Part 10

While this form was going through, the prisoner Thistlewood was put to the bar, and attracted general attention. He was dressed as on Saturday, and came forward with apparent firmness. He had in his hand a pencil and a sheet of paper. He paid particular attention to the names as they were called over.

The Council for the Crown in attendance were, the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, Mr. Bolland, and Mr. Littledale. Those for the prisoners were, Mr. Curwood, Mr. Adolphus, Mr. Walford, and Mr. Broderick. Such was the pressure occasioned by the assemblage of the Jury, that they were constrained to ask permission to quit the Court as their names were called over. This request was complied with, but they were desired to remain within hearing.

As the prisoner stood at the bar, and while the Court was occupied in attending to the list of the jury being called over, a man of shabby appearance contrived to get to the corner of the dock, and to place his hat on the board in front, and then, calling Thistlewood’s attention, directed him to take the contents. Thistlewood immediately took from the hat five oranges, which he put in his pocket. Mr. Brown, who was in his box, witnessed the transaction, and admonished the obtruder. He afterwards directed one of his turnkeys to take the oranges into his possession. Thistlewood, on being asked, delivered up the fruit, and they were carried out of Court to be examined.

There might seem, in this conduct, on the part of Mr. Brown, something of harshness; but when it is recollected that an orange might be made the vehicle of conveying to the prisoner the means of personal destruction, or some other thing which the precautions already taken were meant to prevent, it will be seen that he did no more than became the vigilant execution of his duty. The oranges, having been examined, were returned. It was intimated to Thistlewood that he should be provided with any thing in the way of refreshment which he might require. We have already stated, that all communication with the prisoner, save under an order from the Secretary of State, had been most positively interdicted. The act of the individual in the present instance, however well-intentioned, was in direct contravention of this order.

Subsequent to this transaction, two letters, which had come by post, were delivered to Mr. Brown. We believe they were addressed to the prisoners, and, after they had been shewn to him, Mr. Brown felt it his duty to enclose and send them to the Solicitor of the Treasury.

At twelve o’clock the whole of the jury had been called over.

_Thistlewood_ then addressed the Court, and said, “Will your Lordship allow me a chair?”

The _Lord Chief Justice_.--Considering the length of time which your trial is likely to last, the Court will grant you this indulgence.

A chair was then placed at the front of the dock, and the prisoner sat down, having first thanked the Court.

THE TRIAL.

_Mr. Shelton_ then announced to the prisoner, that the jury were about to be called; and that, if he was disposed to challenge any or either of them, he would do so on their coming to the box to be sworn, and before they were sworn.

A considerable number of challenges then took place, both on the part of the crown and of the prisoner; at length the following jurymen were impannelled:

Alexander Barclay, Teddington, gent. and grocer. Thomas Goodchild, North-end, Hendon, Esq. Thomas Suffield Aldersey, Lisson-grove, North, Esq. James Herbert, Isleworth, carpenter. John Shooter, North-end, Hendon, gent. Samuel Granger, Blackwall, lighterman. George Dickenson, Colt-street, Limehouse, builder. John Edward Sheppard, Eden-grove, Holloway, John Fowler, St. John-street, iron-plate-worker. William Gibbs Roberts, Ropemakers-field, Limehouse, cooper. John Dobson, Felix-place, Islington, Esq. William Cooper, Grove-street, St. Pancras, Esq.

After which the _Lord Chief Justice_ thus delivered himself:--“As there are several persons charged with the offence of high treason by this indictment, whose trials are likely to be taken one after the other, I think it necessary, in the furtherance of justice, strictly to prohibit the publication of the proceedings of this, or any other day, until the whole of the trials shall be brought to a conclusion. It is highly necessary to the purposes of justice that the public mind, or the jurymen who are hereafter to serve, should not be influenced by the publication of any of the proceedings which may take place, until the whole of those proceedings shall be finished. It is expected that all persons, therefore, will attend to this admonition.”

_Mr. Shelton_ then called the attention of the prisoner, and read the indictment.

