PwiMS A s«T* -A s«» « m mO&wWi WsStWSm-mM 'I give theft, Beiiki: for. the founding of a College bvthis Colony' •YALE-waniVEiasinnr- 1923 Mt&W-T^tMSygg'r THE TRIALS of Jeremiah Brandreth, William Turner, Isaac Ludlam, George Weightman, AND OTHERS, FOR UNPER A SPECIAL COMMISSION AT DERBY, Thursday the l6th, Friday the 1 7th, Saturday the lStlt, Monday the 20th, ON Tuesday the 21st, Wednesday the 22rf, Thursday the 23d, Friday the 24th, and Saturday the 25tk of October, ISlf. WITH THE ANTECEDENT PROCEEDINGS. m — IN TWO VOLUMES:-r-VOL. I, TAKEN IN SHORT HAND BY WILLIAM BRODIE GURNEY, Short Hand Writer to loth Houses of Parliament. Ronton : SOLD BY BUTTERWORTH AND SON, FLEET STREET, ANB FENNER, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1817, [CnteceO at Stationery ty&lLl B. TC.IfE, printer, TUWER-MLL, loxdox. THE TRIALS OF JEREMIAH BRANDRETH, AND OTHERS, FOR $tgl) treason. At the Assizes holden at Derby, for the County of Derby, on the 26th day of July, 1817, the Grand Jury found the following Bill of Indictment : o 3Dec:b2>0f)to to Wit The jurors for our Lord the King upon their oath present that Thomas Bacon late of the parish of Pentridge in the county of Derby labourer Jere miah Brandreth late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county labourer otherwise called John Coke late of the same place labourer otherwise called the Nottingham Captain late of trie same place labourer George Weightman late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby sawyer William Turner late of the parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby stone mason Joseph Turner late of the same parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer otherwise called Manchester Turner late of the same place labourer Isaac Ludlam the elder late of the same parish of Southwing field in the same county of Derby stonegetter Isaac Ludlam the younger late of the same parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer Samuel Ludlam late of the same parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer William Ludlam late of the same parish of South wingfield in the same county of Derby labourer Samuel Hunt late of the same parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby farmer Edward Turner late of the same parish of Southwingfield in the same county of A2 4 Derby stone mason Robert Turner late of the same parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer Charles Swaine late of the same parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer John Onion the «lder late of the said parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer John Mac Kesswick late of the parish of Heanor in the same county of Derby labourer John Hill late of the said parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer Joseph Rawson late of the parish of Alfreton in the said county of Derby labourer otherwise called Joseph Thorpe late of the same place labourer Joseph Topham late of the said parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby blacksmith German Buxtonfote of the said parish of Alfreton in the same county of Derby labourer Edward Moore late of the said parish of Peh- trWge in the same county of Derby labourer Josiah. God- ier late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer George Brassington late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer William Adams late of the same parish of Pen tridge in the same county of Derby labourer Wil liam Hardwick late of the same parish of Pentridge in' the same county of Derby labourer John Wright late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer Thomas Ensor late of the same parish of Pentridge in the sajne county of Derby labourer Joseph Savage late of the same parish of Pen tridge in the same county of Derby labourer John Moore late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer William Weightman. late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer Thomas Weightman late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer Joseph Weightman the younger late of the same parish of Pent ridge in the same county of Derby labourer James Weight- man late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer Thomas Bettison late of the said parish of Alfreton in the said county of Derby labourer Alexander Johnson late of the said parish of Peutridge jn. 5 the same county of Derby labourer John Bacon late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer Joseph Weightman the elder late of the same parish of Pentridge in the same county of Derby labourer James Barnes late of the said parish of Alfreton in the same county of Derby labourer Edward Haslam\&te of the said parish of Alfreton in the same county of Derby labourer John Horsley late of the said parish of Alfreton in the same county of Derby tailor Samuel Briddon late of the said parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer William Barker late of the said parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer William Elliott late of the said parish of Alfreton in the same county of Derby labourer James Taylor late of the said parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer Joseph Taylor late of the said parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer Benjamin Taylor late of the said parish of Southwingfield in the same county of Derby labourer and Samuel Walters late of the said parish of Pentridge in the same county of. Derby labourer otherwise called Samuel Dudley late pf the same place labourer being subjects of our said Lord the King not having the fear of God in their hearts nor weigh ing the duty of their allegiance but being moved and se duced by the instigation of the devil as false traitors against our said Lord the King and wholly withdrawing the love obedience fidelity and allegiance which every true and faithful subject of our said Lord the King should and of right ought to bear towards our said Lord the King on the ninth day of June in the fifty-seventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and on divers other days and times between that day and the fifteenth day of the same month of June with force and arms at the saijL, parish of Southwingfield in the said county of Derby toge ther with a great multitude' of false traitors whose names are tothe said Jurors unknown to the number of five hun dred and more arrayed and armed in a warlike manner that is to say with swords pistols clubs bludgeons and othef weapons being then and there unlawfully maliciously and traitorously assembled and gathered together against our said Lord the King wickedly maliciously and traitorously did levy and make war against our said Lord the King within this realm and being so assembled together arrayed and armed against our said Lord the King as aforesaid did then with great force and violence parade and march in an hostile manner in and through divers villages places and public highways to wit at the parish of Southwingfield aforesaid in the said county of Derby and did then and there maliciously and traitorously attempt and endeavour by force and arms to subvert and destroy the government and constitution of this realm as by law established in con tempt of our said Lord the King and his laws to the evil example of all others contrary to the duty of the allegiance of them the said Thomas Bacon Jeremiah Brandreth otherwise called John Coke otherwise called the Notting ham Captain George Weightman William Turner Joseph Turner otherwise called Manchester Turner Isaac Ludlam theelder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel Ludlam Wil liam Ludlam Samuel Hunt Edward Turner Robert Tur ner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kess- wick John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise called Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topham German Buxton Edward Moore Josiah Godber George Brassington William Adams Wil liam Hardwick John Wright Thomas Ensor Joseph Savage John Moore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman the younger James Weightman Thomas Bettison Alexander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes Ed ward Haslani John Horsley Samuel Briddon William Bar ker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph Taylor Ben jamin Taylor and Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel ©udley against the form of the statute in such case made and provided and against the peace of our said Lord the King his. crown and dignity. JSecondCount,]— And the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid further present that the said Thomas Bacon Jere- miah Brandreth otherwise called John Coke otherwise calted the Nottingham Captain George Weightman William Turner Joseph Turner otherwise called Manchester Turner Isaac Ludlam the elder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel Ludlam William Ludlam Samuel Hunt Edward Turner Robert Turner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kesswick John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise called Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topham German Buxton Edward Moore Josiah Godber George Brassington William Adams William Hardwick John Wright Thomas Ensor Joseph Sa vage JohnMoore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman the younger James Weightman Thomas Bettison Alexander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes Edward Haslam John Horsley Sa» muel BriddonWilliam Barker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph Taylor Benjamin Taylor and Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel Dudley being subjects of our said Lord the King not having the fear of God in their hearts nor weighing the duty of their allegiance but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil as false traitors against our said Lord the King and wholly withdrawing the love obedience fidelity and allegiance which every true and faithful subject of our said Lord the King should and of right ought to bear towards our said Lord the King on the said ninth day of June in the fifty-seventh year of the reign aforesaid and on divers other days and times as well before as after with force and arms at the parish of Southwingfield aforesaid in the county of Derby aforesaid maliciously and traitorously amongst themselves and toge ther with divers other false traitors whose names are to the" said jurors unknown did compass imagine invent devise and intend to deprive and depose our said Lord the King of and from the style honour and kingly name of the im perial crown of this realm and the said compassing ima gination invention device and intention did then and there express utter and declare by divers overt acts and deeds hereinafter mentioned that is to say in order to fulfil per fect and bring to effect their most evil and wicked treason and treasonable compassing imagination invention device 8 and intention aforesajd they the aaid Thomas Bacon Jere miah Brandreth otherwise called John Coke otherwise * called the Nottingham Captain George Weightman Wil liam Turner Joseph Turner otherwise called Manchester Turner Isaac Ludlam the elder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel Ludlam William Ludlam Samuel Hunt. Edward "Turner Robert Turner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kesswick John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise called Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topham German Buxton Edward Moore Josiah Godber George Brassington William Adams William Hardwick John Wright Thomas Enspr Joseph Savage John Moore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman the younger ', Jiimes Weightman Thomas Bettison Alexander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes .Edward Haslam John Horsley Samuel Briddon William ^arker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph Taylor Ben jamin Taylor and Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel , Dudley as such false traitors as last aforesaid on the said ,. ninth day of June in the fifty -seventh year of the reign , aforesaid and on divers other days and times as well before as after with force and arms at the parish of Southwing field aforesaid in the county of Derby aforesaid maliciously and traitorously did assemble meet conspire and consult among themselves and together with divers other false traitors whose names are to the said jurors unknown to de vise arrange and mature plans and means to subvert and destroy the constitution and government of this realm as by law established And further to fulfil perfect and brin"- to effect their most evil and wicked treason and treason able compassing imagination invention device and inten tion aforesaid. They the said Thomas Bacon Jeremiah Brancheth otherwise called. John Coke otherwise called the Nottingham Captain George Weightman William Turner Joseph Turner otherwise called Manchester Turner Isaac Ludlam the elder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel ''Ludlam William -Ludlam Samuel Hunt Edward Turner Robert Tnrner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kesswick-John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise .called i]9 Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topham German Baxton Edward Moore Josiah Gouber George Brassington William Adams William Hardwick John Wright Thomas Ensor Joseph Savage John Moore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman $he younger James Weightman Thomas Bettison Alexander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes Edward Haslam John Horsley Samuel Briddon William Barker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph Taylor Benjamin Taylor-and Samuel Walters' otherwise called Samuel Dud ley as such false traitors as last aforesaid on the said ninrii day of June in the fifty-seventh year of the reign afore said and on divers other days and times as well before as after with force and arms at the parish of Southwingfield aforesaid in the county of Derby aforesaid maliciously and traitorously did assemble meet conspire consult ajftd agree among themselves and together with divers other false traitors whose names are to the said Jurors unknown to stir up raise make and levy insurrection rebellion and war against our said Lord the King within this realm arid to subvert and destroy the constitution and government of this realm as by law established And further to fulfil per fect and bring to effect their most evil and wicked treason -and treasonable compassing imagination invention device and intention aforesaid They the said Thomas Bacon Jeremiah Brandreth otherwise called John Coke otherwise called the Nottingham Captain George Weightman Wil liam Turner Joseph Turner otherwise called Manchester 1 Turner Isaac Ludlam the elderTsaac Ludlam the youngier Samuel Ludlam William Ludlam Samuel Hunt. Edward Turner Robert Turner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John MacKesswick John Hill Joseph Rawson other wise called Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topham, German Bux ton Edward Moore Josiah Godber George Brassington William Adams William Hardwick John Wright Thomas Ensor Joseph Savage John Moore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman the younger James Weightman Thomas Bettison Alexander. Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes 10 Edward Haslam John Horsley Samuel Briddon William Barker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph Taylor Ben jamin Taylor and Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel Dudley as such false traitors as last aforesaid on the said ninth day of June in the fifty-seventh year of the reign aforesaid and on divers other days and times as well be fore as after with force and arms at the parish of South wingfield aforesaid in the county of Derby aforesaid ma liciously and traitorously did purchase procure provide and have divers large quantities of aims (to wit) swords pikes guns and pistols and divers large quantities of am munition (to wit) gunpowder leaden bullets and slugs with intent therewith to arm and array themselves and divers other false traitors in order to attack fight with kill and destroy the soldiers troops and forces of our said Lord the King and other his liege and faithful subjects and to raise make and levy insurrection rebellion and war against ®ur said Lord the King within this realm and to subvert and destroy the constitution and government of this realm as by law established And further to fulfil perfect and bring into effect their most evil and wicked treason and treasonable compassing imagination invention device and intention aforesaid They the said Thomas Bacon Jeremiah Brandreth otherwise called John Coke other wise called the Nottingham Captain George Weightman William Turner Joseph Turner otherwise called Man chester Turner Isaac Ludlam the elder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel Ludlam William Ludlam Samuel Hunt Edward Turner Robert Turner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kesswick John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise called Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topbam German Buxton Edward Moore Josiah Godber George Brassington William Adams William Hardwick John Wright Thomas Ensor Joseph Savage John Moore Wil liam Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman the younger James Weightman Thomas Bettison Alex ander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder lames Barnes Edward Haslam John Horsley Samuel Brid don William Barker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph 11 Taylor Benjamin Taylor and Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel Dudley as such false traitors as last aforesaid on the said ninth day of June in the fifty-seventh year of the reign aforesaid with force and arms at the parish of Southwingfield aforesaid in the county of Derby aforesaid maliciously and traitorously together with a very great number to wit five hundred and more of the subjects of our said Lord the King whose names are to the said Jurors unknown then and there assembled with divers offensive weapons (to wit) swords guns pistols sticks and staves did parade and march with great noise and violence in through and along divers public highways villages and places (to wit) at the parish of Southwingfield aforesaid in the said county of Derby and did attack and beset the houses and habitations of divers liege subjects of our said Lord the King and did seize and take divers large quantities of arms (to wit) one hundred guns and one hundred pistols and other offensive weapons with intent by and with the said last mentioned arms further to arm themselves and other false traitors in order to attack fight with kill and destroy the soldiers troops and forces of our said Lord the King and other his liege and faithful subjects and to raise make and levy insurrection rebellion and war against our said Lord the King within this realm and thereby to .subvert and destroy the constitution and government of this realm as by law established (to wit) at the parish of Southwing field aforesaid in the county of Derby aforesaid And further to fulfil perfect and bring to effect their most evil and wicked treason and treasonable compassing imagi nation invention device and intention aforesaid They the said Thomas Bacon Jeremiah Brandreth otherwise called John Coke othewise called the Nottingham Captain George Weightman William Turner Joseph Turner other wise called Manchester Turner Isaac Ludlam the elder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel Ludlam William Lud lam Samuel Hunt Edward Turner Robert Turner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kesswick John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise called Joseph Thorpe- Joseph Topham German Buxton Edward Moore Josiah 12 Godber George Brassington William Adams William Hard wick John Wright Thomas Ensor Joseph Savage John Moore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman the younger James Weightman Thomas Bet tison Alexander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes Edward Haslam John Horsley Samuel Briddon William Barker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph Taylor BenjaminTaylorand Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel Dudley as such false traitors as last aforesaid on the said ninth day of June in the fifty-seventh year of the reign aforesaid with force and arms at the parish of Southwingfield aforesaid in the county of Derby aforesaid together with agreatffnultitude of false traitors whose names are to the said Jurors unknown to the number of five hundred and more armed and arrayed in a warlike manner (that is to say) with guns pistols swords clubs bludgeons and other offensive weapons maliciously and traitorously did ordain prepare levy and make public war against our said Lord the King within this realm in contempt of our said Lord the King and his laws to the evil example of all others contrary to the duty of the allegiance of them the said: Thomas Bacon Jeremiah Brandreth. otherwise called John Coke otherwise called the Nottingham Captain 'George Weightman William Turner Joseph Turner other- Wise called Manchester Turner Isaac Ludlam the elder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel Ludlam William Ludlam SamuelHunt Edward Turner Robert Turner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kesswick John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise called Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topham German Buxton Edward Moore Josiah Godber George Brassington- William Adams William Hardwick John "Wright Thomas Ensor Joseph Savage John Moore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weight- man the younger James Weightman Thomas Bettison Alexander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes Edward Haslam John Horsley Samuel Briddon William Barker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph; Taylor Benjamin Taylor and Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel Dudley against the form of the^ "13 statute in such ease made and provided and against the peace of our said Lord the King his crown and dignity [Third Count] — And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid further present that the said Thomas Bacon Jeremiah Brandreth otherwise called John Coke otherwise called the Nottingham Captain George Weightman WhV liam Turner Joseph Turner otherwise called Manchester Turner Isaac Ludlam the elder Isaac Ludlam the younger Samuel Ludlam William Ludlam Samuel Hunt Edward Turner Robert Turner Charles Swaine John Onion the elder John Mac Kesswick John Hill Joseph Rawson otherwise called Joseph Thorpe Joseph Topham German Buxton Edward Moore Josiah Godber George Brassington William Adams William Hardwick John Wright Thoma5 Ensor Joseph Savage John Moore William Weightman Thomas Weightman Joseph Weightman the younger James Weightman Thomas Bettison Alexander Johnson John Bacon Joseph Weightman the elder James Barnes Edward Haslam John Horsley Samuel Briddon William Barker William Elliott James Taylor Joseph Taylor Ben jamin Taylor and Samuel Walters otherwise called Samuel Dudley being subjects of our said Lord the King not having the fear of God in their Hearfs nor weighing the duty of their allegiance but beiug moved, and seduced by the jnsrigati,on of the devil as false traitors against our said Lord the King and wholly withdrawing the love obedienee fidelity and allegiance which every true and faithful subject of our said Lord the King should and of right ought to bear towards our said Lord the King on the said ninth day of June in the .fifty-seventh year of the reign aforesaid and on divers other days and times as well before as after with force and arms at the parish of Southwingfield afore said in the county of Derby aforesaid maliciously aud traitorously amongst themselves and together with divers other false traitors whose names are to the said jurors un known did compass imagine invent devise and intend to levy war against our said Lord the King within this realm in order by force and constraint to compelhim to change his measures and counsels and the said last-mentioned 14 compassing imagination invention device and intention did then and there express utter and declare by divers overt acts and deeds herein-after mentioned (that is to say)— The indictment then states the same Jive overt acts charged in the second count. On the 25th of September, two several Special Com missions of Oyer and Terminer, and General Gaol Delivery, dated the 26th day of August, were opened at Derby, before the Honorable Mr. Justice Abbott and the Honorable Mr. Justice Holroyd, and on the 26th the Prisoners who were in custody were set to the Bar, (several of them having been removed for that purpose from the county Gaol of Nottingham by Writs of Habeas Corpora) and at their request John Cross, Esquire, and Thomas Denman, Esquire, were assigned as their Counsel; and the Court directed that the Prisoners Counsel and Solicitors should have access to them at all seasonable hours. The Sheriff was ordered, on the motion bf the Attorney Genera], to deliver to Mr. Litchfield the Solicitor for the Prosecution, a list of the Jury to be returned for the Trial of the Prisoners, and the Court adjourned to Wednesday the 15th of October. On the 2d of October, Mr. Litchfield delivered to each of the several Prisoners a copy of the Indictment, a list of the Petit Jurors, and a list of the Witnesses to be pro duced by the Crown for proving the said Indictment. . 15 SPECIAL ASSIZE, DERBY, Wednesday, 15th October, 1817- PRESENT, The Right Hon. Lord Chief Baron Richards, The Hon. Mr. Justice Dallas, The Hon. Mr. Justice Abbott, The Hon. Mr. Justice Holroyd. Counsel for the Crown. The Attorney General, The Solicitor General, Mr. Serjeant Vaugh an, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Gurney, Mr. Serjeant Copley, Mr. Reaper, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Richardson, Mr. J. Balguy. Solicitors. Henry Charles Litch field, Esq. Solicitor for the affairs of His Majesty's Trea sury; and Messrs. Ward, Loc k ett, St Ba lg u y, Derby. Counsel for the Prisoners.. Mr. Cross, Mr. Denman. Solicitors. Mr. Robert Bond, and Mr. Thomas Wragg. The High Sheriff returned the panel of the Grand Jury, when the following Gentlemen were called and sworn : 16 The Right Honorable George Augustus Henry Cavendish, commonly called LordGeorge Cavendish, The Hon. George Vernon, The Hon. Henry Cavendish, Sir Robert Wilmot, bart. Sir Matthew Blackiston, bart. Sir Henry Fitzherbert, bart. Sir William Chambers Bagshaw, knt. Sir Charles Colville, knt. Richard Arkwright, Esq. Ash ton Nicholas Mosley, Esq. Edward Miller Mundy, Esq, Francis Hurt, Esq. Philip Gell, Esq. John Radford, Esq. Francis Mundy, Esq. Charles Hurt, Esq. Wingfield Halton, Esq. Bacbe Heathcote, •Esq. John Crompton, Esq. Richard Batenian, Esq. Samuel Frith, Esq. Marmaduke Middleton Mid- dleton, Esq. Joshua Jebb, Esq. His Majesty's Proclamation for the encouragement of piety and virtue, and for the preventing and punishing of vice, profaneness, and immorality, was read. Lord Chief Baron RICHARDS. Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, ' It is a matter of great satisfaction to see so numerous and so respectable an attendance of Grand Jurors, but I am not apprised of any circumstances the communication of which seems to me to be necessary or expedient at the present time. If any occurrences should arise which should render it necessary, you will immediately be in formed, and requested to attend to execute the high'func- tions of your duty, and 1 shall have the honor, I have no do»ot, of seeing you all in your places upon that notice. At present I do not feel it necessary to trouble you fur ther. Gentlemen should be informed that it is the expecta tion of the Court that no part of the proceedings, which are to commence to-morrow, should be published in any manner until all the proceedings are concluded. I give this notice now with the concurrence of all the Court, in order to put persons in possession of the resolution of the Court, that due notice will be taken if this intimation of f7 mine be not attended to. I shall mention it again to= rnoirow. — Pray, Mr. Attorney' General, can you give us any information as to the mode of proceeding ? - Mr. Attorney General.— "My Loia, asto myself I should think that, as your Lordship has not addressed the Grand Jury so as to occupy any considerable portion of the rime of the Court to-day, probably it might save some of your Lordship's time to-morrow if a certain number of the Prisoners, whom it might be convenient to bring up, were to be brought before your Lordships for the purpose of being arraigned so as to plead to-day. If my friends, who are of Counsel for the Defendants, see no objection to that, I would propose, in order to Save the time of your Lordships, that some or indeed the whole of the Prisoners may be arraigned torday, being brought up in such num bers as may be convenient ; for it does not appear, to me. that there will be room for all the Prisoners to be atthe Bar together. The course we shall afterwards adopt will, in some degree, depend upon that which shall be done upon the part of the Prisoners, whether my .friends will have any objection to state to your Lordships what will be the course they shall adopt I am not aware ^ and I am sure they will understand me neither to request nor, to wish that they should say one word upon the subject, till the very moment comes, when . it will be necessary for them to express what their mode of proceeding shah be if any purposes of convenience, or any others will, in their opinion, be answered by their delaying it. Our course of proceeding may probably vary according as the Prisoners may be advised by their learned Counsel ; for I believe my friends stand as Counsel for all of them. Our course of proceeding may possibly be regulated by my friends having the goodness to intimate.' at such time as shall be most convenient and desirable lor their Clients ; whether tliey mean to sever their challenges, or whether they do riot. Whether that.shah be declared now or not it does Hot appear to me that it will make any difference as to the arraigning the Prisoners, or any number of them ; or if yonr Lordships should think that it may be more cqh- B 18 vement to arraign a certain number to-day, and the re mainder to-morrow morning ; to its it is perfectly indif ferent. If your Lordships should conceive that it would be desirable to arraign a certain number, so as to try four or five together, to that I can have no objection. All I would propose is, that any number, eight, ten, or twelve, if your Lordships think that number is not too great, •hould now be brought up to be arraigned. Lord Chief Baron Richards.— Do you gain any time by arraigning eight or ten ? Mr. Attorney General.— They may be all arraigned in the course of an hour or somewhat more, taking them in certain numbers. The Indictment must, of course, be read over every time. Lord Chief Baron Richards. — Have you any objection, Mr. Cross ? Mr. C>oss.—I conceive, my Lord, no possible inconve nience can possibly arise to the Prisoners from the ar raignments taking place in such numbers as are most con venient tothe Court, whether singly, or several together, or all together, seems to me, as far as respects the rights and interests of the Prisoners, a matter of perfect indiffer ence; and, therefore, whatever course the Attorney Ge neral may think most for the convenience of the Court will be hj me, on the part of the Prisoners, instantly acceded to, Mr. Attorney General —I am very much obliged to my friend ;*I conceived it to be a matter of perfect indiffer ence to the Prisoners or I would not have made the pro position. Lord Chief Baron Richards. — I think, Mr. Attorneys- General, you had better take your own course, as the Counsel for the Prisoners have no, objection. Mr. Attorney General. — My Lord, I understand the gaoler has twelve of the Prisoners here, and I think it will be most convenient to your Lordship and to the Sheriff that that number should be taken together. Thonias Bacon, Jeremiah Brandreth, otherwise called John Coke, otherwise called the Nottingham Cap- 19 tain, George Weightman, William Turner, Joseph Turner, otherwise called Manchester Turner, Isaac Ludlam the elder, Isaac Ludlam the younger, Sa muel Ludlam, William Ludlam, Samuel Hunt, Ed ward Turner, and Robert Turner, were arraigned, and severally pleaded not guilty. Mn Attorney General. — I do not know whether your Lordship will take twelve others at this time.* Lord Chief Baron Richards.— /Take your own course, Mr. Attorney. Charles Swaine, Johh Onion the elder, Jolin Mac Kesswick, John Hill, Joseph Rawson, otherwise called Joseph Thorpe, Joseph Topham, German Buxton, Edward Moore, Josiah Godber, George Brassington, William Adams, and William Hardwick, were ar raigned, and severally pleaded not guilty. John Wright, Thomas Ensor, Joseph Savage, John Moore, William Weightman, Thomas Weightman, Joseph Weightman the younger, James Weight- man, Thomas Bettison, Alexander Johnson, and John Bacon, were arraigned, and severally pleaded not guilty. Mr. Attorney General.— -I will not ask rriy learned friend, Mr. Cross, to state whether the Prisoners mean to sever theii' challenges ; if they have not decided, or, having de cided, have the least objection to answering the question now, the only reason I venture to propose it is that it might possibly save time. Mr Cross, — My Lord, we have not yet determined. Lord Chief Baron Richards. — Mr. Cross has intimated • to me that he is not prepared to give an answer. The Court will sit to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, as there may be a difficulty in procuring a Jury on the first day before that ; on subsequent days we propose to sit at eiuht. Adjourned to to-morrow morning nine o'clock. 'o' 20 THE TRIAL op JEREMIAH BRANDRETH, Alias John Coket alias the Nottingham Captain. SPECIAL ASSIZE, DERBY, Thursday, \6th October, 1817. The Jurors returned by the Sheriff zcere called over, zchen the following were excused. Luke Ashby, Farmer, on account of Illness. John Smith, Farmer, on account of Illness. Richard Smith, Hosier, on account of Age. William Fox, Joiner, on account of Illness. Francis Walker, Innkeeper, on account of Illness. Thomas Hartshorne, Maltster, on account of Age. John Needham, Farmer, not summoned, having re moved from the County. Joseph Gould, Farmer, on account of Illness. Timothy Greenwood, Farmer, on account of Illness. William Gardom, Gentleman, not summoned, having removed from the County. Samuel Fox, Farmer, not properly described in the panel. George Barker, Gentleman, on account of Illness. George Kirk Shirt, Yeoman, on account of Illness. Thomas Clarke, Gentleman, ou account of Illness. Henry Hodgkinson, Fanner, on account of Age. Ebenezer Smith, Iron Master, on account of Illness. John Heywood, the elder, Farmer, on account of Age. Mark Hewett, TJraper, on account of Illness. Samuel Beeley, Farmer, on .account of Illness. 21 The List having been gone through, the Defaulters were called over. William Jerrom, Farmer, fined ^to. Joseph Garner, Farmer, fined £ 10. John Withnall, Farmer, fined ,£10, Charles Hill, Farmer, fined .£10. William Horobin, Farmer, fined ,£10. Robert Needham, Gentleman, fined ,£10. Joseph Villers, Gentleman, fined ,£10. William Birds, Gentleman, fined £10. Thomas Walthall, Gentleman, fined «£I0. Richard Needham, Farmer, fined ,£10. William Milnes, Gentleman, fined <£10. Thomas Slagg, Farmer, fined ,£10. Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, my learned friend having stated that it is his intention to sever his challenges, I should state to your Lordship, that it is my intention to proceed to the trial of Jeremiah Brandreth first. The prisoner, Jeremiah Brandreth, otherwise John Coke, otherwise the Nottingham Captain, was ac cordingly set to the bar. The Jurors returned by the Sheriff, and who had answered to their names, were again called over. William White, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. William Moriey, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. William Wilkes, Farmer, sworn., John Stretton, Farmer, sworn. Robert Beard, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Robotham, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. William Salt, Miller, challenged by the Prisoner. Robert Frost, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Tempest, Farmer, sworn. John Heacock, Esq. challenged by the Prisoner. William Bailey, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Samuel Wilder, Farmer, sworn. , Thomas Archer, Farmer, sworn. Thomas Orme, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. 22 Thomas Harvey, Fanner, not a Freeholder of the county of Derby, to the amount of ,£10. a year; Samuel Archer, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Borough, Gentleman, challenged by the Crown. Thomas Hall, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Ensor, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Walthall Spunier, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Henry Spurrier, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Michael Goodall, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Lowndes, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Webster, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner- John Bradshaw, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Robert Eaton, Farmer, sworn. Thomas Gilman (of Osliston and Thurvaston.) Farmer, sworn. Thomas Sberwin, Farmer, sworn. Thomas Gilman (of Rodsley), Farmer, sworn. William Shipton, Farmer. (No challenge having been made, the Cryer commenced the administration of tne oath, when challenges were interposed by Mr. Denman, and nearly at the same moment by the Solicitor General.) Mr. Solicitor General. You should mention that a little sooner: you do not mention it till they are begun to be sworn. Mr. Cross. They are to be challenged before they are sworn : I apprehend that is till they are fully sworn. Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, I apprehend that that means before they are begun to be sworn. When the Prisoner has decided whether he shall challenge, it is for the Crown to decide whether they shall or not challenge. Now, if a j uryman is begun to be sworn, the Crown cannot tell, till the last word of the oath comes out of the officer's mouth, whether the Prisoner will exercise his privilege first ; and the consequence is, if the last word of the oath comes out of the officer's mouth, the Crown is prevented fromehallenging, because then the person is sworn ; and, therefore, though I am sure that if my learned friend, Mr. Cross, from inadvertence, did not attead at the 23 moment, 1 should be very fur from desiring to preclude hi in from exercising the right at any time; yet, I appre hend, being challenged before they are sworn, means before they are begun to be sworn by the officer; and thai, is the course I have always seen pursued, whether on trials in which I have been myself engaged, or on other trials. That was the course on the late trial for Treason, in the Court of King's Bench, where the officers looked first to the Counsel for the Prisoner, then to the Counsel for the Crown ; and, receiving no intimation from the one or the other, then he gave the Juror the book. Mr. Cross. My Lord, I was not aware that the Prisoner was bound to exercise his right of challenge before the Crown; nor did I conceive it to be any privilege to the Prisoner so to do ; because, undoubtedly, it is rather a disadvantage to the Prisoner to expend his challenges ona person who would be the subject of a challenge by the Crown. I must take your Lordship's direction, whether we are bound to make our challenge before the Crown. Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, I apprehend that (he Prisoner has a right to make his challenge at any time before the book is put into the juryman's hand, and lie is begun to be sworn. They may change their inten tion at any time before the man is begun to be sworn; but 1 submit, that neither the Prisoner's Counsel, nor the Counsel for the Crown, have a right to challenge the jury • in:m after he is begun to be sworn. If, through any cir- eumsianee, there were inadvertence on the part of the Prisoner, I certainlyshoulcl not insist on the Prisoner being tried by a juryman to whom he felt an objection ; but I apprehend, my Lord, that the Prisoner is called upon to challenge first ; aud one of the reasons why I apprehend I hut l he Prisoner is called upon to challenge first, is that the Prisoner has five and diirty challenges, without any cause to shew why. The Crown challenges peremptorily, but the Crown must shew cause why, if after they have made their challenges, there are not a sufficient number of jurymen; and therefore the Prisoner necessarily ought lo dscide, whether he means to exercise hjs peremptory 24 challenge, before he calls upon the CioWn to exercise their right of challenge ; for which, though peremptory in the first instance, it may afterwards be necessary they should assign cause; in fact, it is a qualified challenge, because it may become necessary afterwards to make it out by matter of good cause. Mr. Denman. My Lord, unless this has been already decided, I humbly wish to add a few words. Mr. Solicitor General. Unless you make it matter of favor, I do not think you are entitled to be heard in this stage. Mr. Denman. It is as matter of favor I ask it ; the im portance of it did not strike me before. I trust, on this sub ject, your Lordship will indulge me with a few observations. Mr. Justice Abbott. Having, attended, I believe, more trials of this kind than any other of the Judges, I would State that the uniform practice has been that the juryman .was presented to the Prisoner, or his Counsel, that they might have a view of his person ; then that the officer of the Court looked first to the Counsel for the Prisoner, to know whether they wished to challenge him ; he then turn ed to the Counsel for the Crown, to know whether they challenged him, and if neither of them made any objec tion, the oath was administeied ; and from reference to the State Trials, independently of the terms of the intir- mation made to the Prisoner when he may challenge, it is clear that that must be the uniform practice; for this reason you will very often find that the Prisoner himself, in the early part of our history, said " I do not challenge him ;" then, at a later period, you find his Counsel saying " I do not challenge him ;" and then the Attorney General, or the Counsel for the Crown, saying " then I challenge him for the Crown," evidently shewing that that was tho practice. For the last twenty years I can speak to the practice. Mr. Denman. If your Lordship thinks that the practice which has prevailed is decisive, then I will not trouble the Court; but I think it is very important, especially where there are three huadred Jurors, returned to try these 25 Prisoners/ and where the thirty-five challenges are only, a drop in the ocean ; there is still remaining a panel three or four times larger than that to which the Prisoner gene rally applies his challenges ; it appears to me this is a question which cannot very frequently arise, but very im portant in principle, and that the fair course would be, where either party has an objection to a juryman on the point of being sworn, perhaps that each side give in that objection to the Court, and that then some alternation should take place as to the privilege. I do not mean to say that that has been the practice, but that to secure any thing like fairness and mutuality for the parties, that is ne cessary; for here the Crown gets the W««efit of the Pri soner's challenge ; the Crown has an objection to him also, and though it is very true that the Crown must afterwards support their challenge for cause, yet it is perfectly clear that this panel cannot be deficient in point of number; the Crown can never be put to any inconvenience ; when all the thirty-five challenges are expended, it is impossible there should not be enough left to try the Prisoner, the question then clearly is, whether the Crown are by means of the fears of the Prisoner to get rid of a person whom they do not chuse to trust to try the case ; I think it my duty to state this to the Court, thinking it a matter of the very greatest importance. Mr. Attorney General, My Lord, I will make one or two observations to your Lordship as far as my recollec tion goes ; having referred to several State Trials for High Treason, I do not recollect one, I do not mean to say that I have looked at those trials for the express pur pose of this question, but I think from my recollection lean ventureto challenge my learned Friends to take from the first volume of Slate Trials down to the last, and that they will not see in the course of any of those trials any other course of proceeding than that of the Prisoner first making his election to challenge or not, and I take it for the reason that I have taken the liberty of already stating to your Lordship, which is this, that the Prisoner has his right of peremptory challenge from any caprice, if 26* I may use the phrase, in his own mind or fury impression ©n his mind, and of getting rid of the Juror upon that peremptory challenge. The Prisoner has also, as your Lordships know, the right of challenging for cause after hehas exercised his right of peremptory challenges, he lias then a right to challenge for cause ; the Crown has no right to a peremptory challenge ultimately and in the end, but the Crown has a right to challenge, and then is put tomake out the cause of that challenge if it shall happen that through the medium of the exercise of the Pri soner's right of his thirty-five challenges and the exercise of the Prisoner's right of challenging for cause, a suf ficient number of jurymen are not in attendance. 1 apprehend the right of peremptory challenge must be ex ercised first, or I would put this case to my learned Friend, — let me suppose that the Prisoner does not chal lenge some particular person in the outset, the Crown does, the juryman stands by, the panel is exhausted, and then the Crown is called upon to support its cause of challenge against a particular juryman ; the Crown does not support its cause of challenge against that particular juryman, and yet, according to that which is contended for by my learned Friend, the Prisoner would have a right to challenge that juryman if he had not exhausted his own thirty-five, or if he had exhausted his own thirty- five,, to challenge that juryman for cause he could make out. Now what a most extraordinary proceeding would that be, and I would put it to your Lordships, whether ?hat which I state most positively has never been ques tioned, but which on reading the State Trials appears to have been always founded in practice is not also founded on the principle, that that which is the absolutely peremp tory challenge must be made first to leave those remain ing upon the panel, about whose capacity to serve (when I say capacity to serve I mean in consequence of any objection) questions may arise to be made out by evidence either on the part of the Prisoner of on the pan of the Crown. I, therefore, humbly submit to your Lordship, with great deference but with considerable confidence, 27 that it is the constant course of proceeding, and that it is the reasonable course and the legal course of proceeding also, that the Prisoner is first to exercise his right, and then when he has relinquished the exercise of that right it is for the Crown to exercise a. qualified right as to challeng ing without cause in the first instance, but making good that cause if necessary : that which always has been done, I apprehend ought to be done in this case, that is, of the Prisoner's Counsel signifying whether they chal lenge, challenging, or abstaining from challenge, before the Crown is called upon to exercise its right. Mr. Justice Dallas. Will you give us the form of the proclamation ? Mr. Gurney. " You shall challenge them as they come to the book to be sworn, and before they are sworn.'' Mr. Solicitor General. Lord Hale says, " If no chal lenge hinders, the jury are commanded to look on the Prisoners, and then, severally, twelve of them are sworn." Lord Chief Baron Richards. With respect to the ques tion which has been discussed before the Court, I am myself of opinion, and I believe I have the concurrence of my learned brothers, that the usual and the proper course is in cases of challenges, that the challenge should be made before the oath is begun to be administered, the declaration to the Prisoner is, thathe shall make his chal lenge when the Juror comes to the book to be sworn, and before he is sworn. It appears to me extremely improper to imagine that the oath is to be interrupted by any chal lenge: the oath is one and entire, and, from the time when the officer has begun to administer it, until he con cludes it, is one and an entire thing not to be interrupted. I, therefore, am of opinion that the practice of the Courts is consistent with the principle that there should be no interruption in the course of the delivery of the oath by the officer to the Juror. I am aware that in many cases that rule is dispensed with from comity and tenderness, and there are many cases in which one would wish that that comity and tenderness should be discovered ; but 28 we are now called upon,to decide upon the rule. If that, be so, then either side must conclude his intention to chal lenge before the oath is begun .to be administered. Then, with respect to the other part of the question before us, it seems to me quite clear upon the principle that the Prisoner is to declare his resolution first: It cer tainly is so in practice, about which, with the very small experience I have had, I can say I have no doubt, but others of the Court have had very large experience upon the subject, and I conceive it to be clear that it is accord ing to the practice of the Courts that the Prisoner should first declare his resolution as to challenging. I think it is so upon principle also; he has his peremptory chal lenges, and then the rest of the jury lie in common be tween him and the Grown. The usual course has been as I understand, and I have no doubt of it myself that the officer has, from a sort of civility that has been adopted with great propriety, addressed himself by looks to the counsel for the Prisoner, in order to know his intention j if he has said nothing, he has declared his intention riot to challenge: he has submitted to the Juror, then the officer has been in the habit of looking to those on the part of the Crown, aud, if they say nothing to him, they declare in effect their intention not to challenge. If nei ther side says any thing, the officer prodeeds to adminis ter the oath ; after which, as it appears to me neither side have a right to interrupt him, for the oath is one and entire, and it is against decorum and propriety and good sense to interrupt it.] Mr. Justice Dallas. I entirely concur in opinion with my Lord Chief Baron. The points which have been made in this case I understand to be these.— In the first place it is insisted that the Crown is bound to challenge first, and that the Prisoner is entitled to wait till it be ascertained whether the Crown intends to challenge the particular JurOr or not. With respect to that, if the question were entirely new, it would be necessary to dis cuss it upon principle; and upon principle I should have no dqubt whatever, because I see no reason to distinguish 29 this case from any other, except to distinguish it in favor of the right of the Crown to challenge last; for, in pro ceedings of this sort, the Prisoner must be furnished with a list of the names of the witnesses before they are called to be sworn, and of the jury, in order that he may enquire into the circumstances of each, and he has a considerable time to come fully informed as to each : but, with respect to that, the question is not new, for we know perfectly well that there are a great number of questions that de pend upon practice, and the course of proceeding that must be settled and decided by usage; and when, there fore, I find it stated from high authority that the usage has been uniform in this respect, that the Prisoner should decide whether he will challenge or not before the Crown makes its challenge, it would be sufficient to say that in this case I see no reason whatever to depart from that which has been the usual practice, and to decide that the Crown is bound to challenge first. Having given all the attention in my power to the arguments of the learned counsel for the Prisoner, they have not suggested a single observation that weighs at all with me,, why now, for the first time between the Prisoner and the Crown, it is to be decided against the Crown in contradiction to uniform usage, that the Crown is to make the first challenge. On the first point I have uo doubt, therefore, that the Pri soner is bound to make his challenge first. Then that brings me to the second consideration, when is that challenge to be made ? It is insisted that the challenge may be made at any time before the oath is concluded. With respect to diat, first upon principle and public con venience, it seems to be a very inconvenient course of pro • ceeding, that the oath should be suffered to be repeated hy the officer of the court till it draws to its close, all but the last word, and that then the counsel for the Prisoner may rise and make his challenge for the first time. Courts of justice will not, beyond a given extent, attend to what may be the consumption of time, and I hope that in, this case whatever may be the duration of it. I know it will be as to the other learned Judges on the bench, and I trust 30 it will be as to myself, the time will not be attended to, if necessary to the due observance of justice ; but it is a wise and salutary principle in all proceedings of this sort, and more peculiarly in one which, from its nature, must neces sarily be long, that no time should be unnecessarily wasted* Will it not be an unnecessary waste of time, if it be a pri. vilege which, without enquiring into the reasonableness of it, the counsel for the Prisoner may exercise, that the time of the Court may be employed unnecessarily in going through the form of reading the oath up to the conclusion of it ? But to quit for a moment the ground of principle and public convenience, how is it in practice? Here again it is uniform, for all those who have had occasion to attend trials of this sort, concur in stating that the practice has always been to make the challenge before the oath has be gun to be administered ; but it does not rest merely on the recollection of the learned Judges who have recently at tended proceedings of this sort, but I have before me a book in which the rules and orders are collected as to the administration of this oath : and first as to the question, who is first called on, the Prisoner is called on " if he in tends to challenge a Juror to speak, at the time that he comes to the book to be sworn, and before he is sworn ;" now in reason and common sense, what does that amount to but this, and the last words, if there should be any doubt, are an exposition of the meaning of the former, that before he is sworn, means as he comes to the book to be sworn, and therefore that the challenge must be made before the oath is commenced. And we find, in applying the course of proceedings, it is stated — " Then the clerk of arraigns calls the first Juror, and desires him to look upon the Prisoner, and lay his right hand upon the book, and"— What if the Prisoner do not challenge him;— " the oyer is then to swear him." So that the cryer is to begin to swear him when the Prisoner has omitted to challenge. Now, I do not mean to say, and I am sure the Attorney General would not contend, whatever the law may be in strictness of consideration, that it would 31 be so strictly applied as not to wave the right on *be part of the Crown, if any discovery had been made be tween the commencement and the conclusion of the oath; but every case of that sort is a special case, and must de pend upon its own circumstances. On the general point, whether considered on practice, on usage, or on the general principle, I have no doubt whatever that the Pri soner is to make his challenge before the Crown makes its decision ; and that both the one and the other must be concluded when the oath has commenced. Mr. Justice Abbott. The Court is now called upon to lay down a general rule. I have no doubt that, if from inadvertence, or any other cause, the Prisoner or his counsel should have omitted to make the challenge at the proper moment, the strictness of the rule, which confines him to make his challenge before the officer begins toad- minister the oath, would not be insisted upon by the At torney General, or if insisted tipon by him would not be allowed by the Court. But in prescribing a general rule, I should be extremely unwilling to depart from what I conceive to be an uniform practice. I have already ex pressed my own Opinion, formed on my recollection of many former trials of this kind. I recollect one trial for felony, in which there were several challenges taken both on the part of the, Prisoner and the part of the Crown. In the case of felony, challenges are very unusual. I re member one case, the practice pursued by the officer of the Court was that which has always been pursued by the officer on trials for Treason, where challenges are more common ; he applied to the Counsel for the Prisoner, to know whether he challenged or not, and then to the Coun sel for the Crown. Considering this to have been the usual practice, I should have been very unwilling now for the first time ta. lay down a different rule, unless very good reasons had been assigned for departing from it ; unless it had been shewn in argument that the rule was attended with incon venience in the administration of justice, or hardship on the Prisoner. The argument, however, on the part of the 32 Prisoner has not satisfied my mind that any such conse quences will result; I think, therefore, that we ought to abide by that practice, which, according to all I have thisi day heard, I should think the most convenient practice that could be established, if the question were now for the first time presented to a Court of Justice, and no prior pre cedent referred to ; I am therefore of opinion, that the Counsel for the Prisoner ought, in the first instance, be~ fore the officer begins to administer the oath, to declare whether he intends, or not, to challenge; and that on hia declining, then the Crown must determine whether they challenge; and, on both declining, then the officer must swear the Juror, and that after that moment, by strict rule, both parties are excluded from interference ; but if any particular circumstance arises, I have no doubt the strict rule will be waved. Mr. Justice Holroyd. I am of opinion that the strict rule as to challenges is, that they shall be made before the oath is begun to be administered. When a Juror is called and presented to the Court, the first thing is to ascertain whether he is a Juror or not. The next thing to be en quired into is, whether either party has cause of challenge, or not : I mean, after it is ascertained that he is a free holder, and has those qualifications, without which he cannot be sworn. The first step, therefore, is to ascertain whether he is to be sworn or not. The course has alwavs ml been, and, if my recollection is right, the course has been' determined to be, that the Prisoner's counsel should first state whether they challenge or not. The next thing, if they do not object to him, is to ascertain whether the Counsel for the crown object to him; and it is not in tended that the Court, or the officer of the Court, are to do that which would be a nugatory act — to swear him. Then, if neither party challenges him, and it is shewn that he is a person qualified to be a Juror, the only requi site step remains to be done, that he shall be sworn, by which he becomes a complete Juror; and that is not to be done till it is ascertained whether there is a challenge by either party. 33 The act of swearing I take to be one single act ; and it would be extremely indecorous that the Court should proceed to do an act which would be nugatory, and which the law says shall not be done till it is ascertained whether there is cause of objection, or not. That the constant usage has been so, is unquestionable ; and, on a late case, to be found in the State. Trials. I am confident it will be found, that, on the objection being made, the words of the officer appeared to be, that the challenge shall be as the Juror comes to the book to be sworn. There was a case in which a Juror came, and the book happened to be handed to him, an objection not happening to be made at the time, and it was decided by the Court, that the party was too late to make the objection, for the objection is to be made at the time the party comes to the book to be sworn ; and, if there was an objection to him, it should be stated before the book is presented to him, for the Court is not to do an act which is nugatory. Agreeing clearly with the rest of the Court on principle, and con sidering the question as determined, I am of opinion, that the challenge must- be made previously to the book being handed to him, and before he is sworn. Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, lest it should be supposed that the Prisoner had been prejudiced by any misconception on this point, I agree that it shall be entered, that the last challenge was for the Crown, Lord Chief Baron Richards. It must be very satisfac tory, that the Attorney General has consented, for the benefit of the Prisoner, that that challenge shall be en tered as made by the Crown. Mr. Justice Dallas. I have just been looking at Layer's case, in which it is laid down, that the Prisoner's counsel must declare whether they mean to challenge, before the King's Counsel take their objection. Mr. Gurney. And that form of proclamation to the Prisoner, to which Mr. Justice Dallas alluded, was settled by the twelve Judges, with Lord Holt at the head. Robert Shipton, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Stretton, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. 34 Henry Yates, Farmer, sworn. Robert Steeple, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Skevington, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Oakden, Farmer, sworn. Isaac Statham, the younger, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Paul Caulton, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Adsett, Farmer, fined £10.* William Beresford, Gentleman, challenged by the Prisoner. Solomon Frost, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Adsett, Farmer, now appeared, sworn. The JURY. William Wilkes, Thomas Gilman, John Stretton, Thomas Sherwin, John Tempest, Thomas Gilman, Samuel Wilder, Henry Yates, Thomas Archer, John Oakden, Robert Eaton, John Adsett, The Jury were charged with the Prisoner in the usual form. Lord Chief Baron Richards. I wish to have it under stood, and therefore the caution which I gave yesterday I repeat to daj', that no part of the proceedings of this day or of any day during any of the Trials, this Trial which is now depending or any future Trials, shall be made public till all is concluded, and if this notice which I now give for the second time be not attended to, the Court must use the authority it has to bring the delin quent to punishment : I trust there will be no occasion for any further notice. Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, before Mr. Balguy opens the Indictment, it is our request on both sides that the witnesses may be out of Court. Mr. Justice Abbott. That does not apply to mere wit nesses of form of course ? * See four lines lower down. 35 Mr. Attorney General. No, my Lord, we do not wish that on either side. Mr. Gurney. It cannot apply to the High Sheriff, of course he must be in Court ? Mr. Cross. Certainly to no one officially employed. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Nor to the Magistrates I sup pose? Mr. Cross. That is distinctly understood, we do not object to any Magistrate remaining in Court. Lord Chief Baron Richards. It is to be understood that such witnesses as are to be examined, except those who are specially excepted, are to withdraw from the Court, and not to return into Court until they are called for. The Indictment was opened by Mr. J. Balguy. Mr. ATTORNEY GENERAL. May it please your Lordships. Gentlemen of the Jury. We are assembled in this place upon a most solemn and important occasion ; and you twelve gentlemen are placed in that box to perform one of the most solemn and sacred functions that men, in the state of society in which, thank God, we live in this country, can be called upon to perform, namely, that of deciding, by your verdict, upon the guilt or innocence of one of your fellow-subjects, charged with the highest crime that in a state of society, against that state of society, any man can commit. Gen tlemen, there are other crimes, to which human nature at times is prone, of a very great and enormous magnitude, but those crimes striking generally only at the safety and the happiness of certain individuals, though they ate crimes against the law and against the peace of the king, who is the representative of the state; yet, in the class of civil crimes, they fall far shortof that crime of High Treason, which is in fact committed against all and each of the community who belong to that state and society where that crime happens to be committed. The safety and the happiness, and the comfort of us all, is involved in the 36 support of the government established by law and by the constitution of the country under which we all of us have lived, and under which, I hope, for many years, and, I was going to say for ever, as far as it relates to posterity, this country will continue to live. Gentlemen, my duty upon this occasion consists in this, — in stating to you, with as much accuracy as I am able, the law, as it affects the particular case in question, and the facts by which, I conceive, I shall make out the guilt of the prisoner. 1 have no other duty to perform than that, — and God forbid that I, or any man standing in my situation, should be called upon to perform any other, — I have no object but that of presenting to your minds and understandings, intelligibly and fairly, the law and the fact upon both of which combined you are hereafter to found your verdict. One great comfort I have, Gentlemen, in addressing you before the learned Judges who preside upon this occasion, is, that if unin tentionally (for unintentionally I am sure it will be) I should happen to mistake the law, any mistakes, or any mistatements of mine, will be corrected by the learned Judges who are presiding upon this bench ; for recollect always, that it is not from the Counsel for the Crown, nor is it from the Counsel for the prisoner, that Juries are to take the law ; it is from that constitutional tribunal, the Judges of the land ; it is from them that they are to re ceive directions in point of law, and not from those who are standing in the situation of advocates. Gentlemen, if in that which I have to state to you it should happen that I am mistaken in any of those facts I shall so state, I am sure the mistatement will be unin tentional ; but, thank God! there I shall be corrected by the testimony of the witnesses whom I shall call ; for you are to take the facts as deposed to you by the oaths of witnesses, and not from the statement of Counsel. Gentle men, in commenting upon such facts as I shall state, I shall make, though not many, such observations as occur to my mind, in the progress of what I have to say, upon the inferences which I draw from any facts whiph may be 37 positively proved ; it will be for you, when you come to consider the whole circumstances of this case, to exercise your judgment ; and upon them also to attend to any ob servations upon those facts which may come from the learned Judges, who will address you in the summing up of this case. Gentlemen, I feel great comfort in addressing such a tribunal as this ; because, though I have not the honor of knowing any one of you, being a perfect stranger in this county, yet, when I see twelve English freeholders assembled in the box of a court of justice to exercise such a function as that you are about to perform, I confess I always feel the most perfect confidence that they will exercise that function with integrity, with impartiality, unbiassed and uninfluenced by any motives of any sort, recollecting always — (if it were possible that twelve men, placed in your situation could want any super-inducing motive, except the motive of integrity, to influence your conduct) — recollecting always, that you are acting under the sacred and solemn obligation of an oath, by which you have attested your Maker, that your verdict shall be given according to the evidence. Gentlemen, it is necessary that I should state to you what I conceive to be the law upon the subject, whichT will do very shortly, as applicable to this Indictment and this Charge.-— The Indictment has, upon the face of it, three charges, all of them amounting to High Treason. The first charge is, that the prisoner, together with other persons, some of whom are named in the Indictment, and others stated to have been unknown to the grand jury, levyed war against His Majesty ; and, in that levying war, did certain acts that are stated upon the face of that count of the Indictment : arming themselves, and marching through the country in hostile anay, is there described. That count of the Indictment is founded upon a statute passed in the reign of King Edward III. which for many years was the only statute upon which High Treason was founded in this country. I state that to you now, because the other two charges are founded upon a subsequent 38 statute, which, though it does not, in my mind, nor ever has made much difference in the law of Treason in the result, puts certain acts and certain conspiracies upon the footing of substantive Treason, which, previous to the passing of that last act, were rather evidences, or overt acts, of other species of Treason. Gentlemen, the first count, as I have stated to you, charges the prisoner, together with the others, with the crime of High Treason, in levying war against His Ma jesty. The second count, which is founded upon a statute which was passed in the thirty-sixth year of the present King, charges the prisoner with compassing and imagining to depose the King. Now I will explain to you, in a moment, the meaning of the word compass in the eye of the law ; and, when it makes that charge of compassing, and imagining to depose, the king, it also does that which it is necessary in the law of Treason to do — it states the overt, or open acts, which were done by the prisoner, as evidencing that intention which he had in his mind; and, as the means to effect his compassing and imagination, it charges him with consulting to devise plans and means; that is, consulting with others to devise plans and means to effect his purpose ; with assembling, meeting, conspir ing, consulting and agreeing among themselves, to stir up, raise, make, and levy insurrection, rebellion and war, against the King, and to subvert and destroy the constitu tion and government ; with providing arms and ammuni tion, in order to effect that purpose; with parading through villages: that is, passing with others through villages, and seizing arms, in order to effect that purpose ; and then it charges, as the last open act, the act of levying war, in order to effect the compassing and imagi nation he had of deposing the King. The third charge upon the face of this Indictment im putes to him the crime of conspiring to levy war against the King, in order to compel him to change his measures • and then it states certain open acts, which, in the lanome of them not rinding themselves met b\ so many persons as they expected, for they expected to have received com-. aiuaicatious from Nottingham and other places, began to doabt whether every thine: was so ripe for the envctuatiug their project as Brandreth and others of their advisers had toW them ; upon which they sakl it would be better to sead George Weightman towards Nottingham tor the purpose of seeing whether the Nouingham people were coming towards Pentridge. er whether they were in Nottingham fores;, or, in fact, how things were going on in Nottingham. George Weightman and another persoa took a horse oat of the stable of a Mr. William Booth who lives there, aud George Weightman set off on this horse for Nottingham. Gentlemen, they proceeded, with Brandreth at their head, from Greenwich to Codnor, before they got to Codaw they woe met by other persons, 54 some of them from Swanwick, they came then to Ripley, and thence to Codnor ; having collected the persons from Pentridge, from Wingfield, from Codnor, from Swanwick, and from Ripley, Brandreth formed them, he had formed them before, but it was necessary to form them again as others came in ; Brandreth assuming to be the leader, and some other persons, not now on their trials, acting as inferior officers by keeping up the stragglers, by being in the rear to prevent people escaping, and so on ; for many of those persons who had been forced to join would, have been extremely glad to have gone home, and you will find that when one or two men were endeavouring to get away, Brandreth, as well as others, immediately addressed themselves to them, pushed them back into the ranks, and told them that if they at-r tempted to escape they would certainly shoot them. They went to the house of Mr. Raynor, at Langley Mill. I. should state to you, by the way, that when they were at Codnor, where there are three public-houses, they went in different parties to those public-houses, the Glass-house Inn, the New Inn, and the French Horn ; at one of these houses they had considerable refreshment, and Brandreth called for the bill. The landlord brought him the bill, (no matter the amount — one pound, and something more) and expected to be paid, Brandreth said — ¦¦ You will not be paid now — you will be paid as soon as we have effected our purpose : we are going on for the purpose of Revolution." I merely state that for the purpose of shew-* ing that his declaration was — " Here we are, assembling from place to place— and here we are armed, and march ing for the purpose of producing insurrection and re bellion." Gentlemen, they then proceeded to Langley Mill. At Langley Mill, George'Weightman, who had proposed to go on Mr. William Booth's horse, to see how they were going on there, returned on this horse, when George Weight- man advanced Brandreth and he had a private conver sation ; what passed, of course, between those two I can not tell you. Whether, it was agreed between them that 55 George Weightman should make {he representation which he did make I cannot tell, which induced them to march on ; but undoubtedly it was not a true representation, Weightman rode up to the party, said all was going on well at Nottingham — that the soldiers would not stir from their barracks to act against them-r-that Nottingham, in fact, was taken — and that they must make haste to Not tingham. Gentlemen, in consequence of this, the party did march on ; but there were many of theni who began to suspect, by not seeing so many join them a§ they ex pected, that the time was not gome, if ever it should come, to give success to such a. scheme as this, and they began to fall off. A great many exertions were made to keep them together, but still their numbers began to dwindle. "They proceeded, however, many of them to wards Eastwood, which is all in the road to Nottingham. When they got to Eastwood, a report was made that the n^ilitary or the yeomanry were coming, and then they began, the whole body of them, to disperse. Gentlemen, whilst these proceedings were going on; for, as you may suppose, this line of march must have. taken a considerable time, which it did— r-till the Tuesday morning, between 9 and 10 o'clock, allowing for the time they stopped to take their refreshment — whilst these pro ceedings were going on, notice had been given by some per sons to the magistrates in the neighbourhood of Notting ham, and between Pentridge and Nottingham, that this party was advancing. At Nottingham also (for I shall prove that circumstance) considerable emotion had been observed to be taking place, There were in Nottingham Forest parties of men assembling together in a way which gave great cause for suspicion ; and, no doubt, they were assembled for the purpose of being joined by these per sons from Pentridge and Perby. The magistrates took the alarm, and went out. News was brought to these in surgents : they found that in all probability they should be taken in the very act of marching towards Nottingham and they began to disperse ; but it was late before that de termination to disperse was taken by all of them ; for a, 56 »entleman, of the name of Rolleston, rode out to recon noitre, and he saw upon the road a number of persons to gether, with a man attempting to form them ; but, upon the yeomanry and the magistrates coming up, they dis persed on all sides. Gentlemen, when the magistrates and soldiers came up to this place, thej' found the ground covered with guns and pike3, and the various arms, obvi ously leaving the marks of a dispersed army, in conse quence of their not meeting with the numbers they had been taught by Brandreth, and Weightman, and others to expect. Gentlemen, what became of Brandreth at that time I cannot tell ; it was some time before he was taken up ; but of his identity — of his being the Nottingham Captain — of his being the man who led them the whole line of march — of his being the person who presided on the Sth of June, at the White Horse at Pentridge, when the plan was laid down, and detailed to all those who came there ; and the object of that plan was so detailed, there will not be the slightest possibility of doubt. Gentlemen, I say there will not be the slightest possibility of doubt, for many of the witnesses have no doubt of the identity of his person. When I say that, do not expect that the witnesses will state that he was exactly in the same situar tion and appearance that he is now ; certainly not, be cause at that time he had not that length of beard which he has preserved down to the present moment, obstinately refusing, I believe, to suffer himself to be shaved. If he supposes that the change of his appearance will prevent those persons from knowing him who had this opportu nity of seeing him, I can tell him, that I believe he is ex tremely mistaken : his appearance then will be described to you, and his features are such that the witnesses will have no doubt about it : they will state his being a high and swarthy man, with ve.y black whiskers; but not with that length of beard. He was also dressed differently ; for he had a dark top coat— meaning a great-coat, with pan taloons, and the white apron, by way of belt, tied round him ; and I believe ail the witnesses v. ho had anv comer- • smion with him, have no more doubt of his being the. 51 man, than I have of any learned friend round the tame being the person I have always known and taken him for ; therefore, whatever may be his object in having his ap pearance altered by difference of dress, and length of beard, that will not prevent the witnesses speaiirig to Iris identity. Gentlemen, I fear I have detained you too long in de tailing these circumstances ; but if I prove the facts of his thus presiding, of his thus declaring the objects, of his thus acting as the leader of a banditti, /or I eari call them by no other name, considering their advance and their acts from the night of the 9th of June, to the Tues day morning, What is that but levying war against the State and the Government, and, therefore, against the King? The purpose was to subvert the State and the Constitution ; the means was armed hostile force, those arms obtained in the way I have stated to you : if there be any thing else which can constitute levying war by a subject against his Sovereign, but that, I should like to hear it stated in a Court of Justice ; for it is not neces sary in order to constitute the levying war that battles should be waged, the distinction between the bellum le- vatum and bellum percussum is this; bellum levatmn, or levying war, is, though battle may not have been waged ; when conflict has actually taken place, it is then bellum percussum. It is die assembling with a hostile force for the purpose of subverting the Constitution of the country, or of effecting, by hostile force, any purposes of a general nature, and not merely directed against the property of any private individuals. Gentlemen, I have endeavoured to perform the task which has devolved upon me as fairly as 1 can. I have stated the law as I understand it, and I have stated the facts, as I believe they will be proved by the witnesses : what answer is to be given by my learned friends on the other side, I am sure I do not know ; but, unless they can alter the facts, and prove to you that the man at the bar is not the man of whom I have been speaking, it appears to me actually impossible you can give any other verdict, 58 according to the law and the evidence, than the verdict, of guilty. I have but one word more to say, which is this, I am always rejoiced when any man, who stands to answer for his life at the bar of a Court of Justice, has all the means which the law can afford him of making his defence. Pursuant to the rules of law, I am sure he has all the means before the tribunal who preside ; I am sure he has all the means before the Jury, who are sitting to try him ; and I am sure, as far as learning and ingenuity can assist him in the person of his Counsel, he has all the means an Enghshman can have for his defence by means of those who are an honor to the bar at which they practise. 59 Evidence for the Crown. Anthony Martin sworn. Examined by Mr. Solicitor General. Q. I believe you are in the service of Messrs. Outran), Jessop & Co. at Butterley 1 A. Yes. Q, They are iron founders ? A. They are. Q. How far is Butterley from Pentridge ? A. About a mile. Q. Do you remember on Sunday the 8th of Jane last going to Pentridge ? A. Yes. Q. Did you go with any one ? A. Yes, with John Cope. Q. Is he also in the service of Ourram, Jessop & Com* pany i A. Yes. Q. What time of the day was it that you went ? A. Between nine and ten o'clock in the- morning. . , Q. What was the occasion of your going to Pentridge ? A- He asked me to go and look at his potatoes ; then he said he had a little business at Pentridge, and asked me to take a walk with him. Q. Where did you go to at Pentridge ? A. We went into Weightman's croft. Q. What Weightman is that ? A. At the public house, just below the public house. Q. You staid there a little time ? A. Yes! Q. What public house are you speaking off A. The White Horse. Q. Is that kept by Mrs. Weightman ? A. Yes. 60 13. Having staid in this croft a little time, where did you go then ? A. A little girl came out of the pubhc bouse and asked us to go into the public house. Q. You and Cope ? A. She asked Cope, not me. Q. Did you then go into the house? A. Yes. Q. What room of the house ? A. We went into the house part first, aad they asked us to walk into the parlour. Q. Did you go into the parlour ? A. Yes. Q. Did yon find any persons there? A. Yes. Q. How many ? A. I cannot exactly say how many there were then. Q. Were there many;1 A. Yes, there were a good many at first, and more came afterwards. Q. What were they about when you went into the room? A. Talking about this revolution. Q. You say there were many persons in the room when you weiit in, who were those persons, or any of them ? A. There was one they called the captain ; I did not know what his name was. Q. You do not know bis name ? A. They called bim Brandreth. Q. Is that the prisoner at the bar ? A. Yes, that is the prisoner, 1 am sure. Q. Were his dress and appearance then the same as they are now? A. No. Q. In what respect were they different ? A. He had got a pair of grey trowsers on, and a brown^ ish coat. Q. What sort of a coat? A. A great coat. Q. How was his person ? 61 A. He was shaved and decent then. Q. Do you remember the names of any of the other persons who were there when you first weatt ia ? A. Yes. Q. Mention some of them ? A. George Weightda&n, Oimond Booth. Q. What others i A. Joseph Weightman; there was another Joseph Weightman. Q. Two Joseph Weightmans ? A. Yes. ' ; an I it >.. as he who delivered out the papers ; be wrote them himself. 71 Q. Have you got your paper ? A. I got a paper that was wrote there. Q. Have you brought it here ? A. I have not got one ; Shirley Asbnry had one, and John Cope had one. Q. What were they saying when you were so good as to caution them of your character of a constable ? A. They were talking of the present revolution,, and the like of that, Q. Who replied to you when yon gave them that caution? A. Weightman- Q. What did he say t A. He said they would soon cram such fellows as those uji the chimney, Q. Which Weightman was that ? A. George. Q. They actually suffered you to remain in their com pany, and to hear their deliberations fqr three or four hours afterwards ? A. Yes, Q. Did it not occur to you it would have been a very good thing to have set off to a magistrate immediately on their saying that ? A. Yes it would ; but they threatened us so very hard, I durst not- Lord Chief Baron Richards. Which of them did ? A. All of them ; they were talking of shooting any person that should oppose them ; they talked about shoot ing every one that said any thing about them ; that they would either make them go, or shoot them. Wir. Cross. Are we to understand you were afraid to quit their company ? A. I was not afraid just at the present time, for the man I went with had something to do with them, and I stopped with him and had a. pint or two of ale. Q. Were you sober ? A. Yes ; I went away quite sober. Q. You were not alarmed at all ? A. Yes, I was alarmed. 72 Q. How soon after had you the courage to go to a ma gistrate to make this communication ? A. I did not go to a magistrate. Q. Never at all ? .v A. No. Q. How did they find you out to make a witness of you ? A. Because they knew I was there that Sunday. Q. Who knew ? A. Our master ; the man I was with told him I was there. Q. You were afraid to inform a magistrate ? A. Yes. Q. But you did not care informing every body else ? A. I did not know but I might suffer by informing a magistrate or any body else, I thought I might risk my own life ; I did not know what they were going to do. Q. You did not know what they were going to do ? A. Not exactly— I heard them talk what they were going to do. Q. You thought this was all foolish talk, did not you ? A. Yes, I did. Q. Had the men been a good deal out of employment before that time in your neighbourhood ? A. No, I do not know that any who worked round us were out of employment. Q. I do not talk of the Iron-works but the stocking makers ? A. I do not know how that was, I really cannot tell that any of them were out of employment. Q. How that was you do not know ? A. No, I do not. Q. How many of them were drunk do you think at this time ? A, I do not know that any one was drunk. Q. You do not know whether any of them had been drinking there all night ? A. There was that gentleman there all night, whether he had been drinking I cannot tell. Q. They had no arms with them ? 73 » A. No. Q. Did you not think they were joking when they? talked about stuffing you up the chimney ? A. I did not know whether they were joking or not. Re-examined by Mr. Solicitor General. ti. How long had you been a constable at that . time- when were you made a constable ? A. A few days before. Q. A special constable ? A. Yes. ti- Why were you made a special constable ? A. I do not know. Shirley Asbury, sworn. Examined by Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. G. I believe you reside at Greenwich ? A. Yes. Q. In what parish is that ? A. The parish of Ripley I believe. G. What are you by employment ? A. I am in the employment of Mr. Jessop. Q. At the Butterley works ? A. Yes. G. Were you in that employment on the 8th of June- last ? A. Yes. Mr. Denman. You were out of Court— you did not hear the last witness examined ? A. No. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Tell me whether on the morn ing of the 8th of June you happened to go to the White Horse at Pentridge, Mrs, Weightman's ? A. Yes. Q. At what time did you go there ? A. About twelve o'clock. Q. Who attended you ? 74 A. Anthony Martin, John Cope, George Artthony, and some others. Q. I do not ask whom you found there; but whom you went in company with to the house I A. John Elsden. Q. When you went into the house whom did you find there, — did you go into the parlour or the bar ? A. We went first into the kitchen. Q. And from thence into the parlour? A. Yes. G. How came you to go into the parlour? A. Mrs. Weightman went in and told them there were two men from Butterley in the kitchen. Q. Did you hear what answer was made to Mrs. Weightman when she told them that ? A. They told her to let them come in. Q. In consequence of that did you and Elsden go into the parlour ? A. Yes( Q- When you went into the parlour, how many do you think were in the room 1 A- About twenty. Q. Did you know any of them by name? A. I knew those that I worked with. G. Who were there that you knew ? A. John Cope, Anthony Martin, — a man that they cal led William Turner. Q. Any body else that you knew ? A. Turner did not work with me. Q. Were there any Ripley men there ? A. Yes, John Moore and Robert Moore. ti- Any body else — any Pentridge men that you knew? A. Ormond Booth. Q. Do you know any of the Weightmans? A. Yes; George Weightman. ti. Was there any other Weightman there ? A. His youngest brother. Q. What was his name ? A . I do not recollect his name ; there were ihree of them altogether. ti brothers? A. Yes. ti- Do you remember any body else? A. Mac Kesswick was there also. ti. Was there any body else that you have known or Been since ? .7. Not that I recollect, except Brundrclh. ti. lie was there ? A. Yes. ti. He was there? A- ^ es. he was ; 1 am sure lie was. ti Where did he sii, and what was he doing ? A. He sat as we went in at the door, with his back to wards the door. ti. H.ut he any thing before him? A. lie had a map before him. ti. VYjis it open or shut ? A. lie was pointing out the places wliere iliey wrre to ^;o to — where they were to meet. ti- Where who wen" to meet ? A. The party that he was going with. Q. What parly was this ? A. 'flu- party he was with, Q. W lint led you to know anv thing about a party— what was the conversation about ? A. \ did not know at thai time what the party was. ti. Hid you hear anv thing said about what waste be done? A. \ es." ti. Did von hear Hrandroth say any thins*? A. Ye*.' ti. Mention some of the things that he said? A. There was some poetry that he repeated. ti. Can von remember any of the poetry ? A. Yes.' Q. (Ji\e us the poetry ? A. " l1' very man his skill must try. " He must turn ont, and not deny : 76 * No bloody soldier must he dread, " He must turn out and fight for bread. " The time is come, you plainly see, " The Government oppos'd must be." Q. Was any thing said by Brandreth, or any persons in bis presence, as to what was to be done ? A. Yes ; they talked about there would be no good done till the time was they had overthrown the Govern ment. Q. What else was said about the Government ? A. That they had no doubt they should succeed in what they were going to do. Q. Was there any talk about any neighbouring places or villages 1 A. Yes; they talked that every village, and every part about there, was to kill their own vermin. Q. Was any explanation given of What was meant by those vermin — any names mentioned of any persons ? • A. Njp, I did not hear any names mentioned then. Q. Did you in the course of your being there ? A. Yes. Q. What did you hear about the vermin ? A. The first place they were to go to was Wingfield ; they were to take a bundle of straw, and set it on fire be fore the door. ti- Before whose door ? A Mr. Halton's. Q. Did they mention his name ? A. Yes. ti. Who is Mr. Halton? A. Colonel Halton. Q A Magistrate of this county ? A. Yes. Q. What was to be done when they had set this straw on fire before his door ? A, That he would come out then as soon as the straw was set on fire ; and, as soon as he came out, they would shoot him. Q. What was to be done then ? 77 A. Then they were to go round, and Sheffield and Ches* terfield were to meet them at Butterley. ti. To go round where ? A. I did not hear where ; but that they were to go round to Butterley, and Chesterfield and SheHield were to meet them there. Q. Wus any thing to be done at Butterley ? A. They were to kill Mr. Jessop aud Mr. Goodwin. ti. Who is he — is he a manager of Mr. .lessop's ? A. Yes ; ami Mr. Wragg he was to be put to death. ti. Who is Mr. Wragg? A- He is in the works too. ti. What was to be done then, when Goodwin, Wragg, and Jessop were killed ? A- They were then to take possession of the place, of the Ihille.rlcy works. ti. What was to be done when they had got possession of the place A- I do not know ; they did not mention that, ti. What did they make at the Butterley works? A. They had a steam engine, and made their own iron. ti. What further was said ? A. Turner produced a paper after that. ti. Which Turner? A. William Turner. ti. Was that put into any body's hands ? A. Y es ; I do not remember his name. ti. Had Brandreth any thing to do with that paper? A. 1 do not remember. ti. Wus any thing stuted in the presence of Bran dreth? ./• Yes; it was stated how many guns every one had ti. Every one in the parish, or where ? ../. In the parish. il What parish ? J. Peutridge. ti- What was said when they were ta'.kiug about tl <• guns every man had iu the parish? 78 A. William Turner seemed, to think that the Wingfield men were the best men. Q. Why were they the best men ? A- Because they had got more guns than Ripley had. Q. Did he give any other reason for their being the best men ? A. He said they had a parcel of pikes, to the number of about forty, in a stone quarry. Q. Did he mention what stone quarry ? A. No. Q. Did he mention for what purpose those pikes were in that stone quarry ? A. To protect them. Q. To protect them ? A. To protect themselves, and slay others that were against them. Q. Was any thing said as to what was to be done the next evening ? A. There was an agreement made that all were to meet at ten o'clock the next night, ti. Where were they to meet ? A. At Wingfield, I believe. Q. What were they to meet at Wingfield for, the next night? A. They were going to Nottingham. Q. Was that stated ? A. Yes. Q. Who said they were to go to Nottingham ? A. Brandreth. Q. What was to be done at Nottingham ? A. When they got lo Nottingham there would be plenty of rum, and an hundred guineas when they got there. Q. What were they going to Nottingham for ? A. They were to go and take the place wholly to them selves. Q. Was any body to assist them ? A. Yes ; it was said Nottingham was to join them when they got there. '* 79 Q. When they had taken Nottingham, what was to be done next ? A. They said it would be like a journey of pleasure ; they were to go down the river. G. Where were they to go down the river ? A. I do not know; but that when they got to Notting ham every man woidd have a hundred guineas, and plenty of- ram, and it would be nothing but a journey of pleasure. ti. Y'ou say George Weightman was there and two of his brothers ? A. Yes. Q. What did Joseph do ? A. I did not hear that said. Q. AY as any body sent to Nottingham ? A. George Weisrhtman. Q. Was it George or Joseph? A. The elder. Q. What was he to go to Nottingham for i A. To see how they were going on. Q. Who was to bear the expence of his going there ? A. There was. money gathered in the room. Q. Do you know whether he did go or not? A. I cannot say. ti- Did Brandreth remain in the room the whole time you were there ? A. Yes. Q. Did yTou hear him say any thing ? A. Yes ; he wanted a barrel of gunpowder produced^ diat he might learn them how to make cartridges. Q. Did he say whether there was any barrel of gun powder any where ? A. There was one. ti- What barrel of gunpowder were they talking of ? A. I do not know ; but be said he wanted it to learn them how to make cartridges. Q. Did he say whom it belonged to, or where it was » A. No. Q. Was there anything else besides gunpowder talked of? 80 A. No. Q. Any talk about churches ? A. Yes. Q. What was said about churches ? A. They said there would be plenty of churches Upon the road that they could get lead from. Q. Who said that ? A. Brandreth. Q. Did he say what was to be done with this lead ? A. I did not hear them say ; but they said there would be no good till they had overthrown Government. Q. Who said that ? A. Brandreth. Q. When you talk about a map being produced, how long were you there ? A. I was there from twelve o'clock, till about four- Q. Four hours? A. Yes. Q. During that time was this business only talked of, or others ? A. There was no other business talked of but that. Q. Did Brandreth take an active part in the conversa tion ? A. They seemed to fly to him when they wanted any thing — Turner did. Q. Who was the leader there ? A. Brandreth. ti. Did other persons come in and out while you were there r A. Yes, there were a good many came in and out while I was there. Q. The company changed ? A. Yes. Q. How many might be there, at the most ? A. I did not see above twenty at a time. Q. Some went out, and others came in ? A. Yes. ti. You have spoken of a map, was that once produced and consulted, or often ? 81 A. It was often produced and handed about the room. Q. For what purpose was it handed about the room i A. There were places Brandreth had pricked out, where they were to go to. ti. Pricked out ? A. Yes, there were crosses on the back where they were to go to. Q. Did Brandreth shew them to the company? A. Yes. Q. Were the places talked of ? A. Yes. Q. Was anything said about success, or want of success, or what would be the consequence ? A. Brandreth said there was no doubt they would suc ceed in what they were about to undertake. Q. Was any secret made of it in the company ? A. Brandreth and John Moore talked secretly toge ther. ti- Was anything said about Government? A. They said there would be no good till Government was overturned. ti. Was anything said about Government knowing or not knowing what they were doing? A* No, I did not hear anything of that kind. ti- Did anybody say anything about its being known, or not known, or what would be the consequence J A. No, I djd not hear that. Cross-examined by Mr. Denman- Q. You were there about four hours ? A. Yes. ti. You went about twelve, and came away at four. A. Yes. ti. Did you happen to be a constable at that time ? A. Yes." ti. How many was the greatest number that you think you ever saw in the room ? A. About twenty ; I do not think there were ever more. F 82 Q. Martin was there when you went ? A. Yes. Q. Was he there when you came away ? A. No, he went before I went. Q. How long before you might he go ? A. About half an hour, perhaps. Q. How often did the prisoner leave the room while you were there ? A. He did not leave it above once or twice while I was there, and then not for above two or three minutes toge ther. Q. He did leave the room twice ? A. Yes. G. That was observed upon at the time, was it not ? A. Yes. Q. It was talked of when he was gone \ A- Yes. Q. Something was talked about it when he was absent? A. Yes. Q. What was said about his leaving the room ? A. They enquired where he was. ti. Was it Martin who answered them ? A. I cannot exactly say how that was. Q. You say there was something said by Turner about forty pikes in a stone quarry ; was that in the presence of the Prisoner ? A. Yes. Q. You say that he said that they were to protect them selves, and slay others ? A. Yes. ti. Do you mean to swear those were the words he made use of? A. Yes. Q. You being a constable, and coming away at four o'clock on the Sunday, and knowing of a rising to take place on the Monday ; when did you go to the Justice to inform him ? A. I did not go to any Justice. G, Did you go any where to give information ? 83 A. We told them that there were constables in the room, and they must mind what was said. Q. Who told them so ? A. Me and Martin. Q. What did they say? A. They seemed to say they should put us up the chimney. Q. Did you go to any Justice to give information after you left the room ? A. No, I was too bad frightened. Q. Frightened with the threat of being put up the chimney ? A. Yes ; and they threatened that they should kill any one that mentioned any thing of the sort. Q. Who mentioned that ? A. Brandreth. Q. Why did not you mention that when you were asked whether he said any thing particular, I should think that was a little particular ? A. I did not just think of it then. Q. When did he say that, that they should kill any one who told ? A. That afternoon. Q. You, being a constable, did not give any informa tion ? A. No. Q. Were you taken up ? A. No. Q. It was known you had been at this public house ? A. Yes, by those that were there. I did not know any thing of it till I went there. G< It was a public room ? A. Yes. G. Close adjoining the house place ? A. Yes. Q. It was a Sunday ? A. Yes. Q. It is a very populous place ? ¦d. Yes, the place is populous. 