quiet, molest and disturb the peace and common tranquillity of our lord the king, and of this kingdom, and to traduce and vilify our present happy constitution, and to bring our said lord the king and his government of this kingdom into hatred and contempt with all the subjects of this realm, and to asperse and scandalize our said lord the king and his government of this kingdom, and to excite the subjects of our said lord the king to sedition against his government, on the 18th day of November last, did preach, speak-and publish the following words, to wit: In the first count of and concerning the government and magistracy of this kingdom and the subjects thereof, these seditious words following: "Darkness has long cast her veil over the land;" (meaning amongst others this kingdom) "persecution and tyranny have carried universal sway;" (meaning amongst others in this kingdom)" magisterial powers" (meaning amongst others magisterial powers in this kingdom)" have long been a scourge to the liberties and rights of the people" (meaning amongst others the people of this kingdom). "It does not matter by what name these usurped powers are known, whether by king, senate, potentate, or stadtholder, they are in either sense usurped." In the second count, these seditious words following: "The yoke of bondage among our neighbours," (meaning the French)" seems now to be pretty well broken, and it is expected the same blessing is awaiting us," (meaning the subjects of this kingdom)" when persecution and tyranny shall be no more; when enjoying" (meaning when the subjects of this kingdom enjoying) "the liberties of a free people, we" (meaning the subjects of this kingdom)"shall boast of having introduced among us" (meaning the subjects of this kingdom)" that equality our neighbours" (meaning the French)" have acquired." The third count, similar to the first. Mr. Serjeant Rooke said he was again called upon to prosecute Mr. Winterbotham for sedition; he had yesterday substantiated the charges in one indictment, and he had no doubt but he should be able to do the same by this. The words laid in the indictment, and which he should prove to have been uttered by Mr. Winterbotham, he stated to be of the most inflammatory nature; and said they went so far as to aim at the total destruction and subversion of all the governments of Europe: for Mr. Winterbotham had not contented himself with objecting to this or the other form of government, but he had asserted that they were all usurped. Of the design and tendency of this sermon, the serjeant said, there could be no doubt, if the manner in which Mr. Winterbotham introduced it, and the time of the delivery were considered. He told his audience his text applied to the present times, and that it became him to treat it politically-which he did particularly with respect to France and this country; the serjeant stated, that the audience Mr. Winterbotham addressed was not an audience calculated to fathom the depth of political subjects, and was therefore more easily deceived by specious pretences: and he thought no motive could be adduced that could have influenced Mr. Winterbotham at that time to have gone into a political discussion, but that of exciting rebellion and discontent. The serjeant said, this sermon was not delivered on a day that called for a discussion of such a nature, it was on the 18th of November, 1792, when the situation of France was not very eligible; the government was overturned, Paris was a scene of misery, one massacre had followed another, the palace itself was violated-the guards murderedthe king and queen thrown into a dungeon, and the goverment seized by a mob. He said, it was at this time that Mr. Winterbotham thought proper to tell his auditory, that all the powers of magistracy were usurped, and to utter the words they had heard read. The serjeant said, there were persons who thought all government an usurpation, and he supposed Mr. Winterbotham to be one of those, or he would never have considered the then situation of France to be a blessing, or have said that he expected the same blessing was awaiting us, and that we should soon have to boast of having introduced among us, that equality our neighbours the French had acquired. The serjeant, after some other general comments on the text and on the absurdity and wickedness of those who wished to throw us into a state of anarchy and rebellion by preaching up equality, concluded by observing he should call his witnesses to prove the words laid in the indictment, and he had no doubt but the jury would find the defendant guilty. Edward Lyne examined by Mr. Serjeant. Lawrence. Were you at the meeting in How's lane on the evening of the 18th of November last?-Yes; I went there with Mr. Darby, in conse quence of a report that Mr. Winterbotham had preached a seditious sermon on the 5th of November. Were you there before the defendant began his sermon?-Yes, we were; we heard him begin. Do you recollect the text he preached from? Yes, it was Rom. 13th ch. 12 ver. