CHRONICLE. 



423 



those papers printed ; but the in- 

 formations were laid severally. Mr. 

 Rpyncll plea'ded not guilty. 



The witness produced to support 

 the charge, -vvas William Abbott, 

 ■who swore that he had lived at No. 

 17, Martlet-court, Bow-street, 

 Covcnt-garden, and that he had a 

 set of three volumes of the book 

 already mentioned, the title-pages of 

 which were scribbled on and de- 

 faced, but not by himself, or in his 

 presence. He got the books from 

 Mr. Eglin, a bookseller, living at 

 No. 6, Church-street, Soho, whose 

 property they were, and was di- 

 rected by him to address himself to 

 Mr. Reynell, in order to get new 

 title-pages printed for the books, 

 for the sole purpose of laying in- 

 formations to recover the penalties. 

 When he told his story to the de- 

 fendant, he said that there were 

 three volumes of the work, but 

 that he might as well strike off two 

 or three sets more, which was ac- 

 cordingly done. He then paid for 

 the printing, endorsed his name and 

 date upon the back, and gave them 

 to Mr. Eglin, his employer. He 

 had not the books then in the office, 

 because he" did not think it neces- 

 sary ; but had them still at his own 

 house. He gave in different names 

 and residences to different printers. 



On his cross-examination by Mr. 

 Gurney, this Abbott could not name 

 any particular profession he belong- 

 ed to, but said he dealt in a great 

 number of things, and had left off 

 insuring long ago. He knew that 

 Eglin emplo)'ed him for the purpose 

 of laying informations ; but he could 

 not tell the number of printers on 

 whom he used the same artifice. 

 They might have been a hundred, or 

 more. He was in the habit of hav- 

 ing money from Eglin, but got uo 



particular sum for this job. He got 

 about 26 or 271. of him about that 

 time. 1 le did not expect to be paid 

 for his attendance before the magis- 

 trates, nor was he any party to the 

 transaction of Eglin's selling the in- 

 formations, or making a transfer of 

 his right of information to Bell, the 

 informer, in this case. 



Mr. Gurney then informed the 

 magistrates, that though he thought 

 it right to proceed thus far in the 

 examination, he had one short ex- 

 ception to make, which would dis- 

 pose, of the present and several of 

 the other cases. Whenever he was 

 employed to defend clients of this 

 description, he thought it his duty 

 not to tell Mr. Bell, or any of his 

 brother informers, the manner in 

 which he ought to draw informa- 

 tions ; but always confined himself 

 to any one objection which was suf- 

 ficient for the purpose, though he 

 might have, as was the case at ore- 

 sent, many others in reserve, if they 

 should bo necessary. On referring 

 to the act of parliament, they would 

 find, that it omitted to attach any 

 penalty to the printing only, but to 

 the printing and publishing of a 

 sheet or book. Therefore he con- 

 tended, that, as the word publishing 

 was not included in the information, 

 and, if it had been, the fact being 

 negatived by the evidence, this case 

 did not come within the true con, 

 struction of the act of parliament. 



Mr. Nares said, that, niider the 

 present circumstances, he thought it 

 right for the bench to give an opi- 

 nion at once. It could never be the 

 wish of the magistrates there, nor, 

 indeed, of any magistrates, to en- 

 courage such shameful informations 

 as these, by which a set of honest 

 and respectable men were inno- 

 cently entrapped into an inadvertent 



E c 4 inlraction 