84 Q. It is on the road to Nottingham ? A. Yes. Q. It is on the road side ? A. Yes. Q. A very much frequented pubhc house ? A. I was never there before. Q. It was open to every body who might come in ? A. They did not keep any thing a secret all they said. Q. It was George Weightman who was to go to Not tingham ? A. Yes. G. Isiie the young lad in the smock frock ? A. No, the elder. Q. The eldest of the three brothers ? A. Yes. Q. There is an elderly man of the name of Weightman besides, is there not ? A. It is George, the eldest brother. Q. Not the old man, but one of the sons ? A. The old man is dead. Q. Who is old Joseph ? A . I do not know. Q. During the time that Martin staid you had an op portunity of hearing all that he heard, had you not ? A. Yes. Q. And he all that you heard ? A. Yes. Q. The Prisoner left the room twice, and there was some conversation about it ? A. Yes. Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Q. You say this place was populous— what number of people would the room contain ? A. Twenty there were in it. Q. Would the room contain any more ? A. No. Q. What led Brandreth to say he would kill any one who told ? 85 A. He might say so because I was a stranger, Q. When were you made a constable ? A. About two days before that. Q. You said they did not make a secret of any thing, who said that ? A. Brandreth. Q, Why did he say they made no secret of it ? A. Because he said every one would be obliged to go to join them. Q. Did he say when they would be obliged tq go to join them ? A. Ten o'clock the next night — Monday night. G. What had been said to frighten you ? A- They talked of killing persons. G. And that had frightened you ? A. Yes. Mr. Justice Dallas. Did }'ou hear any thing after Martin went away ? A. No, I did not hear any thing but what they said. Q. Martin heard all that you heard ? A. Yes. Q. And you heard all that he heard ? A. Yes. James Shipman, sworn. Examined by Mr. Clarke. Q. Did you live at Southwingfield in June last ? A. Yes. G. Whom did you lodge with at that time ? A. Joseph Booth. G. Do you remember being at his door on the Monday night the 9th of June? A. Yes. Q. At What o'clock was it ? A. About half past eight. Q. Do you know the person who is standing Hhere ? — look at the prisoner. A. Yes, that is the man who came to me. Q. Who was with him or with yon when you saw him? A. There was nobody along with me, there were a few women about but none in my company — there were some with him, Q. Who were with him ? A. There was George Weightman, Q. Did you say anything to them? A. I asked them where they were going. Q. You knew Weightman I suppose ? A. Yes. Q. What did they say to you ? A. That man said — '•' To an old barn up in the field." Q. What else did he say ? A. He said there was a meeting there of the towns of Wingfield, ditch, Pentridge, and Alfreton. Q. What else did he say ? A. He said there were arms and ammunition there, and more would be taken on the way as they went to Notr tingham. ti. What more did he say ? A. He said that a band of music would meet them- Q. Where was that to meet them ? A. He did not say. Q. Anything else to meet them ? A. I asked him what they were to do for provisions. Q. Were they to meet any other persons besides the band of music ? A. Yes, that there were thousands more to meet them. on Nottingham forest. Q. You asked them something ? A. I asked them what they were to do for provisions when so many thousands were in want of them. ti. What did he say to that ? A. He said there would be bread and beef for every man, and half a pint of rum. Q I think you said there were some women standing about? 87 A. Yes, and I asked him what the poor women and children were to do, — he said there would be a pro visional government formed and sent down into the country to relieve the wives and children of those that were gone away. Q. Did any of the women make any observation upon that? A. There was an old woman standing by and she tapped him on the shoulder and said,—" My lad we have got a magistrate here." Q. What said he to that ? A. He said you will have a different one from him, one that will allow you plenty. Q. Did you ask him any further questions ? A. Yes. Q- Tell us what you asked him and what answer he gave you, — did you make any enquiries ? A. Yes, he said the countries England, Ireland, and France, were to rise that night' at ten o'clock — I said if all those countries were to rise the shipping would come in and beat the whole. Q. Was there anything said about persons from the North ? A. Yes. ti. What was said about persons from the North ? A. That the Northern clouds, men from the North, would come down and sweep all before them, and every man that refused should be shot upon the place. Q. After you and the prisoner had been talking to gether, did George Weightman say anything to the prisoner. A. He said,—" Come come along," he beckoned to the prisoner and said—" I am now half an hour too late." Q. Upon Weightman doing this did the prisoner say anything to you ? A. He said — " Come along with us and you shall have a good gun." Q. Where were you to have that gun. A, I cannot say. 88 Q. Did you go with them, or part then ? A- We parted. Q. Which way did they go ? A. They left me, and went towards the Barn; Q. Was that the same way that Weightman went ? A. Yes. Cross-examined by Mr. Cross. Q. Had you ever known the Prisoner before ? A. No, not before that present time; I never saw him to the best of my knowledge. Q. He answered all the questions you put to him ? A. Yes. Q. France, Ireland, and England, all were to rise ? A. Yes. Q. And clouds and darkness, and all ? A. He did not say any thing about darkness. Q. You did not think about going with thein ? A. No. ti. You thought the man must be drunk or mad to think of such things ? A. He must be either mad or drunk. Q. You saw no more of him after that ? A. Not till the last month. Q. When he was in custody ? A. Yes. Thomas Turner sworn.- Mr. Denman. Have you been in Court ? A. No, I am just come in. Q. You have not been in before ? A. No, not two minutes. Examined by Mr. Gurhey. Q. You, I believe, have been apprehended upon this business ? A. Yes, Q. And have remained in custody ever since you were so apprehended ? 89 A. Yes. ti. Where had you lived before you were apprehended ? A. At Southwingfield with my father. Q. What is your business? A. A frame work knitter. Q. Were you at Southwingfield on the evening of Mon day the 9th of June ? <\ A. Yes. Q. Were you at your father's house ? A. Yes. Q. At about what time ? A. A little before nine o'clock I left my father's house. Q. Did you leave your father's house alone, or in com pany with any persons ? A. In company with Samuel Ludlam and John Walker. Q. To what place did you go ? A. I went to opposite the meeting house. Q. Is that near Colonel Hahon's gates? A. Close to them in a manner. Q. Whom did you see there? A. We saw William Turner, George Weightman, and some strange man, about two or three hundred yards from the village. Q. Whom did you afterwards find the strangeman to. be? A. I did not know who he was at first. Q, Whom did you afterwards find him to be? A. The Nottingham Captain. ti. What was his name > A. I never heard his name, nothing but Captain. ti. Is that the man Who stands there ? A. Yes. ti. Had they any arms with them ? A. Yes. ti. What arms? 4- All three had guns. G. Which way were they going ? A. They were standing still When I went to 'them. Q. After you went to them to what place did they and you go ? 90 A. To a place called Hunt's Barn, in a field of Colonel Hal ton's. Q. Before you went to Hunt's Barn did you see either of them do any thing with respect to his gun ? A. William Turner was loading his gun. Q. With what? A. With a bullet. Q. Do you remember George Weightman saying any thing at that time ? A. I heard George Weightman say, when I went down, " Come, lads, I expect an engagement very soon." Q Did he say where he expected that engagement ? A. With Jessop's men at Butterley Furnace. Q, Did you ask either of them who the stranger was ? A. Yes. Q. Which of them did you ask ? A. I asked William Turner who he was. Mr. Cross. Was this man present then? A. Yes. Mr. Gurney. What answer did Turner give you ? A. He said that is our Captain from Nottingham. Q. You say you went with them to Hunt's Barn ? A. Yes- Q. When you got there did you find any persons as sembled there ? A. Me and Samuel Ludlam stopped at the turnpike ; we did not go to the barn. Q. How near was that? A. About a hundred yards short of the barn ? Q. Were there any persons assembled there ? A. Yes. Q. Can you at all say about how many ? A. There might be a score about the bam ; there might be the value of a score that we could see from the turn pike. G. Had they any weapons ? A. Yes, when they came down to the gate where we were. Q. They came down towards you, and then you saw that they had weapons. I SI A. Yes. Q. What kind of weapons ? A. Different weapons, spikes and guns, Q. What do you mean by spikes ? A. Sticks with things in them. Q. What I should call pikes. A- Yes ; pikes and guns, and one sword or two. Q. Did Brandreth and Turner and Weightman come down with those men from the barn ? A. Yes. Q. Did you hear Brandreth say to what place they were going ? A- No, I do not know that I heard them say. Q. Did you hear any of them say at that time to what place they were going ? A. George Weightman said we must go to a field of Mr. Tophams, and the Pentridge people would meet us there. Q. Was it at all said, when you were all collected toge ther, where you were to go to ? A. I cannot recollect that it was. Q. Before you set off to Mr. Topham's field, what was done with you ? A. William Turner and the strange man formed us into ranks. . Q, William Turner and the Prisoner formed, you into ranks ? A. Yes. G. Had you any weapon given you ? A. No. Q. Had you any thing given you to carry ? A. I bad a bag of bullets. G. Who gave them to you ? A. I 'took them from George Bramley ; I had rather parry them than carry a pike. Q. When you were so formed were any, orders given you .' A. Yes ; the strange man orderedsus to march.. Q. The Prisoner you mean ? A. Yes, Q. To what place ? 9* A. The nearest way to this ground of Mr. Tophams. Q. Is this the sort of thing that you call a spike, or pike (shewing a pike to the reitness.) A. Yes. Q. Did you march? A. Yes. Q. What was the first house to which you got ? A. James Hardwick's. Q. What was done there ? A. The biggest part of the party went up to the house ; I did not. Q. Did they take any thing from Mr. Hardwick's? A. I did not see. Q. Did you hear them say whether they did ? A. No, I did not. Q. Whose house did they go to next? A. Henry Tomlinson's.* ti. Was any thing taken from Tomlinson's house? A. I was not there; I stopped at Hardwick's a little while. Q. Did you afterwards proceed to Topham's close ? A. The nearest way to meet them at Topham's close. Q. Did any more persons join you at Topham's close? A. Yes. Q. Who ? A- Isaac Ludlam the elder, Isaac Ludlam the younger, and William Ludlam. Q. Had they any thing in their hands ? A. Yes. G. What? A. Such pikes as those. Q. Did the Pentridge men meet you as you expected ? A. No. Q. Upon the Pentridge men not meeting you, what was agreed to be done ? A. For'George Weightman to go by the wire mill, and if he met them, to turn them to the Pentridge-lane end and to meet us there. Q. Did George Weightman and any others go that way ? A. Yes. 93 Q. What became of the bag of bullets you had ? A- George Weightman took them along with him. Q. To whose house did you and the rest of the party then go ? A. To Elijah Hall's. Q. Who commanded you there ? A. I cannot say who commanded us there. Q. Who commanded you all the way you went ? A. Turner and the Prisoner commanded us all the way we went. Q. When you got to Elijah Hall's, what was done ? A- When I got to Elijah Hall's, he was out of the door, and the door fastened on him. Q. Did the Prisoner say any thing to him. A- Yes; he was asking him for his gun, Q. Was Mr. Hall willing to give him his gun ? A. No. Q. Were they disputing any time about it. A. Yes, they disputed some time about it ; at last Elijah Hall asked some person inside to give it, and it was given him out of the window- Q. Who got the gun ? A. The Captain took it. Q. The Prisoner. A. Yes. ti. Did the Prisoner then say any thing else to him ? A. Yes; he said he understood he had more arms in the house, and he must have them. Q. Did he say how he would get them ? A. Elijah Hall said he had no more ; that he had given him what he had. Q. What did the Prisoner reply to that ? A. He said he knew he had more, and if he did not give them to him his door should be broken open. ti. At last was the door opened 1 A. Yes, by some person on the inside. ti. Who went in ? A. Elijah Hall went in first, and the Prisoner and me and several more. 04 Q. Can you name any of the others who went in ? A. I cannot mention any of them that went into the house. Q. Did either of the Turners go in ? A. No ; I do not remember that they did. Q. When the Prisoner got in, what did he say or do? A. The Prisoner, when he got in, was going to go up stairs to fetch a gun, and Elijah Hall offered to stop him. Q. What did the Prisoner say or do upon that ? A. He struck him with his fist first, and presented his gun to him, and said if he did not find his gun he would shoot him. Q. Upon that, did you say any thing to the Prisoner ? A. I laid hold of the Prisoner, and told the men not to use the man ill, I did not believe that he had any other arms. Q. Did the Prisoner make any search for further arms ? A. Yes. Q. What means did he take for searching ? A. He took a candle and went up stairs. Q. Did he find any other ? A. No. Q. Did he take any thing else out of the house ? A- He brought Elijah Hall's son down with him. Q. What did he do with him ? A. He came along with us. Q. Did he come willingly or unwillingly 1 A. Very unwillingly. Q. Was he in his bed before he was taken? A. I believe he was in bed. Q. How was he made to come, you say he was un willing ? A. The Prisoner first said that Elijah Hall the elder must g°- Q. And then afterwards he took the son instead. A. Yes. Q. The son being very unwilling ? A. Yes. Q. Were either of the Turners with you at that house ? A. Both of them. 95 Q. Which do you mean by both ? A. William Turner and Joseph Turner. Q. Is Joseph Turner the man you call Manchester Turner. A. Yes. Q. Is there any thing remarkable about his face ? A. He has but one eye. Q. Were the three Ludlams still with you ? A. Yes. Q. Was Barker there ? A. Yes. ti Swaine? A. Yei. ti. Bramley ? A. Yes- Q. Do you remember Barker saying any thing to Mr. Hall? A. Some little, I remember his saying. Q. What do you remember his saying ? A. He said he had longed for that day to come for long, but it had come at last. Q. Where was Elijah Hall placed to with you. A. We were not in rank then. Q. What house did you next go to ? A. Isaac Walker's I think next. Q. Were any arms taken from Isaac Walker's ? A, I saw a pistol taken. Q. Who had that pistol for the rest of the night I A. The prisoner. Q. Where did he put it ? A In a kind of an apron that he had round him. Q. Was the apron tucked in like a belt ? A. Yes. Q. What sort of a pistol was it ? . A. A brass barrelled pistol I think. G. Whose house did you go to next ? A. Henry Bestwicks. Q. What was done there ? A. I cannot say, I did not see the mischief done there. 90 Q. Did you hear any mischief done the*"* • A. Yes, I heard a window broken. Q. Whose house next ? A. Samuel, Hunt's. Q. What took place at Samuel Hunt's ? A. When I got into Samuel Hunts, he was fetching bread and cheese out. Q. Some were in before you ? A. Oh, yes. Q. What did he say when he brought them out? A. He told us to eat what bread and cheese we liked and he would dress and go along with us. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Who brought out the bread and cheese ? Mr. Gurney. Samuel Hunt, one of the persons in dicted. — What is Samuel Hunt? A. He keeps a farm. Q. Did you eat the bread and cheese ? ~-A. Yes. G. Had you anything to drink ? A. Yes, some beer. Q. Did you then leave the house ? A. Yes. ' ti.'Did Hunt and anybody go with you * A. Yes, Samuel Hunt and his man, whose name, I be lieve, is Daniel Hunt, went with us. Q. Was there a candle in the room all the while you were at Hunt's? A. Yes. Q. How long were you there ? A. Perhaps a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes. Q. When Samuel and Daniel Hunt went away with you had they any arms. A- I cannot say that they had. Q. Did you see what weapons your party had more par ticularly ? ¦ A- Yes, they had pikes. ti. What had Manchester Turner ? A. He had a sword. 97 Q. What had William Turner ? A. A gun. G. What had Robert Turner ? A. A sword. Q. What had Isaac Ludlam the elder ? A. A pike. Q. When you went from Hunt's house whose house did you go to next ? A. To Mrs. Hepworth's. Q. Who first went to the door ? A. I cannot say who went first to the door— I heard the prisoner at the door. Q. Doing what ? A. Rapping at the door, and calling for the arms out. Q. Was the door opened ? A.No. Q. Upon that, what did the prisoner say ? A. The prisoner called for somebody to come and break the door open. Q. Upon his calling, did Samuel Hunt come ? A. Yes. Q. What did he do ? A. He took up a stone appearing to have been a coping to a wall. Q. A large stone ? A. Yes, and flung it at the door a time or two. Q. Did that force the door open? A. No. Q. Upon that, did the prisoner go to another part ? A . He went from that door to a little window. Q. Was any window got open at last ? A. The window was broken out. G Was that the kitchen window ? A. Yes, a back window. Q. Did theprisoner say anything to the persons within ? A. The prisoner was asking them to give the arms or to open the door. Q. Did the persons within do either ? A. No. 08 Q. Upon that, what did the prisoner do ? A- Some person within refused him, and he imme* diately fired in at the window. Q. What did he fire ? A. I cannot say whether his gun or his pistol, I was not hear enough to see. Q. Did that firing do any mischief? A. Yes. Q. What ? A. I went up to the window, and saw a man within lying on the floor, as having fallen. Q. Who was that man I A. I did not know till young Elijah Hall said it was Robert Walters. Q. Did you hear that ? A. Yes. Q. Who did he say it was ? A. Robert Walters. Q. Did you say anything to Brandreth upon that ? A. Yes. Q. What did you say ? A. I told him he should not have shot that poor inno cent man. Q. What answer did he give ? A. He said it was his duty to do it, and he would do it; and if I said any more about it he would blow my brains out. Q. After that were any arms given out of the house ? A. Yes. Q. To what place did you next go ? A' To Pentridge Lane End. Q. Did you meet any party there ? A. Yes. Q- About how many ? A. I cannot tell how many exactly. Q. Was Joseph Weightman the younger among them ? A. Yes, Joseph; and James Taylor and Benjamin Tay lor, that is all I knew. Q. Had any of them arms ? 99 A. Yes, all of them I believe. Q. Arms of what kind ? A. Joseph and Benjatriin Taylor had spikes, and James a gun. Q. Did your party then go to any places in Pentridge? A. There was a party went down to Buckland Hollow. Q. Did you go with them ? A. No, I did not. Q. While that party were absent did you hear attacks made on any houses ? A. Yes, we heard a geat disturbance ; they were call ing them all up at Pentridge Lane end i they were calling the men up to take the men out, and arms where they could find thein- Q. When you were collected together again did you go towards Pentridge town i A. Yes. Q. Before you got there, do you remember the prisoner saying anything about the party ( A. Yes, he fell us into ranks there. G. Did he enquire for any particular description of persons ? A. Yes, he asked whether there were any military men among us, or men who understood discipline, that they must turn out to keep the men in order. G. Upon the prisoner saying that, did any men turn out? A. Yes. G. Who? A. One Charles Swaine. G. Had he been in the militia ? A. Yes, I believe so. ti. What was then done when Swaine turned out ? //. They were all put into ranks. il. Hy whom ? A. By the prisoner, William Turner, and Swaine. ti. How many deep ? A. Two. Q. Where were the men put who had the guns ? A. In die fl ont. g 2 100 Q. Who were put in the rear ? A. Them that had spikes. Q. When you were formed, what was the word of com mand given ? A. To march. Q. Who gave it ? A. I cannot say which of the three it was. Q. Where did you march to ? A. To Pentridge. Q. When you got there were you joined by any more? A. Yes. Q. Did Edward Turner join you there ? A. Yes. Q. Did Joseph James join you there ? A. Yes. Q. Were any other houses attacked ? A. Yes. Q. At Pentridge ? A. Yes. Q. Were any people taken from the houses, or any arms? A. I did not see them. Q. Do you remember, among others, Mr. Booth's house being attacked, or going to Mr. Booth's. A. Yes. Q. Was anything of Mr. Booth's taken out ? A. A poney was taken. Q. Out of his yard ? A. I do not remember where it was taken from. Q. But a poney was taken ? A. Yes. Q. Did you afterwards go to Butterley Iron Works ? A. Yes. Q. Who brought Booth's poney out of the yard ? A. George Weightman had it when I saw him. Q. He had rejoined you at that time ? A. Yes. G. Then you went to Butterley Iron Works ? A. Yes. 101 Q. Can you form any judgment about the size of your party at that time ? A. There might be threescore perhaps, or more. Q. When you got to Butterley did any person belong ing to the manufactory come out to you ? A. Yes. Q. Who was that? A. Mr. Goodwin. Q. I should have asked you— you told me you saw George Weightman with Mr. Booth's poney, what use did he make of that poney ? A. A man was put upon it. Q. After that did you see George Weightman go with that poney any where? A. I cannot say that I saw him start to go with it. I saw him return afterwards. Q. Did you learn, in the party going along, that he was gone any where on that poney ? A. To Nottingham. Q. And he was absent from you a good while ? A. Yes. Q. You afterwards saw him return an the poney ¦ A. Yes. Q. You have told me that when you got to Butterley, Mr. Goodwin came out to you ? A. Yes. Q. Did any thing pass between the people and him? A. Yes; he said something, I did not hear what it was. Q. After Mr. Goodwin had said this did any person give you the word to .march again ? A. Yes, the Prisoner. Q. Did you march away from thence ? A. Yes. Q. Where did you march to ? A. For Ripley Town-end. Q. Did the Prisoner order you to do any thing there? A. Yes, to halt, and then to give three huzzas. Q. What was the object of those huzzas ? A. I do not know ? 102 Q. Was that said ? A. I do not know. Q. Then to march — where to ? A. Then we marched forward to Codnor. Q. When you got to Codnor what house did you stop at? A. At the Glass House. I believe is the sign. Q. A public house ? A. Yes. Q. What was done there ? A. The Prisoner knocked them up, and bade them bring some ale. Q. Was ale given to your party ? A. Yes. G. Did you all drink ? A. Yes. Q. Did you go in ? A. Yes. Q. While you were there do you remember any who had left you rejoining ? A. Yes ; Samtiel Hunt, Manchester Turner, and Ed^ ward Turner. Q. Were there any other persons along with them ? A. Yes ; there were some others whom I did not know, Q. Were any orders given to the Landlord about making out the bill ? A. Yes. Q. Who ordered him to make it out ? A- William Turner and the Prisoner. G- What was the amount of the bill ? A. Eight and twenty shillings I believe. Q. Did the Prisoner say any thing to the Landlord when he should be paid ? A. He did not say any thing about the time of his being paid, but that he need not be afraid of being paid ; he would see him paid. Q. Did they then march on ? A. Yes. Q. Do you remember any thing being done at any farm yard? 103 A . Yes ; I remember a farm yard a little further, Q. What was done there? A. I was not nigh. ti. Were any persons brought out of the Barn ? A. Yes, three. ti. What was done with them ? A. They were taken along with us. <^. Did you inarch on towards Nottingham ? A. Yes. Q. When you got to Langley Mill did you meet any person 1 A. George Wcighlman returning-. ti. On what ? A. On Mr. Booth's poney. Mr. Justice Abbott. Where was this? Mr. Gunny. At Langley Mill, which separates the two counties. When Wcighlman joined you who went up lo talk with him ? -¦'. The Prisoner, and many surrounded him, and asked him how they were going on at Nottingham. Q. What answer did he give ? A. He said they were going ou very well, the Town was taken, and the soldiers would not come out ot their barracks ; and we were to march forwards. Q. Did you march forwards? A. Yes." Q. How far did von march with them ? A. I do not know the place, it is n strange place. (J. Did you go as fur us Eastwood ' A. Beyond that. Q. How tar beyond Eastwood ? A. Two or three miles. ti- Hy that time had any of your party drawn off? A. \ es. ti. Did you then quit the party ? A. Yes, I do not justly know the name of the place ? ti. When you quitted them were they marching to. wards Nottingham? A. Yes, a few of them, not many. 104 Q. Was the prisoner one of them ? ' A. Yes, William Turner and the prisoner were with them. , Q. Before you left the party had any of them tried to get away, — do you remember any of them trying to get away ? A. Yes. Q. On there trying to get away, did the prisoner or William Turner say anything to them ? A. Henry Hole would turn. Q. Upon his trying to turn, what was said to him ? A. The prisoner said if he did not turn again he would stop him from going much further. Q. In what manner did he appear to attempt to stop him? A. With his gun, he put it out at Henry Hole, and the prisoner presented his gun at him and stopped him. Q. Did he go back ? A- He turned again and went with us, Q. Did he leave you afterwards ? A. He did not leave us then — I do not know when he left us. Richard Bramley went and fetched him back. ti. Do you remember anybody being wounded by ac cident before you left ? A. Yes, I heard there was a man wounded. Q. By a gun going off by accident? A. Yes, I heard of that. Cross-examined by Mr. Denman. Q. I do not recollect whether you said at what time you met these persons first — have you mentioned any time 1 A. I do not know that I have. Q. Do you know what time it was ? A. About nine o'clock. Q. Was it dark at that time. A. No, I do not think it was quite. Mr. Gurney. Mr. Denman, will you forgive my asking one question ; — had you a pike in the course of your walk ? A. I had, a part of my walk, 165 Q. When you left— what did,you.do.withit ? A. I hurled it;a way. Q. Did others do the same ? A. Yes, a good many ; I saw a many hurled in some nettles by a tan-yard — on my return I was taken, and then I went and shewed a man where I saw the pikes. Q. You were taken by the cavalry ? A. Yes, Mr. Denman. How far is Booth's house from Langley Mill? A. I cannot say, it might be three or four miles. Q. Was there time for his going to Nottingham and re turning, betwixt the time of his leaving you and meeting you at Langley Mill ? A. Yes. ti. Then he came back and told the tale you have men tioned ? A. Yes. Q. Then the men began to drop off ? A. Yes. Q, The party had dwindled away to nothmg long be fore they were opposed at all ? A. Yes. Q. What time in the morning was it that they were all scattered and gone back? A. Nine or ten in the morning. ti. How far might this progress be in all ? A. Perhaps nine or ten miles. G- How soon afterwards were you taken ? A. I was taken up that day. ti. Are those Turners any relations of yours ? A. Yes. Q. What relations ? A. They are uncles children, Mr. Justice Dallas. What is the length of these pikes ? Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. About eight feet and a half. 106 Henry Tomlinson, sworn. Examined by Mr. Serjeant Copley. ti. You are a farmer living at Southwingfield I A. Yes. Q, Do you remember on Monday night the 9th of June, any person coming to you from Hardwick's house ? A. Yes, Q. About what time did he come, A. About half-past nine or a quarter before ten. Q. How far is Hardwick's house from yours ? A. About a quarter of a mile. Q. Is it between your house and the town of South wingfield ? A. Yes. Q. In consequence of information you received from him, what did you do ? A. I locked my house door, and went out with my wife into the yard. Q. How long did you stay in the yard before you ob served any persons coming ? A. Ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour. Q. After that ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, did any persons come to your house ? A. A body of men came, they came to one end of the yard, and I stood at the other. Q. How many did there appear to be ? A. There appeared to me to be between thirty and forty. ti- Were they unarmed, or had they anything with them ? A. They were armed, some with spikes and some with guns. Q. By spikes, do you mean instruments of that descrip tion ? (pikes) A. Yes. ti. When they came to your house what did they do ? A. They went up to the door and began to rattle it ; I cried halloo, what did they want ; they said they wanted me and my gun. 107 Q. Look at the Prisoner, was he among them J A. I do not know him again ; I did not know him that night, it was dark. Q. When they said they wanted you and your gun, what did yon say ? A. I said they must have neither ; I had a gun, but it was gone to Ashover to be mended. Q. Who said that ? A. It was a man they called the Captain, the leader of the gang. Q. What was it he said ? A. That he wanted me and my gun. ti. The person who asked for you and your gun was that person whom they called the Captain ? A. Yes. Q. Upon your saying that it was gone to Ashover to be mended, what did they say ? A. They said that if I did not open my door immediately they would break it; that they would search it. Q. Who said that ? A. The Captain. Q. Upon his saying that he would search the house, what did you do ? A. As I was going up to the house door, I saw a man named William Turner, and I said to him, are you one, William, and he said yes ; and I saw a man of the name oi" William Barker. Q. Did you say any thing to him ? A. Yes ; I said are you one, William, and he also said yes. Q. After that conversation, what did you do ? A. I unlocked the door and went in, and the Captain and another man followed me. Q, When you got into the house with these two persons following you, what did you do? A. I brought the gun into the house, and the Captain demanded it"; I had left it at the top of the bed-tester. Q. The Captain was in the house ? A. Yes ; and another man. 108 Q. Upon his demanding it, did you give it him ? A. Yes. Q. After you had delivered the gun to them, what did they do ? A. They took the gun out of doors, and I went and stood close to the door, but not out, and the Captain came and said you must go and all. Q. You said something about their threatening you ; what were the particular expressions they made use of? A. That was when they insisted on my going, and I said I would not go ; they said I must go, I had better go to-night than to stop till morning; there was a great gang coming from Sheffield, and a great cloud out of the north would sweep all before them. Q. Did you know which of them said that? A. The Captain. Q. After they had said this to you, what did you reply ? A. I told them I would not go that night ; that if I must go, I would stay till the morning ; and then the Captain cocked his gun, and swore he would shoot me if I did not go- Q. Did he present the gun to you ? A. Yes he did; some cried "damn his eyes, smite his head off;" others cried "let him go;" and others said] "never mind;" that was before the others said "shoot him." Q. Before the Captain cocked his gun ? A. Yes, some of them cried out— " Damn him, smite his head off." Q. What did the Captian say at the time he presented his gun ? — what else did he say in the course of that con versation before you went ? A. Nothing more that I recollect. Q. What did you do upon this ? A. I locked the door and went into the fold-yard, and there George Weightman stood. Oh, I will tell you what I said when he cocked the gun ; I said " Nay, nay, I will not stand that ; I will go a little way, but it shall not be far." 109 Q. Did the Captain or any other say where they were going to ? A. The Captain said they were going to Nottingham, and that they must be there at half-past eight or nine o'clock. He said that it would not be necessary to go further than Nottingham, for London would be taken by the time they gotlhere. Q. You say you went into the fold-yard and saw George Weightman ? A. Yes, I said are you one, and he said yes ; and I said I think it a very hard thing to take me from this lonely place, and to leave my wife by herself; and Weightman said, It is — go a little way, and you shall turn again. Q. Did they give you anything to carry ? A. They gave me a spike like one of those on the table. Q. Did you say anything about carrying your gun ? A. Yes ; I asked them to let me carry my own gun ; they said I should not, I should have a spike, and upon that they gave me one of the spikes. Q. Who was it said you should not carry your own gun, do you remember ? A. It was the Captain. Q. How far did you go with them ? A. I went, as near as I can guess, about three hundred yards. Q. Did you then get away from them ? A. George Weightman gave me a bit of a nudge, and told me to give him the spike and turn again. Q. Did you do so ? A. Yes. Q, Then you left them and got home? A. Yes. Cross-examined by Mr. Cross. Q. I think you say that you do not remember seeing this man? A. No, I do not remember his person at all. Q. Sometimes one spoke to you and sometimes another spoke ? 110 A. I spoke to William Turner, and asked him whether he was one, and he said yes. Q. Did not more of them speak to you than those yon have named o you think ? A. No, not that I recollect. Some cried — f*Damn his eyes, smite his head off," and se on. Q. The person whom you call the Captain you cannot say was this man ? A. No, I cannot say that it was that man. Elijah Hall, sen. sworn. Examined by Mr. Reader. Q. Where do you live ? A. At Southwingfield Park. Q. What time did you go to bed on Monday night, the 9th of June last ? A. I did not go to bed at all that night. Q. What time did you get home from your mill ? A. About eleven o'clock. Q. What are you ? A. A farmer and a miller. Q. About how far is your house from your mill ? A. About a quarter of a mile. Q. You got home to your house at about eleven at night ? A. Yes. Q. How soon after you got home did you hear any thing ? A- Not ten minutes after. Q. Had you fastened your doors ? A. The door was fastened. Q. And the windows ? A. And the windows too. Q. What first alarmed you ? A. The footsteps of two men, as I supposed, coming up to my door. Q. Did they say anything ? Ill A. They asked me whether any men had been that there night for guns. Q. What answer did you make to them? A. I told them there had. Q. What was your reason for that ? A, Because I was struck with a panic, and wished to get shut of them if I could. Q. Did they go away upon that ? A. They did, after theyr had asked me whether I had given them any, they asked me whether they had taken any away ? Q. What was your answer to that ? A. My answer was " Yes." Q. How soon after they went did any thing else happen ? A. Perhaps five minutes. Q. What happened then ? A. A number of armed men came into the yard. Q. Was that on the other side of the house ? A. On the same side. Q. How many do you think? A. Perhaps between twenty and thirty. Q. How were they armed ? A. With guns and pikes, and one had a sword. Q. Did they say or do anything? A. Yes. Q. What was it ? A. I asked them what they were doing there at that time of night. Q. What was the answer? A. The answer was they should not hurt me, but they wanted fire arms. Q. What did you say ? A. 1 told them I had no fire arms for them. ti. What passed then ? A. They were positive I had. Q. They said so ? A. Yes, and they demanded them, and said I had bet ter deliver them up quietly to prevent the house from being fired, and to save my own life. 112 Q. Where were you when this conversation passed ? A. I was in my yard. Q. Had you gone outside the door? A. Yes. Q. Had you gone out after the other two men had re tired ? A. Yes. ti. And you had this conversation with them outside in the yard ? A. Yes. Q. What passed then ? A. They said I had better open the door and produce the fire arms. Q. Was the door shut ? A. Yes, and fastened ; some one of my family had fastened it after I went out. Q. Some of the people told you, you had better open the door ? A. They did. — I told them it was not in my power to do it, being on the outside like themselves, and then they proceeded to force the door. Q. How did they proceed to force it ? A. With pikes. ti. Did they force it open ? A. After many attempts to force it, which did not force it, they cried out, " Captain, how must it be ?" Q. Did the Captain give them any answer ? A. A gun was then given to them through the window by some person in my house. Q. Did you afterwards get into the house? A. The door was opened from the inside after the Cap tain had ordered his men to fire at it. Q. You said that they said to the Captain, " Captain, " how must it be ?" Then somebody put a gun out of your window into the yard. — What answer did the Cap tain make to that ? A- When they had got the gun they demanded me to go along with them. Q. What did they say to you ? hi A. They told ureimust go along' with' theirtt Q. Who said that? ' " A. I do not recollect who that was. ti. What answer did you make to that ? A. I told them I should not go ; some one of the party said he has sons : the Captain said if he has sons we Will Have them. Q.- Was that the sarrie person who liad bid them fire, When they said, " Captain, what shall we do now ?" A. Yes. Q. When was it that he said "Fire;'* as I understood you, after the gun had been plit Out of the hdtise, the Cap tain said, " If they will not let us in, fire ?" A. Yes. Q. The same person who had answered the Capfaia satd he would have your son ? A. He did. ' Q. Before he Went into the house was there anything Said about what their intentions Were ? A. There was. Q. What was it ? A. That they Wanted a biggfer loaf, arid the times alter ing- ' Q. Was there anything said about what their, object Was, or where they were going ? A. Not till they got into the house. Q. How many of them do yori think got info the house? A. I think there might be a dozen, perhaps more. ti. Was the, Captain one ? A. He was. ti. There were abotrt twelve in the house ? A. Yes ; that or more. G- Did you know any one in the house ? A. Yes. 6 G.- Who were they 1 A. Isaac Ludlam the elder, Isaac Ludlam the' younger^ William Ludlam, William Barker. Q. Any body else that yOu knew ? A. A person that they called Manchester T ufnef. H4 G. Was that the man with one. eye J A. It was. Q. Any other person ? A. Thomas Turner. G- Any body else? A. John Walker. Q. You have spoken of them, and the person who was called the Captain: have you seen that man since the Captain ? A. I have. Q. Who was the Captain ? 4.T did not know his name at the time. ti. What name was he called by when ypu afterwards saw him ? A. Jeremiah Brandreth. Q. Was he in custody as Jeremiah Brapdreth ? _ A. He was. G- Are you sure that the person you saw in custody as Jeremiah Brandreth was the persqn who that night, answered to the title of Captain ? A. I am quite positive. Q. What; passed after you got into the house? 5 A. After we got into the house, the Captain threatened that he would Wow my brains out if I did not get my stuns up? " G. What answer did you make to that? , A. I told them that I should not, Q. What then? A. The Captain said, cc damp your blood," and gave me two progs with the muzzle of his gun — two pushes, Q. Did you say or do any thing upon that ? A. I still resisted 1 Q. What'did he do ? A. Presented his gun at me. Q. Upon your persisting in refusing, he presented his gun at you ? '. ' A. Yes ; and said he would blow piy brains put- ", ?, Q. Still did you call your son or pot? A. I did not ; I still said f should not. m Q. What did he do ? A. He was lowering his gun to cock it; Thomas Turner said you shall not shoot, or do not shoot er. What then passed ? A. Several of them cried, we will fetch them out of bed ourselves ; the Captain then took a candle from some one of the family. Q. There were some of your family down stairs? A. Yes. Q. Your sons were np stairs in bed 1 A. Yes ; and he lighted it at the fire, and proceeded up Stairs, and several others went up with him. Q. Did you hear them say or do any thing up stairs ? A. We heard a great noise up stairs, and threatening them. *. Q. At last did they bring either of your sons down with them ? A. Yes, they did. Q. Which of them ? A. Elijah. G- Was he dressed when he came down or not ? , A. Part dressed. Q. Did they afterwards take him .away ) A. They did. • Q. And took from your house one gen, which was th« only one you had? A. I had another, but they did not find it- Q. Did they search your house for it ? A. They did. Q. Who did ? A. The Captain, Q. How long was your son absent before he returned .? A. It might be two or three hours. Q. He returned again in the morning ? A. He did, before it was light, Q. Before they took your son away, did they say what they were going to do ? A. They did ; I asked the Captain where he was going ? Q. What was his answer ? H S m A- To Nottingham. - Q. Did he say for-what ? A. I asked him for what ; he said they believed Not*- tinghani was taken at that time, that there was .a general rising throughout the country, and that it was their in tention to wipe off the national debt and begin afresh. Elijah Hall,jun. sworn. Examined by Mr. Reader. er;- i>\ Q. Were you disturbed in your bed at any time on th* Monday night the 9th of June last ? A. Yes. Q. Whom did you sleep with ? A. My brother. G. How many men came up into your room ? A, There Were several men came up. Q. What did they do to you when they came up 7 A. They commanded me to get out of my bed. Q. Did they compel you to get out of your bed ? A. They did. G. And to go With them ? A. They did. Q. Were you unwilling to go ? A. I was. Q. Did you go by force ? A. They compelled me to g6. Q. Did they put anything into your hand t A. They put a pike into my hand. Q. Where did you go to first ? A. We went to -Mr. Walker's. Q. How far is that from your father's ? A. Two closes. • Q. Did they get anything there ? ' A. A. gun and a pistol. G- How many do you think there were of you I A. I cannot say positively there were a great numbed G. Who commanded you ? 117 A. A man they called the Nottingham captain. /Q. Look at the prisoner, is that the man ? A. Yes, that is the man, ti- Yo.u went first to Walker's, where did you go to next? A. To Mr. Bestwick's. Q. Did you get anything there ? A. We got a gun there. ti- At these places were the girns given you voluntarily or by force ? A. By force. Q. Where did you go next ? A. To Samuel Hunt's. G. Did y6u get anything there ? A. We got bread and cheese there. Q. Did anybody go with you ? A. Hunt himself and his man Daniel Hunt. 0. Where did you go next? A. To Mrs. Hepworth's. Q. Did anything happen while yovt were at Mrs. Hep worth's ? A. Yes, there did. Q. Was there any gun let off there ? A. There was. * Q. Did you see the gun let off I A. Yes, I saw it. Q. In whose hand was it ? A. In the hand of the Nottingham captain. Q. You mean the prisoner. • A. Yes'. . ti. Did you observe whether he had a pistol with hiqj at that time or not ? A. I did not. G. You distinctly saw a gun let off in his hand ? A. Yes. ti. Did any mischief arise from it ? A. Yes, there was a man shot. G. Did you known that man? A. Yes. G- What was his name ? 118 A. Robert Walters, Q. What was be ? A. Servant to Mrs. Hepworthw Q. Did you hear anything Said by him ot to him ufcoa this poor man being shot ? A. Yes I did. Q. What was it ? Mr. Justice Dallas. He has not stated whstt Was the consequence of the shooting. Mr. Reader. Was the man killed ? A. He was. Q. Did you see him afterwards ? A. I saw him after he was shot. On the" hitches! flbor, Q. Did anybody say anything to the captain abSutit. A. Yes. Q. Who did? A. It was me, I asked him how he could think ©t* shott ing the man. G. What Was his answer J A. He said he was not shot. ti* Did you say anything to that ? A. I told him I was positive the atari was Shot. ti. Did he say anything more ? A. No, he did not say anything mote about it at that time. Q. Did he say anything about it afterwards ? A. I did not hear him, Q. W7here did you go to from Mrs. Hepworth's ? A. We went from there to Pentridge Lane-end. i2. Did they get any arms or then at Pentridge Lane*end .' A They got arms and men too. Q. Where did you go to next ? A. To Pentridge. Q. Was anything got there ? A. I did not see anything. .ti. Was any attempt made ? A. Yes, several attempts at different hauSes. G- For men and arms ? A. Yes. IT9 G. Whether they got any you cannot tell? A. No. Q. Where did you go next ? A. I went home. Q. You escaped from thence ? A. Yes I did, and went home. Q. Did you hear any of them say, while you were with them, what their object was, and what they were going to do ? A. Yes I did ; I heard several of the mob say that they. were going to blow down the Parliament House, and to break the Law. ti. Did you hear the Nottingham Captain say ariy-» thing ?- A. Not him in particular. ti- Was he present when these things were said ? A. Yes, he was. Q. Did he act as Commander during the whole time you were with them ? A. Yes, he did. Q. About how far did "you go ? A. A little Way intds Pentridge town. Q. How did you escape at last from them ? A. I escaped down a yard While they were going kite a house. Q. And you got home to your fether's ? A. Yes. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Pray, Mr. Attorney Ge neral, what prospect have you of finishing your Case this evening ? ¦ j Mr. Attorney General. I do not think we shall be able to go through all our witnesses to nigntj unless your Lord ships were to sit vtry late ; there are many mere witnesses I must be under the necessity ©f examining — you* Lofd- ships would not he able I think. Lord CUef Baron Richards. By sitting very late wo shall not be doing a great deal of good ; we may be doing a great deal of injury to the gentlemen of the Jury who have had a long attendance, I think it will be safest and 120 best that we should -go no further than the next witness. We shall have a continuation of late hours for several days probably. Isaac Walker sworn. Examined by Mr. Reynolds. Q. Are you a Farmer at Southwingfield Park in this county ? A. Yes. Q. On Monday night, the Qth of June, were you dis-> urbed in .the night ? ' ; A, Yes- Q- At what time ? A. About twenty minutes after eleven o'clock, it might be half an hour. ti. Had you and your family gone to bed I A. Yes. Q. What was it that disturbed you ? A. The dog barking. ti. Did you see any persons there ? A. Yes. Q. How many did you see ? A. About forty. Q. Where were you when you saw them? A. At my chamber window. Q. Where Were they ? A. Coming up the yrard. Q. Had they anything with them? A.Yes- pikes and guns. ti. Which way were they coming ? A. Up towards the door. i? , ti. Did they demand anything? A. They demanded a gun and a brace of pistols. ti- Did they get anything from you ? A.I told them I had a gun but not a pistol. Q.,Did they, get anything froih you ? A. They got a gun from me, and -a brass;barrelled pistol, ¦ I2r |Q. Do you know the man to whom you gave the pistol ? A. No, i- - i Q. Look at that man, and tell me whether you know him ? A.. No, I do not ; they called him the Captain. Q. Did you give the pistol to the man they called the Captain. A. Yes. Lord Chief Baron Richards* Swear four Bailiffs to at tend upon the Jury. The Bailiffs were sworn, and the Court adjourned to to* morrow morning 8 o'clock,. • } 122 .. i .: _ SPECIAL ASSIZE, DERBY, Friday, 17th October, 1817. Jeremiah Brandreth was set to the Bar. Mrs. Mary Hepworth sworn. Examined by Mr. Richardson. Q. I believe you are a widbW ? A. Yes. G. Do you occupy a farm in Southwingfield Park ? ^.Yes. Q. What part of your family were at home on the 9th of June last at night ? A. One son, two daughters, two men servants, and my self. Q. Were your family disturbed at any time that night ? A. They were. Q. By what? A. By a large number thundering at the door, demand ing my guns and servants. Q. Do you mean men's voices making that demand ? - A. Yes. Q. In consequence of that did you get up ? A. Yes. Q. And go down stairs ? A' Yes, I went down stairs, I called out, the door was not to be opened, for I could not part with the men and guns. Q. That you would not, or could not part with the men and guns ? A. That we could not. Q. Did you say that to the people outside, or to your family inside ? A. To the people outside. 128 Q. They were thundering at the door you say I A. Yes. Q. Did they afterwards attack any other part of the house ? A. The windows on both sides of the house. , G. Is there a kitchen window towards the yard ? A. Towards the back of the house. Q. Was that broken or attacked ? A. It was broken. Q. By whom ? A. I did hot see the person* G. Bid there appear to you to be several persons ? A. There Were several Voices. Q. How was it broken ? A. The shutters were forced into the middle of the room. Q. By force on the outside ? A. Yes, the shutters were in the inside. Q. What became of the glass ? . A* They broke the glass quite out. Q. Did it fall into the room, or outside ? A. It fell both ways. ) Q. At that time who was in the kitchen ? A. Myself, my son William Hepworth, my daughter Emma, and two men servants. Q. What were the men servants' names ? A. Robert Fox and Robert Walters. Q. Was anything said by the people on the outside to any of you within? A. They said to my son William—" We mast have your guns and your men, or we will blow your brains out/' Q. At the time the window Was broken, or just after, was there anything said by the people on the outside ? A. They fired immediately after the Window was broken. ti- Did the firing do any hurt to the people within? A. To Robert Walters* ti. It struck him ? A. He was shot dead-^-nearly dead-'-fae lived ten mi nutes, or thereabouts ; I cannot exactly speak to the time. Q. He died very soon aftdi ? '¦''.. 124 A. Yes. Q. Did he die of the wound he received ? A. Yes. Q. What was he doing at the time he was struck with the shot ? A. Thelast time I saw him he was stooping down, as if putting on his boots. Q. How with respect to the window ? A. He was sitting down on a chair opposite the window. Q. Do you know where the shot struck him ? A. In the neck, on the right side. Q. After that was anything further said by the people oq theoutside? A. They kept demanding the men and the guns. Q. Did they use any threats ? A. They threatened William. When the man was shot, I said, " We must give up the guns, or we shall be all mur dered." I thought it was William who was shot— I saw him fall on the floor. Q. Were the guns fetched and delivered ? A. The gun which was hid in the cellar was fetched and delivered. They said—" We must have your men." Q. Was the gun delivered to them out of the window? 1 A. Out of the window. Q. They said, — " we must have your men ? " 4. Yes ; I went np stairs to a party at that window and told them that we could not let them have a man, that it was sufficient that one was shot — they said, " if you do not retire from the window we shall serve you the ¦ sanie and silepce you directly." Q. They did not get any man from your house ? A. No, I told them they must go away they had done enough. Q. After they were gone did you find any stones or anything else near the door of the house ? A. A great many stones near the door of the house. Q. What sort of stones ? A. Some large and some small. 125 ' ti» They appeared stones used for striking the door ? A. They did. ' Q. Did you find anything else ? " A. A pike was found near the door with which the door appeared to have been bored. ' Q. Had the door marks of that kind upon it ? A. It had. Mr. Samuel Fletcher, sworn. Examined by Mr. J. Balguy. t&. Where did you live on the 9th of June last? A. At Pentridge Lane-end. ""Q: At what time did you arid your family go to bed on that night ? A. It was eleven o'clock. Q. Were you disturbed at any time afterwards ? A. About twelve, by a very heavy knocking at the dour; Q. Did you get up ? A. I jumped out of bed and ran fo the Window, and opened if. Q. Did you look out of the window ? A. Yes, I saw a large toncourse of people. 'Q. How many ? A. Thirty or more at that Window. Q. Did you see any m6re any where else' aboiit yout house ? A- Yes, I saw a many more afterwards at another window. Q. Did you observe whether those men had anything in their hands ? A. Yes, they levelled pieces at my head as soon as I. opened the window — there appeared to be five or six: * Q. WThat do you mean by pieces ? ' KA. Guns— there appeared to be five or six gurfs levelled at my head. G. Did you say anything to them upon opening your window? """''¦ -'"* ' ' 126 A. I cried, " halloo," they cried, " your arms, yaw arms, damn your eyes your arms ; " I said, " what arms," — they said, " you have got two or three guns," — I said I had got but one gun, and I did not know that that was at home ; — they said, if I did not fetch it down, and open the door, they would blow my brains out. — I said, " well, well, let us have time ;" — I ran down stairs, and up another pair of stairs, where my servant sleeps. ti. Did you fetch the gun i A. No; I went to where my servant slept, to the con trary part of the house to make my escape, but I saw that part of the house beset as well as the other part, of the house. i G* Finding the house surrounded in this way did you give the gun ? A. My servant did, I ordered him. G. What is the servant's name ? A. William Shipman. Q. Was anything said on William Shipman giving them the gun ? 5v 4, They cried, " get ypu, dressed." G. Was that to William Shipman or to you ? A. I did not know then to which it was, but they cried " get you dressed." accompanied with, " damn your eyes we will blow your brains out;" they kept beating the door all the time. Q. What servants had you in the house ? 'K A. I had none but Shipman at that time. Q. Did Shipman get dressed? A. Yes, one cried " come Shipman," and another cried " come Billy ;" he appeared yery unwilling to go, h<* did not dress him in the house. G. Did he take his clothes out of the house ? A. Yes, he took them in bis band. Q. You say he appeared to be unwilling to go ? A- Yes, he cried at going, and J told him he must go and make his escape as soon as he could— I said, " damn thew thou knowest; them all, they are all Pentridge and Wingfield." Q. That you said privately to him ? - .' • ,k A. Yes. ••¦> Q. How long was it before he returned ? . A. I was not at home when he returned. ti. You went out for sometime, and on your return yod found him got back ? * A. Yes I did. ti. Was that on the Tuesday morning ? A. Yes, it was on Tuesday night I got home. ti. You had been out all Tuesday ? . V A. At Derby ; I told him to take notice who they wore, and what they did, and bring me word. ;-.* .: William Shipman smrn. v Examined by Mr. Solicitor General. Q. You are a servant of Mr. Samuel Fletcher ? A. Yes. x ti. Were vou living in his house in June last ? A. Yes. " * ti- Do you remember being disturbed on the night of Monday the 9th of June. A. Yes. Q. About what hour ? A. About twelve o'clock. ti- What was it disturbed you ? A. Knocking at the door. ti- Did vou hear any voices ? .4. Yes.' ti. What did they say or do ? A. They called out " Shipman, you must come and go with us." ti. Did vou know the voice who called out " Shipman ?* A. Yos. ' ti. Whose was it ? • A. Joseph Topham's. Q, Is he a man of Pentridge? A. Y es. - G. Did you go to the window ? -ii 128* A.Yks. f ti. What did you see when you went to the Window 5 did* you see any men ? A. Yes ; I saw several men in the yard, eleven or twelve, i. Q. Had they any arms ? A. Yes ; they were armed with guris and spikes. ti. Did they say anything when you were at the window ? A. They told me I must come and go with them. . Q. Did your master come to you ? A. Yes he did. , Q. Did you speak to them ? A. Yes. Q. What did you say to them ? A. They said they must have a man and a gun. Q. What did you say ? A. I told them there was but one man ; they said they knew there was two, and they must have one. Q. Did they continue this knocking at the door? A. Yes. Q. What did you say more to them ? A. They demanded the gun again, and my master said it would be better for me to fetch the gun and give it to* them. Q. Did you fetch the gun ? A. Yes. Q. Where did you give it to them ? A. Out of the window. G. What did they say on your giving them the gun ? A. They told me that I was to come and all. Q. What did you say or do upon that ? . Ai I told them that I could not go, that there was pnly me in the house; but they insisted upon having me; my master told me it would be better for me to go, and mind and tell him all that I could. Q. What did you do then? A. I took my clothes, and went dawn stairs, and open-* ed the door, and dressed myself at the door. Q. Did you say any thing to them then ? A. No, I did not say any thing. 129 ti- Did they say any thing to you ? A. The Captain, as .they called him, insisted upon my coming. Q. What did he say ? , A. He told me to make haste and dress me, or" he wpuld blow my brains out, and clapped the muzzle of the gun towards me. Q. Did he say any thing then ! A. He told me if I did not make haste and come he Would blow my' brains out. Q. Was that all he said ? A. Yes. Q. You dressed yourself? A. Yes. Q. When you dressed yourself, what then ? A. I went with them. Q. Had that person whom you called the Captain said any thing to you when you were at the window, before you came down. A. They called out for the Captain^and he came forward and said, that if I did not make haste and come down, he would blow my brains out. Q. Do you recollect whether he said any thing more then ? J. No. G. When you had dressed yourself, where did they go? A. They went out of the yard on to the turnpike, and there there were several others. Q. Were they armed too ? A. Yes. Q. In what way ? A. With guns and spikes. Q. Wliere did you go to? A. We went to some houses there were a little way off, ti. What did you hear ? A. I heard them breaking open houses. ti. Do you recollect going to the house of a man -of the name of Booth ? A. Yes. 130 Q. That is at Pentridge Lane End, I believe ? A. Yes. Q. What did they do at Booth's. A- They began knocking at the door, and demanded a man and a gun from Booth's. Q. Did they get either ? A. Yes. G. What did they get ? A. A man and a gnn. Q. Who was the man ? A. Booth's son. Q. Do you know a person of the name of Samuel Hunt ? A. Yes. Q. Was he with you at Booth's ? A. Yes. Q. What did he do at Booth's ? A. He was very violent there. Q. What was done then, after you had got this man and gun from Booth's ? A- We were marched on the road to Mr. Storer's. Q. How were you marched on ? A. They formed us into rank when we got to Storer's. Q. In what way were you formed ? A. Two deep ; they picked out Serjeants. Q. Did they command the different divisions ? A. Yes. Q. That was at Storer's, was it ? A. Yes. Q. Where is that, in Pentridge-lane ? A. Yea. Q. Where did you march to ? A. We marched to the bottom of Pentrid , ti. What had he, a gun or a pike ? A. lie had a spike. Q. You saw these bullets ? A. Yes. G. Was anything said about the bullets ? A. Yes. Q. What was said ? A. I put my hand in artd took two or three out, and he said I must not take none for they should be short enough. Q. Who said that ? A. James Weightman, Q. Did Thomas Weightman say anything lo you about the bullets ? A. Yes, ti. What did Thomas Weightman say about the bul lets? A. That he and James Weightman had been casting them while we came round by the Lane-end. I 2 t32 G. After you had been halted this quarter of an hour> where did you go next ? A. We marched on up the town of Pentridge. Q. How far up the town i" A. Towards the top. Q. Where did you turn then ? A. We stopped at Mr. Booth's. Q. Is that William Booth's ? A. Yes. Mr. Justice Abbott. Is that where tliey got the man and the gun ? Mr. Solicitor General. No, my Lord, that was another Booth. What is the name of the other Booth, where they got a gun and a man ? A. Samuel Booth. Q. In your way up the town did they knock at many doors or houses i A. Yes. Q. Did they get arms ? A. Yes, I believe so ; I heard them demanding arms. Q. When you were at William Booth's what was done there ? A. They fetched a poney out. Q. Who fetched the poney out ? A. George Weightman and the Captain that I saw with him in the yard. Q. What was done with the poney ? A. They fetched him out for Mr. Storer to ride upon, but he was ill, and fell off. ti. Was Storer a person that they forced to go with them? A. Yes. i-.d',. Q. What was then done with the poney ? A. George Weightman got on and rode right off, and I saw no more of him till we got to Langley Mill. Q. Which way did he ride ? A. Down the Lane towards Butterley. ti. Is that in the direction to Nottingham? A. Yps. 133 ¦Q. Which way did you proceed then ? A. Down the town again, and turned right for Butterley,,' Q. When you got to Butterley what was done ? < A. They wheeled us round to the gates, ^°d knocked at the Furnace gate. Q. That is, at the Iron-works ? A. Yes. G. Mr. Jessop'si? A. Yes. .Q. Upon knocking at the gate did any person come .? A. Yes. ti- Who? 4. Mr. Gpod.win,. Q. Was anything sajd by him when he came to the gatoi A. Yes; Mr. Goodwin asked him what he wanted there. Q. Asked whom r A. The Captain. Q. What did .the Captain say to that? A. He said he wanted his men. — Mr. Goodwin said he had men .enough unless it was for a better purpose,, G. What wag done then? A. We were marched forward. G. Which way did you go then ? A. Over Butterley Cpke-hear,tbs? Q. That was round the works, was it ? A. Yes. G- And you got back to the turnpike-jroad again 1 A. Yes. Q. Had all of you gone to Butterley works, or had any gone down the turnpike-road $ A. All I saw had gone to the works. G- When ypu got tp the turnpike-road where did yon proceed then ? A. Right np for Ripley town-end. Q. What was done when you got to Ripley towns end? A. We were hatted, and shouted three times, 134 Q. In your progress from Ripley town-end, where you shouted, what was said by any of the party ? A I do riot recollect, Q. What was the reason of your shouting ? A. To let the Belper men know where we were— the Heage and Belper meri. Q. Do you mean the persons from Heage and Belper ? A. Yes ; there was a party to meet them there frotn Heage and Belper. Q. And you were to shout to let them know thatyou. were come? A. Yes. Mr. Justice Abbott. This was said by the people, was if? A- Yes. ***- Mr. Solicitor General. After having said this, which way did you go then ? A. To Codnor. Q. Is that in the turnpike-road to Nottingham ? A. Yes. -'• i - Q. I will not stop to enquire what passed there— wifere did you go from thence ? A. From Codnor to Mr. Raynor's at Langley Mill. Q. What was done at Raynor's, and did they demand any man or gun there 1 A. Yes, a man and acgun. ' Q. Did any man go with you from Raynor's — compelled to go ? A. Yes. Q. Ido not stop to enquire particulars.— Did you then proceed towards Langley Mill ? A. Yes. Q. Raynor's is a little before you get to Langley Mill ? A. Yes, it is. Q. When you got to Langley Mill did you see George Weightman ? A. Yes. Q. Which Way was he coming ? A. He was corning towards us. Q. In the direction from Nottingham ? 135 A. Yes. Q. On the poney ? A. Yes. Q. Was anything said to him when he came up J A. Yes. Q. What was said ? A. The)' asked him how they were going on at Not tingham. Q. Who asked him ? A. There were several asked him. Q. Several asked him as he was riding along the ranks ? A. Yes. Q What was his answer ? A. He said they were going on well ; that the soldiers were in the barracks, and the town was taken ; and that we should have nothing to do when we got there. Q. That all was going on well ? A. Y'es; but we were to march forwards. Q. Did you inarch forwards ? A. Yes. G- How far did you go with them ? A. We marched to Eastwood then. Q- That is still in. die turnpike road, is it ? A. Yes. Q. Did you contrive to get away then, ? A. Y es ; when we got a little past Eastwood, I got away. Q. Who was the Captain you have told us about; do you know his person ? A. No ; I cannot say that I know him : 1 think that is the same man, but I will not swear to him. Q. How was the Captain dressed that night? A- He had a big coat on, and trQv, sers, and an apron tied round his middle, and a pistol tucked in. ti. How was his beard ? A. He had whiskers round over his chin, but no. beard. Q. Do you know William Turner ? A. Yes. ti- Was he one of the party? A. Yes. 136 Q. Had he a gun? A, Yes, Q. A man called Manchester Turner, was he among them ? A. Yes ; I just saw him. Q. Can you say what arms he had ? A. No, I cannot. Q. Do you know Edward Turner ? A. Yes. ti. What had he ? A. A long gun. Q. Do you know two Joseph Weightmans? A. Yes. G. Were they both with you ? A. Yes. |Q. Do you know Samuel Ludlam ? A. Yes. G Was he one of the party ? A. Yes he was. G. Samuel Hunt? A. Y'es. Q. What had he ? A. He had a spike first. Q. Had he any thing else afterwards ? A. Yes, a gun afterwards. ft. Do you know German Buxton ? A. Yes. Q. Was he one of the party ? A. Yes. ' Q. What had he? A. He had a gun. Q. William Barker and Alexander Johnson, were they both with you ? A. They were. Q- What had they ? A, They had both spikes. Q. Joseph Savage,- what had he? A. He had a gun and a pistol and all, Q. Joseph Topham ? 4- Yes. 137 Q. Benjamin Taylor ? A. Yes. Q- Joseph Taylor I A. Yes. Q. Had they arms ? A. Yes, they had spikes? Q. Samuel Walters ? A. Yes, G. Do they call him Samuel Dudley too ? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A. A spike. G. You remember those persons particularly ? A. Yes. Q. Do those men live some at Wingfield and Pentridge ? A. Yes, Q. Any of those at Swanwick ? A, Yes. G- Some of them Pentridge men, some Wingfield, and gome Swanwick. A. Yes, and some Butterley. G. Those men you had known before, had you ,? 4- Yes, Henry Hole, sworn. Examined by Mr. Seijeant Vaughan. Q. I believe you live at Pentridge-lane-end ? A. Yes. Q. Do you remember on Sunday the 8th of June seeing anybody in particular ? A. On Sunday night, turned of nine o'clock, I saw Samuel Hunt, and about seven or eight others, standing before the smithy door of George Turner. Q. What did Hunt say to you ? A. I had a jug of milk in my hand, and Samuel JJunt said " you are fetching that to be ready for those men to night ;" I said, " what men ;" he said, " those reyolutionists which will come to-night or to-morrow night." 138 Mr. Cross. The prisoner was not there. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. No, but it was Sunday night — it was long after we have fixed the prisoner, Brandreth, as being present at a meeting in the morning. Q. Did you see any of them on the next night ? A. Yes. Q. Did Hunt say any thing to you ? A. Hunt and me soon parted — I saw nothing of him any more. Q. On the next night, and at what time did you see and hear anything of any of them ? A. On the 9th about twenty minutes before twelve o'clock, me and my wife were awoke by some violent blows that came on the door. Q. Ditl you get up ? A. I got up and put my head out through a window and cried " halloo, who is there?" Q. What did you observe, and what was said to you? A.I said, " what do you want," — they cried, u we want you to volunteer yourself to go with us." Q. What further did they say ? A. They said, " if you do not come down -immediately and open the door we will break the door down and mur der you." Q. Did they offer you anything ? A. I came dawn and opened the, door, and I saw four men standing. Q. Did yok know either of those men ? ; A. I knew two of them, Joseph Weightman and Joseph Topham. Q. Did you ask them where you were to go to ? A. I asked them where they were going, they said they were going to Nottingham. Q. Upon their telling you they were going to Notting ham, what did you say to them ? A. I told them I could not pretend to go, I had- no morteytocanTyme'there nor' anybody to take care of my family While I was gone ; they said I needed no money they should keep me -on roast beef and ale,- and there 1$9 were people fixed to take care of every body's family who would come in two days or under. Q. What farther did you say to them or they to you ? A. They said I had better go with them that night than stop till morning. Q. Did they say why ? A. They said they would come from Sheffield like a cloud and drive all before them, and them that refused to go would be shot. Q. That they would come from Sheffield like a cloud ? A. That they would come out of Yorkshire like a cloud. Q. And them that refused to go would be shot ? A. Yres. Q. Upon their saying this, what did you do? A. I dressed myself and went out — 'a pike was forced upon me. G. Upon going from your house did you observe more than those four that you first spoke of? A, I said I was not able "to carry that pike if they were were going as far as Nottingham, that they must either take it or I must hurl it down — and one of them took it, Q. Where did you go ? A. We went from my house down to the turnpike-road, and about twenty or thirty yards on the turnpike-road I observed about twenty or thirty men armed with pikes, and guns, and weapons. Q. Without going into very minute particulars; to what house did you march first? A. We marched against John Sellars's. Q. From thence where did you go to ? A. We went from there along the wi npike-road along hy Mr. Samuel Fletcher's. Q. We have had that from Fletcher arid his man ; from thence where did you go ? A. We went a little further on the turnpike-road, and there we were divided. ti. Before you were divided, did you see anything of the prisoner ? A. Yes, I saw him in Mr. Fletcher's yard, 140 Q. Did any party join you there or come up to you be fore you left that part, A. Yes, a party that I understood had been at Mrs. Hepworth's. Q. Amongst that party, did you observe the prisoner at the bar ? A. Yes, I observed that man, he passed for the captain, I did not know his name; but I am positive that is the man- Q. You are positive that is the man ? A. Yes, I saw him sometime ago and am sure he is the man. Q. Whom did you observe in that party that joined you before you got into the yard of Mr. Fletcher? A. I observed William Turner, Manchester Turner, Issac Ludlam the elder, William Ludlam. Q. You have before spoken of Hunt and of Topham ? A. No, not that night. Q. Did you see any other persons there ? A. I saw Samuel Hunt,just as we were going out of the yard. Q. Had you any conversation with Samuel Hunt— did anything pass between you ? A. No, we passed along the turnpike road, and there we divided ; the Captain and the biggest part went to a row of houses. Q. Where did the others go to ? A. The other eight or ten men, I along with them, went with Samuel Hunt to Samuel Booth's. Q. You have spoken of Manchester Turner, do you re^ member what he had with him ? A. He carried apparently a sort of two headed spear, with a handle like an old fashioned sword. Q. What had William Turner ? A. A gun. Q. And the rest you have told us had guns or pikes. A. Yes. Q. You say they went to Fletcher's? A. No, to Samuel Booth's, and there they knocked at the door. 141 Q. Did you take anybody with you from Samuel Booth's r A. They knocked at the door, and Mr. Booth came to the window. Q. Was anybody taken from the house of Samuel Booth and made to accompany you ? A. Yes, they took his gun. Q. Was Brandreth the prisoner with yon at that time when his gun was taken ? A. Brandreth came up as we were just comins: out of the house, and we then marched on to Wheatcroft's, at Buckland-hol low. Q. What was done at Wheatcroft's ? A. Brandreth went up to the door, and knocked with the but end of his gun. Q. Did you get anything from Wheatcroft's ? A- Yes, they brought three men and a gun, and a stack paring-knife, with which they armed me. Q. Such a knife as they cut the hay with ? A. No, a corn paring-knife. Q. What sort of a knife is it ? A. A scythe blade put into a stick about a yard long. Q. What became of you and the party ? — When you were armed with this where did you go ? A. We went to Pentridge lane-end again, and joined the other party. Q, When you joined the other party, what was done with you : — were you put into ranks ? A Brandreth ordered us to fall into ranks three deep, pan of the musket men before, or in front, the pike-men in the middle, and the others in the rear. Q. Beinsc so formed, where did you march to ? A- We marched towards Pentridge. Q. Did vou see any thing of a person of the name of Storer? A. Thev halted them against Storer's, and they brought Storer and put him into the ranks. Q. Where did you go to then ? A. We marched again to Pentridge. 142 Q, When you were there, did you see anything of Booth or Weightman ? A. I saw Mr. George Weightman, as we were going Out of Pentridge, ride past on William Booth's poney, Q. Do you knpw whether he had any communication or conversation with Brandreth ? A. I saw them stand on one side, apparently as if they had some serious conversation. *Q. Did you see anything there of William Ludlam? You have spoken of his being there before, did he con tinue ? A. I had some conversation with him ; I asked him which of Mrs. Hepworth's men was shot, and he replied, Robert Walters. Q. Did he say whether he was present or not ? < ¦¦<¦ A. I asked him whether he was sure he was shot dead, or whether he was only wounded ; he said — "Nay, he- was shot dead, for he saw him lying on the kitchen floor just after the Captain had shot," - ; Q. Where did you go to from thence ? A. We marched to Butterley, and heard William Talbot knocking at the yard gates. ti. From Butterley Works where did you march to ? A. Towards Ripley, Q. Did your number increase, when you were at Rip ley had you more or less ? A- No, I did not see any m ore ; the men were halted there, and three huzzas given. Q. Having done that, where did you go next? A. We marched along the Nottingham road towards Codnor ? Q. Did you take any refreshment there ? A. Yes. G- At whose house ? A. At what they called the Glass House. iQ.. What was done at the Glass House— who went into the house, and what was done there ?. A. We all went in. Q. Who took the lead ? 143 A, I cannot positively say ; the Captain knocked at the door. Q. Did any body make a speech or doi any thing there ? A. I heard a little of it, but not the whole, Q. Who was speaking ? A. John Bacon in the back kitchen. G. Was Isaac Ludlam there ? A. I saw him standing with a, musket keeping guard at the doon-^I saw him stand in the rain at the door with a musket in his hand. Mr. Jmtice Abbott. It was a. wet night? A- It was a wet morning ; it rained very hard. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Do you remember the sub stance of what Bacon said ? A. He said that Government had robbed them, and plundered them of all that ever they had ; that that was the last shift that ever they could make, they must either fight or starve. Q> Whilst you were there did you see any thine Df Samuel Hunt or Manchester Turner ? A. I saw them come up, apparently with forty, or fifty men, which they said they had collected. G Whilst you were stopping at this house ? ^.Yes. Q. Did they take any body from this house? ; A. I did not see them take any body any more than the party that was at the house — we were joined by a large party from Swanwick. Q. Were. those the forty or fifty you spoke pf, pr an other party ? A. Another party. Q. How many were there of that party ? A. I cannot j ustly say ; I should think there were sixty or seventy of them. G. V/here did you march to I A. We marched along the aroad towards Langley MilJ ; We were halted at Mr. Raynor's, where I saw William Turner go first into the house. 144 G I do not want to go into particulars. — Did Turner call any body to his assistance there ? A, Yes, he called Brandreth. G To do what ? A. Brandreth said to young Mr. Raynor— " Damn you, if you do not turn out we will shoot you." Q- Did they take any body from Raynor's house, either young Raynor or any body else ? - A. They took a servant, a gun, and a pitching fork. ' Q. In your way to Langley Mill did you meet any body? A. We met a man with five cows, whom we took ; and we met at Langley Mill George Weightman. Q. Had George Weightman any conversation with Brandreth ? A. Yes, I saw them stand together a little way from the men. Q. Was George Weightman on horseback ? A. Yes. N Q. After he had been standing with Brandreth did he say any thing to the men ? A. He said, as he rode by, " All is right, my lads, you have nothing to do but to march on ; they have bom barded Nottingham at two o'clock this morning, and it is given up to them." Q. Did they take any men from about Langley ? A. Yes, they picked up some men. Q. Where did you march on towards from Langley Mill? A . We marched forwards towards Eastwood. Q. Had you any conversation about Eastwood, as you approached Eastwood, with any person of the name of Barnes ? A. As we approached Eastwood I had some conversa tion with James Barnes ; he said they were going to Not tingham — that they had fixed a fresh Government at Not tingham, and they were goingthither to defend it. G. What further did he say f relate as particularly as you can. 145 A. He said' it worth! soon be all over ; for, by a letter he had seen yesterday, the keys of the Tower would be given up to the Hampden Club party if they were not- already. Mr. Cross. I wish to know whether the Prisoner was present and heard that conversation ? Mr. Serjeant Vaughan, I will ask the question, not that it signifies — Was Brandreth with the party ? A. He was with the party, but could not hear this. Mr- Cross. My Lord, I submit this cannot be re-. ceived. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. You understand that Barnes is one of the party commanded by Brandreth. Mr. Cross. My Lord, I have not, during the whole course of this trial, objected to anything stated as coming from the mouth of any one of these defendants. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Give me leave to state that Barnes is one of the persons indicted; we have not got him. Mr. Cross. I have not, troubled the Court with any objection to the expressions coming from the mouth of the defendants that could shew what was their design in the acts they were perpetrating; but my Lord, I conceive that if a man appears to come from a distant part of the country, and states upon his knowledge that he has wit nessed a fact that occurred at that place,— that cannot by possibility be any evidence of what was the design of the man to whom that fact is communicated.. Therefore, I humbly submit that anything communicated by the man who returned from Nottingham as to a fact he had com municated, is not evidence. Mr. Solicitor General. 'This is not the man who returned from Nottingham. Lord Chief Baron Richards. This is Barnes, not Weightman who states this. Mr. Cross. Who states this; as a fact ? Mr. Justice Dallas. This is certainly evidence— he states this as a letter he had seen, and .which was to in* fluence the persons with them. 146 Mr. Serjeant Vaughan* What did he say f A. That by a letter he had seen yesterday, the keys of the Tower would be given up to the Hampden clubparty, if they were not ahead}'. : Mr. Cross. The keys of the town? Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. No, the keys of the Tower. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Repeat it again. A. "We are going to Nottingham — we have fixed up-' a fresh government at Nottingham and are going thereto de fend it; it will be soon all over, for by a letter I have seen yesterday, the keys of the Tower will be given up to the Hampden club party, if they are not already." Q. Had you any further conversation with Barries ? A. Yes. , Q. What was it? A. He said he had never sat down five minutes at otitie since four o'clodk yesterday morning, Q. Did he say what he had been doing during that time? A. I asked him what he had been doing, and he said he had been providing guns, spikes, and ammunition. Q. How did the men behave themselves at Eastwood,-i- what became of them ? ' A. They were apparently disorderly, and Brandreth ordered them again into ranks. > Q. You say Brandreth ordered them into ranks, that they were apparently disorderly; what was done, what did you doj and what became of you ? A. I turned out of the ranks and stood a little distance from the men, and Brandreth came to me and orderedme into the ranks again. ^ r -• :';» ¦'-"' Q. Did you say any thing to him ? -^ A. He-ordered me into rank, and I told him I would not go in again for him or any other man. ! 'ri - Q- What did he do upon that ? ^ A. He came up to me cocked the guri. and said, ff* I did not go in immediately he would shoot me in a tho- ment, ¦ ioWs" . -:.- .-*j '"G;T think you have told us you ¦ had- a stack-paring knife with you,— what did you- do upon 1sltis-?J. ' '¦'.'¦ : ~ ' 147 <¦ A. I stepped up to him with this knife, held it over his neck, and said if he offered to level his gun at me I would hack his head off, Q. Upon your saying this to Brandreth, what did he say or do ? A. He turned off from me, and I walked off down the turnpike-road as if I was going towards Langley Mill. Q. Whilst you were walking off, and when you were at some distance, what did you observe or hear ? A. W^en I was about fifty or sixty yards off, I heard a cry of " do not shoot." G- Upon hearing that cry of te do not shoot," did you turn round and see anything r A. I turned round and saw Brandreth with a gun on his shoulder pointing to me, and I saw, at the same time, a man of the name of Thomas Turner take hold of him and turn the gun off. j Q. You have mentioned the names of some that were with ypu originally,— do you remember the names of any others .that you saw- there ? A. Yes several. < • - ' -Q, Give us the names of those you have not already given ; — did yOu see anything of John Hill? A. I saw him there. Q. Samuel. Ludlam ? A. Yes. Q- John Onion? . A. I saw one of the Onions, but I do not know his name, it was an elderly man. Q. Did you see Edward Turner ? . A. Yes. G. Robert Turner ? A. Yes. ti, James Taylor ? A. Yes. Q. Joseph Taylor? A. I saw three brothers pf the name of Taylor ; I knew them very well by sight, but I do not know their names j T believe they were Thomas, Joseph, and ^enjamin. K2 148 Q. What had John Hill with him ? A. A gun. Q. What had James Taylor ? A. James Taylor had a gun, and the other two Taylors had each spikes. Q. Did you make your escape there, and get away from them? A. I did. Q. You have spoken of the conversation between you and Barnes, and he said it was all over ; did he say where it was all over ; all over where ? A. He did not say ; but he said it would be soon all over. Q. Did you hear anyplace mentioned besides Nottingham? A. Till other counties, he said, came into their measures. , Q. What was to be done till other counties came into their measures ? A. That they were going to stop at Nottingham till other counties came into their measures. Q. Can you tell us, without fixing yourself tp the parti cular number, about what force you might have at Codnor? A. I thought at Codnor there were upwards of two hun dred men. I saw several other parties as I was going back. Q. You thought there were two hundred and upwards at Codnor? A. Yes. Q. But besides that, you met several other parties coming ? , A. Yes. Q. Were they proceeding on the same line of march to wards Nottingham ? A. Yes, on the same line, following them. Q. Without speaking to particulars, can you speak to their numbers ? A. The first party I met afterwards, I thought might be about fifty. Q. Did you observe about what number there might be in any other parties ? Af.1 saw another party near Langley Mill of about sixty: or seventy, and I turned aside, out of the road to miss them. 149 G. Did you meet, after that, any other party ? A. No ; I did not see any more. Crtws examined by Mr. Cross. ti. You have been speaking of a mau of the name of Barnes ; was he with the party who came first your way ? A. No ; he was with the party who came from Swan wick. Q. Barnes came with the Swanwick party from Codnor ? A. To Codnor. G* That was the first time you saw him ? A. Y es. ti. How long was that after you had joined them? A. Three hours, or more. ti. When Barnes told you this story about what had passed at Nottingham, this Prisoner was not present J A. No, not near. ti. Not near enough to hear what Barnes said ? A. No ; we had it by ourselves, at a Utile distance from the mon. ti. When they persuaded you to join diem, their cry was roast beef and ale at Nottingham ; that was what you were to go for, they told yon ? A. They told me we should be kept on roast beef and ale ; that there were people to take care of every body's family that went. ti. A provisional government, was not it ? A. They said nothing about government. G. Most of you expected the good cheer when you got to Nottingham, I suppose: A. I did not expect it : I expected to have been knocked on the head most of all. or 1 should not have done what I did to get away ; I ventured my life to get away. ti. At what hour ? A. I cannot positively say; hut I should think about nine o'clock. Q. At night, or next day ? A. The same day that we started, in the morning part. 150 Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Q: Do you know what country Barnes comes from ? A. He comes from Alfreton ; his father lives at Alfreton ; he himself lives at Swanwick. Q. And he came with the Swanwick party to Codnor ? A. Yes. Q. You say Brandreth was not near enough to hear what you said, but he was at that time commanding the party ? A. He was among the party somewhere— rhe was the Captain. William Booth sworn. ¦ Mr. Denman. Were you in Court yesterday ? A. No. ti. On any part of the trial ? A. No. Q. Did you hear none of the witnesses give their evi dence ? A. No. Q. You are quite sure of that ? A. Yes. Examined by Mr. Clarke, Q. Are you the son of Samuel Booth ? A. No. Q. Where do you live ? A. At Pentridge Lane-end. Q. On Monday night, the 8th of June, were you taken from your house ? A. Yes. ti. By whom? 4. By the Captain and others. Q. Have you seen the Captain since ? A. Yes. Q. Look at the Prisoner, and tell me whether you know him ? A. Yes, there is no danger but it is the same man. 151 Q. I will not ask you as to particulars.-- Bid yon see George Weightman in the course of the time you were with them ? A. Yes. ti. Did you see him on a poney ? A. Yes. Q. Did you hear any directions given by the Captain to him : A. Yes ; the Captain told him to go on that horse on to the Forest and to bring tidings, and meet diem again at Langley Mill : that was done. He met them again at Langley Mill. G. To what forest ? A. To Nottingham forest. Q. What was he to do at Nottingham forest? A. I did not hear him say what he was to do ; he was to go there, and come back and meet him again at Lang-; ley Mill. ti. And he did go : A. Yes. Q. And met you again at Langley Mill ? A- Yes. Cross-examined by Mr. Denman. G- Did you hear Barnes make any speech ? A. No. ti- Or state any thing ? A. No. Mr. George Goodwin, sworn. Examined by Mr. Gurney. Q. I believe you are one of the managers under Mr. Jessop of the Butterley Iron-works r A- I am. G. Before Monday, the 9th of June, had you many of vour men sworn in as special constables? A. We had- G. For what purpose ? 152 A. For thie purpose. of suppressing the insurrection that was expected to take place. Q. For the purpose of preserving the peace in short ? . A. Yes. Q. Was the neighbourhood in a quiet or a disturbed state? A- In a very disturbed state. Q. In the night of Monday, the 9th of June, had you assembled those persons whom you had sworn in as special constables? A. We had. Q. In what numbers ? A. I think from seventy to eighty perhaps— perhaps nearly an hundred. Q. How long did you keep them together ? A. We were all night at Ripley till daylight in the morning. Q. That is, close to your works. A. About half a mile or three quarters of a mile from the works at Butterley. Q. In the course of the night did you hear any thing in the surrounding country in the villages ? A. We did ; we heard shots, guns fired, horns blowing1, shouts, and different noises throughout the night. Mr. Justice Abbott. At a distance, I suppose. A. Yes, at a distance ? Mr. Justice Dallas. At what time did the firing begin ? A. I think a little before twelve o'clock was the first shot. Mr. Gurney. Had you heard other noises before that? A. Yes, I saw lights in the villages. Q. Did it appear that there was something very un usual going on ? A, It did. Q. Were you apprehensive of your works being at tacked ? 4. We were ; we had been told r— . Q. Allow me to guide you.-^- When day hght came, what did you do with the persons whom you had assembled for the protection of your works ? 153 A. The greater part went home supposing the insurrec tion would not take place that night, and others* to the number of about a dozen or thirteen, whom we had armed with pikes, remained ; those armed with guns, living at Ripley and Butterley,' having gone home. The men armed with pikes came down with Mr. Jessop and mcto the works to deposit the pikes in safety. Q. Just after that had been done, what occurred ? A. I ought perhaps to state, that when they got to the works we had left a small body, eight or ten, under the care of Mr. Wragg, to protect the works ; we found them there. Q. Therefore you were nearly thirty strong ? A. Yes ; I fancy we might be. G. It was a very wet night and morning? A. A dreadful rain fell in the night, a very heavy rain indeed. Q. Did any large number of persons approach your works? A. Yes ; soon after the men had got down to the works; and the men had deposited their pikes m the office, about a quarter past three, I observed a person riding past on horseback. Q. Who was that person ? A. It was George Weightman, mounted on Mr. Booth's horse ; Mr. Booth of Pentridge. G. I9 he the son of the Woman who keeps the White Horse public house at Pentridge. A. He is. G. Is she related to the two Bacons ; A. She is sister to Thomas Bacon and John Bacon. . G. Which way was George Weightman riding ? A. He was riding on the road towards Nottingham ? G- Soon after he had passed, what did you observe ? A. I called to him to stop, but he looked over his shoulder at me, and rode on. Mr. Justice Abbott. Did you call to him by his name ? A. No, not by his name. Mr. Gurney. Did you shortly after observe any body of men approach ? 154 A. Yes ; we felt convinced then that they were coming ; we saw a body of men approaching at the distance of about an hundred, or an hundred and fifty yards, on the Toad from Pentridge to Butterley. Q. How many in number do you think ? A. About a hundred. Q. Were they irregular, like a common assemblage of people, or in regular order ? A. They were drawn up In regular order, marching in a line. Q. Do you mean marching like soldiers ? A. Yes, two deep, in regular order; what military men would call locked up. Mr. Justice Abbott. Do you mean too deep ? A. Two abreast in line, two deep, marching in file, Mr- Gurney. Were they armed, or unarmed. A. Armed. ti. With what? A. The greater part with guns, most of the rest with spears «ind - pikes ; a few had forks ; there were very few who had no arms at all. Q. Upon their near approach, what orders did Mr> Jessop give ? A. He said; you see how they are armed. Q. What orders were given ? A. Orders were given for the men to retire into the office, and defend the office. ti. When they had come as far as your office, what did this body of men do? A. They were marching with Brandreth at the head, as Captain. ti. When they came opposite the office, did the Prisoner say an/ thing to them ? A. He gave them the word, when they got to the gates of the foundry, to halt, to the right face, front, and they did so. ¦'•'¦ llfc Q. Was he armed ? A. He was.. ti. With what? 155 A. With a gun, and he had a pistoL tuckedftinto a kind of belt ; it appeared like an apron twisted round him ? Q. Did the men then, form a line opposite your gate? A, They did ; they extended in a curved line from the gate to a wall in front of the works ; we were enclosed. Q, They formed a curve round you? A. They did. Q. Did the Prisoner then do any thing? A. He knocked at the gates with the but end of h» gun. Q- Did you ask him any question ? , ¦< A. Yes, "what do you want? " what is your object here ?" I, standing at the door in the front. Q. What answer did he give you ? A. " We want your men." Q. What answer did you give to that? A- I told them " you shall not have one of them ; you are too many already, unless you were going, for a better purpose; disperse; depend upon it the laws will be too strong for you ; you are going with halters about your necks; you will ail be hanged." Q. Did the prisoner make any reply to this ? , A. None. Q. Did you then observe in the rank any persons. whom you knew ? At I did. Q. Who were they ? A. Isaac Ludlam. ti. The elder or the younger? A. The elder. Q. Was he armed ? . , A. He was armed. Q. With what ? A. A spear. Q; Whom else ? k> A. JamesTaylpr, a nephew of Isaac Ludla-u, armed with a gun. Q. Any third parson ? A. Isaac Mcore. 156 Q. How was he armed? A. With a fork. ti. Did you speak to either of them ? A. Yes. Q. Were they all three together or apart ? A. They were together — they were in the front rank. Q. Which of them did you accost ? A. Isaac Ludlam the elder. Q. What did you say to him ? A. I said — " Good God, Isaac, what are you doing upon such a business as this ? — What are you doing upon such an errand ? — you have got a halter about your neck— go home." ti- Did you do anything to enforce that admonition? A. Yes. Q. What? A. I took him by the shoulder and pushed him towards the office ; I told him if he had any regard to his family or country, to go home. I took him and pushed him, to wards the office ; I was then in the ranks close to him. Q. Could he have taken refuge in your office at that time ? A. He might, 1 Q. What answer did he make ? A. He said — " lam as bad as I can be; I cannot go back, I must go on." He was exceedingly agitated when I talked to him. Q. Did either of those three take refuge in your office? A. Neither of them. Q. Did any others who were there avail themselves of that opportunity i A. They did. Q. Who were they ? A. There was Mr. Hugh Booth, the son of Mr. Samuel Booth, Mr. William Booth's servant, I think his name was Wain, and there was a Turner of Pentridge Lane-end. Q. They got into your office, and you sheltered them ? A. Yes. Q. What then became of the body of the men ? 157 A. I then left them and went to the office door, and after a short pause, Brandreth gave them the* word " March," and they went away. Q. Towards what place ? A. They went on the road towards Nottingham, a short distance towards Ripley ; they went first over the coke hearth, and then came back again, and finally went towards Ripley. Q. Shortly after they were gone, did you observe any other body of men following them ? A. Yes. Q, Amounting to about what number ? A. Forty or fifty. Perhaps they did not come so far as the office. Q. Sometime after they were gone, did you observe William Weightman ? A. I did. Q. On foot or on horseback ? A. On horseback. Q. What relation is he to George ? f - A. Brother. Q. Was any person with him ? A. Yes, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen. G. Do you know his name ? A. I believe his name was Taylor, brother to Weight- man's wife. Q. YYhich way was Weightman going ? A. He was going towards Nottingham- Q. Did he follow in the same line those men had gone ? A. Yes, in the same direction, but he went a short cut, a more direct way to Nottingham. Q. What did you do with respect to him ? A. I rushed out and seized his horse's bridle, supposing he was going to join the rebels, and stopped him ; he admitted that hewas ; and he said if I would let hint go back he would go back and would riot go near them. Lord Chief Baron Richards What were the words that passed ? Mr. Gurney. You said to him, what ? , < , 158 A. " Weightman you are going to join those fellows'." Q. Was that the word you used ? A. I think it was, in the first instance he resisted, first saying that 1 had no right to stop him on the high-way; I said you are going to join those fellows, and he admitted be was, and said he would go home. * Q. You used the word fellows in both instances? A. In the first instance I did, G. He said he was; but if you would Jet him go he would turn back .' A. Yes. Q. Did be turn his hor^e'^ head? ' A. He turned his horse's head, and went a short distance from me, and I then observed that he had a bag under him. Q. How was he dressed ? A. In a blue smock frock. Q. Did that smock frock conceal the bag ? A. Yes, I could not see it when he was speaking to me, for I was on the offside of the horse, — it struck me when he turned, and I saw it-rthat that bag must be bullets. Q. Under that impression, did you again seizebis horse? A. I made a dash at his horse, and seized bim by the bridle. Q. What did you say to him ? * ¦ A. I told him I mast have that bag ;— -he said I should not, I had nothing to do with it; I said, "You rascal, I will have it, they are bullets, and you are taking them to join the rebels." Q. Did you get the bag from him ? - A. I then took him by the collar, and was pulling him down from his horse, and he said he would give them up quietly, and they were bullets; he was obliged to do it he said, for they bad threatened his life if he did not. Mr. Cross. I am not aware my Lord of the materiality of this evidence to the present prosecution ; but I do sub mit to your Lordship that the altercation between this witness and William Weightman, in the absenceof the Prisoner at the bar, cannot be admissible evidence against him. 159 ' Mr. Denman. William Weightman is deliberating whe ther or not he shall join a particular body of men ;— there is nothing to connect him with that body of men, by Order, by message, or by presence;— this gentleman very kindly interposes, and endeavours to prevent his going, iipon which William Weightman says something as to his motives, stating facts as to what they had said to him. I submit to your Lordship that is no evidence whatever against the prisoner at the bar ; there is nothing to con nect this man with him, and it is nothing but his reason for proceeding to Nottingham, wheh Mr. Goodwin at tempts to prevent it. If these had been shewn to be bags of bullets carried to the party, which is what 1 expected, that might have made it evidence ; but not being traced to the party, it does appear to me, and I submit it with great confidence, that what he says with respect to his motives for joining this or any other outrageous party, cannot be evidence. Mr. Gumey. My Lord, I certainly feel extremely in different to the having any declarations of William Weightman given in evidence, considering thcni as im material in this case; for the fact of his following them with this ammunition for the furtherance of their common dbject, would be sufficient. I thought the last declaration given by the witness would be rather gladly received by my learned friend, as William Weightman is' a person indicted, than rejected by him ; but when tl ere appears to be a conspiracy of this extent, when parties appear thus arrayed in a hostile manner, when they cannot all be in one spot at the same time, and cannot be all making declarations in the hearing of the Prisoner. At the same time, William Weightman being one of the persons in dicted, charged with being a co-conspirator with the oxh- spuer ; it appears to me utterly impossible to exclude the act of William Weightman, who was thus shortly follow ing in the same track the parties who had gone armed with guns, he following with that ammunition which would make those guns effective and destructive. It appears, I think,, perfectly clear that the evidence of his acts is ad- 160 missible with respect to his declarations ; — it is certainly a matter of perfect unimportance. Mr. Cross. My Lord, my objection is not so much to what the witness has already stated of the conversation and altercation between himself and Weightman, as be cause I conceire there is some view to affect the Prisoner at the bar, and therefore I think it is time, when they in troduce evidence of the declarations of William Weight- man, that I should take your Lordships opinion whether any part of the conversation between them ought to be received ; there is no pretence for saying thai the Prisoner at the bar and William Weightman can be proved.to have been personally together prior to that moment, and I con ceive there is no ground at all for saying that because William Weightman happened to ride along the same high road, provided with something in a bag, and appear ed some time after the Prisoner at the bar was gone, that is any evidence which can connect the Prisoner at the bat with him. Mr. Gurney. I have not the least objection to the de claration being struck cut, my Lord. Afr. Justice Abbott. Y ou wave the evidence of wh»t was said? Mr. Gurney. Certainly, my Lord. Did you afterwards obtain possession of the bag of bullets : A. I did. Q. Have you them here : A. Yres. G, What quantity ? A. About three quarters of an hundred ; about eighty- four pounds weight. Q. Were there, besides the bullets, any moulds rot forming cartridges ? A. Y'es. Q. Are those moulds for forming cartridges ? A.Yesi I believe they are. Q. Were they with the bullets ? A. Yes. (The witness produced thi bullets and the moulds, tmd some cartridge paper-) H51 * '" < ' ' Crost-eSfamined by Mr. Crost: Q. You have stated that you did prevail Upon some of these men to wit .draw from the multitude ; how many of them do you think ? A. Three of them did withdraw. Q. Upon your persuasion ? A. They did withdraw ; I did not force them at all par ticularly. Re-examined by Mr. Gurney. Q. The men you did address did not withdraw, but dthers did ? A. Yes. Mr. Cross, ©id not those men who quitted leave in consequencp of your persuasion ? A. Certainly, in consequence of what I said. Mr. Gurney. Could the three whom you addressed have withdrawn from the insurgents, and taken refuge in your premises if they had pleased- A. Certainly, for they were as close to the works as I was myself. Mr. Cross. I would beg to put another question ; you know Isaac Ludlam, the elder? A. Yes. ' Q. I believe he was at that time a pauper receiving re lief? A. Not that I know of. William Roper, sworn. Examined by Mr. Serjeant Copley. Q. 1 believe you live at the entrance on Nottingham forest. , A. I live about the centre of it, at the stand. Q. Is that stand upon the race-course ? ( A. It is between the race-course ; it is an oval course, and that is upon the centre. . Q. The race-course runs round the stand where youlive ? A. Yes. Q. I understand you to say, that is on Nottingham forest ? ^.Yes. 162 G. Do you remember, on Monday night the 9th of June last, being at Nottingham, at Dennis's? A. Yes. Q. Is that a public house ? A. Yes. Q. While you were at Dennis's, did you see any per son come to the door ? A. No, I did not that I recollect. Q. Did you see any person come to the house? A. No ; only it was reported — — Q. Then I will not ask you to it ; what time did you leave the house ? A. About half past eleven. ' Q. To go home ? A. Yes. Q, Were you alone ? A.No. Q. Who was with you ? A. A person by the name of Percival ; William Percival. . Q. How far is Nottingham from your house ? A. I should think about three quarters of a mile. Q. In going home, did you meet persons on the way"? A. Yes, a great many. Q. When you got on or near the race-course, were you stopped by any person ? A. No. Q. Did anybody stop you and speak to you ? A. Yes, I was stopped, but not at first. G. Did anybody stop you before you got home ? '^h0ii A. Yes. G. How far from your own house were you stopped. A. At the entrance of the race-course. Q. Was that by one person or more ? A. By two. Q. Did they speak to you. A. The two first did not at the first entrance. Q. I ask you whether any persons stopped you, you say two persons, — I ask you whether those persons spoke to you ? " A 163 A. No : we were met first of all by two persons* Q. Were you afterwards stopped by any person i A. Yes. Q. Was that one person or more ? A. One person. G. Did that one person, who stopped you, speak to you ? A. Yes. Q. What do you mean by being stopped ? A. Ik' asked me where I was going, we told him we were going home ; he said that we must not go on that way, we asked him which way, he pointed directly Q. Some conversation passed which induced you to stop ; — we do not want the particulars ? A. Yes. Q. Notwithstanding what he said, you pursued your course homewards ? A. Yes. G. Before you got to the stand and to your own house, did you see anybody else ? A. We met several. G. Did you meet any number of persons together ? A. Wc passed them. Q. Did you see any number of persons together ? A. Yes. G. How many might there be altogether that were thu* collected ? A. I should think about an hundred. G. Were they scattered about or standing in any par ticular way i A. They were standing in line. ti. In one single line or drawn up ? A. Two deep. ti- Mad they anything with them? A. Yes. ti. What ? A. They had pikes with them, part of them, or some thing resembling pikes — poles. G. You could see that there were poles ? ^.Yes, »8 164 G As nearly as you can tell ; let us know what time of the night this was ? A- I should think it was a little before twelve. Q. You say you passed Uiem ; after you had passed them did anything happen. A. Yes. Q. What ? A. About ten of them with pikes followed us, and as we were turning off the course, they stopped us. Q. When you say they stopped you, in what manner did they stop you ? ¦A. They brought their pikes to a charge, and charged upon us. Q. Had you any conversation with them ? A. Yes. Q. Did you afterwards pass on to your own house ? A. Yes. G. Did you go into your house ? A. Yes. Q. Percival with you ? A. Yes. Q. Did you come out again afterwards ? A. Yes. Q. Without going into detail, did you afterwards see the same men near your house ? A- I believe them to be the same men. Q. Did you see men with arms ? A. Yes. G. About the same number ? A. Yres. Q. Is there a shed projecting from your house ? A. Yes. Q. Did they come under that? A. Yes. Q. Were they loose or in line ? A. They were loose when they came up, but they formed under the piazzas in line. Q. You have told us it was about twelve o'clock when you saw them, what time did they leave the forest, -or your house rather. 