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." How did he treat this text?After the preamble to his sermon, he said, he felt him self bound by the present juncture of affairs, to apply the text politically--we were then in the aisle, but on Mr. Winterbotham's proposing his intention to treat his subject politically, we went into a pew and sat down; He then repeated the words of his text, and said, "Darkness has long cast her veil over the land, persecution and tyranny have carried universal sway." He then expatiated on that head, and proceeded, "Magisterial powers have long been a scourge to the liberties and rights fof the people; it does not matter by what names these usurped powers were known, whether by king, senate, potentate, or stadtholder, they are in either sense usurped. This he endeavoured to prove by the following part of his discourse, which I do not recollect. He then adverted to the affairs of France, and said, “The yoke of bondage amongst our neighbours, seems now to be pretty well broken, and it is expected the same blessing is awaiting us; when persecution and tyranny shall be no more, when enjoying the liberties of a free people we shall boast of having introduced amongst us that equality our neighbours have acquired." He then immediately or soon afterwards rejoined, "To possess such an acquisition, we were to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light." Do you recollect any thing more of the sermon?There is no other particular passage that I can recollect the words of. Did you ever take minutes of what you heard?--Immediately on leaving the meeting, with those observations strongly impressed on my mind, I went home to my lodgings, and there made minutes; and I am, sure these are the very expressions the defendant used. Cross-examined by Mr. Gibbs. Pray, Mr. Lyne, how came you to go to the meeting, on the evening on which this sermon was preached?-I went with Mr. Darby, in consequence of the rumours which were circulated respecting the former sermon. You say you went in consequence of certain rumours which had been circulated respecting the former sermon; I would ask you if you believed those rumours?-No; I disbelieved the report. I believe you are not one of Mr. Winterbotham's congregation?—No, I am not. Then as you are not in the habits of attending Mr. Winterbotham, and as you disbelieved the reports in circulation respecting the former serinon, I would ask you what were the motives with which you went on that evening?-I went as the friend of Mr. Winterbotham, to take his part, that I might have an opportunity to defend him against the accusations circulating concerning him. Then it was your general christian philanthropy that led you to the meeting as the friend of Mr. Winterbotham ?-Yes it was my general christian philanthropy that led me to go there. As the friend of Mr. Winterbotham, I would ask you, what is your opinion of the whole of the sermon?-I considered the whole of the sermon as totally seditions Was there no part of it but what was seditious?-There were many moral and religious sentiments, but the whole, in a chain, was seditious. Pray how long do you think Mr. Winterbotham was, in preaching this sermon?— About three quarters of an hour. And though you went to the meeting as the friend of Mr. Winterbotham, and though Mr. Winterbotham was three quarters of an hour in preaching, you do not recollect any passage in the discourse but what was seditious?—At that time I did not wish to recollect any that were not seditious. Though you were the friend of Mr. Winterbotham, you had no wish to retain any passage in your memory but those you thought seditious?-I endeavoured to retain in iny mind those which were so strong, But you don't recollect any other sentence in the whole sermon, but those you have given in evidence?—I can't repeat any other sentence. In what part of the meeting were you, during the time Mr. Winterbotham was preach ing?-I remained in the aisle till he talked upon politics, and then I sat down in a pew. I think you said, if you had thought Mr. Winterbotham would have been prosecuted you should not have attended; pray how came you then to be an evidence?-When he said he should treat his subject politically, I then determined to attend to what he said, intending to take part against him if called upon. Pray in what manner did Mr. Winterbotham begin his sermon?-lle gave a moral exposition of the text at first; but I don't remember what he said, neither the words nor the tenor of them. Then there was nothing seditious in the first part of the sermon?—I really think the first exposition of the text was such as any clergyman might have used in any place of devotion. But you don't remember any thing of this part of the subject which you think was unexceptionable?-I cannot repeat any sentence; I did not endeavour to store in my mind any part of it. Though you went to the meeting as the friend of Mr. Winterbotham, and for the express purpose of vindicating him from what your conceived to be false accusations, yet you did not endeavour to store in your mind any sentence of that part of the sermon which you conceived to be unexceptionable? You say you went as the friend of Mr. Winterbotham, that you might have an opportunity to take his part; that was your motive for going?