North Carolina Newspapers

At ! f. cm CIS. - IT . ftosror. , Vide (f t!ie f r's, the ihcnWds irll, ''I in Hv,tt-i v Ul.'m thy wood toilvulU J'r tbeit r aa'mtret sh.vlow see;, '1'Iikt fitkjuvul haunt the dtwy t;reen ( In wand'ring y iivh the tlirjce i sung, The comcr.t bell In spiri'.s rung, And matn let runs un-J ijff prayer, Jlrr A wflly on the tranquil ir. Vale of lite Cri'M, the shepherd tell, lis "t within thy wo-xli to ilwt II : For peace bus there her spoih-w throne, And ilrut$ te the uwM Unknown ; The murmur of the distant rill-, The abbatli nib-nee of the bill, And a!) the cjnirt tint! hath j?it'iy Without the golden gati of Heaven. 'Tl$ .FOIJ.Y AM.. ' I U folly aH," to fret anI u;h. Alwavs to dwell an r.mi perjilesinjr, To have the rtauy breaming tve For tr.fhi.tflJinil'k j ttiat arc vexing. For e'er the (rlufioni urb of l.o Has set, our cn may nil be ccsiii,r Our path be cheered by Hope's bright ray, And every prospect may be phasing. f UO A Lilt lItiLiH MrLK. SPEF.CII OF MR. J-lltU.ll-S. Stctiri it. Yulik, Clerk. The ipcech of C. I'hillipi, F.sq. ia delivered at the court of King's Bench, in n action betw een Shwpe . V'ulls, clerk, U recover damages for t maliciou prosecution fur Healing beef and brend vidue two pence on Tburxby, December 12th, before the lord thief jiuVice and a upecol jury. My Lord and gentlemen of the ju ry l'he jury had herd from myj learned friend that this action was brought to recover compensation in damages in consequence of a prosecu tion maliciously preferred that is, pre fer, ed without any probable cause to warrant it, from the absence of w hich, m lice, though n'-t distinctly proveable as still p'csumablc, an J rsfcrential. I H3 d not state to vou 'hat the grounds o it to be strong indeed t warr-nt a y man in putting another on his tri al i a charge of felony. The princi r ( f constitutional lw are too well '..n in England to require any su:e r. -it on the subject. My charge to d ' against the defendant is. that he d 1 institute 9"ch a prosecution ag .lnst inv client ; not only without any prob j'!; grounds to warrant it, but upon gMiunds the most absurd, the m st cru-j el, the most oppressive, and the most capiMous proceeding not only rt p .g.unt to his character as a clergy man. but detestable in the eyes of eve ry hunun being. Gentlemen, I feel, fc'-wrvtr, that 1 have much to combat in advc iting the cusecf humble po verty ag iinst pampered oppression 1 have to charge that opprtssion upon a ch trader where the virtues and the charj ies of life arc presumed to dwell I tat e to fear, also, lest the language which I must hold towards the individ ual mav be Ttmertnstriied into am dis- .... l . ... ....r ...:. i JCL.'(ii ig (in ivueiJicu I'l un 'sit mi ' must assuredly I men no such thmrt ti mi struggling to prove that he one-tcr.th portion of the Pa' " 9 Lf 111 L.x.irv out of the p-Ier. churtb hU rank rather to fortune's Mildness "Stars. ' It s the same Joe. its ;hei ,hj( ht..d Krim lhc ,exolrd ,fff.ltcr than to personal dest rving; and w hen , -nic its only drie r because I carried ,0 ,ie .j ; If he re lented but tor a mo 1 find him hidii g the world's heart 1 11 ,n ru lrctthcs pecktt. (L. ughtc rv j me nt, the mutilated louml swam arrets under a religious garment, it is mv clu-1 II is next resource, centlemi., w as j his memory, and with it came the train of tj to overtone the pain which the ex-, the plaintiffhim.'elf. 'Ihe plau.iiffv. .is ,!s pcrlet'ions. p. -ure givrs me a duty to the rank 1 hew aHu g the robbery of his dinne r, Oh, it was a round fit for a rector's up- aucn cotiuuct cas uisnonoreu a uuiv, t i be church, thus more endangered he i s own professors thin by all that it: ft Ic lity Can urge against it. I -.hall piocced to detail to you the far 'itar them if you can w ith grav ,t think i f them, I trust sou will rt , withojt irdign ition. The plain t.lT is a poor man, lising by the labor Olhishar-ds. I he defendant. Mr. Yi alls, is clergyman ot the ihurch of Lollard, ef ample fortune, and its us ud attendant, a large establishment. It hantned that in Oct. of the last year, ti e defendant 'as employed in the gartlen of Mr. Vialls, ;s under g !,rdecer, and on the 2 1 st of that month, it be i' g Sind ay, he dined with hisaunt, at Camber til. T hey hadasmall round r.f crned beef for dinner, and, upon hi chparturv.hu am t,with much hos pitality, pressed l.im toaicrpt a slice ol it. He accrpted it, returned home, and pi ced it in m opf-a tool b-x in the girden, he usual dcposhoiy for the u der gdener's d'nner. Alx ut II o'clock the parson went t lake the air in Sis garden; he proceed, d with the s e.u ity of an old pointer to the tuol b ose, Bfd madi a dead set upn tVe p ..)