105 A. About two; Q. You did not see them after two ? A. No, I did not see them after about twelve. Q. Did you hear them ? A. Oh yes. Q. When did you cease to hear them ? A. About two. Q. Did they leave anything when they went away ? A. Yes. Q, What was it ? A. They left a pole. Q. Was there anything at the end of it? A. No/ Q. During the time they were under the shed were you in the house ? A. Yes. Q. Did they knock at the doPr ? A. Yes. Q. Did they demand anything ? A. Yes. G. What? A. They asked me if I had not got some fire-arms. 1 told them yes. They told me I must deliver them up to them. I told them I would not. They said if I would not they should be under the necessity of taking them. Q. Were you inside the door ? A. Yes. Q. On your refusing them, what did they say ? Mr. Denman. My Lord, I must object to this, though it is competent to my learned Friends to ask as to a ge neral rising, I submit it is not competent to my learned Friend to ask as to any particular expressions passing at that time, for it is impossible to say how those declara tions may introduce facts, on hearsay, nor does it appear to me that those declarations bear on the question, as it affects this prisoner with respect to what was taking place at Pentridge and other parts of this county. It may be very proper to shew that there were risings at' different places at the same time, but I do object to anything fur ther than general evidence upon that subject. It is quite 166 impossible, on any principle whatever, to say that any- thin"- said by these unknown peisons (as to whom there is only a presumption that the\ had any connection with the prisoner)when they came to storm the house of this witness can be evidence. Supposing they came to rob the house is the prisoner to be affected by the attack on his money, his property, or whatever it might be ? Are we to hear what they said in advancement of such an object ? — is that to be put as evidence against Brandreth ? 1 do not know what the witness is to prove, but I put that as an instance to shew how many irrelevant and improper matters may be offered in evidence before the Jury, which could have no possible effect in carrying the case further than the general evidence of the rising could carry it, and which might introduce a great variety of circumstances which might prejudice the prisoner, not properly proved, not ca pable of being proved, and very likely in no degree con nected with the prisoner. I submit to your Lordship, that beyond that general evidence nothing said by these par ties to this man, at a distance of ten miles from that point to which the prisoner is brought, can possibly be given in evidence. Mr. Attorney General. I humbly submit to 3'our Lord. ships that these facts proved by the witness to have hap pened on Nottingham Forest arc evidence. Then there ponies a question, how far anything said by the persons so assembled on Nottingham Forest can be evidence J Now, my Lord, this is a question of evidence like all others when a particular question of admissibility arises, that can neither be supported on the one side nor rejected on the other, by the mere statement of a general principle, whether what one man or ten inen may have said at the distance often miles from the place, where the person who is upon trial happened to be at the time, may or may not be evidence, must depend upon the particular facts arising in the particular case before us at the trial, and also must depend upon this, whether that which ia attempted to be proved to have been said becomes, in truth, and in fact, pari of the transaction itself, and not a separate,, distinct, 167 and different declaration, at a distance of place and a dis tance of time attempted to be introduced for the purpose of prejudicing. My learned Friend has not said this is done for the purpose of prejudicing, but my learned Friend Mr. Denman says it may happen to prejudice the particular person on trial. My Lord, it does not follow that because some things which have been said at the time anything was done are relevant, that irrelevant matters as Mr. Denman puts it are to be introduced, whenever the matter becomes irrelevant your Lordships will exclude it ; but the question is, whether that which was done at the time, accompanied by the acts of these parties, be or be not relevant. Now, my lord, let us see how this case stands : already we have got thus far, for of course I must beg the question, that everything proved by the witnesses at present is well proved, in order to m'gue how tin this is admissible. My Lord, the charge against the Prisoner is, that he conspired with certain other persons named, and certain other persons not named; and, in consequence of that conspiracy, levied war. A part of the ease, as made out against the Prisoner, is, that he, together with certain in dividuals with whom he was personally present at a cer tain place in the county of Derby, were setting out upon their march to join other persons in the county of Not tingham, for the purpose of furthering and carrying on the traitorous purpose which we allcdge they altogether had. My Lord, is it not open to us to prove these facts, in confirmation of the nets which they did in the county ci\' Derby; in confirmation of the declarations which the Prisoner made in the county of Derby ?— Is it irrelevant in the first place to prove, that that which they stated to be their object was the true object, namely, the effecting a junction with certain persons whom they expected to find collected together at the Forest of Nottingham? — Is it a relevant or an irrelevant fact that, shortly previous to the hour at which they might be expected to arrive there, there were persons collected together at the Forest of Not tingham ; and accompanied with circumstances similar to 168 those, of the persons who were about to jorh them, a cer tain number being collected together in the county of Derby, aimed with guns and pikes, and a certain number Collected near the Forest of Nottingham, armed with pikes ? My Lord, is it no material fact that those persons, so collected together with pikes, had an object similar to those who were collected together in the county of Derby ; and how are men's objects, who are collected together, to be ascertained but by that which they state at the time to be their object ? My Lord, if we were asking whether those men in the Forest of Nottingham had stated any circumstances hap pening at some other time, as a matter of a mere narration, there might be something in the objection ; but we are not arrived at that yet, and, therefore, I will not discuss it: I know it might be done through the medium of legal evi dence ; but, when one of the questions will be, for what purpose were those men upon Nottingham Forest called together at that time, it will be recollected that the Pri soner has declared he was going to join men on Not tingham Forest : but, when we come to what they did, aye and what they said, for that I conceive is admissible too ; the fact that they knocked at Mr. Roper's door is not objected to, then for what did they knock at Mr- Roper's door? That can be proved only by what passed at the time they knocked at the door by the declaration accom-, panying it ; and, therefore, unless my learned Friend can argue that the going to Roper's house, and the knocking at his door, is not an admissible fact to be proved in this case, which I defy any Lawyer to do, neither can my learned Friends object to our saying to Mr. Roper,— When they did surround your house, and when they did knock at the door, what did they tell you they wanted ? My Lord,, thus it is impossible to separate the two. It is independent of the declarations of persons at other times irrelevant to the matter in issue ; that which a man asks for, when he knocks at my door, is as much a fact as the act of stopping me, or the act of knocking at my door. You cannot separate the avowed declaration from 169 the act, though it is as to that which is done at a different place, when there is a fair gro nd laid by evidence to affect the Prisoner with the common object ; such evi dence has been admitted in all times, and one case occurs to me, I will not undertake to say whether actual decla rations in a different place were proved : I refer to a case of great importance, 1 mean Lord George Gordon's Trial; if I speak erroneously I shall be happy to be corrected. On that trial there were proved declarations of some of the persons concerned in the riots at that time, with whom Lord George Gordon was charged to be connected as to that which had been done in Scotland ; and the Crown produced witnesses for the purpose of proving what had been done in Scotland with respect to Ro man Catholic houses : and the Court admitted the evi dence of what had been done in Scotland, because the persons charged were proved to have referred to what had been done in Scotland, Now, how does that differ from this ? The charge is, that the Prisoner, with others, were levying war. It is proved that one of the means by which they were about to effect that object of levying War, and that their ultimate object was to collect themselves together to march to Nottingham and Nottingham Forest, there expecting to meet another body of insurgents, who were to come there for similar objects. Then, if your Lordships can admit at all the evidence of persons being collected together at Nottingham, how can your Lord ships be asked to reject what those men said. If I were to go into general reasoning upon the subject, it appears to ne as well to say this, — Suppose we put the time that the Pretender invaded Scotland, you prove a declaration of an army in one county to shew they were acting with an army in anodier, you could not, according to this, even prove the word of command. I ought to apologize to y?our Lordship for taking up so much time ; I will only say, we do not give this as distinct declaration, but as part of the res gesta on Nottingham Forest ; and I submit that what they said to Mr. Roper, as to what they wanted, when they knocked at Mr. Roper's door, is a fact con- 170 nected with the circumstance of their being assembled together with pikes at that hour of the night. Mr. Denman. My Lord, my learned Friend, Mr. At torney General, has referred to one authority upon this subject, with respect to which it certainly does appear to me to be necessary, very materially to correct my learned Friend's recollection, for I think if he had had an accurate memory of what was given in evidence upon that subject, he would not have asked how the cases differed, but have been extremely puzzled to find how they agreed. The imputation on Lord George Gordon was, that he, at the head of a mob, was destroying the mass-houses in London, levying war against the King in opposition to the laws in favour of the Papists,- and that the motive by which he induced them to act was by telling them what had been done in Scotland, that the mass-houses had been de stroyed there ; adding, at the same time, — " Gentlemen, no good was done at Edinburgh till the mass-houses were destroyed ; let us persevere and be firm, and the same measure will produce the same beneficial result." But had any thing been done in this case ? Is it to be said that when there was this expectation expressed at Pentridge of a rising near Nottingham there had been any rising near Nottingham, or that the specific measure which had been pointed out had been taken by those Nottingham in surgents; if those specific declarations had been referred to, and my learned Friend had been able to prove by other evidence that they did pass, then the case would have resembled Lord George Gordon's. Lord George Gordon referred to what had taken place as a foundation of future mischief, — here what I submit is, that there is nothing proved at Pentridge but an expectation of similar mischief at Nottingham Forest. I object not therefore to the fact that arms were demanded in the one place as they had been in the other, but when my learned Friend wishes to go into the conversation between Mr. Roper and the ten or a dozen people who came to demand pikes, those persons being unconnected except by a very slight pre sumption with the individual who Stands before yo(i¥ 171 Lordships for trial, I conceive my learned Friend is taking the chance of introducing every thing calculated to create an unjust prejudice against the prisoner who is on his trial ; and when my learned Friend says it is impossi- , ble this can be decided by the mere statement of a ge neral principle, I humbly submit I am addressing a Court of law which will decide on general principles and on ge neral principles alone, and that one of the most im portant general principles which can come before a Court for trial, perhaps, the most important of all general prin- ples is, that no man shall be affected by evidence which he has no opportunity of contradicting, and that he shall not be affected by the hearsay of any person whatever, unless the particular declaration the person has made is precisely and specifically connected with the confederacy ^the evidence of confederacy I think may properly be laid before the Court, but in what manner and in what terms these people insisted on taking either pikes or anything else, (for it may go any length, there is no possible irrele vant matter which may not be brought before the Court) unless we abandon all general principles, I am wholly at a loss to discover. My learned Friend says, that when that general question is put, if any thing irrelevant should pome out in answer to it, it may then be discarded by the Court ;— I understood my learned Friend to say that when Mr. Serjeant Copley's question was put, if it in troduced anything irrelevant to the question that might then be discarded from the recollection of the Court. Mr. Attorney General. Oh dear no! the question I. made was, whether this examination was or was not irre* levant, Mr, Denman. I rather supposed my learned Friend to refer to what passed as to the case of Weightman, who was following with bullets near at hand on the party who had passed; if he did not I will not observe upon that, but it is the question that I must object to; it is too late to object to the answer; if the irrelevant matter does come out, it may produce the most hurtful and injurious effects upon, the interests pf this man now at the bar; it is 172 to the question and not to the answer the objection must be made, and therefore when a question is put as to some thing not relevant to the general object by a set of men never shown to have been under the controulof this man, or in the least communication with him, I submit to your Lordships that that inquiry cannot possjbly be pursued ; it may lead to evils of every description ; it would be too late after the answer was given to exclude it; all the pre* judice would then be effected, and it would not be possi ble to efface it from the minds of the jury. 1 apprehend, therefore, that my learned Friend has not answered the ob jection which I took ; and with respect to Lord George Gordon's case, I apprehend nothing can be more clearly distinguishable from his case than the present. Lord Chi of Baron Richards. I am of opinion this evi dence is admissible, and most clearly admissible; the course of the evidence has been to shew what the object of the Prisoner was ; the Prisoner himself, according to the evidence, gave encouragement to those who were about him, by pointing out that there wcrc'olhevs in other places, and particularly upon Nottingham Forest, who were ready to support them ; he has, in fart, according to the evidence as it stands now, united them to himself and himself to them ; and it seems to me that what passed on their part is as much evidence to affect him, as what passed from those detachments with himself. When it is once admitted that the facts done by those persons in Not tingham Forest are to be admitted in evidence, I cannot conceive how it is possible to separate the declarations and the words of the persons who transacted those acts : for they are part of the transactions, and they serve to shew the object, of those transactions; but I think il is evidence on a different principle quite, that the Prisoner has identified himself with those persons, and that, he arid they are as much part of the same body us he and the persons immediately accompanying him. Mr. Justice Dallas. I am of the same opinion. I have not been able to bring myself to entertain the slightest de^ gree of doubt upon this subjfect. In all cases of this sort 173 there are two questions to be considered of separate and distinct consideration : the first is as to the admissibility of evidence, and the second, as to the effect of it ; with re spect to the latter, we have not now any thing to do with that ; the consideration, therefore, is reduced and limited to the former, whether this evidence be or be not admissi- sible. Now first we must consider what is the nature of the charge, because the precise consideration of that will enable us to dispose of one part of the argument made by Mr. Denman, which is, that no person ought or can be af fected in a Court of Justice by that which was said by another when he was not present. I apprehend that is entirely a misapprehension of the general principle in the present instance, for this is a charge founded in combi nation and conspiracy. I agree with Mr. Denman, that it is better to keep one's eyes steadily fixed on principles which are the invariable lights by which we ought to be guided whenever we can, than to wander into the circum stances of individual cases, which would lead to endless controversy; and agreeing with him upon this, it is only to consider what is the general principle and result of all the cases applying to a charge of this nature: and it is this, that every thing said or done in the course of the conspi racy connected with or conducive to the end, or object pf that conspiracy, is evidence against each and all, whe ther absent or present ; and be the party who he may, connected with the conspiracy, doing the act or making the declaration ; it is not, therefore, a well founded ob jection, in a charge of this sort, to a declaration made in the absence of a party, that it is in his absence. Now what are the facts of this case, and the question is, whether the Prisoner himself has said or done any thing that leads to rendering this evidence admissible; the charge in its nature is one of conspiracy ; whether, it ex isted or not, of course, I do not presume to say, but the very nature of the plan, considering its nature generally, and the precise declaration of the party is, that a rising is to take place in different places about the same time, and the Prisoner himself has expressly pointed to a rising of 174 this sort which is to take place at Nottihgham ; it seems therefore to me that he has connected himself directly" with any act done in that neighbourhood on the night in question, by referring, in the hearing of all those he had collected and assembled together, to that which was ah event to take place, and therefore 1 think the Prisoner himself has made that evidence by declarations he has made, anticipating and foretelling, and by foretelling implying a knowledge of the event to take place there. But I own that in another view of this subject I cannot conceive how this objection can for a moment be sustain ed ; no objection is made to the act done. Now I am unable to distinguish in the first instance between act and declaration, for an act done is no more evidence against an absent party, Unless he be connected in some way with the party doing it than a declaration made, and therefore the admission in proof of the act done can only proceed upon the supposition that the party doing the act is suffi ciently connected with the prisoner to let in the proof of the act done. Then what becomes of the rule of law ap-' plicable in all cases ? and here we must lose sight of the leading principle established if we do not receive the de-< claration of the party at the time he is doing that act which qualifies the act, and shows what is the act he is about to do, and in this case it appears to me it is not to be considered merely as a declaration, but it is a demand of arms, falling in with the conspiracy, and the declara-1 tion of these persons, that there would be armed persons in different parts of the country at the same time ; there fore not wandering into cases, for I agree with the Attor ney General that the rule will vary according to circum stances, but keeping my eye upon the general principle, as applicable to the facts of this case, I think this evidence is most clearly admissible. Mr. Justice Abbott. I most entirely agree with the Lord Chief Baron and my brother Dallas for the reasons which have been so fully given, that I feel it unnecessary to add any. Mr.JusticeHolroyd, I am most clearly of the same opinion-, 175 mid as I think no legal mind can be, after the reason* given, unconvinced, that this is evidence it appears to me unnecessary to give further reasons for its admissibility. Mr. Setjeant Copley (to Roper.) On your refusing the firc-nnns, what was said outside ? A. They told nic that if I refused they should be under the necessity of breaking the door open, and taking them by force. Q. What did you say or do upon that ? A. 1 told them that if they did, I would blow the first man's brains out that entered. ti. Was any thing said in answer to that ? A. Their reply wus " will your" I said " yes." Q. Upon your saying " yes," did they say or do any thing further ? A. A man called for the men with the fire-arms to come forward. Q. A man outside? A. Yes. Q. Upon his calling for the men with the fire-arms to conic forward, did you hear anything outside? A. The piazzas were paved with flag stones, and I heard a bustle there, and expected they were coming iu. ti. Where wus the bustle? A. Under the piazzas, near my house. ti. Is your door under the piazzas ? A. Yes it is. Q. What did you do ? A. They did not make any attempt, but they came for ward and asked me how many fire-arms I had. ti. They did not make any attempt at the door, you mean? A. No. Q. What did you tell them ? A. I told them that 1 had two; that the one was a rifle piece and the other a fusee ; they asked me if I would give them to them ; I told them no ; they asked me whether I would sell them to them ; I told them no, 1 would neither Bell them nor give them, nor part with them on any ac count ; that they were my own property. 176 Q. It was about two o'clock that they went away ? A. Yes. Cross-examined by Mr. Denman. Q. What was the public-house you were at that night? A. Dennis's, the Duke of York. ti. Tnere were seveial other persons there? A. Yes, tl ere were. Q. Was there a man there of the name of Oliver ? A. Not that I know of. G. Were you at another public house kept by Salmon ? A. No. Q. Do you know a person of that name? A. No, I do not. Lancelot Rolleston, Esq. sworn. Examined by Mr. Reader. Q. You, I believe, are an acting Magistrate for the county of Nottingham ? A. I am. Q. In consequence of any alarm which had been ex* cited did you attend at the town of Nottingham on the 9th of J une last? A. I did. Q. You live, I believe, at a little distance from Not tingham ? A. Yes. Q. In what state did you find the town at that time, tranquil or disturbed? A- In a very agitated state. ti. Did you observe any marks of it in the town, groups of people collected, or any thing of that sort ? A. Yes. Q. Was there, at that time, a general agitation and ap prehension in the town ? A. There was. Q. Did you proceed anywhere for the purpose of re* connoitring and observing whether there was anything to apprehend ? 177 A. On the morning of Tuesday, the 10th, I went on the foad towards Eastwood. Q. On horseback, I believe ? A. Yes. G. What did you observe ? A. In the villages, within a mile of Eastwood, the peo ple were very much alarmed ; most of them out of their houses about a mile before I got to Eastwood. Q, Had there been any military collected in Notting ham for the protection of the town itself before you went out? A. No, the military were in the barracks. Q. They had not then come into the town ? A. No. Mr. Reader. They are just out of the town, on the Derby road. You proceeded, 1 believe ? A>. I proceeded till I came within a quarter of a mile Of ^Eastwood, where I met a considerable body of men armed with pikes ; I returned to Nottingham and pro cured some troops from the barracks. Q. Of course you gave information there? A. Yes. Q. Were the Magistrates sitting there ? A. No, there were two Magistrates, Mr. Mundy and Mr. Kirk by at the barracks. Q. What force did you procure ? A. There were eighteen privates, commanded by Cap tain Philips, and a subaltern Officer. G. You proceeded with them towards Eastwood ? A. Yes ; when we got as far as Kimberley, a village about four miles from Nottingham and about two miles short of Eastwood, the people told us that the mob, on healing of the soldiers being coming, had dispersed : we followed the rout they had taken, and found a quantity of arms, pikes, and guns, scattered about upon the road. Q. Did you continue to pursue ? A. I continued to pursue till within about half a mile of Eastwood, when I turned off on the left after a party that were endeavouring to escape. M 173 Q. Did you see a party yourself? A. Yes, I saw a party myself, and turned off the road after them with one of the dragoons. ti. What did Captain Philips and the rest of the party do? 4. They proceeded on towards Eastwood, where the general body had gone. Q. About how many were the number you pursued? A. They were a good deal scattered, there might be thirty or forty of them. Q. Did you see them dispersing? A. Yes, and throwing away their arms. Q. Did you seize any of them or not ? A- Yes, we secured two or three, and then we turned towards Eastwood again. Q. Had they any arms ? A. No, they had no arms, they had thrown them away. G. Do you remember the names of those you secured? A. I do not at this moment. Q. Then you turned after the main body ? A. Yes, we came up to them just at Langley Mill. Q. How far is Langley Mill from Eastwood ? A- About half a quarter of a mile. Mr. Justice Abbott. You say after the main body,— what do you mean by the main body ? A. Captain Philips and the main body went on the road, and I turned with one of the dragoons to the left— « I then followed them; they were at that time all dis persed, and the dragoons were pursuing them in all direc tions. Mr. Reader, How many of them were apprehended ? A. There were thirty brought to Nottingham. Q. Do you remember whether the prisoner was one ? A. No, he was not. G- What was done then ? A- 1 still continued the pursuit for a considerable titne, and was at the taking of several more. Q. How many were apprehended in the whole I A. I do not recollect the number. 179 Q. Was a person of the name of Edward Moore one of those you apprehended ? A. I apprehended him myself. Q. Did you hear him say anything ? A. Yes, I had a good deal of conversation with him. Q. What I mean is, did he say anything to you abou$ the purpose they had in view ? A. Yes, he wished me very much to let him go, which I refused. Mr. Reader. I do not pursue that my Lord. After this, I believe, peace and quietness was restored in the town? . A. Yes. Captain Frederick Charles Philips, sworn. Examined by Mr. Gurney. Q. To what regiment do you belong ? A. The 15th Hussars- Q. On Monday the 9th of June last, were you stationed with a detachment of your regiment in the town of Not tingham ? A. Yes, I was in Nottingham barracks. Q. In what state was the town of Nottingham through- out that day ? A. I did not observe anything particular till towards the evening — towards the evening there was some bustle and disturbance in the streets, about ten o'clock there was a party of military sent for to the barracks. Q. Were the streets in their usual state, or were diere. any extraordinary assemblages ? A- By the time the military got into the town, they had dispersed a good deal. G. At any time in the course of the evening, were there any extraordinary assemblages in the streets ? A. I was not down in the town myself till we were sent for ; on the arrival of the military they dispersed. G Were you kept on the alert during the night*. , A- We were. M S 180 - Q. Was it in consequence of alarms from information you had received ? > A. It was. Q. At what time did you retire to rest ? A- As soon as daybreak came — about half an hour after daybreak. Q. Hoping all danger was over, you retired to rest ? A. There was a magistrate in the barracks, Mr. Kirkby. Q. How soon in the morning were you alarmed and called up. A. About half past six. Q. Were you sent for by the mayor, or did you goto the mayor. A. Mr. Mundy came up to the barracks with Mr. Rok leston ; Mr. RoUeston had been out to reconnoitre, and on his return I was ordered out with a party. Q. What party did you take out with you on the road towards Derbyshire ? A. Eighteen men and a serjeant. Q. Did you go towards Eastwood ? A. I did. Q. In your way did you perceive any bodies of men ? A. About half a mile before we got to Eastwood, there were some men flying across some fields to the left of the road armed with pikes. G. They were pursued ? A. We pursued them a short time and found they were too far off, and they got away. Q. Did you- then pursue your course towards East wood ? A. Yes. G. Did /on find as you approached Eastwood any other body of men ? A. I did not observe any till we got to Eastwood. Q. I do not ask you what any person stated to you, but did you any where perceive ariy other body of men ? A. Between Langley Mill and Eastwood. Q. What number do you suppose I A- About sixty. 181 Q. Armed or unarmed ? 4- Mostly armed; I cannot say that all of them Were. G. Upon yourself and the hussars approaching them, what did they attempt to do jl 4. They fled between the fields ; in the first instance there was a man on the road, who put his hand out as if he was trying to form them up on the road ; but they paid no attention to him, but fled across ,the fields,. Q. And you and your men pursued them, and took a number .of Prisoners ? A. Yes, G. What became of their arms? A. They were collected together, Q. What did they do with them ? 4- They threw away their arms, except about five or six men, who were taken with the arms in their hands. G- What arms were those that were taken in their hands? A- I think most of them guns. Q. I believe when you arrived at Eastwood you met the High Sheriff of this county with the yeomanry in pursuit of the insurgents ? A. We did, G- They had come from Alfreton and Pentridge in pur suit of them. A- So I understood, Cross-examined by Mr. Denman. Q. You did not see the Prisoner ? A- No, I did not; he was not with the party then: I did not see him. Q. Did you see him at all that day ? A. No, I did not. Q. They were all flying before you came as I understand f -. A. No, they were not ; when I first came they were standing on the road, and there was oneman who attempt ed to form them up in opposition to us, Q. You took him I suppose ? A. No, I did not; he might have been taken amongst the rest, bnt I could not keep roy eye upon him<— I tried, . to do it. 182 Re-examined by Mr. Gurney. ti- Whether he was one of those you took there you are not able to say, not being able to identify him ? A. No, I could not keep my eye upon him. G. What number of muskets and guns and other arms were collected together ? A. About forty I believe. Mr. Attorney General. This is the case of the Crown. Mr. CROSS. May it please your Lordships, Gentlemen of the Jury, Although I have now for some years been a good deal accustomed to a public life in Courts of Justice, it has never fallen to my lot before, to be counsel either for the prose cution or a Prisoner in a case of High Treason ; and there fore, I confess, when I consider that circumstance, when I contemplate this singular and solemn array of public justice, when I perceive myself placed for the first time in a public situation in a county to which I have been hitherto an utter stranger, I cannot, Gentlemen, but feel a great deal of diffidence in the discharge of the duty to which at this moment I am called. But I cannot forget, that I stand up here to-day, to exercise one of the proudest privileges of a British subject, which privilege is one of the fruits of that blessed revolution of 1688, to which my learned Friend, the Attorney General, in his address to you has already alluded ; for, Gendemen, till that time, per sons accused of High Treason were forbidden by the law of England to make their defence before a Jury by any lips but their own, and I therefore feel, that I am placed here now in a situation of great trust and responsibility upon a pubhc stage. I know that I have a right to make the Prisoner's defence in a firm, bold, and fearless manner. I know that their Lordships will indulge me in discharg ing my duty to the Prisoner without dismay, and without fear that I shall endanger either myself or my client by 183 anything I may say in his defence. But, Gentlemen, if any persons here suppose that I have any intention to take advantage of this situation to hurl defiance against the Ministers of the public affairs of the country, or of the law, or that I have any intention but of speaking with awe and reverence of all the just objects of respect and vene ration among us, they have much miscalculated the duty I owe to my client, to my country, and to myself. Gentlemen, having said this, let me now call your at tention to the nature of this important case, which the Attorney General of England has brought before you for your decision- I do not rise to vindicate the atrocious outrages which you have heard of in the evidence. God forbid that I should ever think or speak of those outrages but as in the highest degree criminal, as well as disgraceful to all the parties concerned in them ; but you have been rightly told by the Attorney General that you must not suffer any prejudices that may have hitherto, or may now disturb your minds, respecting those outrages, to mislead you from the real question which you are here impanelled to try. You have been told that the question is not, whether the defendants in this indictment have acted cul pably, not whether manslaughter, or burglary, or robbery have been committed, but, whether the transactions of the 9th of June constituted the crime of High Treason, or a crime or crimes of other and different descriptions. Gentlemen, I have stated that this is the first time it has fallen to my lot tb be concerned in a trial for High Treason, and I believe that with regard to this particular species of High Treason, namely, levying war against the King, my case is not singular ; for I think I may say, with the exception of but two or three of the formidable array of learned counsel who are opposed to us, none of them have had an opportunity either of taking a part in or hearing a trial for the offence which is imputed to the Prisoner at the bar. I am not aware that during his pre sent Majesty's long and happy feign there has been one single instance of a trial and conviction for this offence of levying war against the King. Therefore, Gentlemen^ 184 you will, I hope, excuse me, if on this novel occasion; and upon a subject with which we are all but imperfectly acquainted, I should take the liberty of trespassing upon your attention a little more in detail than is usual or re quisite in ordinary cases, on the subject of the law of Treason, the question being, whether the acts proved have been in violation of that law ? The Attorney General has stated to you, that it is Treason and a levying of war against the King if numbers of persons assemble together, and by force propose to ef fect some general object ; that is the Attorney General's definition of the crime : I cannot, however, concur in his definition, and therefore with all deference to that great officer, I must beg leave to controvert his doctriue, and to submit to their Lordships consideration and yours what I conceive to be the law upon this subject. My learned Friend has cited to you, in proof of his broad and sweep ing definition, the authority of a most eminent and learn ed judge, Sir Michael Foster* who has written several learned discourses upon this and other subjects of law;. they are but discourses, however, written in his closet, and we shall see presently how far they are to rule or to guide the opinions of the Judges in administering the law, Gentlemen, as Mr. Justice Foster's discourse has been cited to you, I also must beg leave to call your attention to the discourses of another most perspicuous and learned writer, I mean Mr. Justice Blackstone, who, in his Com mentaries on the Laws of England, treats of this crime; and he expresses himself thus : — " As this is the highest civil crime which any man can possibly commit, it ought, therefore, to be the most precisely ascertained ; for, if the crime of High Treason be indeterminate, this alone is sufficient to make a Gpvernment degenerate into arbitrary power : and yet, by the ancient common law, there was a great latitude left in the breasts of Judges to determine what was Treason, and what was not Treason ; whereby the creatures of tyrannical Princes had opportunity to create abundance of constructive Treasons; that is, to raise, by forced and arbitrary constructions, offences into. 185 the crime and punishment of Treason, which were never suspected to be such." Then he goes on, — " But, how ever, to prevent the inconveniences which began to arise in England from this multitude of constructive treasons, the Statute %o Edward III, was made, which defines what offences only for the future should be held to be Treason. This Statute must, therefore, be our text and our guide," says this learned writer, " in order to examine into the several species of High Treason." Then, in another part of this discourse, he says, — " Thus careful was the Legis lature, in the reign of Edward III, to specify and reduce to certainty the vague notions of Treason which had for merly prevailed in our Courts 5 but the Act does not stop here, but goes on,— Because other like cases of Treason may happen in time to come, which may not be thpught of or declared at present, it is accorded that, if any other Treason shall happen, the Judge shall tarry, without giving judgment, till the cause lie shewn before the King and his Parliament, whether the thing be felony." Sir Matthew Hale, who, I may say without disparagement, was at least as eminent and able a writer upon this sub ject as Sir Michael Foster, and is, indeed to the present day, our oracle of criminal law. Sir Matthew Hale, the Chief Justice of England in Charles the Second's time, is said, by Mr. Justice Blackstone, to be H very high in his encomiums on the great wisdom and care of Parliament in thus keeping Judges within the proper bounds and limits of this Act, by not suffering them to run out (upon" their own opinions) into constructive treasons, tliough, in cases that seem to them to have a like parity of reasoning, but reserving them to the decision of Parliament. This is a great security to the public, the Judges, and even this sacred Act itself; and leaves a weighty memento to Judges to be careful and not over-hasty in letting in treasons by construction or interpretation, especially in new cases that" have not been resolved and settled." Then he proceeds thus : — " In consequence of this power, not indeed ori ginally granted by the Statute of Edward III, but consti tutionally .inherent in every subsequent Parliament (which • 188 cannot be abridged of any rights by .the act Of a precedent one), the Legislature was extremely liberal in, declaring new treasons in the unfortunate reign of King Richard II;" but mark, gentlemen, what was the consequence, — " and yet so little effect have over-violent laws to prevent any crime, that within two years afterwards that very Prince was both deposed and murdered ; and, in the first year of his Successor's reign, an Act was passedy reciting,. that no man knew how to behave himself, to do, speakj or say, for doubt of such pains of Treason ; and> therefore, it was accorded, that in no time to come any Treason be judged otherwise than was ordained by the Statute of Edward III. But afterwards^ during the reign of Edward VI, and Queen Mary, and particularly in the bloody reign of Henry VIII, the spirit of inventing new and strange trea sons was revived." And he here gives instances of it, and, amongst others, he states, that assembling riotously to the number of twelve, and not dispersing upon proclamation, was one amongst the newfangled treasons of that reign, which were totally abrogated in the reign of Queen Mary, the immediate successor of Edward VI. Gentlemen these few observations of Mr. Justice Blackstone will in duce you to feel how important a thing it is for the in terests of the present generation of Englishmen, and all their posterity, that this blessed Statute of Edward III. should not be extended one particle beyond the limits to Which the wisdom of the Legislature has thought fit to extend it. And now, Gentlemen, permit me to call your attention to the act itself. You will recollect, that it is now nearly five hundred years since Edward HI. died, the act was pas sed in the 25th year of his reign, and in the year 1350. It is intituled " A declaration what offences shall be adjudged treason," and it recites " that whereas divers opinions have been before this time, in what case treason shall be said, and in what not, and that the King at the request of the Lords and the Commons, have made a declaration in manner hereinafter following, that is to say, " When a man doth compas* or- imagine the death of our Lord the, King^ 187 that is not imputed on the present trial, ." or if a man do levy war against our Lord the King in his realm, that shall be high treason." Well, Gentlemen, such is the law of England at this day, such is the law to which the whole of this enquiry is to be referred, and the substantial question now before you for consideration is, whether the outrages of the 9th of June amounted to a levying of war against the King, or to offences of less malignity ; whether they did or not, my Lord Chief Justice Hale, to whose authority I have taken leave already to refer,states broadly, that it is a ques tion of faet, under all the circumstances for the consideration of the Jury, that I conceive to be at present the law of England, and I conceive that if the learned Judges tell you that this Statute of Edward III. is the law, that then arises your duty to say, whether the facts given in evidence amount to a levying of war against the King ? Gentlemen, it is also necessary that I should take the liberty of reminding you a little of the history of the pro ceedings of the Government in cases of high treason in as- few instances since the passing of that act. One of the new treasons that were created in order to extend the law, was the statute I have already mentioned, which was passed iu the third and fourth years of the reign of Edward VI. that was in the year 1549, and as long as two centuries, after the / passing of the statute of Edward III. and is one of those that Mr. Justice Blackstone has designated under the term, " new fangled treasons." The words of the act are these, " That if any person or persons to the number of twelve or more assembling together shall intend to go about to prac tice or put in use with force of arms, unlawfully and of their own authority, to alter or change the laws, established by Parliament, for religion or any other laws or statutes of this realm,"' — is that to be treason in' the creation of these new fangled treasons ? No, Gentlemen, not yet ; but, '* being commanded by the Sheriff or other persons to depart to their houses, if they thall continue together for an hour," then, and not till then, shall the King's subjects be deemed traitors. So that two hundred years after the passing of the statute of Edward IU,. a new Act of Parliament was made to 188 extend the law of treason to cases of tumultuous assemblies by force and arms, endeavouring to alter the laws, but not till the persons so assembled, armed, and preparing to over turn the laws of the country should set the caution of the magistracy and the proclamation in the King's name at defiance for a full hour, then, and not till then, was this dreadful crime of treason deemed by the law of Edward VI. to be fully consummated . But, G entlemen, after the short reign of Edward VI. and in the reign of his successor Queen Mary, that statute was deemed too severe, and it was re-: pealed, a new law was made, which enacted pretty nearly. in the same words as those of the former statute which I have just now read to you, "that if any persons to the number of twelve or above, being assembled together shall intend, go about to practice, or put in use, with force of arms, unlawfully and of their own authority, to change any laws made for religion or for authority of Parliament or any other laws of the realm, the same number of twelve and above, being commanded by the Sheriffor a Justice of the. Peace, to go quietly home, and remaining obstinate for an hour" (shall that be high treason? no !) it shall hefelony, so that here you find in the reign of Queen Mary, that which has been truly called a bloody reign, even in that reign the assembling of multitudes of people under arms to change the laws, was only the crime of felony. And that statute at the commencement of the reign of Queen Eliza beth, which immediately followed, was re-enacted to con tinue for the life of that monarch, and accordingly during the whole of the long reign of Queen Elizabeth which brings us down to the year 1603, the law of England upon these subjects was this, that if a multitude of people assembled together by force of arms, intending to alter the laws of the land, and remained so assembled an hour after proclamation, it should be felony. That law, however, then expired, but the statute of Edward III. was still in full life and vigour, and the doc trine of constructive treason and constructive levying of war supplied the place of a Riot Act during the whole of the seventeenth. century, and until the accession of the House of Brunswick in the year 1714, when the Riot AcF now in force was passed; and we have heard much, I must say in this place, that tends to^bring into' life and activity a doctrine which I had thought from that period for ever exploded. ¦ Sir Matthew Hale traces the origin of that doctrine irj his learned Treatise on the Law of Treason, to the reign of Henry VIII. the most ferocious and bloody tyrant that ever disgraced the throne of England ; but that gentleman was two hundred years after the passing of the statute of King Edward— then it was for the first time discovered by some ingenious lawyer that a riot, such as that de scribed in the statutes of King Edward VI. and Queen Mary, though not an actual was yet a constructive war against the King, and that juries had nothing to do with the question whether it was war or not, but were only to Consider whether the facts were committed, and then the Court would tell them whether though it was not an actual it was a constructive war. Perhaps I did not clearly under stand the Attorney General, and no wonder when he was obliged to call in aid that exploded doctrine, that his per-. spieuous mind fell into some degree of confusion and ob scurity ; but if I understood the end and effect of what my learned Friend said, and particularly in the conclusion of his address, it was little more in effect than this, — if you are satisfied the Prisoner is the man who was called the Captain in these transactions, it is impossible you can acquit him : so that he left little more for your consideration than the simple question of the identity of the Prisoner at the bar. This, Gentlemen, makes it necessary for me to call your attention to the distinction between questions of law and ' fact — Suppose then you had to try the question, whether I have a right to address you in this place ; that is a question of law which the statute of King William would determine in my favour. But if the question put to you were this, does the person standing before you now stand upon his head or his feet ? that is a pure question of fact, which I believe you could very well decide without the 190 assistance of the King's Attorney General, and you would not be a little surprised if in that case he should get up and say, — Gentlemen of the Jury, upon this question I beg leave to remind you that it has been always held if a man stand upon his feet and lean a few degrees to the right or the left it is a constructive standing upon the head, and therefore you have only to consider whether he is in-, clined to the right or the left, for that has always been held in construction of law to be a standing upon the head- Gentlemen, you would be staggered very much before you could be overcome by such doctrine as that after the oaths you have taken, and would feel it your duty to ex ercise your own judgment and understandings, as I trust you will in the present case, which Sir Matthew Hale teaches us is a question of fact for the Jury. I there fore again repeat, that the substantial question for your consideration is, whether, according to your own judg ments, experience, and knowledge of human affairs,, combined with the particular transactions under con* sideration, these unfortunate persons did or did not in plain fact levy war against the King ? Now, permit me to enqure, what is a levying of war ? Indeed, the Attorney General has said, if this be not levy ing of war, tell me what is ? I answer the challenge, and I will tell my learned Friend what is a levying of war. — It, is a singular coincidence, that in the year 1745 a rebel army, in the name of a foreign Prince, the Pretender to the Throne of these Realms, marched into this town, and here their enlerprize terminated. Their march was inter cepted, and they retreated in confusion : and here we are now, for the first time since that event, after the lapse of more than seventy years,, trying the question, whether war has again been levied against the King. I should not have said trying for the first time : but there has been no conviction—there hhs been no civil war found by a Jury to have been waged within the realm since that remarkable period of our history, of which you have no doubt all read, and of which you may have heard by tradition from your ancestors, who were present in this town when the. stan dard of rebellion was erected within it. 191 -That, Gentlemen, was a levying of war ; there was a fo-' reign Prince set up in opposition to the King : the avow ed object of the war was the deposition of the King : thou sands of disciplined soldiers were embattled and embodied, with every means and iinpliment of regular war, even usurping the collection of the pubhc revenue, making a progress from Scotland here to Derby — that was actual levying of war against the King, and the persons taken in that rebellion were brought to trial under this Statute of Edward III. and were, as you may well suppose, con demned for their treason. Now, having stated what, is, a levying of war, permit me to state what is not levying of war. — It is not levying war to strike any of the King's subjects, although if you bring the offender to Trial, the Indictment will charge that he did the act " against the Peace of our Lord the King, his Crown, and dignity," that language would not make it treason. A common riot is not treason ; but it is said that by construction all riots. that have a public object are treason— that an attempt by force and violence to alter the law is treason. Gentlemen, doctrine of this sort is infinitely more dangerous than Acts of Parliament, how ever far they may extend the law of treason. A man knows not when he is safe, if a few lines of doctrine, writ ten by a lawyer, however learned, in his closet, shall have all the force and effect of an Act sanctioned by the King, Lords, and Commons in Parliament assembled. A Riot, made a capital Felony by the existing Riot Acty which I will by and by read to you, is not treason. Then let ; us consider whether all the provisions of that Act, passed on the Accession of his present Majesty's family, in the year 1714, (the Statute of 1 George I.) are not intended for the case no w before you. That Statute which I have already taken leave to remind you, was passed after an intermission in the Statute Law, from the year 1603, during which constructive levying of war was so much in vogue, was obviously modelled upon the Statute of riots which sub sisted during the whole of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The Legislature, meaning I conceive to put an end to 192 those constructive treasons at once, made this- Statute-/ which should clearly define the distinction between an ac tual and a constructive levying of war; that is, between Treason and Riot. This Act is intituled " An Act for the preventing riots and tumults, and for the more speedy trials of the rioters." It recites that " Whereas of late many .^rebellious riots and tumults have been in divers, parts of this kingdom, to the disturbance of the public peace, and the endangering of His Majesty's person and Government, and the same are yet continued and foment ed by persons disaffected to His Majesty, presuming so to ¦ do for that the punishments provided by the laws now in being are not adequate to such heinous offences," Not adequate ? why, according to the doctrine of constructive war, the law was perfectly adequate, for it was high trear son already, " and by such rioters His Majesty and his Administration have been most maliciously and falsely traduced, with an intent' to raise divisions, and to alienate the affections of his people from His Majesty." Why,, Gentlemen, if the Parliament were sitting at this day, looking back upon the transactions which you have heard givenin evidence, could anything be said or conceived more appropriate to them. This matter is so important, that, with your leave, I will read it once more ; " An Act for preventing tumults ' and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishment of the rioters. Whereas of late- many rebellious riots and tumults have been in various parts of this kingdom, to the disturbance of the public ( peace, and the endangering of His Majesty's person and Government, and the same are yet continued and foment ed by persons disaffected to His Majesty, presuming so to do for that the punishment provided by the laws now in . being are not adequate to such heinous offences, and by, such rioters His Majesty and his Administration have beep most maliciously and falsely traduced, with intent to raise divisions, and to alienate the affections of his people.'' What is enacted ? — That these crimes should be high treason? — No, that if any persons, to the number of 193 twelve, or more, being unlawfully, riotously, and tumul- tuoiisly* assembled together, to the disturbance of the public peace, and being required by any one or more Justice, or the Sheriff of the County, or the Mayor of any City, by proclamation to be made in the King's name, in the form prescribed by that Act, directing them to dis perse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habita tions, or to their lawful business, shall, to the number of twelve, or more, after such proclamation made, unlaw fully, riotously, and tumultuously remain, or continue to gether, by the space of one hour after such command and proclamation; that then suth continuing together shall be adjudged felony, without benefit of clergy. So then vou see that if persons riotously assemble, they are not deemed guilty of the crime of felony ; their lives are hot fdrfeited' to the offended laws of their country, unless they have a solemn warning from the Magistracy of the dangerous consequences of the. act they are committing. — This, Gentlemen, is what I conceive to be the law of England, as applicable to the matter under your Consideration. Gentlemen, I have stated that since the rebellion in 1745, no conviction by a jury has, to my knowledge, taken place for this offence, and I may therefore say that no civil war has been levied in this kingdom since that time. This I do know, that there have been two unsuccessful attempts to revive the doctrine of constructive war within the last eighty years : one was the case which has been alluded to this morning of the riots in the year 1780, at the head of which was Lord George Gordon, whose name you have heard of to-day; Upon that occasion, many of you may be old enough to remember, that the outrages of the mul titude assembled in the metropolis were so extensive, and continued for so many days, that the Government of the country seemed absolutely suspended and subdued, and it was not, I think, till the expiration of nearly a fortnight that the law could take its ordinary course ; thousands and tens of thousands of people armed, some in oneway some in another, in the presence of the Sovereign, surrounded both. Houses of Parliament, and committed every species of, N 194 outrage against the persons- and the property of His* Majesty's subjects; the leader of that day, a man of vi olent and frantic disposition, was brought before a jury of the County of Middlesex, as this wretched man is brought, before you: he was a person of high rank, the son of a noble Duke; he had command of considerable' property ; wi.s tit no inconsiderable talents, with all his wildness; he- was brought before a jury on a charge of Treason, in. levying war against the King, and that jury decided, after a long and attentive trial, that he was not guilty. There. being no military force, no avowed purpose of deposing the King, nor intent even imputed, however atrocious and' desperate the acts of that misguided multitude were, it was held they did not amount to a levying war against. the- King. The Attorney General, I observe, looks with a con siderable degree of surprize at this statement. I hope I have not mis-stated any thing. I ought not, perhaps, to say that it was held not to be- a levying of war, but it- was not held to-be a levying of war, and no other person con cerned was tried for that offence- The Attorney General of that day found it would not do ;' that this doctrine of constructive Treason, to use the phrase of the country, would not work, and so he gave it up, and the rest of the< offenders- were tried for riots, or fbr other offences com-; mittedduring those disturbances. That was the first case. after the riot act of 1714, and after an interval of more than sixty years. . t The second case I have alluded to occurred a few v months ago, when you all well know there was a prose-. cution exactly similar to the present against some of the persons concerned in those dreadful riots of the last winter in London. A jury, was selected with all possible care for that trial, the Court sat for eight days hearing all the;, facts and circumstances, detailed,, and I believe that jury were told something about this constructive Treason, (but. , the question considered there was this, whether, however? atrocious, however wicked and disgraceful the acts that were done by those parties were, they had made, war against the King? The Jury were of opinion they hadt 195 not nor intended it as imputed by the indictment, and the party accused was acquitted. These, Gentlemen, are the only instances since the year 1714, in which any very public attempt has been made to convict persons. 1 do- not, and I beg I may be distinctly understood as not in tending to insinuate the least particle of blame against any person concerned in that prosecution, either the one way or the other, but all the observation that I mean to derive from that trial is, that it was not a case of levying of war against the Statute of King Edward III.; that is the only observation or remark that I think it necessary to make, or shall make upon that trial. Now, Gentlemen, I have, I hope, cleared the way to a distinct understanding of the rules of law on which your verdict is to be founded. Yet the Attorney Gene ral, in his address to you, not indeed through any weak ness of his own, I too well know his great powers, where he has fit materials to work upon, but from the obvious weakness of his case, my learned friend could not put the question to you manfully, whether these parties had levied war against the King, but launched his cause with a piece of doctrine out of a discourse, which he stated to you to be, the law of England, we will now con sider, Gentlemen, whether the facts, in this ease, do amount to a riot within the meaning of the riot act, or amount to High Treason and a levying of war against the King, for in order to bring the case within the statute of Edward III. it must be a levying of war, and it must be against the King, or it is not a levying of war within that statute. , Gentlemen, having thus stated to you the law, as I humbly conceive it, I must now take leave to call your attention to the charges in this indictment against the- five and thirty persons who are here for trial. But first permit me to remind you, that the Attorney General has fairly stated, that if you find in the progress of these out rages, any distinct insulated crime of any nature, has been committed, you ought not to suffer your judgment to be prejudiced by suqh crime. But still, Gentlemen, we all N2 - f9<> know, and we all must feel, how extremely difficulty it is to' separate the consideration of the question for trial, from the personal conduct of the man who is placed before you, and, therefore, I beg leave to repeat that you are to try the question for which you are at present impaneled, as if it were the case of any other of the individuals engaged in the imputed conspiracy, and to consider whether the five and thirty miserable paupers, who have been arraign ed here did levy against the King, that is the great question to be tried. What this man did, and various incidental matters which occured, are shocking to ones feelings, I shall say nothing about them, for they form no part of the subject matter for enquiry, and should therefore be dismissed from your consideration- Let us see then, what are the relative acts and declarations proved. But first I should state what the indictment is ; the first count charges that these persons did levy war against the King, that is contrary to the statute of King Edward, and the overt act is, that they were arrayed and armed in a warlike manner, and did march in a hostile manner, and did attempt and endeavour to subvert and de stroy the Government and Constitution of the realm,' as by law established. The second and third counts are framed upon a statute of the present King's reign, which is a temporary act, as you have already heard, and is only to continue during the life time of his present Majesty, and till the next sitting of Parliament afterwards, by virtue of that act, it is charged in the second count, that the Prisoner did invent, devise, and intend, to deprive and depose the King from his style, honor, and kingly name of the imperial crown of this realm, and then it charges, that they did divers overt acts of which you have heard a great deal of evidence. The third count alleges that they did intend to levy war against the King in order, by foice and constraint, to compel him to change his measures and his councils. So that you see the first count charges an actual levying of war agaiinsi the statute of King Edward ; the second charges ah intention to depose the King; and the third is an inten tion to levy war against the King, for the purpose of J97 compelling him to change his measures and his councils;- Such is the indictment, — Now what are the, facts ad duced in evidence in support of it ? But before I call your attention to the facts already proved, if may be right that I should remind you of the state of the country and the public mind at the time when these unhappy dis turbances occurred, and to the causes which lead to them. You will remember, we had just then attained to the close of a glorious and successful war of nearly five and twenty years continuance, when the promised fruits, the long promised and expected fruits of peace were to come into immediate enjoyment, it pleased Providence, however, that we should have a most unfavourable season, the last year, you well know, was a most unfortunate one, a season of scarcity combined with a deficiency of em,, ployment, so that our poor manufacturers had the misery to find all their expectations of increased trade and pros perity at once destroyed, and when they hoped to enjoy the fruits of peace, " instead of fruit chewed bitter ashes." The scarcity of food, and a general obstruction in the circulation of property and employments, occasioned by a variety of causes which have been the subjects of great discussion and contention in other places, and to which I Would not willingly allude. These circumstances had combined to drive a vast number of honest and industri- , bus manufacturers into a state bordering upon absolute famine. There were people in this country of far differ ent dispositions from these miserable men, who did not lose the opportunity of instilling into their minds, and those of all the labouring classes, discontent against the . Government, and of persuading them that the sole cause of all their misery was the mismanagement of our public affairs, and the enormous weight of public taxes, and that the only remedy was a change of the Constitution of the House of Commons. Accordingly they fell, you know, to petitioning the Prince and the two Houses of Parlia ment ; anid although from day to day the Act against tu multuous petitioning was violated within the walls of the 198 Tlouse of Commons, the tender commiseration of that House for their real sufferings prevented any person there from noticing such violation of the law. I may possibly be mistaken when I state this, as I perceive a learned member of that House, who appears not to approve of what I say, I, may have fallen into a mistake, but it has appeared to me ; and I saw with some surprise that petir rions, signed by hundreds and thousands, were presented to the House of Commons for an alteration of the laws, contrary to the Statute against tumultuous petitioning ; far be it from me to presume to blame that forbearance. The House of Commons', as well as the Prince, I have no doubt felt the utmost anxiety to relieve, to the best of their ability, those distresses which it had pleased Provi dence to inflict upon us. But it was not in the power of the Prince or the Parliament to create one single bushel of wheat more than the ordinary course of the seasons may have produced for the sustenance of man. They could only do their best to distribute the food, which it had pleased Providence to send us, in due proportion amongst all the people. The petitioners were, however, by artful and insidious publications, excited to a very un becoming feeling towards those from whom they had sought relief in yain ; and, by one in particular, to which I cannot help alluding, and earnestly directing your atten-r tion, as one of the most malignant and diabolical publica tions ever issued from the English press. It was addressed to the labouring classes in the midst of their distresses ! It is entitled — " An Address to the Journeymen and La bourers of England, &c." I will not shock the ears of this Court with stating what I here find as an excitement to this insurrection, and out of which I am persuaded it almost entirely grew. This publication was scattered into the hands of every unhappy (idle for want of employment) and every destitute artizan ; it teaches such things as I hope and trust may, by the exertions of the Attorney Ge neral of England, be prevented at least from repetition, But, gentlemen, all this went on in the face of day ; tbi-V wicke.d author publicly avowed what he was doing, ana1 199 his success in carrying on the wholesale trade of sedition, It was just on the commencement of the winter, in the month of November last, thatthat sanguinary publication first came forth ; and, in the course of about a fortnight afterwards it was followed up by another, which is styled ~ " An Address to the Luddites ;" and it was there boasted, as I will read to you in this writer's own words, you will see, gentlemen, to what extent the minds of these unhappy and miserable people were acted upon ; he has the impudence to put forth this advertisement, — " That he has reprinted such and sueh matters, alluding to the one I have mentioned, in a cheap form, price twopence retail, and 12s. 6d. per hundred wholesale : any number may be had by application through the post, or otherwise to the publisher, No. ]g2, -Strand, London." The At torney General shall know where to find him ; — " Parcels will be sent off by the coach -to any part of the country upon a plain direction being sent to the publisher. If any person take one thousand copies or more regularly, the price then will be only lis. a hundred- But in all cases the money must be paid to the publisher weekly ; that is to say, the sale is to be for ready money, which is perfectly reasonable, seeing how low the price is, and that the retail must necessarily be for ready money. Friends to truth," friends to falsehood and misrepresentation he means, " who live near country towns will doubtless point out the means of obtaining this publication to some per sons in such towns, whether booksellers or others, book sellers and reading-room keepers may, perhaps, be afraid of parsons and taxing people ; but shoemakers and other shopkeepers may not be afraid of them, and the profit ou three or four hundred a week is sufficient to support a small family. — N. B. Forty-four thousand copies of No. IS- have been printed and sold ;" that is, the detestable pub lication I have alluded to. Gentlemen, let the Attorney General of England look at these publications, and let me ask where was the Attorney General of that day? what were the Magistracy of the country doing at that time I Poor miserable hawkers, wanting bread, were going up and down the country selling forty-four thquj- sand of the most mischievous publications that were ever put into the hand of man, and the Magistracy of the Country looked on. I impute no blame to them on that account ; this wicked and detestable wholesale and retail trade in sedition was so perfectly new, that the Magis tracy of the Country did not know how to deal with it, and the mischief went on ; the poor manufacturers were thus persuaded that all their miseries and distresses were owing to taxation, and that it was in the power of Govern ment and of His Majesty's Ministers to relieve those dis tresses at any hour if they only thought fit to do it; this they were taught; this they were suffered by the Ma gistracy of the Country to learn, and I am sorry to find, they did learn it. At last, however, the attention of the Secretary of State was called to these proceedings, and he thought it his duty ; and such I conceive it was to remind the Magistracy of the Country that there was no greater- nuisance on earth than such detestable libels, and that a Justice of the Peace must not stand hy till fhe Assizes came round, but must abate the nuisance : my Lord Sidmouth taught that duty to the Magistracy, and I hope in future they will observe it; but, Gentlemen, unfortu nately it came too late. These unhappy men were without employment, and they had already felt the powerful ex citement of this seditious Writer, who seems to have ac quired an extraordinary facility in this way, and writes in a manner that it is not very easy for these poor illiterate persons either to refute or detect him. Such was the state of public feeling at the time these outrages were committed, and such were the causes that lead to them. Now let us see what was the conduct of these parties.— The first transaction that the witnesses speak ofj is that of Sunday the 8th of June : a witness of the name of Mar tin says, that he went to the public house about ten o'clock in the morning and he saw a few of these misera ble paupers and politicians sitting talking about a revolu tion, what revolution he did not explain, whether that glorious revolution of which my learned Friend and my- self arc boj.li equally delighted, to boast, does pot appear— nor, perhaps, did they understand ; Imt this we do know, that many of $he most discontented and the most clamorous for reform have revolution from day to day in their mouths, yet really meaning nothing else but that sacred revolu tion of 1688, and meaning only to restore the constitution to, the state in which it was then settled as they conceive; in which, however, in my conscience and judgment, I believe it is substantially now, " Np good could bg done without an overthrow of government," that they had probably learned to say, apd we are to consider what sort of an overthrow ; whether they njQant to turn PUt His Majesty's ministers, or what their object was? Go vernment is a very general and indefinite expression^ applied to various purposes. It is not unusual in both Houses of Parliament for His Majesty's ministers, who were formerly in more homely language called His Ma-? jesty's servants, to be styled His Majesty's government, and almost daily, during the sitting of parliament, we hear and read that expression so applied. Well then, there they had this conversation you find by the testi mony of that witness, among persons, to the number of about, sometimes half a dozen and sometimes as many as twenty in the room, two constables went into the room where these men were sitting over their drink, and admo nished them that they had better not talk in that foolish way, meaning no doubt that they did UQt understand what they said ; why what have you to do with this matter, we will put you up the chimney if you talk ; that was not like levying war against the King, though he was the King's constable, but still the constable staid. Why did you stay, did they make no secret of this ? no, no secret at all— anybody who came into this public house might hear this foul treason proclaimed, notice, might have been given to the magistracy before one of these miserable beings had provided hjuiself with a single weapon to set the law of the land at defiance : the constable you re member was in a dilemma, they had »o fear of its being told— then how came you not to go and tell ? why they 202 ¦threatened me if I told. Can you believe that Gentle men if men were in their senses, that they should sit in a public house, give an invitation to the constable to come and hear what they were talking about, which was no less a thing, they would have you to believe, than to subdue His Majesty and His whole army by seven drunken paupers at an ale house without a weapon, for that was all that was exhibited on the Sunday ; that is the evidence of the first witness, Martin. Then you have had a witness of the name of Asbury, and he stated to you that they said they must turn out; you re collect he tried to repeat some lines, a lesson they had all been taught and had got by heart. The Attorney Ge neral has said, I do not care what their object was if they intended to overturn the government ; but, Gentlemen, their object is of the last importance, and Jet us hear what they were to fightfor,for bread ! that is what they proposed to fight for ; that the government must be opposed, they have stated to you was part of the words of this poetry as it is called, but poetry is proverbially fiction — it was part of the poetry that they were to oppose the government. So ends the evidence of the conspiracy hitherto ; was that which passed at the time of that meeting, which is one of the overt Acts of the Indictment, was that trans action at the ale-house a conspiracy to make war against the King ? our beloved Sovereign was never mentioned in the whole of this foolish conversation. Oh, but I sup pose Mr. Solicitor General will tell you by and by, as he is making an. observation upon that in his notes, Oh, they kept that in the back ground, they had much deeper ob jects than they avowed ; it was odd then that they should sit in an ale-house at noon day, on a Sunday, with con stables and others round them, and that they should be foolish enough to avow that part of their design and to conceal the other. Well, Gentlemen, then the next piece of evidence is that which relates to the transactions of the 9th, for the Attorney General has said the plot was formed on the Sunday and it was executed on the Monday. James Shipman, 203 speaking of meeting the Captain, as he has been called, says — I asked him what they were to do for provisions when they got to Nottingham ; Oh, he said, there would be bread, and beef, and rum, and everything : well, says 1, provisions for yourself, but what is to become of the poor women whom you leave behind ; Oh, a provisional Government will be sent down to relieve the wives and children. So that you see Gentlemen, these hungry pau pers wanted a provisional government to supply them with food, that was what they conceived ; for you see it is in answer to the question that is put where they are to get provisions for their wives and children, a provisional go vernment is to come down from London, and then roast- beef and ale will be in plenty, that was their idea of the ¦alteration they proposed of the government. Then, after that little conversation, an old woman tapped him on the shoulder, and she said — there is a magistrate here ; Oh, says the Captain, you will have another magistrate soon who will give you something to eat ; and then says the witness, the man conducted himself so foolishly that I thought he must be either drunk or mad. So I think will you Gentlemen, or deluded and imposed upon most grossly if he could for a moment expect that any direct outrage could have the effect of producing benefit. Then Thomas Turner stated a great many things, and he told you how the army was collected ; he saw three men with guns on Monday night, that was the beginning of the army, the first regiment that took the ground ; three men with guns : at Hunt's Barn they collected, and accu mulated their numbers to the enormous amount of sixty or seventy. They called at a public-house, and had some refreshment, and the Captain told them, having called for his bill, which amounted to eight and twenty shillings, " Well, I will take care you shall be paid," and all was settled between the parties with perfect amity. Well, they marched on two or three miles and then this army began to drop off, that is the account he gives of the war. Then the next witness is a man of the name of Tomlin- son ; he spoke of what they had said respecting a cloud that 204 was coming from the North, that was to sweep all before it; not such a cloud as came down to Derby in the year 1745; not an army ip battle array; but a swarm of hungry and unemployed mechanics clamouring for food, that was the cloud that was to come from the North- Elijah Hall gave you an account of what passed at his bouse :¦ — anything about deposing the King ?— hurling him from his throne, his royal state, and the dignity of this im perial realm ? No — oh no, they said they wanted a big ger loaf, and an altering of times. Gentlemen, is that making war against the King ? They wanted a bigger loaf, and an altering of times ; and it was their intention to wipe off the National Debt; this was the conduct of these miserable paupers at that time. Then what account does Elijah Hall, the younger, give you of it, and of their intentions r-r-He does not seem to know much more what they were about than the mob themselves, but he heard some of the mob say they were going to pull down the Parliament House, and amend the laws. I suppose they talked about a Reform in Parlia ment, and he, not understanding what they meant, im agined it was pulling down the Parliament House; but whether they had an intention of pulling down the Parlia ment House or not— whether they had in their minds a Reform in Parliament, which I have no doubt they had, is not very material to the present question. Then this morning, after hearing a few other witnesses, a person of the name of William Shipman was called. The only warlike occurience that he witnessed was, that several guns were attempted to be fired as a signal, with out effecf ; so that they had not skill enough to fire a gun, till at last the Captain came forward, and he had skill and dexterity enough to fire off bis — rthat great achievement was at last with difficulty effected. Then Henry Hole says that they told him he should baye roast beef and ale if he went to Nottingham, and that persons should be appointed to take care of their families, I suppose this provisional government who were to„feed them, and that tljey stated that they were starving, and that it was the last shift they could ever make. 205 Then another and a very important witness of their proceedings, of the name of Goodwin, was called before you, to whose evidence I beg ybur particular attention*. He saw this party in battle array, they amounted to about a hundred, and, sayS he, they were marching two deep, lock step : for in order to make this into war, you (tercel ve the anxiety with which the lock step was introduced, — ¦ they marched up to Mr. Goodwin, and he began to1 lecture them immediately about peace and quietness; did they commit any outrage ? none whatever,— be endeavored to persuade one of them to give up this fool ish pursuit and stay at home ; he did hot succeed with that particular individual, but after holding this conversa tion with their Captain about violating the laws, sind beirijg hanged; the Captain did not molest him, but turned to the right and left and marched off, suffering two or three of their ranks to file off and retire into the premises of Mr. Goodwin. But Gentlemen, to make war there must be not -only men, but the means of war, and yesterday they produced to you three or four pikes and a bag of bullets,— their case Was summed up with that, for when they had produced that stock of ammunition there was an end to all their warfare : however they marched on in the road to Nottingham,— yes, and the ammunition even that was taken from them; the good fellow gave it up as tamely as the rest of his- associates had marched off On receiving the denial at the Butterley works. A worthy magistrate saw them on the road ; he went fo call in the King's army to oppose them; when he came back with eighteen dragoons he was quite dis appointed, the enemy had fled, they had all melted away— " and left their arms in the field of battle, except, says he, that I saw a company of thirty, whom with ode dragb'oh. I pursued arid took several of them itito custody. Now, there Gentlemen ends the history of the war' against the great King of England, in the year of our Lord 1817,— a war against whom ? the mightiest monarch oh the face of the earth ; a monarch at the head of a cbnsti- 206 tution and government whieh in this world never had its- equal, whose hand is strengthened by the Jaw as well as by the sword, who is supported by both Houses of Parliament in every act which has been advised or pursued for some years past ; the commander of a nume rous and invincible army, under the bravest and most illustrious general of the age, against whom this pauper Captain is said to have made war to dethrone the King, a Captain who did not even face a single dragoon, but who with the rest of his troops vanished and melted away in, a few hours like a heap of snow, no resistance made against any persons in authority : a magistrate went to meet them, but before he could pull the riot act out of his pocket to give them warning of their danger, they disappeared. Gentlemen, if they had waited to hear the riot act you would- never have heard of this prosecution for High Treason, if the magistrate had read the proclamation in the terms the law has ordained, "Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons being assem bled, immediately to disperse themselves and peaceably to depart to their habitations or to their lawful business, on the pains of the Act made in the reign of King George, against riotous assemblages." Gentlemen, if they 'had remained together for an hour after this notice, their lives would have been forfeited, but this law has, you see, provided that a misguided British subject who runs his head against a stone wall, shall have the benefit of a warning, before his life is forfeited to the laws of his country ; but how was this, it was just like sending for a doctor and saying you must make haste or the patient will be well before you arrive, for though the magistrate went in all haste to fetch in the military, he could not find work for more than one dragoon and himself. The King's army, consisting of one dragoon put them all to rout — but, Gentlemen, there was another thing would have routed them much sooner — a round of beef and a few barrels of ale, for if Mr. Goodwin, that good humoured gentleman, who warned them of their danger, had set before them this long wished round of beef and big loaf, as they call it,, 207 the -military would have had nothing to do — the Justice would not have had, as he has not had yet, an opportunity ©f reading the proclamation and the riot act. Gentlemen, these are the circumstances ; I have taken leave to state to you the law as I understand it, and you are now, perhaps, in a condition to judge for yourselves, and to .say upon your oaths, whether this was. a war against the King: of England, for the purpose of hurling him from his Throne, or was one of those heedless and mad riots which have been . often excited by hunger in all countries, and in all ages. You find it was the case in the reign of Queen Mary, when it w as made felony with a caution from the Justices ; and you see, that even in that age," as in this, when people are hungry — when food is scarce — when there is a famine iu the land,, disturbances will break out. Those who have food from day to day from the cradle to the grave, can have no conception of the emotions of a fellow creature with a famished family about him — with a wife and children wanting food ; we can have no adequate conception of these things ; butj alas 1 these five and thirty wretched creatures could feel them — the Jaw has provided for the case of poor illiterate people occasionally driven to despair by famine, and. has, said that when that happens, they shall have the benefit of a notice by proclamation from a Justice of the Peace before their lives, shall be forfeited, but these men had not the benefit of that notice, for they dispersed without it, so that although this was a riot of great enormity — undoubtedly of great enormity, yet I trust you will feel. that it was but a riot still. I suspect that the Attorney General is fully aware of that ; I cannot help suspecting that if you shad be of opinion,, as I trust you will, this, was not war, but riot, that the Attorney General has his indictments ready for the Grand Jury, and it is open to. him still to take that course, though I should humbly hope, in mercy to these misguided men, he may consider. their long imprisonment, the causes that led to it, and the peril in which their lives have stood during the time of their imprisonment — sufficient atonement for their of fence. Gentlemen, there neVer^ were1 two seasons in the history of this country, that differed more than the season of the' last year and the present ; instead of a hungry and fa mished people,5 wanting empldyment as well as fobd." gradually the commerce of the country is reviving, aria' the eirctilatfon of property arid employment restored, it has pleased providence to mess us with a bountiful season; which has' cofrtributed inore' than any thihg tlidt could' possibly have been provided by human ingenuity, to subdde all discontent among us; it looks now as if the* time had really commenced when we can indeed begfr] with united hands and hearts, to enjoy the fruits' and bles sings of Our long expected peace; and it would give rhe Satisfaction to" the latest hour of iiiy life, if in addition to having had the good fortiine to defend the people df England frorri the extension of the law of treason, any thing' that I could say ot do in this place, could cbrltribute t6 re store the affectioris of the people of this country,; and above all, to restore me ahemitea riffectib'hs of soriie few of His" Majesty's subjects in thrs country; to their venerable sove reign*.1' Gentlemen, I trust that when this triai is over, if we" see these men' restored to their families ; if we see that they" are rtdf to be offered up £ts victims on the altar of public* justice — if we find that they are' to mingle again with their4* friends and their families, we cannot doUbt that they wSff' have received a lesson by these prosecutions, from which' they will derive benefit for the remainder of their lives'^ the example which hds been Afforded to all' who ate oat of doors, of the danger into which men fall oy com mitting such outrages as these— the observations that will come from the learned Judges, with more Weight than' from' any body else,-1 to convince them of the folly and futilityof their proceedings, will, I trust, do us' all godf?," and will restore that harmony and good humour which ought ever to subsist amongst Englishmen, who will now: and then, however, have a few angry words' about* public affairs, biit without much ineanin°\ Gentlemen, permit me in a few Words to remind you wrratf it is tha* I hurtibly conceive will deserVe-your*arteri-' 209 live consideration on the behalf of the person aocused : there is no function of a Jury, as you must by this time be well aware, that is of half the importance of that to which I have alluded, namely, that of carefully keeping the laws of treason within due bounds, of carefully pro tecting the subject from the rigour and severity of those laws ;\ unless in your consciences you believe the accused is proved to have violated them, it is a duty you owe to yourselves and to posterity to keep a vigilant eye upon those laws, and not to suffer them to be unnecessarily ex tended. In this case, I trust you will find no facts suffi cient to make out a case of High Treason ; the acts done must in all cases of crime, and in this as well as in others, I do not say be adequate to the end, for then there would be no such thing as High Treason, but there mast be some proportion between the means and the end ; for if a man attempt a thing by means utterly inadequate, there can be no greater evidence thathe did not seriously intend tp do the thing ; supposing a man stood at the end of the road towards London, and had been told a person was im London, and he had said, lifting up his gun, here goes, I will fire at him : he might have the folly to suppose it; would reach its destination, but unless- there was a proba ble reason to believe that the end would be attained, the. folly of the means is a protection against its being supposed that he had the end distinctly in view. You see then, Gentlemen, that if this evidence does not sustain the charge, I have humbly submitted that the Prisoner will be entitled to your acquittal ; that whatever course it may be thought advisable to take against the accused hereafter, for this riot is matter with which you have nothing to do; you have nothing to do undoubtedly on the present occa sion, but to consider whether or not this higher species of crime has been committed ; the evidence has not only not proved a case of High Treason, but it has not, as I have submitted, proved a felony under the riot act; because the proclamation, that is the caution, was not given ; and under these circumstances, and particularly, Gentlemen, and I beg leave before I conclude my address to . jod to 210 repeat, that if the case be doubtful, if there be a reason able doubt whether it is High Treason or riot, I beg leave to remind you of the language of my Lord Chief Justice Mansfield to the Jury in the year 1 780, that you will give the accused the benefit of that doubt. I conceive that it is always for the advantage and for the interests of the coun try, that if a doubtful case of treason is presented tp the consideration of a Jury, indeed I may say that by ancient usage and common sense, the scale should always prepon derate in favour of the subject; that I think is the sub stance of what Lord Mansfield stated in conclusion to the Jury in the case of Lord George Gordon. Gentlemen, with that observation 1 will close what f have to submit to you ; the offences of these persons have been atrocious, but they have not been Treason; or if you doubt whether tliey have been Treason or not, you will give the accused the benefit of that doubt, and say that they have not been guilty of that crime, and thereby, rescue your county from the imputation of being the only county in England where this species of Treason has been held to have been committed twice in a century, in the year 1745, and again in 1817. I trust that reproach will not fall upon your county. Gentlemen I will not trouble you further. ,, ... Evidence for the Prisoner. John Hazard, sworn, ,. Examined by Mr. Cross. Q. I believe you are the overseer of the Township of Wilford? A. Yes. Q. How far is that from this plaice? . A, About seventeen or eighteen miles; it is not in this county. ail Q. Do, you know Jeremiah Brandreth ? A. Yes. Q. What condition of life was he in ? A. A frame-work knitter ; I suppose so. Q. What do you mean by you suppose so ? A. He told me so when he came over. Q. Was that before this matter occurred ? A. Yes. Q. Did he and his family have relief from your parish ? A. Yes ; they were removed to Wilford from Sutton Ashfield. Mr- DENMAN. May it please your Lordship, t Gentlemen of the Jury. "After the very able and impressive address which you have just heard, if I thought myself at liberty to consult my1 own judgment alone, I should probably leave it to you to decide this question without any observations from me ; because, feeling it necessary to go very much over the same ground with my learned friend, I am quite sure I can present nothing to your minds with so much force as it has already been presented by him. But, for my own part, I feel on the present occasion that my learned friend and myself are invested with somethinglike a public duty ; and that when the Act of Parliament — the Act of William III. with a proper jealousy of state prosecutions, gave the prisoner the privilege of being heard by two counsel, both those counsel were in a manner bound by the same law to bring before a Jury such observations as might occur to their own minds. In some sense indeed it is a satisfaction to me that 1 must, in so great a degree, adopt the ideas of my learned precursor, because my own opinions, which were formed at a great distance from him, and without any opportunity of conferring upou the sub ject till we met at this place, have received that degree of o 2 212 countenance and sanction from his concurrence in them which gives me the fullest confidence in their justice. With the same confidence therefore I shall proceed* to lay them before the Court and you ; and looking to the man ner in which this case was stated, it will he necessary for me to follow my learned friend in proclaiming at the out set my strong dissent from the doctrine-** laid down by my learned friend the Attorney General. It appears to me that that doctrine is not the law of England. I will state the reasons which have led to that opinion, and of the validity of those reasons it is you I think who are to judge. Gentlemen, the first count in this Indictment is framed upon the Statute of 25th Edward III. for levying war against the King ; and it was stated to you, 1 think very distinctly, by my learned friend, the Attorney General, that the other two counts, in fact, resolve themselves into the first. In both of those other counts, which are framed upon a more recent Statute, the levying war is the important overt act: if novVarwas levied, no HighTreason was committed. I think I collected, as the result of what he said, that the single question for your considera tion is, whether war has or has not been levied against the king? Now, Gentlemen, I must be allowed to express my sur prize that the learned Attorney General should have stated the law upon the subject so very shortly, and with so little reference to the great authorities which are to be found upon this subject; because though! trust and be lieve that none of you have come with the chance of taking upon you this important office with which you are now invested, without accurately informing your own minds upon the subject of this Trial— upon the subject, I mean, of Trials for High Treason in genera], so as to come here prepared for correctly understanding the lan guage which must be held upon this occasion ; yet it is impossible that it should not betoyou,as it is indeed to us all, in many rfspects, anew subject; I therefore think it would have been quite as well if the learned Attorney 213 General had gone a little more fully into the history of this business, and laid the law before you, as it is to be found in the Statute Bookstand in the writings of the most emi nent individuals upon that Statute. Gentlemen, it appears to me, that even the preamble of that Statute will form an important ingredient in the con sideration of any Jury to whom such a question is re ferred, stating as it does in the language employed by the Parliament itself, the reasons for having passed the Sta tute. I am about to quote a passage now from a most im portant treatise*- the treatise of Sir Matthew Hale, who bas written very largely upon this subject, and has set forth not only the Act of Parliament upon which this ques tion arises, but the preamble also by which it is introduced. The preamble is this " That as the Justices.of our Lord the King assigned in divers counties have adjudged per sons impeached before them to be Traitors for divers causes, unknown to the generality to be Treason," they petition that "it will please our Lord the King, by his council, and by the great men and sages of the land to declare the points of Treason in this present Parliament," Because the Judges in their assizes have convicted per sons of Treasons unknown to the law of England, there fore King Edward and his Parliament determined to come to a declaration of the law, by which the Jury shall be enabled at once to declare upon the evidence whether or not the fact has been committed. It was to avoid there fore all construction that this Act of Parliament was pasged ; for it was known that in former times these con structions had been improperly engrafted upon the law of the land, and that the same constructions might afterwards be fastened upon the subject ; and therefore whatever re spect I entertain for Sir Michael Foster, and for the trea tise compiled by him in his leisure, and for other text writers on this branch of the law, I own I entertain much more respect for the text written by the King, Lords, and ' ' Commons, for the protection of men against arbitrary Treasons. What are the Treasons then that they have de clared .'