_Mr. Bolland_, as junior Counsel for the Crown, having shortly opened the indictment, the Attorney-General, at half-past one, proceeded to address the jury.

“May it please your Lordship, and gentlemen of the jury; you are now assembled to discharge one of the most important duties that can devolve to the province of a jury, to decide upon the guilt or innocence of a party charged with the highest offence known to the law; and, upon such an occasion, I am satisfied it is unnecessary for me to bespeak your patient attention to the case before you, still less even to hint to you the necessity of coming to the investigation with unbiassed and unprejudiced minds. You, I am sure, will discharge from your recollection every thing you may have heard or read relative to the charge which is about to be preferred against the prisoner at the bar, confining your attention solely and exclusively to the evidence which will be adduced in support of the charge, and forming your conclusion on that evidence only. Gentlemen, the charge as I have stated to you, is one of the highest nature known to the law. Other offences, generally speaking, however heinous and however enormous, may in their consequences, except so far as example is concerned, end with the fate of the perpetrators, or with the individuals who have been injured; but, with respect to high treason, not only in its inception, but still more so if it is unfortunately completed, it draws after it consequences of the most important kind, affecting, not merely individuals, but the whole community against whom it is directed.

“Gentlemen, I shall not trouble you in the observations I have to make to you, painful as the duty now imposed upon me is, with any lengthened detail with regard to the law as it affects the charge imputed to the prisoner; because, if I mistake not, that law is so clear, and if I err not greatly, the facts that will be proved to you will establish the case against the prisoner in so clear and satisfactory a manner, that it would be an idle affectation in me to cite any authorities before you in support of the charge; because if the overt acts, as they are called, or any of them, are proved to your satisfaction (and I have no doubt but a considerable number of them will be proved,) no man who hears me can entertain the slightest doubt that the offence charged in the indictment will be established in point of law.

“Gentlemen, the charges in this indictment, though four in number, will be all proved to you by the same evidence; and if the evidence I shall lay before you be sufficient to establish one of them, it will, I believe, completely establish the whole. Three of the offences charged, consist in compassing and imagining the deposition of the King from his throne; the death of the King; and a conspiracy to levy war, in order to compel him to change his measures for the government of the kingdom.

“It is hardly necessary for me to state to you, that in proof of these charges, it is not essential that the plans of the parties accused should aim directly and immediately either at the life or the deposition of his Majesty; because, if they are aimed at that form of government which now exists--if intended to bring about a change in the system of rule now established, by means of war, which would naturally tend to effect that which must ultimately result either in the removal of the King from his kingly dignity, or in compelling him to change his measures in Council, that would be high treason; and therefore in these cases it is quite sufficient to shew that the plans framed were of a description and nature aiming against the government, (which will undoubtedly be proved in this case) although not directly and in the first instance aimed against the personal safety or the personal authority of the Crown. If, therefore, the consequences of the acts of the accused in this case, if those acts had been perfected, must inevitably have led to these results, they establish in point of law the treason charged; and therefore, Gentlemen, not to bewilder you in the inquiry which you are about to enter upon, I think it quite sufficient in the outset to state to you, that, in which I believe I shall be confirmed by the highest authority in the law when this case comes to be summed up to you, _viz._, that if the overt acts and facts charged in the indictment as evidencing the intention existing in the minds of the conspirators be proved to your satisfaction, they do prove the charges laid in this indictment; and, therefore, it is unnecessary to trouble you with any further observations on the law of the case.

