Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

all the unparalleled atrocities venture to say, that this is the committed against her they first time that ever any one heard must have known of the adven of judges cheering a counsel at ture of the BARON D'OMP- their bar. I should as soon exTEDA: and, with all this know-pect to hear a judge cheer a good ledge in their minds, they un-tough swearing witness for the dertake the office of hunting up Crown; or, to see him descend ..turned-off servants, and of rak-from the bench and shake auch ing together every thing that witness by the hand! If their any Italian, however infamous lordships had done either of his or her character, would swear these things during the trial, it against this deeply injured and would not have been more lang persecuted woman. These odious than to cheer you; and, are facts that nobody can deny. therefore, I am bound to believe, These facts are notorious as the that, as to this matter, the resun at noon-day; and knowing porter must have committed a these facts to be true, we want mistake. nothing more to give us a cor- Having thus been led by you, rect opinion of the motives and to take a view of the origin of characters of these three men. this affair, and to enquire a little We want nothing more to ena-into the character and motives ble us to judge of the charac-of the parties concerned in it, I ters of those, whom the Minis- now go back to the beginning ters selected for this memorable of your speech, where you state undertaking. the line of conduct that you and

[ocr errors]

You conclude your speech by your colleagues, pursued upon asserting that the preamble of receiving directions to support the Bill is proved and, hav-the Bill. But, though it might ing thus concluded, the report be convenient enough to you to states that there was a cheering blink all the previous transacin the House! That is to say, tions, from the sending out of Sir, some, at least, of her Majes-spies to Italy, to the commence ty's judges and jurors applaud-ment of the trial, it becomes ed you! It is not for me to ques-not us to be guilty of such tion the propriety of conduct of blinking; for, on the conduct of the persons who compose the the prosecutors, previous to the House of Lords; but I may trial, a great deal depends.

That conduct serves to eluci-after such reports, there were date their motives; and, if we no precedents at all. When and that conduct to be such as the Reformers were put in dunto argue a most anxious desire geons in 1817, the Bill was to produce the degradation of passed upon the sole ground of her Majesty, we are to carry the Report of Secret Committhat important fact in our minds tees. The Reformers prayed to when we are contemplating the be heard in their defence before evidence that they have finally produced, I, therefore, shall go into these previous transactions; and, if I show that the real ob ject all along has been to keep her Majesty from the country, or to drive her from it, I must necessarily view the evidence brought forward as having that for its object; and if that was the object, I must look at every I can see no reason, therefore, tittle of evidence with some- for supposing that, in the first thing a great deal more than suspicion.spot

In the first place, I think it as clear as day-light, that it was at first intended never to give her Majesty any trial at all. If such had been the intention, why

the passing of the Bill. They presented Petitions praying to be heard before they were condemned. They declared the Reports to contain falsehoods, and prayed to be permitted to produce evidence at the bar to prove those falsehoods. Their petitions were prejected; and the horrible Bill was passed

instance, any trial at all was intended; and my belief is, that the trial was suggested to the prosecutors solely by the loud expression of the public voice. A trial, a fair, open impartial trial, was what the Queen had

were green bags sealed up sent no right to object to, and it was

[ocr errors]

is this to which the Queen has, in the face of her repeated pro«. tests, been subjected? To enu

to the two Houses of Parlia-what, indeed, she had always ment There were precedents courted. But what sort of trial enough for sending Green Bags: for referring these to secret com mittees; and for passing Bills, at once, upon the report of those merate the circumstances, With Committees. But, for admit-out any comment on them, will ting the accused party to trial be quite sufficient to give pos

England, the House of Lords,
(who had suspended the ope
ration of their Secret Commit
tee) resolved to go into that
Secret Committen.is

terity #correct opinion of the solved hot to accept of these nature of this never-to-be-for- ternis ; not to be banished, from gotten Prinligting 115 devta First the pretended evidence is laid before the Hontes sealed up, accompanied with a proposition to submit this evidence to secret committees; which com- Sirth, their Secret Committee, mittees consisted of the prose- | make a Report containing heavy cutors › themselves, and some charges against the Queen. other persons of their chusing.

Seventh, upon this report,

Second, the Ministers describe Bill is brought in by the Ministhe evidence as amounting to try, called a Bill of Paine and seandalous and heavy charges Penalties, containing the most against the Queens

[ocr errors]

grievous accusations against the Queen, charging her with an adulterous intercourse, and sentencing her to degradation and divorce.