--First, the compassing or imagining the death of 214 our Lord the King, and afterwards the levying war against our Lord the King in his realm. There are other Treasons not immediately connected with this occasion, but which I shall take the liberty of specifying, that you may see, from the first to the last, except in this unfortu nate article of levying war, there is not any single Treason susceptible of being extended by construction. In lan guage the most distinct and positive it is declared Treason to compass or imagine the death of our Lord the King — to murder the ChanceDor, Treasurer, or the King's Justices in their places when performing their offices — to offer personal violence to the females of the royal family — or to levy war against the King. The Treason fourthly declar ed is, adhering to the King's enemies, within the realm or without, and being proveably attainted thereof by open deed by people of their own condition ; then counterfeit-. ing the King's great or privy seal, or his money ; and lastly, bringing counterfeit money into the realm. * Now, Gentlemen, I would submit to you, that it is im possible for any language to be throughout more clear and direct; and you will in a moment be convinced that the1 language employed in describing the particular Treason for which this individual stands before you, is as distinct and as impossible to be mistaken as any one of these clear descriptions of facts which I have read to you. My learn ed Friend, the Attorney General, did indeed venture to ask if this is npt High Treason, ^repeatedly calling it Treason by construction of law) What is High Treason ? if this is not levying war, what is levying war ? " I think my learned Friend, (Mr. Cross) has given to this' question a complete and satisfactory answer ; it is answered by every page of history, and more especially of our early liistory. When, seventy years ago, the Pretender arrived in this very town with vast force, with an exchequer, with allies, claiming the Crown of the Realm, stating that King George was an usurper on his rights, that was a levying of war, The Pretender might be called a foreigner coming to invade a country which did not belong to him ; and his case might fall under, the observations my learned Friend 215 rather unnecessarily made, when he told you that war might be levied, without a foreign invasion, by persons within the realm. Most undoubtedly war may. be levied by the sub jects of this realm ; most undoubtedly war has been levied by the subjects of this realm; most undoubtedly at the time when this Statute passed, there was no offence what ever so common, so clear, so intelligible to all mankind as this very offence of levying war against the King by his subjects in his realm, not by construction, not by inter pretation, not by classing together a vast variety of mo-? tives, by saying you did mean this in fact, and therefore must have meant something else by construction of law, but by plain direct overt acts, which it is impossible to, misunderstand. Gentlemen, look to the reign of King Edward II. the father of the King who passed this act of Parliament. He was deposed by his subjects, who rose in arms against him. Against this King war was levied in his realm. Or look to the reign immediately following that of Edward III. and you will remember that King Richard II. also was deposed by his subjects, headed by the Duke of Lancaster^ who afterwards assumed the title of Henry the Fourths That was a levying of war against the King. In subsen quent reigns there were usurpers claiming right to the Crown ; great barons, powerful subjects, canvassing the$F" several claims according to their own partialities and affec tions, raising forces on their own estates, assembling and uniting them in order to depose the reigning Monarch from his kingly state and imperial name. In the reign of Henry the Fourth, you know that the conspiracies of Nor thumberland and Hotspur his son were raised for the pur pose of deposing that King, Henry, whom they had as sisted to gain the Crown, by levying war against his pre decessor. And so it was when ttje Pretender came in 1745, and induced numbers of His Majesty's subjects to join him for the purpose of dispossessing the actual King of these Realms. I think, then, 1 answer the ques tion satisfactorily, and I am quite sure there is no single overt act which admits of being stated in more ordinary 216 language, or which was at that period of more ordinary occurience. Now, Gentlemen, observe in what respect this Statute has always been held. Lord Coke most justly observes, " these are cases in which, of all others, the law is most necessary to be known, because it cmicerneth the safety of His Majesty, the quiet of theCommonwealth, and the life, honour, fame, liberty, blood, wife, and posterity of the party accused, besides the forfeiture of his lands, goods, and all that he hath ;" for this reason, indeed, he departs from the practice of his age, and composes his treatise on this branch of the law in English, that it may be compre hended by all the King's subjects, truly adding the re mark that " most miserable is that slavery where the law is unknown and undefined." The object of the law in ques tion was to make it so perfectly clear in itself as to ex clude tdl construction ; and there is this most remarkable provision, that, if any case arises which is not there de fined, the sense of the King and his Parliament shall bo taken before it is called a Tienson; a provision peculiar to this aet, and arising out of that particular aim and object with which alone it was framed • " If it be not (says Lord Coke) within the words of this act, then by force of n clause hereafter it cannot be adjudged Treason, until it he declared Treason by Parliament, which is the remedy in that case which the makers of the law provided :" and afterwards he makes a very remarkable observation, the more so as coming from one who was himself a Judge, and many years presided over the criminal law as C'hief Justice of England. " Nothing is left to the construction pf the Judge if it be not specified and particularized before by this act; a happy sanctuary or place of refuge for Judges to fly unto, that no mans blood and ruin of his family do lie upon their consciences against law : and if that the consttueiion by arguments from the like, or from the less to the greater, had been left lo Judges, the mis* chief before this statute would have remained, namely, diversity of opinions what ought to be adjudged Treason, which this statute hath taken away by express words, and the Statute of l Mary doth repeal iil\ Treasons but only 217 such as be expressed in this act of the 25th Edward III. wherein he says this word expressed is to be observed." The doubtfulness of the law before the time of Edward III. is stated by the same great authority, almost in stronger language : " when we consider," says he " how many Acts of Parliament that have made new Treasons, and other capital offences, are either repealed by general or express words, or expired ; how many indictments attainders of Treason, felonies, and other crimes, which nre not warrantable by law at this day," — he then enters into his reasons for publication—" we have thought good to publish this third part of the Institutes, wherein we follow that old and sure rule — judgment should be given by the laws, and not by precedents;" therefore, if impro per precedents have in corrupt times, cr by any mean's whatever, crept into the practice of the law of this coun try, here is the text, the bible of that law, to which we Way resort, as a lamp to guide our feet into the way of truth. All Lord Coke's observations upon this statute (though I do not affect to read them all) deserve your serious attention : they speak to the conscience of every man who may be called to pronounce on the guilt of a fellow subject charged with treason in language the most solemn aud impressive. The Act requires that the guilt must be proveably made out, that the culprit is to be pioveably attainted, that is, " upon direct and manifest proof, not upon conjectural presumptions, or inferences, or strains of wit, but upon good and sufficient proof; and herein the word proveably hath a great force, and signifies the direct and plain proof; which word the King, the Lords and Commons in Parliament have used, for that the offence was so heinous, was so heavily and severely punished, as none other the like, and therefore the offender must proveably be attainted, which words were as forcible as upon direct and manifest proof. Note, the word is not probably, for then the common argument might have served, but the word is proveably be attainted." — Such, Gentlemen, are the comments of Lord Coke upon this great and important statute — you see the reason for its 218 passing in the uncertainty produced by an arbitrary com- struction — you will see that soon after it became the law of the land its principle was still obnoxious to men in power. Sometimes there were. temporary laws to suspend 'its efficacy; and it was evaded at other times by those, whose sacred duty it was to insure the benefit of its pro visions. Gentlemen, in the reign of King Richard the Second, to which I have already alluded, there was a court held at Nottingham by the King : and the opinions of several of the judges were taken on certain points of Treason which were submitted to their decision. I will take the liberty of stating very shortly what is said by Lord Coke on that subject, for I am sure it will expose me to no sinister im putations, as the entire dissimilarity of the times will pre vent my being supposed to allude ta any case which can by possibility now occur. Indeed I quote but the words of my Lord Coke, who in pointing out the reason why the law of Edward was passed, refers to what was done at that meeting at Nottingham, in coarse and violent language. Such! would not have used myself, but I must either quote it, or forego the benefit of his statement. " By this, which hath been said it manifestly appeareth what damnable and damned opinions those were concerning High Treason of Tresilian, Chief Justice of the king's, bench, Sir Robert Belknap, Chief Justice of the common bench, Sir John Holt, Sir Roger Fulthorp, and Sir William Burghe, and of John Lockton, one of the king's Serjeants, that were given to King Richard II. at Nottingham in the eleventh year of his reign. But more detestable were the opinions of the justices in 21 Richard II. and of Hawk- ford and Brinckley the king's Serjeants (and the rather, because they took no example by the punishment of the, former) which affirmed the said opinions to be good and lawful. He does not, however, forget to record that " not, only that parliament of 21 Richard II. and the circum stances and dependencies thereupon are wholly reversed, revoked, voided, undone, repealed, and annulled for ever, but also the parUament by which these false justices were, 21$ attainted is confirmed, for that it was for the great honor and common profit Of the realm." Upon that subject, Gentlemen, I would merely take the liberty of saying further, that that particular attainder, the attainder of those by whom the unjust judgments were pronounced, was twice reversed, but that it was ultimately confirmed, and confirmed upon that principle which guides and direets in the Act of Edward III., namely, that the Act of Parliament is to be judged only by its own plain and distinct terms, and that it is not open to judges to raise Constructive Treasons upon it. My Lord Hale says, " this extravagant as well as extrajudicial declaration of Treason by these judges gave presently an universal offence to the kingdom, for presently it bred a great insecurity to all persons, and the next parliament there were divers appeals of Treasons by certain Lords appellors, wherein many were convicted of High Treason under general words of accroaching royal power, subverting the realm, 8c c. and among the rest those very Judges that had thus liberally and arbitrarily expounded Treason in answer to the King's questions were for that very cause adjudged guilty of High Treason, and had judgment to be hanged, drawn and quartered, though the execution was spared — and they having led the way by an arbitrary construction of Treason not within the statute, they fell under the same fate by the like arbitrary construction of the crime of Treason." Thus, Gentlemen, I repeat it for the sake of impressing the' truth on your minds, the arbitrary construction of Treason is for ever dismissed from the law of the land. You will therefore not lose sight of these important principles, and these still more important decisions? and I am sure you will remember, that though times are altered, though it is impossible from the state of society that the same occurrences should take place in the present day, yet that human nature is always the same ; and that the state prosecutions, formerly instituted for the purpose of extending the' power of the Crown, have pro duced the glosses and observations upon which the whole doctrine of that which my learned Friend has so repeatedly 220 called Treason, by construction of law has been attempted to be raised, as stated by Mr. Justice Foster. The question, then, being upon this statute, whether that which has taken place is a levying of war against the king in his real m ; for the trial of that question, I have already said, and now beg to repeat, that I consider you, twelve Gen tlemen, the only tribunal. I conceive the question of levy- ing war against the King is a matter of fact exclusively, it is for you, and you alone, to decide; and that for the best possible reason, even independently of the strong principle by which all construction is excluded from the operation of that statute. It must be a fact for the Jury to decide, for it is utterly impossible to define beforehand what a levying of war shall be. My Lord Hale states, " what shall be said a levying of war is a question of fact, and requires many circumstances to give it that denomina tion, which may be difficult to enumerate or to define." He puts the same proposition in another part of his work, and in Mr. Justice Foster's Treatise, which has been already referred to by the Attorney General, the very same observation is in effect made ; for he says, " the true criterion in all these cases is, with what intention these parties^act," and intention is in all cases for the Jury a{one, and impossible to be referred to the Judges. It depends upon the circumstances of every particular case, and upon the view which every particular Jury may happen to take of the facts brought before them, whether there ha* been a levying of war. Mr, Justice Foster lays down the same law, and I find it repeated in Mr. East's Treatise on the Pleas of the Crown. That Gen tleman relies on very high authority in support of his proposition, and refers to a manuscript summary of crimi nal law to which he had access, originally drawn up by Lord Hale, and afterwards copied out, sanctioned, and adopted by so many of the most learned Magistrates who ewer adorned the Bench, that it is impossible for any text- writer to compile a work so worthy of respect and atten tion to, as that in which he states that the question of levy* ing war is a question of fact for the Jury to decide. 221 Upon a late trial for High Treason, the same doctrine was successfully contended for by my learned Friends^ Mr. Wetherell and Mr, Serjeant Copley. I do not know t hut it was either admitted or denied by either of my learned Friends, the Attorney or Solicitor-General ; but Lord Ellenborough, when he came to put the question to the Jury adopted it in the most explicit terms, for in sum ming up the evidence, when he adverts to the distinction between rebellious riots, and Treason, his Lordship say?, " It will be for you, Gentlemen, when you attend to the evidence which I shall presently state to you, to say whether it is of the one description or the other." There fore it was for the Jury to pronounce upon the fact— it is and must be for. the Jury in every case. Th*$ the law handed down from the earliest times has been con firmed in the latest, and the law is recognized by the authority of the present Chief Justice of England* that you, the Gentlemen of the Jury, are the proper tribunal for deciding whether Treason has been committed by levying war. If I appear to have labored this point at more length than is necessary (for I hardly expect the doctrine will be1 denied to me) I trust yon will forgive me. I think it it matter of the utmost importance in itself; and I think it a matter of the utmost importance in its consequences. Now, Gentlemen, I know that what was said upon that occasion will be repeated here, that there have been con structive levyings of war recognized by the Courts oti several occasions. It is no doubt time that there have: there are three or four eases to be found in the books in which the Court have talked of constructive levying of wary and in which convictions have taken place. Gen tlemen, the first of these cuses occurred 200 years from the passing of that very statute, which, if preserved and held sacred ns it ought to have been, would have pre vented the necessity of entering into this discussion. In the reign of Henry VIII., in that most infamous and bloody reign, at the distance of two compleat centuries from the time when that statute was passed, the first case of the kind occurred. It was then determined that a rising ¦9S& to enhance the wages of labour was aTevying of war against the King in his realm. Gentlemen, I am sure you hear me with astonishment, I am quite sure that after the statute I have read to you, and the comments I have quoted, you can hardly believe that in any reign it should be decided that a rising to en hance the wages of labour should be called a levying pf war against the King in his realm, within that statute(by which it was not only not so determined, but by which the very negative was established. However, the. fact cannot be denied, it was so determined in that reign, in which several other equally extraordinary precedents might be found on the subject of state prosecutions; and in which the only rule one can believe to have been uni formly prevalent, was to adopt the construction most favorable to the power of the crown and most agreeable to its inclinations. I will not enumerate the dreadfjul, means by which crown prosecutions were then carried on, but will only remind you in what reign it was that that construction of the law originated which directly violates the great law of Treason, and has been deservedly con demned by some of the most distinguished lawyers who ever presided in English Courts of Justice. .. From that period to the time of Charles the first, another most unhappyand most tyrannical reign, it does not appear that a single decision of that kind was ever pronounced, or that any Judge ever sought to interfere with the province of a Jury in determining whether war had or had not been levied against the King in his realm. Now, Gentlemen, that case in the reign of Charles the first, I take the liberty of saying is not law : and I say so (though I believe it was decided by all the Judges) upon the authority of that very distinguished writer to whom, and to whom alone, the Attorney General referred in opening the case to you,— the case is called " Benstead's case." I now quote from Mr. Justice Foster, " It was adjudged in the 16th Charles I. a season of great agita tion, that going to Lambeth-house, in a warlike manner to surprise the Archbishop, who was a Privy Councilor, it 223 being with drums and a multitude, to the number of three hundred, was Treason;" so that to compass and imagine the death of an Archbishop was adjudged to be High Trea son by intendment and construction of law, on a statute which excluded all intendments and all construction, pro viding that the Parliament should be consulted oh any Treason attempted to be thereafter introduced. Mr. Justice Foster says, — " This is a very imperfect account of an insurrection which hath found a place in the best histories of that time. The tumult happened on Monday the 1 1th of May 1640, about midnight. On the Thursday following the special commission, under which the Judges sat, was opened and proceeded upon, and Benstead, a ring-leader in the tumult, was convicted, and within a very few days afterwards executed." So that you see, Gen tlemen, it was a very hasty proceeding; it was a proceed ing in a time of great agitation — a proceeding in the time of a most arbitrary monarch, and in the time of those Judges who pronounced that that arbitrary monarch had a right to take his subjects' money out of their pockets without the consent of Parliament, and against the ex- , press law of the land. Then Mr. Justice Foster goes on to state, " as the facts of that case are stated in the re port, it is not to be supported as law; he expressly con demns it, and declares that as the case is stated, and without supposing other circumstances which do not ap pear to have been proved, and which if proved would have been considerations for the Jury and not for the Court, even upon the principles laid down by him, the case cannot be law. Another case occurred, Gentlemen, in the reign of Charles II. and I do not think that was a very happy era from which to take precedents.. I see my learned Friend smile— he says, perhaps, I am dealing rather harshly with all times, but if you will bear in mind that two-thirds of the State Prosecutions in the time of Charles II. led to decisions, which were afterwards set aside as corrupt and unjust, you will think I am justi fied in saying that that time is not a very pure one from wliich precedents on these subjects are to be drawn. Iu 224 the reign of that monarch, a case was decided to which \ beg leave to draw your attention,— there, was a special verdict found at the Old Bailey that A. B. and C. with divers persons, to the number of a hundred, assembled themselves in a warlike manner to pull down bawdy- houses, and that they marched with a flag upon a staff and weapons, and pulled down certain houses in prosecu tion of their conspiracy ; this, by all the Judges assem bled except one, was ruled to be levying of war, and so High Treason within this statute, and accordingly they were executed. Now, Gentlemen, in that case it seems that a special verdict was found. But according to the doctrine for which I have been strenuously contending, and do now most strenuously contend, I cannot understand how a special ver-dict could be found at all, because if it be a question of fact and intention for the Jury to say what is a levying of war against the King, I am at a lpss to understand how it should be sent to the Judges to decide, , upon a special verdict, whether the facts and circum stances and the intention taken together did amount to that offence. It appears to me with submission, but with great firmness I state it as a conclusion from indisputable premises to which my learned friend and myself have been inevitably led, that the Judges could have no right to decide upon that special verdict, because it is the province of the Jary to pronounce on the effect of those circumstances; which admit of no previous definition ; it was for the Jury to- have given their decision, and the Judges- were certainly in my opinion without jurisdiction when they pronounced an opinion upon that special finding. Gentlemen, the Judges were not unanimous; one dissented from the majority, and that was Sir Mat thew Hale himself. I am sure I cannot use any terms to designate a wise, an enlightened, and an upright Magis>- trate, which are not applicable- to Sir Matthew Bale: there never was a man upon the bench, perhaps I might say in the woridj more religious*, more eonspientipufy more humane, more perfeefety laaaed in the law of th* land, ana" more determined to discharge his duty in ad ministering and in recording it. Now Sir Matthew Hale differed in opinion, and he thought this was an unruly assembly, he thought it was a riot, he thought it should have been put down by a Magistrate, he thought the parties ought to be severely punished who thus insc*- lently took the law into their hands; but he thought ifi was not High Treason. Let me suppose then that the case had beert as it ought to have been, submitted to a Jury as matter of fact, and not to the Judges, Who can decide only on a question of law ; and let me further suppose' that Sir Matthew Halfe had been the foreman of that' Jury, 'you will see that the verdict which would then have beeri correctly given by the proper jurisdiction, wd'uld have established a law directly the reverse of that which was pronounced by the eleven Judges ; for they put themselves into the situation of a Jury, and returned a verdict on the facts, when it was their duty only to day the law before the Jury, without any constructions ot interpretations of their own, ¦•' -¦ Gentlemen, there is one case more, it occurred in the reign of Qtieen Anne, and was cited by my learned friend the Solicitor General in the late trials. I allude to the Kitig against Damaree and Purchase, the- one a water man; and the other a porter, Damaree went about the streets of London With a multitude crying out Sacheverel for ever ! dowri with the meeting-houses ! and doing very considerable mischief: they were joined by the other- prisoner Purchase, who carne up extremely drunk> and ignorant, for all that appeared of the intentions of th© other rioters, though he certainly joined in the mischief' they Vere doing, The first question submitted was, whe* ther Damaree had committed Higlr Treason in going about knowingly and deliberately to pull down theses meeting-houses, and inciting the mob to commit the like outrages by his cries and his example, There is one view< of ibe casC in which lam not disposed to question the cor* rectness of this result; foreall these acts were done in. hos* tiliry'to'the Clovelmnaent; and in pursuance- of a scheme 226 for subverting it, (which might possibly be the. case, for Sacheverel was the leader of the high church party, who -were endeavouring to pull down the King and place Kihg James in his stead), it would be properly a question of fact, whether that was not a levying of war against the King. But the question so stated is a question of in tention, and ought to have been submitted to the Jury. The Judges took it however into their own hands, and decided, that because the riotous assembly professed a general purpose, the destruction of all meeting-houses,. it was a levying of war against the King. Such was their judgment as to the first ; but as to the second, who came Up accidentally in a state of intoxication, this man's case came before the Judges to declare whether or not he was guilty of High Treason for joining in the acts of violence committed. Now, Gentlemen, I have said and I repeat that I think it should have gone before a Jury to have made that de cision. Gentlemen, if it had, if you had been that Jury, if the proof had been that men went about pulling down meeting-houses, and holding violent and seditious lan guage, and that a drunken porter had joined them with out knowing their design, merely entering from a spirit of mischief, or from whatever other motive, into a par ticipation of these momentary outrages, would you, could you upon your oaths have declared that that unfortunate individual had withdrawn his allegiance from the Sove reign that he loved, and thought perhaps he was serving ; that not having the fear of God before his eyes he levied war against his King ? I ask, whether any one of yOu- would not have rather died in the box than consentedto have found him guilty. I ask you, whether you could from any sense of public policy have brought yoursehfes to say that that poor drunkard who joined in the destruc tion of brothels, without knowing what the party were aiming at, was guilty . of that wilful and most malicious act, which has its rise in a deliberate rejection of theduty and allegiance due tothe throne? Three of the learned. Judges thought -he was not guilty, the other Judges-were * 227 • of a different opinion ; I have stated my. reason far thinking it was not a question at all for them, the men however were thus condemned; but it is some consola tion to be able to state as the sequel of the history, that they were not executed upon that, finding* Gentlemen, the Judges who pronounced that decision, acted upon the authority of Benstead's case, which I have already considered, and denied to be law for. the very satisfactory reasons, given by Mr. Justice Foster; they also founded their opinion upon that case in the reign of King Henry VIIL to which I have alluded. If, there* fore, these eases are not capable of being supported in point of law, because they withdraw the trial of the issue . from the only Tribunals — the Jury, to which they were legally referable — that of Damaree and Purchase, which I know will be mentioned to day, falls to the ground also*, and leaves the law unfettered by their authority. At all ©vents I repeat again that it is a question of fapt.. for you to decide, and I trust, and am sure, you will feel, it your ¦; bounden duty to. exercise that privilege which belongs to your Jurisdiction. .-,,,. , :-.I shall now take ;the liberty of calling: your attention to what is said by that. great authority, Sir Matthew, Hale, on the subject of levying war. " The, assembling of rioters in great numbers- to do unlawful acts, if, they have no military arms, or no appearance of war, yet doth not always amount to a levying of war," and for this he refers ¦to 3d and 4th Edward VI. and 1st Mary, Cap. 12, " to make it treason, it must be a levying of war against the King, otherwise, though it be in a .warlike manner, and a . . Jeveying of war, it is nut treason," and he gives, particu lar instances of this, and adds, by way of example, " If it be only a private and particular design, as to pull down the enclosures of such a particular common, it is no levying of war against theKingi But a war levied against , , die King is of two sorts, expressly and directly," whiqh I contend was the only one of the statute intended, " as raising war against the^ King or hjs General and Forces, or to surprise aud injure the King'? person, or. to imprison p2 228 him, or to go to his presence to enforce him to remove any of his Ministers or Counsellors and the like," and indeed there can be no question that such acts amount to levyi. ing war against the King. But he proceeds to speak of the second kind of levying war — "interpretatively and constructively, as when a war is levied to throw Ldown enclosures generally, or lo en hance Servants' wages, or to alter Religion established by law, and many instances of like nature might be given ; this has been resolved to be a levying of war against the King, and treason within this clause." He then examines the foundation on which these constructions are built, and remarks, that the first resolution he finds is in the reign of Henry VIII. for enhancing Servants' wages, and the next in time was, that of Burton for raising an armed force to pull down enclosures, generally. I pass over the proceedings against Burton, because they were not upon the statute of the 25th Edward II I. Then he adds, '! these resolutions being made and settled, we must acquiesce in them, but in my opinion, if new cases happened for the future that have not an express resolution in point, nor are expressly within the words of the 23th Edward III. though they may seem to have a parity of reason, it is the safest way, and most agreeable to the wisdom of the great act of 25th Edward HI., first to consult the Parlia ment, and have their declaration, and to be very wary in multiplying constructive and interpretative treasons, for we know not where it will end." Thus the state of inse curity, Lord Coke describes, the uncertainty of every maa in the possession of his life, his liberty, and his property. If the plain words of a plain statute are to be extended by construction ; are here mentioned also by Sir Matthew Hale, as a reason for carrying it no further. He repeats this very frequently ; and in the course of these remarks, I find a paragraph which seems to go to the other point I have laboured, namely, the question whether levying war is or not a question for the Jury, which I omitted before, and will now recite. The Earl of Northumberland, , and his son Lord Percy, levied war against the King,- Lord Percy was overthrown at Shrewsbury, the Earl of Nor- 229 Ihumberland was found marching towards that town, and his object was not perfectly clear, " the King demanded the opinion of the Judges, and his counsel touching it, the Lords protest the judgment belongs, in this case, to them, — the Lords, by the King's command, took the business into their examination, and, on view of the statute of the 25th Edward III. they adjudged," what they considered to be right on the particular case. It appears, therefore, that the King claimed for the Judges, the right of determining, whether the act of the Earl of Northum berland was Treason or not ; but his peers, the people of the Earl's condition, according to the language of the Act. In a word, the Juryytook the matter into their own hands ; they considered the case, and they pronounced the verdict ; a clear authority in favor of the other proposition, that the question of levying war was not for the Judges, but the Jury. Gentlemen, another case also happened in the time of King Charles the second. — A great number of weavers in and about London, discontented, at the engine loom, which did that labour which should be done by the hands of men, combined to go from house to house to destroy these engine looms ; they assembled to the number of three or four hundjed ; and in Stratford le Bow amounted to fifteen hundred. They did in a most violent manner break open the houses of many of the King's subjects, in which such engine looms were, or were suspected by them to be ; they took away the engines, and making great fires, burnt the same, and not only the looms, but in many places the ribbands made thereby, and several other goods of the persons whose houses they broke open ; this they did not in one place only, but in several places and coun ties — this they did after several proclamations made, and command given by the Justices of Peace aud the Sheriffs of Middlesex to depart; but instead of obeying they re sisted, and affronted the Magistrates and officers. It is true they had no warlike arms but that was supplied by their number, and they had such weapons as such a rabble could get, as staves, clubs, sledges, hammers, and other 230 instruments to force open doors," of the military called in, many were disposed to join them: the tumult became very general, extending over several counties. This was submitted also to the Judges, not in Conrt, where it should have gone to the consideration of the Jury, butout of Court, by a proceeding not extremely correct, and which would not take place in these times. The Attorney General privately consulted the Judges what they would determine if such a case should come before them; the Judges were equally divided, five against five, and the Attorney General proceeded and tried them for a riot, and they were punished for that offence. One of the reasons, Gentlemen, on which Lord Hale founds his opinion upon these particular cases, and argues that these violent and outrageous proceedings, however mischievous and dangerous, still fall short of Treason, is that he considers them specially provided for under a dif ferent denomination by that Statute to which allusion has already been made. He says " It is considerable how these resolutions-that is, the resolutions in favour of a constructive levying of war,"stand with the judgment of Parliament, in the 3d and 4th Edward VI. which makes- special provisonsto make assemblies above twelve to alter the laws and statutes of the kingdom, or the religion estab-, Jished by law, or if above forty assemble for pullino- down inclosures, &e. Treason, if they departed not to their homes within an hour after proclamation. " Lord Hale therefore very naturally says— The Act of Edward VI. thought it necessary to provide for the making such a riot Treason, under particular circumstances ; and it follows, that it was not Treason at all before tbe Statute nor even since, if unattended with those circumstances j for the Act applies to great number of persons assembled, in the language of my learned Friend, for a general purpose; no less than altering the Jaws, or the estab lished religion ; and I defy human ingenuity to put it more strongly as a general and not a particular object i and as the case is declared Treason by -that Statute, it seems to Lord Hale extremely doubtful how it could be considered as Treason before, 231 Now, Gentlemen, I dare say that you have lately read tthe case of Watson ; I dare say you, saw it generally stated, and you would ohserve that this argument was very strongly urged by both my learned Friends who defended that prisoner, and put to the Jury by Lord EUenborough : " It will be for you to attend to the evidence, and to say whether it be of the one description or the other;" that is, whether the violent proceedings which took place in that case, with a tri-coloured flag, and a number of persons pa rading through the streets, meditating an attack upon the Bank and the Tower ; when headed by a young man, who leaped down among a mob, assembled for factious pur poses, and says, will you follow me? amounted to High Treason. The Jury found, that was not High Treason : they thought; it was a riot, and must have thought so, on the foundation of that argument which was then urged ¦ by my learned Friends, but which did not originate with them, because it is very distinctly stated by Lord Hale; namely, that if it had been High Treason, under the star tute of. Edward III.,, there could have been nonnecessity for passing the subsequent Statute of Edward VI., to give , it that denomination of offence, under particular circtlm-, stances, and after lasting a certain time. I submit to you- that the case before you is precisely that described in the Statute of Edward VI.; it was a meeting of a number of iiersons above twelve to alter the Laws and Statutes of this realm by force, and to proceed to the execution of that purpose by the force they had so gathered. It was indisputably a rebellious riot, but the law provides, that if by force and arms they shall meet to effectuate that object, they shall be guilty not of High Treason, but, so far from it, they shall be, in the first instance, guilty only of a riot, and shall be punished and dispersed in the manner pre scribed by that Act. This argument is most material in another point of view. In the time of Henry VIII, the first case of constructive levying of war took place. v In the time of his son, King Edward the Sixth this Act was passed, which declared iu effect, .that what the Judges had called levying war was not 232 levying war, but was no more than an aggravated riot. Fof the case of enhancing servants wages was that in which all those ingredients concurred. The multitude met with force to carry that purpose into effect, and the Judges of that day declared these acts High Treason. But, in the very next reign, we find an Act of Parliament describing, in precise words, that which had been so considered in the reign of Henry VIII, and declaring it shall not, in the first instance, be High Treason, but riot, Nor must it be for gotten that the great and humane object of this law was not merely to bring to punishment the miserable persons who might have been goaded on by despair and famine to acts of violence and even of rebellion, but to repress them in the outset,and put them down before they be came fatal; not to look on and see them proceeding, and, when they had got to a certain head, to interpose when it has become too late, denounce them by the name of Treason, and scatter , almost at random, among a misguided multitude, the dread ful sentence of death and mutilation ; but the object Was to say you are wretched, you are ignorant, you are misled, you are entitled more to compassion than to punishment, and, therefore, in just commiseration of your ignorance and your wretchedness the majesty of the law shall appear among you, with the Sheriff and the magistrates whom you know and respect ; your neighbours and the force of the country, and all those on whom you ought to look with affection and veneration, shall entreat you to disperse, to return to your own houses and abide there in peace. We know the mischief and the danger of these meetings ; we know to what they may lead ; we know what fatal Conse quences they are calculated to produce ; we have provided, therefore, for dissolving the riotous assembly by a superior legitimate force, and thus preserving the threatened peace of the counfry. Let it, however, be remembered that these fatal conse quences are by no means more li kely to resultfrom a treason able confederacy than from a riotous assemblage, perhaps even less so ; and, therefore, if any use is to be made of that most uniortunate circumstance which contaminates 233 the present case with blood, I say k has no real bearing on the present enquiry. . My learned sFriend, the Attorney General, 'has himself desired you, in the plainest terms, not to allow that circum stance to affect your minds, and I trust you will hot ; be cause a death has ensued, therefore think that it is the less a Riot or the more a Treason, for, in point of fact, the characters of the two crimes are in all respects perfectly distinct; and there are many circumstances connected with such transactions which make the death of an indivi dual more likely to occur in the prosecution of Riot than of Treason. But, Gentlemen, that unhappy event has misled me from the object I had in view, and I must again remind you of the argument I have urged, and of the effect it produced on the trial of Watson. I have not the slightest doubt that that was the main consideration which convinced the minds, of that enlightened and independent Jury, and I am sure you are not less enlightened or less independent. Not upon their authority however, but upon the authority of your own reason and your just regard to principles, I .submit to you that you ought to come to the same result, and pronounce the same verdict. Not that I am asking (or impunity at your hands ; God knows, the unfortunate objects, brought here to-day, are liable to punishment even whenyou shall have dismissed them. God knows, if the evidence be taken to be true as affecting this unhappy individual, on other charges besides that of Treason, there is but little fear he will escape with impunity. Too many laws have been already violated, too many feelings have been wounded, to suppose that this matter should be passed lightly over. I think it is not to be expected, and I tell you fairly— feeling as I do, that this is a public duty which I am performing, I tell you fairly I do not wish to gee these parties escape with impunity. I think they ought to be punished, that they ought to be made sensible of their crime, and others ought to be warned by their ex>- ample. But do not let it be by a strained construction of « positive law, which cannot he violated without affecting 234 the security of all the King's subjects, and the stability of our free constitution. Gentlemen, the law of riots was re-enacted iu the. first year of the reign of Queen Mary, with this difference^ that when parties should have been assembled an appointed length of time, without dispersing after proclamation read, they should be guilty, not of Treason, but of felony — all the intermediate statutes of Treason were wiped away by the Act of Mary ; the statute of Edward the third was placed again upon its old footing, and in my opinion, by this act of Mary and the previous aet of Edward the sixth, the case of enhancing wages was completely destroyed—* that decision was thereby declared to be erroneous, and is consequently now* of no authority in a court of justice— that is my opinion, I have endeavoured to establish it by argument to the satisfaction of reasonable minds, and I hope I have so put my point to you that j'ou cannot be deceived by it. I wish only to be understood, and I am sure it will be considered by you in its proper light. Gentlemen, I ought to advert to the particular facts which have been proved — and admitting that it is quite impossible to have heard the opening of my learned friend the Attorney General, without feehng great admiration lor the candor with which he has brought the case to your notice, at the same time I must take the liberty to say that it is quite clear that upon some points of the statement he has been considerably and most materially deceived. He has opened to you matter which he has not even attempted to prove, and that matter not of mere aggravation-— not of accidental occurrence in the course of the disturbances, hut such as goes to the very origin and conception of the crime imputed. This crime is in the heart of man — this abjuration of allegiance to the King, this levying of war for his destruction has its root in the mind and motives of the accused. The question is whether the heart is tainted, and the way in which my learned friend undertook to prove it was, that these persons met on Sunday, having been two or three days before at another meeting, at which this conspiracy was arranged. 235 Mr. Attorney General. No indeed. Mr, Denman. The note I have taken is this l< He was on Sunday the 8th at a public house, having been at a previous meeting a day or. two before, at Pentridge, for the express purpose of leading the insurgents, and of re ceiving them and explaining the plan of operations, wiping all clean, and so on." I think, therefore, I am warranted in saying that my learned Friend was instructed to state that which turns out to be utterly unfounded, but which, if true, would have been most material to the proof of his case : for if this man was at the White Horse on the Sun day, having come with a determination to carry measures into effect, which were the result of previous consultations, that would have shewn that a conspiracy existed, of which he was a member before that lime. Now, if that con spiracy existed, I should like extremely to know who were the parties to that conspiracy, who it was that induced this man to go. to Pentridge for the purpose of egging on these unfortunate starving people to the commission of riots and outrages, plunder aud devastation, with the ab surd and indefinite project of a provisional government for the distribution of bread and beer, and all those things which were heaped together in their incoherent conver sation. Then, Gentlemen, instead of the Prisoner's connection with any meeting two days sooner, the proof begins on this Suuday ; and then this poor man is found in a public house, in a public room, on the most public day, accessi ble to all travellers, having been there all night, for that is in evidence, sitting in the room with these people round .him: he was drinking, and they were drinking too. With respect to the outrage itself, it is, indeed, Gentlemen, im possible to deny that the outrage has been violent and daugerous in the highest degree : but I say it does not amount to any thing like a levying of war ; he has been drinking there all night, and he is found with a map before htm, with his apron twisted round him, and this the Attor ney General has described as a belted Generalissimo, pointing out his stations on maps and plans. Could the 230 inhabitants of Pentridge be ignorant of the road to Not tingham ? where the map came from one cannot tell, pro bably it was one belonging to the public house ; the con versation is mixed with language one is sorry to heaf, but without one definite measure proposed or determined on ; every thing is couched in the most vague and unintelligU ble language one can conceive. And here I beg to call your attention to the evidence of the two first witnesses; the special constables : The second man states that he heard all that the first heard ; he seems to have heard more, and yet he did not, according to his own account, hear so«rnuch ; he did not see Brandreth go out of the room occasionally, and as to the talk about drawiBg the badger, and the killing the vermin, and so on, you must do this Prisoner the justice to observe; that he never says a word about this vermin, that he never talks about the badger. Asbury, the witness, states no less than four names, mentioned in connection with that remarkable language, whereas the other says that no name whatever was mentioned. Asbury might understand, perhaps, that those four persons were intended, but he goes further1 and says that they were mentioned, whereas the other says they were not. There were several other contradictions between tbem, and I think the mode in which the verses were re peated furnishes some little lesson on the degree of credit we ought to give to such representations made by persons present on such occasions. They are irritated, they are drunk, they are half asleep, they hold violent language, they say absurd things, and among other absurd things they sing absurd verses. The first man called to speak to them, though they were only six lines, cannot recite them ; the second gives' them distinctly. Now, a man who is not able to put these six lines into perfect sentences be fore you, is the man upon whose authority rests' almost altogether the assertion that that kind of language was used which is supposed to point to a direct, clear, delibe rate design in the Prisoner to levy war against the King, arid destroy the existing Government of the country. I Uiink that circumstance furnishes a pretty good lesson as 237 to the degree of credit to be given to the memories of such men. Gentlemen, I do not mean to deny that there was an intention among these people to rise, they certainly did rise, but for what object? I fear I must admit (for I can find no other object among them) that their object was to plunder their neighbours' larders and to fill their bellies. — One says England, France and Ireland are all going to rise together—can you suppose-that was said ? or if you believe U was, can you suppose they had an idea what they were saying ? Another says, we are going to Nottingham and shall take the barracks, and another says, the keys of the Tower are already given up to the Hampden Club — An other says, we are going to pay off or to wipe off the national debt, I think they did not profess an intention to pay it off, but they could have done one just as easily as the other. There is no wild project which these deluded people do not state : but as to a defined object of any description, I am at a loss to find such a thing from the beginning to the end of the evidence, except the object of a bigger loaf, and. the going on a party of pleasure- on the Trent from Nottingham. While I am on this subject, I venture to put it to you, Gentlemen, as men of common sense, as men who know why language is employed, as men, who, when you look at this statute, see for what purpose it was enacted-^- in what times, and how well the crime of levying war was under stood in those times, can you upon your consciences declare that this absurd combination of unemployed mechanics was a levying of war against the King r When these- miserable paupers went about from one house tothe other holding the language they did, exaggerating their force, telling falsehoods or else excessively deluded— can yon call it, within any construction that reasonable and honest men can put upon words, a levying of war against the, King ? — I say if the man was believed to be serious who talked of the badger and the vermin— not the Prisoner, but one Turner-r-he might be levying war against Mr. Halton,. and those who talked of the vermin, might b# 238 levying war against the other gentlemen, of the names Cf Goodwin, Wragg and Jessop; but there is not a single expression that leads to the idea of levying war against the King. I think Mr. Goodwin did himself great Credit by his conduct, as well as by his evidence — would to God they had followed his advice — but the intention to destroy Mr. Goodwin, as it was said to have been expressed among them, was a much more definite object than levying war . against the King, and yet instead of doing him any mis chief, they permit some of their followers to take refuge in his office. They are charged with a design to destroy him, the first incident in the rising places him completely at their mercy : and yet, with his life iu their hands> they are so far from sacrificing it, -that they hear patiently his remonstrances and invectives, and allow him even to draw off some, deserters from their small and diminishing forces. Gentlemen, we have every thing put into military lan guage; the apron is turned into a belt, the pauper is converted into a generalissimo. But you will consider the facts, not the expressions, and see the extreme folly of their projects. I do not mean to go' the length* of maintaining^ that every design in order to affect' the parties must have been carried into effect; and indeed I think the answer to such an argument might have been spared, because no .such argument was at all likely to be urged. I do not' argue that levying war is synonymous with the obtaining a victory, but the question is, has war been levied and raised? here the charge is the levying of war against the King, and I deny: that it is a levying of war; I deny that this is a levying of war against the >King : something positive, distinct, and defined, is ab solutely necessary, to distinguish a treason from a riot, and I.put it to every one of you, whether that is not the impression of your own minds .— rvvhat did they mean— what did they do? Oh, they meant to overturn the Go vernment. What measures did they prepare — what steps did they take, to effectuate that atrocious purpose ? If the charge bad been for compassing the natural death of the Jjjling, and if a man were proved to have said I mean to •239 kill the King, if he provides any means, however in adequate, to destroy the life of His Majesty, that is an oyert act for destroying the life of the King: but when we speak of levying war, that is altogether a different consideration. Levying war against the King imports that, some measures have been taken against the King, which may have some probable, or at least possible chance of succeeding ; these men had not only not a chance of succeeding, but the only means collected were even. ridiculously inadequate. The second Count is, that they met with others to devise, arrange, and mature plans and means to subvert and destroy the Constitution and Government; was any plan matured? was any plan de vised ? it was concerted that they should go to their ^neighbours houses and help themselves to beef and beer, and so on ; but for executing the purpose charged, uo means are prepared, no plans devised, no arrangement contemplated. If something was said in the most vague and general phrases about the Government being over turned, one link of the chain was at Pen tridge^ another in London, and your imagination is to connect them. Some evidence has been adduced of acts which may be supposed to prove a rising at Nottingham. I know the evidence. fias been admitted, but I deny that there was any proof of conspiracy with these Nottingham men : there might be some expectation upon the subject, but no further. I admit that ten people rising in Notting ham Forest went to Mr. Roper's and asked him for his gun ; not a word among the Nottingham people of an in tention to overset the Government ; but the proof: is merely, that these few men were brought together foraa unknown purpose. Though the evidence lias been pro perly admitted before you, it is for you to consider whe ther it establishes what it was meant to prove. Such a head of evidence might perhaps have led us very far, for I_do not know why anything that passed or was said- in Nottingham, Forest, might not on the same principle be brought before you to affect this prisoner. But is the conspiracy made out? George. Weightman was to go 240 ihere arid see what was passmg ; he went and returned^ and nothing passed* Without requiring much consis tency of project, or a very distinct plan of operations, 1 do think that as a matter of common sense you will re quire something a little practicable — -something within the bounds 'of possibility at least, to shew there was an arranged series of measures in the minds of these people, not only to go to Nottingham and join people there, but an arrangement having some connection, however re mote, with the accomplishment of that purpose, Which is charged to have been their ultimate object, nam eh/, the Overthrow of the Government. In this view of the case, and upon the fair meaning of the term " levying war," the extreme folly of these people, their nonsensical lan guage, and the absurdity of their supposing, if they did suppose, the Government in the smallest danger, appears to me to apply very materially. The very term imports that measures must be in some degree of progress towards effecting the precise object. It might as well be said that the design of these men was to wipe off the national debt, or obtain a bigger loaf, or any other of the numerous sub* jects to which some of them applied the unmeaning ex pressions imputed to them by the witnesses. Gentlemen, it is impossible not to regret that these two Constables, who heard language so absurd and so foolish, yet so likely to be attended with mischief, should not have gone to a Magistrate and disclosed what they had heard. If even Mr. Goodwin had sent to Notting ham for a small force, when this silly riot was taking place, I think we should have been under the greatest obligation to him. As it was, they dispersed before the soldiers came ; the whole of the Pentridge party who were the most bent upon this mischief, had actually dwindled away to nothing, before a single Magistrate or Soldier appeared in opposition to them. Is this levying war against the King or his Soldiers ? I remember Lord Hale says, it is extremely important these tilings should be cheeked in time ; riots of every description, he ob* serves, endanger the. Constitution and Government, fo* 241 *hey may arrive at that pass, that when the forces of the King are brought to suppress them, the rioters may op pose those forces. Now, was that the case here i On the contrary, long before one Soldier had appeared upon the hills, these persons had repented of their long march on a wet night — they had got no bread and cheese except at the publitshouse at which diey stopped— they were cold and hungry, and they dispersed to get dieir breakfast. As these circumstances now bring it to mv mind, I will here observe, upon one of the most important facts, the Attorney General stated, as proving the object of the con spiracy, my Friend said, that when Brandreth talked of the expences at the public-house, where they halted to eat and drink, which amounted to eight and twenty shillings for all this body of men, he should prove that Brandreth promised to pay the bill when the Revolution should be effected, and the New Government established. This important fact, is negatived by his witnesses, they prove not only that that did not pass, but that some thing else did pass ; for he said, he would see him paid, but did not mention the Revolution. Gentlemen, what do I infer from that ? that die Attorney General has been de ceived ; that gross and exaggerated statements have been made to him ; and that these parties are exposed to dan ger in consequence Every little miserable man, whose property has been affected or endangered by the bustle, has an interest in making the worst of what passed, and therefore you find that diey represeut these tilings which the Attorney General has been instructed to state in his opening speech, but whicli are expressly negatived on oath by his own witnesses. I say, that is the natural con sequence of these transactions, diat the alarm of danger leads to nothing so certainly as that persous should say,. Oh, it was not merely to rob, or to plunder our pantries ; il was the Government wliich was in danger, we were in a common peril with the Constitution of the Country ; we have lost our bread and eheese and beer, but we have beat but fellow sufferers with our sovereign Lord the King. That is the sort of course which has been pursued on Q 242 this occasion ; the difference between the statement and the evidence warrants my assertion. Gentlemen, I would advert, in the same line of observa* tion, to what I said before of the Prisoner being supposed to have been previously at some place where this meeting on Sunday was arranged. My learned Friend, the Attorney General, said, that men meeting in several parties, had previously conspired to overset the Govern ment ; that the Prisoner was present; and, that from his conduct, it was plain he was privy to what passed, I am not at all unwilling, Gentlemen, to put the case upon that issue, upon which my learned Friend has put it, Did they intend, in reasonable language, had they any thing like a practicable contemplation of subverting the Government, and levying war against His Majesty^ the mightiest monarch on the face of the earth, with those few miserable men as their army, with even their neigh bours against them ; with more than overpowering re? sistance at every house to which they came, with tfai? exception of a few, and particularly that; where the un fortunate occurrence took, place, of which you have so often heard ? they were defeated .almost without opposition, and put down without a blow, If. others had acted with the good sense and., spirit of Mr. Goodwin, and above all> if those who had reason to sus pect the intended mischief before hand, had disclosed what they knew to the Magistrates, it would never, have even had a beginning. My learned Friend has said, that no man who does not wish to encourage rebellion will deny that this is a levy* ing of war. Gentlemen, I put it to you that not only may we so argue, but that the Legislature themselves, ex pressly so declared, when they made an Act to prevent twelve persons or more assembling riotously together, and declared it felony not to separate after warning given; was not the object1 of that Act to prevent this being icalled High Treason ? and if that statute had been attended to, if the magistrates had interposed their timely authority, the riot would have been crushed in a moment, and nu charge of Treason would ever have been preferred. 243 • Gentlemen, I know and feel assured my learned Friend wishes these cases should be tried without prejudice ; but it is extremely unfortunate that the case should be first selected for trial which is connected with circumstances so distressing as the present. It is unfortunate even that the man first singled Out for trial should appear here in this sort Of disguise ; hot that it can be insinuated that he has meant to disguise himself from the knowledge of wit nesses, for he has been instantly recognized by them all : but whether from some crazy imagination of his own, or some folly equal only to the folly of that night, he has chosen so to appear I know not, but I do think it is un fortunate that his case should be the first presented to a Jury. My learned Friend has assured you, Gentlemen> that he has no object but that this case should be fairly laid be fore you ; and I am confident he would not fOr any coni sideration wish you to convict a man, who, however guilty and unhappy, is not guilty of the particular crime with whichhe stands charged. I have had to observe upon the times when attornies general were a disgrace instead of an ornament to the profession, and when .the Judges ihtrapped men into conviction instead of affording them the defences which the laws had provided. Such cases cannot now take place, but I think I have satisfied you that that construction of law, by which the prisoner is attempted to be convicted, was the work of bad times, that it was the creature of bad passions, that it has been in such times the degraded instrument of a corrupt Court, that it is a palpable perversion of the sense and meaning of a statute especially intended to protect the. lives and liberties Of the subjects of this country against the evils attending such arbitrary constructions. Gentlemen, it is not only the case of the Prisoner at the bar which is involved in your decision, there are five and thirty who stand in the same predicament, for lam afraid it will be very difficult to distinguish their cases, though they may not have been guilty of precisely the same acts. I do not see how it is possible to contend, if 244 this man's object was Treason, that theirs was otherwise than Treason. Will you then upon the vague unsatisfar> tory evidence of two special constables, who give in various respects a different account of what happened, will you fix upon these five and thirty men the dreadful consequences of High Treason i will you strain the statute beyond its legal bearing? when its object was to exclude all constructions, how can you conseientiously extend it beyond its letter? Gentlemen, I fear as I have fatigued myself I must have addressed you much longer than can have been agreeable to you to hear me, more particularly after the speech my learned Friend addressed to you, of which I hope everjr word is engraven upon your memories. 1 have endeavoured to repeat his arguments because the mere repetition in other terms of that, widi which vou were not conversant, may lead you to understand the whole case more perfectly. We have treated this as altogether a q uestion upon the Statute of Edward III. It is a levying of war under tliot Statute, or it is nothing ; and so 1 understood mv learned Friend to state it. There are two other counts which re solve tiiemselves into the first, and if this is not a levving of war against the King, then none of the counts arc esta blished; aud, more particularly, as the previous conspi racy, though stated by him from his instructions, has not been attempted to be proved by any witness whatever You have then these outrageous acts for which there is by law a punishment. Vou have the act of going about ami seizing arms, which is a felony by the law of this country. You have the breaking open of houses in the night for the purpose of collecting them. Let the parties be tried for the offences they have committed ; but 1 re peat, again, this is not a levying of war against the King, under the Statute of Edward III. I submit most confi- dendy that the act which gives you jurisdiction limits your duties, and that you are bound, upon the oaths you have taken, to pronounce a verdict, acquitting this Prisoner of the'high crime imputed to him by this Indictment. 245 ¦. Lord- Chief Baron Richards. Jeremiah Brandreth,, if you wish to address any thing to the Jury, in your own defence, this is the time for you to do so. Prisoner. No, my Lord. REPLY. Mr. SOLICITOR GENERAL. May it please your Lordship. Gentlemen of the Jury. It now becomes my duty to address you in this ease, ; and I regret extremely that in the discharge of this duty I am under the necessity of asking you for a further con tinuance of that long and patient attention which you have paid to this investigation, at the same time that I am sure ycu will not think any length of time misemployed in the examination and determination of .this veryimpor- tant case ; important not merely as it regards the unfor tunate man at the bar, but as it affects, in the issue of this trial, the public at large, and become, even still more im portant in my view of it from the doctrines and legal pro positions which have been boldly advanced and laid down in the addresses which you have just heard ; forif one thing can be of more consequence than another to a British Sub ject, it is the due administration of justice, and theadher-: ence to those distinctions, wliich the wisdom of our ances tors sanctioned by the practice of ages, has established be tween the province of the Judge and that of the Jury. Jf however I correctly^ understand my learned Friend,, Mr. Denman, (who last addressed you with considerable abi lity) he has more than once insisted, that the question now before us is one solely and entirely for your determi nation; that you are not-only, to be judges of the facts which have been proved in this case, but that you are to decide also upon the law as applicable to them ; and that ah though you have the assistance of the learned Judges, 246 who attend upon this important enquiry, yet that you are to dismiss altogether what they may say, or what their pre decessors may have laid down l respecting the Law of Treason, and that you alone are to take into consideration the language and the meaning of the Statutes which have been enacted upon that subject, and that you, and you alone, are to determine, not merely whether the acts have been committed which are charged against the Prisoner — not whether he has committed those acts, with this or that intention, but whether or not, supposing him to have com mitted those acts, and to have harboured the intention imputed to him, those acts thus proved constitute, in point of law, a levying of war Within the meaning of the Statute of Edward III. Such is the proposition of my learned Friend— a proposition which I must cohfess alarmed me, because if it be true, either a great change has already taken place in the administration of justice, or it is to commence by the determination you are to arrive at upon this case. Gentlemen, the learned Judges who preside upon this occaSi6rt are acting, like yourselves, under the most solemn obligation which can influence the conduct of men • they are bound by the oaths which they have taken to state to you what the law is as it respects the charge which is exhibited against this Prisoner. You, Gentle men, are, and I hope ever will continue to be, as long as the administration of justice exists in this country, the sole arid legitimate judges of the facts which are proved, but with respect to the law to be applied to those facts; you are to receive it from the Judges who preside on this Trial. They are to state to you, and they alone, what the law deems a levying of war within the meaning of this Act of Parliament; but whether the acts proved against the Prisoner at the bar* and the intention with which he acted, bring him within that law so pronouflced, h is your province to determine ; but you are not, nor can an English Jury, from their education, their habits, ot then course of life) be competent judges of what is the law Upon the subject? it is impossible they should be so. 247 My friend, Mr. Denman, however, in the outset of his ad dress to you, stated that he trusted Before you came info this Court you had made yourselves masters of the Law of Treason, because, as he chose to insist, you were the only judges on that subject. — It is on this account that, important as this case is, (and God knows it is of the greatest moment) it has I think become infinitely more so from this new doctrine so laid down and insisted upon. Gentlemen, in this country neither the Judges nor the Jury are to judge arbitrarily or capriciously upon any point ; the judges are not to lay down that which is not warranted by the true interpretation of the law, sanctioned and confirmed by their predecessors ; nor are you, though judges of the fact, to judge arbitrarily upon it, but to de-\ cide as reasonable men, and according to the fair result of the evidence. Keeping, therefore, distinct the provinces of the Judge and the Jury, I shall venture, though certainly not with the boldness of my learned Friend Mr. Denman, but hum bly and submissively to state to you my conception pf the law ; but, concurring with my learned Friend the Attorney General in what he said to you in his address, and which I am sure you cannot have forgotten, that although he should state to you what his conception of the law was, yet that you were not to take the law from him, or from any advocate ; but that when you came to. determine upon the guilt or innocence of the Prisoner, you should receive the law from the proper tribunal for expounding it, the learned Judges, and according to the law so pronounced decide, I am sure that will be your course, and although I shall venture to state to you what I conceive to be the law from the Statute, and the exposition it has received from time to time from the Judges, yet I desire you not to form your decision from that which I state, but reserve yourselves upon that part of the subject, till you hear the opinions of the learned Judges when they come to sum up this case. Gentlemen, I will venture to state, and that shortly, what I imagine to be the law as it relates to the charge 248 against the Prisoner at, the. bar. (, The charge is that he, with a great number of others, traitorously and maliciously did levy and make war against our Lord the King within this realm, and that.being assembled, with arms in a hostile manner, they did theacts which have been given in evidence. You have, heard a very long, and laboured discussion by both my lemned Friends on the language of the Act of Parliament on which this charge is founded, and, if I at all understand them, their proposition is this, that unless war be levied directly against the person of the King, it is not High Treason; my learned Friend, Mr. Denman, commented at great length upon the wqrds " levy war against the King ;" and though he was con strained to. admit that a different construction had pre vailed from that which fie contended for, and that such construction had received the sanction of the Judges at various times, and that different cases had been decided upon it, yet feeling^ as he did, that if those cases were Jaw, how impossible it was for him to distinguish the case of the unfortunate man at the bar; from the principles of those decisions, he is, in order to get rid of them, obliged at onpe, confidently and boldly to, pronounce, that althp' persons, have been tried and have suffered the sentenee you are told by both my learned Friends that the present prosecution is an attempt to extend the law, and, by your verdict, to introduce a new species of; Treason not hitherto sanctioned by the law : that this is to be done through the medium of your verdict, aud under the sanction of the Judges sent here to try this offence. Gentlemen, whatever other discontents in the present day may exist in the minds of misguided peisons, it has not yet, I think, been suspected by any one that attempts would be made by the means of verdicts of Juries, and under the authority of the learned Judges of the land to introduce new laws and new penalties ; my learned Friends however with the authorities to which I have re ferred before them, state to you gravely, that the present 4fi an attempt of that sort ; an attempt, un the part of the 252 Crown, to introduce new laws and new penalties before unheard of, except in those decisions which my learned Friend, Mr. Denman, intimates, ought never to have taken place. Gentlemen, no such attempt is,, or, I trust, ever will be made ; the only question which is presented to you, and upon wliich your decision is asked, is, whether the persons indicted have been guilty of the offence of High Treason as it is at present known to the law, as it exists in our statutes, and as it has been sanctioned and recog nized by the decisions of Judges. If, after you have heard the exposition of that law by the learned Judges who here preside, you shall entertain any doubt upon the; case now before you, it will be your duty to acquit the Prisoner ; but if, after having heard that law expounded ; if, after having heard the facts stated-to you, you cannot, as honest men, doubt that the charge is made out, it is your bounden duty to find him guilty : and recollect that in so doing you are not introducing any new law, or any new penalty, but that you are doing that which you have taken a solemn oath you will do, finding a verdict accord ing to the evidence. Gentlemen, I am extremely sorry at this late hour, not withstanding the discussion to which this question has given rise, to keep you longer from the facts of the case ; because I apprehend that, with respect to the law, there can be no real doubt : but, before I do so, I must advert to some observations which have been made upon the Riot Act, the Statute of George I ; for you have been told that that Statute has enacted (in conformity to other old Statutes which had then expired), that, where a number of persons assemble together, and decline to disperse after a proclamation, it is a felony ; and, therefore, my learned Friends argue, that if a number of persons assemble armed, although their object be to destroy the Govern ment ; yet, unless a magistrate comes out and makes a proclamation, and they do not then disperse, it is only a misdemeanor : for Mr. Cross stated, that if these persons had stayed till a magistrate came and read the proclama, tion, they would then, have been guilty of felony ; but, a* 253 that did not take place, it was a mere misdemeanor, if it was any thing at all. But, according to one part of his argument, it appeared to me that his conclusion was, and I thought the impression attempted to be made upon your minds was, that because these men, taking the alarm, had dispersed before the magistrates came up, although they were guilty of the outrages detailed to you, and were armed in the hostile manner described, they were guilty of no offence at all, at most, however, of the lowest offence known to the law ; that is, a misdemeanor. Gentlemen, neither the Riot Act, nor the Statute of Edward VI. made any alteration in the law of Treason,— it raised that which was before a mere misdemeanor into felony ; but the Riot Act, any more than the Statute of Edward the Sixth, does not require that the persons should meet armed ; the of fence, under the Riot Act, is,—" If they are assembled together, and shall not disperse on notice :" and it says no thing of their being armed. I will refer you, however, to an authority7 to which my learned Friends have so repeatedly had recourse, namely, Lord Hale, who says, when advert ing to the Statute of Edward VI. (on which my learned Friends have relied), "The actual assembling cf many rioters^ in great numbers, to do unlawful acts, if it be not in a warlike manner, or in the nature of war, as if they have no military arms, nor march, nor continue together in the posture of war, may make a great riot, yet doth not always amount to a levying of war." And then he adds^ " See the Statute of 3 and 4 Edward VI. and the Statute of 1 Mary, cap. 12." So that my Lord Hale, with these Statutes before him, which my learned Friends say have made such an alteration in the law of Treason or have, for the first time, made it an offence for people to assemble together, says,— That the assembling of a great number of people does not amount to High Treason, if it be not in a warlike manner : but what is his inference if it be in a warlike manner? Why, that then it is Treason. For he goes on to say, — " If divers persons levy a force of mul titude of men to pull down a particular inclosure (that is, a single inclosure), this is not a levying of war within this 254 Statute; but if they levy war to pull down all inclosures, or to expulse strangers, or to remove councillors, or against any Statute, as, namely, the Statute of Labourers, or for enhancing Salaries and Wages, this is- a levying war against the King, because it is generally against the King's laws, and the offenders take upon them the reforma tion which Subjects, by gathering together, ought not to do. Thus, with the Riot Act of Edward VI. before him, Lord Hale, on whom they rely, states that if persons assemble in a warlike manner to effect a public purpose, it is a levying war, and it is the crime of High Treason, and therefore with respect to the Riot Act, give me leave to say, it has no more to do with the offence under trial than with any other offence in the Statute Books ; for if this assembly of armed persons had for its object the overturning the Govern ment, or the effecting an alteration of the la\ys, notwith' standing the Riot Act, it always has been considered, and is still considered as High Treason. Then, Gentlemen, what are the points for your consi deration— In the first place, what are the acts these per sona have committed, and what is the evidence which has been adduced in support of those acts. My Friend MA Denman has found fault with the Attorney General for having alluded in his address to some meetings at which the Prisoner at the bar, Brandreth was present, previous to the 8th of June. I know not whether the Attorney General distinctly stated that or not, but if he did, I think none of you who have heard the" evidence can entertain the least particle of doubty that before the 8th of June, Brandreth, and many of the persons whose names have been introduced to you, had met and had formed the plan which they were then compleating ;— was Brandreth un known- to the persons who were present on the 8th of June ?— do you recollect a circumstance which occurred when Mac Kesswick came in — do you remember that Brandreth did not at first recollect him, and that Mao Kesswick reminded him he had seen him before. Was this then the first time that Brandreth had been withthese persons— when William Turner comes in, does he affect n.5 any surprize at, seeing Brandreth at the table ? what was his expression on bis entering the room — rwhy he asked on coming in " where is the account of arms and ammuni tion you were to gel." Was this, therefore, a sudden? an accidental meeting of these persons ? I say then, that if my learned Friend did state to youthat it was probable there had been antecedent meetings, it is evident that there had and Hhat there must have been— hut sufficient for this purpose is it to shew that there was a plan on that day— it is unne cessary for us to trouble you beyond that. What passed when Martin and Asbury went there ?— whom does Martin And when he comes to .theWhile Horse at Pentridgef— he finds a number of persons in this house— the Prisoner at the bar sitting at a table, and the whole conversation about die intended revolution ; and here I could npt help teeling for, my 'learned Friends-nthey had a difficult and an anxious itaskta perform t~ and what is the attempt which is made to explain the term revolution, as it was used upon this occasion-nthese persons, who are represented to you by their Counsel upon other occasions as the lowest and most ignorant, borne down by their .distresses, and acting under the impulse oftheir misery, are supposed to be discoursing on a Sunday morning at the White Horse Inn on ithe Re volution of 1688. Geutlemen, as I before observed, when we.haye difficulties, to encounter, it is frequently impossible for us to get over them. My learned Friend Mr. Cross knew to what the. term revolution would. be considered by you rto apply— but he was driven to bis ingenuity to en deavour to make some plausible explanation of the word ; and he can give no other explanation than ithat these persons who are talking of rising the next day, are, when speaking of a revolution, referring to what rhad passed 3 hundred and twenty years ago. Gentlemen, this, is too much;— it is perfectly obvious that their whole di$cqu*se that day was upon the subject of what they intended to effect the following night. But Brandreth had a -map before him— can my learned Friends give any explanation of that circumstance ?*rrhad the, map any thing to .do with the iBesjolution .of Mr. Denman. No> I really did not treat them with ridicule. , Mr. Solieitor General. Then I will pass it by^ but you will remember how they meant on the Sunday to effect their purpose, and that they contemplated, in tb# coldest manner, the murder and bloodshed which might. ensue. • > , ; Gentlemen, you have heard much respecting the conduct of • these two witnesses, and that they wereCop- stables -r they had indeed been sworn in two days before, for some special purpose, but they are Butterley, men, both men employed in the Iron-works , at , Butterley,. Who takes Martin to the place? one of the Butterley men— .a man of the name of Cope; they are invited in by; the people of the house. But it is said, these persons dJ4 not communicate what they. learned at this meetings why, you heard the threats and you saw by the resukyhow 257 ¦Bkely those threats < were to be carried into execution "} then, seeing the assembly so determined,' and with those threats so held out to them, was it: at all to be wondered that these men should abstain from giving information. Then it is said these men- differ in their accounts ; it is a trite observation, that where several persons come to ¦depose to the same facts slight variations in their testi mony so far from diminishing from the weight of their testimony are a confirmation of their statement ; for as their ^attention was probably directed to different parts of the transaction, One recollects one circumstance and the other another, but both concur in the main fact,- namely, in the object of this meeting, that the persons present were plotting and contriving for the business of the next day, and When one of them does not recollect Brandreth moving from his place and the other does, it -shews that they come here to state the truth, and that the recollec tion of one does not serve him to 'state one trifling fact which the memory of the other enables him to do. And what struck me as the greatest confirmation of their story Was that circumstance Mr. Denman has commented upon, namely, the recollection of the Terses recited by Braridreth; you observed the manner in which the first witness attempted to repeat them, he repeated* two versed and could not recite the rest; the memory of. the other was stronger, and he was able to recite all the lines. This, therefore, strongly showed that they did not come with a false story. Gentlemen, much comment has been made by Mr. Denman upon some of the lines, and that they talked of fighting for bread ; but do you remember the Concluding lines? ¦" The time is come you plainly see" when, what ? when we must endeavour to get bread : we are our> of employment and must apply to persons to give us employment, we are starving ; (though you will see by and by how far that is corroborated' by the situa tion of these persons) is that the period ? no, the period is' arrived— -" when government opposed' must be/' -the timers come when the government is to be opposed; and how ? by an armed force • collected from all parts ef 25B ¦the country, Who are to assemble on the following, night, who are to compel persons to join them if they will not willingly do so, who are to, procure arms by any means, by theft, by robbery, or by murder, and having so done to march to Nottingham, join another party there, and •take the town of Nottingham- Then, what is fixed at this meeting on the Sunday! that they are to meet on the Monday evening, the South wingfield people to go to Hunt's barn, and the Pentridge and Ripley people to join them in, their progress ; but there.is a fact stronger than any of those I have men* tioned, which cannot leave a doubt upon the mind, of apy man that this was a long preconcerted and prepared scheme— how came they with pikes upon that ocqafooj^ when were those pikes manufactured, were they manufac^ tured upon the Monday or the Sunday in expectajionpf their rising on the Monday night : I say that fact shews to demonstration, that this was not a sudden ebullition Upon their part for the purpose of getting bread, but thatj the plan had been long contemplated; and that thi&iwas.. the time chosen, under the direction of the man at the bar, to effect their purpose. I, therefore, say that no man alive can doubt, after the meeting on Sunday, after t|ie expressions then used, after the preparations which had!) been made, that this was along preconcerted scheme in these persons, and that rating their numbers to-, a, greater. than they really were, and that they should, be able to effect, more than they were enabled to do : they thougjit the time was arrived when government could be opposed, and it was fixed, by Brandreth and the other conspira tors, that the rising shouid be on Monday night thq 9th of June. , ..j , Gentlemen, what is the next step in this proceeding ? w;hat takes place ©n the Monday? I am sure you will ex cuse me at this late hour, particularly as you wih, hear die; evjdepce so fuhy recapitulated by and by. by his. Lord : ship, if I do not trouble you with every expression used, and every circumstance that , took place; but they al1 have one object and; one tendency, namely, that these per- 259 sons were to op'pose the government and to effect a revolution. On the Monday evening, Brandreth and others assent bled at Hunt's Barn ; there were many pikes brought, and some of them had fire-arms ; but they were deficient iri fire-arms; they then proceed in their progress; and there is a fact worthy of your attention, that it was inr tended they should be at Nottingham between two and three in the morning. They began meeting about nine or ten on Monday night, at Southwingfield. I will not, however, take you to all the different houses to whicli they go, but it is most important for you in forming your conclusion, to attend to all their acts on the evening of the 9th, since they all shew that these persons were acting for one common purpose, and towards orte' common de sign^ and that that design was the overthrow of the Government, and a revolution. With respect to the acts of these conspirators, for so I call them, on the 9th of June, I think Some of them are first spoken to by Shipman, who saw Brandreth and George Weightman, and one or two others in Pentridge,1 going towards Hunt's Barn, and Brandreth then said there would be a meeting at the old barn bf Pentridge, Crich, Wingfield, and Alfreton ; that there were arms and ammunition there, and more Would be taken in their way to Nottingham ; that a band of music would meet them, that there were thousands more, and so on. Gentlemen, they do accordingly meet at Hunt's Barn, and I think that a witness of the name of Turner said, that either at Hunt's Barn or at Pentridge, I am not certain which, George Weightman said they expected an engagement at the" Butterley works, which circumstance I beg you will keep ' in your recollection till I come to the transaction at But terley, for it sheWs that at that time Weightman was aware of what was taking place at Butterley by Mr. Goori- wiri.n Gentlemen, they mCet at Hunt's Barn ; they are then marched to Hardwick's, to Tomlinson's, and I think theyprdcure atmsat both places; they then go to Elijah which he did j" what, Gentlemen, was it the duty of these misguided men, (misled, if my learned Friend will have it so, by those pub lications which he says have been spread throughout the country,and which, for ought I know, might have operated upon their minds in conjunction with other circumstances) was, it, I say, their duty to commit every act of desperation, whether it was robbery or the destruction of their fellow subjects, in the accomplishment of their common design? But I will not dwell upon that part of the case, lest that fact should operate upon your minds farther than as it forms a part of the, transaction, and as it sliews what they were, prepared to do in case of resistance to their views ; farther tfian that, I desire you not to consider it, and I wish you to try this case as my learned Friend Mr. Cross desired, you to do, in the same manner as if it was that of any of the other Conspirators ; for if any other of the Conspirators were upon bis Trial, this fact to which they were all accessary and ah consenting must appear, it being done in prosecution of their common purpose, and as indicating to what pitch they were pre pared in case of opposition to go. Then, Gentlemen, after this event they proeeed with1 the same desperate (resolution to the d'ffei'eRt houses*' which they afterwards attacked in their rqacj,, First, I think, to Mr. Fletcher's ; from his house they proceed to- Pentridge Lan,e<-end, and there you find they, are regularly formed and organized, and put into ranks, Gentlemen, upon this part of the case some light remark. was made. 262 by my learned friend Mr. Cross, abont '¦' the word of command" and fi the lock step." But this is too serious a case in my view of it, to admit of any light remarks ; these words of command, and the arrangement which was made, form a very material and important feature in the case ; it shews that they were organizing for resistance— that they were marshalled in regular array ; the musket men in the front, the pike men in the next row, and other musket men in the rear, so as best to oppose any force sent out to meet them ; that is a circumstance which in some of the old writers is considered as an important feature in levying war : part of them then go to Buck- land Hollow, others of them go up to the Town of Pent-' ridge, and at Pentridge a very important part of the transaction takes place. Their scheme was to goto Not tingham, where they were to be joined by a force there collecting, and therefore in Pentridge town George Weightman was dispatched to Nottingham; for what pur pose I think you can easily infer : one of the witnesses in deed stated that it was to bring tidings, and to meet them at Langley Mill. From i hence they proceeded to Butterley, and it was with reference to this part of the case that I desired you ' to recollect the previous expression of George Weight- man, as shewing they were aware of preparations at But-' terley to resist them, and that they expected an engager ment ; the fact is, preparations had been made, though many of the persons who had been assembled there had dispersed before the arrival of the insurgents, thinkmg: that they would not come ; but Mr. Goodwin states, that during the evening he heard guns fired, and horns sound ing, and different noises, all indicating a disturbed state of the country ; there were a hundred in the first division. Mr. Goodwin, with a resolution and firmness which do him infinite credit, opposed their designs, and prevented their taking any one from Butterley Works, and he came " out and reasoned with them, and represented to them the peril in which they stood. They said they wanted men ; he said, " You have too many already for the purpose you. 263= have in view." What purpose did Mr. Goodwin Conceive'' they had in view ? Did he conceive, with any learned- Friends, that this was a mere assembly of unfortunate ma-t nufacturers, who had been reduced to distress, who wanted. food, and that they were merely marching to Nottingham^ to procure labour and sustenance ? — No, no, Mr. Good—. win knew their purpose too well, and he accordingly .told • them, " You shall have no assistance here ; you have loo- many men already." Brandreth, upon this remonstrance^ knowing there would be resistance, and anxious to have-. no unnecessary delay in his march, gave the word, and the party immediately marched off with him. Mr. Goodwin endeavoured to prevail upon two or three men to leave them, but you recollect the expression of old Ludlam,. " that he had gone too far, and must go on." One or two^ others, who were actually forced into their ranks, did takei advantage of this opportunity to make their escape into-, the office, and proceed no farther. From Butterley they proceed down to the turnpike-; road, and their numbers then became very considerable,: for when they got to Codnor one of the witnesses. Hole,' stated that they were two or three hundred. Do we want evidence of their purpose beyond that already givear? Can you divine any other purpose than that which theyt stated on the Sunday .'-'-namely, that they were going oui» wish upon the subject. Foreman of the Jury. My Lord we wish to adjourn to the morning. -i Lord Chief Baron Richards. I believe Gentlemen, that will be the best for you and for me, and for the public justice of the country. ¦¦j ob Adjourned to to~morrow morning eight o'clock. n t 270 SPECIAL COMMISSION, DERBY. Saturday, 18th October, 1817. Jeremiah Brandreth uas set to the Bar. SUMMING UP- LORD CHIEF BARON RICHARDS, Gentlemen of the Jury, I have now to request your attention while I state to you the evidence that has been produced before you upon this' Trial, and suggest such observations as occur to me upon the subject, and in order to relieve you from auy appre hension, such as has been attempted to be excited in your minds, that the Judges will at all interfere with your province. I beg leave to assure you, thai no Judge upon this bench has now, nor ever had, any more inclination to trespass upon your province, than the1 learned Counsel himself can wish that they should. Gentlemen, the Prisoner at the bar, Jeremiah Bran dreth, otherwise called John Coke, otherwise called the Nottingham Captain, is charged by the indictment before you, with the crime of High Treason, that crime has been truly described to you as the highest known to the law of England ; and indeed, it may perhaps be said, that it, includes every other crime, and therefore it re quires, most particularly, that which il has already re ceived, great patience and attention ou the part of the Jury; but it is to be tried by the same rules that go vern other cases ; you are to consider and weigh the evidence, and you are to decide according to that evidence, applying to it the law as you shall understand it, from the best opinion the court can form upon the subject ; you will address yourselves to this duty, with all the impartiality which I am sure belongs to you, and 271 you will find your verdict according to that evidence, however painful it may be. If you should feel yourselves compelled to find the Prisoner guilty, you will huve no hesitation in doing so if you are of opinion he is guilty, tor you are to find a verdict according to the evidence: If ou the other hand, you find him not guilty, you will satisfy your consciences in so finding, and you will receive great pleasure, tuid so will every persoti who hears you. The verdict, whatever it may be which you give upon this subject, will, 1 am satisfied, be agreeable to the evidence. This crime being to be tried like all other offences, 1 now proceed to state what the charge is. The indict ment states in the first count, that the Prisoner, with divers other persons, being traitorouslv assembled and gathered together against our Lord the Kiug, wickedly, nudicionsly, and traitorously, did levy and make war against him within this realm, mid being so assembled together, arrayed and aimed against our Lord the King, did then, with great force and violence, parade and march in au hostile manner, in and through divers villages, places, and public highways, and did then and there traitorously attempt and endeavour, by force mid arms, to subvert ami destroy the Government and Constitution of this realm, as by law established. That is die charge in the fiivi count, and upon this charge a question will arise iu poiut of law. — what is the levying of war, accord ing to tl\e true construction oi the Act of Parliament which has been so often referred to J There is another count, whicli charges him with having, with divers other persons, compassed, imagined, invented, devised, and iuteoded to deprive and depose the King of aud front tho stylo, honor, and kingly name of the Im perial Crown of this realm, ami with having committed divers acts, ui ordoi to prove the compassing and imagina tion he had. We cautiot know what pa.