-Yes; and if I had thought he would have been prosecuted I would not have-No, I did not. gone. As you say you cannot repeat any sentence that Mr. Winterbotham uttered besides those you have given in evidence, I'll endeavour to call a few passages to your mind. I believe Mr. Winterbotham made several quotations from the preceding verse in the chapter from which he took his text?-There were many quotations from the Sacred History, he made the chapter the thesis of his discourse. Mr. Winterbotham, in commenting on the preceding parts of the chapter, I believe, speaking of the origin of magisterial power, said the powers that be are ordained of God; did he not?-I think he did mention the origin of all power. You recollect he did say something of the origin of power; well, do you recollect what he said was the origin?-He did mention that the powers that be are of God, and quoted that verse," Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God:" but I considered many of his observations as interspersed for the purpose of insinuating what was flagitious and wrong. Then you think what Mr. Winterbotham said on the verses preceding his text, was only to introduce those parts which you think seditious?-I think what went before was consistent, in order to carry his point. I believe Mr. Winterbotham, speaking of the powers of magistrates, not only spoke of their origin, but also that they were the ministers of God for good, that they ought to be obeyed and supported; I think he said something of this kind?--I won't contend that he did not quote the rest of the chapter, speaking of the powers of government, and containing the doctrine of Christian obedience; but if he did, any comment he made on it entirely escaped my notice. Pray was this sermon divided into distinct heads? By one person the sermon might be supposed to be divided into several heads, by another not. I believe Mr. Winterbotham, in his sermon, likewise said something about different orders in society; I believe he contended for the necessity of them; and reprobated the idea of equality. You certainly recollect that something of this kind was said?--I do not recollect any thing in the sermon that tended to show the necessity of different orders. You don't recollect any thing of the kind;do you recollect Mr. Winterbotham's saying, the man who could entertain an idea of equality, either in character or property, was a fool or a madman, and ought to be dealt with as such? If such arguments had been used, they would appear quite inconsistent; they would appear quite contrary to the drift of the sermon. Might it not have escaped your notice? do not know whether it could or not. I I think Mr. Winterbotham in his sermon insisted on some motives, which ought to induce persons to obey the powers ordained?I do not know whether he did or not. VOL. XXII. You are sure you don't recollect any thing of the kind; pray did Mr. Winterbotham mention the arguments made use of by the apostle for that purpose?-I listened more to the defendant's own opinions, than what he stated the apostle to think; I considered the whole discourse as calcu lated to create discontent, though there were many specious arguments used to reconcile the people. Pray did not Mr. Winterbotham say something in his sermon about the Africans, about their deliverance from slavery? I have some faint idea that there was something said about the Africans, but I cannot tell what; I do not recollect any thing of the sermon but what I have already proved. You say you don't recollect any thing of the sermon, but what you have already proved; I'll endeavour to refresh your memory: I think Mr. Winterbotham, in his sermon, stated the absolute necessity of a chief magistrate, whether dignified with the title of emperor, king, stadtholder, doge, president, or any other?—I do not recollect. I'll endeavour to call up your recollection to another part of Mr. Winterbotham's sermon. In speaking of the first part of his text, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand;" I believe he applied these words to several times and circumstances;-you certainly recollect this?-Those words were only applied to the present times. You did not hear Mr. Winterbotham apply these words to any thing than the present times;-pray were you there the whole of the time in which he was preaching ?--Yes; Mr. Darby was not, he left the meeting before the sermon was ended, but I tarried. Did you see Mr. Darby at any time afterwards that evening?-Yes, Mr. Darby came to me the same night. And then I suppose you made minutes?Mr. Darby did not then see the minutes I had made. Has he ever seen them since?-Yes, perhaps in the space of ten days after, or it might be a shorter space. Then you had no communication with Mr. Darby that night about the sermon? you did not say any thing to him that you had made minutes of it? I had no communication about the minutes; I only expressed my resentment to Mr. Darby. Pray what are you?-I am clerk to the collector of excise at Plymouth. * On the 15th of Dec. 1792, the defendant rode from Ashburton to Plymouth, in company with this witness, and Mr. Tyrell, collector of the excise; when some conversation taking place respecting this sermon, the defendant stated this clause, and made his appeal to the witness, whose answer was, he believed them to be the identical words delivered from the pulpit. Orig. Ed. 3 L Were you at the meeting in How's-lane, on the 18th of November?