- i, . ' h ' I. (Laughter.) Ilr wis not contented witn the tithe of it, rr.c ro;gtit,pcihlidvc plcaiU'd hci ip'imi. (Continued uiutucr. 1 Hut he aw ep. it at one uitjte an J wholesale kudus breeches pot kit. (The laugh ur here was lnud and prolonged.) Out of the do. tor's own lips I shall prove tats ludicrous dispos tl of the beef l i e poor rr. ni was earning an appetite, which it seems breakfast could .. take away from the pasor. The doctor proceeded dir. city to his house he dived at once sr.io the kit. hen: "fol low me," said he, tothi astonished cook, 'follow tne to the lardet, and bring the carving knife w ith you. (L igh ter.) I he took followed with tremu lous apprehension, the scullion retrea ted in silent consternation. Arrived at the kitchen, he ca t a look at a round of beef which had already done duty in the family, cut a me tsured slice from it with much caution, performed the like operation upon a loaf of bread, and stalked away without uttering a s) liable. "Lord bless us,", says the cook, "how hungry my master is brcakf st just over, he's ticking to the! luncheon. Not for a luncheon, how ever, was the beef intended ; all that day and all that night it was the par don's companion, and next morning the cook rc eived a summons to' attend his dressing room ; there spread out in state, he showed her the slice he had cut ff the round, and the beef he had mai rcjvcred out ol the to-I bx so cut to match, that you could scarcely distinguish between them. " Won't you swear," said the parson, "that these two slices arc from the same rouudf" "It's impossible that I can," siid the cook, " heel's beef all the world over." 44 I can," said the parson ; "there's a slice that came ff my round, and I'll swear it did, because I found it in the tool box." " Your round," said the rook. " was i,a!c ;n the lai der ; the door wjs locked, and ti.e key was in my pocket." I hi re was a reason too which the doctor assigned for claiming the beef, and which, as it h s at least the merit of originality, I shall mention. Indeed, he repeated it be fore a jury. I know the beel to be mine from its complexion ! Gentlemen, perhaps, he might. I dare say thetc was a lily whiteness about the iat, and a modest suit nttre, aurora like redness about the Iran, famdi.ir to the e)ts of a doctor of divinity. Gentlemen, the next appearance of the cocjk was before a magistrate, where she distinctly swore to the utter impossibility of any access to the beef without hrr knowlrdge, and she sol emnly denied that sue h access was ev er all" rded. The cook having failed, the butler was resorted tr. The par son produced to him the Mice from the round, and asked him whether it was not his property ? ' No,' said the butler. 4 God bliss me,' said the parson, 4 what a fool you are not to sw ear to beef.' He then produced the slice from the tool box. 4 At all events. Joe, vou will have no hesitation in swearing that this and the other came from the Same round:' 4 No, replied J-'c, I'd rarhcr say they did not. beca.i,e the one is much drier than the oihir.' T he ld , - - - - - .i .: . i i i -i m.incmaini.in. wren ne soivcu ir.e problem, and exclaimed ft.'rff, never I I nccie loreseemg ne was to ne rcmsiocr-; td a tliitf ; he told at onre that he got the beef horn his aunt at Camberwell, but parson Vidls was tot to be satis - . , 1 ,,, ... fi( d, i cr would he even m ke inquiry. .. .... IS... 1. -I... .1,- .. TL..I tiiiti iut me in. mi vauic in im work, and day afttr day the parson be set him, tormenting him hourly with the same questions ; at hrgth his pa tirnce was quite exhausted, and Ik yaici, as I atniulu,iu i!ic piencoCe c u,c boiler, 4 sir, 1 told you the name c f ms 9 . j ac.nt, and where she livid ; I'll answt r ynu no rnore upon the j uhject ; I sm rtady to prove my iunccence before any tribunal in the world. In the mean time, gentlemen, the !cf was hourly affording to the parson another opportunity of lecturing upe-n the mn tability of human affairs j in other words, it was getting musty ; despatch was ne cessary. The parson sent it dwn, with strict command that some of the srrvants should dine on it. The but lerrejccted it, as he was to he a wit r.e"s ;che kitchen maid swore she'd not m .kc her stomach a receiver of .s nlen goods; and the unfortunate cook will tell sou that she bolted it herself in or der to prevc nt a icv lution in the sc id lerv. (Laucht. r.) Will you believe, gentltmtn, that prc-ftlpoo tbese grounds, against the speak - mg evidence ol the man a duly return! to work, against the oaths of hi wn servants, against common sense, ere! y because he had a cold