-ses in a man's mind, except from something which proceeds from him in the way of act or declaration. litcie i* another charge, that he aud other persons. 272 conspired to levy war against the King, in order to com pel him to change his measures, and under that count the indictment states the same acts as are applied to the second charge, which acts will appear as we proceed in the course of the statement of die evidence to be attempted to be proved. You will say whether they are satisfactorily established. Now, Gentlemen, it is veiy important that you should understand clearly what is meant by the terms in the Act of Parliament " levying war against the King." It must be levied against the King in his realm. The words may apply to divers things, but I shall not trouble you by stating how many things may be considered as a levying of war within this Act of Parliament. I shall endeavour, by very shortly stating to you the law, as I understand it, to be unquestionably settled, to make the meaning of the Statute very clear, so far as it relates to the acts which are given in evidence before you, and then you will consi der whether the acts so proved bring the Prisoner within the law as I shall endeavour to state it. The Act of Parliament in which are the words levying of war, and that are now to be construed, is the Statute of 25th Edward III. The Act runs thus—" when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our Lord the King," and so on, enumerating some other things which are not now the subject of consideration ; '• or if a man do levy war against our Lord the King in his realm, he is guilty of High Treason ;" the words are—" if a man do levy war against the King in his realm." Then the question is, what is* levying war against the King in his realm ? Now, Gentlemen, I will read to you an exposition of this law, in words which are very short and very clear, and being short and clear I rather prefer to use them as my own, instead of my own, which, perhaps, may not be so clear. — " If there is an insurrection, that is, a large rising of the people, in order by force and violence to accomplish or avenge, not any private object of their own, not any private quarrels of their own, but to effectuate any general public purpose, that is considered by the law as a levying of war." There 273 must be an insurrection ; force must accompany that insur rection ; and it must be for an object of a general nature ; but if all these circumstances concur, that is quite suffici ent to constitute the offence of levying war. Gentlemen, I think I may venture to state to you from the best information I have been able to acquire in the course of a pretty long life, from the decisions of Courts- of law, and from the opinions of Sir Matthew Hale, Mr. Justice Foster, Lord Coke, and every other person who has written upon this subject, that what I have now stated to you is the correct result, and a faithful declaration of the law. If there is an insurrection, that is, a large rising of the people, in order by force and violence to accomplish or avenge any private object of their own " that would not be High Treason, that would not be levying war against the King ; but if it be to effectuate any general public purpose, that is considered by the law as a levying of war." i There must be an insurrection ; force must ac company that insurrection, and it must be for an object of a general nature ; but if all those circumstances concur, insurrection, force attending it, and the object of a gene ral nature, that is quite sufficient to constitute the offence of levying war. Gentlemen, it must be a public object; therefore tu mults that have a private object, in which the parties have private individual interests are distinguished. They are distinguished, indeed, by the Statute itself from attacks on the regal authority of the realm. If, therefore, it should appear, as indeed has been contended, that the insurrec tion or tumult under consideration, was only the effect of a prevailing spirit of tumult, violence, or disorder, directed to any, private object, or any thing but an attack aimed at the Royal authority of the realm, that would not be Trea son, and no person who administers the law will ever, I trust, attempt to confound tumults of the sort I have mentioned with Treason, which is an attempt to overturn the established Government of the country,; as for, in stance, in order to. put a plain case, which is a very clear one, and in putting which I am using thewprds.of a. very . s 274 great Judge : — " if a body of men assemble together, and with force destroy a particular inclosure, for instance, that is not an attack of a general nature ; it is a high misde meanor, but not Treason ; but if they assemble with force to put an end to all inclosures, that is of a* general and public nature, and it constitutes Treason ;" if there should unfortunately be an assemblage of men with force to de stroy a chapel or other obnoxious building, that being confined to a particular object, would not be Treason; but if the same power was applied to destroy all chapels, or all offensive buildings, that has been held clearly to be High Treason. Now, Gentlemen, the law being so, as I understand it, I will proceed to state the evidence, and I request you to consider whether the transactions of which you have heard were the effect of a wild violent tumult, however im proper and disgraceful it might be, for a particular pur pose, or whether it was for the purpose of alteringthe measures of Government, or destroying the Government. I state it for you information, without any doubt of the truth of the proposition, that it is Treason to raise an insur rection — to reform any national grievance — to alter the established law or religion — to punish Magistrates—to in troduce innovation of a general concern — to obstruct the execution of some general law by such an armed force as have been described by the evidence— or for any other pmpose concerning the Government of a public and general nature. And, Gentlemen, the sense of it is very clear — insurrections of this nature, though not levelled directly against the person of the King, are yet an attack upon his regal office, and on the majesty of his Government; they tend to dissolve all Government, society, and order ; for the King is bound in duty to enforce the Acts of the legislature, and uphold the laws; any resistance therefore to this must in its consequences extend to the endangering of his person and Government, by involving the State in a general destruction ; and in this view this species of Treason falls properly and necessarily within the clause of the Act of Parliament, as to levying war against the King. 275 You will have the goodness to recollect what I haye given you the trouble of hearing from me ; and if I have made myself understood by you, I think you will have very little difficulty in understanding the nature of your duty upon this important occasion ; the duty itself I am sure yon will discharge faithfully. There is, as I told you before, in the Indictment, ano ther charge ; indeed there are two other charges, which are introduced by a new Act of Parliament, made in the S6th year of his present Majesty's reign, and which is to last no longer than His Majesty's life, and a little time after wards, but during that period it is the law. " If any person shall, during the natural life of the King, and until the end of the next session of Parliament, after a demise of the Crown, within the realm or without, compass, imagine, invent, devise, or intend death or de struction, or any bodily harm, tending to death or de struction, and so on, or to deprive or depose him from the style," honour, and kingly name of the imperial crown of this realm, or of any other of His Majesty's dominions or countries, or to levy war against His Majesty within this realm, in order, by force or constraint, to compel him to change his measures or counsels, or in order to put any force or constraint upon, or to intimidate or overawe both houses, or either house of parliament." Then there are other particulars stated, and then the Act declares that if any man shall declare, by overt act, such intention, he shall be guilty of High Treason. These are stated as two of the charges in this Indictment, and the question, Gen tlemen, is — Whether the Prisoner at the bar is or is not guilty of any one of these three charges. Gentlemen, the first witness who is called on the part of the prosecution is Anthony Martin. Gentlemen, you re collect that the evidence is all on one side — there is no tes* timony on the part of the Prisoner — no attempt even to contradict any of the witnesses for the prosecution - many of the witnesses for the prosecution have passed even with? out any cross examination; — the learned Counsel in their speeches have, as they were at perfect liberty to do, endea- s« voured to throw imputations upon some of the evidence delivered by some of the witnesses. And, Gentlemen, there is no doubt, that though there is no evidence to contradict the testimony on the part of the crown, you are bound to examine the testimony, and to see whether it demands that degree of credit in your minds on which yon ought to act. Anthony Martin says he was in the service of Messrs. Jessop and Company at Butterley— we know that they were Iron-founders — this was a mile from Pent ridge — he says that on Sunday the 8th of June he went to Pentridge with John Cope, who was in the same service with him — they went between nine and ten o'clock in the morning. This man, it appears, was asked by Cope to go along with him— that he wanted to see about his potatoes and that he then told him he had some business there— that they went into Weightman's croft, and after some little time, a little girl came out, and asked Cope his com panion to go into the house — she did not ask him he says, but he went into the house along with Cope. The witness proceeds to say, that " they asked us to walk into the par lour — we found in the parlour a good many persons, and amongst them one called the Captain — his name I after wards found to be Brandreth" — he looks at the Prisoner at the bar, and he says that the Prisoner at the bar was the man whom he found there, who was called captain — lie says " many men came in alter I came in — the dress and appearance of the Prisoner were different at that time from what they are now — he had on a pair of grey trowsers and a brownish great coat — he was shaved, ami as the witness described it, " be looked decent" — he says. " there were others there"— George Weightman, of whom you have heard a good deal, Onnond Booth,two persons of the name of Joseph Weightman and Thomas Weightman. '' V ben first I went in I found those persons there together with i he Prisoner — afterwards William Turner came in :— when Cope and 1 first, came into the parlour the conver sation was about the revolution." You uiav perhaps axk yourselves, Gentlemen, what they meant by the revolution of which they spoke— did they speak, as has been sug- 277 gested, of the glorious Revolution in 1688 ? — that would be perfectly innocent, and it might be laudable; but we must consider whether that was the revolution they spoke of, or whether they alluded to any other, and if so, to what — he says " the Prisoner was the principal spokes man- — he had a map in his hand — he pointed out the places upon the map where the people were to meet, and he said there would be no good done except there was a complete overturn of the government" — that, Gentlemen, is hardly consistent with any allusion to the Revolution under King William the third in l688.: — He had a map in his hand, pointing out the different places at which the people were to meet, andiie said no good could be done except there should be a com pleat overturn of the govern ment — he said there were crosses or marks upon the map to find out the places the more easily— other men came in, as he said before, and as they came in they asked the captain different questions, about the present business, namely the revolution. " I know Shirley Asbury; he came in a little after me — the Prisoner sat near a table in the centre of theroom, and many questions were asked about the present overturn and the state of the countiy, and what proceedings they were to go about in this business — the talk was all about this business — they all answered one among another ; they were to take proceedings, as they declared, to overturn the go vernment, or else there would be no good; that they were to assemble the next day, that is Monday, as soon as it was dusk — the Pentridge people were to meet at Pentridge, the Wingfield people were to meet at a stone quarry. The village of Wingfield is about a mile from Pentridge. Then he said, that Brandreth said that they would go to Not tingham Forest— that they were to assemble together, and to meet there in a large party and to take the town of Nottingham— that they were to meet in the Forest about two in the morning of Tuesday— the other people, that is to say, all the country round, were to rise at the same time, at ten o'clock. Then the Prisoner said, that what they meant by the other people, and all the country, was Shef field, Manchester, and many other places." The witness 278 does not recollect what those places were, except Sheffield and Manchester, and other places where the rising was to be at ten o'clock, and that the Prisoner was the person who named those places at which the risings were to be at ten o'clock the next night. William Turner, he said, came in after him. You will have the goodness, Gentle men, to attend to this. — " William Turner asked about the guns and pikes — where they were ; and he asked for iheir estimate of the guns and pikes. The people there said they had none ; then he said his parish, Wingfield (he was a Wingfield man), was more forward than theirs ; he said he had got an estimate made of every gun, pistol, and sword, that the parish had." You remember, Gentle men (and I shall state to you by and by), attacks were made on the houses in the parish of Wingfield, and a de claration on the part of those, who made the attack, of the number of arms that they had got; of every gun, pistol, and sword, that the parish had. AVilliam Turner wanted to know the reason why they had not done the same : no reason appears to have been given for that ac cording to the evidence. Then Turner said they had forty pikes in a stone quarry to spare ; they then talked about seizing arras, and going about to demand arms ; and it was declared, that if .the persons, of whom they demanded arms, did not deliver them, they were to take them with out their consent : this was said by Ludlam to William Turner and by Barker, — he says he was there from ten iii the morning till three or four in the afternoon ; he left some people there at that time; he says, " Many per sons, during the time I was there, came in whom I did not know ; but this was the subject of the conversation during the whole time that I stayed there. I had not known the Prisoner before— I never saw him, but they called him Captain." Then he says " the Prisoner was the person principally applied to, by the questions that were asked. He does not recollect George Weightman saying any thing ; there were in the room, in the course of the day, forty persons ; about twenty at one time. Robert Moore was there ; he was a Ripley man. Mac Kesswick 279 was there ; witness says he had not seen him before. Rip ley, is a mile and a half from Pentridge. John Bacon was there ; he was a Pentridge man : he says he does not recollect all that the Prisoner said, but he recited some verses, — *' Every man his skill must try, He must turn out, and not deny. No blotody soldiers -*— = — " and there, if you recollect, the witness stopped; he en* deavoured to recollect more, but could not. He says " that two persons of the name of Joseph Weightman were there ; the elder of them was to go to Nottingham to see what was doing there, and there was money collected in the room in order to defray his expenses. The object of sending him there was to see whether the people there would be ready to meet the party then assembled and their companions at a proper time, and Weightman was to re turn and let the party know. Nottingham is fourteen miles off: he says the Prisoner wrote a letter and deli vered; it to Weightman to send it by him to some person at Nottingham. When Mac Kesswick came in he looked round the room, and said he thought there were too many for that business ; but nothing was done in consequence of, that observation. He asked the Prisoner how he did; th.e Prisoner did not recollect him, and Mac Kesswick said, 1 came with you a little way along the road, and he then recollected him. That William Turner talked of drawing the badger;, that,, by lighting a little straw in the yard, he would come out, and that then they would shoot him : this was in Wingfield parish. William Turner said, we have some little vermin to kill in our parish also, and we must kill it before we set out. The Prisoner was in the room the whole time, except a minute or two, and heard all that passed; he spoke to most of the peisons that came in : George Weightman and' others called him Captain." Mr. Denman,. I beg your Lordship's pardon, Turner himself was a Wingfield man, he was not speaking of any other parish— Wingfield. was Turner's parish. Lord Chief Baron Richards. tl William Turner said, we 280 have some little vermin to kill in our parish also and we must kill it before we set out," meaning Wingfield parish. Then this person says, upon his cross-examination, that he stayed there hearing their discourse — they spoke openly, and they set all people at defiance, and said they did not care who heard them ; this man adds, that ne knew nothing of the meeting until he got to it, he told them after he had been there some little time to mind, because there were constables in the room, and they threatened to put him up the chimney; the man says he was himself a constable, and he*said nobody called him a spy, and nobody made any objection to his being and staying there— he did not know whether at first they knew he was a constable, but the woman of the house knew he was : he admonished them about what they said, he had been in the room about a quarter of an hour before he gave them the caution of his being a constable, there was another constable in the room— there were sometimes more people and sometimes less in the room • sometimes not more than half a dozen. Perhaps, when they talked of going to Nottingham, there were several persons in the room whom the witness named, and the Prisoner was amongst the rest — the Prisoner delivered out some papers himself, Cope and Asbury had each of them one ; he says he had not one when he told them of the constables being in the room — they were talkino- of the present revolution and to the like effect. George Weightman said, he would soon cram such fellows as the witness into the chimney, but notwithstanding that they suffered him to remain all the time ; he said all of thein threatened him very hard, they talked of shooting any man who would say anything about them— he was not frightened enough to go away, but he was alarmed, and he did not wish to go before, the man with whom he went he believed had something to do with it. Then he says, though he was a constable he did not go to a Magistrate, but it was known that he was there, and therefore he was called upon to give evidence; he says he did not know exactly what they were going to do, but they talked-of 281 what they were going to do in the manner he had de scribed ; he does not know whether any of the people in the room were out of employ at that time, he was himself perfectly sober and so were they all, every one of thein as far as he observed : he says he understood that the Pri soner had been there the night before — he saw no arms there. He was re-examined, and said he was made a special constable a few days before. Gentlemen, with respect to the conduct of this special constable, one cannot say much of his discretion, or the propriety of his conduct, in not giving information immediately on leaving the room ; he did not do that, it is true, but that is not a question for you or for me to consider in this place, any otherwise than as it may affect his credit. If you think, from the manner in which he delivered his evidence, that he spoke the truth to be sure, you must have observed, that what he has said, is very important in this case, in order to show what the object of the parties was ; on the other hand, if you doubt his veracity, you are exercising your authority, your rights, and your duties properly in excluding his testimony rather, and not giving it credit. Whether there was any thing in his manner that created any doubt is more than I can say ; you saw the manner in which he gave his evidence, and if he spoke the truth, that evidence is very important. He told us, Gentlemen, that Shirley Asbury came in before him. Shirley Asbury is next called ; he lives at Greenwich, in the parish of Ripley, and is in the employment of Messrs. Jessop and Co. of the Butterley Works ; he says that at twelve o'clock on Sunday morning, the 8th of June, he went to theWhite Horse, Mrs. Weightman's ; he went with another man, John Elsden ; they first went into the kitchen, then Mrs. Weightman went into the parlour, and told the men there, that there were two men from Butterley there — they told her to bid them come in ; they went into the parlour and found about twenty people there ; John Coke was there, Anthony Martin, William Moore and John Moore, Ormond Booth; George Weight- • 282 man and his youngest brother, Mac Keswick and the Prisoner were there, the Prisoner sat as the Witness was going in with his back to the door,— he had a map before him, — he was pointing out the places where he and his party were to meet ; then he spoke some verses, some poetry, and this man repeats it to us, " Every man Im skill must try, He must turn out and not deny, No bloody soldiers " The other man stopped there. " No bloody soldiers must he dread, He must turn out and fight for bread ; The hour is come, you plainly see, — The Government opposed must be." They said that no good could be done, till they had overturned the Government ; and they declared that they had no doubt that they would succeed in what they were, going to do ; they talked this amongst each other, and said that every village and every part around them was to kill their own vermin ; they mentioned no names then, but they said they were to go first from that place where they were to Wingfield, and to take a bundle of straw, and to set it on fire before Mr. Halton's door (he is Colonel Halton, and a Magistrate), then the Colonel would come out when the straw was on fire, and when he came out they would shoot him ; they said that Sheffield and Chesterfield were to meet them at Butterley ; they were to kill Mr. Jessop, the Proprietor of the Iron Works there,, and Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Wragg, his clerks or assistants, they were then to take possession of Butterley Works. He says Butterley Works are a manufactory of iron ; then he says, after that, William Turner produced a paper, and delivered it to a man who stood by ; ii stated the number of guns every man had in the parish of Wingfield. William Turner seemed to think that the Wingfield men were the best men because they had more guns than the Ripley men had ; he said they had a parcel of pikes, forty in a stone quarry, for the purpose of protecting themselves and slaying others who went against them j they agreed to meet at. Wingfield at 283 ten the next night, Monday ; the Prisoner said they were to go tb Nottingham ; he said, every man when he got there would have plenty of rum and a hundred guineas ; they said Nottingham was to join them, and they were to take ^Nottingham to themselves ; then they were to go down the T rent, it would then be like a journey of pleasure when they once got to Nottingham. George Weightman was to go to Nottingham to see how they were going on ; money was collected in the room to pay hisexpences , the Prisoner wanted a barrel of gunpowder to teach thein how to make cartridges — he says he understood they had a barrel of gunpowder wliich the Prisoner wanted to be produced, — he found the Prisoner there and he left him there. — The Prisoner, in the course of the conversation, said there were plenty of churches on the road from which they could get lead, — he says also, that the Prisoner said there would be no good until they had overthrown the Government, — he says he staid there from twelve to about four, there was no other business but this talked of. — ¦ William Turner applied to the Prisoner whenever he wanted anything ; and he adds that the Prisoner certainly was the leader, — the number of people changed from time to time, they went in and out, — the map was often pro duced and handed round the table, and there were places marked out where they were to go to — the Prisoner pointed those places out, and said there was no doubt they would succeed in what they were going to undertake, — the Prisoner and John Moore talked secretly together, — ihe Prisoner said there could be no good till the Govern ment was overturned. Upon cross-examination, this man says he was a Con stable at that time ; about twenty was the greatest num ber he believes he saw in the room. Martin thought there were forty ; he found Martin there, and stayed after him about half an hour; the Prisoner did not leave the room more than twice, and did not stay above three or four minutes ; his going out was observed upon ; Turner did so, and asked where he was gone to ; what was said about the forty pikes in the stone quarry for the pur* 284 pose of protecting themselves, and slaying those opposed to them, was said in the presence of the Prisoner ; he says " he did not go to any Justice ; he and Martin told them there were Constables in the room, and they must mind what was said ; he was frightened so as not to tell a Ma gistrate ; the Prisoner said they would kill anybody who told of them, and he did not make any disclosure to any Magistrate; he says it was a public parlour, but he knew nothing of the business until he went in, and having been there he told nobody of it ; the house is by the road side ; this was on a Sunday, the room was close to the kitchen, but they said they did not keep anything there as a secret; the eldest of the Weighimans was to go to Nottingham ; he says, while Martin stayed, he the wit ness heard every thing he heard ; the room would not contain more than twenty ;" so that it appears the room Was full, whether twenty or forty : " he was made a special Constable about two days before ; the Prisoner said they should not make a secret of it, because every one would be obliged to go, and he said the meeting was to be at ten the next night — the Monday night. James Shipman is. the next man called; he lived at South-wingfield last June, and lodged at Joseph Booth's; he was at Booth's door on Monda)r the 9th of June, about half past eight o'clock ; he saw the Prisoner there; there were a few women about the house, Witness was "alone, George Weightman was with the Prisoner, the Witness asked where they were going to, the Prisoner answered, to an old barn up in the field ; that there was a meeting there of the towns of Wingfield, Crich, Pen tridge, and Alfreton ; that there were arms and ammuni tion, and men would be taken on the. way as they went to Nottingham ; that a band of music would meet them —that there were thousands more to meet them in Not tingham Forest : he asked what they would do for pro visions when there were so many thousands of them, he said there would be bread and beef for every man, and half a pint of rum : Witness asked him what the poor women and children were to do ; he said there would be 285 a Provisional Government formed and sent down into the country, to relieve the wives and children of those that were gone away : then an old woman Who stood by clapped him on the shoulder and said, my Lad, we have got a Magistrate here ; you will have a different one says he, one that will allow you plenty ; he said the Countries of England, Ireland, and France were to rise that night at ten o'clock ; the witness said if all those Countries should rise, the ships would come in and beat the whole; then he said a northern cloud would come in and sweep all before it, and every one who would not join would be shot on the place. Then George Weightman said to the Prisoner come along, I am half an hour too late, and beckoned him away ; the Prisoner said come along with us, and you shall have a good gun ; he says he did not go but parted, and they went towards the barn. He is cross-examined, and says he did not know the Prisoner before he answered all the questions the witness put to him ; he said France, Ireland, and England, all were to rise. I thought he must have been either mad or drunk. Thomas Turner is next called ; he says—" I have been apprehended, and have been in custody ever since on ac count of this business. I had before lived with my father at Southwingfield, a frame-work knitter. On the Qth of June, Monday evening, I was at Southwingfield at my father's house ; I left it a little before nine in the evening; I went with Samuel Ludlam and John Walker ; we went to opposite the meeting-house, very near to Colonel Halton's gates ; we saw William Turner, George Weight- man and some strange man about two or three hundred yards from the village ; this stranger was called the Not tingham Captain" — he heard of no other name that was given to him ; the Prisoner was the man who was there, and Who was called the Captain; they had all of them guns ; they were standing still when he first saw them ; the witness and his party went to Hunt's Barn,, in Colonel Halton's field; before they got there William Turner was loading his gun With bullets; about this time, that, is, 286 about the time the gun was loaded, George Weightman said, " come lads, I expect an engagement very soon with Jessop's men at Butterley furnace;" the witness ask ed William Turner in the presence of the stranger, who he was; he said, "our Captain from Nottingham;" Samuel Ludlam and the witness stopped about a hundred yards short of the barn, and saw about a score of men coming out of the barn ; as they came towards him he ob served they had arms, spikes or pikes, and one sword or two ; the Prisoner, Turner, and Weightman, all came to gether from the barn ; George Weightman said they must go to a field of Mr, Topham's, and the Pentridge people would meet them there ; before they went to Topham's field, the Prisoner and William Turner formed them into ranks; he says he carried a bag of bullets, he had taken them from George Bramley ; he preferred carrying them to car rying a pike; the Prisoner ordered them to march the nearest way to Topham's field; then a pike was placed: upon the table, and he said the instrument produced upon the table was the sort of instrument which they had then, and which he calls a spike ; he says they first went to Hardwicke's ; the biggest part of the party went up to; the house, he did not; they went next to Henry Tomlin- son's ; he did not see whether they took any thing from thence : he afterwards went the nearest way to meet them at Topkam's Close, where they were joined by Isaac Ludlam the elder, and younger, and William Ludlam'; they had also such pikes as that which yeu saw, Gentle men, upon the table; the Pentridge men did not meet them as they expected ; George Weightman was sent for wards to go to the wire mill, and if he met tbem to turn them lo Pentridge-lane-end ; to meet them there, George Weightman took the bag of bullets then along with him, and the witness and the rest went to the house of Elijah Hall; he cannot say who commanded them there; Turner and the Prisoner commanded them all the way they went; .when they got to Elijah Hall's, he was out of the door, and the door fastened upon him ; he said so him self afterwards ; the Prisoner asked him for his gun; 287 Hall was not willing to give it; they disputed some time about it, and at last Elijah Hall desired somebody from within to give the gun, and the gun was given through the window to the Prisoner; the Prisoner told Hall he un derstood him to have more arms in the house, and he said that he must have them ; Hall said he had no more ; the Prisoner replied, if you have more and do not give them your door shall be broken open ; at last the door, not be- ingbroken open, was opened from within ; Hall went in, and the Prisoner and several more followed him; the Prisoner was going up stairs to fetch the gun, and Elijah Hall offered to stop him, the Prisoner struck him with his fist at first, and then presented his gun at him, and said, if he did not find his gun he would shoot him. The witness laid hold of the Prisoner, and told him not to use the man ill, that he did not believe he had any other arms. The Prisoner took a candle up stairs, and searched for more arms, but he did not find any. He brought Elijah Hall's son down with him, and he took him along with them ; he went very Unwillingly. He believes the young man was in bed when he, was taken. The Prisoner first said that the father must go, and then said he would take the son in his stead ; both the Turner's were with them at that house, William and Joseph Turner. Joseph is the man who is called Man chester Turner, who has but one eye ; the three Ludlams were still with them, and so were Barker, Swaine, and Bramley. Barker said he had longed for that day to come for a long time, but it had come at last. Young Hall was taken with them against his will. They then went to Isaac Walker's, from whom he saw a pistol taken ; the Prisoner put it into the string of his apron, which was tucked round him like a belt. They then went to Henry Bestwick's, and the witness saw nothing there, but heard the window broken. They next went to Samuel Hunt's : when they got in there, Hunt was fetching bread and cheese out; some were in before the witness: he told them to eat what bread and cheese they liked, and he would dress and go along with them. We hear that that Hunt is a farmer, and one of the persons in this Indict- 288 ment. After diey had taken what bread and cheese and beer they thought fit, Samuel Hunt and the servant went with them ; they stayed there a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes : there was a candle in the room all the while they were there, which enabled the witness to see more particularly what weapons they had : they had pikes, Manchester Turner had a sword, and William Turner had a gun. They then went next to Mrs. Hepworth's; he says he heard the Prisoner at the bar rapping at die door, and calling for the arms out : the door was not opened, and the Prisoner called for somebody of his party to come and break the door open ; upon this, Samuel Hunt took up a large stone and flung it at the door once or twice. The door however was not forced open, and the Prisoner went from that door to a little back window which looks into the kitchen ; the Prisoner asked them to give the arms out, or to open the door, but they did neither ; some body within refused him, and he immediately fired in at the window ; whether a gun or a pistol he does not know. The witness went to the wiudow, and saw the man lying down in the kitchen ; he was Mrs. Hepworth's servant. He says he told the Prisoner he should not have shol the , poor innocent man. The Prisoner said it was his duty to do il, and he would do it ; aud if the witness said anything ¦ more about it, he would blow his brains out. After this happened, he says arms were given out. They then weut to Pentridge-lane-end, where they met another party; Joseph AVeightman, Joseph and James Taylor, and Ben jamin Taylor were there ; all of them had arms ; Joseph and Benjamin Taylor had spikes, and James a gun- Another party went to Buckland Hollow, and while they were gone, we heard a great disturbance ; they were call ing them all up at Pentridge-lane-end ; they were taking , the men out, and arms, where ihey could find them : they , all met together, and went to Pentridge town. Before they got there the Prisoner formed them into ranks, und asked whether there were any military men among them, or men who understood discipline — that they must turn out to keep the men in order: Upon that, Charles Swaine 289 turned out ; he had been in the militia : they were then all put into ranks by the Prisoner, William Turner, and Swaine; the men who had guns in front, and the spikes in the rear. When they were formed, one of the three said 'march,' and they marched to Pentridge; other houses were attacked at Pentridge ; a poney was taken from Mr. Booth's; George Weightman had it. They then went to Butterley Iron-works, there might be sixty or more at the time. Mr. Goodwin came out to them: he understood from the party that George Weightman was gone on the poney to Nottingham ; he did not see him go, but he saw him return with the poney. Mr. Goodwin said something at Butterley, he did not hem- what he said ; after that the Prisoner bid them march, and they marched to Ripley town-end : the Prisoner ordered them there to halt, and give three huzzas. Then they marched forward to Cod nor ; there they stopped at the Glass-house public-house ; the prisoner knocked them up, and bid them bring some ale, and all the party had some. When they were there, Samuel Hunt and the two Turners, Manchester Turner1 and Edward Turner, joined them with others, they had separated a little way from the party. William Turner and the Prisoner ordered the landlord to make out the bill, which amounted to,£l. 8s. The Prisoner said to the landlord, that he need not be afraid of being paid, he would see him paid. They marched on, and three per sons were taken out of a barn and brought with them- They marched to Langley-mill, and while there, George Weightman returned on Mr. Booth's poney. The Pri soner and many others surrounded him, and asked him what he had heard about Nottingham. He said they were doing very well there ; the soldiers would not come out of their barracks, that they were to march on ; they did march on : the witness says he went with them two or three miles, when some of the party 'had dropped off, and, he also quitted them, and the rest marched on towards Nottingham. The Prisoner, William Turner, and some others were marching towards Nottingham; he says be fore he left the party some tried to get away, Henry T 290 Hole wished to get away, and the Prisoner said if he would not return he would shoot him, and the Prisoner aimed his gun at him, and -the witness and another man desired him not to fire, then Hole was fetched back by Richard Bramley. He was cross-examined, and he says he met them first about nine o'clock at night— he had a pike during part of bis walk, and when he escaped he threw it away, and he saw many pikes thrown away by other people — in his re turn he was taken, and then he went and showed a mart where he saw the pikes thrown — from Booth's house to Langley-mill might be a distance of three or four miles- there was time for George Weightman to go to Notting ham and to return from Nottingham between the time of his leaving them and his meeting them at Langley- mill— he says the party had principally dispersed before any opposition to' them appeared — they had marched in this way nine or ten miles. Henry Tomlins6n is next called, he is a farmer at Southwingfield — on Monday night, the 9th of June, abouthalf past nine or a quarter before ten, a man came to him from Mr/ Hardwick's house — it is not a quarter of a 'mile-J-he gave him some information, in consequence of which heiocked the house door and went 6ut with his wife into the yard ; they staid there about ten or fifteen mi nutes before he saw any body come, then a body of men came to the house, and came in at one end of the yard ; there appeared to him to be between thirtv and forty — some of them were armed with spikes and some with guns — the spikes were such as he saw then On the' table — when they came to the door they ben-an to rattle it — he asked them what they wanted, they said, 'you and your gun,' he does not know whether the Prisoner was there — he said they should have neither— he had a gun, but it was gone to Ashover to be mended— the person Whom they called captain asked for him and his gurt,' but it was too dark to see his person— the Captain said if he did not open the door they would break it, that they would search thehouse— as the witness was going up to the door, ' 291 he saw William Turner — he also saw William Barker, and he said to each of them ' are you one, William,' and both of them, said, 'yes' — he unlocked the door and went in, and the captain and another man followed him — he had left his gun on the bed tester— he brought it down, the captain demanded it from him, and he delivered it to him— the captain took it out of doors, and he went and stood close to the door, but he did not go out of the door, and the captain said, 'you must go along with us' — he said he would not go, they said he must go — he had better go that night than stop till morning — that if he stopped till morning, there was a great gang coming from Sheffield, and a great cloud out of the north, which would sweep all before it- he said he would not go that night, that if he must go, he would stay till the morning— and then the captain cocked his gun, and presented it at him, and swore he would shoot him if he did not go — then he said ' no, no, I will not stand out, I will go a little way, but it shah not be far' — before the captain threatened to shoot him, some cried out, ' damn his eyes, smite his head off;' others cried, ' let him go,' and others said, 'never mind him;' then he says the captain said they were going to Nottingham, and must be there between eight and nine o'clock, that it would not be necessary to go further than Nottingham, for London would be taken before they got there — the witness said to George Weightman, ' are you one,' and he said, ' yes'; — he said he thought it a very hard thing to take himfrom that lonely place, and to leave his wife behind — he said ' it is to go a little way, and you may turn back again' — he says he went, and they gave him a spike hke one of those on the table — he asked them to let him carry his own gun, the captain said he should not, and they gave him a spike — he went about three hundred yards with them, and then. George Weightman bid him give him the pike, and he did, and got home. Then, upon cross-examination, he says, he cannot swear to the person of the Prisoner; he • said ..the person was called the Captain. From the other evidence you have heard there can be little doubt who the Captain was. , T.2 292 Elijah Hall the elder was the next witness ; he lives at Southwingfield Park. On Monday night, the 9th of June, he got home from his mill about eleven o'clock ; he says his house is about a quarter of a mile from Langleyn mill. About ten minutes after he got home, he heard some footsteps of men, as he supposed, coming up to the door ; he was alarmed at that : they asked him if any men had been there that night for guns ? He told them there had : he said so in order to get shut of them. They asked him whether the men had taken any away 1 He said, 'Yes ;' and on that they went away. About five minutes after this, perhaps, a number of armed men, armed with guns and pikes, came into his yard ; there were between twenty and thirty of them. He asked them what they were doing there at that time of night ? They said, ' We shall not hurt you, we want fire arms.' He told them that he had no. fire arms for them ; they were positive thathe had, and said, he had better deliver them quietly to prevent the house from being fired, and to save his own life. He was at this time on the outside of the house ; he had gone out into the yard after the first party left ; the door was shut and fastened after he went out, and the people told him, on the outside, he had better open the door : he told them it was not in his power to do it, being on the outside like themselves. They then proceeded to attempt to force the door open ; after attempting it in vain several times, they cried out, ' Captain, how must it be ?' Upon this a gun Was given to them through the window, by some person in the house, and the door was opened from the inside after the Captain had ordered his men to fire at it. He does not know who said, ' Captain, how must it be?' When they had got the gun they demanded him to go along with them ; he told them he should not go. Some one of the party said he has sons ; the Captain said, 'if he has sons we will have them.' After the gun was given them out of the window the Captain said, * if they do not open the door, fire,' And then the door was opened ; ' the same person gave this order who had spoken to me about nay sons/ They said that they wanted a bigger loaf, and 293 times altering ; this they said before they went into' the house : then about a dozen other men went into the house, the Captain was among them, Isaac Ludlam the elder, Isaac Ludlam the younger, William Ludlam, William Barker, a person they called Manchester Turner, Thomas' Turner, and John Walker. He did not then know the name of the Captain ; but he afterwards found that Jere miah BraHdreth was his name : he looks at the Prisoner at the bar and says that he is the man. When they were in the house the Captain said he would blow his brains out if he did not get his sons up ; he told him he would not ; the Captain then said, ' Damn your blood,' and gave him two pushes with the muzzle of his gun ; the wit- pess still refused, ahd then he presented the muzzle of his gun at him, and said he would blow his brains out : he still said he should not caty his sons, and the Captain levelled his gun to Cock it. Thomas Turner said ' you shall not,' or, *do not.' Several then cried out, 'We will fetch them out of bed ourselves.' Then the Prisoner took a candle from some one of the family and lighted it at the fire, and pro ceeded up stairs; several of the men attended him. He says he heard a great noise up stairs, calling for his sens, and so On ; at last they brought clown his son Elijah*. When they brought him down he was partly dressed ; they took him away. The Prisoner searched the house, and he did not find any guns there, though* there were some there ; his son was absent about two or three hours, and returned before it was light. He says he asked the Cap tain where he was going? He said 'to Nottingham/ He asked him for what i He said he believed Nottingham was taken at that time— that there was a general rising throughout the country — it was their intention to wipe off the National Debt and begin afresh. Elijah Hall, the younger, is next examined; he says—" I was disturbed on the night of the 9th of June in my bed, Islept with my brother, there were several men came np into my room and demanded me to get out of my bed, flfey compelled me to get out of my bed and' to go wi*h then! — I was unwilling to go but they compelled me ,te 294 go, they put a pike into my hand : we went first to Mr. Walker's, about two closes from my father's, where they got a gun and a pistol, the Prisoner commanded them ; we went next to Mr. Bestwick's, we got a gun there, at these places the guns were given us by force ; we went next to Samuel Hunt's, we got bread and cheese there, and Hunt himself and his man Daniel Hunt went with us ; we then went to Mrs. Hepworth's, the Prisoner fired a gun there, I saw him fire it and it shot a man, I knew that man, Robert Walters, I saw him on the kitchen floor, he was Mrs. Hepworth's servant— when the man was shot I asked him how he could think of shooting the man, lie said he was not shot— I said, I was positive he was shot- he said nothing more. We then went to Pentridge-lane- end, where they got arms and men too ; we next went to Pentridge, they made several attempts at different houses there for men and arms, whether they got any I do not know—I escaped from them. I heard several of the mob say that they were going to pull down the Parliament House and to break the laws— the Prisoner was present when they said this, he was the Captain all the time." Isaac Walker, a Farmer at Southwingfield Park, in this county, says—" On Monday night the gth of June, I was disturbed about twenty minutes or half past eleven o'clock, I and my family'were all in bed, 1 was disturbed by my dog barking and saw about forty persons in the yard, they were armed with pikes and guns, they were coming up towards the door, and they demanded a gun and a brace of pistols ; 1 told them I had a gun but not a pistol, at length they got a gun and a pistol — I gave the pistol to the man they called the Captain." Here closed the evidence on the first night of our meet ing. Yesterday morning Mary Hepworth was called, she says—" I occupy a farm in Southwingfield Park, on the 9to of June last, at night, one son, two daughters, two men-servants,.and myself, were the family in the house." .Gendemen, you observe these persons are called being the persons whose houses were attacked according to the ac count given by the first witnesses. " My family were dis- 295 turbed that night- by a large number thundering at the door demanding my guns and servants, they were the voices of men ; in consequence of that I got. up and went down stairs and called out ' the door is not to be opened,' for I could not part with the men and guns ; they afterwards attacked the windows on both sides of the house, the kitchen-window towards the back of the house was broken, I did not see by whom, there were several voices ; the shutters were forced into the middle of the room, and they broke the glass quite out and it fell both ways : myself, my son William, my daughter Emma, and two men-servants, Robert Fox and Robert Walters, were all in the kitchen — the people on the outside of the house said to my son William, * we must have your guns and your men or we will blow your brains out ;' after the win dow was broken they fired immediately, Robert Walters was shot dead almost instantly, he died in a few minutes after he received .the wound ; he was sitting down on a chair opposite the window as 1 thought to put on his boots, lie was shot in the right side of the neck— they still went on demanding the guns." Gentlemen, though this atrocious murder appears in .this case, it. is not treason ; it was impossible not to give this part of the transaction in evidence, and it would have been extremely improper if it had not been given in evidence, though the fact of the murder is not High Treason, but a different crime ; yet if people pursue the object they are .charged to have had in view by these atrocious means, you being charged to enquire what object they hud, will perhaps more easily decide what was their real object ; whether it was a temporary tumult ¦with a view to nothing public or general against the Go vernment, or whether it was really with a view to execute that purpose, which as it seems by the evidence the par ties declared they meant. This murder is clearly proved beyond all doubt, but you are not to convict the party of High Treason because he was guilty of this murdCr; still, however, it is a circumstance to be taken into your iwirideratiou. She says, " When I saw the servant dead 296 in the kitchen, I said' we must give up the guns or we shall be all murdered ;' a gun which was hid in the cellar was fetched and delivered ; they said we must have your men.' I told them they should not have the men, they had shot one ; they said ' we will serve you the same if you do not let us have the other man ;' however, they did not commit, any further violence, and they went away ; after they went we saw several large stones, and found a pike near the door, which had been used to push the door, and there were marks on the door corresponding with the pike." Samuel Fletcher lived at Pentridge-lane-end on the 9th of June last ; he says, " I and my family went to bed on that night at eleven o'clock ; about twelve we were disturbed by a very heavy knocking at the door, I jumped out Of bed and ran to the window and opened it, and saw a large concourse of people, thirty or more at that window. I saw many more afterwards at another win dow ; they levelled pieces at my head as soon as I opened" the window; there appeared to be five or six guns level led at my head. I cried ' halloo,' they cried ' your arms, your arms, damn your eyes your arms ;' I said "'what arms,' they said ' you have got two or three guns,' I said 1 had got but one gun, and I did not know that that was at home ; they said if I did not fetch it down and open the door' they would blow my brains out, I said * well, well, let us have time ;' I ran down stairs and up the servant's stairs, (they are in another part of the house), in order to escape if I could, 'but found that part beset also ; then I bid William Shipman give them the gun, on his giving them the gun they cried 'get you dressed,' accompanied with 'damn your eyes, we will blow your brains out ;' they kept beating the door all the time, one cried ' come ShipmatV,' another cried 'come Billy ;' the man appeared very un willing to go, he did not dress him in the house, he took his clothes out in his hand ; he cried at going, and I fold him he must go and make his escape as soon as hfe could ; I said ' damn them, thou knowest them all, they are all Pentridge and Wingfield men/ I told him to take notice 297 who they were and what they did, ahd bring me word ; he returned home on the Tuesday morning when I was not in the .house." Then William ShipmaB, the servant, says, "I was disturbed on the night of Monday, the 9th of June, about twelve o'clock, by a knocking at the door; I heard voices, one .called out, ' Shipman, come with us,' this was Joseph Topham, a Pentridge man ; I went to the window, and saw several men in the yard, eleven or twelve ; they were armed with guns and spikes; they told me I must go with them; my master came to me ; they said, they must have a man and a gun; — I said, there was but one man ; — they said, they knew there were two, and they must have one ; they demanded the gun again, and my master said, it would be better for me to fetch the gun and give it to them ; I fetched the gun and gave it to them out of the window-. Then they told me that I was to come ; — I told them, that I could not go, that there was only me in the house, but they insisted upon having me; my master told me, it would be better for me tog*?:, and mind and tell him all that I could. I took my clothes, and went down stairs and opened the door, and dressed myself at the door: The captain insisted upon my coming ; he told me, to make haste and dress myself, or he would blow my brains out, and clapped the muzzle of a gun towards me. I dressed myself and went with them. When I was at the window they called out for the captain, and he came forward and said, that if I did not make haste and come down, he would blow my brains out. When I had dressed myself they went out of the yard, on to the turn pike road, and then there were several others ; they were aimed with guns and spikes. We went to some houses there were a little way off. I heard them break ing open houses. We went to a man's of the name of Booth, at Pentridge-lane-end ; there they began knock ing at the door, and demanded a man and a gun, which they got ; the man was Booth's son. I know Samuel Hunt, he was with us; he was very violent. They formed ps into ranks at Storer's ; we were formed two deep ; they 298 picked out serjeants to command the different divisions. We marched to the bottom of Pentridge then, the Bull Hill they called it ; we were halted then for about a quarter of an hour; I do not know what they were doing. Then we marched a little further to the meeting-house^ the captain then ordered a man to fire a gun ; there were several of them tried which would not do, and the captain fired his off to let the Ripley and Butterley people know that they were come. I saw James Weightman there, near the meeting-house ; he had a hat full of bullets. Thomas Weightman was in the ranks ; I was next him: he had a pike. I put my hand'into the hat and took two or three bullets, and James Weightman said I must not take any, for they should be short enough. Thomas Weightman said, that he aud James Weightman had been casting them while we came round by the Jane- end. We then marched on up the town of Pentridge, towards the top, and we stopped at William Booth's ; in our way up the town, they knocked at many doors .and demanded arms. At William Booth's they fetched a poney out; they put Mr. Storer on the poney, but he was ill and fell off'. George Weightman then got on and rode off, and I saw no more of him till we got to Langley-mill. He road off in the direction to Nottingham. We went down the town again and went right for Butterley ; when we got there they. wheeled us round and knocked at the fur nace gate ; this was Mr. Jessop's Iron Works : Mr, Goodwin came out, and asked the captain what, he wanted there ; — he said he wanted his men : Mr. Goodwin said he had men enough unless it is was for a better, pur pose. Then we were marched round the Works, and then got to the turnpike-road again, and then went di rectly for Ripley Town-end, where we halted, and shouted three times, to let the Heage and Belper people know where we were ; there was a party from thence expected to meet us ; this was said by the people with me. We then went to Codnor, which is in the turnpike-road to Nottingham; then we went to Langley-mill, to Mr. Raynor's, where they demanded a man and a gun, and a. 299 man was compelled to go ; at Langley-mill we saw George Weightman coming towards us in the direction from Not tingham ; he came up, and as he was riding along the ranks several asked him how they were going on at Not tingham, he answered they were going on well, that the soldiers were in the barracks, that the town was taken, and that we should have nothing to do when we got there, but we must march forwards. We marched forwards to East wood then, and when we got a little past Eastwood I got away. I think the Prisoner is the man they called Captain, but I cannot swear to his person; he had at that time a big coat on, trowsers, and an apron tied round his middle, and a pistol tucked in." This is the description other people gave of him — " he had whiskers round over his chin, but he had no beard. William Turner was one of the party, he had a gun ; Manchester Turner was there ; I do not know what arms he had ; Edward Turner was there, he had a long gun ; there were two Joseph Weightmans with us ; Samuel Ludlam was there, and Samuel Hunt ; he had a spike first, and a gun afterwards ; German Bux ton was there, he had a gun ; William Barker and Alex ander Johnson were there, they had both spikes ; Joseph Savage had a gun and a pistol; Joseph Topham was there," and several other persons under indictment and not nOw on their trial before you. Henry Hole is the next witness ; he lived at Pentridge- land-end ; he says — " at nine o'clock on Sunday night, the 8th of June, I saw Samuel Hunt and about seven or eight others standing before the smithy door of George Turner; I had a jug of milk in my hand; Samuel Hunt said 'you are fetching that for the use of the men at night ;' I said 'what men ;' he said, 'those revolutionists which will come to-night or tomorrow night ;' Hunt and me soon parted, and I saw nothing of him any more. On the night of the 9th, about twenty minutes before twelve o'clock, me and my wife were awoke by some violent blows that came on the door ; I got up and opened the window, and cried, 'halloo, who's there, what do you want;' tliey cried, ' we want you to volunteer yourself to go with 300 us, if you do not come down immediately and open the door we will break the door down and murder you )' I went down and opened the door, and saw four men standing; I knew two of them, Joseph Weightman and Joseph Top ham; I asked where they were going to;' to Nottingham/ they said ; I said I could not pretend to go with them, I had no money to carry me there, nor nobody to take care of my family while I was gone; they said I needed no money, I should be kept on roast beef and ale, and there were people fixed to take care of every body's family, who would come in two days or under ; they said I had better go with them that night than stop till morning, for they were coming from Yorkshire like a cloud, and would drive all before them, and those that refused to go would be shot. - I then dressed myself and went out, and a pike was forced Upon me. I said I was not able to carry that pike, if they Were going as far as Nottingham; that they must either take it, or I must hurl it down, and one of them took it; we went from my house down to the turnpike-road, and about twenty or thirty yards on the turnpike-road I ob served about twenty or thirty men, armed with pikes and guus and other weapons ; we first marched to John Sellar's, then to Fletchers; we then went a little further on the turnpike-road, and there we were divided ; I had seen the Prisoner, before we divided, in Fletcher's yard ; we were joined there by a party that I uuderstood had been at Mrs. Hepworth's, and among the rest I observed the Prisoner; I did not know his name; they called him Captain in that party. I also observed in that party, William Turner, Manchester Turner, Isaac Ludlam the elder, William Ludlam, and others ; then, afterwards, after we went a little way in the road, the party divided: the Captain and the biggest part went to a row of houses ; the other eight or ten men, and I along with them, went with Samuel Hunt to Samuel Booth's. Manchester Turner had an old-fashioned spear with a handle like an old-fashioned sword; William Turner had a gun ; and the rest had guns or pikes. They knocked at .Booth's door, and Mr. Booth came to the window ; and they demanded 301 bis son, and took him with them. The prisoner came up as we were taking the son out of the house; and we then marched on to Wheatcroft's, at Buckland Hollow. The Prisoner knocked at the door with the but end of his gun ; and we brought from there three men and a gun, and a stack paring knife, with which they armed me: it is a scythe blade put into a stick about a yard long. We then went again to Pentridge-lane-end, and joined the other party. The Prisoner then ordered us to fall into rank? three deep ; part of the musket mep before, or in front ; the pike men in the middle, and the others in the rear ; then we marched towards Pentridge ; we halted against Storer's, and ihey brought Storer and put him into the ranks; then we marched again to Pentridge, and I saw George Weightman, as we were going ont of Pentridge,, ride past on William Booth's poney ; he seemed to have some serious conversation with Brandreth; I had some conversation with William Ludlam, and asked him which of Mrs. Hepworth's men was shot, and he replied, 'Robert Walters ;' 1 asked him whether be was sure he was shot dead or only wounded ; he said ' nay, he was shot dead, for he saw him lying on the kitchen floor, just after the Captain had shot; from thence we marched to Butterley, or towards Ripley ; when we got to Ripley we halted, and gave three huzzas; then we marched along the Notting ham-road, towards Codnor, and took some refreshment at the Glass House there; we all went into the house; there I saw, Isaac Ludlam standing guard in the rain at the door; it rained very hard ; John Bacon made a speech, the pur port of his, speech was, that Government had robbed and plundered them of all that ever they had; this was the lass shift they ever could make, they either must fight or starve. 1 saw Samuel Hunt and Manchester Turner come up, apparently with forty or fifty men, which they said they had collected ; when we marched off we were joined by a large party from Swanwick; there I were about sixty or seventy of jtheni ; we marched along the road towards Langley-mill; we were baited;*! Mr. Raynor's, where I saw William Turner go .first into the hous^; .he called 302 Brandreth, and Brandreth faid to young Raynor, 'damn you, if you do not turn out we will shoot you;' they took a servant, a gun, and a pitching fork from Raynor's; in our way to Langley-mill, we met a man. with five cows, whom we took ; and we met at Langlej'-mill, George Weightman ; Brandreth and Weightman stood together a little from the men, and after some time he said to the men as he rode by, 'all is right my lads,you have nothing to do but to march on, they have bombarded Nottingham at two this morning, and it is given up to them;' they picked up some men about Langley, and we marched for wards towards Eastwood ; as we approached Eastwood, I had some conversation with James Barnes ; he said they were going to Nottingham ; that they had fixed a fresh government at Nottingham, and were going thither to de fend it; it will soon be all over, for by a letter I saw yes- teiday, the keys of the Tower would be given up to the Hampden Club party, if they were not already; he said, ' I have never sat down five minutes at once since four o'clock yesterday morning ; I have been providing guns, pikes,and ammunition;' in the course of the conversation, Barnes said they were going to stay at Nottingham till other counties came into their measures ; at Eastwood, the men appeared again disordered, and Brandreth the Cap tain, the Prisoner, ordered them again into ranks ; I turn ed out of the ranks and stood at some distance, and the Prisoner came to me and ordered me into the ranks again ; I said ' I will not go in again for you or any other man ;' he came up to me, cocked the gun, and said if I did not go in again immediately he would shoot me in a moment. I stepped up to him with the knife (which he had described before), in my hand, held it over his neck, and said if he offered to level his gun at me I would hack his head off; he turned off from me and I walked off down the turnpike road, as if towards Langley-mill ; when I was about fifty _ or sixty yards off 1 heard a cry of 'do not shoot,' I turned round and saw Brandreth with a gun on his -shoulder pointing to me, and at the same time I saw a man of the 303 mime of Thomas Turner take hold of him and turn the gun off, I saw John Hill there and several persons whom he mentions; John Hill had a gun, James Taylor had a gun, and the other two Taylors had each spikes — 1 made my escape :" he says, " at Codnor there were two hun dred men or more, besides that in going back 1 saw several other parties proceeding on tin same line of march towards Nottingham, the first party I met might be about fifty : I saw another party near Langley-mill of about sixty or seventy, und I turned out of the road in order to avoid them." Upon cross-examination, he says " Barnes was of the Swauwick party, and came with them to Codnor, thatwa9 the first time I saw hiin ; when Barnes spoke to me the Prisoner was there, but not near enough to hear what was said" — that is not at all important, Gentlemen — they were both of lliem upon the same purpose, and* what oue said goes as strongly to affect the other as if the other had said it himself. William Booth says, '' I live at Pentridge-lane-end — on Monday night the 8th of June, I was taken from my house by the captain and others" — he looks at the Prisoner and says " 1 have no doubt at all he is the man they called captain — I saw George Weightman on a poney — the captain told him to go on that horse to the Forest, and to bring tidings to them at Langley-mill.'' Then George Goodwin is called to you ; he is one of the managers of the Butterley lion-works— he says, " we had, before Monday the Qth of June, many of our men sworn in as special constables— about a hundred of them— tho neighbourhood was in a very disturbed state" — he suys " I brought my men together on the night of the 9th of June, and I kept thein at Ripley till day-light iu the morning — in the course of the night I heard guns fired, horns blowing, shouts and different noises throughout the night at a distance — the first shot I heard was about twelve. o'clock- — we had seen lights and heard noises before in the villages — it appealed as if there was something very un usual going on — I apprehended that our works would be 804 attacked when day-light eame'Wthis being in June* " the greater part of my men went home, the others, twelve or thirteen, stayed at the works^-those armed with guns went home, the other twelve or thirteen, who were armed with pikes, remained — the people with pikes came clown with Mr. Jessop and me to the works to deposit the pikes in safety— we had left a small body at the works under the care of Mr. Wragg, to protect the works, and we found them there— their number was eight or ten, therefore our guard was about thirty men when I arrived thereT— it rained hard all night — soon after the men had got down to the works and deposited their pikes in the office, about a quarter past three, I observed a person ruling past on horseback — it was George Weightman, mounted on Mr. Booth's horse — -George Weightman is the son of the wo man who keeps the White Horse, she is sister to Thomas and John Bacon — George Weightman was riding on the road towards Nottingham— I called to him to stop, but ha looked over his shoulder at me and rode on — we"felt con* vinced then that they were coming, we saw a body of men approaching, at the distance of about a hundred or a hun-^ dred and fifty yards, on the road from Pentridge to But terley, there were about a hundred men, they were drawn. up in regular order, two a-breast, armed, some of them-. with guns, some with spikes, some of them had no arms, but those who had no arms were the fewer part— -the greatest number had arms — they were marching like sol diers in close order — we ordered our men to retire to the office and defend themselves there—they were coming i-a military array, marching like soldiers in close order- when they came up to us they were marching with the Prisoner at their head as captain ; when they came to the door of the Foundry Brandreth gave them the word, 'half, to the right face, front,' and they did so — the Prisoner had a gun in his hand, a pistol in a belt like an apron, twisted round ; the men formed a sort of curved line opposite the gate, the Prisoner knocked at the gates with the but end of his gun ; I asked him, ' what do you want, what is your object here/ he said, 'we want your men ;' I said, 'you shall 305 not have one of them, you are too many already, unless you were going for a better purpose ; disperse, depend upon it the laws will he too strong for you, you go with halters round your necks, you will be all hanged' — the Pri soner made no reply to this ; I then observed in the ranks some persons whom I knew; Isaac Ludlam the elder, he was armed with a spear ; James Taylor, a nephew of Isaac Ludlam's, he was armed with a gun ; Isaac Moore, he was armed with a fork ; they were all three together in the front rank— I said to Isaac Ludlam, ' Good God, Isaac, what are you doing upon such a business, you have got a halter about your neck, go home;' I took him by the shoul der and pushed him towards the office— I told him if he had any regard to his' family or country to go home, I was then in the ranks close to him, he might have taken refuge in our Office at that time — he said, I am as bad as I can be, I cannot. go back, I must go on ; he was exceedingly agi tated when I talked to him, and neither of the three took refuge in- Our office, but others who were there did ; Mr, Hugh Booth and Mr. William Booth's servant, and a Turner of Pentridge-lane-end got into the office, and I sheltered them — after a short pause, and looking at each other, the Prisoner gave the word, ' march,' and they marched on towards Ripley ; they went first ov6r the coke hearth and then came back again, and finally went towards Ripley ; shortly after they were gone I observed another body of men, amounting to forty or fifty ; they did not come so near as the office ; some time after they were gone I saw William Weightman, George's brother, on horseback, another man of the name of Taylor was with him, the brother of Weightman's wife; they were going towards Nottingham, he followed in the same line that the others had gone, but he went a more direct way to Not tingham : I pushed out and took hold of his bridle and stopped him, I said, ' you are goiug to join those fellows ;' he-admitted he was going to join them, and said if I would let him go back he would go home and not go near them — ¦ he resisted at first, saying that I had no right to stop him on the highway; he turned his horse's head, and when he u x .10(5 went to a little distance I observed lie had a bag under him— he was dressed in a blue smock frock, which con cealed the bag before; it struck me when he turned, and I saw it, that that bag must be bullets, and then I dashed at his horse and seized it by the bridle ; I told him I must have that bag, he said I should not, 1 had nothing to do with it, 1 said ' I have, you rascal, they arc bullets, and you are taking thein to join the rebels' — 1 took him by the collar and was pulling him down from his horse, ahd he said he would give them up quietly, that they werebHltets; he was obliged to do it, he said, for they had threatened his life if he did not. I found about eighty-four pounds of bullets in the bag, and an instrument for milking car tridges with them," thoy were produced to you, some would suit guns and some pistols, there appeared to be a variety of s'lEes — he snys, " I cannot speak particularly to the men who withdrew and went away, I did not address I them at all; Ludlam and the other men 1 addressed, might have withdrawn themselves if they had pleased." y,^ William Roper lives in the centre of Nottingham Forest, at a stand, which is upon the race-course; it is •fan oval course, and the stand is in the centre of it: he .,,says — "On Monday night, the f>th of June last, I was" at Dennis's, a public-house, at Nottinghnm, about half past eleven I left the house to go home, William Percival was with me. Nottingham is about three quarters of u mile u from my home: in going home I met a. great muhy per sons on the way, and I was slopped at the entrance to the race course by a man, who asked me where I wns going ; we told him we were going home, and he said we must not go on that way; thai induced nic to stop a while, and afterwards, in going home, I saw about a hundred men, they were standing in line two deep." This was Notting ham Forest, you remember, NottiughamForesf was talked of more than once by this party at Pentridge. " They had some of thein pikes, others poles, resembling pikes ; I should think this wus a little before twelve ut night ; we passed them, and about ten of them, with pikes, followed us j and as we were turning off the course they 9topped.us ; 307 ihev brought their pikes down to the charge to charge upon it*. I afterwards passed on to my own house, and went in mid Percival with me: we afterwards came out, and saw about the same number of men; they were then standing inline, under a shed or a piazza, and they left my house about two o'clock." You remember, Gentlemen, the idea was that the others were to arrive by that time. " When they went away they left a pole behind them, but there was nothing at the end of it. I was in the house when they were under the shed. They knocked at my door, and demanded fire-arms. I owned I had some, ami they told me I must deliver them up to them. I told them I would not. They told me if I would not, they should be under the necessity of breaking the door open, and taking them by force. I 'told them that if they did so I would blow out the brains of the first man that en tered. They replied * will you :' t said ' yes.' A man called for the men with the fire-arms to come forward. I heard a bustle on the flag stones under the piazzas, Tihd expected they were coming in ; the piazzas are before my house ; they made no attempt upon my door, but" they came forward, and asked me bow many fire-arms I had ? I told them I had two, that one was a rifle-piece, and the other a fusee. They asked me to give them to them. I said ' no.' They asked if I would sell them to them ? I told them no, I would neither sell them norgive them, nor part with them on any account — that they were my own property." Then Lancelot RoUeston, Esq. a very active Magistrate of the county of Nottingham, as you all know, says— " On the 9th of June I was at Nottingham, and found the town in a very agitated state ; I observed marks of the agitation by groups of people collected in the streets : there was a general apprehension in the town. On Tues- dav morning, the 10th I went, on the road towards East wood on horseback ; in the villages within a mile of Eaistwood, the people were very much alarmed, most of them out of their houses: I proceeded till I came within a quarter of a mile of Eastwood, where I met a considerable uS 308 body of men, armed, with pikes; I returned, and procure^ troops from the barracks. Mr- Mundy, a Magistrate., and Mr. Kirkby, a Magistrate, were at the barracks ; I procured eighteen privates, commanded by Captain Phi lips and a subaltern officer, and proceeded with them to wards Eastwood. When we got as far as Kimbeiiey, four miles from Nottingham, and about two miles short of Eastwood, the people told us that the mob had dispersed ; we followed them, and found a quantity of arms, guns, and pikes scattered about upon the road. I continued the pursuit till within about half a mile of Eastwood, when I turned off on the left after a party which I had observed in that direction. I took with me only one dragoon — the humbef I pursued consisted of thirty or forty ; they were dispersing and throwing away their arms : we secured two or three, and then we turned towards Eastwood again, after the main body, and came up to them just at Langley-mill, which is about half a quarter of a mile from Eastwood; they were at that time all dispersed, and the mob were pursuing them in all directions, and there were thirty of them brought to Nottingham ; the Prisoner was not one of those men. I continued the pursuit for a considerable time, and was at the taking of several more. Captain Philips was a Captain of the 15th Huzzars, he was the gentleman who assisted Mr. RoUeston in the pur suit; he says, he was stationed with a detachment of his regiment at the Nottingham barracks on the 9th of June ; there was some bustle and disturbance in the streets that evening, and about ten o'clock there was a party of the military sent for; by the time the military got into the town they had dispersed a good deal — we were kept on the alert all night ; about half an hour after day break he re tired to rest, and about half past six he was alarmed and called up, when Mr. RoUeston came and he went out with a. party of eighteen men and a serjeant— and he says, in the same terms as Mr. RoUeston, that he saw a party and pursued them but they got away— between Langley-mill and Eastwood he saw about sixty men mostly armed, there was a man in the "road who was trying to form them 309 with his hand and so on, but the men were disorderly an5 paid no attention to him ; they fled and threw away their arms except five or six who were taken with arms in their hands — they collected about forty guns and pikes. Upon cross-examination he says, he did not take up the Prisoner, he did not see him with the party nor at all that day ; when he first came up they were all standing on the road, and there was one man whom he did not know trying to form them, he could not fix his eye upon' him altogether, he tried to do it, and he says he is not able to' identify him. This, Gentlemen, is the evidence for the prosecution ; for the Defendant there is one person, the overseer of the township of Wilford, who says— that the Prisoner had had relief from that parish. This, Gentlemen, is the whole of the evidence in this Case. You will nOw have the goodness to recollect what I stated to you at first as to the meaning of the statute mid the general law of the case — if there be an insurrec tion, a large rising of the people, in order by force and violence not to accomplish or avenge any private object of their own, not any private quarrels of their own, but to effectuate any general public purpose, that is consi dered by the law as a levying of war. Now, Gentlemen, you are to consider whether this comes within that des cription. That there was an insurrection here is quite clear, that there was a great body of people collected and collecting together is quite clear, that -they expected a great number of persons, with whom they stated them selves to be in conspiracy, is equally clear, that they said there were men to meet them in Nottingham Forest, and that there were men there according to their declaration, is quite clear ; that they came armed, that they came in military array, that they forced open houses, that they ob liged people to give them arms, that they declared from - time to time, what their purpose was, and that they com mitted the outrages which you have heard described; all these factsare unquestionable. Now, Gentlemen, the insurrection is not to be to ac complish or avenge any private objects or quarrels of -their 310 own. Was this insurrection calculated to accomplish or avenge any private objects of their own, or any private Quarrels of their own, or was it to effectuate a general public purpose?— Was it to alter the laws, to reform the Government, or to bring about a revolution? — aye or no is the question. Gentlemen, that these people were in a low situation of life is no excuse at all ; for a crime is not less a crime because the man who commits it is poor. If they were in distress, of which there is no evidence, that can be no excuse, if they intended to overturn the Government. If there was no great prospect of their success, that is no excuse ; for it is not less a crime because the design is not likely to be completed in the way in which they desire it. The question is, whether this insurrection was intended by- force and violence to effectuate any general public purpose. Now, Gentlemen, you will recollect, the evidence that has been given (there is no evidence to contradict it) is, that they declared, from time to time, that their object was. one while to wipe out the national debt, another while to destroy the Government at large; and so on. If you believe that their purpose was what they declared it to be, you will, I suppose, think them guilty of High Treason ; because the law declares force applied to that purpose is High Treason. If, on the other hand, Gentlemen, you can lay your hands upon your hearts, and say that you are satisfied their purpose was any thing short of a purpose of that sort ; that there was any private personal end which they wanted to attain, but which is not stated by them, for they do not tell you of any private or personal object ; yet, if you are satisfied that they had a private end to attain, namely, anything personal to themselves, not any thing public and general in the way declared by them, you will find the prisoner not guilty; but, Gentlemenj considering the evidence, as I know you will consider it, with care and integrity, you will put out of your minds all the consequences that can happen, and attend only to the important consideration of your duty ; and remember that you are to do justice, and, to. pronounce a verdict^ 311 in - thefaee- of your God, and your .country, .according _tp law,, arid, agreeably jto tjip evidence. .,,- -, The jury retired at five minutes past ten Vclock, anrl returned into CpCirt at half-past ten. with their verdict, finding the prisoner Guilty; and that he had not, to tfyeir knowledge, at the time of the High Treason committed, .or at any time since, any lands, tenements, goods, chattels, &c. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Mr. Attorney General, how do you propose to proceed 1 The day is now some what consumed ; and if you are not likely to finish the next trial in the course of to-day, the commencing of it would subject the Jury to the very great inconvenience of being locked up to-night, the whole of to-morrow and to morrow night, and possibly Monday night. — Is there any probability of your being able to finish .the next trial to-, night? Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, I feel very reluctant that the Jury should be unnecessarily inconvenienced. I cannot undertake to say that I shall be able to bring the next trial within the compass of this evening, even if your Lordships went far into the evening. It is desirable for the Prisoner that his Counsel should have the fullest lati tude in conducting his defence ; and, consistently with that, I think it would be impossible to 'finish at any hour to night. Lord Chief Baren Richards. Mr. Cross and Mr. Den man, I should think it would be better to adjourn to eight o'clock on Monday morning. Mr. Cross. If your Lordship pleases. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Were we to commence another trial to-day, it would be attended with infinite in convenience to the Jury, to whom the country is under, the greatest obligations ; therefore, if you please, we will adjourn until eight o'clock on Monday morning. Mr. Attorney General. It should be signified to the Jury that they must attend on Monday morning. 312 Lord Chief Baron Richards. Gentlemen of the Jury, I feel it necessary to inform you, that, though you have performed the service you have, it is possible you may be called upon to perform the same service on Monday. You must, therefore, be here by eight o'clock ; it is with a view to permitting you to go home, if you are within such a distance as to allow of it, that the Court do not sit any longer this day ; but in that case you must return. Adjourned to Monday Morning) Eight o'Clock^. •• ,'/...• 313 THE TRIAL':' 'l!'7,t,L- OF WILLIAM TURNER. SPECIAL ASSIZE, DERBY, Monday, 0,0th October, 1817. I%e Prisoner was set to the Bar. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Mr. Attorney General and Mr. Cross, the Jury, in the former case, having given a verdict, probably objected to by the Prisoner's Counsel if it is desired by the Prisoner, we will direct that they should not be called at all unless it becomes necessary. Mr. Attorney General. I cannot have any objection to that, my Lord, in case there is a sufficient number. I have myself proposed that, in order that the Prisoner's Counsel might not unnecessarily throw away challenges. Mr. Denman. I understand that the Prisoner does not wish, generally speaking, to object to the Jury who served ; if they wish to be excused that is another consideration : but I wish it to be understood that we do not object, ge nerally speaking, to the Jury who have served. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Very well. Mr. Denman. My Lords, I feel it tq be my duty, before the trial proceeds, to complain of a most gross violation, as well as a scandalous contempt, of the order which has now been twice issued by this Court, cal* culated, in my mind, to interfere with the due adminis tration of justice, and most certainly a barefaced insult to the authority by which that prohibition was enforced. At the commencement of these proceedings it was, by your Lordship, most distinctly stated, that no put* 314 Iication of any part of these proceedings wns to take place till the whole was concluded ; and on the following day, when the first trial commenced, your Lordship repeated that in still stronger terms. Notwithstanding what your Lordship has said, a partial and garbled account has been issued from the public press, under circumstances which appear to me to call for the highest visitation of any Court of Justice which does not choose to be made a party to its own degradation. It is not a fair statement ; to that, perhaps, we should not object, but it is a partial extract of part of the Attorney General's opening; reflecting not only on the Prisoner who has been tried, but on the other persons to come forward for trial, which trials they can not, by possibility, fairly take, unless the Jurors should come unprejudiced by such garbled statement. My Lord, I holdkin my hand the only paper 1 have (though 1 un derstand that the others have an account also), the Morn ing Chronicle, which stales that the Courier having pub lished, under mask and disguise* the opening of the At. torney General, they wiJJ state what the Attorney General did say- Now, nothing can be more easy than to elude and laugh at the authority of the Court, if any two news papers are to treat a Court in (his way ; the one to pub lish an imperfect account wliich never ought to he given, and then the othes to give another imperfect account for the purpose of correcting that: und what makes this in finitely more dangerous, is, that the first blow appears to have been struck on the part of a paper under the known influence of Government. Mr. Justice Abbott. I do not know th.it any paper is under the known influenee of Government; th© Court can have no knowledge of such a fact. Mr. Denman. 1 was wrong certainly, my Lord, a« 1 could not bring that before the Court on affidavit; but it is put forward as un exparte stateuien* on both sides : the one assures us that Mr. Oliver is at the bottom of all this*, and then the ©then, that the Ministers are taking a very psoper part in the prosecution of these proceedings. My Loud, I con do no more than lay before the Court the 3 15 newspaper »n which this very imperfect account of the Attorney General's speech is inserted, calculated to pre judice the case iu the minds of those who may read this oparte statement, and then I shall leave it to your Lord* ships to do what you think proper. Mr. Attorney (una »l. I assure your Lordship that I lament as much as my learned Friend can possibly do.-— Lord Chirr' Bmvii Richards. Do you follow this with any motion against any particular person ? Mr. Daunan* No, my Lord; all I can do is to shew that this has been done If nothiug is to be done with regard to what has passed, I hope the Court will re-enforce the order. Lord Chief Karon Richards. I do not know thai the Conn can make an order in stronger terms than that which they have made. Mr. Dautttin. Your Lordship was pleased to say you would visit the couduet of such persons with severe repre hension. Lord Ckiif Baron Richartls. Yes, but we must know who they arc. Mr. Daman. I have thought it my duty to lay i« before tho court. Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, I will not trouble tha Court, at any length, ou that which has been stated by rajr learned Friend, Mr, Denman, not followed by any motion to your Lordship against auy individual who has com muted that breach of your Lordship's order; but, after that which has been stated by my learned Friend, Mr. Denman, I do think it incumbent upon me, standing in tho situation I do, to say a word or two to yam Lordship upon the subject. 1 assure your Lordships, that till within the last tew niiuutes. I have not seen any account dial had been professed to be given by any body of v hat has been passing at Derby, for it does so happen, that with respect to that newspaper to nhich my learned friend has alluded, though I apprehend it wa* to be had yesterday iu the village in. which I was, yet ic hetn^ iu qqc hwsl oc the oUiSS, I did l»o4 se^ ii. About 316 'ten minutes ago, or not more, somebody, I do not 'ex actly know who the persort was, sent me one of the news papers alluded to by my learned Friend, namely, " The Courier." I do lament, as much as my learned , Friend can possibly do, that any person should, in any degree^ have violated the order which your Lordship gave on " the first and on the second day, because it may tendj tertainly, to pervert, in a certain degree, the adminis tration of justice, by influencing men's minds : but, my Loid, I am sure I can undertake to say, for myself ahd for my honorable and learned Friend who is with me here, and I am quite sure that I can undertake to state the same thing for every person who has any thing in the shape bf efficient office under His Majesty's present Govern ment, that neither they nor any body belonging to them, have wished, or could have wished, that any thing should be stated to the Public that has passed here till the whole can. be stated fairly and properly in the way in which it ought to be, as a complete account of the Trials whicli have taken place. There is one phrase my learned Friend, Mr. Denman, has used, which I wish he had spared, as it may tend to prejudice men's minds. He has talked of papers under the influence of Government ; for myself, I know nothing of papers under the influence of Government, or against the influence of Government, or by1 whom they are em ployed, except as the sentiments of parties oh public affairs appear upon the face of those papers; and all "I can say is this, that whoever conducts the newspaper on the one side or the other, whenever a person shall be brought, by proper affidavits before your Lordships, for having Violated the rule which has been laid down by 3"bur Lordships, in such a way as will occur to me to be a contempt of your Lordship's order, be he who he may, I shall feel it my duty, without favour to the one, or without any thing like antipathy to the other, to found such motion, as shall occur to my judgment to be right. If iny learned Friend can point but, at this time, whq the person is who has -violated this order, my learned Friend can make that motion, I really know not, 317 ,: The eflectof .the statement they make, does not appear to me likely to be .that which my learned Friend has, stated, but it is extremely improper that your Lordship's, order should be so violated. I see in one newspaper, a professed account of what was stated by me, something, like a professed account of what I stated has been given by another newspaper ; I lament it most extremely i I can only undertake to say for myself, and for all those, with whom I have had any communication upon this subject, that we are as perfectly innocent of any thing in the shape of a publication, or of a design to publish, as your Lordships (if I may venture to use that phrase) who made that order, are yourselves. No man could reprobate it more than I do, for it is extremely improper,^-beyond a doubt it is extremely improper to be stating, even if they were correctly stated, the proceedings as they go on from time to time, whereby impressions may be raised,, either one way or the other, in men's minds ; and cer tain practices may be introduced which extremely tend, in my opinion, to pervert the administration of justice* My Lord, I have only taken the liberty of saying this, thinking it my duty, after what was said by my learned Friend, to state, most unfeignedly, that I reprobate it as much as my learned Friend himself can do ; I am ex tremely sorry it has been done ; one knows it arises, some times, not from a desire to do wrong on the one side or the other, but from a desire (if I may use the phrase J to increase the sale of the newspaper, in which the account is, given : butldo hope, if there are any gentlemen here taking. notes for the purpose of publishing the Trial, that they will have the goodness to keep back those notes till jthe Trials are finished, and then to make their publication, for I do conceive it is a contempt of the Court, and if any man produces affidavits to me of that being done by any persons within reach of your Lordships, I shall feel it my duty to move your Lordships that those persons may be committed. Mr. Denman. I beg leave to say, that I fully acquit my learned Friend, the Attorney General ; indeed it is notne- cessafy to &f th.it, for no person Can suspect hifri of any participation in this. I think the apology is rather tod lax of its being done to iriCtease the sale of the paper , and I trust the Court will find some means of vindicating their Own proceedings. Lord Chief Baron Richafdi: It is a very unfortunate and very mischievous thing ; mischievous in every point of view, and to all concerned ; but all We knoW of if is, that a newspaper is produced containing the Accounts which are complained of; who published this newspaper, who furnished this account we die entirely ignorant. The Attorney General bas put it, I think, upon its true ground, point out the parties arid a motion shall be rrradd. Mr. Justice Dallas. In the trial which has beeh alluded to so often in the course of these proceedings, the trial of Jatn'esWatson, a similar Complaint was made, I recollected the circumstance While the learned Counsel Was address ing the Court — I turned to the bobk and if now lies open before you, Uport Mr. Wetherell making the samel sort of complaint which has been brought forward to day. Lord Ellenboroirgh said—" As you have announced that you da not meaft to make any motion, the Court have no time to heat an address Which is to be followed by rio proof, if you mean to move for an attachment, the Court Will Very readily hear y6u." Then in the conclusion again, his Lordship states — " If there is to-be ho motion made, it is not necessary to enter into it." Now, with re spect to the fact, I Cart only say that we have no fact whatever before us at this moment, it is merely stated that a' newspaper of a particular description has been pub fished, the publication of which has drawn observations1 from another, but of this we know nothing ; and for my self I can only say, that I have not seen the matter atlength in the one or the other, one only I have in part by ac cident seen, but by whom published or under what cir cumstances is quite unknown to us. With respect to the allusion to one of those newspapers as being under the influence of government, I own, I think, that might as well have been spared, because it is- 319 an observation that may be of dangerous tendency ; but of this I am persuaded, that the government of the country, or those who in legal situations conduct the affairs of that government, would be the first to bring to public justice those who improperly report the proceed ings of a Court of Justice ; at present it appears there ii no motion before the Court nor any affidavit which can be made the ground of a motion, therefore I think follow ing the precedent before us, we also ought to pass on to the business of the trial. The Jurors were called over. William White, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. William Morley (of Chaddesden), Farmer, challenged by the Crown. . William Wilkes, Farmer, excused, at his own request, having served on the former Trial. John Stretten, Farmer, excused at his own request, &c Robert Beard, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Robotham, Farmer, challenged by the CroWO. William Salt, Miller, challenged by the Prisoner. Robert Frost, Farmer, excused on account of pressing business, the Counsel on both sides consenting. John Tempest, Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. John Heacock, Esq. challenged by the Prisoner. W7illiam Bailey, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Samuel Wilder, Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. Thomas Archer, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Orme, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Samuel Archer, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Borough, Gentleman, challenged by the Crown. Thomas Hall, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Ensor, Farmer, sworn. Walthall Spurrier, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Henry Spurrier, Farmer, sworn. Michael GoodaU, Farmer, sworn. 