-Yes; I went there with Mr. Lyne. Do you remember who preached?-Yes, Mr. Winterbotham preached; the text was 13th Rom. 8th verse. of their delivery, have made a very deep imbeen spoken, those words must at the time pression on your mind?-I never heard a sermon that struck me so forcibly. What were the parts that made such an impression? I do not recollect the particular parts. I believe there were no particular parts but what you found in Mr. Lyne's minutes?— There was a part of Mr. Lyne's minutes I did not copy, what passed after I left the meeting. You copied all that was in Mr. Lyne's minutes that was said before you left the meeting?-I did copy all that part. How long were you at the meeting?About twenty minutes. And you take upon you to swear that what you have given in evidence were Mr. Winterbotham's identical words?-I do not say the defendant used the identical words, but only words to that tendency. And what did he say about the text?-He made some observations which I did not attend to, and then said, at this juncture it was necessary to apply it politically; I then paid attention, and Mr. Lyne went into a pew, and sat down, but I remained in the aisle; Mr. Winterbotham then proceeded: "Darkness has long cast her veil over the land; persecution and tyranny have carried universal sway." He then expatiated upon that head, and proceeded: "Magisterial powers have long been a scourge to the liberties and rights of the people; it does not matter by what means these usurped powers are known, whether by king, senate, potentate, or stadtholder, they are in either sense usurped." He then introduced the former part of his text-the night is far spent, the day is at hand, and followed How many persons were there present, do it up with this observation: "The yoke of you think, at the time this sermon was bondage amongst our neighbours, seems now preached?-One hunded, a hundred and fifty, to be pretty well broken, and it is expected or two hundred, the meeting house was not the same blessing is awaiting us, when perse-crowded cution and tyranny shall be no more; when enjoying the liberties of a free people, we shall boast of having introduced amongst us that equality our neighbours have acquired." I then had occasion to leave the meeting: I afterwards returned, and found the service done, and Mr. Lyne gone. Are you certain that what you have given in evidence are the defendant's exact words: -I am certain it was the sense, if not the exact words. Cross-examined by Mr. East. Did you make any minutes of what you heard?-I made no minutes at that time, but have done it since. Pray was what you have given in evidence connected together in one connected sentence?-These expressions which I have stated did not follow each other immediately. How long was it before you took minutes? Then the minutes you made were copied from Mr. Lyne's?-Mr. Lyne's minutes recalled the words to my recollection, How came you by Mr. Lyne's minutes?-I asked him for them; that which I recollected I copied merely for my own satisfaction. You had no idea then that you should be called on as an evidence?—At that time I had no idea of a prosecution. Mr. Gibbs. As you only copied from Mr. Lyne's minutes what you recollected to have § As you were not in a pew, how far were you from the door while Mr Winterbotham was preaching?-I was not very far inside the door. What are you?-A midshipman în the navy, and my reason for going to the meeting was, I had heard of the serinon on the fifth of November. DEFENCE. Mr. Gibbs. A miracle was once stated to have happened relative to the translation of the septuagint. Seventy old men were put into different cells to translate the testament, and they all translated it in the same words. It is necessary for the jury to believe that the same kind of miracle has again happened, if they think that the two witnesses for the crown, one of them a clerk to the collector of excise-the other a midshipman in the navy, could both go to a meeting-hear a sermon preached which lasted three quarters of an hour-come out again, collect a great number of sentences in the sermon-retain them in their memory-and come here nine months afterwards, and repeat them precisely in the same words. This I have not stomach to digest. One of the witnesses took notes of the particular passages, which the other saw and copied; yet he said he did not speak from them, but from his own recollection of what passed at the time. If that witness spoke from what he copied from the notes of the other, all his evidence is to be left out of the case; and the jury are either to believe the miracle of the septuagint to be again realised-they are to believe that those two witnesses recollected exactly the same words and no other; or they must lay out of the case the evidence of the last witness, I request the jury to recollect for a moment, that the name of the defendant is Winterbotham-that he is brought here to be tried for having preached a seditious sermon on the 18th of November. It has been stated that he had preached a sermon on the 5th of November, which had in many points been greatly misrepesented, and about which he must have expected a prosecution: and yet these witnesses pretend that he went into