“Gentlemen, important as the duty is which you are called upon to discharge, and anxious as that duty certainly must be to you, mine, I say, is no less anxious; for although in the address I purpose making to you, I do assure you I mean only to inform your minds of the nature of the charge brought before you, and of the evidence by which that charge will be substantiated, yet my duty is most painful; and I make this address with no view of leading your minds to any conclusion which the evidence itself does not warrant--with no intention of making any addition of my own, for, God knows, the facts want no addition to accelerate the inevitable conclusion to which you must come. It is my duty to state to you, as counsel for the prosecution, the case against the unfortunate man at the bar, as detailed to me in my instructions. My anxiety, therefore, is, I do assure you most conscientiously, not by any thing I shall state to you to attempt to lead or direct your minds to the conclusion which you ought only to draw from the evidence, but to state to you calmly and fairly the facts which I believe will be proved, without any attempt at exaggeration on the one hand, or any thing but a fair and candid narrative on the other, without any colouring whatever, because no colouring can alter the real facts of the case, however high. If I should err in this, and if in any thing I state to you, you shall, when you come to make up your minds, think the statement not proved in evidence, or the observations or inferences which I may have drawn shall not be fairly borne out by the facts proved, you will dismiss them from your minds, and confine your attention to that alone which is proved. But if you believe the statement I shall make, if you believe the observations made in that statement are fair and natural on the facts, then you will give them the weight they deserve, and you will suffer them to operate so far, and no further, as you, in your judgment, think they ought.

“Gentlemen, having said thus much, I will, without farther preface, call your attention as perspicuously and as shortly as I can to the facts which will be proved in evidence to support the charges. The prisoner at the bar, Arthur Thistlewood, must be already known to you by name; but, as I before stated to you, let nothing that you have known or heard of him before you came into this court to discharge the solemn duty you are bound to perform, have the least effect upon that verdict you are to pronounce. The prisoner at the bar, however, I state to you, as it will be proved in evidence, had for some time conceived the wicked and nefarious plan of overturning the government so long established in this country; and it will appear to you that several, nay, all of the persons mentioned in the indictment, were participators in the same design; some of them, probably, coming into that purpose and design at a later period than others, but all of them concurring in the last criminal event which led to their detection. I shall prove to you by the most satisfactory evidence, that all of them were combining in that act, which was to be the commencement of that revolution in the country, which was meditated. I would, however, call your attention to two persons, whose names you will frequently hear in the course of this inquiry, I mean a person of the name of James Ings, and a person of the name of John Thomas Brunt.

“The prisoner at the bar resided, during the time of the transaction which I am about to relate to you, in Stanhope-street, Clare Market. The person named Brunt, I believe, was a shoe-maker or boot-closer, residing at a place which will be frequently mentioned in the course of the evidence, Fox-court, Gray’s Inn-lane; he inhabited two rooms in a house in that court, I believe the second floor, and in one of which his trade was carried on, and in the other his family, consisting of himself, his wife, an apprentice of the name of Hales, and his son, lived.

“I shall not carry your attention very far back in the narrative of this transaction; it will be sufficient for me particularly in the outset, to call your attention to circumstances that took place between the close of the month of January and the 23d of the following month of February. Undoubtedly it will appear to you, that long prior to that period the prisoner at the bar, the two persons I have mentioned, and several of the others, whose names are included in this indictment, had consulted and devised plans for the purpose of overturning the Government. They had frequent meetings at a public-house, called the White Hart, in Brooks’ Market, in a room which they had obtained for the purpose of these meetings, behind that public-house.

“About the latter end of January, or at the commencement of the month of February, they thought it prudent to remove their meetings from this place, and that it would be better that they should be carried on, if possible, in a room in the house where Brunt lived in Fox-court; and to avoid suspicion, they therefore had recourse to this contrivance, that another room in that house, and upon the same floor on which Brunt resided, should be taken by the prisoner Ings, who is, I believe, by trade a butcher. Brunt and Ings on that occasion hired that room, for the avowed purpose of a lodging for Ings, but for the secret and real object of having their meetings there, where they might devise their plans, and prepare the means for carrying the object of their conspiracy into execution; that being a place of more security and privacy than the one at which they had previously held their assemblies.