round in the , larUer this prop of the church, who keeps hi lordly mansion, his equipage, and his ret"uue, determined t prose cute this i-rlpless peasant oa a clrirge! of rubbery i a charge so laid ay to sub j ct him t' transportaiion. Did you ever, gentlemen, hear of such a case as this i I remember to have heard of one, and but one, which occurred in an other country. Ft was ivt in Ireland, gentlemen, though Mr. Gurney'a smil ing would seem to say so. It happen ed in America about fifty years ago. Johnny Hook, gentlemen, was a High lander. IT- lived in one of the... most economic, I parts of Scotland, until he arrived at years of discretion, when, of course, he emigrated. (Laughter.) lie arrived in America about the pe riod of the revolution, having bruoght with him from Scotland a little stout bullo' k, whi' h I dare say he thought an apt emblem of his countrymen. (Laughter.) Patrioiiscn is S lid to be a hungry quality, a cl unhappily for Johnny lLok, the American army en camped in the very fuld where hi bul lock was grazing. The bullock was 8 on sacrificed to the appetiteSr of the inv .ders ot the field, and the setting son beheld but its last rib in existence. At the conclusion of the war. Johnny set off from the farm, and brought his action agiinst the American commis sary general for the price of his bul lock. The defence was conducted by the inspired peasant, Patrick Henry a name immortal in America, and which should never die wherever tal ent and genius are hdd in estimation. He touched the chords of the jurors' hearts, and when he had pictured he fore them the perils and privations which the American army had under gone, the achievements and victories they had obtained, he exclaimed with a leeling which soon became conta gious4 But Mho is this man who dis turbs a nation's devotion, and at the vc ry moment when thry are with up lifted arms returning thai ks to ihe God of battles, exclaimed. be( f, beef, beef!" In America the nme of Jchnnv Ilouk will never die. (lenius has touched it, and made it immortal tut hat vr Jchn nv Hook w hen rontr'Nted whh p rn 'i all? ..s a candle to the sun. Fror.i t he moment that the pal son flam ed hi keen, worldly tithc-rlivf eriiin eye into the poor man's box, his very imjuiutiort appears to have become hossified. I hmuhnut hll creation he could see r.n'hing but beef! I histouuded world, with ul) its rich sa rieties, was in his mind nothing buta round of bet f: his roses and his lilio be came transformed into htillo ks. not a text could he think of excrp, the fleih pois of I-HS p - Beef became to him what le was to Bonifac e. hi ciier end his dream, his tjarnicnt and his pillow in short, whether the parson was eaiiiiR or thinking, dream- in;or preachini;, it was all the iattir-he SJW nothing, said not hinj;, thought of no- tbinct, but beef, beef, beef ! The disease, innorcnt at firt, became at last malignant it excited all hN sympathie , nl he asowru bv bis holv hatred nf perse cuii"n re-." i ir In- hi nvi rhin in rhiiril v urn for V; W " I r i r. i Ul J J L ""liT II 13 l'iI'M I t It C II f t I -i U i" m. s"1 nave e"'" round to bid deh mce to the hole common council after - TaM Ly. ,J',e rmnd WM V,ctnT j'" mttrs tw W,"'V i The fit wa q lute and the lean w w rrnUv. , , .. .. . . Aiii! tbrn hi. tnnun itm .'iiji:c;r hni.t - , . .. in i-ii i, . r """"'"' """I- II II HII1I1U1 IIW ' 11 II JKL U I .dill I' 111 the miscie nt I'll make it a city business I'll have the mmistir tried iit Hick's Hall I'll retain a juc!i;e U. piost ciile him the drpi'iy recorder shall prosecute j-,;-, ;; 2 further, thr re! vf iirr- men shsll be on the bench, and lie shan't have even a ch.incc. lor I'll have him in dicted five minutes befo e winner the ras cal shall become a Pythagorean, und take a distaste to the st oir animal creation l Laughter) even in Botany Bay he won't h,ie the hardihood to l(Mk a bullock in he face." (Continued laughter.) So far this may appear a jest, and as such io far you see I have not been unwilling to Heat ir. But whit will you say when I trll you that he actually pin it into prac dee ? What will you say when I tell you that he took three whole daysto deliberate, ..nd then, though the poor man returned :o his yrnrchn tu his daih work as usual, actually had him arrested on a charge of felony I yes! when the poor peasant with all tl.c boldness natural to innocence, duy nfirrday presented himself before him when he wasbenoinn in toil over the slug- yiib soil of hs more insensible propiie tar, be had him ai rested on a cnatge oi j robbery 1 And who did this a titan of wealth--'a man of God I the very" Dives" of the bi!)le, "faiinj sumptuoutJy