598 
would himself add any thing to what 
had been said by his counsel, which 
he declined: ‘‘ his counsel having ac- 
quitted themselves with so much 
ability, and so entirely to his satis- 
faétion, that he had no wish to say 
any thing himself.” . 
Mr. solicitor-general, on the part 
of the crown, replied. He reviewed 
the whole evidence, and insisted that 
the words, which were mere loose 
arid idle words, although they could 
not be treason, yet, if they excited 
and stirred up others to commit acts 
of treason, then they became trea- 
son themselves. © 
Lord Eienborough began to sum 
up nearly as follows: ** Gentlemen 
of the jury, the evidence, on both 
sides, and the arguments of counsel 
being concluded, it only now re- 
mains for me to discharge my duty. 
An irksome duty it certainly is: 
but considermg with what minds 
you come prepared, for J have ob- 
served your deep attention to all 
parts of the cause, it will facilitate 
my means of doing it. Those 
means are, by a faithful detail of the 
evidence, and such faithful observa- 
tions upon it, as I am dest able to 
make. Gentlemen, the prisoner 
stands charged with high treason, of 
three sorts, not very different in 
their nature: Ist. For compassing 
the death of the king; next, for 
compassing to seize his person; and, 
3dly, for conspiring to depose him. 
The first of these is treason, by the 
statute of Edward III.; the two 
Jast, by a recent statute of the pre- 
sent reign. Fight distinét overt 
acts are stated as evidences of this 
intention. It is not necessary to 
do more than to state the substance 
of them, Gentlemen, the overt 
acts are the holding conversation for 
effecting those malignant purposes of 
} 
ANNUAL REGISTER, is03. 
the heart. Before I state the evi. 
dence of the overt aét, I think fit 
to say a word or two on the topics 
urged respecting the nature of the 
proof. It is said, by the defendant’s 
counsel, to consist only of loose 
words, the ebullition of an irritated 
or crazy mind, it would not be 
treason, because it would be too 
much to infer such a purpose as the 
destruction of the king from words 
so spoken. But when words are 
spoken at a public meeting, and ad-. 
dressed to others, exciting and per- 
suading them to that purpose, it 
never was doubted by any one Eng- 
lish lawyer; it never will be doubt- 
ed but that they amount to treason, 
Another subjeét, upon which I wish 
to say a few words, is, the nature of 
evidence by accomplice :—that he is 
a competent witness, upon whose 
testimony you may found a conclu- 
sion, cannot be doubted. If it 
were not so, it would be a derelic- 
tion of duty in the judges sitting 
here, and those who have formerly 
sat in courts of justice, not to have 
repelled witnesses from the oath, 
and have told the jury, that they 
were not fit to be credited : but they 
are always received, and although 
sullied with the contamination of 
the crime which they impute to 
others, they are credible, though 
their testimony must be received 
with caution and attention. ‘They 
may be confirmed by various cir- 
cumstances, by the clearness of their 
own narration, or by the narration 
of others. They may be confirm- 
ed by the coincidence of external 
circumstance, and broken in upon 
by no one fact of adverse circum- 
stance. In the case before us, when 
so many scenes are laid, all of which, 
if untrue, may be falsified, and it is 
falsified in no one instance, if a per- 
son 
