the King in the administration of the government of the said part of the said United Kingdom) may have manifested in such an appointment, "the opinion of the present government (meaning the persons employed by our said Lord the King in the administration of the government of the said part of the said United Kingdom) upon such a subject (known to be influenced by motives "very different from general justice) is too contemptible to have the slightest effect upon any of those learned judges in the public mnd. The circumstance, there"fore, was not at first attended to. There "is published in this city a newspaper call"ed the Dublin Journal. It is, in general, "conducted with good sense, loyalty, and a publication above-mentioned. In the newspaper publication, the learned judge "is made to tell the grand jury, that "through the well-timed efforts and stre: nuous exertions of a wise and energetic government, &c. the progress of such crimes as lately disgraced this country had been effectually checked.' If the "learned justice did make any such assertion, (which I am far from supposing) "with what amazement the grand jury must have received such a broadside, "poured upon the truth of the fact, I can"not, as I was not present, know; but I 66 can very well imagine what the feelings "of twenty-three well informed gentlemen 66 must have been. Their respect, and a thorough knowledge of their duty would necessarily keep them silent."--And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following, (that is to say): "But, 66 Sir, suggestion does not stop here. Men "ask, how could (if the learned justice did "make any such assertion) the learned jus"tice be led to give credit to a position "which contradicts the evidence of the senses of every man in the kingdoin, who 66 licious matters and things, of and concerning the said John, Lord Redesdale, and the conduct of the said John, Lord Redesdale, as such Chancellor and Privy Counsellor as aforesaid, by way of antithesis and contrast between the conduct, which in and by the said last-mentioned libel it is insinuated, that the said John, Lord Redesdale, as such Chancellor and Privy Counsellor as afore said had adopted and pursued, and the conduct which in and by the said last-mention was present at, or knew any thing of the "transaction? How could a leained judge "be supposed to assert that which no man "in the kingdom would assert, unless he "had some reasons of the same nature as "those which prevailed on Mr. Marsden's attorney general, on the trials for highed libel it is asserted, that the late Right "treason, to assert something of the same "kin? Men, Sir, couple the extraordinary "selection of the learned justice (meaning the said Charles Osborne) from amongst "his fellows, with the extraordinary asser "tion attributed to him in a government 66 newspaper, and they ask, if he made that "assertion, where did he get his informa" tion? Was he ever in Mr. Marsden's (meaning the said Alexander Marsden's) "andience-room since the night of the 23d of July? What passed there? What were the pre-disposing causes which in"duced government to select particularly "that learned justice? (meaning the said Charles Osborne). Could government 66 have foreseen (and if so, by what faculty) "that the learned justice would have given "an instruction to the grand jury, so very "useful and so very grateful to the govern "ment? What night telescope could have "been applied to the eye of Mr. Marsden (meaning the said Alexander Marsden), whien, through the dark womb of things "unborn, could have enabled him to per "ceive through this little future star of "praise, springing from the creative lips of "the learned justice? Here, Sir, decorum "towards you and towards the public, in"daces me to be silent as to other, and, 46 perhaps, stronger observations. But I 66 may, I believe, add what men also say, that if it were possible the ermined robe "of the most awful attribute of his Majesty should have been wrapped round the acts "of Mr Marsden (meaning the said Alexander Marsden), in order to screen them from public disgrace, we might then look "for another, but not less fatal end to our liberties and to our constitution, than that which rebellion or invasion could produce. And in truth, they say, that except as to momentary effects, rebellion and invasion might be viewed with indifference, if it can be supposed, that the stained hands of <6 a petty clerk had been washed in the very fountain of justice."And in other parts of which said last-mentioned libel, were and are contained divers scandalous and ma Honourable Lloyd, Lord Kenyon, now de crased, would have adopted and pursued, (that is to say) in one part thereof, accord ing to the tenor and effect following (that is to say): "Instead of calling him (mean, ing the said late Lloyd, Lord Kenyon) to the high station which he so ably filled, "had it pleased his Majesty to bless the western neighbours of Cambricus (mean ing the people of the said part of the said United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Ireland, called Ireland) (who certainly owe "the honest and warm-hearted principality (meaning the principality of Wales) no ill will) with Lord Ke yon (meaning the said "late Lloyd, Lord Kenyon) for their Chan"cellor; I can very well conceive what Lord "Kenyon (meaning the said late Lloyd, Lord Kenyon), in such a situation, would "have done, and also, what he would not "have done. From a rare modesty of na ture, or from a rare precision of self"knowledge, Lord Kenyon would have act"ed with reserve and circumspection, on his "arrival in a country, with the moral qua"lities of the inhabitants of which, and "with their persons, manners, and indivi, dual characters and connexions, he must "have been utterly unacquainted. In such a country, torn with domestic sedition and treason, threatened with foreign invasion, "and acting, since the union, under an "untried constitution, if Doctor Addington "had required that Lord Kenyon should "direct a Cambridgeshire Earl (meaning the said Philip, Earl of Hardwicke) in all his councils,' Lord Kenyon would as soon, at the desire of Lord St. Vincent, "have undertaken to pilot a line of battle "ship through the Needles. Particularly, "the integrity of Lord Kenyon would have "shrunk from such an undertaking, if a "condition had been added to it, that no one nobleman or gentleman who posses "sed any rank, estate, or connexion in the "country, should upon any account be con suited (meaning and insinuating thereby, and intending to cause it to be believed, that he the said John, Lord Redesdale, as |