every day," and grudging to poverty even the crumb' from bis table ! Who was the ma ijistrate before whom he brought htm ? A serjeant-at-law Lh ov a father-in-law 1 the raii-in law accuse J nnd the father-in-law roinniiitKil him : und. indeed, thev were ric;ht not to let the idoi y of the I achievement go out of the family. Ima (;tne, gen lemen, yon behold the 'specta cle the parson swearing to the complex ion of the penny worth the butler endea voring to coax him into reasonthe cook maintaining the inviolability of the larder the sergeant tlircateninc; to bundle her out ol the office, until ut labt, anud t.'e Ba bel of the mutest, and the alten; ite aii ctndancy of beef!" " Church 1" New Rate 1" and " Botany Bay I" be was con fined to five hours imprisonment by these twin ornaments of law and divinity. j At length his friends heard of his situa tion he was then necessarily admitted to ' bail, nd bound over to meet his charitable "pastor and mister" at the sessions. Let us pause here, gentlemen, and reflect on the situation of my client during the inter val . fumed out of service on a charge of robbery that robbery the robbery of his own master unable to net employment under the doubt obliged to spend the laM shilling of his Kttlc savings, amounting to ; twenty pounds, in preparations for his lie , fence with many weeks before his inno cence could be vindicated, and with the certainty, that even in case of an acquit tal, the fact of bis having been tried would cling to him for ever wcih these sufTer ines of a poor man and an innocent man, j and then say what a r'rh in m and a yuil j ty man should pay for thei infliction The i interval, however, m'rH.t have had i's val ueit misfit have awakened in the pros ecutor some compunction of humanity j did it do sa.J no, for four weeks did he j brood over the serpent e; of his niali,; fi'uy ; fo" four weeks, i:i.;ht after ni.ht, eiid be lay his head upon bis pilh', afte r pray 1 in to the Almighty if such men ever pray) to be forgiven on the tc iois el l.ii own forgiveness 1 I will suppose for ti mo ment the worst against mv client I wiil suppose that this charge uiiht have bee n I true, and th?t the poor man, goaded by hunger, und tempted bv opportunity, had I taken the rich man's beef,' vJuc one pen I ny' oujjht he not, as a minister of die "gospel, to have forgotten and forgiven it ouht be not, as a man, to have thank ed the Power that placed him above tcrnp j tation, and dropped a tear for the unfurtu j natc ! But w hen it was fahe, false on the i face of it adopted upon grounds which ' even a drivelling idiot would have dis countenanced, and stubbornly perscrvercd in ag.iinst the combined oaths af every one consulted, in what terms shall we ex press our disgust and indignation ? At length the long expected sessions came at ten, to a moment, the p irson was in attendance day afitr day he i.-iised not a minute and at least half their period, up n the steps of the ; prison house was this sleek emblem of 'orthodoxy to he seen, elbowing the thieves and convicts as thev passed, and piously preparing to add an inno tcnt man to their number. He vv is saved all the trouble in procuring ros attend ence he surrendered himsell at once, v t attended merely by Ins hail, but by the indignant crowds who had known him from his infinc y, and who pressed forward to ;.tUst ti.e in dustrious honesty i f his life. Tf e cause was called on, and without com punction did this reverend clergyman, upon no other grounds exept those 1 have stated, depose to a ch .rgc of fel ony against my client ! His w ealth his rank his character his sacred station all were thrown into the scale against the poor man. What matter ed it that he had risen to industry with the morning sun, and tint its brightest noon could not reveal a speekupon his character ? What mattered it that he had smoothed the sorrow s of a pa rent's age ! There stood a minister c-f the gospel a man w hose functions pi teed him above suspicion there he stood, with the very book in his hand from which he should preach the for- v -r..., of inii.rie. Iiuiiuiicr on mv client the brand of an ungrateful felo ny ! Awful to the poor man wasth.it moment: his country, his liberty, his character, (the poor man's only wealth) Kt hazard, the little world in which 1 c lived all were the witnesses of h.s shame and degradation. If he were convicted, the utmost penalty of the law must hate fallen on him. and fall en justly, because to the civil crime breach of trust was added ; even on an acquittal, pains and penalties must have followed the expenses he was put to ! a fearful issue ! but what did it signify to this follower of