[ocr errors]

Third, these same Ministers enter⠀ into a negociation with her Majesty, offering her per foci impunity, a splendid con voyance to the continent, an in--Eighth, this Bill is not protroduction, as Queen of Eng seeded upon directly; but this land, to a Foreign Court, and a Bill, together with the Report princely income for the remain on which it is founded, are sent der of her life. Apk files all over the world; are placed Fourth, the House of Com under the eyes of the nation, as mmons send a deputation to her containing facts which the prose Majesty, containing their de-cutors solemnly declared they eleration that she may accept were prepared to substantiate of these terms, without leaving by evidence. These documents any Blain upon her character. And decluring, also; at the same time, that a trial, terminate how it may must be derogatory " to the dignity of the Crown, and injurious to the best inetereats of the country."

are thus placed under the eyes of the nation, there to remain for six weeks, without any op portunity afforded to her Majesty to produce any thing in refutation of these, outrageous aç cusations.

Fifth, the Queen having re- Ninth, her Majesty, in order

that she might be prepared to nek; the judges are, at once, rebut charges founded on evi-judges and jurors and part: of dence, dr pretended evidence, them are the accuséra ; and these collected by the means of Cooke, accusers are also the Ministers Powell, Brown' and 'others) in of the King, ‹ from whom it is the manner that we have seen, proposed to divorce the Queen. applied to be furnished with the How these judges, jurors and names and descriptions of the accusers are situated: relatively persons who had sworn against with regard to each other; how her. This, which is uniformly all, or any part, are situated granted in every case of divorce; with regard to the King, I leave and was the more necessary in the public to judge; but, in this case because the home of this case, wunanimity is not: the witnesses was at so great a required in the decision, lansin distance, and because they were the case with saujuryi; in this utterly unknown in the viclhage case, the jury, are not all \reof the Court, this was refused quired to be present during the so her Majesty type whole of the proceedings in this case, any part of the jury may excuse themselves for nonattendance in this case, the trial may stop whenever the prosecutor pleases, and may be revived again, at any future period; in this case, all, you say, is right and fair, but, in this

Tenth, her Majesty next ap plied for the names of the places where her alleged erimes had been committed. These, too, were refused her. So that, she was left for the whole of the aik weeks, without any possible cfee by which she could comte at the means of cross-examina- case, we find nothing that we tion, for at facts and circum-find in that species of trial to stances to develope the charac-which we have been accustomed, ters, connections and motives of and to which species of tried the witnesses where alone her Majesty has appealed; Elebeuth, the Court, as it is while against the present mode called, opens. And how is it ofertrial, babe has constantly composed? Partly of the prose-protestedskel cutors themselves! It is com- Twelfth, the witnesses are, fposed, not of twelve men, taken nally brought to the spot by promiscuously from a long pan-night. They are shut up in á

fortress, from which they are

Thirteenth, the trial begins

drawn, one at a time, to be on the 17th of August; the A1pro-duced at the bar. The Court torney General opens his easer

This opening, together with the evidence of the first witness, lieš before the public for three whole days without the possibility of any thing being produced to counteract their effect. Then

itself is guarded not only by numerous » soldiers, horse and foot, but by a species of gens d'armes, varmed with swords and pistols, mounted on horse back, and yet, in a sort of dress other than that of soldiers. The follows a three weeks detail off streets leading to this Court have evidence drawn from the 'forbeen cut asunder by barricadoes, tress. The Queen has no knowleaving only narrow passages, ledge of any witness that is com guarded by armed men; so that ing forth. She has now know-/ the public have been forcibly ledge of any of the places where prevented from getting even at the alledged acts are said to have view of the outside of the build- been committed. › Her counsel ing! Even the Parks have been has no means of effectual cross- ?° closed. All these barricadoes examination; and thus this long and obstructions are so many string of swearings are sent open and daring breaches of the forth to the world. A. 10 pampaR law. They are so many indict- Fourteenth, at length you. able acts. They are so many have run out your witnesses acts which are punishable by and ask for time, in order to oberthe well known laws of the taina relay. This shameful, land; and being perpetrated by this scandalous, this atrocious the means of absolute force, they application, is not indeed, grantlee argue a total suspension and ab-ed, but it obtains two things ;) sence of the laws. Men have first, two days more for the eva been knocked down; the gens dence to work against the Queen; d'armes have presented their and, next, a pretence for sayings swords and pistols at divers that if this new relay of witnessest citizens who attempted to pass had come, your case would havpu been more 'complete. It also obtains, in this mode of trial, a pretence for reviving the pro

along those public highways, along which they had a right

to pass.

« AnteriorContinuar »