“At the close of the month of January, or the beginning of the month of February, you will learn, that having previously prepared means for effecting their plans, their meetings at Brunt’s room became more frequent and regular. They had determined--and, Gentlemen, I here regret, that in an English Court of Justice I have to state to you the horrible purpose which then entered into their minds, and the way in which they intended to consummate the nefarious operations they had in view.--It was thought by Englishmen, that the assassination of several, if not all, of his Majesty’s ministers would be a proper step towards carrying into effect the revolution they intended; and you will find that they meditated and consulted on the means by which that horrible purpose was to be completed. They entertained hopes that they might be enabled, at some meeting of his Majesty’s ministers, to effect all at once the double purpose they had conceived. Having done that, they intended at the same moment, or about the same time, to set fire to various parts of this metropolis--to endeavour to obtain possession of the cannon which were at the Artillery Ground, and at the Light Horse Volunteers’ Stables in Gray’s Inn-lane--to create as much confusion and dismay as they could by these various operations, and then to establish, what, in their vain expectations, they had imagined themselves capable of effecting--a provisional government, the seat of which was to be at the Mansion-house. They had frequent deliberations on this plan.

“You will recollect that his late Most Excellent Majesty died on the 29th of January. At this time their deliberations were going on with the greatest activity. During the latter end of that month and the beginning of February, it was thought that the meeting of his Majesty’s ministers at the King’s funeral would be a proper occasion for carrying their plans into effect. They had intimation that upon that occasion, the greater part of the troops centred in the metropolis would be removed to Windsor, to witness the solemnity; and they imagined that would be a fit and proper period to commence their operations; but, however, they found that their schemes embraced more objects than at that period they had the means of effecting, and upon that night they did not attempt the purposes they had in view. But, gentlemen, brooding over their nefarious schemes, many of these men became impatient at the delay which from unavoidable circumstances, interposed between the present day and that on which they hoped to accomplish their purposes; and you will find that on the 19th of February, to which I shall presently call your attention, the impatience became so great on the part of many of these persons as to be restrained no longer. They found that during this delay, an opportunity offered at which they could effect the horrible purpose I have mentioned--the assassination of all his Majesty’s ministers assembled at one and the same house.

“They got intimation on Saturday the 16th of February, that on the Wednesday following the opportunity would occur when they would be able to effect their purpose, by finding that his Majesty’s ministers would be assembled at the same house. Upon hearing that such an assemblage was to take place, they determined, at a meeting held for that purpose, that at all events, on the following Wednesday some blow should be struck, and that the revolution they had in contemplation should actually take place.

“Having thus determined, they appointed a meeting on the following day, Saturday, at Brunt’s house, for the purpose of forming a committee, upon whom should devolve the plan which was to be effected on the ensuing Wednesday, at that meeting; and indeed at all the meetings, you will find the prisoner foremost in every thing. He was to be their leader, and he was to be one of the men on whom they placed the greatest reliance. You will find that at this meeting he is the person who addressed them, and prepared the plans, and in whose plans they placed the greatest confidence.

“Gentlemen, upon this 19th of February it was, that Thistlewood proposed that which I have stated to you. He stated, that as it did not appear from the intelligence they could collect, that Ministers were likely to meet at the cabinet-dinner soon, they immediately ascertained the strength of their respective parties, and having so ascertained them, these parties should be divided into different bodies, upon some of whom should devolve the horrible duty of destroying as many of his Majesty’s ministers as their means and convenience would allow; that upon others should be imposed the duty of setting fire to various parts of the metropolis; and that others should be assigned other duties, which were there pointed out by the prisoner.

“This plan, formed at that meeting, was seconded by Brunt, whose name I have already mentioned; and there too it was agreed as I have already stated, that on the following day, Saturday, a meeting should take place at Brunt’s room, in order to appoint a committee, upon whom should devolve the final arrangement of the plan which was to be executed on the following Wednesday.

“On the Sunday the meeting accordingly took place, attended by the prisoner, by Ings, by Harrison, by Wilson, and by other persons, whose names are mentioned in this indictment, and with which I do not at this moment trouble you, because, as your attention is confined to the present prisoner, it is unnecessary to do so. At the same time, in the course of this investigation, connecting, as we shall do, all these persons in one common plan and design, the acts and declarations of each will be most important, because they will all be answerable for the acts of each in furtherance of their common purpose. Upon that occasion they met at Brunt’s, and it was then agreed that they should meet again on the following morning, Monday, February 21.