the apos tles i The poor man might have rot ted in a dungeon ; but he had a splen did palace in w hich to riot. The mat might have tossed ' upon his bed sraw ; hut he had his silken rRt opt and his bed of down. The poor tnau might hav? traversed the returnless' ocean ; but he had the luxuries of life around him : the hoarded coflerand. the groaning board to some souls, the poet tells, afford ample compensa tion for the scorn of mankind. Gentlemen, do I use strong language; I am not ashamed to do so in this ras. cully transaction. I mean not to use measured language. .Though when I meet a minister of the gospel with the p iU nt of bis election stamped upon his life humble amid the homage which his me rits gain him poor like the dyi.ig Tendon from his charities pi ous, not in his preaching, but in his acts a link, as it were, betwe en the earth which he instructs, and the heav en to which he leads, teachii. the hap piness of the one and typifying ihe purity of the other though I can ad l.iire such men even in my inmost heart, yet I will not extend my rever ence to that vermin sanctity w hich bur rows its way under the foundation of the temple, and eats the bread of tho shrine it has endangered. Gentlemen, I need scarcely tell you the result ot the prosecution. The prosecutor swore, as might have been expected, to the identity of the beef to the identity of the bread and after estuh lishing his full claim to the pennyworth, he called up his household to corrobo rate him. One of then has been turned out of his srrvii.e since, th: other has a second opportunity to-dav. What they swore then, 1 take it for granted they will swear now; and if they do, I defy any man of conscience to say that this nun hid probable, grounds for his prosecution, recollcc: ing as you will that all was commuri cated to him before the sessions, nay, bef .re the arrest. What was the rc s ilt The jury rose indignantly, inter prying between the accused and the noitiiicatijU c.f a defence he was '. ence acquitted. Parson VbUs dc-pancd happy, I would have si-pposed, in the fssapec i-iiiocencr, if hs? had sin? offered the sli-htrst compensation if be md rtu te ndered the '-rpe nses to svhiih his ca price had put my client. ; but he has not done so ; he chooses again to col: : before the public, again to meet, I trust, the merited rebuke of an honor able jury. The only point in whi:h such a man can be made to feel is his purse, and I hope it will at last be open ed to the claims of the poor. The trial over, my client and his prosecutor both departed, the one to his lordly mansion, the other to his home of desolation the one exel timing, popuhis n-sibUot, the other ruminating on ail the wmcs tc which poverty is subject, and the wick edness which m.,y thrive even uad;r a consecrated garment. The day of retribution, however, is at last arrived ; and at your honr.: ha'ids I confidently claim it. I claim it, not merely for expenses incurred ; fur character involved; for oppression exercised; but I dtim it in addition, fnr the acjony of mind w hich the plain tiff must have suffered when he saw himself attainted before the world as a felon. But if I anted an aggrava tion in this c.-.L', do 1 no: find it in the stiticn cf the defendant- in that edu cation which should have meliorated his heart ; in that wealth of which, as a clergyman, he was but the almoner of heaven ; in that sacred office which should have prcrsed on him the as sumption of benevolence? What would the world say, and naturally s iy, w hen they saw such a prosecutor ? Would they not say, that glaring indeed misl have been the guilt which forced him to depose it. Would they Lelievc that it was assumed upon grounds too ri diculous for credulity ; grasped, at fir-t, with a disgraceful promptitude, and afterwards pursued with as disgrace ful a perseverance ; got up by a kind of family arrangement ; dragged. be fore the public aja'mst all evidence; against the daily return ot the accused to work ; ag .Inst the impossibility of access ; against the dissimilarity of the article; ag.inst th unanimous usti mony of every witness who was. ex amined. Gentlemen of the jury, I shall lrave this case to you ; if you hink that innocence should be accused character involved expense accu mulated imprisonment endured, and 'elony imputed upon grounds like the se dismiss my client : but if you oold probity in respect, though clothed n rags, and oppression in botror, tho' it be robed in lawn I call on you to i y bo by your conscientious verdict. The jury instantly returned a ver dict for the plaintiff ; damages fifty ounds, .Wtit dtt un i.rlion wAtVA bmii atv rrrimn ;V jiut Aini.Ve.