602 
first consul and chief magistrate of 
France; between whom and_ this 
country, at the time of the publica- 
tion, there was, and continues to 
‘be, peace and amity. That it was 
published with the intention of 
bringing him into hatred and con- 
tempt, not only with the subjects 
of this country, but with the sub- 
jects of his own; and for the pur- 
pose of exciting the subjects of that 
country to rebel against him, and 
to remove him from the situation 
of power which he held; and far- 
ther, that it was published with 
the intention of exciting to his as- 
sassination and his death, and like- 
wise with the intention of disturb- 
ing and interrupting that peace 
which exists between that country 
and this. With this intention it is 
charged to have been published ; 
with this tendency it is characterized 
as having been published. The of- 
fence here charged to have been 
committed by the defendant is this, 
that his publication is a direct in- 
citement and exhortation to the 
people of the French republic to 
rise up in arms against their first 
consul and chief magistrate, to ar- 
rest the power from the hands, in 
which, de faéto, it is placed, and 
to take away the life of the man 
who presides over them. Is it pos- 
sible we can have any difficulty in 
supporting this proposition, that 
such a publication is an offence 
against the laws of this country ?” 
The case of lord George Gordon, 
for a libel on the queen of France, 
and that of John Vint, for a libel 
against the emperor of Russia, are 
exactly in point: the defendants 
were both found guilty. 
Gentlemen, I shall now call your 
attention a little more particularly 
to the libel itself, which is the sub- 
ANNUAL: REG ISTIER,( 1803... 
ject of prosecution. | And I ‘do not 
think it material to go over all the 
circumstances stated in the libel. 
My tearned friend, by his opening 
of the pleadings, has rendered that 
unnecessary. Attending to the na- 
ture of it, and of its object. and 
general tendency, it is “proper: I 
should tell you that there are two 
of these compositions, which I charge 
as being direct exhortations to the 
assassination of Napoleon Bona- 
parte himself. They are contained 
in the first number of the Ambigu. 
The publication. is called T'he Am- 
bigu, or atrocious and amusing Va- 
ricties. At has on its frontispiece a 
sphynx, with a great variety of 
Egyptian emblematical figures, the 
meaning of which may not be very 
easy to discover, or material to en- 
quire after. But there is a circum- 
stance, that marks this publication, 
namely, the head of the sphynx, 
with a crown on it. It is a head, 
which I cannot pretend to say, ne- 
ver having seen Bonaparte himself, 
but only from the different pictures 
of him, one cannot fail, at the first 
blush, to suppose it was intended 
as the portrait of the first consul. 
Whether it is like him or not, I do 
not know, nor is it material. It 
is sufficient it was intended to be 
so. It is like the pictures, and 
the representations which the En- 
glish have sold as being likenesses 
of Bonaparte, and therefore the 
head of the sphynx, in the frontis- 
piece, points pretty clearly to the 
first consul. It begins, like most 
other publications, with a prospec- 
tus, and the close of it I shall just 
bring to your knowledge. He says, 
he will add but one word more, 
and that he will so manage all the 
materials which he may employ in 
the edifice he is about to erect, to 
the 