320 Thomas Lowndes* Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Webster, Farmer, not properly described on the panel. John Bradshaw, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Robert Eaton, Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. Thomas Gilman, (of Osliston and Thurvaston), Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. Thomas Sherwin, Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. Thomas Gilman, (of Rodsley), Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. William Shipton, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. Robert Shipton, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Stretton, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Henry Yates, Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. Robert Steeple, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Skevington, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Oakden, Farmer, excused at his own request, having served Isaac Statham the younger, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. f Paul Caulton, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. John Adsett, Farmer, excused at his own request, having served. William Beresford, Gentleman, challenged by the Pri soner. Solomon Frost, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Robert Wagstaff, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. William Morley, (of Snelston), Farmer, hot a Free holder, &c. William Statham, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. William Harrison, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. William Bakewell, Farmer, Challenged by the Prisoner. William Jerrom, Farmer, fine remitted on appearance, challenged by the Prisoner. Richard Hollis, Farmer, excused on account of illness. Thomas Hollis, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. 321 Luke Turner, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Hall, Farmer, sworn. Henry Hall, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. George Eaton, Farmer, not summoned, residing out of the County k William Walker, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Stretton, Farmer, challenged by. the Prisoner. John Wilson, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. Richard Spencer, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. William Greatorex, Farmer, challenged by the Crown . John Byard, Farmer, challenged by the Crown, Samuel Dean, Gentleman, sworn. Thomas Cooper, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Wagstaff, Farmer, sworn. John Moorecroft, Maltster, challenged by the Crown. Joseph Morley, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Joseph Wheeldon, Farmer, sworn. William Briggs, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. James Osborne, Farmer, sworn. William Sale, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. Richard Buxton, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Philip Dawson, Tanner, challenged by the Crown. Thomas Crompton, Gentleman, sworn. William Severn, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. Thomas Briggs, Farmer, not a Freeholder, &C. Robert Briggs, Farmer, challenged by the Prisoner. John Glover, Farmer, sworn. Cornelius Brough, Gentleman, challenged by the Crown. Charles Matthew Lowe, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. William Morris, Farmer, excused on account of age. John Haslam, Farmer, sworn. Benjamin Pickering, Farmer, challenged by the Crown. Paul Spencer, Blacksmith, challenged by the Crown. Thomas Ordish, Farmer, sworn. sia THE JURY. Thomas Ensor, Joseph Wheeldon. Henry Spurrier, James Osborne. Michael Goodall, Thomas Crompton, . Thomas Hall, John Glover. Samuel Deart, John Haslam, John WagstafT, Thomas Oldish. The Jury were charged with the Prisoner in the usual form. The Indictment was opened by Mr. J. Balguy. Mr. SOLICITOR GENERAL. May it please your Lordship. Gentlemen of the Jury. You are assembled here to-day upon a most serious, and important investigation, preparatory to which it will he my duty to state to you, with as much precision and perspi cuity as I can command, the nature of the charge exhibited against the Prisoner at the bar, and of the evidence which will be adduced on the part of the prosecution in support of that charge. Gentlemen, the Crime imputed to the Prisoner at the bar is that of High Treason, which, by the laws of mis and of every other country, is justly Considered as the highest offehce which a subject can commit; for it is not merely levelled against the existence of that Government under which we have so long happily lived, but it must necessarily bring with it, in the attempt at its completion, (to use the language Of a learned writer Upon this subject). the greatest and most fatal danger to the peace and the happiness of the State. The High Treason imputed to the Prisoner at the bar \s, in the feinguage of the Indictment, and of the Statute upon which, it is framed, in the first Count, the levying war against the King ; and I may state to you with confi dence, that the nature of that charge is not confined, to that which the mere words at first may seem to import; sis hut (to adopt the language which has been used in courts of justice :) — " If there be an insurrection, that is, a large rising of the people, in order by force and violence to accomplish or avenge, not any private objects of their own, not any private quarrels of their own, but to ef fectuate any general public purpose, that is considered by the law as a levying of war. To constitute the levying of War, however, there must be an insurrection, force must accompany that insurrection, and it must be for an object of a general nature ; but if all these circumstances concur they are sufficient to constitute the offence of levying war." Your attention, therefore, in the progress of this important trial is not to be confined, as I before stated to you, to the mere technical language of this Indictment, corresponding as that does with the language of the Act of Parliament upon which it is founded ; but you are to be guided by that exposition of the Ac* of Parliament which the judges of the land have put upon it; and. if you find that the facts, which will be laid before you bring this case within the law so expounded and so laid down, however painful, it will still be your duty to eiftiform to the law as it is established, and to pronounce your verdict according to the evidence, and according to the law so explained. Gentlemen, there are other charges in this Indictment to which it is barely necessary for me in passing to call your attention ; because, Unquestionably, the main and the important charge against the Prisoner at the bar is contained in that which is called the first Count of this- Indictment. There are other Counts, however, framed upon a more modern Act of Parliament, which charge him to have conspired, together with others, to depose the King from his royal station ; and also to levy war in order to Compel him to change his measures. If the facts are proved, as I believe they will be, they will certainly establish one and all of these charges ; but your attention need not be distracted by them, but it may be confined for the present with respect to my statement, ahd probably will be so by the evidence to the first Count, X2 324 which charges the Prisoner with levying war; because yOu will learn, that not only was there a previous con spiracy to effect that which they afterwards attempted, but that it broke out into that which the law considers (and which if the law so considers, and the facts prove, you will be bound by the oath you have taken to find) an actual levying of war. Gentlemen, if I have had the good fortune to make myself intelligible to you, with respect to the nature of the charge against the Prisoner at the bar, (and I trust I have) I need no longer detain you upon what may be con sidered as the legal part of this case ; because, undoubt edly after you have heard the whole of the evidence, you will hear that law much more clearly stated, and with much greater weight than I can presume to have, by the learned judges who preside upon the present trial ; and, therefore, I shall content myself with repeating to you, that with respect to the offence charged against the Prisoner at the bar it is, that he, with others, previously conspired, and that they afterwards endeavoured, in pur suance of«that conspiracy, by a rising and insurrection, and a considerable force, to overthrow and destroy that happy Constitution under which we live. I shall now proceed, with as much brevity as I Can, to narrate to you the facts which will be proved in evidence ; which, as you will easily perceive from what I have already stated, will be directed to two points ; — to prove an actual insurrection, and to satisfy your minds as to the object which that insurrection had in view. . Gentlemen, it will appear to you that, in the month of June last, and, probably, you will think, from the evidence which will be offered to you previous to that month, a plan and scheme was formed by a great number of persons, of whom the Prisoner at the bar, William Turner, was one, to effect, if they could, an overthrow of the Constitu tion. You will find that, on Sunday the 8th of June, a. considerable number of persons met at a public house, in the town of Pentridge in this county, the sign of which, I think, was the White Horse. I should state to you 325 that, in the neighbourhood of Pentridge, there are, as you of course know, several parishes, the names of which will be brought under your notice. There is a place called Southwingfield, another called Ripley, another Swanwick, and another Alfreton ; all of which will be particularly mentioned in the course of the enquiry. William Turner, the Prisoner at the bar, was a Stone Mason, residing at Southwingfield. On Sunday, the 8th of June, a number of peisons met, as I stated to you, in the morning about ten o'clock, at this public house, called the White Horse ; and the object of that meeting, as will be distinctly proved. to you, was to arrange the plan, which they had long con certed, of breaking out into an insurrection on the follow-. ing evening, or night of Monday the 9th of June. At this meeting a person attended of the name of Jeremiah Brandreth, who had been selected as the Captain or Leader of the party who were to proceed from this part of the country towards Nottingham ; for their intention was to advance with a considerable force to Nottingham Forest, where they expected to-be joined by another body, and then to attack and take the town of Nottingham. Upon this occasion, at the meeting at the White Horse at Pen tridge, Brandreth (who, as I have stated to you, was to be their Captain or Leader, and to whom, on that account, was given then, or in the course of their progress, the name of the Nottingham Captain), being present, their plan was discussed, and their object distinctly stated of effecting a revolution. William Turner, the Prisoner at. the bar, will appear to you, not only upon that occasion, but by his subsequent acts, to be the person next in com mand, if I may use tire expression, to this person Bran dreth. You will easily imagine that a plan of this sort could not be effected without arms ; and, therefore, it became an important subject of discussion and enquiry upon this Sunday as to the nature and the quantity of arms which they might have upon their expedition upon the following night. They had not been inactive upon this point ; for, although they were not possessed themselves of a great 326 quantity of arms, yet they had contrived the means by which they could supply that deficiency : and you will find that the Prisoner, William Turner, upon this Sunday came prepared with a written paper, containing a state ment of the number of arms in the neighbourhood of the place in which he lived in Southwingfield parish, the perT sons who possessed them, and where they were to be found ; and thereupon it was determined that, on the fol lowing night, the houses of those persons should be at tacked, and their arms taken, in order to provide thenir selves with weapons for the expedition to Nottingham. Turner, the Prisoner, expressed considerable disappoint ment that the other persons, who were assembled, had not been as active and forward as himself in procuring accounts of the arms which were thus to be taken ; and he expressed himself, upon that occasion, with some dis content, and stated that, with respect to himself, and the persons at Southwingfield, they were much forwarder in this scheme than the persons who had attended from other parishes. You will learn frpm the witnesses we shall call to you, that during the whole of the Sunday morning and part of the afternoon, (from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon) the room at this public house, the White Horse, was occupied by Brandreth, by William Turner, and by many other persons, whose names are in this indictment—; they were there, as it appeared, to receive communications and to digest their plan, and persons were from time to time coming into the room, to whom communications were made by Brandreth in the presence of Turner, and by Turner also, as to the nature of their plan, the time of their meeting, and the modes by which they were to procure arms and men ; for they resolved not only to procure arms by force on the following night, but also to compel by threats as many persons as they could to join their party to march to Nottingham. It was then settled that the rising, as they termed it, should take place on the following night of Monday the 9th of June, and Brandreth the captain produced at this -327 •meeting a map of the country, stated various places from whence he, expected bodies of men to join them in their expedition — stated also, that not only the neighbourhood ;in which they were assembled would concur, but that persons from the north, from Sheffield and other parts, would either join them or would follow them in this under taking ; It was arranged therefore, that on the following night a meeting should take place of the Pentridge people, of the Southwingfield people, and of those from Ripley, Swanwick, and other places jn the neighbourhood — they were to collect their forces, and were to meet at some point which was settled, in order to unite their bodies and then proceed to Nottingham ; the Southwingfield people, it was determined, were to meet at a barn called Hunt's Barn, *n the parish of Southwingfield. Gentlemen, I am now stating to you merely a general outline of this Case, which will be filled up by the evidence, and therefore, for the purpose of saving your time and that of the Court, I abstain from stating all the expressions that were used at this meeting, on Sunday the 8th of June, be cause you will hear them from the witnesses, and they will have their, due effect upon your minds when proved — my object is merely to give you such a general view of the Case as will enable you to understand the evidenoe, and not for the purpose of influencing your verdict.; for that verdict must be given, not on any statement of Counsel, but upon the evidence. I should here observe, however, that so confident were they on this Sunday of success, and in their numbers, that Jthey made, no hesitation in decla ring in this room to all the persons who came into it, their object and intention, fully satisfied that no opposition could be effectually opposed to them. t On the following night of Monday the gth of June they -assembled according to their plan, part at Southwingfield, and amongst the persons who there assembled were Brand reth the captain, the Prisoner Turner, and otljer persons, whose names, will be mentioned to you in the course of the evidence-T-Turner came armed with a gun, Brandreth was also armed, and you will find that, there was a quantity 328 of pikes also at Hunt's Barn. Now the circumstance of the pikes shews that they must have had this rising for some time in contemplation, because those instruments must have been prepared for the purpose ; from Hunt's Barn this party which there assembled proceeded towards the house of a person of the name of Hardwick, where they began that system which you will find they pursued to a great extent in the course of the night, namely, de manding arms and compelling persons to give up what arms they had in their houses ; this they did at Hardwick's* They then proceeded to a person's of the name of Tom- linson, where this was repeated— you will find that at Tom-, linson's, in order to induce him to give up his arms without resistance, it was stated to him what their object was, and that if he did not give them up that night, a cloud from the north would come in the morning and would compel him to do so. They then proceeded to a place called Topham's close, where they had expected to be joined by the Pentridge men, the party who set out from Hunt's Barn being prin cipally Wingfield people; they did not, however, meet them there, and therefore a part of their body was dis patched towards Pentridge in order to meet the Pentridge people if they should have set out on their march, and to conduct them round to a place called Pentridge-lane-end, where the bodies would be enabled to unite. The party left behind, commanded by Brandreth and by William Turner, proceeded to several houses : first to the house of a person of the name of Elijah Hall ; at Hall's they met not with actual resistance, because he was unable to re sist ; he endeavoured, however, to prevent their attaining their object of taking his arms, but without effect; they used most violent threats towards him, and compelled him to deliver up his arms, and they forced his son, a young man who will be called to you, to join their party and to go with them ; he proceeded with them to another house occupied by a person of the name of Isaac Walker, where they also procured other arms, and amongst the rest a pis tol, which Brandreth, the Captain, afterwards carried in a 329 sort of belt he had made of an apron tiedfound his waist ; from Walker's they went to the house of a person of the name of Samuel Hunt, and there they had refreshment given them by Hunt, and he and another person in his family joined them, and accompanied them afterwards throughout their progress. From Hunt's they proceeded to the house of a Mrs. Hepworth, a widow, and there again in the same violent way, by knocking at the door, and attempting to force it, and by breaking the windows, endeavoured to compel Mrs. Hepworth to give up what arms she might have in the house ; she, with a reso lution hardly to be expected from a woman, resisted their efforts, and she refused to let them have arms ; they still persisted, and using most violent language, endeavoured to threaten her into a compliance with their requisitions, and finding, I suppose, the delay inconvenient, and that it was absolutely necessary to strike terror into persons to compel- them to comply with their demands, you will'find that upon that occasion, Turner being present during the whole of these transactions, arms not having been given, Bran dreth, the Captain, fired into the kitchen, the window of which they had previously broken, where, I believe, Mrs, Hepworth was, her son certainly, and some of her ser vants also, and shot one of the servants; he was mortally wounded, and died within a very few minutes after the shot. Gentlemen, I think it necessary to state to you here that which unquestionably you will be told in the progress of this trial, that the Prisoner at the bar is not at present under a charge of murder ; he is not to answer for that offence under this Indictment, and therefore so far as that offence is concerned, it ought not to operate upon your minds ; but thus far it must operate : it sliews the cha racter of their proceedings ; it indicates that which you will find exemplified in the whole course of their progress; that resistance to their scheme was to be ineffectual, and that they resolved, at all hazards, to accomplish that ob ject which they then had in view, even though the pro perty, and still more the lives of their fellow subjects were to be sacrificed to it. 330 Gentlemen, you will find that at this unfortunate trans action, the Prisoner, Turner, was close to the person who perpetrated that act, and I know you will be told that which your own sense indeed would inform you, that it is not merely the hand which executes the act which is to an swer for the offence, but that where persons are all joining in, and acting towards one common object, each and every of them. is answerable for the acts of the whole; and not merely the hand that executes, but he who assists, is equally culpable ; and therefore if you think these persons had one common purpose in view, every thing done in the promotion of it is to be attributed to each and every per son concerned in the transaction. After they had procured arms, for of course after this event arms were given to them at Mrs. Hepworth's, they proceeded to Pentjidge-lane-end, where they were to be joined by the Pentridge people, and they were so joined. , At that place, it was necessary to marshal them in some thing like a warlike way, and Brandreth and Turner as sisted in forming them; those with muskets were placed in the front, the pikes in the centre, and muskets again in the rear ; Brandreth was the Captain, and Turner was styled by some of them the Serjeant; at Pentridge-lane- end some of them were detached to a place called Buck- land Hollow ; I do not know whether they compelled any persons at Buckland Hollow to go with them, but they pro cured arms, and then being re-united, they all proceeded Up the village of Pentridge. Gentlemen, you will, I am sure, excuse me if I occasion-^ ally deviate from the regular order of the proceeding ; for, in the multiplicity of facts, one is apt to forget to state a fact in its proper place. I told you that Nottingham Forest was to be the point to which they were to proceed, and you will find that on the Sunday, one of the persons, Joseph Weightman, was sent to Nottingham in order to procure intelligence, and money was collected for the pur pose. I mention that now, because you will find that when they got to Pentridge on the night of Monday, they sent another Weightman, George Weighjman, on a poney 331 taken out of the stable of a person of the name of Booth, from Pentridge to Nottingham, in order to procure tidings, and he was to return and meet the party on their. march at a- place called Langley-mill. I mention this as confirming the evidence of the scheme which had been previously de vised, and these circumstances tend to prove the execution of the plan which had been formed on the Sunday. Weightman having been so dispatched, the greater part of the body proceeded towards a place called ButteiiCy, At Butterley there are considerable Iron-works, carried on by Messrs. Outram and Jessop, where a considerable number of men are employed, and you will find that on the Sunday some of the Butterley people, as they are called, attended at the White Horse, and that before the march was begun, on the Qlh of June, the party had reason to expect they should meet with opposition if they attempted to procure arms or men at Butterley ; for ypu will find one of the party, George Weightman, saying they expected to have an engagement at the Butterley- works. To the Butterley-works they now proceeded, under the direction of Brandreth, and with William Tur ner, the second in command. When they arrived there, they knock at the door, and demand arms, but Mr. Goodwin, the manager of those works, with a courage and firmness which do him infinite credit, went out and addressed them, in the hearing of Turner, the Prisoner at the bar. He said, upon their stating that they wanted men— r" You have men enough with you for the purpose upon which you are going ; you shall have no men here." He cautioned them as to the probable consequences of the acts they were about to commit ; he laid before them the fatal result to which they would probably lead, but in vain. Expecting resistance here, and delay being to be avoid ed by them, they proceeded, after this short parley with Mr. Goodwin, past the ButterJey-works, and wept down into the turnpike-rqad leading to Nottingham, where they were joined by another party, who had not proceeded, with them to the Butterley-works. From thence they went down to near Ripley, where 3S2 they expected to be joined by others from that village, and in order to give them intelligence that they were arrived thus far on their road, they halted at the end of Ripley village, gave three cheers, and then proceeded on the turnpike-road towards Nottingham. They proceeded on ^that road to a place called Codnor, where they were join ed by a considerable body of persons from Swanwick, or at least were so on their road there. It was a very rainy night ; and at Codnor, having then got a considerable way on their march, they went into a public-house, and there many of them were refreshed; and it will be very import ant for you to attend to what passed at Codnor, because there again you will find it stated by some of the Conspi rators, that their object was the overturn of the Constitu tion. You will hear indeed different expressions used at different times; sometimes they talked of pulling down the Parliament House, at others of wiping off the National Debt, and beginning afresh ; all, however, tended to one object— to overturn the Constitution as at present estab lished; and, if they could, to begin some new system of Government, but what does not distinctly appear : that liowever is unnecessary, if their object was to change the Government as at present established by force, that is a treasonable object, which if they attempt to effect in the manner they here attempted, makes their acts in law, amount to High Treason. From Codnor they proceeded onwards towards Langlej'- mill, and in their way between Codnor and Langley-mill, they called at the house of a person called Sterland, and insisted upon arms; and three persons having secreted themselves in a barn belonging to that house, and hearing this noise, and watching the party, inadvertently came out of this barn before they had all gone by ; they were seen by the Prisoner Turner, and others of the Con spirators, and William Turner was most active in endea vouring to force these persons into the ranks; and so far from having any compunction at the unfortunate act they had committed at Mrs. Hepworth's, it Was now used by Turner as an inducement to these persons to come 333 into their wicked designs and join their party ; for he intimated to them they would follow the fate of that un fortunate person at Mrs. Hepworth's, if they attempted to oppose the design they had in view. They then proceeded to the house of a person of the name of Raynor, where the greatest resolution was dis played by the young Mr. Raynor, for he opposed their designs, although threatened in the most violent way : he disregarded their threats, threats referring to the un fortunate and melancholy transaction at Mrs. Hepworth's ; and you will find that the Prisoner Turner was upon that occasion the most active of the party : they com pelled one young man from Raynor's to join them, and they then proceeded on their route to Langley-mill, where, as I told you, they were to meet George Weight- man on his return from Nottingham. Gentlemen, when they set out, their plan was to have arrived at Nottingham Forest by about two o'clock in the morning, but by the delays they bad met with in forcing different houses, and in procuring arms, they were much later than they intended to have been, so that when they got to Langley-mill, the hour of two had long elapsed : however, George Weightman was there met, and represented himself to have gone to Nottingham. After some conversation with Brandreth, he rode along the ranks, and many of the persons were very anxious to know what was passing at Nottingham, and whether Weightman thought they had proceeded too far to re^ cede, and therefore it was necessary to keep up the spirits of thepaity : who were with them 1 do not know, but he stated that all was going on well at Nottingham, that the place was taken, that the soldiers would not go out of their barracks, and that therefore they must push on to the place to which they had been originally directed ; that was a false account, but I shall presently state to you what had really been taking place at Nottingham in the course of that morning : however, this induced the larger part of them to proceed; they proceeded towards a place called Eastwood, where I believe other persons were 334 Itnet from Nottingham ; suspicions, however, begim to arise in the minds of many of the party ; the day had broken, it Was now seven or eight o'clock On the Tues* day morning, the party began to diminish, and I believe they did riot advance much farther in their march to wards Nottingham, because in the mean time, from some circumstances which had taken place at Nottingham", the people of the town had become alarmed, and the military had been called out, arid were now seen ad vancing: You will hear, however, from Captain Philips-, ' that an attempt appeared to have been made by one of the men to form them in the road, apparently for the purpose of resistance, btlt that was soon abandoned, and they fled in all directions, many of them were taken Pri soners, and amongst the rest the Prisoner, Turner, was found, secreted in a ditch near the road, and was taken in the presence of one of the Magistrates, the High Sheriff of this County. Gentlemen, it is very important to know what was ' going On at Nottingham at this time ; and from the evi dence it will appear, that on the night of the 9th, con siderable agitation appeared to prevail in the streets of Nottingham ; that there was a more than usual assemblage of persons in the streets ; and about twelve o'clock at night, a person, who lives on the race course on Notting ham Forest, on his return home to his house, observed a considerable party of men, with pikes I believe; he will tell you that they amounted to, as he conceived, nearly a hundred men, and: they were drawn up in a sort of line: • he was accosted by them. I will not state to you what particularly passed, but you will find, that after begot home, that which was doing at that time at Perrtridgei and at Southwingfield, and in the whole course of that march, was attempted also to be effected at his house, namely, the procuring arms : they knocked at his doof and called forhis arms, but he,With a resolution which does him credit, said that he would not surrender his arms to them, and that he would shoot any person who attempted to force his way into his house. It is most important for 335 you to observe what these persons where about at this hour, when you find the declarations made at Pentridge on the day before, and on that same night that the party were to march to Nottingham Forest, to meet others, and to be there about two in the morning ; for you will find that about two 'in the morning or rather after, the people assembled on Nottingham Forest, probably from not finding the arrival of the expected assistance, or from some other cause, dispersed. Gentlemen, thus ended the transaction of that morning. I stated to you, that in consequence of what appeared at Nottingham, the military were sent out, and some Magi»i trates with them. They advanced on the Tuesday morn ing on the road towards Pentridge and Ripley, and met several persons on the road on their march, who dis persed at the sight of the military, and threw away theit arms and their pikes ; and a large quantity of pikes and guns was collected by the Magistrates, some of which will be produced before you to-day. But there is another very important fact which con firms the whole of this account, for you will find by the evidence of a person who had the resolution to retire from their party at Langley-mill, Henry Hole, that on his return towards Pentridge, he met two considerable parties advancing on the same road ; so that that wliich had been contemplated on the Sunday, was evidently carrying into effect on the Monday night, and that bodies were collecting together from different places : this was evident, not only from what passed on the march of these people ; their being joined at different places by parties; but is still further confirmed by the testimony of Hole, who met other parties on the same road, armed in the same manner, after he had retired from Langley-mill on Monday the 9th, or early on the morning of Tuesday, the 10th. Such is the general outline of the transaction which will be proved to you. I assure you it has been my en deavour, and my anxious wish, not to exaggerate a single fact, which will be laid before you in evidence ; it Would 336 ill' become me,-i-it would ill become any advocate, standing in my situation, to do so. My object, and the ' only object I have in view, is, to have a calm, deliberate, dispassionate enquiry into the transaction; — to excite no prejudices ;— -to influence no partialities ; but, to lay before you a plain distinct narrative of the facts, as I believe they will be prbved ; and if they are proved, it will be for you ultimately to determine, whether those facts do support the charge which I have stated to ydu is made against the Prisoner at the bar, or whether they do not. If after you have heard the transaction, you can entertain no doubt that there was a rising or insurrection; and upon that, the evidence will be so strong and conclusive, that I ap prehend that no rational man can entertain a doubt, then the question will be, what the object of that rising was ? If this was a tumultuous assembly riotously met at ' theinstant, without any plan, without any organization, * and to which we could assign no definite object,' no" distinct purpose, then unquestionably it might be a Case irt Which you might fairly say we have not a Case" of High Treason proved against the Prisoner at the bar; and it would riot be a Case in which my learned Friends, on be- ' half of the Prisoner, would be called upon to assign any distinct object for their conduct, but if the object, if the plan be distinctly proved from the best of all possible testimony, their own declarations and their own assertions, you are satisfied that the object of that plan was a revo lution and a ohange of the government; if their whole conduct points to that end, and to that alone, then, how ever reluctant you might feel to give your assent to such a proposition, yet if forced upon you by the evidence in the ''" Case, and no room is left for speculation or theory as to their motives or their object, you ought not to hesitate about the conclusion. It has been said that many of these persons were re duced to poverty and distress, I know not how the fact is, though I believe it to be otherwise, and that they were acted upon by the miseries they felt ; but, Gentlemen, 337 those miseries and privations do not usually tempt men to assemble together to overturn the constitution, but if they were suffering under those privations it, is strange that when they attack the nouses of persons it is not for food but for arms, it is not for sustenance but for men. But, Gentlemen, enough of the nature of the scheme • and of the object they had in view. As I have already said, it is not my wish to excite your feelings in the least degree upon the subject of this prosecution, it must be admitted by every person who has heard my statemeht that it is a most serious: and most important Case, it is a Case not only of great importance as it conoerns the Prisoner at the bar, but as it affects the public at large ; if after you have heard the whole of the evidence offered on the one side andthe other you can entertain a reason able doubt (for it must be a reasonable doubt,) upon the' evidence which will be offered to you, then unquestion ably in that case it will be ydut bounden duty to give the Prisoner the benefit of that doubt and acquit him ; but if, as reasonable and as honest men, you find that there is no room for doubt, then you are not to look either to the consequences to the Prisoner at the bar or to any other persons by your verdict, but to keep steadily in view the duty imposed upon you {and keeping that in view you can never err). You are not to look to the right or the left hut to consider what the evidence has been, whether it be credible, whether it he given in such a way as to be believed by you, and if on weighing that evidence, you as honest men, cannot but say the charge against the Pri soner at the bar is proved ; there has been an insurrec tion,, the object of that insurrection is but too plain and too evident, namely, that it was aimed at the Constitution and government of the country, then whatever be the, consequence, discharge your duty with firmness ; I know " you will do it with honesty and integrity, and pronounce that .verdict which alone can do justice to the case and satisfy the community at large, '¦ ¦-' 33S Evidence for the CrowtT. Anthony Martin sworn. Examined by Mr. Serjeant Vmghdn. ; , jQ^Didyouiive in the service, of Outram, Jessop>, and* Companyr at the Butterley-works, in June last i 4. Yes. Q. Do you know the Prisoner at the bar ? A. Yes. Q. Did you, on the morning of the 8th of June, go to* Pentridge with anybody ? . A. Yes. , Q. Who accompanied youfr A. John Cope. Q..From Butterley I „ A.Yes. iiu Q-, You. walked from, Butterley to Pentridge with John1 - Cope? ¦ j-v'.-i - A. Yes. . . •{' ;^ ,.,,¦6. At, what., ti|»e of day might you arrive at Pen^ tridge I A. Between nine and ten o'clock in the morning. . Or. Did you go to the White Horse I A. Yes. v.-a Q.Didypu go info, the parlour or the, house part f A. We went into the house part, first, and afterwards into the parlour. r. . .,< ¦ ,, Q. What number of persons might you find^serabled? there? ,. ... ,;„- ,,,•-- y, .4. There were five or six people when we got there. Q. Not more than five or six ? v i A. Not when we got there,, they kept coming in. > Q. Do you remember the names of anyof |hem? ^ . -4. Brandreth was one. . *339 <. Q. Jeremiah Brandreth ? A. Yes ; George Weightman, Thomas Weightman, arid Joseph Weightman.' Q, By whom was the house kept? ' A. By Nanny Weightman. Q. Were George* Thomas, and Joseph any relations of her'sf A.Yes, her sons. Q. Whom else did you see there ? , A. There was another Joseph Weightman, who lives in another part of the town. Q. Do you remember any other narnes ? A. John Bacon was there. Q. Any hody else ? A. Ormond Booth. Q. How soon did you see the Prisoner at the bar there 1 --¦was he there when you went in ? A. It was after dinner. Q. What time might that be ? A. Between one and two o'clock. Q. At the time of your seeing him there, were Brandreth and those you have spoken of there also, or had they left the place ? , A. They were there; tj. How many might be there between one and two o'clock i A. There were upwards of a score I believe. Q. Was there any other Turner besides William Turner there ? A. Not that I recollect ; there were some persons there whom I did not know. Q. Do you know Ludlam ? 4. Yes. Q. Which of them ? A. The elderly man Isaac. Q. Edward Moore ? « A. Yes he was there. Q. Any other Moore ? ^. Yes, John Moore. rS 340 Q. Do you know a man of the name of Mac Kesswick? A. Yes. Q. Was he there ? A. Yes. Q. John Mac Kesswick. A. Yes. Q. Was Fletcher there, or Elsden ? A. Yes, there was Elsden, and Shirley Asbury, and there was one Bramley there. Q. What was the conversation about at this meeting ? — what were they talking about ? A. They were all talking about this Revolution. Q. What Revolution ?— -what was the course of their conversation ? Mr. Cross. Be so good as to ask whether it was after Turner came into the room 2 Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. After Turner came into the room, what was their conversation about? A. About pikes, and arms, and pistols, and swords. '• Q. What part did he take in the conversation ?— what did he say tb those who were present? ^•He wanted to know where the list of their arms was ? Q. Of whom. did he want to know that ? A- He wanted to know of John Cope, and the Pentridge people, where their arms were, and a list of them. Q, What did they say to him upon his making that in quiry I . . . A. They said they had not got a list, that they had got a few guns, but they had no pikes. - } Q. Upon finding they had no list, and that they had only a few guns and no pikes, what did he .say ? A. He said he thought their parish was the forwaEdest of any, for that they had even turned out to get pike- shafts in the day time. Q. What parish was that? A. Wingfield. Q. That they had turned out in the day time to do 'what ? A. To get pike-shafts. Q. What further did he say about what was to.be done ? A, They were talking of drawing the badger. 341 , Q. What did they, say about drawing the bajger ? ,-, A. Cope said he had heard there was a plan to draw; the badger, and he wanted to know what it was, arid Turner told him that it was to lay a bundle of straw, and set it on fire, and the badger would come out, and then they would shoot him. Q. Was it explained, in the course of conversation, who this badger was ? t A. Not that I heard. Q. Was anything said about vermin ? A. Yes, they said they had got vermin to kill in their own parish, and they meant to kill it before they left it. Q. Who said that? A. Mr. Turner. -., Q. You have been telling us about a list pf arms, and so on, did Turner produce any list ? : A. Yes, and Ludlam read it. Q. Was that upon paper ? 4. Yes. Q,. To whom did Ludlam read it ? A. To the whole company. Q. Did he read it for the whole company tp hear 1 A. Yes, ¦ "CL For what place was that ? A. Southwingfield. Q. Was it stated where any arms were ? A. Yes, he said they had got a, quantity of pikes made^-r that they were ready in a stone quarry. Q. Who said that? A. Turner. Q. Was this conversation at all a secret, or public ? A. It was openly in the room. Q, Were any private houses mentioned as having' any arms ? • A. There were private houses mentioned in -^he list, (' Q. Were the houses read that were supposed to contain the arms ? A. Yes, 342 Q, Do ySu remember the names of any houses that were supposed to contain the arms ? A. Yes, Master Stelley's was one. Mr. Cross. Ask him whether he read the list himself. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. No, Turner produced the list, and Lud}am read it. A. Yes. Q. And in that there was a list of the persons houses where arms were ? A. Yes, Q. Do you remember any other than Stelley's ? A. Yes, George Godber's. Q. Were there any gentlemqns' houses mentioned * 4- Yes, some were to be fetched from Mr. Halton's, Q. From Colonel Halton's. 4. Yes. Q. Dq you remember the number ? A. There was an account of the number, but I do not recollect it. Q. These were read by Ludlam from the account proi duced ? A. Yes. Q. Was it" stated upon the paper where any of those houses were ? A. Yes. Q. Were any in Wingfield.park ? A. They were all' in Wihgfield-park and parish. Q. You do hot remember the number of arms that were supposed to be in the parish ? A. No. Q. Was Brandreth there during the whole of the time i A. Yes, he was. ' ¦ ; ' Q. What was he doing ? .* * A. He sat in the centre of the room. Q. Who was addressed as the leader of the party—as th* Captain ? A. Brandreth. Q. What had he before him 1 ' ' A. He had a map before him, ' * 343 Mr. Attorney General. Resides which, my -Lord, I apprehend, when a certain number of persons are found together, that that which is stated by one of the persons in the presence of the others, the Prisoner at the bar being one of those who were present during a considerable part of the discussion going on ; thai that stated and none by a third person, found in the presence of the Prisoner at the bar, and others, is evidence against the Prisoner at the bar. What effect that evidence is to have, must depend upon circumstances which may be inferred from that which passed at the time when this had recently taken place, or from facts which shall have been done by the Prisoner at the bar, either at that or at a subsequent time. When my learned friend, Mr. Cross, says, a man 344 coming in where 'a great many others are is not to' be affected by that which passes from the others, that depends upon" that which passes afterwards. Lord Chief Baron Richards. The Court have no doupt upon this; Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. You say Brandreth had a map before him : — What was he doing With that map ? A. He was pointing out the different places at which they were to assemble, as I suppose. ? Q. What did he do with this map ? — never mind what you suppose hifn to do. A- He opened the mapi and shewed different people where they were to meet, and it was pointed through with a pin. Q. Did he say where they were to meet ? ¦ . » A. Yes ; he pointed out on that plan to the peopleAvho Were connected with the job, I suppose ; where they were to go; it was pricked through with a pin. ii ' Q. Was there any secret made of this— was it in a law tone of voice? » A. It was not a secret; it was open in'theroom. • '< Q. Was the conversation which took place open and public ? A. Yes. Q. Was any flung said about Government? ; A, Yes. Q. What was said? ¦ A. That nothing could be done except by the. overturn of Government. ,, . i-Mn. Cross. With great /deference to your Lordship, I submit that is not the way to' examine a witness on so important a subject — was anything said about the Govern ment — that he should, be asked what passed- ,-> ,.-.. Mr,' Serjeant Vaughan, I submit to your Lordship, that is not a leading question ; " was anything said about, the Government," it might be a most loyal expression ; it was only drawing his attention to the particular fact, without suggesting what it was. — Was anything .said; about the Government? , . > 44A • A. Thatrthere eould be, nothing dgnejjftjbquj arijO^r- -turnof .the present Government, . , ,, ,,. w , . , Q. What further was.saidj about the Government— did Turner take any part in th^tcqnygr^ati^n^outthe^o- vernment ? A. No. Q. He took no. part iri that ? ,. .,,,.-. A. No. Q. Do you remember who said that ? ., A. Brandreth. , ,( Q. Was that said more than once, .or only on,c.e ?: . ;A. It, was said .more than once, Q. Was it said by Brandreth in the presence, of Turner, while Turner was there ? A. I cannot recollect that it was. , - ,->' rQ. What did the conversation continue upon ? (- A. AU about the revolution* and how they were to jjet their arms. ,, ¦ \c. _ ,«'' ... . ; -j.i.:-, .', - - --. cJ Q. Was anything said as to. the places to which Jhey were to go? on' A. To Nottingham. ''¦-;' '-'Q. Who mentioned that they, were to, go to Not tingham ? ..¦".; A. Brandreth. .V :. Q. For what purpose were they, to go to Notting ham ? : . : A. To go to Nottingham and take the town. / Q, Was any thing said (about what they were to doafteE they had taken the town ? A. Yes ; they were to return and fly to the barracks, which were marked upon the map. t»' Q. What was to be done at the barracks 2 - A. They did not say in my hearing; :* vQ. When they had taken the town of Nottingham and "the barracks, was any thing then to be done? >:¦¦ r " A. They were to return back, and there was -a large quantity to come and meet them. Q. From what places were $hey to come ? A' They expected them the next day. 346 Q. From what part ? ' " .; A. From the north; they said all the northern parts were coming. ~" Q. Did they mention any populous places by name ? \ A. Yes; they mentioned some byname, but I cannot recollect what they were. Q. That they were coming the next day ? A. Yes. Q. Was any thing^ said about Butterley — what was to be done at Butterley 1 A. That they were to make barracks of Butterley; they were to return and take Butterley-works and make bar racks of tbem. Q. Were there any men in Butterley ; what was to bei done with those men? A. They were to make all those men go. Q. Was that stated as part of the plan that they were to take the men at Butterley with them i 4. Yes. Q. Was there any thing said as to those who were will ing or unwilling to go ? 4- Yes ; they said they would make all go they could, and them that would not go, they would shoot them. Q. Was any thing said about the tide? A. Yes. Q. What was said about the tide ? 4. That the tide might as well be stopped as them, that the tide could as soon be stopped as them. Q. Was the failure or success of the enterprize talked of? A. Yes. Q. What was said about it ? A. I cannot recollect what was said- Q. Was any opinion expressed as to whether it would succeed or fail? < A. They were talking that they should succeed, they thought. Q. Were any verses recited there by any body ?¦ , A. Yes, by Brandreth. 347 Q. Do you remember any of them? A. Yes,:some little. Q. State what you recollect of them. A. " Every man his skill must try, " He must turn out and not deny, " No bloody soldier must he dread, '* He must turn out and fight for bread." Q. Any thing further f A. Yes, " The time is come you plainly see " That Government oppos'd must he." I do not know that that was spoken while Turner was in. Q. Was that mentioned more than once, do you know whether it was mentioned at any time after he was in ? A. I do not know. Q. Was any thing said about the Ripley people or the Butterley people ? A. Yes. - - Q. Did Turner say any tiling about them ? A. Yes. Q. What did he say ? A. He wanted to know where their arms were, he asked them to assist them in their parish, that he thought they had got a little more to do in their parish than many others, and he asked them to assist him, the answer Cope replied to him Q. Cope was a Butterley man ? 4. Yes. Q. What were they to assist him in ? A. To draw the badger, I suppose. Q. Was that mentioned ? A- Yes, that they were all to kill their own vermirij that he wanted them to assist in drawing the badger and killing the vermin in that parish, lhat he thought they' had so much to do they should hardly get through, they said they thought they had enough to do. Q. Do you know who it was that gave that answer ? A. Cope. Q. He was a Butterley map ? A- Yes. 348 <2. What answer did he give ? • - • ^ A. He said he thought they should have enough to do in their own parish without assisting them. Q. Did Cope say any more to you, or was any answer made by Turner to him ? ~A. Yes, he. said he thought they could get through themselves, but they bad rather have a little assistance. Q. Did Turner say any thing when the badger was talked of? A. Yes. Q. What did he say ? A. He talked about shooting the badger. Q. Was any thing said about Nottingham, or sending any body to Nottingham ? , .4. Yes; they gathered some money, and, sent Joseph Weightman off to Nottingham. Q. What were they to send him off to Nottingham for ? A. To know whether the Nottingham people were ready ; and he was to come back : that was before Turner came there. Q. Did he set off beforeTurner came in, there ? A. Yes, he did. ,Q. Did, Turner say any thing about any party that wai to come from Nottingham ? A- I do not recollect it. Q. You say you saw Mac Kesswick there.^— Did you hear Mac Kesswick say any thing 1 A. Yes ; he came and looked round, and said he thought there were too many there for that business. Q. Do you remember what answer was made upon Jhis saying that he thought there were too many therefor that business, and by whom the answer was given ? ., A. No, I do not. — When Mac Kesswick; came in he fcsked the Captain how he was. Q. He asked Brandreth ? A. Yes. Q. What did Brandreth say ? A. He said he did not know him.— He said, ''Do not you recollect a man that camve with you part of the'way. along the road ? " Q. Did he seem then to recollect him ?J A. Yes. Q. Were you at the Butterley- Works on the Monday night, or the Tuesday morning ? ' A. Yes. t Q. Were you disturbed there^— did any party come -to you there ? A. Yes. Q. What time in the morning ? A. About three o'clock. Q. Who were with that party ? A. I do not remember one-half. Q. Was the Prisoner there ? A. I cannot swear that he was there ? Q,. Was Brandreth there ? A. Yes ; there was Turner's brother there. Q. What party came there ? A. The last party. Q. There were two parties? A. Yes. Q. You saw the last ? A. Yes. Q. You cannot say whether the Prisoner was there ; but you saw his brother ? A. Yes. Q. Do you know who was the leader of the1 second party ? A. They said that Turner was the leader. Q. I do not want you fo tell me what they said ; — you do not know who the leader of the second party Was P A. No. , Q. Did you see Turner there ? A. I cannot exactly say» a What did they do ? A. They began hitting the doors with 'the end of agiln. Q. Do you know who did that ? A, A person of the name of Turner. Q. Not the Prisoner ? '/.No. 850 Q. What did they do or take from thence ? • A. They took some men along with them. Q. What men did they take with them ? A. Joseph Onion and John Walker. Q. How many men did they take with them ? ., A. Thomas Hardy and James. Q. Did they take any arms from thence, do you know t A. No, not that I kuow. Cross-examined by Mr. Cross. Q. About what hour did you go on the Sunday morn ing to the public house ? A. Between nine and ten o'clock. Q. You went with your friend Cope ? A. Yes. Q. What business did he go there for, a.0 you know i A. He was upon the same business ;— -he knowed some thing about it. Q. And you were at that time a constable, we under stand, and went with Cope ? A. Yes ; but I did not know that he was goiiig at the time he asked me to go. Q. You did not know you were to hear any thing of this matter when you went ? ^.No.Q. How long did you stay there ? A. I staid there from that time till between three and four o'clock in the afternoon. Q. From nine to three or four ? A. From ten perhaps. Q. You were there six or seven hours ? A. About six hours. Q. Your friend Cope knew of these matters you suppose t A. He had something to do with them. Q. Did he object to them or concur in them ? A. He objected to some part. Q. He entered into their deliberations, concurred io some part but objected to others. A. Yes. 85 J Q. Did youtake any part in the deliberations ? A. No. Q. What were, you doing all these six hours ? A, I was drinking a pint of ale.- Q. Six hours to drink a pint of ale is a good while ; had? you any body you conversed with to relieve your solitude during, that time ? A. There were several from our works ; John Hart and Shirley Asbury. Q. Were they like yourself the audience, or part of the performers^ A. They called them into the house, and they called them into the parlour. Q. That is, Brandreth and the others called them into the parlour ? ' J'vIcannotTeeollect who called them into the parlour. „t Q. The parlour is the room where this, conversation took place? i, . A. The room Was always, open, there was no secret that I saw. Q. Was there any thing to prevent your going ? \ A. Home ? ; Q, Yes. A. No further than I wished to go hack with the people that I came with. a With Cope? ,4':Not Copeparticularly ; I asked Shirley to go with me. Q. You went with Cope ? A. Yes. Q- Did you go with any body else but Cope ? A. No. Q. Then you were waiting till Cope had done hi9 business 1 A. Yes. Q. And all the business he transacted there you were a quiet spectator oil , A. I knew nothing about the business, Q. So when Cope had finished his business, you and Cope departed together. A. Yes, we went home. 352 Q. How far was the nearest justice at that time? A. Two miles. Q. And so hearing that the Government was to be over turned, and war break out next day, you being a constable, with a justice within two miles, did not think it was a matter of yours ? A. They had threatened any person's life that did any thing against diem ; that I was frightened. Q. Why, man, how should they do that, when you tell us they made no secret of it ? A. They made no secret there, but they said that any. person who did any thing against them, they should call on them another day. Q. You say they made no secret of it ; what then do you mean by saying they did not care who heard it, and then' that they threatened that if any man divulged it he should be shot? A. Because they thought nothing would turn them. Q. Then where was thfe harm of your going to tell a Justice of the Peace that which they were publishing to all the world 1 A. I did not understand any thing about going to tell a Justice of the Pence; I was only a special constable. Q. You being only a special constable, you did not un derstand it was your duty to call the attention of a Justice of the Peace to it ? 4. 1 told them to take care what they said many times, that I was a constable. Q. I ask you whether you mean to swear, that being a special constable, you did not understand that it wns your duty to let a Justice of the Pence know what was going on ? A. I did not ; 1 was only sworn in constable the day be fore, on the Saturday night. Q. We are to understand you were so inexperienced as a special constable as not to know it was your duty to communicate ihis matter to a Justice of the Peace ? A. I did not understand. Q. Now, upon your oath, did not you know that you were sworn in as a special constable for that express purpose ¦ 353 A. 1 did not know that I was, excepting there were mtpA riotous disturbances. d. What became of your friend Cope ori Monday ? A. 1 do not know what became of him on Monday ; I Was not with him, I was at work. Q, And he was off, was he ? A. I do not know where he was. ti. When you got Cope alone, on your way home, did you take him before a Justice, or admonish him at all? A. No. Q. Did you spend your evening with him ? A. No; I went home. Q. The constable and the traitor arm-in-arm, as friends together ? A. No, we were not arm-in-arm. Q. Not exactly arm-in-arm, but you kept together pretty nearly. A. We were together on the road. Q. And you never found fault with him, and had no objection perhaps ? A. I had nothing to do with him, he did not say any thing to me upon that piece of business on the road. Q. Nor you to him ? A. No; I did riot know nothing at all about it till I was going to Pentridge. Q. That I did not ask — now you are shuffling off; the question is, whether anything passed between you and him as you left the public house ? A. No, nothing at all. [Q. Perhaps you thought there was nothing in it ? A. I did not know what to think about it. 0,. You did riot know what they were about? Ay Not exactly. Q. Cope did not understand any more than yon per haps what they were about ? Mr. Gurney. What he thinks another thought cannot be evidence. Mr. Cross. It did not appear to you that the poor fel lows understood what they were about ? z 354 A. I cannot speak to that. Q. Were they drinking much ? A. They had all some little liquor, but they did not drink much. Q. Six hours as well as yourself: A. Some of them. Q. Some of them had been at it all night? A. I cannot say anything to that. Q. They had no arms ? A. I did not see any arms. Q. You left between three and four ? A. Yes. Q. So that the greatest part of what you heard in that room was over before Turner the Prisoner came ? A. Yes, part of it was. Q. And the greatest part too, was not it ; — you went at nine, and he did not come till between one and two ? A. There was part of it over, but not the greatest part, I think ? Q. Can you distinguish clearly what happened^before, and what happened after his arrival ? A. No, I cannot. Q. But as to Brandreth's expression about overturning the Government, you say fairly the Prisoner "was not there to hear it ? A. I cannot say whether he was there or not. Q. As to those verses that were repeated, Brandreth repeated those ? A. Yes. Q. And you caught them up directly, did you ? A. No ; I did not get them there. Q. Where did you get the rest? A. He gave Cope a paper and I saw the paper the next day, Shirley Asbury had one. Q. What you have recited to the Court to-day, and could not recite before, you, learned from a paper you saw on the Monday ? A. I saw the paper on the Sunday. Q. And you learned it on the Monday ? A. Yes. 355 Q. To whom was that delivered ? A. There was one delivered to Shirley Asbury, one to Elsden, one to George Weightman. Q. Which of them shewed you one ? A. John Elsden, on the Monday. Q. Where have you been learning this since you were here last, you could not recollect it then ? A. I recollected it as soon as I went out. Q. Nobody has reminded you ? A. No. Q. For what purpose did you learn them by heart ? A. People was asking what it was, and I recollected in a space of time what it was. Q. For what purpose did you learn them by heart ? A. I do not know for what purpose. Q. That you might keep the secret lest they should shoot you ? A. Yes. Q. You got them by heart in order that you might be Sure to keep them secret ? A. 1 did not mind about keeping them secret, when I got them off they were spoken openly in the place. : Q. Was that the whole of it? A. The whole for what I know. Q. That was the whole of what you heard ? A. Yes., Q,. You cannot say that you saw the Prisoner amongst them on Monday when they came to Butterley ? A. No, I cannot. Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Q. You say that part of the conversation was over, but did the same sort of conversation continue after Turner came into the room ? A.. Yes. Q. Were they talking on the same subject ? Mr. Cross. We cannot hear any thing of the subject of the conversation, nor the quality of the conversation that passed after the Prisoner came in ; this is put into a z2 356 question as summary, as the whole of the evidence of this Witness, we have heard the sort of conversation that preceded, and what was the sort of conversation that continued, but I submit he cannot specify the sort of con versation that followed and that preceded. Mr. Denman. My Lord, 1 submit this question cannot be put, that is taking the judgment of the witness upon the sort of conversation, particularly when so ignorant a witness is examined. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. I submit to your Lordships that there can be no objection to the question whether the same, subject was continued. Mr. Cross. The question was whether the same sort of conversation continued ? Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Meaning by the same sort of conversation the same subject. Mr. Denman. But I think the objection equally ap plies to the question, as it is explained by my learned Friend. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. I submit that the question may be put whether the conversation continued on the same stbject, but I will vary the question to prevent any debate upon it. — What was the subject of conversation after Turner came into the room ? Mr. Denman. That I object to, my Lord, he has al- ready said what Turner said upon particular occasions; If my learned Friend wants anything else besides that proved to have been said by Turner or what was said in the presence of Turner, let my learned Friend put that question so as to bring his mind to that point, but I ap prehend that generally asking the witness to the subject of conversation is not the mode of proving what Turner said, what was said is to be proved by those who have a memory upon the subject not those who at a distance of four months exercise an opinion upon the subject. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. I submit to your Lordship that the question is a proper one — first, what was the subject of conversation, and then, what was the conversation which passed upon that subject? 357 Mr. Justice Dallas. We have got all that passed after Turner came in. Mr. Justice Abbott. The witness has already given an account of what passed ; he has told you a great deal that Turner himself said. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. He has my Lord, I will leave it there. You have been asked whether there were any Anns in the room, and you have told us there were none jn the room ? Mr. Justice Abbott. That he saw none. Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Were any places mentioned where arms were to be found and where they were de posited ? A. Yes, the stone quarry. Q. Now as to your being a special constable, when you were sworn in as special constable what were your'fnstruc- tions ? A. I do' not recollect exactly what it was. Q. But you were not an ordinary constable, but only ^worn in for the purpose of any riot that might arise ? A. Merely that. Shirley Asbury, szeorn. Examined by Mr. Clarke. Q. Where do you live ? A- At Greenwich, in the parish of Ripley. Q. What is your employment ? A. I work in Mr. Jessop's works at Butterley, Q. Was John Elsden a workman there also? A. He was so. Q. Do you remember on Sunday morning the 8th of June, taking a walk with him ? A. Yes. ' Q. In the course of that walk did you call in at the White Horse at Pentridge ? A. Yes. Q. About what time in the day was it when you got to the White Horse ? -358 A. About twelve o'clock. Q. Into what room did you go ? A. Into the kitchen first- Q. Did you call for anything to drink ? A. Yes. Q. Whilst you were in the kitchen, do you happen to know whether there were any persons in the parlour ? A. No, we did not know that there was anybody there when we first went. Q. Did Mrs. Weightman come to you? A. Yes. Q. Did you hear her say anything to anybody in the parlour first ? A. She went into the parlour and told them there were some Butterley chaps in the kitchen, and asked whether they might come in. Q. You heard her say that ? A. Yes. Q. Did she know you and Elsden worked at Butterley ? A, She did not know that I did ; 1 suppose I was a stranger, I never was in the house before, Q. Did she know Elsden? A. I do not know. Q. But she said some Butterley chaps were there ? A. Yes. Q. What answer was given to that question put by her to the persons in the parlour ? A. They told her we might come in for there was nothing there that was a secret. Q. Upon their giving that answer, did Mrs. Weightman come to you ? A. Yes, she asked if we would go into the parlour, we said we had no objections. Q. Did you go in ? A. Yes. Q. Both of you. A. Yes. Q. When you went into the parlour, what number of people did you find in the room ? 359 A. About twenty. Q. Do you remember some of them ? A. Yes. ' Q. Was John Cope there? A. Yes, Anthony Martin, Jeremiah Brandreth, Ormond Booth, Mac Kesswick, William Turner, Ludlam. Q. Whiit William Turner, was that ? A. Of Wingfield. Q. Was it that William Turner who is there ? A. Yes. Q. Was he there when you went in, or did he come in afterwards ? A. lie came in afterwards. Q. Whom did you see in the room when you first went in? ¦ A. 1 saw Cope there when I first went in. CI. Did you see Brandreth ? A. Yes. Q. Weightman ? A. Yes, three Weightmans. Q. Anthony Martin ? A. Yes, and some others. ' Q. What were they talking about in that room ? A. They were talking about the revolution. Q. What revolution ? A. The revolution that was going to commence on the next night. Q. Who spoke on that subject, do you recollect ? ' A. It was Brandreth that mentioned it. Q. What did Brandreth say ? A. He first pulled out a map, a map of England, and was pointing out different places which they were to take. A. Did you see the map ? A. Yes. Q. Were there any marks ? A. Yes, prick marked, pricked with a pin. Q. What were they to do? A. They were going to overturn the government, and they talked that there would be no good doings till such time as it was done. 360 Q. Who said that? A. William Turner. Q. What time did William Turner come in ? A. It might be about one o'clock — I cannot exactly say. Q. William Turner said, that there would be no good doings till that was done ? A. Yes. Q. What was to be done for the purpose of thus over turning the government ; did you hear that ? A, No I cannot say that I did. Q. What were those people, who were there, to do ; You say a revolution was to take place the next night;— ¦> what were they to do ? A • They were to go from Pentridge to Wingfield first, and William Turner wanted Cope to go there to join them. Cope said, he should have nothing to do with them, that they had plenty to do at home. Q. Where were those persons to go to— to what place ? A. To Nottingham. Q. What were they to do when they got to Nottingham ? A. They were going to take Nottingham. Q. What were they to do after they had taken Not-> tingham ? A. They were to go from Nottingham to Newark, They said it would be like a jonrney of pleasure from Nottingham to Newark ; that they should go down by the Trent boats. It was Brandreth said that. Q. Was there any poetry repeated while you were there by an}' body ? A. Yes. Q. By whom was that? A. Brandreth. Q. Were there any copies of that delivered out ? A. Yes, Q. Do you recollect what that poetry was ? A. Yes. Q. What was it ? A. ' Every man his skill must try ; ' He must turn out and not deny. 361 * No bloody soldiers must be dreadj - ' He must turn out and fight for bread. ' The time is come you plainly see, ' The Government opposed must be.' Q. Do you remember a person of the name of Mac Kesswick coming into the room ? A. Yes. Q. Did he make any observation upon coming in ? A. Yes ; he said, he thought there were too many there for that business. Q. I think you said that Turner came in some where about one o'clock ? A. Yes, it might be there about. Q. Do you recollect any person coming in with him, or about the same time ? A. Yes : Ludlam. Q. Which Ludlam? A. I do not know his Christian name, but he is an old man. Q. Can you tell me whether any paper was produced by any body ? A. Yes ; by William Turner. Q. What was that paper — Did any body read from it ? A, He gave it to Ludlam. Q. What did he read from that paper ? A. It was consisting of what guns they had got, and who had them. Q. Where? A. I do not know wliere. Q. What guns who had got f A. The men that they had pointed out to take them from. Mr. Denman. My Lord, we have had no notice to pro duce that paper : this is a paper supposed to be written by Turner that he produced. If Turner, the Prisoner, hadN read that paper, I am quite aware his reading might have made it evidence against him, whatever its contents ;x but when another person read that paper, I apprehend that cannot be evidence, unless the paper itself is pro duced or properly accounted for. » 562 Lord C^ief Baron Richards. This is read by another person in his presence, therefore he must be conceived to be cognizant of what was read. Mr. Denman. It struck me at the moment, my Lord. Mr. Justice Dallas. Oh! you are quite right, Mr. Denman, in taking the objection if it struck you. Mr. Clarke. What did the}' say ? A. William Turner said they had forty spikes in a stone quarry, for the men that volunteered. Q. What else did Turner say, do you recollect? A. He said, they were to go from Wingfield, and Shef field and Chesterfield were to meet them. Q. Was any thing said about the Wingfield people ? A. Yes. Q. What was that? A- They were talking about drawing the badger. Q. What was said about drawing the badger ? A. They said, they should take a bundle of straw and »et it on fire before Mr. Halton's door, and as soon as they set it on fire he would come out, and as soon as he came out they were to shoot him. Q. Who said that ? A. William Turner. Q. Do you recollect whether any inquiry was made about any list of arms from other places ? A. Yes, they asked ¦ Q. Who asked ? A. William Turner ;— he wanted to know where our list was. Q. What list ? A. The list belonging to the Butterley people ; — they told him they had none. He seemed to make game of them because they were not so forward as they were at Wingfield. Mr. Denman. Who said they had none ? A. Cope. — He said that they were not so forward as they were ; for that they went out to get pike-staffs in the day-time. 363 ^ Mr. Clarke. You said there was a talk of going to Colonel Halton's to draw the badger ? A. Yes. Q. What else were they to do ? A. Every one was to kill their own vermin. Q. Who said that ? A. William Turner wanted Cope to go and help thenu Q. To go where? A. To Wingfield. Q. To go to help them to do what? A. He did not say exactly what they were going to do ? 0. Who was it that said that everyplace was to kill their own vermin ? A. William Turner. Q. What was it he wanted him to do ? A. To go, I suppose -. Mr. Cross. Do not tell us what you suppose. Mr. Clarke. What were they to aid them to do ? . A. They were to go to Colonel Halton's. Q. Y ou have said that every place was to kill their own vermin ? A. Yes ; Cope made him answer, and said he should not go — that they had enough to do at home. Q. Did old Ludlam say any thing ? A. I do not remember his' saying any thing in particular. Q. Was there any thing said about what they were to get at Nottipgham ? A. That they were to get plenty of rum and beef, and one hundred guineas. Q. Who said that ? A. Turner. Q. How did those persons appear as to their spirits at this time ? A. They seemed in good spirits, and said there would be no good to us till such time as the Government was overturned. Q. Did they express any doubts whether they should succeed ? A. They said they had no doubt they would succeed in what they were going to undertake. fc 364 Q. Was there a person of the name of Edward Moore there amongst them ? A. Yes, Q. Can you tell me whether he took any part in the conversation ? A. No, he did not appear to take any part in the busi ness. They were talking one amongst another, and he was talking amongst the rest. Q. Do you remember any thing that he said ? A. No, I do not. Q. Do you happen to know whether it was proposed to send any body off to Nottingham ? A. Yes ; there was money gathered for Joseph Weight- man to go. Q. When was he to go ? A- He was to go that night. Q. What was he to go there for ? A. He was to go to see how they were getting on there. Q. What was Brandreth to be — what station was he to fill ? A. He was to be Captain. Q. Was there any thing said about gunpowder — do you recollect ? A. Yes, there was a barrel of gunpowder, and he wanted it produced. Q. What did Brandreth say ? A. He said there was a barrel of gunpowder which he wanted to be produced, so that he might learn them how to make cartridges, and as for lead, there would be plenty of lead upon the road. Q. Where ? A. Upon the churches. Cross-examined by Mr. Denman. Q. Have the goodness to tell me where you come from ? A. I come from Sutton Colefield. Q. Where do you come from this morning A. I come from the Old Flower Pot. Q. You have been at that Inn in this town ? A. I have been there. 365 Q. You have been living there ? A. Yes. Q. How often, since you were here, have you talked this matter over with Martin ? A. I never talked it over with him. Q. Have you not said something to him about it ? A. Oh, yes. Q. You taught him the verses perhaps ? A. No, I did not ; — he heard them the same as I. Q. You did not tell him the rest of the verses since he was here ? A. No. Q. But you have been conversing with him ? A. Some little. Q. Was it he who told you that Turner came in after you went ? A. No. Q. You told us before that he was there when you came in? A. No, he came in after me. Q. You told us on Thursday that Turner was there when you first went? A. I might say so. Q. Then I ask you whether Martin has since told you that you swore falsely, and that it was not so ? A. He has not told me I swore falsely. Q. You have had no conversation with Martin as to the time when Turner came in ? A. I cannot say, indeed. Q. Cannot you recollect that you have had conversation with Martin about the time that Turner came into the room? A. I do not. Q. Then how came you to swear to-day that he was there when you first went, having sworn before thathe was not? Mr. Gurney. He has not said that he did swear that. Mr. Denman. He says he might. Mr. Gurney. But I believe he did not. 366 Mr. Clarke. I believe it proceeded from . the mode of putting the question, for when 1 put the question to him who was there, he seemed to say so, but when I asked him as to particulars, he mentioned when he came in. Mr. Denman. The witness is to explain I apprehend, not the counsel. Mr Justice Holroyd. He said, I observe, according to my note, that Turner was there, I do not observe that he said when he came in ; he was asked as to Brandreth being ihere at the time. Mr. Justice Dallas. He was asked generally who were the persons, and he mentioned all who were there, and Turner amongst the rest, but the question did not turn upon when Turner came in. Lord Chief Baron Richards. " We then went into the parlour and found about twenty there, then afterwards he names Turner." Mr, Denman. I think a little before that your Lord ship will find he names Turner. Mr. Justice Holroyd. He names, amongst the rest, William Turner ; from that it might be implied, perhaps, that he was there at the time he went in, but not necessa rily, I think. Lord Chief Baron Richards. I will read my note. His Lordship read his note of the evidence. Mr. Denman. I am much obliged to your Lordship for setting me right, but when the witness assumes that he might have said so, I think he should set it right. Mr. Gurney. But you were assuming that he did say so. Mr. Denman. Then you might have said so ? A- If I did say so it was unthinkingly. Q. You were a witness against Brandreth before, now against Turner ? A. Yes. v Q. Did not you say the other day that it was Brandreth who said there would be no good done till the Government was overset ? A. They both said so. 367 . CL Which said it first? A. I cannot recollect which said it first. Q. Can you recollect the words that either of them used ? A. He said there wou/d be no good doings. Q. W^ho said ? A. Both of them. Q. I ask you the words that one of them said ; swear to tbe words that either of them said. A. It was William Turner mentioned it first. Q. What did he say ? A. He said there would be no good doings till such time as the Government was overturned. Q. Did Brandreth say it in the same language ? . A. Yes, but not till some time afterwards. . t Q- How soon afterwards ? A. I cannot say. Q. Might it be an hour afterwards ? A. Perhaps it might, I cannot say. Q. Do you think Martin would have an opportunity of hearing that if it was said ? A. Yes, but he was not in the room all the time, he was backwards and forwards, he might not hear it. Q. Being a witness against Turner to-day, and having been a witness against Brandreth on Thursday, I wish to ask when you were taken up? A. I forget since I was taken up. Q. Were you taken up ? A. No, I was not taken up. Q. When did you first disclose what had happened to the Magistrate or any other person ? A. When I was called upon. Q. When was that? , A. I cannot say. Q. Was it in the course of the same week ? A. No. Q, Was it in the course of the same month ? .^..Yes. Q. You did not volunteer any information upon the subject at any time? 368 A. No ; I did not know that it was my duty to do so. Q. You mean to swear that was your reason ? A. I did not know it was my duty to talk about what they had been doing. Q. Did you say the other day that your reason for not doing it was that they threatened to put you up the chimney? A. Yes. Q. Did not you say they threatened so hard any persons who mentioned any thing ? A. I told them to take care, there were constables in the room : they said, if we mentioned anything, they should thrust us up the chimney. Q. How came you now to mention for the first time that you did not know it was your duty to mention such a circumstance ? " A. When I was sWorn I was not sworn in for such an occassion ; I was sworn in to protect my master's place ? Q. Those works at Butterley ? A. Yes. Q. And you heard all this conversation about Butterley without disclosing ? A. Yes. Q. And you mean to swear your reason for not disclos ing was, that you did not know it was your duty to disclose it ? A. Yes, I will. Q. You were in the employ of Mr. Jessop ? A. Yes. Q. You were eating his bread ? A. I cannot exactly say I was eating his bread. Q. You were earning your subsistence from him ? A. Yes. Q. You were sworn in specially to protect his property but the day before ? A. Yes ; the night before. Q. Being a witness against Turner to-day, you have stated that he said every man would have plenty of rum and-one hundred guineas ? 369 ,4. Yes, Q. Did Brandreth say that too 1 A. They both said it. Q. Did they rhentiott it together. A. No ; but ihe men Were Coming in, and {hey werfe saying that to every body as they came in. •; Q. Did they both say it together ? A. No. Q. Which said it to you ? A. Turner. Q. Did he say that to you ? A. He said it to me as well as the rest ; he was ih trre room, and said it. Q. It was said generally to the whole party ? A. Yes. Q. Did he say that as soon as you carne into th« room ? A. No. Q. Whom'did you go with ? A. John Elsden. Q. Pray is Cope here? A. Yes. Q. Is he at the Flower-pot? A. No. Q. Is Martin at the Flower-pot ? A. No. Q. Have you had an opportunity of talking with hiriqr? A. I have seen him. Q. Since you were examined here on Thursday, have you not spoken to Martin about the evidence to be given in this cause ? A- I cannot say ; but I have said something to him. Q. Who raised money to send W'eightman to Notting ham ? A. The money was gathered in the room. Q. Did you subscribe ? A. No, I did not. Q. You did not subscribe ? A- 1 did not gather the money j I saw the money. 370 Q. Do you mean to say you did not understand me when I put the question ? A. I gave — I did not receive. Q. I asked you whether you did not subscribe— I ask .you whether you did not understand me to mean whether you gave anything ? A. I gave. Q. Did Brandreth subscribe ? A. Yes. Q. What was the sum you advanced upon that occasion ? A. Sixpence : I did not know what I was giving it for though. Q. Then, if you did not know what you were givingit for, how does it happen you are able to swear to-day you were giving it for sending Weightman to Nottingham ? A. After I gave the money they told me what it was for, but at the time I gave it I did not know what for. Q. What did they ask you for ? A. They asked me for sixpence — I knew afterwards what it was for. Q. Do you mean to swear you did not know at the time what it was given for ? A- 1 was told afterwards, not before. Q. How soon afterwards were you told ? A. I cannot say ; — when the money was gathered round. Q. Turner told you that I suppose ? ' A. What Turner ? Q. Turner told you what the money was wanted for ? A. No ; he did not tell me, Q. After you had subscribed ? A. No ; it was not Turner who did tell me. Q, Who was it that mentioned that ? A, It was mentioned in the room ;— which it was I can not tell; but they told me it was to send Joseph Weight- man to Nottingham, to know how they were going on. Q. Do you knowwhether thatwas before Turner came in? A. No ; it was while Turner was in the room. Q. How long did you stay ? A. Till four in the afternoon. 371 Q. When you heard the purpose of sending this man to Nottingham to know what was doing, did you ask for ihe sixpence back again ? A. No. Q. You told them you were a Constable ? A. Yes. Q. You walked away very quietly ? A. I did not ask them for any sixpence back that ever 1 gave them. Q. Did you go to Mr. Jessop's works that day ? A. No ; I went home to my own house. Q. You went to work the next day ? A. Yes. Q. You saw Mr. Goodwin when you went to work? A- Yes ; I might in the course of the day. Q. Did you tell him what had passed ? A. No. Q. Nor Mr. Jessop ? A. No. Q. Nor Mr. Wragg ? A. No. Q. Nor any Magistrate whatever ? A. No. Q. Because you did not know it was your duty so to do ? A. No. Thomas Turner sworn. Examined by Mr. Gurney. Q. Are you a frame-work tfnitter ? A. Yes. Q. In the beginning of the month of June last did you live with your father at or near Southwingfield ? A. Yes. Q. You have been taken up upon this business I be lieve, and kept in custody for some time past ? A. Yes. Q. In the evening of Monday the 9th of June, at what hour did you quit your father's house ? A. Nearly nine o'clock. a a 2 &. In company with whom ? A. Samuel Ludlam mid John Walkei. Q. To what place did you go ? A. To the meeting-house ki Southwingfield. Q. Opposite the meeting-house ? A Yes. Q. How near is that to Colonel Halton's gateway ? A. Very near; the meeting is on one side, aud Colonel Halton's gate on the other. Q. Did you see the prisoner Turner ? A. Yes. Q. You knew him I A. Yes. Q. You had known him long, I suppose? A. O yes. Q. In whose company was he ? A. George Weightman's and Braudrelh's. Q. George Weightman, and Brandreth who was tried here the other day ? A. Yes. Q. Had they any anus? A. Yes. Q. What arms ? .-/. All three guns. Q. Each had a gun? A. Yes. Q. Where did you see them ?' //. At a plaee culled Balguy brook. Q. Is that near Colonel llaltmi's gate? A. It may be about two hundred yards from it. Q. Do you know Hunt's Bam ? A. Yes. Q. AY as that in the way to it ? A. Yes. Q. You say you saw the prisoner William Turner, and George Weightman, and Brandreth, each with a gun ? A. Yes. Q. Was the Prisoner doing any thing with respect to his gun ? 373 A. Yes ; he was loading the gun. Q. With what ? A. A bullet. Q. How near were you to him at that time ? A. Very near. Q. Did George AVeightman say anything to you ? A. Yes. Q. What did he say to you ; A. He said, " come lads, I expect an Cngagerhent very soon." Q. Did he say where ? A. Yes. Q. Where? A. At Butterley furnace, with Mr. Jessop's men. Q. Anything more ? A. He said he did not expect that it would last long. Q. Were you told then where you were to meet ? A. Yes. Q. By whom 1 A. By the Prisoner. Q. At what place ? A. At Hunt's Barn. Q. Did you know Brandreth before that time ? A. No. Q. Did you learn who and what he was? A. Yes. Q. Whom of? al. I asked the Prisoner who that person was, and he said, that is our Captain from Nottingham. Q. Did any of the persons there go towards Hunt's Barn A. Yes. Q. Who ? A. All three of them, and me afterwards. Q. By the three do you mean George Weightman, Turner, and Brandreth ? A. Yes. Q. And you and others followed them ? A. Yes. 374 Q. Were there persons assembled at the barn ? A. Yes. Q, How many in number ? A. Why I cannot justly say — perhaps a score or better. Q. Were they armed or unarmed ? A. Armed. Q. With what? A. Different weapons ; spikes, and guns, and swords. Q. Did you see any arms besides those that they had in their hands ? A. Yes. Q. Where were those arms ? A. There were a few lay by the hedge side, which were not taken up when I was there. Q. What were those ? A. Spikes. Q. Did you say spikes or pikes ? A. Spikes. Q. Was William Barker among the persons there ? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A. A spike. ( Several pikes were produced.) Q Do you mean such things as those now produced when you speak of spikes ? A. Yes. Q. Was John Hill there ? A. Yes. Q. What had he? A. A spike. Q. Was Samuel Ludlam there ? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A. A spike. Q. Was Robert Turner there ? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A. I think he had a sword, but J. cannot recollect. — I saw him with a sword afterwards. 375 Q. Do you know a man called Manchester Turner ? A. Yes. Q. Is there any thing remarkable in his face ? A. Yes, he has had the misfortune to Jose an eye. Q. What had he? * A. He had a sword. Q. Was Charles Swaine there ? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A. He had a spike. Q. Did you hear Brandreth say any thing about where he was going to ? A. No, I cannot recollect that I did. Q, Did you hear any person say where they were going to? A. I heard no more said than that, that George Weight- man said we must go to Topham's first. Q. Was any thing said about where you were to go ? A. Yes, the Captain said, — " We must go to Notting ham Forest," where there would be a vast quantity of people to meet us. Q. Whom do you mean by the Captain ? A. Brandreth. Q. Did the party go away from that spot ? A. Yes. Q. Did you go away in confusion together, or in any order ? A. We were formed in order. Q. By whom ? A. By Wihiam Turner and Brandreth. Q. What sort of order were you formed in ? A. We were formed in rank. Q. Do you mean at all like soldiers ? A. Yes. Q. Did you receive any thing from any person to carry ? A. Yes. Q. What did you receive ? A. A bag of bullets. 376 Q. From whom ? A. From George Bramley. Q. To what place did you then march forwards ? A. To Topham's ground, Q. How many in number [do you conceive that you consisted of ?- A. I cannot say ; there were, I think, better than a score, Q. Who commanded you to march ? A. Brandreth. Q- To what house did you first go ? A. James Hardwick's. Q. Is his name James or Saipuel ? A. Samuel ; there are both father and som :Q. To Mr. Hardwick's however ? A. Yes. Q. Was any thing taken from Mr. Hardwick's, house ? A. Not that I see'd of. Q. Where did the party go to next ? A. To Tomlinson's. Q. Did you go with them to Tomlinson's, or stay a httle behind ? A. I did not go with them to Tomlinson's. Q. Did you keep your bullets, or deliver, tbem to apy other person ? A. I delivered my bullets to another person. Q. Who was that? A. Samuel Ludlam. Q. To what place did you then go ? A. We went the nearest way to meet them at Tope , ham's-close. Q. Did you expect to meet any persons there? A. Yes. Q. Whom ? A. The Pentridge people were to have met us there? Q. From whom had you learned that? A. From George Weightman. Q. When you got near to Topham's-close did any othei persons join? 4. Not till we got to Topham's-close, 377 Q. Who joined you there ? A. Isaac Ludlam the elder and his. two sons, Isaac and William. . » . , Q. What had they in their hands i A. They had spikes. Q. When you speak of spikes, do you mean this de scription of weapon ? A. Yes. Q. Did the Pentridge people meet you there as you expected ? A. No. Q. What was done upon that ? A. It was agreed that George Weightman should take the bag of bullets and go by the Wire-mill, and if he met the Pentridge people turn them back to Pentridge-lane-end. Q. Did Weightman, and any other persons with him, go that way ? A. Yes ; ihey left us there. Q. Did Weightmari, take with him the* bag of bullets? A. Yes. Q. To what place did the large party go in which you were ? , A. To Elijah Hall's. Q. Did Brandreth and the Prisoner, Turner, accompany you to Elijah Hajl's. A. Yes. V-.O Q. What was done at Mr. Hall's ? A. When I got to Mr. Hall's door he was on the out side, and the door fastened. Q. I do not ask you all the conversation that took place, but was any thing taken- from Mr. Hall's? A. Yes ; his gun and his son was taken. Q. Did Mr. Hall give up his gun and his son willingly? or were they taken by force ? A. He did not give them up willingly, Q. Were they taken by force* "A. Yes. Q. For this purpose did a*iy of your party go into the house? 378 A. Yes. Q. Which of them ? A. There were several ; I cannot mention which. Q. Was Brandreth one? A. Yes. Q. Was William Turner one? A. I saw him at the door, I cannot say whether he went into the house. Q. There were many went in ? A. Yes there were. Q. To what house did you next go? A. Isaac Walker's, I believe. Q. Were any arms taken from Mr. Walker's? A. Yes. Q. What? A. I saw a pistol taken. G. Who had that? A. Brandreth. Q. What did Brandreth do with it? A. He stuck it into an apron he had tucked round him. Q. Tucked round him like a belt. A. Yes. Q, What sort of pistol did it appear to be ? A. It appeared to be a brass barrelled pistol. Q. Was William Turner there too ? A. I cannot say. Q. To whose house did you next proceed 1 A. Henry Bestwick's. Q. I omitted to ask yon whether William Barker was amongst you at the house of Mr. Hall ? A. Yes. Q. Do you remember Mr. Barker saying any thing in the hearing of the party ? A. Yes ; he told Mr- Hall he had wished for that day to come long, but it had come at last. Q. I think you say you next proceeded to Bestwick's ? A. Yes. Q. Was any violence used there 1 379 A. I did not sec it; I heard the glass jingle from the breaking of the windows, but I did not see what tiiey did. Qt- To whose house did you go next? A. To Samuel Hunt's. Q. What did Mr. Hunt, give you.' A. Mr. Hunt gave us bread and cheese. Q. Any thing to drink ? A. Beer. a What then? A. He dressed him and came along with us. Q. Any body with him besides himself? A. His man. Q. Was the Prisoner with you at that time ? A. Yes. Q. And iu Hunt's house ? A. Yes. Q. To whose house did you next proceed? A. Mrs. Hepworth's. Q. What was done there ? A. A gun was taken there, I believe. Q. Before the gun was taken, was any entrance to the house demanded by any person ? A. Yes. Ll. By whom ? A . By Brandreth. " Q. Were the rest of the party by ? A. Almost all of them in the yard. Q. Was admission given ? A. No. Ll. Was any thing said about the object of your wanting admission by Brandreth or by any of the party? ./.Yes. Ll. What did they say ? A- They said they wanted her gun out of the house. Q. Was any attempt made to break in ? A. Yes. Q. Were any part of the fastenings broken ? I. I think not. Q. AVas any window broken ? 380 A. Yes ; I think there was. Q. Any thing done to force the door ? A. Yes Q. AVhat was done ? A. A large stone thrown. Q. By whom ? A. By Samuel Hunt. Q. AVhen the window was broken, did any of your party do anything at that window ? A. Yes, Brandreth. Q. What did Brandreth do ? A. He shot through the window. Q. Had that shot any effect ? A. Yes. Q. What effect. A. That shot killed a man I believe. Q. AVhat man do you mean ? A. Robert AValters. Q. What was he ? A. Servant to Mrs. Hepworth. Q. Did you see him lying upon the floor afterwards? A. Yes. Q. Did you say anything to Brandreth on his doing that I A. Yes, I did. Q. AAliat did you say ? A. I told him he should not have shot that poor inuo- centlad; he said it was his duty to do it, and he should doit. Q. Anything more ? A- And if I said any thing more to him about it : be would blow my brains out if he heard me say any thing more. Q. How near were you to Brandreth at the time he fired ? A. Three or four yards — there were three or four people between him and me. Q. Who were they ? A. Elijah Hall was one, and William Ludlam. Q. Was William Turner at the house at that time? A. Yes, but not so very near. Q. How near was he to him ? 381 A. I cannot say; I saw him in the yard shortly before it was done. Q. How shortly before ? A. May be a minute, or so. Q. After the man was shot were the arms given out of the house ? A. Yes. Q. To whose house did you next proceed ? A- To Pentridge-lane-end. Q. Did you meet with any party there ? A. Yes. Q. From Pentridge ? A. Yes, from different places, I dare say. Q. How many ? A. There might be a score of them. Q. What might be the size of your party altogether by that time ? A. Forty or fifty. Q. Were those who joined you armed or unarmed ? A. Most of them armed. Q. Were they armed in the same way with your party ? A. In the same way. Q. Some with guns and some with spikes ? A. Yes. Q. While you were at Pentridge-lane-end did you hear what was going on at Pentridge ? A. No. Q. Did you hear any knocking at houses, and so on ? A. Not at Pentridge, at Pentridge-lane-end. Q. Did you hear any noise of the same kind as that you had heard at other houses ? A. Yes. Q. Were arms obtained from many different houses? A. I did not see any — there was a great disturbance at Buckland Hollow. Q. Were any arms got from thence? A. I do not know. Q. Were any men got ? A. Yes, I believe men were brought. 382 Q. Did you afterwards march towards Pentridge-town ? A. Yes. Q. In your way there, was anything said about any person that must do anything by Brandreth ? A. Yes. Q. What did Brandreth say ? A. We were not formed into rank at that time. Q. Do you remember Brandreth saying anything about what should be done ? A. Yes, Brandreth asked whether there was any in the ranks who had been in the militia and knew discipline. Q. What did he say they must do ? A. He said they must turn out and keep the men in order- Q. Upon that, did any man turn out ? A. Yes. Q.Who? A. Charles Swaine. Q. Had he been in the militia ? A. Yes, I believe so. Q. What was then done ? A. We were then marched forward. Q. But before that were you put into rank ? A. Yes. Q. By whom ? A. By Brandreth, William Turner, and this Charles Swaine. Q. In putting you into rank, where were the men placed who had the guns ? A. They were placed the first. A. Where were the men with the spikes? Q. In the rear. Q. How many deep were you in line ? A. Two. Q. You were two and two ? A. Yes. Q. The men with guns first, and then those with spikes ? A. Yes. Q. Who was your commander ? A. Brandreth. 383 Q. Who appeared to be second in command ? A. Turner. Q. Do you mean the Prisoner Turner ? A. Yes. Q. When you entered the village of Pentridge were you joined by any persons ? A. Yes. Q, By whom? A. Edward Turner and Joseph James I know. Q. Were there any others ? A. Yes, several others. Q. Were they armed or unarmed ? A. Edward Turner was armed. Q. What with? A. A gun. Q. What had James ? A. I cannot say. Q. Were those who came with them armed ? A. Some of them, and some not. Q. What were the others armed with ? A. Spikes. Q. At Pentridge were arms taken from different houses? A. I believe so, I did not see them taken. Q. How do you know there were ? A. By the disturbances, knocking folks up. Q. Did you hear at other houses the same kind of dis turbances you had witnessed al the houses you had been at ? A. Yes. Q. Did George Weightman and other people rejoin you ? A. George Weightman rejoined us a little before we got into Pentridge. Q. And others with him ? A. I cannot say, I saw him there. Q. Among other houses did you go to Mr, William Booth's ? A. Yes. Q. Was any thing taken from Mr. Booth's ? A. A poney, 1 believe. 384 Q. Who took it? A. I saw George Weightman with it. Q. Was any person placed upon that poney? A. Yes. Q. Who was that? A. I cannot hit upon his name. Q. Was his name Storer ? A. Yes, he pretended to be ill. Q. And he was lifted upon the poney ? A. Yes. Q. Did you then march to Butterley ? A. Yes. Q. When you came near the office, do you remember seeing Mr. Goodwin, did he come out ? A. Yes. Q. Did any thing pass between Mr. Goodwin and your party ? A. Yes, something, but I do not know what it was. Q. After that were you marched elsewhere ? A. Yes. Q. By whom ? • ¦ -- A. By Brandreth. J -¦ Q. To what place ? A. To Ripley. ¦ - >> Q. Did William Turner continue to accompany your A. Yes. Q. When you arrived at Ripley were you ordered -by Brandreth to do any thing ? -•' A. Yes, to halt, and to give three huzza's. Q. For what purpose were the huzza's given ? A- I cannot say, I did not hear him say. Q, To what place did you then proceed? A. To Codnor. Q. To what house in Codnor did you first go? A. To the public house. Q. Is that called the Glass House ? A. Yes. Q. What was done there ? A. We got some ale there. 