the same pulpit and preached another sermon, on the 18th, which would bring him again within the reach of the law;-it is certainly improbable The witnesses for the prosecution are both young men, the latter at least, not very likely to carry off in his memory such a string of sentences as those he repeated. On the credit of those witnesses, I shall not much trouble the jury; and yet Mr. Lyne (the first witness) gave such an account that I think he could not well be believed. He said "that not being of the sect to which Mr. Winterbotham belongs, but a clerk in the excise, and having before heard that Mr. Winterbotham had preached a seditious sermon on the fifth of November, that he, who wished well to Mr. Winterbotham, went to this meeting, hoping and not doubting, but that he should find an opportunity to contradict the injurious reports which had been circulated relative to the sermon, which Mr. Winterbotham had before preached." He told the jury that it was his general christian philanthropy" (those were his words) that brought him there, thinking Mr. Winterbotham would not again preach a seditious sermon; and that by the defendant's not preaching a political sermon, then he should be able to convince the people he had not before preached seditiously. Is this evidence credible or consistent? Can the jury believe that this man attended there for the purpose of finding an exculpation of Mr. Winterbotham? that he, who had such general christian philanthropy, that he believed every man innocent who was accused, should go there for the purpose of finding Mr. Win terbotham innocent; and yet he should not recollect a single passage in the whole sermon, but what had a contrary tendency? He went there not with a view to accuse but to defend: his attention then must have been to those points of the sermon which would rather exculpate than accuse Mr. Winterbotham. We generally attend to what we wish, and yet the witness could remember no one passage in the course of the defendant's sermon, but those which he had given in evidence to criminate him, and which Mr. Darby had echoed back to Mr. Lyne again This witness has said he did not recollect a single sentence of all those passages in the sermon which I asked him about; but I shall prove that those passages which I questioned the witness to the truth of, were uttered by Mr. Winterbotham, and are to be found in Mr. Winterbotham's sermon. The line of defence which I shall adopt is, that the words used by Mr. Winterbotham are explained by other sentences in the sermon, and that they bear quite a different sense from that stated by the witnesses for the crown, which is inconsistent with the context. If I prove this, the jury will conclude, that they were not applied in the sense stated by the witnesses, and surely in candour and moderation, exercising justice with mercy, and even without mercy, they will not then find Mr. Winterbotham guilty.-I do not mean to say those two witnesses are pefjured; but I will say, that it is not true that, the words were used in their acceptation of them. Those witnesses, not being competent judges of the subject, have brought the words to the jury; but they will not bear the construction they have put upon them, and were used in a very different sense. It is true that Mr. Winterbotham chose the text which they have mentioned, but he did not confine his discourse to that verse; he went through the whole of the chapter, and the sermon was a running commentary upon it; he explained the former part of the chapter, which breathed nothing but loyalty, and a proper subordination to government, and he particularly stated "that every soul was to be subject to the higher powers-that the powers that be are ordained of God:" yet of this the witness does not remember a single passage. If the former part of the chapter was introduced, he did not remember it; it was imma terial. It was certainly immaterial to his purpose, but it is very material for those who defend Mr. Winterbotham. He said he could recollect nothing in the sermon that recommended obedience to the civil magistrates, nothing of subordination, when every passage of the chapter was explained, and yet he went as the friend of Mr. Winterbotham! He could not recollect that the defendant said, the magistrate was the minister of God for good; that the good was mentioned, or that he mentioned any motives for obeying the magistrate! He had no recollection that the former words of the text were commented upon, or that any darkness was mentioned. The general scheme of this sermon, I contend was, that we were to obey the rulers that were set over us for good; and that this was the duty of christians: and Mr. Winterbotham contended, that this chapter of St. Paul contained the directions and mo tives, which ought to influence christians in the duty of obedience to the magisterial power. I shall also prove, that those words following were used, which the witness for the crown almost denied :-"That the powers which be are ordained of God, that the economy of nature proclaimed it, that man was formed a social and dependent being, that the poor could not do without the rich, nor the rich without the poor, that every thing around us proclaimed the necessity of degrees and |