385 Q. Was the landlord knocked up ? A. Yes. Q. Who ordered the bill ? A. William Turner and Brandreth ordered the bill. Q. What was the amount ? A. Eight and twenty shillings. Q. Did you go to any farm yard near Codnor ? A. Yes, I believe we did, I remember something of that farm yard. Q. Did the Prisoner do any thing there ? A. He was in the yard, and Brandreth, and several others. Q. What did they do ? A. They brought three men out. Q. From what place ? A. From the barn I believe. Q. Were those men placed in your ranks ? A. I think we were not in ranks then, but as it hap pened. Q. Were they placed in your body ? A. Yes, they were. Q. Did they go with you willingly ? A. Not very willingly I think. Q. Did you then march on to Langley-mill ? A. Yes. Q. AA7hom did you meet with there ? A. George Weightman. Q. On foot or on horseback ? A. On horseback. Q. On what horse? A. On Mr. Booth's poney. Q. To what place had he been ? A. To Nottingham, I understood. Q. When he met you, what did he say to you ? A. He said, that Nottingham was risen ; the town was taken, and the soldiers woidd not come out of their barracks, and we must march on. Q. Did you march on i A. Yes. 386 Q. Towards Nottingham ? ' ^ A. Yes. Q. How far did you go with them? A. I am a stranger to that country. Q. Did you go beyond Eastwood? A. Yes ; two or three miles. Q. Did you and some others then quit them ? A. Yes. Q. When you quitted, which way were the rest of the party going ? A. Towards Nottingham ; but there were very few left. Q. Who were the persons that were leading them that were left? A. When I left them, William Turner and Brandreth were discoursing together. Q. Throughout the march, did William Turner march in the line with the men in general, or on one side ? A. He was never in the line that I ever saw. Q. And you have told me before he seemed to be the second in command ; did he act so throughout ? A. Yes ; I believe so. Cross-examined by Mr. Cross. Q. What do you mean by second in command ; he was not elected to any command ? Mr. Gurney. Will you excuse me : — Had you any weapon ? A. Yes; a pike. , Q. What did you do with it i A. I flung it down on the side of the road by some nettles. Q, Did any others of the party throw down their pikes also? A. Yes ; they did. Q. Did you afterwards point out the places where the pikes were to the soldiers ? A. Yes. Q. And they were collected by. the soldiers? A- Yes ; some where gone when I got there, j 387 Q. And you showed the remainder?' A. Yes. Mr. Cross. You are a frame-work knitter, I understand ? A. Yes. Q. Were you in full employ at that time ? A. Yes. Q. And you saw Brandreth fire in at the window, at Hepworth's. ' A. Yes. Q. You of course were angry with him for so doing— you blamed him for it, ? A. Yes. Q. You said he should not have hurt that poor innocent boy? A. Yes. Q. I believe that you did not know that the poor fellow was killed when you went away ? A. He appeared to be killed — he lay on the floor. Q. As you were out of doors ? A. Yes. Q. Several who were there blamed Brandreth for doing that ? A. I did not hear that. Q. However, you cannot take upon youself to say that the Prisoner, William Turner, was near him, or in sight of him, at the time that that happened ? A. I do not believe he was. Q. You quitted them I believe. A. Yes. Q. At what hour ? A. It might be between nine and ten the following morning. Q. They had chiefly dropped off by that time ? A. Yes ; most of them had dropped off — there were very few then. Q. How many do you think were left at that time? A. They were going forward in different directions; — there was a public house, and I stopped at the public house. Bb3 388 Q. AVere there a dozen, or a scene left, collected to gether when you quitted ? A. Yes ; I should think there was. O. There might be about a dozen or a score left I A. Yes. Re-examined by Mr. Gurney. Q. Were there more parties than one at that time marching towards Nottingham ? A. Yes; the line was broken, arid they were going some forwards and some backwards. Q. Were they all going towards Nottingham ? A. No ; some backwards. Q. How many do you think were accompanying Bran- , dreth and Turner when you quitted them ? A. Very few then. Q. As you were going back did you meet any others following them ? A. No ; I did not go the turnpike way back. Henry Tomlison sworn. Examined by Mr. Serjeant Copley. Q. You are a Farmer, living at Southwingfield Park. A- Yes. Q. Do you remember on Monday the 9th of June, see ing any person from Hardwick's house ? A. Yes, a person Of the name of John Machin, Q. At what time of the night was it ? A. It was about half-past nine or a quarter before ten, Q- Did he give you any information of any kind ? A. Yes, he said Q. I dp not ask what he told you, but in consequence of that information what did you do ? A. My wife and me locked the door and went out into the yard. Q. While you were in the yard did any persons come to your house ? A. Yes, as we stood at one end of the yard there was a quantity of people came in at the other end. 389 &. What did they do ? v A They went up to the house door and began to, rattle. Q. They began to rattle at the door ? A. Yes. Q. In consequence of their rattling at the door did yoa say anything to them ? A. Yes, I went up to them and asked what they wanted. Q. How many might there be ? A. There appeared to me to be between thirty and forty. Q. Were they armed or unarmed? A. They were armed, some spikes and some guns. Q. By spikes do you mean instruments of that descrip tion (pikes). A. Yes. Q. After you had asked them what they wanted, what did they say ? A. They said if 1 would not open the door they would break it and search my house for my gun. Q. Was William Turner, the Prisoner, amongst them? A. Yes, I saw William Turner and spoke to him. Q. When they said they would break your door if you did not open it, what did you say or do. A. I opened the door and the Captain and another man followed me, but I did not know neither of them. Q. Did anybody else go into the house besides those two? A. No. Q. When they got into the house, what did they do ? A. They told me that if I did not find the gun they would search the house. Q. What did you do ? A. I fetched the gun out of the parlour off of the bed- tester. Q. Did you deliver it to them? A. They demanded it in my house and I delivered it to them. sso Q. After you had delivered the gun, did those two men go out ? A. Those two men went out and I went and stood just within the door. Q. After they had gone out and you had stood at the door in the manner you describe, did they either of them say anything to you ? A. They said, "come, you must go and all;" and I said I would not ? Q. AA^hen you said you would not, what reply did they make ? A. They said I had better go that night than stay till the morning, for there was a great gang coming out of Sheffield and a great cloud from the North that would sweep all before them. Q. AArhen they had said this, did you say anything more at that time ? , A. I told them I would not go, that I would stop while morning. Q. Upon your saying that, did the man whom they called the Captain say anything to you. A. Yes, he presented his gun tome and swore he would shoot me, and the crowd who stood by said, some of them, "damn his eyes smite his head oft";" some said, " bring him" — and others said, "leave him" — and others said " never mind." Q. After that did the Captain say anything about Nottingham or London ? A. Yes; he said they were going as far as Nottingham, and that they should be at Nottingham by half-past eight in the morning ; and that London would be taken by the time they got to ISottingham, and they need go no further. Q. Did they allow you to remain at home ? A. No; they took me: I locked the door, and went into the fold-yard ; and there was George Weightman there, — a man whom I knew. Q. Did they put anything into your hand ? A. They gave me a spike. 391 Q. On their giving you a spike, did you say anything ? A. Yes ; I asked them to let me have my own gun, and they denied it me, and said I should not, I must have a spike. Q. How far did you go with them ? A. About three hundred yards, as near as I can guess. Q. Did you get away and get off? A. George Weightman took my spike, and bade me turn again. Q. Before George Weightman took your spike what had you said to him ? A. He gave me a nudge, you know. Q. Had you said any thing to him about going ? A. Yes; that was in my own yard : I said it was a very hard case to offer to take me from this lonely place, and to leave my wife there alone, and he said it was ; and he said, go a little way and you shall turn again. Q. George Weightman you had known before ? A. Yes. Cross-examined by Mr. Denman* Q. How far did you go ? A. Three hundred yards. Q. Then he gave you a nudge, and you went homo again ? A. Yes. Mr. Serjeant Copley. Will you excuse my putting another question : — Did you speak to William Turner, the Prisoner, in the yard of your house? A. 1 spoke to AVilliam Turner in the yard, and said, " Well, William, are you one ?" and he said, " Yes." Lord Chief Baron Richards. He said before that he had seen him, and that he had spoken to him, Mr. Serjeant Copley. It was only the, precise words. Mr. Denman. As to the precise words, they were, " I saw William Turner, and spoke to him." A. Yes. Q. And you escaped as soon as you could ? A. Yes. 392 Q. They said there was a great number coming frdm Sheffield? A. Yes ; and a great cloud from the North, Q. Did the town of Wakefield happen to be men tioned ? A. I do not recollect the name of Wakefield. . Q. Nor the town of Huddersfield ? A. No, I do not recollect thai. Q. Sheffield, and a cloud from the North? A, Yes. Q. You do not recollect who said that? A. It was the Captain who said that to me. Mr. Elijah Hall, senior, sworn. Examined by Mr. Reader. Q. Where do you live ? A. At Southwingfield Park. Q. What are you ? A . A farmer and miller. Q. What time did you fasten up the door of your house, on Monday, the 9th of June last ? A. About eleven o'clock. Q. At night ? A. Yes, at night. Q. Were your family then gone up stairs to bed ? A. A part of them was. Q. Before you went up did you hear anything ? A. I did not go up stairs. Q. Did you hear anything ? A. I did. Q. What did you hear? A. The footsteps of two men. Q. Approaching your door ? A. Approaching ihe door. Q. Did you say anything to them, or they to you ? A. They asked me if any men had been there that night for guns ? Q. What answer did you make ? 393 A. I told them there had : they said had they taken any away ; I told them they had ; they went away ; I then opened the door, and went out to see if there was any body about with an intent to take out my fire arms. Q. Did you see anybody ? A. 1 saw a number of armed men coming up to my door, coming into my yard, advancing towards the door. Ll. About how long might that be after the two men were gone away ? A. A very few minutes. Q. What were they armed with ? A. Pikes and guns, and one had a sword. Q. By pikes you mean similar sort of things to those on the table ? of. Yes. Q. What passed then ? A. I asked them what they were doing there at that time of the night ; some of them said they wanted a bigger loaf, and the times altering : I told them it was not in my power to give them a bigger loaf, or to alter the times : they said they did not suppose it was,' but they want ed my fire aims. I told them 1 had none for them ; they said they knew positively that I had, and I had better de liver them up to prevent further mischief— to prevent the house from being fired. They then advanced towards the door, close to the door, and demanded entrance ; I told them it was not in my power to open the door, being out side as well as themselves. l3. How was the door at that time ? A. It was locked, or fastened in some manner. Q. It was fastened after you left it? .1. It was ; they then began to force it. Q. In what way ? A. With their pikes and other weapons : the© the gun was given them through the window. li. Through one of your windows? A. Yes. Q. Of course, by some person within. 394 A. Yes, after they had repeatedly demanded fire-arms, they then demanded me to go along with them. I told them I should not. Some of them said, " He has sons." The Captain then said, " If he has sons, we will take the young, and not the old man." Q: The person who appeared to you to be Captain ? A. The person that they called Captain. <2. Had they called him Captain ? A. They had; they said, "Captain, how must it be, must we force the door?" Q. What was the answer ? A. He ordered them to blow it in pieces. Q. The door ? A. Yes, after repeated attempts. Q. Did you hear anything at this time at a distance ? A. I heard a gun going off at a little village about half a mile off. Q. About this time ? A. A little while before. Q. What was done then ? A. They tried to force the door again, when the Cap tain was ordering his men to blow it in pieces ; and having made several attempts in the mean time, it was opened from within ? Q. What passed on the door being opened ? A. On the door being opened, the Captain and several others Went in. Q. Did you go in ? A. I did. Q. Did others go in ? A. To the amount I think of twelve or more. Q. Did they say what their purpose was before they went in ? A. I had not heard anything of the general purpose till they got into the house. Q. You went in yourself, and the people without, to the amount of ten or a dozen ? A. Yes. Q. What did they do when they got in ? 395 A. They demanded my sons. Q. What answer did you make to that ? A. I told them, I should not fetch them. They de manded me to fetch them. I told them 1 should not. Q. What did they say or do upon that? A. The captain gave me two pushes with his gun. Q. With what part of the gun ? A. The muzzle of the gun ; he presented it at me, and told me he would blow my brains out if I did not imme diately light a candle and fetch my sons to go along with them. I told them I should not : he took a candle from some one of the family and lighted it at the fire. Q. An unlighted candle ? A. Yes ; he lighted it at the fire, and he and several others went up stairs. Q. Could you hear what passed up stairs ? A. I heard them threaten my sons to hash them up, if they would not gel up and go along with them, and they brought one down. Q. Which was that ? A. Elijah. Q. How many sons had you up stairs ? ¦ A. There were only two big enough ; — they brought Elijah down part dressed. Q. Did they compel him to finish his dressing? A . They did all but tying his shoes. Q. Was any body doing any thing during that time ? A. They were hunting about for more fire arms. Q. Did you ask them any questions after they got into the house ? A. Yes ; I did. Q. What did you ask them ? A. I asked the captain in particular where he was going; he said, to Nottingham ; he believed Nottingham was taken at that time. Q. Did you ask them their purpose ? A. I asked them their purpose ; he said that they should proceed from Nottingham to London, wipe off the national debt, and begin afresh. 396 Q. This was said by the Captain? A. Yes. Q. Did any persons in the house say anything! A. Not in the house. Q. Did you out of the house hear anything further said by any body ? A. Yes ; I followed the men when they went out of the house. Q. Did they take your son with them ? A. Yes, and I followed them to the door, and desired them not to take him. Isaac Ludlam the elder said I need be under no apprehensions, they should bring him back and likewise the gun ; he had better go with his neighbours which he knew, than go the next day with those that he knew not, for he believed there would be thousands come the next day. Q. Was that all he said ? A. Yes ; that was all. Q. Do you remember the names of any of the persons you saw in your house or out of your house ; — there was the Captain and Ludlam, and who else I A. Isaac Ludlam, the younger. Q. There were two Isaac Ludlams ? A. Yes ; William Ludlam, William Barker, Thomas Turner, Robert Turner. Q. I do not know whether you saw the Prisoner, Wil - liam Turner, there that day ? A. Not upon my premises. Q. Did you see him at all that night ? A. I cannot positively say that I saw him, but I doubt I beard his voice. Q. Was Manchester Turner there ? A- He was. Cross-examined by Mr. Cross. Q. You have known AViJliani Turner for some years ? A. I have. Q. You are acquainted with his general character ? A. Yes. Q. He has worked with you I understand t A. Yes. 397 Q. For how many years do you think you have known him ? A. I have known him twenty years. Q. He has frequently worked with you ? A. He has worked with me for these three or four years back at different times. Q. What has been his general character as far as you have know him? Mr. Gurney. I submit to your Lordship, the proper question is as to loyalty. Mr. Cross. I submit to your Lordship there is no ob jection to the question as to his general character. Mr. Denman. If he is generally a respectable man, an inference arises that he is a loyal man. Mr. Cross. It would be a most extraordinary thing if I might put that question generally in case of Felony and not on an Indictment for High Treason. Mr. Gurney. If a man is indicted for Felony, evidence is produced to his honesty ; if for Rape, to his chastity, and so on. Mr. Denman. Your Lordship recollects that there was on the case of Home Tooke, evidence as to his writings for years before in order to shew it improbable that he should commit Treasoh. Mr. Justice Abbott. As far as my experience goes, the enquiry into character is always adapted to the charge. Mr. Denman. I do not mean to reply upon your Lord ship, I only wish to put it to your Lordship that this did apply to the general mind, for that a man who had con ducted, himself peaceably and respectably was not likely to enter into wild schemes. Lord Chief Baron Richards. The general question leaves that, I should think, very much where it was. Mr. Cross. I shall not press it my Lord. Mr. Justice Abbott. The question was objected to as too general and therefore not applying, it was not whether he was a peaceable man but his general character. 398 Elijah Hall, Jan. sworn. Examined by Mr. Reader. Q. You are the son of the last witness ? A. I am. Q. Do you live with your father ? A. I do. Q. Were you disturbed at all on the night of Monday the 9th of June, after you had gone to bed ? A. I was. Q. By what I A. By a large quantity of people- Q. Did any persons come into your bed-room ? A. They did. Q. Abont what number? A. Several people came into my bed-room. Q. Abont what hour of the night. A. It might be between eleven and twelve, there abouts. Q. Were they artned or not ? A- They were. Q. In what way ? A. Some with guns and some with swords. Q. Any other weapon ? A. No, not that I saw. Q. What did they require you to do ? A. They required me to get out of my bed and go along with them. Q. Did you do so? ^.Idid.Q. Did you do it voluntarily or were you compelled to do it ? A. I was compelled to do it. Q. AVhen you got down stairs, were there any other persons below ? A. Yes, there were. Q. Were they armed or not i A. Some of them were. 399 Q. Did you finish your dressing below ? A- I did not. Q. You dressed yourself however ? A. I did. Q. Did you go with them ? A. I did. Q. Whom did you see that you knew amongst them ? A. I saw several that I knew. Q. Who were they ? i ', . A. The Nottingham Captain. Q. Did you know him before ? A- I did not. Q. Who else ? A. There were several others that I knew, I did not observe them in the house but at a little distance from the house- Q. In the road ? A. Yes. Q. Were the Ludlams there ? A. Yes. Q. The father and son ? A. Yes, the father and two sons. Q. Do you know Manchester Turner ? A. I know him by sight. Q. Was he there? A. He was. Q. Do you know John Turner ? A. Yes. Q. Was he there ? A. I did not see him there. Q. Do you know William Turner the Prisoner? A. Yes. Q. Was he there ? A. He was a little distance from the house, I did not see him about the house, not within thirty or forty yards of the house. Q. Had he any thing with him when you did see him? A. He had. 400 a What? A- A gun. Q. Did he join the rest of the party when you came out, or not? A. He did. Q. Where did you proceed to first ? A- To Isaac Walker's. Q. What was done when you came to Isaac AA'alker's? A- They demanded arms. Q. How far is Isaac Walker's from your father's ? A. Two closes. Q. Did you know William Turner before ? ^4.1 did. Q, Y on did not see him at your house : A. I did not. Q. Have you any reason to believe that he was there ? A- No, I have not. Q. They went to AA'alker's and demanded arms? A. Yes. Q. What did they get ? A. Tbey got a gun and a pistol. Q. Do you know who gave it them ? A Mr. Isaac Walker. Q. Did he give it willingly ? A. He did not. Q. In consequence of what did he give it? A. Because they threatened to shoot him. Q. AA'here did you go to from Mr. Walker's ? A. To Mr. Bestwick's. Q. AA'hat did they do there ? ^.They went into Mr. Bestwick's house and brought ont a gun. Q. Did they make any noise at the door before they went in? A. They did. Q. They afterwards went in and fetched out the gun ? A. They did. Q, Did they get any man there i 4. They did. 401 Q. Did they carry the gun away with them ? A. They did. Q. Was Turner the Prisoner with you at that time ? A. He was. Q. Did they do any thing at Mr. Bestwick's house f A. I do not know. Q. Where did you go to next ? A. To Samuel Hunt's. Q. How far is that from Bestwick's ? A. Three or four closes. Q. All in the neighbourhood? A. Yes. Q. What did you do at Hunt's ? A. Went into the house. Q. Did you get any thing there ? A. Yes. Q. All the party ? A. Most of them. Q. What did you get there ? A. Bread and cheese. Q. You went in too, did you ? A. Yes. Q. Did you get any thing from thence ? A. Yes. Q. What ? A. They got beer. Q. Did you take any thing with you from thence ? A. From Mr. Hunt's you mean, Mr. Hunt went along with them, and his man. Q. What did they carry ? A. They took a gun. Q. Any thing else ? A. I did not see any thing else. Q. Two of them went, Hunt and his man, which of them carried the gun ? A. H is man. Q. Where did you go to from Hunt's ? A. To Mary Hepworth's. Q. How far is that from Hunt's ? c c 402 A. Sevei'al closes. Q. Half a mile ? A. No, not so far as that. Q. Did the Prisoner continue with you ? A. He did. Q. What passed at Mrs. Hepworth's? A. They made a great disturbance at the door. Q, Did they demand anything? A. They demanded men and arms. Q. On their demanding men and arms, did they get either ? A- They did not. Q. What passed then ? A. The window was broken. Q. By whom ? A. I do not know who it was that broke the window. Q. Was it some of the party who were there ? A. Yes. Q. What passed after they broke the window ? A. A gun went off. Q. Who fired off that gun ? A. The Nottingham Captain. Q. Brandreth ? A. Yes. Q. What was the effect of that gun going off? A. They shot a man. Q. What was the name of that man ? A. Robert Walters. Q. Where was the Prisoner, Turner, at the time, the gun was fired off? A. I did not see him present at that time ; I saw him before we left the house. Q. Whereabout ? A. Not far off the place. Q. Do you mean the place where the gun was let off? A. Yes. Q. Was be near Brandreth whenyou saw him ? A. I did not see that he was near him ; he was in the yard, near the house. 408 Q. AATho else was there ? A- Manchester Turner, William Barker, Isaac Ludlam. Q. The elder? A. Yes ; and AA'illiam Ludlam. Q. Where were the rest of the party ? A. They were about the place. Q. You are speaking of those persons as being near the house ? A. Yes. Q. What did yon get after the man was killed at Mrs. Hepworth's ? A. Got a gun. Q. One gun? A. Yes. Q. Where did you go to from Mrs. Hepworth's? A. We wentfrom Mrs. Hepworth's to Pentridge-lane-end. Q. AVhat did they do there ? A. They got several men from the Lane-end. Q. How did they get them ? A. By force. Q. AA'ere they in bed ? A. Most of them were. Q. AA'ere the people knocked up whom you got prin cipalis' ? A. I do not know. (2. Did you hear a great noise at the door ? A. I heard a great noise at several doors. Q. Did thev get arms as well as men ? A. I do not know. Q. WTiere did you go from Pentridge-lane-end I A. To Pentridge. Q. AY hat was done there ? A. Thev broke into several houses at Pentridge. li. For what : A. Men and arms. 0. Did they succeed in getting them ? A- 1 do not know. li. AYhere did you go next: A. 1 made my escape. ccS 404 Q. Where were they when you left them ? A. They got a little way into Pentridge town. Q. What were they doing when you went off? A. They were breaking into some house. Q. Did you leave them as soon as you had a favourable opportunity for doing so ? A. I did. Q. Who appeared to be the most active persons there, throughout, from the time you went with them ? A I cannot say that I saw any more active than the others, except the Captain. ' Q. Except Brandreth ? A. Yes. Q. Were you present when the Captain formed them ? A. I was. Q. Was he assisted by any body in forming them ? A. 1 cannot say, I am sure; — I heard him call several names to assist him. Q. Do you recollect who they were ? A. I did not hear him call them by their names. Mr. Isaac Walker sworn. Examined by Mr. Reynolds. Q. Are you a Farmer living at Southwingfield-park in this county. A. Yes. Q. On Monday night, the 9th of June, were you dis turbed by any persons coming to your house ? A. Yes. Q. At what hour ? A. Half-past eleven. Q. Had you and your family retired to bed ? A. Yes. Q. How many persons did you sec ? A. I suppose about forty. Q. Where were they ? A. Coming up the yard first, and then they came to the front of the house. 40& Q. Had they any thing with them I A. Yes ; pikes and guns. Q. Did they demand any thing of you ? A. They demanded a gun, a brace of pistols, and a servant man. Q. What did you say to that demand ? A. I told them I had a gun but no pistols. Q. What was said to you by any of them ? A. They said they were determined to have the gun and pistols too. Q. Where were you when this conversation was first held with you. A. At the bed room window. Q. They speaking to you from out of doors below I A. Yes. Q. What else did they say ? A. They pointed a gun at me. Q. They speaking from the yard below ? A. Yes. Q. Did yon see who it was that pointed the gun at you? A. A man they called the Captain. Q. Was anything said at the time the gun was pointed at y»u ? A. That if I would not deliver up my arms they would fire at me. Ll. Did they say that, or the man say that ? j4. The Captain, 1 suppose, that pointed it at me. Q. What was then said or done? A. He ordered them to break the door open ; with that 1 went down and opened the back door, not the front door they were at. Thev went round to meet me at the back door. The man said, they would make me find the gun — I took the gnu down from where it hung and gave il to him : they said they would make me glad to do it. They then demanded my servant ; — 1 told them I had none, and they went away. Q. Did any party come again ? A. When I had fastened the door, and was going up stairs to bed again, they knocked again. 406 Q. Before that, when you gave them the gun, was anything said about Nott.ngham ? A. I asked them, what they wanted the arms for ; they said, to take them to Nottingham, and they would bring them safe back again. Q. Did they demand anything when they came the se cond time ? J. They said, they knew that I had one pistol, and were determined to have it ; if 1 had not two, I had one. Q. What answer did you make i A. I told them, I had one, but I begged they would let me keep it ; they said, they had orders to take all that I had, with that I was forced to give it them. Q. Did you give it them r A. Yes.' Q. AA'hat sort of a pistol vras this ? A. A bran barrelled pistol. Q. To whom did you give it r A. To tue Captain :— Le asked me whether it was loaded; I told him it was, and he fired it off at the door. Q,. Did you see what the person did vita it, to whom vo- gave it r A. No, he had it in his hand the last time I saw it Q. Did you know any of the rersons who were there; A. There were three ; I knew Isaac Ludlam, William Barker, and Llozzjus Ma^.am — Masden, I Expose, is his proper name. Q. You do not know any of the others ? A. No. Cr in-examined by Jf". Denman. Q. He v.- lone have you lived at Wis rf eld : A. Fire ana t.ventv rears. Q. How long have you known William Turner ': A. Not ionz. Q. Have y"oa had any opportune :v of knowing what his general character has been : ^f, 1 have known noth:ns at all abont his che.ra .'.-::. 407 Mrs. Mury Hepworth, snarn. Examined by Mr. Richardson- Q. I believe you are a widow ? A. Yes. Q. Do you occupy a farm in Southwingfield-park ? A. Yes. Q. Did you do so in June last ? A. Yes. Q. Were you disturbed at any time of the night of the 9th of June ? A. Yes. Q. About what time? A. Between eleven and twelve. Q. AA^ere you in bed .' A. I was in bed. Q. By what were you disturbed? - A. A noise at the door and the window. Q. What sort of a noise ? A. A very loud knocking. (J. Anything else ? A. Nothing but the knocking. Q. In consequence of that, did you get up ? A. Yes. Q. And came down stairs ? A. Yes. Q. Whom did you find, when you came down stairs, in your house ? A- William Hepworth, my son, and my two servant-men. Q. Fox and Walters ? A. Yes. Q. Were they in the kitchen ? A. Yes. Q. Did the persons on the outside cull out for anything ? .7. For guns and men. Q. Did you give any answer to them or any orders to your people ? A. I told them they should have neither guns nor men. 408 Q. Were they still at this time knocking at the door ? A. They were knocking at the door. Q. What was next done, did they move to any other part of the house ? A. They moved to the front part of the house ; they did not entirely move from that part of the house. Q. Did any persons knock or break the kitchen '¦indow? A. Yes. Q. Was the shutter on the inside or the out ? A. The inside. Q. Was the shutter broken ? -/. The shutter was broken and forced into the room. Q. Did they continue demanding the guns and the men ? A. They did. Q. The kitchen window being forced and the shutter broken into the room, was anything done ? A, A gun or a pistol, or something of that kind, was fired immediately. Q Into the house ? A. Into the kitchen. Q. Was any person hurt or shot ? A. Robert Walters was shot and killed by it, Q. Did he die immediately or very soon afterwards ? A- Perhaps in ten minutes, I cannot exactly say the time ; he died of the wound he had received. Q. What was he doing at the time he was shot ? A. He stooped down, he appeared as if he was putting bis boots on. Q. Was it opposite the kitchen window ? A. Yes. Q. 1 Tie ball entered his neck ? A- Yes, on the right side. Q. After this man was shot, was anything given to the men on the outside ? A. We were obliged to give them a gun ; they still con tinued to call out for the gun and the men ; and the gun was given to them, 409 Q. The gun was given out of the window ? A. It was. Q. They did not take1 any men from your house I be lieve ? A. They did not, I told them they should have none. Q. After the man was shot, was any language addressed to you or to any of the people in the house to induce you to give them the gun ? A. Yes, they told us they would serve us the same ; that they would silence us if we did not retire from the window. Q. Did you tell them what they had done ? A. Yes, we told them that they had shot a man, was not that sufficient without any more men ? They said they would silence me ; if I did not retire from the window that they would serve me the same. Q. After they were gone, did you find anything near the door, or in the yard? A. A pike was found. Q. Did you see it? A. I did. Q. Were there any stones ? A. There were a great many stones at the door. Q. Large or small ? A. Large and small. Q. Was the pike a sort of thing like that ? A. It was shorter than that, but longer upon the iron. Joseph Wilkinson sworn. Mr, Denman. Where do you live ? A. Southwingfield-park. Q. What are you by trade ? A. A Stockinger. Q. You live at your father's ? A. Yes. Q. What is his name ? A. John Wilkinson. 410 Examined by Mr. Gurney. Q Did you live with your father at Southwingfield on Sunday the 8th, and Monday the 9th of June, before the rising that took place ? A. Yes. Q. In the afternoon of Monday wrere you at the house of a person of the name of Farmdley ? A. Yes. Q. Is that near your father's. A. Y'es. Q. How near is that to Thorpe-hill- wood. A. About half a mile. Q. Did you see any persons goto that Wood that after noon ? A. Yes. Q. AA7ho were they ? A. Isaac Ludlam. Q. The elder or the younger ? A. The younger, James Taylor, and Joseph Taylor, and Benjamin Taylor. Q. Did you see them afterwards return from the Wood ? A. Yes. Q. What had they with them ? A. Poles. Q. Of what length — about what length ? A. About three yards long. Q. How were they carrying them ? A. On their shoulders. Q. Was the bark then taken off them ? , ^.No. Q. How many do you think they had ? A. Two or three a-piece. Q. Did you in the course of that evening go to James Taylor's ? A. Yes. Q. About what hour ? A. About seven o'clock. Q. Whom did you see there? 411 A. George Weightman, William Ludlam, James Taylor. Q. Anybody else ? A. I do not recollect. Q. Was Isaac Ludlam there ? A. Yes, he was. Q. What were they doing then ? A. The bark was then off the poles. Q. Were they putting anything on the poles ? A. No, I cannot say that they were. Q. Did you see any thing put on any of the poles then ? A. No. Q. Did you afterwards see.anv iron ? A. No. Q. You did not see any thing put on the poles then ? A. I did not. Q. That night did any of the party come to your fa ther's house ? A'. Yes. Q. How many came ? ' A. About twenty. Q. Were the party who came armed or unarmed ? A. Some armed and some unarmed. Q. How were they armed, those that were armed ? A. With spikes. Q. By spikes, do you mean such things as those ? A. Yes. Q. When you speak of the poles you saw, were they about this size and appearance ? A. Yes, they were. Q. Who were the party that came ? A. James Taylor was one, Abraham James, Miles Ba con. Q. Was George Weightman one ? A. Yes, he was one, but he did not come up to our door. Q. Was he one of the party who came ? A. Yes, and one of James Taylor's brothers. Q. Do you know his christian name ? A, No. 412 Q. AATas any pike put into your hand ? A. Yes. Q. By whom ? A. By James Taylor. Q. Did you go with them ? A. Yes. Q. To whose house did you first go ? A. To Frichley's. A. AA'here is that? A. Just above our house. C2. A\rhat did you get there ? A. Nothing else. Q. Where did you go next? A. To the Wire-mill. a That is Mr. Marriott's? A. Yes. Q. What did you get there? A. A gun. Q- Who demanded it ? A. Either James Taylor or George Weightman. Q. Were you met there by other persons ? A. Yes. Q. Did you afterwards join a large party ? A. Yes. Q. Where did you join that ? A. At Mr. Fletcher's. Q. How far did you go with them towards Nottingham? A . Just beyond Eastwood. Mr. Denman. He has not said that they went towards Nottingham. Mr. Gurney. But as he went with the party, and it has been proved that they went towards Nottingham, I thought I might take that, I did not mean to lead him ;— wlio commanded the large party you joined ? A. Brandreth. Q. Was William Turner in that party .' A. Yes. Q. Had he any weapon ? A. A gun. 413 Q. Was Edward Turner in it? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A. A gun. Q. Was Thomas Turner in it? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A- A gun. Q. Was Manchester Turner there ? A.Yes.Q. What had he? A. A sword. Q. Was Samuel Hunt among them ? A. Yes. Q. What had he? • A. A spike. Q. Was Samuel Ludlam one of them i A. I cannot say. Q. Was William Ludlam there ? A. Yes, he was. Q. What had he? A. A spike. Q. What weapons had Brandreth the Captain ? A. A pistol and a gun and all. Q. You say you went with that party beyond East wood. A. Yes. . - 0 Q. Did Brandreth the Captain go all the way ? A. I do not know. Q. Did you leave him with the party when you came away ? A. No, I did not see him then. Q. Did William Turner go with the party ? A. I do not know. Q,. WTiere did you see William Turner, at what different places ? A. I saw him at the Lane-end. Q. Then he had a gun ? A. Yes. 414 Q. At what other places did you see him ? A. I cannot recollect seeing him any where else. Q. You went through Pentridge with them and to Cod nor, and so to Eastwood ? A. Yes. Mr. Samuel Fletcher sworn. Examined by Mr. Balguy. Q. Where did you live on the 9th of Juneiast? A. At Pentridge-lane-end. Q. At what time in the night did you and your family go to bed ? A. About eleven o'clock. Q. Were you alarmed at any time during that night? A. Yes, about twelve o'clock we were alarmed by a verw great noise at the door, as though persons would break it in. Q. In consequence of that did you get out of bed ? A. Yes, I jumped out of bed and opened the win dow. Q. AArhat did you see on opening the window? A. I saw thirty persons or more, five or six of them armed with guns, which they levelled at my head. Q. Were all those persons standing round your window at this time ? A. Yes, round my window- Q. Besides the five or six who presented their guns were the other persons armed ? • A. They appeared to have large poles or sticks in their hands, but I could not tell what they were. Q. Did they say any thing to you 1 A. Yes, they cried " your arms, your arms, damn your eyes, your arms," I said " what arms," they said " you have got two or three guns, aud if you do not bring them down and open the door we wiil blow your brains out," I said I had got but one, and I did not know that that was at home; they kept on swearing that tiiey would blow my brains out if 1 had any thing more to say. 415 . Q. Did you then quit the window ? A. Yes. Q. What part of the house did you go to then ? A. I ran down those stairs and up another set of stairs, the kitchen stairs in another part of the house. Q. For what purpose did you go there ? A. I went there to see whether I could get away. Q. Did you pefceive arty body at the back of the house ? A. Yes, there appeared to be as many there on that side of the house as on the other. Q. Finding you coulcl not make your escape then, what did you do ? A. 1 stood where I was, and they kept on beating at that door and swearing very hard, upon which I ordered J3hip- man to fetch them, the gun. Q. Who is Shipman ? A. He is my servant. Q,. Did he fetch the gun for them ? A. He fetched the gun for them, and they ordered him to give it them out of the window, and desired to have the but end first. i Q. Shipman had been in bed at the time ? A. Yes, I found him, I think, sitting on the bed. Q,. What became of Shipman ? A. They cried " get you dressed, or we will blow your brains out," and one of them cried out " come Shipman," another cried out " come Billy," 1 had not at that time expected that. Q, Did he go with them ? A. He did. Q. Did you give your servant any directions ? A. Yes, 1 directed him to make his escape; I said " damn, them, thou knowest them all, they are all Pen- taidge and Wingfield, thou wilt be obliged to go with them, but make thy escape as soon as thou can, and come back and tell me, while thou art with them observe what they do." 416 William Shipman, sworn. Examined by Mr. Solicitor General. Q. You were the servant of the last witness, Mr. Fletcher ? A. Yes. Q. Do you remember being disturbed on the night of the 9th of June last. A. Yes. Q. About what hour ? A- About twelve o'clock. Q. What disturbed you ? A* Knocking at the door. Q. Did that arouse you— did you get up ? A. Yes. Q. Did you look out at the window ? A. Yes. Q. Whom did you see ? A. Joseph Topham. Q. Were there many persons ? A. Yes. Q. Did they say anything to you ? A. Yes. Q. What did they say ? A. They told me that I must come and go with them. Q. In what way did they do that ? A. They told me they must have one man from that house : they had one man from every house, and a gun. Q. Did they say anything more ? A. Yes ; the Captain told me to make haste and come down, or that he would blow my brains out. Q. Did the Captain say anything besides that ? A. He said he had shot one man, and that he would shoot me if I did not come down. Q. Was that in a loud voice, or how ? A. Loud. Q. You were at the window, and they were in the yard below. «I7 A. Yes. Q. Did you afterwards go? down ? A. Yes. Q. Were you compelled to go with them ' A.Yes."' ' : ¦ •'¦¦ ' , Q. Howfar did you go with them? A. To Kimberley ? • $. That is beyond Eastwood ? ' '- A. Yes. • Q. That is in the road to Nottingham, is it not ? A. It is. ¦ ... . •-¦;-. Q. You were taken at Pentridge— your master's house is at Pentridge-lane-end ¦•?¦ : - - - A. Yes. Q. Did you go through Pentridge ? A. Yes. - Q- Do you Snow a person of the name of James Weightman ? A. Yes. Q. Did you see him in your way through Pen tridge? ; A. Yes. Q. Where did you see him ? A. Near the meetingrhouse ? Q. Had he anything in his hand I A. Yes. ' Q. What had he ? A. A hatfull of bullets. Q. How do you know they were-bullet*? A. I took some. Ql You ;pnt, your hand ihto the hat ? A. Yes, and took thiieeor four out. Q. Did he say anything upon your so doing.? A. Yes. : . Q. What did he say ? A. He told me I must not take>aay> for they should be short enough. Q. Was Thomas Weightman there too..* A. Yes. Dd 413 Q. At this time, when you took the bullets ? i A. I went about ten yards further. Q. Then you saw Thomas Weightman ? A. Yes. Q. Did anything pass with him about the bullets ? A. Yes. Q. What did he say ? A. He told me, he and James Weightman had been making the bullets while they were coming from Pen tridge-lane-end. . Q. Did. you see George Weightman there ? A. Yes. Q. Do you recollect any one speaking to him ? A. Yes. Q. Who was that ? A. One Tapieton, of Heage: Q. Did you hear what he said to George Weight- man ? A. Yes. Q. What was it ? ¦ '"> A. He told him there were two barrels of gunpowder in Mr. Harvey's warehouse at Heage, but they had not strength enough to get it out. Q. How far is Heage from Pentridge ? A. About two miles. Q. Did they knock at many houses in Pentridge while you were with them ? A. Yes. Q. Demanding arms ? A. Yes. Q. You say you saw George Weightman, and held this • conversation with him ; where did he go afterwards ! A. He went up the town. Q- Did you see him afterwards on horseback ? A. Yes. Q. On Mr- Booth's poney ? A. Yes. <2.Didhe ride off? A. Yes. 419 Q. In what direction? A. Towards Nottingham. Q. Then you went on to Butterley, did not you ? A. Yes. Q. And from thence into the Nottingham turnpike road ? A. Yes. Q. From thence to Codnor? A. Yes. Q. From thence on to Langley-mill? A. Yes. Q. In your way to Langley-mill did you stop at Ray nor's ? A. Yes. Q. Is that a house by the side of the road ? A. Yes. Q. Was any man taken out of that house ? A; Yes.--' Q. From thence you went on to I^angley-mill you say ? A. Yes. Q. Did you there meet George Weightman ? A. Yes. Q. Did he then appear to be on his return from Not tingham ? 4. Yes ; and the poney sweated very bad. Q. What did he say when he came up to you ? A. As he was riding by, the people asked how they were going on. Q. What was his answer ? A. He said, " they are going on well, the soldiers are in the barracks, and if you march forwards, you will have nothing to do when you get there." Q. Do you know the Prisoner, William Turner, of Wingfield ? A. Yes. Q. Was he with the party ? A. Yes. Q. Was he with them the whole way that you went? A ¦ The first place that 1 saw him at was, at Mr. Storer's, in the lane. »d« 420 Q. At Pentridge-lane-end ? * > A. Yes. Q. Where did you next see him ? A. At Codnor. '. ft.. What had he when you first saw him, and saw him at Codnor? A. He had a gun. Q. How did you proceed along the road, were you formed into ranks ? A- Yes, they formed us into ranks against Mr. Storer's. ? Q. Who formed you into ranks ? A. The Captain picked out the Serjeants and the men to look over them. Q. What was William Turner? A. I do not know. Q. Was he in the ranks i. A. No. ft. Where did he march ? A. He marched by the side. Q. Did the Captain also march by the side? A. He did. Q. Did you see him also at Langley-mill ? A. Yes. Q. Did you see him at Raynor's ? A. Yes. ft. Did you see him also at l^imberley ? A. No, the last that I saw of him was at Eastwood. Q. Had he his gun with him ? Ai Yes, and they formed them in ranks. Q. Where? A. At Eastwood. Q. Did Turner assist in forming them in ranks ? A. I cannot say. Q. Where was he when they formed them in ranks ? A. He was by the side. ft. At Kimberley did you get away from them ? A. Yes. ft. And returned to your master's ? A. Yes. 424 Q. Did you go beyond Eastwood or not? A. Yes, I went to Kimberley. Cross-examined by Mr. Cross. Q. William Turner took no part in forming you into ranks ? A. I did not see him. ft. If he had done so and put you into the ranks, you must have seen him do it? A. Yes. ft. I think you did not see him at your master's house ? A. No. ft. Nor did you see him till you had, proceeded threa miles from your master's house ? A. Yes. Q. How far from your master's house ? A. A quarter of a mile or thereabouts, ft. He left the party before you left ? A. Yes, I did not see him. Q. How long might you see him with the party at all I A- I cannot say, ft. Did he go as far as a quarter of a mile with them dp you suppose ? A, Yes, he went as far as Eastwood with them. Q. How far is that, a mile or two ? A. Yes ; and more* ft, About a quarter of a mile after you left your mas-, ter's house' you saw him, and you saw him again when you had gone about three miles, and that is all you saw of him that night ? A. No, I saw him at Eastwood. Q. When you had gone about a quarter of a mile from your master's house you saw the Prisoner, and you saw him about three miles on at Eastwood ? A. I saw him at Codnor, and I saw him at Raynor's and at Eastwood. Re-examined by Mr. Sblicilor General. Q. You first saw him at Storers i A. Yes. 422 Q. How far is Codnor from Storers? A. Four miles. Q. Then you saw him three "miles beyond Codnor at Eastwood. A- Yes. ft. And you do not' recollect seeing him after you passed Eastwood ? - A. No. Henry Hole, Sworn. Examined by Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Q. I believe you live at Pentridge ? A. Pentridge-lane-end. Q. You are a laborer there ? A. Yes. A. On Sunday-night the 8th of June, did you see any persons near to Pentridge? A. Yes, I saw before George Turner's door Samuel Hunt and eight or ten others ; I went to a neighbour's house for a jug of milk, and I met Samuel Hunt on the turnpike road. Q. What did he say to you ? A. He said, " Thou art fetching that for these men to night;" and I said, " What men?" ft. What answer did he give to you upon your saying " what men?" A- He said, " These revolutioners that will come to night or to-morrow night." Q. What did you say to that ? A. I said, " nay, I believe not," and he offered to lay me a wager of five shillings that they would come that night or to-morrow night. Q. Tell me whether on the next night, and at what hour, you were disturbed in your bed ? A. The next night, about twenty minutes before twelve, me and my wife were awoke by a violent knocking at the door. 423 . Did you get up to the window ? A. I got up to the window, and said ' halloo— who is there ? — what do you want ?' Q. What answer was made to you upon asking what they wanted ? A. They said, " We want you to volunteer yourself to go with us." Q. What further ? A. " Or else we will break the door down and murder you." Q. Did the}- oiler you anything ? A. I went down and opened the door, and I saw two men that I knowed, and two that I knowed not, Joseph Weight- man and Joseph Topham were two of them. ft. Had they any arms ? A. Pikes. Q. What sort of things, something of this kind? , A. Yrcs, similar to those. ft. When you went down to them into the street did you ask them any questions ? A. 1 asked them where they were going, and they "said they were going to Nottingham. Q. What did you say upon that ? A. I said I could not pretend to go ; that I had no money to carry nic there, nor nobody to take care of my family while I was gone. Q. What answer was made to that ? A. They said they should keep mc on roast beef and ale, and that there were people appointed to take care of every one's family that went, who would come in two days or ander. ft. What did you say to thein ? A. I dressed myself and went out ; a pike was forced »pon me. ft. Was anything said about your going that night or the next morning ? A. Yes, they said I had better go that night than stop till morning. ft. Why : 424 A. That they would come in a cloud they said 'out of Yorkshire the next morning, and sweep all before them, and those that refused to go would ah be shot. ft. You tell us they forced a pike upon you ? A. Yes. Q. When you got a few yards from your door what passed ? ; A. I told them that if they were going to Nottingham I should not be able to carry that, it was so heavy, and I should throw it down, upon which one of them look it. ft. Did you observe any greater number at a distance ? A. When we had gone twenty or thirty yards along the turnpike-road, I saw twenty or thirty armed with guns, pikes, and other weapons. Q. Do you know Fletcher ? A. Yes. Q. Did you go to Fletcher's ? A. Yes. Q. Did you see anybody, there that you know par ticularly ? A. Yes, I saw the Captain— =1 did not know him par ticularly. Q. Did you see anybody else I A. Yes, I saw William Turner. ft. The Prisoner ? A. Yes. Q. Whom else ? A- Manchester Turner, Isaac Ludlam, the elder, William Ludlam. . Mr. Denman. When he speaks of the Prisoner, will he point out which he means as the Prisoner ? Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. There is but one William Turner, I believe. . Mr, Denman. But he may mistake the Christian name. A. That is the man, (pointing to the Prisoner.) > Mr. Serjeant Vaughan. Had you known him before ? A. Yes, eight or nine years: then there were Joseph Weightman and Joseph Topham. 425 Q. Had you observed where the party came from that William Turner was with ? A. They came up as we were going into Mr. Fletchers yard. Q. Do you know from whence they came ? A. I saw them go when coming over the bridge by the turnpike. , ft. Had you heard any gun fired ? A. Yes, about Mrs. Hepworth's. Q. Did they come asfrom that direction ? A. Yes ; they seemed to come from that direction. ft. Was Brandreth among them ? , A. Yes, he was. Q. He had a pistol we understand ? A. A pistol in his apron and a gun. ft. Had the Prisoner William Turner anything ? A. He had a gun. ft. What were the others armed with ? 4. Isaac Ludlam a pike, Samuel Ludlam a pike. Q. Were most of them armed ? A . Yes ; I cannot recollect seeing any of them without arms. Q. Did they take any body from Fletcher's ? A. Yes ; William Shipman. ft. Who gave the word of command ? A. Brandreth ? Q. Did you observe William Turner do amy thing- how did he march with them ? A. As a sort of officer. ft. Did he march in the ranks ? A. Sometimes by the side and sometimes in front, in the rank with Brandrelh. ft. Did you observe whether they were formed into line? A. Yes; they were formed into line atPentridge-dane-end. j Q. Who assisted in forming them? A. The Prisoner William Turner. ft. I believe they divided there into two parties ? A. Yes ; they were divided into two parties before they were formed into ranks. 425 Q. Where did you go to, your party ? A. The party I was With to Samuel Booth's. ft. Was thp Prisoner with that party or the other ? A. With the other. Q. Did you take any men from thence ? A. Mr. Booth's son Hugh, and from Mr. Wheatcroft's, of Buckland Hollow, three men. Q. Did you see anything of George Weightman on your march ? A. Yes ; he was upon a poney of William Booth's. Q. Was there any conversation about a man being shot? A. Yes ; I recollect having some conversation with Wil liam Ludlam ; I asked him which of Mrs. Hepworth's men was shot, and he said Robert Walters. Q. Did you afterwards go to the Butterley-works ? A. Yes. Q. Was the Prisoner William Turner one of those per sons who went to those works ? A. Him and Brandreth walked together in the front> and knocked at the door with the but end of their gurts. ft. After having knocked at the door, who came to the door? A. Mr. George Goodwin came to the door and said, " what do you want," and Brandreth answered, " your men." Q. What further conversation passed between Good win and Brandreth, or any of the party? A- He said, " you have a great deal too many, without it was for a better object?" Q. Upon that conversation what became of them ? A. They marched off and went over the Coke Hearth towards Ripley. Q. What road did you take ? A. We went along the turnpike road to Ripley, and there we halted ; and Brandreth said, you must give three cheers here to let Ripley know that we are going, and then we were marched on towards Codnor. Q. Where were you halted again ? A. At the Glass House. 427 Q. Whose house is that ? .4. 1 do not know the man's name. Q. It is a pubhc house, is it not? .4. Yes. Q. Did they give the three cheers at Ripley? A. Yes. ft. Then at the Glass House vou were halted again ? ^.Y'es. Q. AY ere you refreshed again 1 A. Yes, we had some ale. ft. What other persons did you see there, do you know a man of the name of Bacon ? A. Yes, John Bacon. Q. AA'here did you see him ; A. Before we got to Butterlev ? Q. Did Bacon make any speech to you at the Glass House? A- Yes, I went ont of the house into the kitchen, and heard him making a speech as I went in. ft. Tell me the substance of the speech. Mr. Denman. Noi the substance, but the words, if you please. Mr. Serjeant J'aughan. Tell us what you heard. A. He said that Government had robbed them and plun dered them of all that ever they had. that was the last shift that ever they could make, diey must either fight or starve. ft. Before the party left the GlassJTe use were yon joined by any body else ? A. We were joined by a party that came from Hartsay. ft. Who headed that party? A- Samuel Hunt and Manchester Turner. ft. AA'as what you had there paid for ? A. No, they gave Bramley and John Bacon the bill. ft. The landlord gave them that? J. Yes. ft. AA'as it paid ? A. They said they would pay in a fortnight, when the iob was over. 428 Q. Were you joined on your leaving that house by toy other party ? A. We were joined by a party that came from Swan wick. Q. What number ? A. It might be sixty or seventy. Q. Upon your marching were you formed again, or What became of you ? A. No, they were not regularly formed. Q. Where did you go to ? A. We went along for Langley-mill, and were halted again at Mr. Raynor's. Q. Where were you, were you in the ranks ? A. I stood in the ranks, alongside the window and the door. Q. Did you hear what passed there ? A. I could hear some words, but not all. ft. From whom? A. From William Tomer. ft. Tell us what you heard William Turner say. A. I heard him go in and order the master to turn Out, and to take his man and his gun. ft. What did young Raynor say to Turner upon being told he must turn oat. A. He said he would not go, he said if he would not go he would shoot him. ft. By Turner, do you mean the PrisonerWilliam Turner? A. Yes. Q. What did Raynor say upon his saying if he did not go he would shoot him ? A. He said he would rather suffer than go. ft. Upon Raynor .giving that answer, that he would rather suffer than go, did Turner do any thing ? A. He went out and called Brandreth to his assistance. Q. Did Brandreth come to his assistance ? A. Yes. Q. Upon his coming what did he say ? A. He said if you do not turn out I will blow a bullet through you. 4$a y Q, Was there any other language us^and of what sort by Brandreth and Turner to Raynor ? A. There was violent bad language used by both of them to Raynor. Q. What was the end of it ? A. They took away the. man, the servant man, and^the gun and a pitching fork,, Q. Whom do you mean hy they ? A. The party, there were several of them, in: the- house. Q, Did you proceed on your road towards Langley-mill, having left Raynor ? . . A. Yes. Q. Did you take anybody in your way ? A, Yes, they met a man with five cows. ft. Did they take the man. with them ? A. Yes. Q. Was he taken voluntarily or by compulsion l- A. No, he appeared to be taken, by force. Q. When you. arrived at Langley-mill, did anybody meet you from Nottingham ? A. George Weightman met us. there on. Bboth's poney. » ft. That wag the man who had left you on the- poney you have spoken of before ? A. Yes. Q. On his coming to you, whom did he speak to first*. A. I cannot say but the first I: heard was*. "March on lads, all is right; they have bombarded Nottingham at two o'clock this morning, and it is given up to them." Q, Did, he say anything further, or did they march on ? 4. They kept marching on. Q. Where did you march to? — towards what place ?v A, I saw the Captain go to him, and they appeared to be having some private convocation, what it was I do not know. Q. Upon that private conversation being ended, did you march on towards. Eastwood ? A. Yes. 430 Q. Tell me whether when you got to Eastwood you saw a person of the name of Barnes ? A. Yes. Q. What is his Christian name ? A. James. ft. What was he doing there ? A. He had his gun in his hand along with a party. Q. Do you know where he came from ? A. Yes, from Swanwick. Q. Did you observe where the Swanwick party joined ? A. At Codnor. Q. Had you any conversation with Barnes ? A. Yes, he came to me, and I said, " Art thou one of them ?" and he said, " Yes ;" and I asked him what they were going to do when they got to Nottingham. Q. What answer did he make to you to that question ? A. He said they had fixed up a fresh Government at Nottingham, and they were going there to defend it until the other counties came into their terms. ft. What further did he say ? A. He said, by a letter which he had lately seen from London, the keys of the Tower would be given up to the Hampden Club party, if they were not already. Q. Do you remember any other expression ? A. No. ft. Did he say what he had been doing with himself? A. He said he had never set down since four o'clock yesterday morning, five minutes together. Q. Did he say how he had employed his time ? A. I asked him what he had been doing, and he said he had been providing guns, spikes, and ammunition. Q. At Eastwood, what state were they in as to order or disorder ? A. The companies seemed quite disordered, and Bran dreth ordered them into ranks. ft. What did you do at that time, when the companies were being ordered into ranks ? A. I went into rank along with them, stood a few mi nutes, and then turned out of the rank. 43 1 ft. When you turned out of the ranks did you say any thing ? A. No; I stood n little out of ihe rank, and llriiudrcih came lo me and ordered me into I he rank again. Ll. What did you say lo him on his so ordering you? A. I sniil 1 would not go into the rank ugain, neither for him nor for any other man. ft. What did llnmdrotli say to you upon that f A. lie said, if I did not. go in again immediately, he Would shoot me, and I miw him cock his gun. ft. Upon his cocking his gun, did you say anything to him ? A. 1 was armed with u stack paring-knife, und I step ped up to him. ft. What is a stack paring-knife? A. It in a scythe, with a little cut oil" one end of it, and then .stuck into a stick about a yard long. ft. To trim ilie corn slacks with ? A. Y es, after they arc thatched. ti. Having thai weapon iu your hand, what did you say to Brnndreth on his cocking hia gun, and levelling it at you ? ./, 1 stepped up to him and said, if he offered to level the gun I would smite his head oil". ft. What did he say or do upon your making that speech to himf .7. lie stood n lit 1 1 o while, und then he turned oil" from mo. Ll. Upon his turning oil" from you, where did you go to I A. Marched back towards Lnnglcy-mill. <^. Upon your marching back, what distance did you go from them before yon heard or observed anything? A. I went about fifty or sixty yards, and then I heard a cry of " Do not shoot !" ft. I) pou hearing a cry of * do not shoot,' did you turn round und observe anything? A. 1 turned round and saw Braiulrcth with the gun up to his shoulder, and pointing towards me; I then saw Thomas Turner lake hold of him and pull the gun off1 432 Q. Pall it out pf the direction from jrou i\ A. Yes. Q, AVhat became of yon then—did you meet with tmy other obstruction, or did you j»o away ? A. On marching a little further I was followed by; a man of the name of Savage. ft. Had Savage any weapon in his hand ? A. A short pistol like a foot long: he said, if I did not tstfn back he would blow a bullet through me. ft. AVe need not gp into this — What number might yon have at Codnor do you think ? A. I thought about two hundred, I did not count. ft?. TFhafe was when: yoa marched on from Codnbr to wards Eastwood? A. Yes. ': Q. Did you meet or see any other party upon your return ? A. I saw a party with some Colliers amongst them, about fifty, apparently. ft. How many of them were armed ? : i ' A'. A. Six or seven, perhaps ; the biggest; part of them Ilad no arms. fi. Did ;yo«: meet airy-others ? A. No ; I saw a party by Langley-mill, by Mr. Boi\ les's, hut I went by a bank to avoid theaa. Q. How many were there ? A. About sixty.. . u >.: .- ft. There were about two hundred at Codnor : a party? of fifty,. and.a patty ofsixty. A. Yes. ft. Better than: three hundred all together ? A. Yes, I should think there might. V, ft. What was the part William Tnmer took in i those transactions ? ¦ * A. He appeared to be a sort of- couamaBdesv--. A. Yes. ,;l!" - ft. When you got to Langley-mill did yoa see anything of George Weightman ? . ¦¦"¦¦ A. Yes. " ft. Did Weightman come down the ranks ? A. He met us, some of the men Went round the road or crossed over by the Mill, a shorter way. . ^ ft. There you met them again ? A. Yes, against the toll-bar. ft. Had he bee** at ^Nottingham or that way ? A. I do not know that he had been, he came through that way. ft. Did you hear him say anything? , A. Yes, there was a man asked him how they were going on, he said " they are going on very well, the soldiers are all in the barracks, march on my Iad$, as fast as .you can." Cross-examined by Mr. Denman. ft, .Where did you first join, where did you first go with them ? A. Pentridge-lane-end, -. Mr. Clarke. I will just ask him One other question- did you see a person of the name of Hole there i 4. Yes. Q. Did you see what passed when Hole was going away |? ^.Yes. Q. When Hole was going away did you hear the Pri soner say anything to the Captain ? 4 . Yes. ft. What did he say ? 44S^ A. Hole told- the Prisoner a I wiB not step anylonger, I will go back," he said " if you go backyou will be shot," " well," hfe said, " I do not mind, I will not go any further," the Prisoner immediately called for the Captain, and said, here is a man going back. ft. What did the Captain do upon that ? A. The Captain came immediately to Henry Hole. Mr. Clarke. Hole has told us what passed ? Mr, Denman. He told Hole that if he^ went away he would be shot. - ^j ( A. Yes. Q. How soon after that was it that Hole did go ? A. Perhaps five minutes, Q. He was not shot ? A. No. ft. And he was not fired at ? A. No, he levelled a gun to fire at him, ft. Who did ? A. The Captain. Q. And he was prevented by some of the party from firing it off ? A. He was. Q. You say you first joined them at Pentridge-lane? end? ' A. Yes. Q. And then you went to Pentridge ? A. Yes. Q. And then to Butterley ? A. Yes. Q. And from Butterley to Ripley I think? A. Yes. i'.' Q. Then to Codnor? A. Yes. ft. That is where the Glass House was ? ^.Yes. -./¦ i" Q. Were you there ? ('¦ i\ A. Yes. ft. Did you hear Bacon make a speech ? A. No. 443 ft, Did you see him go into the, house? "¦A- Yes, , , , ,,;,; Q. Did you see where the Prisoner Turner was at that time? , -L i.,-;f,: A. Yes, William Turner the Prisoner went into the parlour where I was. . ft. Bacon was in the kitchen ? A. Yes, he was. ft. You did not hear the words he said ? '4,;No. Q. From Codnor you went as far as Langley-mill ? 4- Yes.- ; .- ; . .... Q. Where did you say that you left the party ? A. Beyond Eastwood. Q? How many do you think the party consisted of when you came away ? A. There were not as many when I came away as when I went to the party. . ft. How mapy do you think there were when you went away? A. Neiirly one hundred. ft. How many did you come away with ? A. With Henry Hole and another man, we got away together. <. Mr. John Storer sworn. Examined by Mr. Gurney. ft. You, I believe, are a Farmer residing at Pentridge ? A. Yes. ft. On the night of Monday, he 9th of June, were you disturbed by any mob, v.r any number of people coming to your house ? V. A. Yes. ft. About what time ? A. About one o'clock in f'e morning, as I thought. ft. What number of persons appeared to you to have come to your ho i. e ? ; . A. Twelve oj fifteen. 444 Q. Did they come quietly, or otherwise? -'¦ A. No, I was awakened by the dog's barking first, and I went to the window; Q. There you saw the people you have mentioned I A. Yes. ft. Did they make any demand ? A- There were a number of guns and pikes pointed di rectly at me. Q. What did they say to you ? A. " Damn your eyes, you must go with us instantly." Q. Was that said by one or more than one ? A. It was said by the Prisoner at the bar, William Turner. Q. Did you agree to go, or refuse? Ai I asked if there was no excuse, and they said no. Q. Who answered you ? A. William Turner answered me. Q. What more did he say ? A. He s&id there were several at our house liable to go, and he said if I did not go and take a gun instantly, they would break into the house immediately, and shoot me and all that was in it. ' Q. What more did he say ? A. He said that the Captain had just shot Hepworth's man — all must go, or be shot. ft. At this time.v ¦ A. Yes, immediately. ¦ Q. Was any quest iori put toybn1 by either of the party with respect to thestate Ofyour^gun ? A. They asked me if it was loaded, I told them it waa not/ ''¦-'':' --si-;, j. Q. When you say they, whom do you mean ? A.T cannot' say^-I do not know. Q. Was that said in a whisper, or lond ? A. I have no doubt that all the others that were there heard it. ¦>> Q. What question was then asked you ? A. They asked me if I had got any shot and powdeV; I told 'them T had' got a little shot, but nopowdttv Q. What reply Was made to that? : •¦ ' '< -*» - ¦<) ^ A. They said it would not mean they should have' plenty of powder in a sttttrt- time? ' ¦ -¦ --rr ii- ¦ i i i ,'b ¦•¦ ft. Didtheysay''ftfiythi;nig^eise-1theyshbuldih{lve? • A. No, nothing particular. Q- What became of you^therr?1 ''*' ' ' -' A> When I got to the gate leading to the lane, I Hold them I had been very unwell the day before, and was not fit to go. ' '¦k'": :•''•'!> ; Q. What did they Say upon that ? A. I said I could1 not 'carry* the gun any further j-^iey said it must go with the baggage. Q. Did you upon that ask where the baggage was ? A. Yes, they said they had not any then, but they should have. Q. Did they add anything to thaff>: as the? tea'son why they should soon have baggage ?- [ -•¦' v.ti „v A. No ; they expressed great impatience for the arrival of the 'Captain, and thepai^y from theJILaneend;: we Wait ed I think about twenty minutes before the Cajitairi and Ms party came up. i ¦ b ' i A- 446 Q. Before the Captain came up, did you ask ihem where they were going to ? ? A. They said they were going to Nottingham ; thai they were coming all roads ; that it was a general rising • that twenty five or thirty thousand were coming from Sheffield ; that there would be several hundred thousand assembled that day ; that liberty would be gained, and an end to .tyranny. Q. Do you remember the persons by whom all this was said ? A. They stood all of a body, I cannot say who it was. Q. Was William Turner one of that body ? A. Yes. Q. Was he armed ? A. Yes, he had a gun. ft. Do you remember any other in that body ? A. Yes, there was Isaac Ludlam and William Barker. Q. Isaac Ludlam the elder or the younger ? A. The elder. Q. Was it stated where the Captain then was ? '4 A. They said he was at the Lane-end, and would soon come up. Q. That is Pentridge-lane-end. A. Yes. Q. Did he come up ? A. Yes, he came up with the other body of men. Q. What size do you think that other body was ? " A. When they were all together, I thought about one hundred. Q. Were they all armed ? ' A. The greatest part. Q. With what ? A. Guns and pikes. ft. By pikes do you mean such as those? ^.Yes. Q. What was done with the men when they wete all assembled ? A. The Captain ordered them to fall in three deep, the guns in front. M7 v.' .ft. Who tfas that Captain? .: .. -^t «•-.- ;.-,. r .'. ^f. Jeremiah Brandreth. Q. What more did Brandreth say besides ordering the men to fall in ? *...,; . ,, ; .. lUt A. He ordered them to fall in, and he held . a consulta tion with the principal men, and said he. would appoint the principal officers ? 1 Q. Who were the principal mea ? . A. A man whom they called Lieutenant Turner, T heard afterwards his name was Manchester Turner — they called him Lieutenant. Q. Whom else did he consult with ? A. Isaac Ludlam the elder and William Turner. Q. After consulting with them, what did he say ? A. He said it would be best to appoint non-commis sioned Officers ; he then asked if there were any men that could do the duty, or had been in the Local Militia. ft. Did any turn out upon that ? A. There were some turned out ; there was an order given to them that could do it to turn out, and they should be appointed, and have the care of a number of men. Q. Did any turn out ? A. I have no- doubt some did; some appeared to turn out, I stood still. - - •¦¦ ft. Werethe men then formed in rank ? A. They were formed three deep. Q. What did you then do ? A. We were then ordered to march. ft. By whom ? A. By the Captain ; there was first an advance and a rear guard appointed, and Isaac Ludlam the elder com manded the rear guard. t. ft Who marched at the head ? " -A. I do not know. , . . i , Q. How did William Turner march, did he march in f the ranks or out of the ranks ? A. Me was out of the ranks. . , .;, K . ,Q. To what place did you march ? A. Up the lane towards Pentridge ? ?. 448 ft. What was done at Pentridge, were any houses at tacked? .dV 4. Yes, a greatniany. Q. What was taken from, them t 4. Guns. ft. Any men taken also ? A. Yes. Q. While you were at- Pentridge did any thing occur respecting yourself* -, A. Yes ; I feigned myself ill when I got to the bottom of Pentridge, and told them I could not go any further. ft Upon that what was done ? A. The Captain came up ? Q. That is Brandreth ? A. Yes, and said I must go— that they would all do in that way j some said " damn him, shoot him •" some said " run a pike through him ;" they then appointed two men to take hold of each arm, and they led me up Pentridge in that way, in the midst of the body of men. ft. Did, you still pretend to be ill? 4. Yes. Q. Upon that what did they do for you ? 4> They held me up, those two men did, Q. What did they do for you next i . , A. I went with them all the way up Pentridge a con siderable time. Q. Was a poney got for you ? x A. Mr. Booth's poney was fetched out. Q. Were you put upon i t ? A. .Yes ; 1 did not stop on any time. ft. You continued your pretence of illness ? A. Yes, and slipped off. . ^.— n -.-. ft. What passed then:? . / -\ •'•-¦<' A. They then brought the Captain, he says, " dams him; put a pike through him ;" audi said, "it is no use taking me in this way, you had, better shoot me, and then you will be safe of me ;" he said, •** damn him, leave him we can do without one." . <¦ - h'-'h so-- : ft. Then you were allowed 'to.depwtivn i : 449 , -4nHe-#*4ege4-the niert to face ;aboUUcy^e. right and march, and they left me. Q. How far was it in all that you went ? A. Not quite a mile ; 1 thi.nk.more than three quarters. ft. Was William Turner with them throughout .the whole of that distance ? A. I saw him frequently. ; Q. How longr were you with them ? A- More than two hours ; I saw him actually employed in Pentridge, going with different parties to different house- doors, and threatening to break them open. Q. After you had quitted the party, did you go to the house of William Weightman. . A. I went to the house of William Booth. ft. Did you go to the house of William Weightman h .4. Yes; we did. r-ft. Did you see Weightman there ? A. While we were in Mr. Booth's house, W illiam, Weightman came in. ^ ft. How near was the party you had got away from at that time ? ^ A. They were just gone. ,v .... ft. Had you seen Weightman in the party ? A. No ; I had not. > Q. I do not ask you any thing. which William Weight- man said to you at Mr. Booth's, but did you see him at his own house ? A. Yes. Q. Did you see any thing there ? A. I saw a bag of bullets. Q. Did you, afterwards give information to any person respecting those bullets ? r t„ A. I went with Mr. Booth down tq^ the constables, and TOShed him to go with us. ..,- u. c T ,, ,, *. i ft. Did you go back to William Weightman's house-to lay hold of the. bullets ? u._ -4. Yes ; .to stop them. : ; 0 Q, When you came back to Weightman's house, wa& Weightman gone, and were the bullets gone ? Ff 450 A- His wife held the door in her hand. Q. Do not tell me what she said,— did you find the bullets ? A. No. ft. You did not go into the house in consequence of in formation you had received ? A. No ; we did not. Q. Did you see Thomas Weightman of the party ? A. Yes. Q. How was he armed ? A. He had a pike. Q. Did you see Joseph Weightman, Jun. ? A. Yes ; he had a pike. Q. Manchester Turner? A- He had a sword. Q. Did you see William Ludlam ? A. Yes. ft. What had he? A. A pike. Q. Did you see Samuel Hunt among them ? A. Yes. Q. What had he ? A. A pike. Q. Joseph Topham ? A. Yes ; he had a pike. Q. Alexander Johnson i A. Yes ; he was there ; he had a pike. Q. Did you see James Taylor ? A. Yes ; he had a pike. Q. Joseph Taylor. A. He had a gun, I think. Q. William Barker. A. He had a pike. ft. What number did they consist of when they marched away from you ? A. I think about a hundred, they got some men but of Pentridge, but during the time I was with them a great many ran away. 451 Cross-examined by Air. Cross. Q. Had you known the Prisoner, William Turner, before that time ? A. Yes. Q. You have no doubt about his person ? A. Not the least. Q. You were not examined before I believe S 4. No. Q. Where were you — were you in Derby last Thursday and Friday ? A. Yes. Mr. George Goodwin, sworn. Examined by Mr. Serjeant Copley. Q. I believe you are one of the managing clerj?s at the Butterley-works ? A. I am. Q. In the month of June last, about how many men were employed at those works ? A. About six or seven hundred in the employ of ^he Butterley Company ? Q. In consequence of what you heard and observed in the course of [the 9th of June, were any special constables sworn in on that day ? A. They were sworn in on Saturday the 7th. Q. Were you sworn in as one of those constables ? A. 1 was. Q. Did you, in consequence of information you had received, arm any of your men on the 9th. A. We did. ft. Did you take the direction and command of them? A. Partly — Mr. Jessop was with me. Q. Where were the men ? A. The greater part of them were at Ripley I ft. Were you at Ripley yourself? ^.Yes. Q. Till what time did you remain at Ripley? A. Till day -light on the morning of the 10th. Ff2 452 Q. While there, did you hear any noises of any descrip-> tion ? A. I did. Q. Of what description ? A. Guns firing, and horns sounding. Q. Where did they appear to be ? A. At Pentridge, and Pentridge-lane-end. Q. At break of day you returned to the works ? A. We did. Q. After you returned to the works did you see George Weightman ? A. I did. ft. Tell us, as nearly as you can, at what hour ? A. A little after three o'clock. Q. Was he on foot, or on horseback ? A. On horseback. Q. Which way was he going? A. He was going on the way from Pentridge to Not tingham. Q. Did you speak to him ? A. I did ; I called to him to stop. Q. Did he stop. A. He did not ; he just looked back and rode on. Q. Shortly after he had passed did you see any men towards Pentridge ? A. I did: a body of about an hundred men, marching on ihe road from Pentridge to Butterley. ft. Were they armed or unarmed ? A. Armed. Q. How were they marching ? A. In regular order like a body of soldiers. ft. In one or two lines ? A. They were two abreast in column. Q. What did you do upon that? A. They marched up in front of the house ; the doors of the iron-works were closed ; they marched up to the doors, and the Captain knocked at the gates. Q. Were you inside the works at that time ? A, No, I was not. 453 ft. Where were you ? A. At the door of the office he first halted the men " To the right face, front." ft. Upon that order did they front the office ? A. They did. Q. The office then was to their left ? A. Yes. Q. Before they made that movement the office was to their right ? A. Yes. Q. After he had done this you say he knocked at the gate ? A. Yes. I asked him, " What do you want — what is your object here ?" he said, " We want your men." Q. Was this through the gate, or did you come out of the office ? A. I was outside of the office — the office faces. ft. WHiat did you say ? A. I told them they should not have one of them ; that there were too many already, without they were going for a better purpose. Q. Did they return any answer to thai ? A. No, they did not. Q. What more passed ? A. I told them to disperse ; that they might depend upon it the law would be too strong for them ; that they were going with halters about their necks; that they would be hanged. Q. Did you see in the party any whom you knew ? A. I saw Isaac Ludlam the elder, James Taylor, and Isaac Moore; and a great many others that I knew by sight; but 1 should not like to swear to them. Q. Did you speak to Isaac Ludlam ? A. 1 said, " Good God ! Isaac, what do you do here upon such an errand as this ? Go home ; you have got a halter about your neck ; you will be hanged." Q. What answer did he make to that ? A. He said, " I cannot go back; I am as bad as I can be ; I must go on." He appeared exceedingly agitated. 454 ft. You had men in the office at that time armed ? A. We had. Q. Did you make any attempt or give any advice to these persons as to the office ? A. When we saw the rebels approaching, we ordered them to retire into the office and defend themselves there. Q. To Isaac Ludlam or the two other persons whose names you have mentioned, did you tell anything about the office? A. When I told Isaac Ludlam to go home and leave them, I took him by the shoulder and pushed him to wards the office. Q. Could he have gone into the office ? A, He might. Q, Did you do that to either of the other men whose names you have mentioned ? A. To both of them. . Q. Did either of them go into the office ? A. Neither of those. Q. Did any of the party go into the office ? A. Three went into the office. Q. They remained there ? A. Yes. Q. What then took place ? A. After a. short pause, in which the two parties stood looking at each other, the Captain gave the word march, and took the men away, Q. Did they, proceed towards Nottingham or in the other direction ? A. They proceeded towards Ripley. Q. That is upon the road to Nottingham ? A. Yes, it is the regular road to Nottingham. Q; When you get to Ripley, there is a regular road to Nottingham ? A. Yes. Q. After they were gone, did you perceive any other party coming ? A. Yes, there was another, body came shortly after. 455 ft. Of how marry did that body consist? A. Perhaps about forty, but they did not come near to Us. Q. Were they near enough for you to see whether they Were armed ? A. Yes, many of them were armed With pikes and guns. Q- How soon after the first party ? A. About a quarter of an hour. ft. Did they go on towards Nottingham. A. They did. ft. Did you see any other party besides those two ? A. No considerable body. Q. Did you see any other party going in the same di rection ? A. Yes. Q. Did you see a person of the name of William Weightman ? A. Yes. Q. How long was that after the second party had passed ? A. About half an hour, perhaps not quite so much. Q. Was he on foot or on horseback ? A. He was on horseback ; there was a young man named William Taylor along with him. I stopped him by laying hold of his bridle, and told him he should not go, ft. Did you take anything from him ? A. Yes, I took a bag of bullets from him. Q. Have you got that bag of bullets here ? A. I have, (producing it) Q. Where did he carry that bag of bullets ? A- Upon the horse. Q. Did you see them when you first took hold of him ? A. No, I' did notj they were on the off-side of the horse ; when he turned the horse round then I saw them and took them. Q. How many pounds weight of bullets were there ? A. About eighty-four. Q. Are they made for different bores ? A. There are a great variety of sizes. 456 ft. Can you tell us what uumber of bullets there are? A. I should think there would be from one thousand five hundred to two thousand bullets ; I should think they are not above an ounce each. Q. Was there anything else in the bag? A. There are sticks or something to make cartridges, moulds for cartridges. Q. Was there any paper in the bag to make car tridges ? A. Yes, there were. Q. There were the bullets, the moulds, and the paper to make cartridges? A. Yes. Q. These are the moulds ? (producing them) A. Yes. Mr. Serjeant Copley. They are of three different sizes my Lord. Cross-examiried by Mr. Cro$s, ft. You were sworn in as a special constable ? A. I was. ft. And Martin and Asbury also? A. Yes. Q. Thoy were sworn in at the same time with you i A, Yes. ft. They were two men that knew their duty very well . in that capacity ? A. I am not aware that they had any particular direc tions upon their duty, they were sworn in at the spur of the moment, it being conceived there was great danger, there were no directions given to them I believe. Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Copley. Q. My Friend has asked you about your being sworn in as special constable, why were you sworn in as special constable ? A. Because we were apprehensive of a disturbance. Q. Were there such symptoms as to induce you to fear that? 457 A. We conceived there was every symptom of it, there appeared to be a ferment in the neighbourhood. Mf. Denman, If there are any facts from which Mr. Goodwin can state that, he may, but we cannot take his inference. Mr. Justice Abbott. The fact is material, and that Is proved. Mr. Denman, It may be the merest hearsay in the world, it may be from what his wife said. Mr. Justice Dallas. It is hardly worth while debating it, I should think. Mr. Attorney General. No, my Lord, I think not. Mr. George Raynor swornf Examined by Mr. Reynolds. ft. Were you a farmer in the parish of Heanor in the pounty of Derby in the month of June last ? ^.Yes. Tr , Q. Were you living at the house of your father ? ^.Yes. Q. Early in the morning of Tuesday the 10th of June did any persons come to your house ? A. Yes. Q. Is your house situate near the turnpike road from Codnor to Nottingham ? A. Yes. Q. What number of persons came? A.I think about four hundred, as nearly as I can cal culate. Q. Were they armed or not ? A. Yes, they had different weapons, guns and pikes. Q. Look at the Prisoner at the bar, do you know him ? A- Yes, I saw him, he was the first that entered. Q. Where were you when you first saw him ? A. I stood in my father's door-stead. Q; You say he was the first that entered ? A. Yes. 458 ft. Had he anything with him when he came in ? A. He had a gun in his hand. ft. Did he do anything with that gun ? A. He presented his gun at me, and with an oath said " damn your eyes turn out," I stepped backwards and said " no, I shall not turn out," he then followed me up and said " you won't, will you," I said " no, I won't.*' Q. You say he presented the gun to you> did he do any thing else than present it? A. After speaking to me twice he then cocked i't. Q. Did he say anything ? A. He insisted upon my turning out and joining their party. 0. You say he cocked his gun, did he say anything about what had been done anywhere. A. He desired me to remember that they had shot one man, and that I should share the same fate for my stupidity if I did not turn out. Q. What did you say to that ? A. I told him I should not go, I kept retreating towards the house. Q. What did he do as you retreated ? A. He jobbed the gun into my side several times, and insisted upon my turning out. Q. Where were you at this time ? A. When I got about the middle of the house door he repeated " damn your eyes, if you stir another foot I will blow it at you." Q. Had you a gun in the room where you were ? A. Yes. Q. Where was it ? A. It was up on one of the joists at the top of the house. Q. Did any body touch it ? A. The Prisoner took it down, he said "you have got a gun I see, we must have this." Q. Was it taken down, and by whom ? A. By the Prisoner. Q. Did he do anything with it when be took it doWn ? A. He charged it with several others. 459 Q. Do you mean that several others charged their guns? A. Several other pieces were charged at the same time. ft. This being done, what was next said or done ? A. The next that was done, he turned round to me after he had charged the gun and said " you must go along with us." Q. Did you make any answer, and what ? A. I told them I should not go ; before I left my own house I must know on what business they were going. ft. Did anybody tellyou on what business ? A. The Prisoner told me they were going to wipe off the National Debt. Q. Did he say anything more ? A. That they would wipe off the National Debt, and begin again ? Q. Did they say where they were going ? A. That they were marching upon Nottingham. Q. Who said that ? A, The Prisoner. Q. Was anything said about the time ? A They mentioned that they had half an hour to spare, and they would halt at our house. Q. Who said so ? A. The Prisoner. Q. How long did they stay ? A. I cannot exactly say — more than half an hour. Q. How many persons do you think were in your house ? A. That I cannot tell. Q. About how many ? A. I should think there were nearly fifty in the house- place, the parlour, and the kitchen. Q. Was there a servant of the name of James Raynor you had? A. Yes. Q. What became of him ? A. At the time the Prisoner entered be was at breakfast in the kitchen. ft. What became of him at last ? A. They took him along with them, and also killed a dog we had. 460 Cross-examined by Mr. Denman. Q. I think it was mentioned, though not by yourself, that you had said you would rather lose your life than go along with those persons ?— one of the witnesses mentionr ed that. A. Yes. Q. After all, you did not go with them ? A. No. Q. And I believe you came to no harin, except the loss of a dog, and the consumption of some beer and ale ? A. A few pitch-forks Q. This conversation between you and Turner lasted a considerable time ? A. More than half an hour ? Q. The conversation in which he was endeavouring to persuade you to join them must have lasted a considerable time ? A. Sometime it was — I cannot tell how loner. Q, You say that after speaking to you twice, he cocked Iris gun ; are you quite sure of that ? — did he say he would cock it ? A. I am quite sure that he took it down from his shoul der and cocked it. Q. Did you see it in that state after it was cocked ? A. Yes. Q. Have the goodness to tell me, upon your oath, and I am sure you will tell me fairly, at the time he jobbed your side was it cocked? * A. To the best of my belief it was. Q. How soon after was it ? A. It was immediately after. ft. There were things said between ? A. A few things. Q. You never saw it uncocked again ? A. I believe it never was uncocked. Q. Did you see it at the time ? A. I saw it immediately before. Q. At the time he jogged it against your side ? 461 A. I really cannot say further than I have upon that. Q. You think there were as many as four hundred ? A. To the best of my belief there were. ft. How many came into your house ? A. Fifty. Q. The rest remained outside ? A. They were plundering the places of forks, and so on. ft. Did you know the Prisoner before ? A. No. Q. You never saw him before ? A. I believe I had seen him, but not personally to know him. Q. How soon after did you see him before the Magis trate ? A. I saw him in gaol not very soon after. Q. How soon after ? A. Several weeks had passed. Q. Was there a light in your house ? A. Yes, it was quite light. Q. There were several persons there ? A. Yes. Q. All trampling about, and very busy ? A. Yes. Q. And many of them holding violent language? A. Yes. Q. What is the name of your servant who went with them ? A. James Raynor. Q. How soon did he return ? A. He was about two hours and a half away, to the best of my remembrance. Q. At what time of the morning was this they were at your house ? A. About six o'clock. Q. He came back then about eight or nine ? A. I suppose thereabouts. Q. Did he come alone, or others with him ? A. He came alone. 462 Re-examined hy Mr. Reynolds. Q. What sort of forks did they take with them? A. There were three or four hay-forks, and a pitching fork. Q. At six o'clock, the sun bad risen sometimel A. It was quite light. William Roper, sworn. Examined by Mr. Richardson. Q. I believe you live at the race-stand upon Notting* ham Forest ? A. I do. Q. Were you at Nottingham on the evening of Monday, the 9th of June? A. I was. Q. What hour did you set off to return home ? A. I should think about half past eleven, as nearly as I can guess. ft. You pass up to the wind-mill, and over the race course, to your house ? A. Yes. ft. On coming on the race-course, did you observe any number of people there assembled ? A'. I met two. ft. You first met two ? A. Yes. Q. Did you afterwards meet others ? A. Yes. Q. And any considerable number of people together ? A. Yes. Q. How many do you think you saw together ? A. I should think somewhere about a hundred, more or less. Q. In what way were they standing? A. They were in lines. Q. Drawn up in a line ? A. Yes, a straight line. 463 Q. Were they single, or one behind another ? A. Two deep. Q. Did they appear to be doing anything, or any per sons doing or saying anything to them ? A. Yes ; in the centre. Mr. Denman. My Lord, I would submit whether this is evidence against this particular Prisoner. In the former case, there appeared to be representations of Brandreth that there were to be any men on Nottingham Forest, but whether this man knew that, does not appear. Mr. Justice Dallas. I do not see how there can be a distinction between the case of Brandreth and the case of this man, upon this point. Mr. Richardson. Did they appear to be doing anything? A. There were several people in the centre of the others, who appeared to be speaking to them. Q. Did you pass by them ? A. Yes. ft. There was a Mr. Percival with you ? A. Yes. Q. Didyou pass in rear, or in front of them? A. In front of them. Q.. After you had passed them, and how far, did any of them follow you ? A. When we had passed them about twenty yards, there were eight or ten came after us, or more ; I cannot ex actly say the number, eight, ten, or a dozen. ft. Were the men whom you saw drawn up in line arm ed in any way ? ' A. Yes. Q. With what? Q. They had long poles, about a dozen of them, I should think. Q. Had those; men who came after you any arms? A. Yes. ft. They had long poles? A. Yes, they had. Q, Did they stop you ? .. ........... A. Yes. 464 ft. How ? A. They came up to us and asked where we were going? Q. Did they make any use of the poles ? A. Yes ; they brought them down to a charge on Per cival and me. Q. Could you see whether there was any thing at the end of the poles ? A. I could not. Q. They stopped you by those poles being brought down to a charge ? A. Yes. Q. Had you conversation with them : A. Yes. Q. Afterwards did you pass on ? A. Yes. Q. Did you go to your own house ? A. Yes. Q. After that, did it begin to rain, sometime after ? A. Yes. Q. Did you again come out of your house ? A. Yes. Q. Is there a projection, a sort of shed, at the stand where your house is ? A. Yes. Q. When you came out did you see any of those persons there ? A. They came there while I stood under the piazzas ? Q. Did they appear to you to be the same persons yoa had seen before drawn in a line ? A. Yes. Q. They came under the shed did they ? A. Yes they did. Q. Were they drawn up in any way there J A. Yes ; drawn up in a straight line. Q. Two deep ? A. I cannot say that. ft. Did you leave them there and go into your house! A. Yes. 465 ft. At any time after that, and how long} wereyou dis turbed in your house by anything ? A. About one o'clock I heard a great noise at the door. Q. A noise of what, a knocking ? A. Yes ; a great knocking at the door. ft. What did yQmdo upon that ? A. I went and asked what they wanted. ft. What answpr was made to you ? ' A. They asked whether I had not got any fire arms ; I told them "yes ;" they told me, I must deliver them up, to them ; I toW them, I would not, ft. Did they say anything more to you : A> I told them that I should not ; they said* if I did not, they should be under the necessity of breaking tjbe.door open, and taking them by force ; 1 told them, if they did I would blow the first man's brains out that came in. They g#d» would I ; I said, yes.; they s^jd, ' "bring the men up with the fire arms." Q. I believe they did not ultimately get your arms J A. No. ft. Did they ask you what arms you had ? 4. Yes ; I told them I had a fusee and a rifle piece. ft. And you ^refused to deliver them ? A, Yes. ft. Did they ultimately go away ? 4- Yes- f . . . ; . : Q How long might they stay at your house ? A. I think they went away about two o'clock, Q. Did they all go at first, or were any persons left be hind ? A . There were some left behind. I heard the greater part of them go. Under the! piazzas there are flagstones, and I heard the bustle of their going off j but after they were gone, I heard people at the frpnt dpor, and at the back door. Q. They afterwards, went ! A.Yes.' ' '/;'' Q. Did yon jiick up anything after foey were gone? eg 466 " A. Yes ;P went out at three o'clock in the morning and picked up a pole. ... j u '- ft;' Was ita pole similar to one of those ? A. No, not so gbod a one as those. f Cross-examined by Mr. Cross. Q. It was a wet night we Understand? A. Yes. • •"¦ ft. And very dark during the night) short as it was ? • .-. A. Yes. •' ¦ ¦'."¦ ¦.¦ ft. And you saw you thought about a hundred men, and:about a dozen of them had what you call poles ? A. Yes. Q. That was all you Saw upon Nottingham race ground ? A. Yes. .j, . , iRe-examined by Mr. Richardson. ft. Could you see whether the rest of the men had poles ornot? <--"¦ v A: Yes ; if they had I should have seen them. Captain Frederick Charles Philips sworn. Examined by Mr. J. Balguy. ft. You are Captain of a'troop in the 15th Hussars ?'s A. I am. Q. Were you stationed at the barracks at Nottingham, on the 9lh of June last ? A. I was. Q.'Hbw'far are the barracks from the town i 4- They may be half a mile. ft. Do you recollect in what state the town of Notting ham was on the 9th. 'if. 'There was 'a good deal of bustle and Confusion on the night of the 9th, and a party of military were sent for from the barracks in consequence. Q. Did the military remain long in the town? A. They remained about a quarter of an hour ; tlte peo ple dispersed, and they returned to the barracks. 407 Q. Was any apphcation made to yoo> the next morning ; and if so about what time ? A. About half-past six I was called out ; we went with Mr. RoUeston and Mr. Mundy with twenty men in the direction of Pentridge. Q. Tell us what you observed in your way ? A. About half a mile before we got to Eastwood, I ob served some men flying, armed with pikes, over some fields on the left-hand side of the road. Q. Were you near or at some distance when you so perceived ? A. Not half a mile from them ; they were so far we could not overtake them. Q. Those persons you say were flying on the left of the road ? A. Yes ; we proceeded on through Eastwood, and be tween Eastwood and Langley-mill we came up with a party of about -sixty more. Q. Were the party you met between Eastwood and Langley-mill collected together or in a dispersed state ? A. They were standing in the road together ; there might be some in the fields on the road side, but a consi derable number were in the road. Q. Did you observe anything in then conduct? A. I observed one man endeavour to make the others stand by a motion with his hand. Q. Did you observe whether the sixty men were armed or not? A. They were most of them armed, I cannot say whether all of them were ; they were armed with pikes and guns. Q. Did this one person succeed in endeavouring to make them stand, or how ? A. No, they paid no attention to him, they dispersed, they got over the fences on the road side and dispersed in all directions. ft. Did you take any prisoners ? A. Yes, we did. ft. How many ? A. I think altogether about six and thirty. GgS 468 ft. Were any arms of any sort found ? A. Yes, a considerable number of pikes and guns. ft. Which had been thrown away ? A. Yes ; five or six men were taken with the arms upon them. Q. With arms in their hands f A. Yes. ft; The others threw away their arms as they ran ? A. Yes. CroiS-exantined by Mr. Denman. Q. How far were you from them when you thought you saw this person form them ? A. I was about sixty yards off, I came on a turn of the road near them. Q. How long had you been stationed at Nottingham ? 4- About a month. ft. You have been there ever since? A. No, I have not. ft. Some degree of aigitation in the streets of Nbttifig- ham at ten at night is not very unusual ? A. I was not in the town ; that message was sent 'by the magistrates. ft. Then you only know you were sent for irt conse quence of something that had been remarked by other , persons ? ' A. Just so. Thomas Hallowes, Esq. sworn. Examined by Mr. Solicitor General. Q. I believe you are a Magistrate of this county, as well as High Sheriff 2 .1 A. I am not a Magistrate. ft. You are High Sheriff of the county ? A. I am. Q. Did you, on Tuesday the 10th of June last, go in pursuit of any of these persons ? .; A. Yes. Q. Had you some cavalry with you ? A. Yes : the Chesterfield yeomanry. 469 Q. At what time? ¦'¦<*.* A. It was about nine o'clock we left Alfreton. ft. Did you proceed to Langley-mill? A. Yes; the yeomanry never got to Langley-mill. Q Did you yourself go to Langley-mill ? A. Yes ; past Langley-mill. Q. What did yon observe ? A. We took up several people hid in different place* upon the road. Q. Do you know the Prisoner, William Turner? 4. Yes I do. ft. Did you take him on that dayl 4. With Colonel Halton. ft. Whereabouts did you find him ? 4. We found him in a ditch with his brother. Q. Do you know the name of his brother ? 4. Edward Turner. Q. How far from the road was he ? A. I think in the second field from the road. ft. Whereabouts? v ¦." A. It was between Codnor and Eastwood. d Between Codnor and Langley-mill then. A. Yes. ft. About what time was it you took him and his brother? A. I really cannot say the time ; I should think it might he about twelve o'clock, from eleven to twelve; I will not be positive as to the time. Q. In what manner were they in the diteh when you. found them ? A. They got up out of the ditch, and began walking away from us. ! ft. As you came np ? ^.Yes. ft. And you took them ? A. Yes ; we called to them to stop and they stopped. Q. And you took them ? A. Yes. Mr. Attorney General. My Lord, that is theoasaon the part of the Crown. .,..,, ....... Adjourned to To-morrow Morning, Eight o'Clock. 470 SPECIAL ASSIZE, DERBY, Tuesday, 0.1st October, 1817- William Turner was set to the Bar. Mr. CROSS. May it please yourLordships, Gentlemen of the Jury, Before 1 proceed in what T shall have the honor to ad dress to you on the part of the Prisoner at the bar, I beg leave to say that if in the course of what I shall say, any thing should inadvertently fall from me which may seem to be in contravention to any thing that has come from this Court upon the former Trial, I beg their Lordship's indulgence, and that they will believe it arises from no in tention on my part to deviate from that constitutional course of duty which the law has prescribed to me on the present occasion, but that it results altogether from the singular difficulties in which I am placed ; and the great novelty of the decision, which I believe has no precedent, at least for the last seventy years. But, Gentlemen, for your attention, il will be first ne cessary that I should take leave, on the part of the Prisoner, to suggest to you a most anxious care not to suffer your judgments to be misled by any prejudices that may have influenced your minds before you were sworn upon this jury, but much more any prejudices that may arise in your minds from a former verdict, and from a circumstance, about which, as it seems to me, yofi have heard too much, namely, the atrocious and deliberate murder of an inno cent man by the ringleader of the outrages now under your consideration. Gentlemen, you were told by my learned Friend, the Solicitor General, in opening this case to you, that that was not a matter upon which your deci sion was to depend, but that it was a matter which shewed the conduct of the parties in this transaction. I cannbt, 47*1 I confess, exercising the best judgment I possess upon the subject, think that it is quite fair towards the Prisoner, to have pressed that circumstance into the, cause with so much zeal and assiduity as was exhibited yesterday upon that subject. I cannot but recollect now the pressure and weight that hung upon my own mind, and that of my learned and excellent Friend of whose assistance I have the benefit upon this occasion. I cannot, I say, but recol lect that our very faculties were paralyzed upon the forr mer Trial, when we could not but feel, at every instant in the discussion of the case, that we were defending one who had committed murder, of whose guilt, in the com mission of that dreadful-crime, there was no doubt : aBd we therefore felt, that as to that unhappy individual, the result of the Trial was but of little importance ;. we well knew that in the ordinary course of justice that man would, three months ago, at the assizes, have paid the for feit of his life to the injured laws of his country, if that party's life had not been preserved to grace this prosecu'- tion, and in order that that person might be placed in the front of these trials. Gentlemen, I do not mean to cast reproaches ; it is contrary to my wish to my dispo sition so to do on any person concerned in the proceedings now before you, but I cannot I say but feel that there was some management in that proceeding ; I caimot but feel that when they had secured a conviction upon that dread-i- ful deed, that it was too valuable a topic to let slip upon this Trial, and you therefore found in the course of the ex aminations of the witnesses yesterday, that witness after witness was called before you, no question, no enquiry omitted that could tend more broadly and fully to expand before your view that fatal deed, before which, in the course of these inquiries, a curtain ought to be drawn. Gentlemen, not content with that, no little pains were taken, in the opening of this, ease, to persuade you that although this unhappy Prisoner had no concern in that transaction, yet that in construction of law he mu^t be vi sited with all the consequences of it. I see not the.reason why you should haye heard of that upon tbjs occasion, ; $72 the evidence beforei you, as far as. respects- the Prisoner at the bar, upon that subject is, and it. is frota. one of the witnesses whom the prosecutors; have called, that he was not present : at no great distance, to be sure, but the wit ness told you, with, regard to jthe Prisoner at the bar, he was neither in sight nor in hearing: when that fatal deed was done. Gentlemen, dismiss, therefore, I conjure you, from, your consideration that deed which was committed, not by the hand of this Prisoner, but of another, who must shortly pay the forfeit of his life for that offence. Gentlemen, there is another species of prejudice, to which forgive me if I take leave to. call your attention. I have no reason, from any thingi that I have heard or ex perienced jm this county, to suppose, but that you, as honest men, will do your duty with all that firmness which my learned Friend has conjured you to call into exercise upon this occasion ; but I have some fears; I confess, lest a,Jury of the county of Derby, whose minds must have been harassed and distressed by these oufcrages;-~whose property and peace must have been endangered, should feel themselves unthinkingly to be parties in this trial.: every loyal subject is, more or less, a party in a trial for High Treason. If these unfortunate people havecomT mitted the dreadful crime of High, Treason, they have in sulted us all,— they have attempted to violate the dearest rights and liberties of us all ; and, therefore, it is that, when a charge of High Treason is thrown upon a man, he is surrounded on all sides with prejudice and hajtred; and nothing can save turn from the effect of that prejudice but the' exercise of the. important duty whichthe law has cast upon my learned Friend and myself; whose iduty it is to stand by the side Of the accused to make the .most of the subject in his behalf, and to take care, under the sanc tion of the learned Judges who preside in this place, that he has the fullest measure of justice that the law- of Eng? land can mete out to him, Now, Gentlemen, having taken^ the liberty of saying sq much upon that subjeGt, permit me to call your attention to the nature of: the charge which; is, preferred against-the 473 Prisoner at the bar. He is charged with the crime of High Treason, and that High Treason consists, as is stated, of levying war against the King, with the intent and pur pose of overthrowing the Government and Constitution of the country as by law established. Gentlemen, a dread ful charge, to be preferred against any man, of raising a, civijl war against his King,. intending to depose that iting, and to overturn the whole Constitution of His Govern ment and His laws. Gentlemen, we are not to be led away by high-rsounding words ; we must consider well what ;tbese things mean ; we must consider well, fully, and jp. detail, what, is meant by a civil war, and what is meant by .an overturning of the Constitution and. Government pf .the country. I am not here concerned to dispute one single fact, or to justify one single outrage, of that dread ful. @th of June, — I do not stand here to deny or to jus tify, any one of those acts ; but my duty is to do this, — to consider what is the quality of the offence, — whether the Prisoner has committed that most atrocious of all numan crimes, or has done somethiug short of that however cri minal and however atrocious. Gentlemen, the history of our country does furnish' in stances of civil war. Great men in the realm of extensive power, .great property, and greater influence, have, ac cording to their own notions of public rights, occasionally levied war against their King. I alluded before to an in stance, which .was the last that occurred in this country, in the year 1745. Tha,t there was,, at. the head of that War, a person who had something like a claim to the Crown. of England, who was supported by Peers of Parlia ment, men of great property and possessions in the country, who had an army arrayed and disciplined, and provided with .ail the insignia and all the appointments of regular Warfare ; and I believe, gentlemen, that is the last time that: any successful trial for this offence has taken place in England. If none of the apparatus of war is provided ; — if the. persons are wholly unfit for the purpose, the trans action itakes a different hue, and will appear, and is in fact, J conoeive, an. offence of a very different description, from a levying of civil war; 474 What were the facts in this Case to constitute a civil war? The evidence represents to you that a man, who was a pauper, from the town of Nottingham came to the village where these transactions occurred. He seated himself in a chair in the midst of a public house, on a Sunday, with a map before him ; he proposed to combine together numbers of persons in the manner that has been represented to you ,: he got together, first of all, about a dozen men. At eight o'clock on the Monday evening, I think, it began with the Prisoner, and two other men, having each a gun : three guns, and their forces accumu lated from, I think, about these three at first to the num ber of two or three hundred at last ; but, in the eourse of twelve hours, the whole was dispersed like a cloud, and there was an end of the civil war. I- have always understood, Gentlemen, that, in order to constitute what is called civil war, or warfare of any kind, or a making war in a warlike manner, the apparatus should consist of something like infantry and cavalry, and arms and ammunition, and money. Now, how was it in this Case? There was some infantry it is true, and they have endeavoured, on the other side, to give this an air of warfare, by describing to you, pretty much in detail, again, some of the personal and minor movements of these wretched men. There was a corps of infantry, consisting of a hundred or more persons, who had mustered; the number they have not told you : perhaps a dozen fowling pieces, and about two or three score of pikes,— that was the whole provision you have in evidence of this corps of infantry. Well, with regard to the cavalry, how was that ? How were their couriers provided ? How was their am munition to be carried? How was their artillery to be drawn ? Why, Gentlemen, they had provided themselves with a poney belonging to a Mr. Booth, and, if a courier was to be dispatched to Nottingham, the poney was to carry the messenger ; — if the ammunition was to be con veyed, the poney was to carry it; — if any thing was to be done, if a sick man was to be carried upon the road, then comes in the poney upon us at every turn ; so that, with 475 the exception of this single pOney, they' had no means of dispatching a messenger, they had no means of carrying their ammunition, and they had no means of conveying their sick and wounded. Well, then we have their arms, arid we have their provision by cavalry : as to their ammu nition, why' they had, (and it has been exhibited with a- gf eat deal of stage effect before you) a quantity of shot. Well, that lobks "but a small quantity, they thought on the other side. Aye ! " but, Mr. Goodwin," that was the witness who produced them, " how many shots do you think there are there?" "Oh! a prodigious number of shots! I should think fifteen hundred or two thousand ; and this is the single parcel of bullets which has been brought into Court by one of the witnesses. That was, Gentlemen, the whole stock of ammunition — the whole stock they have been able to bring in evidence against the unfortunate man at the bar; for, as to gunpowder, it does not appear they had any, — not a particle, except, from the evidence that has been given, of a few shots being fired from these miserable fowling pieces. Well, but then these were, doubtless, men of great power and influence in the realm — Officers in the army ! Gentlemen, the Leader was a pauper, as I have said be fore, though the Attorney General, in order to swell and magnify this transaction (he will forgive me for the obser vation, I do not mean it personally to him) styled him a generalissimo. Well, then, the second they state was the Prisoner "at "the bar. He walked at the outside, and he took some leading part in this transaction, which, as I said before, was all over in a few hours without the interference of a single" Justice of the Peace, or a single soldier ; the thing dissolved away in its own weakness. Such was the extreme folly and imbecility of this enterprize, having neither money, power, nor influence to support it ; — having no arms, no ammunition, no artillery, no skill, and, as to money, that important instrument of war, before they set out they clubbed sixpence a-piece that I do recollect; that was to fill1 the military chest, and that is all the re source, for the purpose of war, with which these miserable 47a paupers were provided : but still, Gentlemen, this is called a civil war. Now, what was the purpose ? Thie SolicitoriGeneral has, I think, truly stated to you that in which I most cordially unite, and shall take care you shall never forget ; — that if it shall appear to you that it was an assembly, for which you can assign no distinct object and motive, that then the Prisoner will be entitled to your acquittal. Now> let us see what the object and motive is, that they endeavour to assign and to fasten upon this unfortunate and miser able man an intention to overthrow the Government and Constitution of the country. Gentlemen, these are high- sounding words : Magna Charta, Habeas Corpus, Revo lution, Government, and Constitution, are words that ahnost every one now-a-days can ring an infinite number and series of changes upon without knowing what they mean. I do not take upon myself to define, with any distinctness, those complex terms, but h is my duty to en quire a little what they mean. The object was, it is said, with these miserable beings, to overthrow the Constitu^ tion; — a Constitution composed of what? A Monarchy that has endured all the shocks pf ten centuries— a Con stitution composed of a King encompassed with all His mighty prerogatives, which the law and the wisdom of ages have .thought fit to appoint to him — a House of Pe,ers, consisting of all that, in the first degree, is great and dignified and wealthy in the realm — a House of Com mons, composed of almost all that remains, or a great por tion of what remains, of this great community as far as subjects can be distinguished for wealth, or influence, or power— an Army more numerous and as loyal as any King of England had ever the good fortune to command — a Navy equally great, equally powerful, and equally loyal — a dominion circumscribing nearly the whole earth, fpy such is now the extent of the realm of the King of England, consisting too of all that imports the administra tion of justice, comprising the independence and the in tegrity of the learned -Judges of England, now so secure from, all distrust pr suspicion, that, for the last century, 477 ho question or doubt could ever arise upon that subject. *— Consisting, gentlemen, as a vital part of that 'Constitu tion ^6f 'the -Trial- by Jury — consisting; as another vital part of the Constitution, of that blessed Statute of Ed ward III, called the Statute of Treasons. These, and a thousand other things:, go to the Composition of this mul tifarious thing which we call the Constitution. Well, gentlemen, did the Prisoner's intend to pull that down— this mighty instrument of power? Gebtlenren, did they intend to Overthrow aH that I have represented to you? Had they the means of doing so ? But then it is said they intefraed to overthrow the Go^ Verriment : What, the Government is, as contra-distinguish ed from 'the Constitution, it is no easy matter to define • the Constitution I can consider as nothmg else but the la* its'elf, embodied in our vast and extensive establishments, ih church arid State, these form the body and the law/ the souTof the Constitution, whereof the Governmentis an in- tegi'al and irisepiarable part, by which all its operations are actuated arid moved; did they mean what is called the'CXi ecUtivC Government ; that consists of The King and his Army and his Navy, and his Sheriffs, and his Justices '6f rhfe Peace, and the administration of justice in general ; all this, it is said by the Prosecutors, this miserable stone cutter Was to overthrow'; that that was his object; why, then, Gentlemen, can you, upon the evidence before you, lay your hands upo'n your hearts and say that the prose cutors have proved fo your satisfaction, for that they must do before you can'convict this man, that theyhave prov ed to youVsatisfactibh that this was a civil War ; that they have proved to your satisfaction that his object was tb sub vert and overthrow all1 these arici'ent and mighty institu tions which I have endeavbured to present to you ; let us see, 'father, Gentlemen, wh'etheri their offence was not brie of a Very' different character : the law of England never seems to rile to have contemplated the possibility of a handful of miserable hungry paupers making civil war ; it is a perversion, I had almost said, I hope I shall be for given 'the expression, a perversion of common sense. 478 What is a riot ? a riot 1 conceive is this* that if a number of poor impotent men are clamouring about some grievances, real or imaginary, and upon petitioning, they find no re press, and assemble themselves in multitudes together, and by assembly endeavour to put themselves into an attitude of defiance and intimidation, in order to obtain their end ; that I conceive to be a riot; the Statute law of England, Gentlemen, will bear me out in that conception of the crime, and I must beg leave, painful as it is to me, to repeat these things, to call you attention to an Act of Parliament that was passed upon this subject of riots so long ago as the first year of Queen Mary, which was about the year 1553, above two hundred and twenty years ago. It was then found,' Gentlemen, as it is in these times, that the lower orders of people will have their grievances, real or imaginary ; they will assemble for the purpose of exciting an intimidation; they will assemble for the purpose of convincing persons high in power that they have some strength of their own, a proceeding which I have no thought of justifying ; but it is the nature of men in all ages so to do ; the wisdom of our ancestors provided for the case, and by the Statute to which I am now taking leave to call your attention, it is enacted, " that if any persons to the number of twelve, or more, being assembled together, shall intend, go about, practice, or put in use with force and arms, unlawfully and of their own authority to change any laws made for religion by authority of Parliament standing in force, or any other laws or Statutes of this realm, and being commanded by the Sheriff, a Justice of the Peace, a Mayor or other Officer, by Proclamation in the Queen's name, to repair to their houses, shall continue together by the space of one whole hour after such Proclamation, or shall in a forcible and riotous manner attempt to do or put in use any of the things aforesaid, that shall be adjudged felony," not High Treason. Gentlemen, that Act of Parliament continued in force throughout the short reign of that Queen, and through the whole of the long reign of Queen Elizabeth, but it expired in the year 1603, and it was never revived till the year 1714, when* a Statute, which you may have 479 toften heard of, ^called the Riot Act, was passed, upon th* Accession of the present Royal Family. But in that in terval of a hundred years, from 1 60S to 1714, for want of a Riot Act, many attempts were made to consider all riots for general purposes, as it is called, High Treason ; but for now a hundred years past, during which time the Riot Act has„existed, that doctrine, has been altogether dormant, and I, had hoped, dead. ; ~tlIt has been stated, Gentlemen, that a riot for a general purpose is High Treason ; that is an attempt to define wha,U is meant by making war against the King, in the Statute of -King Edward: in attempting to define it, our law writers, who like ourselves, had [happily few oppor tunities of seeing the law put in practice upon these subjects, tell us, that if a riot be for a general purpose, it is, then war. Whait a, general purpose is, seems to be of all things the most indefinite — a general purpose : in stances also are put what is to constitute a general pur pose, till, at last by an artificial process of reasoningand defining, I had conceived that the doctrine of the Courts of LaWjhad very much overstepped the fair interpreta tion and distinct meaning -of the Statute of King Ed- Ward III.; but upon that subject I beg to be spared making further observations, because I think it best for the interest of my Client and my own duty, to confine your attention to that which the law of England has deemed a riot. , , , Gentlemen, in the year 17 14, then another Act of Par liament was passed, which I have said is that denomi nated the Riot, Act. You see the former Act of Queen Mary expressly puts the case of an assembling by force an4arms to alter the Jaws; that is what is called a riot in that Statute : if it was High Treason, then the Legis lature of tirat day was guilty of gross absurdity; why did not the learned Peers of Parliament, the learned Law yers in the House of Commons, get up and say there is no occasion for; such, an Act of Parliament, it is High Treason, it, is a constructive levying of war, and 'there fore, no Apt of Parliament need be passed;, yet of, such 4*0 importance was that Statute wfiidrr miade a rkrt 4o after the laws by force arid Arms a refoh'y,'1 that the first Par liament in the feign of Queen Elizabeth thought fa-ne cessary to continue that Statute, and ft was continued for the life of that Queen. Well, Gehtlemdh; in pursuance of that notion of a riot, we have the Statute of the : list. Geofge L which is eft- tituled, " An Act for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, arid for the mOre speedy and effectual punrsh- merttofttie rioter^:" and it recites, '• That whereas of late, toany rebellious riots and tumults 1iave befen in di vers parts of this kingdom, to the disturbance Of the public peace, arid the endangering of His Majesty's pettrjn arid Government, and the same are yet oontinued and fo mented ;" — foiheftled how ? — " by persons trisaffecte8 tb His Majesty, presuming so to do, for thatftie pttmshments provided by the laws now in being, are not adequate to such hemous offences." Yes, they Were abundantly ade quate, for a riot for a general purpose was a constructive levying of war, and therefore there was no necessity 'for this Statute of the 1st. George I.; but the ' Legislature expressly says, "that the laws now rn being are not adequate to the punishment of such heinous offences, atrd by sueh rioters, His Majesty," and Who else, " Hfe Ma jesty and his administration have been most maliciously' and" falsely traduced with an intent to raise divisions, and to alienate the affections of the people from His Majesty." These, Gentlemen, were the reasons for ihe passing of this celebrated Statute, which as much as the more celebrated Statute of Edward IH. seems to me to to be a vital part of the Constitution also. Then, Gen tlemen, it proceeds to enaet— " That if any persons to the number of tWelvC or more, being unlawfully, riot ously, and tumultuotisly assembled together, to the dis turbance of the public peace, and being required or com manded by any Jnstiee of the Peace, or by the Sheriff of the County, or his Undersheriff, or by the Mayor, "Bailiff or Bailiffs, oi* other head Officer or Justice of the Peace of any City or other place, by proclamation to he made 431 ir- the King's name, in the form prescribed in that Act, directed to disperse themselves and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business;, shall to; the number of twelve or more, notwithstanding such pro clamation, unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously remain. or continue together by the, space of one hour after suchi command, that shall be adjudged felony without. benefit: of clergy." So that you see, Gentlemen, the law of Eng land ages ago, commiserating the wrong-headedness of the lower orders of* people, aware that .now and then. when they felt the pressure of any particular grievance,, they would assemble in multitudes and violate the law, in great mercy tothe Subject, provided through the wisdom of the Legislature, that no man's life should be in peril for such proceedings, unless he neglected the caution of, a Justice a full hour; then, and not till then, is his lifer forfeited to the offended laws of his Country, Gentlemen, was not this such a case; can you contem plate it in any other light; was it not a riot within the; meaning of the Legislature ; was it not a riot within your \ o,wn common sense and understanding of the matter. A> number, some employed and some unemployed, of discon tented labourers and artizans, feeling themselves distressed and aggrieved, as they thought, from some public causes,; which it does not appear they have ever been able them selves to define, were discontented, and they wanted relief; and, what was it they called for, they called, you heat frdm • one of the witnesses, for " altered times, and a bigger loaf." Now these are things, Gentlemen, intelligible to our un derstandings, and were probably intelligible to theirs ; it requires no great stretch of capacity to know a great loaf T from a small one, and therefore I can well conceive that . that was one of the definite and distinct objects which they had in view- Well, another witness states to you, that when he declared to the Prisoner at the bar, in very strong and very proper terms undoubtedly, for which he deserves to be much praised, " I will not etir from my own house with you till I know what you are .about," why, when the question was put home to thein in that way, they did not Tib 48? know well what they were about, but one answer given to* him was, why, " we want to wipe off the national debt and begin again." Gentlemen* however foolish and however' atrocious such a thought, yet surely it comes far, very far short of that which is imputed to the Prisoner and his as sociates, namely, an intention to overturn the stupendous' fabric of the Constitution. You recollect, throughout the whole tissue of the evi dence, there were foolish words coming first from one man*concerned in these outrages,, and then another— dif ferent declarations ; suppose one saysy we oppose the Go vernment—if one utters such a declaration it may.be some evidence of a design to- overturn the Government,. but it is not an actual intent to overturn' the Government; and you will' permit me to say you ought to interpret the words men use in the hurry of conversation with fairness and indulgence and consideration, whether they were' words of folly and anger, or words shewing a deliberate intention; oppose the Government! many think they have a right to da so ; I do- nob mean tosay I am one.; I mean oppose the Government in- the way the law justifies^ find' fault with its measures ; they might have that intent* we cannot tell distinctly what they meant, but when they talk of opposing, you have it from two witnesses,, and only those two who have represented it to be- an overturning of the Government. A man of the name first of Martin was called before you to represent what were the intentions of the Prisoner at the bar, as far as he could collect, them, in a-conversation on the Sunday, and he described to you the leader of these persons sitting in a public house, dealing out his orders, and exercising his authority amongst them> and thai hje himself being sworn in- on the day before as aspecial constable, and having taken a solemn oath to execute his,, office of- constable to the best of his skill and. judgment, until out of that office he was duly discharged, he has the impudence to come, in the face of a Jury of the County, arid tell them that he heard the overthrow of the Constitu tion and Government of the Country in a public ale houses m open day, accessible to all the World, proclaimed and 483 avowed; that he sat for six hours hearing it, thinking it of no consequence ; and swearing upon his solemn oath before you, that he thought it no part of his duty to di vulge this to his master at the iron works, or to any Justice in the country. Gentlemen, will you believe such a man; will you find High Treason in the county of Derby upon such evidence as that; will you condemn this unfortunate man^ and his four-and-thirty associates upon such evidence, which is not sufficient to convict a man of petty larceny. * Such is the evidence of Martin. You have had the evi dence also of a man of the name of Asbury, who was to agree with him in the story he told about the substitution of the Word overthrow, for oppose ; he recited to yon some lines which he stated to have been repeated at that time, and which, no doubt, were a part of others which were con tained in the same paper, whatever it was ; but these wit nesses have thought fit to pluck the sting, as it were, out of that paper, and to leave all the inoffensive parts of it behind, and to tell you, that though they had each of them a copy of this obnoxious rlkper, I think, in their possession, they did riot think fit, either of them, to produce that paper; but, Gentlemen, even then, you find that they were clamouring for bread and' that that was the prin ciple thing of which they talked ; it was the only thing they had in distinct view, and that as to the Government and Constitution of the Country, you must believe as I do, that they had no distinct and clear conception what it meant. Well, Gentlemen, what then is this war and this inten tion to overturn the Constitution that is imputed to. these defendants ? they assemble at eight o'clock on Monday evening; their numbers accumulate with the absurd pre parations I have described to you ; that which might nave been a riot, and one of a most serious nature it 'was un doubtedly; but that which might have been a riot for which the lives of these persons would have been justly for feited to the law, if they had continued in defiance of the proclamation of a Justice of the Peace "to remain embodi- Hh2 484 ed for an hour — that offence, I say, they came short of, because, without the intervention of a Justice, or an Officer of the Army, or a Soldier, they did, of their own accord, disperse; that is the whole history of this trans action. Well, with regardto their intention then Gentlemen, to overturn such a Constitution as 1 have endeavoured to de scribe to you, why these miserable beings might as well have conspired to pluck the sun from the firmament:- it was a matter as muchtwithin their reach as to overturn the Constitution and Government of their country ; do not, then, Gentlemen, 1 conjure you, do not let us be dismayed by those high sounding words which have been brought into this prosecution ; do not let us be persuaded that be cause we are not here at the assizes transacting the ordi nary bu siness of the county, but that we have four of the learned Judges from Westminster Hall, and that we have the Attorney and Solicitor General to make war against these poor miserable creatures, that therefore it must be an offence of a different description from those which fall under the usual administration of justice; do hot, 1 con jure you, mistake this empty sounding of a drum for the convulsions of an earthquake that must sink and over whelm us all in one common ruin. Gentlerrien, it appears from the whole of this evidence, that the State was never in the least danger, that the Go vernment and Constitution stand untouched and unim paired by any of those disgraceful mobs which have taken place in this or in any other county ; do hot let us suppose that beeaus'e some of the ignorant and illiterate wretcbes, concerned in those outrages were foolish enough to tell eSch other as they went along the highway, there were 'twenty or five and twenty thousand coming from Sheffield, 'there will be many hundred thousands at Nottingham, the keys of the Tower will be surrendered up, that there was any thing in it. Gentlemen, do not let it be supposed, because such things happen to be mentioned by an ignorant,' stu pid, and wicked man ; who was in the crowd, do' not let us suppose that our liberties Were irt airy danger because a •4# drunken fool mentioned such a thing ,as that, which had no foundation either in reason or in probability. Gentlemen, with this view of the transactions of, that night, I have felt, it^my duty .to present myself before you, .and to endeavor to satisfy you of that which, in my qwn conscience, I am, perfectly satisfied : that however wicked however, atrocious, however culpable, and however well meriting severe chastisement, these unfortunate persons have happily come short of the dreadful crime of High Treason. !• again say to you, I am not going to contro vert, the evidence, but if you in your consciences are not satisfied that this evidence makes out a case of' High Treason, if you are not satisfied that it was a civil war, if, above, all, , jou are not satisfied. that this .unfortunate man had a distinct, clear, object in view, and that ..he acted upon it, then, in the, language of. the, Solicitor General, I. hope you, will acquit the Prisoner at the bar. The ordinary laws of the country are still suspended oyer him; the Attorney General, if you should be of opinion that thtsdpes npt amqunt to High Treason, may, if in the, ex ercise of, his (discretion, '.and his^ense of public duty, he .shall think fit,, prefer a bill of, indictment to. the^Grand Jury for the offence of riot; the law is still open to him, to take that course : and, Gen,tlemen, one word for, ;ajl, permit me merely to say this, that if in balancing the nice question of civil war orfrjot, the question hangs doubtful with you, I submit that the Prisoner is entitled to have that doubt solved in his favor. I know it is a difficult thing to define the boundaries between riot and war ; I do not attempt to doit; it has been well said, that no man can define the boundaries between day and night, but there is no difficulty in. distinguishing between light and darkness ; and it has been always the practice,, in a Trial for burglary, for instance, which you know is tbeorie,i)ce of breaking into a house in the nighf time, with an intent of commit ting felony (which, if a man do, his life is forfeited,) but if the offence be committed upon the confines of light and darkness, L have neyer yet heard, a learned; Judge try a man under such circumstances, who has .not s^id, it does 486 not appear clearly to have been done in the night, and therefore you will acquit the Prisoner of the capital part of the charge. But, Gentlemen, if there is any difficulty in distinguishing between the alternations of light which occur twice in twenty-four hours, and if there is any diffi culty in deciding upon those questions, how much more difficult in a case like this, where not above once or twice in a century it becomes necessary to make the distinction, I conjure you, then, Gentlemen, to take into your serious and dispassionate consideration the condition of these mis guided and deluded men ; that they were misguided and deluded by the most execrable means, when in the want of food, for want of employment, the opportunity was taken to exasperate their minds, and lo persuade them that all their grievances arose from public and political causes ; to take into consideration how natural, though how wrong it was, in these men to assemble in order to remove, their grievances, when they had been persuaded that if those grievances could be removed, peace, happiness, and pros perity would be restored to them. Gentlemen, they were mistaken ; they were foolish ; the law has provided suffici ently for their crime in another course of proceeding, and to that course of proceeding I most seriously conjure you tf> consign these offenders. Evidence for the Prisoner. William Taylor, sworn. Examined by Mr. Denman. t?. Where do you live ? A. At Southwingfield. Q. What business do you follow ? A. A farmer. " Q. Do you know the Prisoner, William Turner ? A. Yes, very well; I have known him for these three and thirty years. i&7 Q. What Character, during that tirnfe, has "he borne as a ipeaceable man— a peaceable and loyal man? A. I never knew any other by him, for a true and a loyal Mian. ' • Mr. Denman. Now, my Lord, I would state that I mean to ask him whether he has borne the character of a humane man ; because 1 think, under the circumstances, that question may not be inapplicable. Lord Chief Baron Richards. Go on. Mr. Denman. In your judgment, and according to his Character, has he borne the character of a humane man ? 4- Yes, until this happened. Q. I ask you as to his character before this happened? A. Yes,. Q. Do you know of his having been a soldier? A. Yes ; I know when he came back from soldiering be was particularly loyal, and disagreed with any man thaf .said any thing against Government. Q. He has borne that character, you say, till this unfiw> tunate affair ? A. Yes. Q. His parents are living? " 4. Oh Yes,. John Burton, sworn. Examined by Mr. Cross. Q. How long have you known the Prisoner at the bar ? A. Perfectly well for ten or twelve years. Q. During that time has he behaved himself as a loyal subject ? A. For every thing that ever I knew or hearth Q. Until this matter happened ? A. Yes. James Armstrong, sworn. Examined by Mr. Denman. Q,. What are you ? A\, A frame-work knitter* " ^ ,488 Q Where do you live ? A. In the Parish of Southwingfield. Q. Do you know the Prisoner, AVilliam Turner ? A. Yes. $. How long have you known him I A. From a child. Q, Have you known his parents ? A. Both of them. Q. Do you know what character he has borne as a loyal, peaceable, and humane man ? A. Yes. Q. Has he borne a good character upon those points ? A. A particularly good character. Mr. DENMAN, _..-,,,„ , May it please your Lordship. Gentlemen of the Jury, In rising to discharge the duty which is now imposed upon me, I shall follow the example of my learned Friend, and earnestly entreat yon to dismiss from your minds not only all that mass of prejudice which has been so long ac cumulating against all these Prisoners; not only the par tial and garbled statements which you may possibly have seen in circulation against them ; but also all that you have heard of what was proved in the course of the former Trial : for whatever difference of opinion may exist on other points, 1 certainly shall encounter no contradiction in any quarter when I take the liberty of stating, that it is your bounden duty to try this Prisoner upon that charge alone which is brought against him, and upon that evi dence alone which he has had an opportunity of hearing and of contradicting. You will recollect that he is not now accused of riot or of outrage — of taking arms from persons unwilling to yield them — or of acts of menace and assault ; such charges may be preferred hereafter ; but he now stands indicted for the highest crime* that a Subject ,4§9 is capable of committing— the crime of Hjjjh- Treason iigainsl the State: ar crime founded iu the corrupt heart of the iiiun, in withdrawing tho allegiance and fidelity that are due lo his Sovereign, und in endeavouring to- subvert that Government to which he owes protection, and which he ought to obey. Gentleman, iL hus been frequently observed to you on this occasion, I hut the crime, of High Treason, involves every other crime: aud indeed jl seems as if every other crime was to be established iu evidence against, this J'ri- siiiu'r. I might repeat I In: observation of iny learned Friend (Mr. Cross) that a long detail has been gono into without mvc.-.Niiy, in order to elucidate facts that were already ,-iullicietilly clear, and could not have been dis puted ; 1 will not say for the purpose; but which 1 think cou Id only have tho effect of exciting that prejudice against. Ihe Prisoner, for other parts of his conduct, which it is your peculiar duly io dismiss from your minds.' I nmy presently enlarge on this observalion; { advance it now for the purpose of confining ydur attention to the specific charge before you, exclusively pointed to the eriinc of High Treason, und preferred against the Pri soner, Williiun Turner, now standing ulone upon hia de- livcrunoe. My learned Friend has likewise anticipated me in ano ther topic; although wo did not happen to converse upon that particular subject, he has expressed precisely the feeling by which 1 was weighed down on the former Trial. I then was but loo sensible how much it wus in vain to .en treat those whom 1 addressed to discard from their minds that prejudice which overwhelmed my own, and rendered nie incapable of doing justice to an unfortunate client to the full extent of my slender abilities. 1 do congratulate myself that my mind can approach the present investiga tion, relieved from that heavy loud by which it was oppress ed and disabled. I am further consoled,. by, having now an opportunity of stating, that, from a stale of pertur bation of mind, which 1 believe that Prisoner himself .would uoi have ielt if he hud beau making his own de- 496 fence, I have great reason to fear that many of my expres sions may have been coarse, abrupt, and ill-considered ; and though, in point of substance, I am not disposed to re tract a syllable of what I then advanced, I fear that in point of manner there had been a want of that respect due to every Court of Justice, and peculiarly so to the ve nerable individuals who preside upon this occasion. I am therefore eager to declare, that in doing my best to bring the law of the Case before you, in the fair discharge of my duty as an advocate, I never ceased to be actuated by the purest feelings of respect for those presiding in this Court ; and indeed I should have thought a more formal disclaimer or apology, as to any supposed reflexion upon them, would have borne upon it rather the appearance of an affront, because the circumstances to which I referred, and the characters of which I spoke, were so utterly dissi milar, that the apology would have given a semblance of approximation which could not otherwise be supposed to exist. I must also be permitted to express a hope, that, if iri the course of this inquiry I should express myself with the earnestness of conviction, and perhaps with the zeal and eagerness of one who is defending a fellow subject and a human creature from the heaviest of charges, to be fol lowed, if proved, by the most severe and dreadful of punish ments, if I should happen to be betrayed into some warmth of feeling, and some agitation which may find its way into my expressions, I hope it will not be considered that I ant arrogantly setting myself in competition with my learned and distinguished Friends, whom I know to be my supe riors in every talent which can give value to the office I am executing, and for whom I also feel the greatest personal respect. But, Gentlemen, I must at the same time qualify thi* observation, by adding, that if any great credit is to be taken on the part of the Crown for very extraordinary candor in the conduct of this prosecution, and for a wish to bring the case to a peculiarly impartial and indifferent trial, I do not think the Crown has been happy in the measures it has pursued for the purpose of evincing that 4&1 ^andor and that equity. When I cast my eyes around this table, and see the formidable and extraordinary array that is here brought against the Prisoners, I cannot help asking whether in this placej where you and I are in the habit of seeing the law administered in its ordinary forms, full justice might not have been done to any enquiry, by the talents and learning and experience of those whose duty in that ordinary course of proceeding it would have been to lay the case before you. You must be aware that I allude to those whom I will venture to call the great men of my own circuit ; and if there was so very strong a desire or bringing this case with impartiality before a jury, I should be glad to know why it was necessary to bring down the great State Officers whom you have heard upon both these occasions. I should be glad to know, and I am sure I speak it without any invidious feeling, for I must feel pleasure in seeing my learned Friends on whatever occa sion, whyit could be necessary for the fairness of the in vestigation to add to four or five of the first men upon this circuit the eminent and conspicuous names of.my learned Friends\Mr. Gurney and Mr. Richardson — above all, I beg to enquire on what principle of fairness these unfor tunate Prisoners were deprived of that bulwark which they Would have found in the talents, the zeal, the eloquence, and the useful experience of my learned and excellent Friend Mr. Serjeant Copley ? — why was he to be brought for the first time into the service of the Treasury, for the prosecution of persons so insignificant? — why, but because he had been the victorious champion of the rights and liber ties of the Subject upon a former occasion, and therefore was now to be silenced, and prevented from rendering the same services to those who stood so peculiarly in need of his assistance ?— If the prosecutors had wished to avail them selves of his commanding eloquence — if they had been disposed to rely on his admirable judgment, I should not have wondered at the selection: but you have scarcely heard, his voice— he has sat a mute spectator— he bas hardly examined a witness— he has not said a single word in the iway of, speech; and as to that superior judgment which 492 all who are acquainted with my learned Friend know him to possess, I have every reason to believe, that if his judg ment had been consulted, this cause, or at least this appa ratus, would never have been exhibited before you. Gentlemen, I do not be* My* learned friend (Mr. Cross). truly observed; that the Statute' of Edward' III. is a part of J the Constitution of the Country:' and I will add, that it is the corner stone of the Constitution, and cannot bei'rettioved without endanger ing the whole fabric of our liberties. Gentlemen,: the preamble having declared that to be the ground upon which the King, Lords, and Commons de termined to enact the law, I cannot help saying, that ih my humble judgriieut it was the sacred duty of Courts of Justice to abstain fromadding anything to its positive ex pressions, and the Courts appear to have been impressed1 with the same conviction long after the passing of the Act. For no less a time than two hundred years, no attempt seems to have been made to extend' it beyond its letter. The first decision which affects to carry the Act, by 'Con struction, beyond its express terms, occurs in the' reignof Henry VIII.- at the' distance of two centuries frorii its en actment. That. decision importedithat *n insuraecf ion for 494 the purpose of enhancing the wages of labour should be" considered a levying of war against the King in his realm.' Gentlemen, you will not fail to observe, that if the Act of Parliament had meant to make that particular offenceHigh Treason, it would have been extremely easy for those who have expressed themselves so clearly and so well, to have stated that also as one of the crimes to which the name of Treason was to be assigned. If, on the other hand, a more general descripion of crime was contemplated, and it was intended that all insurrections for a general purpose were from that time to be deemed Treason, it would have been extremely easy to have introduced those more gene ral terms as descriptive of the crime they meant to an nounce. But neither of these things was done by the Legislature, they neither declared that particular act to be High Treason, nor provided that all the acts falling under such a general designation should be High Treason. The words of the Statute are " levying war against the King in his realm." • Now, Gentlemen, in the reign of Edward VI. the reign immediately following that of Henry VIII. in which that decision took place, the first Riot Act was pass ed. You will see in what terms a rial is defined by trie framers of the Act of Edward VI. perfectly acquainted as they were, both with the Statute of Edward HI. and with the decision in the time of Henry VIII- The Act of Edward VI. prescribes " That if twelve or more persons being assembled together shall intend, go about, practice, or put in use with force and arms to alter the established Religion, or any Law :"— in that Casey under particular circumstances, and after standing out with a particular degree of obstinacy, they shall become guilty of the crime of High Treason. Upon this enactment the question arises which has been put again and again, and, I protest, has never yet been answered to the satisfaction of my reason : if meeting with force in numbers to alter the law was, under all circumstances, made Treason by the Statute of Edward III. how could it be nqcessary to de clare it so, with certain qualifications, by the Statute of 495 Edward VI. To me it appears to ^.dmit of no answer, but should any. be attempted, you will judge of its suffici ency. I am aware that the Solicitor General, on the Trial of James Watson, and the other day, maintained that the Riot Acts had made no alteration in the law of Treason, and so endeavoured to remove the objection. But admitting that the Riot Acts made no alteration in the law of Treason, so far from counterworking my argument, that proposition ijs a part of it, I also maintain that they have made no alteration in the law of Treason, — that the law of Treason was the same before as now : it was the same when the Statute of Edward III. passed as it is at the distance of five hundred years. Then if it was the law that such an assemblage as is described in the Act of Edward VI. was High .Treason, within the Statute of Edward III. why make a new Statute, treating it as a mere riot up to a cer tain point, and then, for the -first time', enacting that it should thereafter be Treason, if the rioters remained toge ther for an hour, and refused to disperse on proclamation? ., Gentlemen, that Statute of Edward VI. was repealedin the first year of Queen Mary's reign; and the same kind of tumultuous proceedings, which had been visited with the penalties of Treason in the case specified, were, by a new, Act, subjected to the penalties of felony alone. This was the punishment incurred by persons remaining to gether assembled in numbers for the space of more- than an hour after proclamation read, for the purpose of altering with force and, arms the religion, or the existing law of the land. — Gentlemen, is not that a general purpose ? — Is not that a description of the very conduct imputed to these men,?,, Lean discover no possibility of distinguishing the facts ; and the law being the same as it ever was, it could not be then, nor can it now be, Treason, as a levying of war, under, the Statute of Edward III. to assemble in the manner charged against these Prisoners ; because, if it were, if would not have been declared Treason, under- certain circumstances, by the Statute of Edward VI. and felony, under the same circumstances, by the Statute of: Mary. ,., .., .,.-.,.. 496 That. Act, Gentlemen, was again' revived' in the time of George I. My leaa'B«d friend, Mr. Gross; read to you the preamble, reciting, that rebellious riots were to be quelled, that all assemblages, drawn together for the purpose of alienating the affections of the people from the King; were to be punished and suppressed. Their punishment- is very nearly, the same, and under the same conditions,' as in the Act passed in the reign of Queen Maiy. Then j-. Gentlemen, I contend, that this offence has received as direct a definition in the laws of riot, from time to time- enacted, as the offence of Treason itself received from the? ancient and sacred Statute already cited, under which thisr Indictment is framed. My learned friendj as I have remarked, Opened his case: so- very generally; that he hardly gave me a position to contend with. I see now a mass of learned volumes' brought here to be used in the reply, when the Attorneys General will, as he has a right to do on the part of the Crown, address you last. I know not what books he will' produce; but I am well aware that he will be enabled to refer to certain decisions inconsistent with the principles' I 'have ui'gied ; and such decisions, I doubt not; will be in dustriously laid before you. You, Gentlemen, will form' yOwr own opinion : but if, in the result, you shall find: yourselves brought to this pass, that between two incon-* sistent propositions* laid down by equal authority, yon are compelled to make your election, you will not hesitate' toelect that which- is most consonant to reason, to prin ciple; to the great origin of all authority in those who sit5 here, or elsewhere, for the trial of offences ; I mean, to the' imperial Parliament of this realm, which, in the reign of Edward III. deolared there should be no extension of the strict Stat uteit enacted ; but that, on the contrary, if any new qase occurred, it should be submitted to the const-' deration of the King in Parliament, and should not be! decided by the Judges in their Courts of Law. Gentlemen, ' I am happy when it is in my power to1 agree with anything which falls from my learned friends : and I do most cordially agree in all they have said in praise 497 of the Constitution -of- England, and in gratitude to that great and glorious revolution from which that Constitu tion takes its origin. To that revolution we are indebted for blessings which it is impossible to enumerate: we are indebted to it, not only for its immediate consequences, and all the positive beneficial changes it brought about, hut for that liberality of sentiment^*-for that quick sense of public spirit, — for that English feeling,— ^which, I trust, pervades the hearts of you all ; which we have seen, I think, nobly exhibited in the conduct of most of the wit* nesses on this trial ; which is the great security for aU that is valuable in our public institutions ; which haa raised this country, in spite of its smallness and its re mote situation, almost to the empire of the World ; which gained the battles of Waterloo and Trafalgar ; and which, deriving its birth from our free constitution, will, in its tnrn, while it remains unimpaired, preserve that Constitu tion to the latest of our posterity. — Gentlemen, we are all, in our turns,— in our several stations and offices,— the guardians of that Constitution ; but I doubt Whether there is any situation in which we have the opportunity of ren dering it such important services as when we are fulfilling that duty which now devolves upon you, in trying the cause of a friendless Prisoner, brought before you by the State, on a prosecution for High Treason. The Legislature, by which the advantages of the revo lution of 1688 were secured to us, justly jealous of the anxiety of the State in conducting prosecutions for High Treason, among other important privileges, conferred upon the Prisoner charged the right of knowing the Jury before whom he is to be tried. The law requires, that he shall be furnished with a list of the freeholders summoned, and gives him time to enquire as to their character, their prin ciples, and their understandings; he has> the privilege of challenging those to whom he has the least objection, and thus possesses, to a certain degree, the liberty of selecting those to whose honor his life aud his character are to be confided. By another, important alteration, produced by the revo- 1 i 495 lutiorv— and this, perhaps; is the greatest and most bene ficial of tbem all, for it pervades all the classes of society, and promotes the happiness and security of men in all their relations,— the Judges were made independent of the Crown, and placed upon that footing of integrity upon which they so proudly stand — Gentlemen, I have no difficulty in telling you it was high time that reform should he made. For several years, — I might say for centuries preceding the revolution,— rthere is hardly a State Trial, „ of any description that a lawyer can read without blushing. He finds there recorded the degradation of an honorable profession, which I trust has since redeemed its character: he reads of the base subserviency to the Crown of those juries who were placed as the grand bulwark for the people, and the corrupt complaisance of Judges who ought to have protected the accused. — Gentlemen, the infamous conduct of Jeffries and Scroggs (for we might trace down the pedigree from the days of Tresilian to the very mo-,. ment of the revolution) shed such disgraceand horror over the early, State Trials, that, when I rise, from perusing, that bloody catalogue of unjust attainders,, most of which. have been reversed by Act of Parliament, — when I turn from that register of iniquity and shame, and find myself in^he nineteenth century, surrounded with Judges such as* those I now see presiding, and facing such a Jury as I have now the, happiness to address, — it seems like emerging from the darkness pf an infected slaughter-house, to greet tjhe- blessed light of Heaven, and breathe the. pure air by. which life is sustained. — Gentlemen, before the revolution no man was safe, however innocent, who came into. Court; at the in.stapce of the Crown. He was exposed to oppro-j, brious revilingsfrom the Attorney General;, he was brow beaten by the Court in attempting to defend his life ; his witnesses durst not appeal-, or appeared only to be insulted arid abused ; the province of the Jury was constantly in vaded, and if they ventured to say " Not Guilty," where the Court wished to convict, they were either fined or sent tocgapl for daring to form their own judgment upon their own oath.— Such is literally the judicial history qf thoss 499 times ; and then it was that the law Of Edward III.— that law so salutary, so beneficial; and So plain,— received those constructions of which I still dispute the legality. Gentlemen, from the revolution to the present time, ' there is but a single case in which that law of construc tive Treason has been carried into effect, I allude to the case of Damaree and Purchase ; both in the humblest condition of life, the orie a waterman and the other a porter, who went about the streets with a party who were, supposed to wish to turn out the Protestant succession, and to introduce the Pretender ; — friends of legitimacy, buteriemies Of loyalty. Their cry was in favor of Dr. Sache verel], "down with the meeting houses ;" the Dissenters being friendly to the Protestant succession and the exist ing government, while the church of England was, in general, averse to it. These two persons were, by the law of constructive Treason, deemed guilty of levying' war against the King, but neither of them was executed. However, I give my learned Friends the full benefit of that case> for most certainly the Judges considered them selves bound by precedents to pronounce them guilty. On the trial of Lord George Gordon, some allusion wa* made to that case, and I remember the expression of Lord Mansfield, and dare say the Attorney General will recol lect it too. Speaking to the Jury on this doctrine, his Lordship says, " however extraordinary it may appear to your ears, it is founded in strong reason, if their object is to" destroy a thing bad in itself, though not permitted them to destroy, as in an insurrection to destroy all bawdy- houses it is High Treason." Lord Mansfield himself, was, therefore, struck with this constructive Treason, as some thing extraordinary ; but, he adds in justification of it, that it is founded in strong reason. Now, Gentlemen, it may be founded, perhaps, in strong reason, and powerful-arguments might be urged for making it the law of the land ; but the question in a court of justice is, Whether it is the law of the land, and whether the statute of Edward III. so capable of expressing: all it projected, would not have expressed that, if it had intended ^that it iiS 500 should be the law. You will not forget, that upon that statute alone we are now brought here before you, the other two charges are in a great degree nominal, they resolve themselves into the first, and if that first is not made out, they also must fall to the ground. Then, Gentlemen, why did the Judges decide that case of Damaree and Purchase as they did i For no other reason than that other cases had been decided previously to the revolution, and in the times I have feebly attempted to de scribe, in direct hostility to the principle for which I now contend. They proceeded upon the authority of Bed stead's case which Mr. Justice Foster declares not to be law, as it is reported ; nor can it be law, unless a Privy Councillor can be identified with the King, for the law declares that levying war against the King shall be Trea son, and that was levying war only against Archbishop Laud. That case was decided when the Judges were very far from being what Judg-es ought to be, and are now ; in the reign of that unhappy and arbitrary monarch, Charles I. and just before the period when his people, goaded by oppression, rose in arms against him. It is not a little remarkable, that the Archbishop, in a very few years, himself fell a victim to that very constructive Treason which was so extended for bis protection. That Case was probably an extremely aggravated assault, and there were laws by which the outrage might have been punished; but when I see these improper proceedings stigmatised as High Treason, 1 cannot help agreeiug with Mr. Justice Foster, that in reason, in sense, and in law, they might have been as correctly designated by any -other name. Shall I be told by the Attorney General that I am in consistent, at one time crying up the arguments of Mr- Justice Foster, and at another depreciating his authority. Gentlemen, I entertain for his character the highest re spect ; yet I must be allowed to observe, that the dis courses composed by him are not to be placed on a level with the decisions of a Judge upon the Bench pro nouncing upon oath on the lives and liberties of his fek 501 low-subjects- when properly brought before hirny and this isniy observation : Mr. Justice Foster has sanctioned a constructive Treason which I humbly contend the written law of the land expressly prohibits, I argue that he has gone too far ; but if he who has gone too far admits the viciousness of one authority, on Which the only respecta ble decision is founded, surely there is no fallacy in my claiming that this particular opinion of Mr. Justice Foster may be taken against his general principle. There is no shadow of inconsistency in asserting that even Mr. Justice Foster, whose error consists in going beyond the statute, has stopped short however of that particular case, And has therefore divested his doctrine of any support which it could have derived from its authority. Let us proceed then to enquire on what other authority the'case of Damaree and Purchase was founded. It was founded, Gentlemen, upon that extraordinary case in the reign of Charles II. in which a number of apprentices meeting in London to destroy houses of ill-fame, were considered as guilty of High Treason for renouncing their natural allegiance, and levying war against the King. Now, Gentlemen, I shall content myself with observing, that that case was decided in the reign of Charles II. a reign as corrupt and infamous as any which disgraces our annals; polluted with every domestic vice, and degraded by every exertion of tyranny and corrup tion. In such times the doctrine of constructive Trea son originated ; with them it should have perished. Gentlemen, I adverted to the reign of Charles I. and stated that the Archbishop who had been protected by an illegal extension of the statute, himself fell a victim to the same abuse when a different party came into power. It is singular that Lord Strafford, his friend and colleague, was also brought before the House of Lords on a charge of constructive Treason. He was tried by his Peers for Treason not specified by the statute, and though, I dare say, Gentlemen, you have all read : the noble pleading by which he defended himself, I will take tire liberty of quoting a short extract from it, as 'forcibly illustrating the evilgagainst which I have struggled. " Better it were to five under no law at all, and by the maxims of cautious prudence to conform ourselves the best we can to the arbitrary will of a master than fancy we have a law pn which we can rely, and find, a$ last, that this law shall inflict a punishment precedent to the promulgation, and try us by maxim? unheard of til} tiie very moment of the prosecution; If I sail on the Thames and split my vessel on an anchor, in case there he no buoy to give warning, the party shall pay me da* mages ; but if the anchor be marked out, then is the strik ing on it at my own peril. Where is the mark set upon this, crime i Where the token by which I should discover it ? it has lain concealed under water— -and no human prudence, no human innocence, could save me from the destruction with which 1 am at present threatened I It is now" he says, f* full two hundred and forty years since Treasons were defined, and so long has it been since any roan was touched to this extent upon this crime before myself; we have lived, my Lords, happily to s ourselves at home; we have lived gloriously abroad to the world— lefcus be content with what our fathers have left us, let not ourambition carry us to be more learned than they, were in these killing and destructive arts. Great wisdom it will he in yourLordships, and just providence for yourselves, for your posterities, for the whole kingdom, to cast from you info the fire these bloody "and mysterious volumes of arbitrary and constructive Treasons, as the primitive Christians did their books of curious arts ; and betake yourselves to the plain letter of the statute which tells you where the crime is, and points out to you the path bywhich you may avoid it." . qe. m <.wsi jfirii ¦'- Such, Gentlemen, were the observations of my Lord Strafford, when he stood a Prisoner indicted for construc tive Treason before the Peers of the Realm. By his Peers he was acquitted : but in the progress of those un fortunate times, when tyranny became law and bore down all before it, when the House of Peers was cleared of much that was honourable, and the King -war the mere 603 tool of a party,' then contrary to every ptirfcipleoflawv in violation of the first elements of justice, an Act of Par liament passed after the fact committed, making that fact High Treason for the first time. He was condemned by the enactment of a new law, not by the application of any which existed, and that unfortunate Nobleman lost his head upon the scaffold. Thus, Gentlemen, the history of the law of constructive Treason is carried up from Lord Strafford's time to the reign of Henry VIII. ; for in the whole of that interval no similar decision can be found. And with regard to that first decision, from which all the rest have flowed, there is every reason to believe that the Legislature, shocked at the length to which the Judges had gbne, in declaring a rising for ihe enhancement : df wages a levying of war against the King, enacted the Statute of Edward VL for the purpose of preventing a repetition of such constructive extensions of the law. « ¦i'z , Gentlemen, will it be imputed to me to-day that X charge the Crown with a desire to make Treasons Ui*. heard of before, and that through the medium of a Court of Justice ? — I disclaim any such intention, and admit on the contrary, that constructive Treasons :hav;fe been engrafted on the statute, which in terms proscribes tbero. But founding myself on that statute; on its^jjbject and provisions, and claiming the right to examine the au thority on which the adverse decisions rest, I find; that all the precedents are drawn from those disgraceful times which we cannot bear to think of, and which we would wish to forget had ever existed. Having spoken thus largely of the law of Treason in general, I would now beg leave to call your attentiontp that law, as I think it applicable to the /present Prisoaeif. And I may here state a proposition which cannot be denied, that though various persons assemble and ate combined in the execution of the same act, still, according to,tbat humane shall I say, or just principle, that every man isto be judged for his own acts, andican be guilty only as his intention is guilty : it is always proper to ere- «fuire by what motives they were severally t»cto»»ted, and 504 what -intentions and rftrrposes were entertained by each. It is obviously very possible, and indeed nothing is more easily conceived, thah that where the act done might bo justly termed levying war against the King ; some of the parties concerned might be guilty of High Treason, white others were altogether innocent. I will put a case which seems to illustrate that position. Supposing that in the course of the Rebellion in the year 1745, one of the King's officers had been tampered with by the Pretender, and had led his regiment to attack the King's troops, re presenting them to be the troops of the enemy, the poor soldiers would have levied war against the King in fact, but not in intention ; and while those privy to the design would be guilty of High Treason, those who were unconsci ous of the mischief which their acts produced, were as clear of the crime as the weapon in their hands. Suppose a man to take advantage of a riot in a fair, and that finding a considerable force there assembled he conducts the rioters, who -thought of nothing but riot, to commit acts of hostility against the King; that leader would be guilty of Treason, while his followers were liable only for a common misdemeanor. I will put one case more, where parties ignorant of the design they were employed to ac complish, ifc might incur a lower degree of criminality. Suppose that when parties of the Luddites were assembled in this and the neighbouring Counties for the purpose of breaking frames, any person had formed the design of leading them, not to break frames or houses, but to be siege a fort of the King's, or commit any other act un equivocally directed against the Government: in that ease it must be granted me, that the leaders were guilty of High Treason, while the rest could be charged only with the precise crime they had in their minds. Then, Gen tlemen, if that be so, it follows, that in every case the motive of the individual is to be ascertained ; the burthen of proof lies always upon those who make the charge, and therefore it by no means follows, because one may be guilty to the blackest possible degree of guilt, that therefore all associated with him must necessarily be guilty to the same, or indeed in any degree, 505 Let us examine then, -Gentlemen, upon this present oc casion how the evidence stands. In the first place, it is opened to you by my learned Friends, that there had been previous consultations : if that were so, was it not due to the justice of the country— was it not due to the public— and to the Prisoner, to throw the fullest light on those consultations f My learned Friends have had ample means of gaining every possible information and intel ligence; their instructions have been prepared with an acuteness, a sagacity, and a diligence which deserve every praise. They have necessarily commanded all the assistance that could be rendered by the Magistracy, and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act has enabled them to arrest not only such persons against whom charges were preferred, but any one whom, for the safety of the state, it should be thought necessary to examine as to his own history, or that of others. If then there were consul tations previous to this Sunday, the 8th of June, and if my learned Friends knew there were such consultations, why are they kept behind the curtain and concealed from your sight, who are entitled to know the whole truth? Who attended them ? — Who promoted them ? — Who, and what was he who set the machinery in motion ?— - Who was it that dispatched Brandreth from Nottingham to these country villages to inflame the minds of the pea santry, to delude their understandings, to incite them to acts of outrage and mischief? Gentlemen, there is some thing hid in mystery ; I cannot fathom it, whatever I may conjecture ; but I know that at the critical period when this precise act was committed, at whose instigation soever, the Legislature was consulting about the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and the Committee of the House of Lords, who took that subject into consideration, report ed that they .had reason to believe, and know, that spies were active throughout the country, and were actively in stigating the mischief which in several places was likely to result — that we all know ; if I am mistaken I shall be glad to be corrected. Mr> Attorney General, My Lord, I am very sorry to inter- 506 rupcmy friend, Mr. Denman, but if he means to lay down as a rule*, that when those Gentlemen are sworn to try this cause by evidence, he is to cite as facts to those Gen tlemen, resolutions either of the House of Lords or of the House of Commons, let it be recollected that political matters from the House of Lords and from the House of Commons might, according to that principle, be intro duced, even on the part of the Crown ; and I would ask the Counsel what they would say to the Law Officers of the Crown who were to attempt to pervert the minds of the Jury, by resolutions of either Lords or Commons?— or by any political consideration, so as to influence them beyond the law as laid down by the Judges trying, and beyond the facts as proved by the witnesses examined ? My Lord, I stand here (and God forbid I should ever stand for hrore) for equal justice between the public and the per son charged ; the rules of evidence are precisely the same as to both sides with respect to what is, or is not to ope rate upon the minds of the Jury who are trying the eause> and sworn to try it only by the evidence.^ ! Mr. Denman. I beg your pardon— do you object to anything? -.:. Mr. Attorney General. I object to your statement as matter of fact, upon the general principle, notbecause I care for what is said upon this particular case. Mr. Denman. Then 1 will wave the subject I was that moment speaking of altogether ; I will not more parties larly allude to the report of the Lords or the Commons* but I will merely remind you, that previous meetings are said to have existed ; that the Crown is perfectly aware of those previous meetings and consultations ; and that all the evidence on that subject is studiously withheld from your knowledge. The first meeting to which the evidence applies was on Sunday the 8th of June, at the White Horse in Pentridge, where several persons are said, to have been assembled, and two persons from the Bufterley- works state, that they joined that party. Those are the two first witnesses called for the prosecution, and I ask you with confidence, whether upon their own showing and 507 upon their own description of themselves, you ever saw two witnesses more infamous, more disgraced, more self-contradicted, more self-condemned ?> Gentlemen, if their story be true, they are accomplices to the full extent of the crime that they come to charge upon this Prisoner ; if it be true that they contributed to send the man to Nottingham to inquire into the state of an expected rising there, and to bring back such informa tion as the wretched villagers were to act upon, they are as guilty as those whose names stand upon this indictment, and their lives are as much forfeited to the law for con spiring to levy war against the King, as any who can be accused of having actually levied it. Gentlemen, I put it plainly to you ; they are accomplices not only in these wild and silly schemes for overturning the constitution and subverting the state, but they are accom plices in the project ed murder of their masters and benefactors, they stand by while the dagger is pointed at the throats of those to whom tiiey owe subsistence and comfort, and silently allow them to sleep securely on that dreadful brink of danger. They are more than common Traitors, public and private, domestic and political, if their own account is believed. Standing then in the situation of accomplices (as it is most clear they do) I shall not trouble you with going through the particular questions which they answered, in such a way as to destroy all their credit, as when Asbury pretended not to understand my question, whether he sub scribed to send the man to Nottingham, and affected to suppose that subscribing meant the same thing as receiving, and more particularly when they swore that they did not know that it was their duty to disclose what they say they witnessed at the public house. Gentlemen, I do not weary you with these paiticulars, though sufficient to damn an ordinary witness, but I ask how you can believe those accomplices wholly unconfirmed as they are, in re porting the extraordinary conversations they have detailed. If they had revealed to any Magistrate or neighbouring gentlemen the twentieth part, of what they have narrated here is, evidence, you would have been spared the fatigue 508 of this long proceeding, and the county would have been spared the danger and disgrace of tbis violation of the public peace'. The slightest word of intimation would have answered the purpose. But they describe themselves as calmly sitting by and listening to language the most alarming, without any further remonstrance than a simple hint that there were Constables in tbe room. Being Con stables, why did you not communicate to the Magistrates what you saw arid heard ? Mark the answer ! We did not \ go to the Magistrates, because we were told if we said any thing we should be crammed up the ehimney. Is that a liktely story? Could that be their real motive ? Could that be the conduct of honest men ? But indeed, to do them justice, they make no pretensions to that character, for they say, that after all they had witnessed, they contri buted to the expeHces of the messenger to be dispatched to Nottingham. Are they perjured in making a false statement, or accomplices and traitors relating the truth? There is no other alternative, and in charity we ought to believe them perjured, and to strike out every pi£f ticle of the evidence they have given." Observe likewise, Gentlemen, if they were speaking the tiuth, how they might have been confirmed by others. John Cope went witb the one — he is a witness in the list given in by the Crown ; John Elsden went with the other — be is a withess in the list: neither Cope norElsderfis here to-day. You have not even had produced the scrap of a song, out of which the few doggrel verses are ex tracted, without giving you the whole ; and what is kept back might have taken the sting out of that part1 which was rehearsed. They have not exhibited the map — they have not called a single witness of the thirty or forty said to be in the room to confirm the suspicious and incredible testimony of two infamous men, who say that they saw a torch laid to their own master's manufactory, without stirring a finger to remove it. They cannot say the Op portunity was wanting,- for they worked there the whole of Monday, and must have seen their employers repeatedly. Whea how do I account for their evidence ? I belieVe'it 509 perjured:: I believe, that, finding, themselves under a charge for attending that Sunday's meeting/, where in*: proper things might be talked of, they resolved to screen themselves by telling an exaggerated story of what passed. They admit that they have compared notes of what was to be said. In the long interval that has elapsed they have often conversed together, rehearsing their dog-* grel verses, and going over every part of their story, to see that their reports tallied. They cannot deny that, even between the two Trials, they have been talking over their intended evidence. These are the only witnesses who affect to state a single syllable on the subject of the designs entertained by William Turner, previous to his joining the unhappy and outrageous party which was led by Brandreth. Gentle-, men, you have seen that man, you were present in Court when he was arraigned, you were present in Court during his trial, you were present in Court when he received his verdict of guilty. — I will ask you whether you ever saw a,, more extraordinary man, a man more evidently gifted by nature with the talent of swaying the minds of the common people by that sort of instinctive influence which even in his humble station there is no resisting; — the influence, of great courage, of uncommon decision, of unrelenting firmness— the influence of an eye like no eye that I ever beheld before, of" a countenance and figure formed for acti vity, enterprjze and command. Even the strange beard, which he wore and his singular costume seemed to ac cord' with his wild and daring character. The/^had. seen him but once before, in the night, several months ago, and never paused for a second look; they recognized him in a moment, and what was probably intended by him as a disguise almost served to help their recollection. Like the captain of a band of pirates or the head of a troop of, banditti, he was obviously one of those persons who have in all ages exercised the most absolute control over people in their condition, and to whose natural superiority their moral and physical forces have ever yielded implicit ho-<, mage. ,He was the leader— a stranger in the midst of. 510 them, sent over from Nottingham or some other placet to delude these miserable men. — You "hear the tales, the wretched tales that he told of a rising in one place, and a rising in another, whether he believed them or not, we know they are entirely false, but they proceeded from him alone, and such are the means by which a few starving villagers were urged to commit all these outrages for bread! It is not wonderful, Gentlemen, that they had neither in tellect nor strength of mind to question his authority — when you saw even the witnesses in the box, who unwill ingly attended him in his desperate expedition, speak of him as the captain in terms of involuntary deference and respect. He directed this wild career of mischief; he stepped forward when a daring act was to be done— he gave the tone and spirit to them all, nor would they haVe stirred without his influence and command. — Gentlemen, with all his power over their minds, he was most clearly himself an instrument wielded by other hands, but those hands, for prudent reasons which it is not difficult to divine, you have not been permitted to discern. The case begins then with the Monday evening, for the conversation of the Sunday falls with the disgraCe of the witnesses who relate it— on the Monday it is perfectly true that the facts were committed ; I do not wish to shrink from them. If it were allowable in any criminal case, my learned Friend and I would have admitted all which has been proved by all the witnesses, except Martin and As bury, with the ordinary allowances for some exaggeration on the "part of those, who without intending to deceive, bnt in a state of great danger and alarm have certainly both magnified and multiplied things in au extraordinary degree. Some see four hundred, when there were not more than one; some construe friendly warnings into furious me naces, and all naturally represent the danger as far greater than it really was. Then, Gentlemen, taking that case against the Prisoner, what does it prove with regard to this charge ? where is the proof of High Treason against him? — he goes with a set of wild men who talk every kind of nonsense : one man is to pay the nationafdebfr^-anotheff 511 to intake, England, -France andklreland rise—another to attack the Tower of London, and another to go and take the town of Nottingham, and have the keys of the town delivered into his hands. One hardly knows how to deal with such stuff, and you will recollect these expressions are reported in detached parts, proceeding from single in dividuals in different places. One of them says that Barnes's declaration about the state of Nottingham was privately imparted to him, and Bacon's speech in the kitchen about Government having plundered them, and that the time to make their shift was arrived, most of them never heard, nor the Prisoner amongst the rest. Gentlemen, I dp not mean to deny that in point of law persons are to be affected by the acts aud declarations of others in fur therance of a conspiracy to which they are parties; but when the acts are clear, and the whole question turns on the mo tives of the individual accused, it is surely very hard that his crime should be inferred from any foolish thing that may be said by others at a distance from him, unheard by him, not in furtherance of a common object, but separately and even privately uttered. The great mass of evidence was produced for the purpose of proving that which no body denied— that there was a gross and violent outrage, that arms were taken from several houses — that there was a.disposition to take men also — 'that there was in short (for 1 Will not trifle with your understandings) some preparation for committing violent acts. This, I think, you must infer to be true : but are we to call it a levying of war, because a set of foolish fellows with idle nonsense in their heads set out on a foolish expedition ? The Solicitor Ge neral said fairly, that if he could shew you a clear and dis tinct object you must call these acts High Treason. Now as to the clearness and distinctness of the object, I will take the liberty of reading one answer which struck me as conclusive at the time it was given by the witness. " The- Prisoner said there would be no good doings"— you know what good doings mean — " until Government was over turned." Then he was asked what was to be done for over turning the Government, and the witness, that witness who 512 is to prove Treason by establishing the object, answered, "I cannot say." The acts to be done for overturning the Government must determine whether it is a levying of war or not ; but a mob of people meeting with pikes to do mischief, and even great mischief, is not necessarily Treason. I wish the tumult had been earlier put down ; I should have been far better pleased if an overpowering force had been at once brought against these people, for on such occasions, that is the only proper course sug gested both by prudence and humanity. But will you, Gentlemen, deliberating in that box at the distance of many months, undertake to say upon your oaths, that hecause absurd language was employed by some of the rioters, therefore this man was engaged in a deliberate design to overturn the Government? if not, he is not guilty of High Treason, for it is not a levying of war against the King. In all cases, but peculiarly in this, the intention marks the guilt ; and if the intention be not proved, the Prisoner must go free at your hands. His object is the sole matter for enquiry, nor can he be justly charged with the objects entertained by other men, scat tered about in various places, and secretly talking to one another in a manner equally incoherent, indefinite, and absurd ; not in the Prisoner's hearing, and connected with him only, as the dupes and tools of the unfortunate man who has been convicted. In the anxiety to exalt this riot into a war, _an attempt has been made to represent this man as second in com mand. Because Brandreth was called Captain, and eVery thing must wear a military character, the Prisoner is to be stiled Lieutenant. Gentlemen, did you ever see a more unsuccessful experiment ? He walked indeed by the side of the rest, and did something towards teaching them the lock step, as an old soldier might naturally do: but is there any evidence whatever of his having that sort of influence which should entitle him to a military name ? on the contrary, when my learned Friend presses a question on one of the Witnesses about the Prisoner's Lieutenancy, the answer is, that the Lieutenant is not William Turner 513 but Manchester Turner ; Manchester Turner will have to answer for his conduct by and by, and you will not suffer what I now say to create any prejudice against him ; but their own Witnesses prove it was Manchester Turner, and not William Turnerthat passed for Lieutenant. In other parts of the case, confusion may have arisen, and some injustice may have been done tothe Prisoner now on trial, f torn the number of Turners here : one is said to be his brother, and there really seemed a little disposition to make him answer for the crime of his brother. They fail in proving something against him, and exclaim — " Oh, but then it was his brother !" We have .heard this con tinually, when the fact was known before the question was put The first witness, Gentlemen, as to what passed upon the Monday night, is Thomas Turner, and I am not dis posed to hear hard upon him. I do not wonder that any young man should be sa deluded into this criminal trans action ; nor shall I contend that he is therefore infamous, ' and unfit to be heard as a witness, though, in point of fact, he is undoubtedly an accomplice. He gives the fullest re* lation of what passed on that night ; and it is a most re markable circumstance, that he does not, from first to last, state a single declaration of any description which points to the destruction of the Government. Something indeed he said about the people of Nottingham, but not one word about the overturning Government. Then comes Elijah Hall the younger, of whom, as well as of some others, I would speak in terms of panegyric — they acted in the most honourable manner, with the utmost spirit of firmness. Yet that young man, who might be guilty of misprision of Treason, if these people are guilty of Treason as he know ingly accompanies them without informing the Magis? trate, does not state one syllable of any design to over throw the Government. His father says that when he asked what they wanted, and refused to go without their telling him, they said, they wanted a bigger loaf, and the times-altering. Now if the wish for a bigger loaf and better times, for the poor frame-work knitters is, to be construed. k k 514 into a treasonable compassing to subvert the Constitution, and a rejection of the allegiance due to the King, I am afraid there are a great many Traitors in this Court, and that your labours will by no means reach their termination with the Trials upon this Indictment. Gentlemen, several persons (I am afraid I shall not be able to go through the testimony of them all) enumerate the different houses these parties attacked, and prove the wish to take violent possession of the arms found. Now, you recollect the evidence— you cannot forget that most unfortunate circumstance at Mrs. Hepworth's, of which so very much has been made — you know that Brandreth, the Captain, when he called for arms there without obtaining them, fired in at the window, and the boy, Walters, was unfortunately shot dead. They were not all in that mi serable state of delusion to rejoice in the death of a fellow creature, for some immediately interfered, and those active men too, remonstrating against an act so cruel and so un fortunate. But it is argued against this Prisoner, though I do not see how it can assist the proof of High Treason, even though his criminality in another point of view should be ever so clearly established ; but the argument is, that the poor man before you, adopted the crime committed by Brandreth, because when he endeavoured to get a gun from another person, he told him that he would share the fate of Walters if he refused it, observing, I think, that one man had been shot already, and he would be shot too. So far was he (says the Solicitor General) from having the least compunction for that unfortunate death, that he threatened others with the same fate if they resisted. Gentlemen^ I say there is nothing like evidence that he felt no sorrow for that unfortunate death : I assert that every act he did* and every word he uttered, are capable of a different sense, and may reasonably receive from your hands the very opposite construction. I admit that it was his duty as soon as that unfortunate act took place, indeed it was his duty long before to have withdrawn from a party which was led into such outrages ; but he wanted resolution to retire ; he was embarked, like that unfortu- 5t5 rate old man of whom Mr. Goodwin spoke, too far to recede; he could not help advancing. But that perseverance neither proves what the original object was nor connects itself in the slightest degree with any design to overturn the government ; and as to the imputed cruelty towards in dividuals, I think, I can convince you that what is called a threat, far from betraying hardness of heart and a proneness to personal violence, proceeded from a dis position to hold his hand, to attain his. object without committing the foul crime of which he saw his leader capable, and of wliich he wanted to prevent the repeti tion. [ put it to you broadly and boldly that that is the fair and rational construction of his words. The witness, llaynor, who courageously avowed his resolution to perish rather than turn out, staled in precise terms the manner in which the Prisoner addressed him. This is his evidence : " he desired me to remember they had shot one man and I should share the same fate for my stupi dity if 1 did not turn out ; I said I should not go, and kept retreating towards the house." The unfortunate deluded man has been an eye witness of this dreadful event. How must he act to prevent its recurrence? how is it possible for him, if it had been his own brother whose )ife he had been endeavouring to protect, to shew his re? gardand affection more emphatically than by pointing out the miserable end of another person as a warning to avoid all useless opposition to an overwhelming force ? 1 call upon you, Gentlemen, as candid men, as men of charity and of common justice, to pronounce whether, at least, the one construction is not as probable as the other ; in which case, I am sure, you will give its fair weight to the character the Prisoner has always maintained. Witnesses, who have known hiin from his youth, have sworn that they knew him as a peaceable and a humane man, capable ot being misled as he has been ,- but utterly incapable of that wicked and deliberate act with which he is unnecessarily charged. From first to last, his conduct was the same towards all they fell in with, endeavouring to warn them against running the same risk that had proved fatal to Kk 2 516 another. Was that like glorying in the act? did he fol low the example? did he fire at any man? I know that Mr. Raynor fancies that he cocked his gun al him and jogged him forward; but I am most positively instructed that Mr, Raynor bas misconceived this, that the gun was not cocked at that time, and that his fears led him to sup pose that it was so: you may easily conceive, in the agitation of such a moment, what the feelings of Mr. Raynor would be, and that his evidence on this point may be mistaken without any discredit to him. But after all, perhaps. I am wasting time on this discussion ; I protest against it altogether, as having nothing to do with the charge of High Tieason— it may be connected with a riot either rebellious or other and I cannot conceive what effect it was calculated to produce upon your minds, except an effect which I know you will carefully guard against, that of exciting an unfair prejudice on the actual charge ; as if he were less an object of your justice, or even of that humane and charitable consideration which Juries always give to the case of prisoners, if you should in any way find him connected with that most atrocious offence. But I entreat you will particularly observe his Lordship when be comes to sum up the evidence on this point, and form your own opinion whether it might not be the conduct of the best man upon earth compelled to proceed with the party, but solicitous to prevent the repetition of such an outrage.. Gentlemen, I do not trouble you by travelling through all the particulars, because I do not see that the reiterated proof of the same or similar facts by different witnesses carries the case any further, It is quite impossible to deny that these acts were done, and done with mischievous in tentions ;, but the question is whether a conspiracy to over turn the government has been proved, if not, my learned Friends have failed in making out the case against the Prisoner. We have been told of the rising on Nottingham Forest such as it was ; you see there was a number of persons, of whom Roper says that ten had poles, in their hands aud 517 the rest had not. My Friend, Mr. Richardson, asked the witness whether the remainder might not have poles though he did not see them': thai 1 thought a pretty sharp question, leading you to infer something that could not be proved ; and I must say, that all the questions proposed on the part of the Crown displayed a zeal and ac tivity not very usual in criminal prosecutions, nor quite consistent with the character of such a proceeding as this. We have heard discussions on the admissibility of par ticular pieces of evidence which the Court have stopped by recommending that the question should be withdrawn, and throughout you have witnessed the greatest zeal to bring forward every particle of the conduct of any of the parlies to affect the Prisoner at the bar with High Trea son. Well, if an hundred men, with or without poles, came and demanded arms of Mr. Roper, that may prove that Brandreth had made a true representation of what was passing in that quarter, and I do not mean to dispute that head of evidence to that extent, not a very for midable extent, as affecting this Prisoner, for you Will con sider and decide the point stated by Lord Ellenborough on the Trial of James Watson, whether his conduct is to be classed among riots of an aggravated description, or whether it amounts to High Treason. Another ob servation of the same noble and learned Judge strikes me as extremely important, and I hope you will not lose sight of it. In laying down the law upon this subject, his Lordship says, " Insurrections to throw down all Iriclo- sures, to alter the established Law, or change religion, to enhance the price of all labour, or to open all prisons ; all risings to effect these innovations of a public and general concern by an armed force." So much of the sentence being extracted from Mr. Justice Foster's discourse, to which Lord Ellenborough adds, " And by any multitude competent to effect the purpose as much as if they were armed, for what he says comes to that." Now Gen tlemen, the imputed purpose being in this case to sub vert the Government of this country, I ask if you are pre pared to say, upon your oaths, that this miserable multitude 518 however dangerous and offensive to the neighbourhood, was competent to effect that object ? That is a part of Lord Ellenborough's definition of High Treason ; see how it applies. — There is an army which does not keep together for ten hours, which marches towards Nottingham on false representations of all which had taken place there, though Brandreth may have told the truth in saying something was to be done. In their whole conduct there are no two things which can be put together as cause and effect: it is like taking pikes to wage war against " some bright par ticular star," so infinite is the distance between the means and the end. So utterly absurd is the plan, that you must be convinced, not only that the preparations were not competent to effect the alleged purpose, but that if properly niet and resisted, they were incompetent to effect any pur pose whatever. I have often, Gentlemen, expressed the regret I feel that information was not given to a Magistrate, and this appears to me a great fault in all concerned. I must be allowed to state it as a fault in Mr. Goodwin, (though I should be unwilling to detract from his general merits), that knowing enough to think it necessary to swear in special Constables, he did not give such information as would have led to the suppression of this riot by force, in the instant of its breaking out. Unhappily, that was not done ; but from the concurrence of circumstances, the darkness of a stormy night, the tame submission of some, and the want of resistance in all, the men were en couraged to proceed in their strange expedition, and their numbers continued to gather and increase. I am not blind to the danger of such tumults, nor shall I deny, that if this body had long remained unchecked, it might possibly in the course of time have become High Treason; but to describe it as having attained that character at the moment the army was washed away by the rain, and the. men were sliding off from one another, because they be gan to detect the nonsense of their speculations, does appear to me such an extraordinary stretch of language, as never was employed before, and will not, I trust, bs 619 countenanced for the first time in a case of so much solemnity; in the case of a Prisoner who stands trembling before vou, and must either receive life and happiness at your hands, without, however, escaping the due punish ment that may belong to his other offences, or by your verdict must be consigned to a cruel and an ignominious death, on a charge too that involves the most important public interests of this great and free country. Gentlemen, I wish to make one more observation on the law of the case which escaped me as I was going on : and I slate unfeignedly that the conclusion to which I am led by reasoning, of which I caunot detect the fallacy, I do feel it my duty to lay it before the Court and the Jury, with full confidence that vou will see it in the same lisrht that I do. As I find it laid down by Lord Hale, that levying war against the King is a question of fact for the Jury ; as I find it laid down by Justice Foster, that levying war against the King is a question of intention, whicli is most peculiarly a fact for the Jury ; as I find it laid down by the highest authorities cited in East's Pleas for the Crown, that levy ing war is a matter of fact to be decided, not by the Court, because the law cannot define beforehand the mode in which Treason may shew itself, but on the circumstances of the case, to be considered and disposed of by the Jury : I, not only in consequence of these principles, call upon you to deliberate upon the evidence laid before you, and pronounce whether war has been levied ; but I cannot avoid drawing that other conclusion, that the Judges never possessed the right to decide upon that question, if, then, this interfereuce was an usurpation at the first, it is an usur pation still : and we may remember that under another very important head of State prosecutions the same opi nion and practice had prevailed, and was at length declared erroneous. In the case of libels, it was considered for cen turies that the Court were to decide upon the character and quality of the libel, and that the Jury had nothing to decide upon but the mere fact of publication. When I mention the name of Mr. Erskine, you will probably recol lect the eloquent and admirable argument he delivered in 520 the case of the Dean of St. Asaph, contending, in oppo sition to the Court, that the Jury were to take the whoie case into their consideration, and that it was altogether a fact for them to decide. Mr. Erskine was frequently re buked by the Court, fie was considered as arguing an unte nable proposition, but what was the result ? The re sult Was, that after an able but unsuccessful struggle of several years, an Act of Parliament was passed, declaring that the question of libel was a question for the Jury, and that therefore that illustrious orator had been right in his Contention. When I was told, as perhaps I may be told again to-day, that I am calling upon you, Gentlemen, to invade the province of the Judges, by deciding on matters of law, I deny the charge : my learned Friend may say it is matter of law, but, supported by these great oracles of legal wisdbrri, carried down to the latest tittles, that the levying of war against the King is a question of fact, I can not defer to my learned Friend's authority upon that sub ject. I say it is a question of fact for the Jury to decide, and that the same maxim which has declared that Juries shall not interfere on questions of law, has made it also the duty of JhdgeS not to arrogate to themselves the right of deciding on questions of fact. If, Gentlemen, the scale should hang doubtfully in your minds as to the acts of this Prisoner, and his intention as connected with them ; if, convinced that he has been im plicated in an outrageous riot, you should be at a loss for reasonable and credible evidence to establish the heinous charge of High Treason, then you will have a just regard to his character as a humane and peaceable man, who for many years served with credit in the army, and still retain ed that loyalty which every soldier does and ought to feel towards his King. That character should avail him in the hour of trial, though so unfortunately betrayed by the mise rable circumstances of the times into errors and violence, and turn the trembling balance in his favor. I trust, in deed, that your minds will retain no doubt upon the gene ral question of the charge which has been advanced. I dq most confidently anticipate, that whenyou calmly consider 581 ajl,th« .evidence, and scan it with. &af charitable eye with which Jums oftgbt to scrutinize the acts of the accused, more fs^eoialhy. where conviction would be followed by suoJi,di}ea and the mischief has become irreparable : while you yet have time, let it rer ceive its full operation : suffer not its dreadful visitation to come upon you in the sleepless hour of sickness and solitude, with the prospect of death before your eyes; Think of the horrible vision that will persecute your con science, in the form of that unfortunate creature in the miserable state to which he must be reduced by your verdict of guilty, if that verdict should hereafter appear to you to have been unjust. Consider how much more miserable yourselves would be renflered at the fatal mo ment when you must bid adieu to all the affairs of this world : — and think of the sensations which will await you, when we all meet before the awful tribunal of God. Mr. Justice Dallas. Prisoner at the bar. The time is now come for you to make a defence, if you wish to say anything for yourself. — Do you, or do you not ? Prisoner. I have only one thing to say : the gun was not cocked. Mr. Justice Dallas. Is there anything further you wish to add ? Prisoner. No. END OF THE FIRST Vp^uME. B. TZ.IPE, FBIHTEB, TOfTER-HlLl, 10NV0V. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 04067 3791 rr:\ 1* ' M&W ¦^t®^** 3^4 i ^.U