Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 68, No 420, October 1850 — John Shaqi
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 68, No 420, October 1850Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 68, No 420, October 1850
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
Then came the usual contests, from time to time, as to acts and
declarations of third parties, which were offered as evidence against
the prisoner, though done and said in his absence, and before and
after the actual outbreak--viz., to what extent he had rendered
himself liable for the consequences of such acts and declarations,
by embarking in a common enterprise, having a common intent with
these third parties. The result of such contests was practically
this,--The court acted on the rule of law, as rule established, that,
in treason and conspiracy, the Crown may prove either the conspiracy,
which renders admissible as evidence the acts and declarations of the
co-conspirators; or the acts and declarations of the different persons,
and so prove the conspiracy. A witness, for instance, said that he was
at a party at a Chartists' lodge on the 2d November, when a man named
_Reed_ gave them directions to go to Newport on the following night,
and explained for what purpose they were to go: but the witness did not
see Frost till two days _afterwards_, when on his march to Newport. The
Lord Chief-Justice overruled the objections of Sir F. Pollock and Mr
Kelly, and received the evidence which they had attempted to exclude.
A great mass of proof was given during the trial, establishing most
satisfactorily the acts and doings of Frost, throughout the progress
of the conspiracy, and down to the very moment of the actual attack
on the inn, and the Queen's troops stationed in it--a mass of proof
on which the attempt to make an impression seemed absurd. There was
only one faint ray of hope for the prisoner's counsel, throughout the
palpable obscure--that they might be able to escape from the generality
and publicity of object attributed to the prisoner, by persuading the
jury that the object was a private, temporary, and specific one--viz.,
to effect the release of one Vincent, a Chartist, then in confinement
at Monmouth! To pave the way for this hopeful line of defence, first,
an artful turn was sought, in cross-examination, to be given to one
of the early witnesses. He swore that he had heard one of those who
attacked the inn, exclaim at the time, presenting his gun at one
of the special constables at the door, "Surrender _yourselves_ our
prisoners;" to which the gallant answer was, "No, never!" On this Mr
Kelly very warily cross-examined the witness, with a view of showing
that, in the confusion, he could not hear very distinctly, so as to
report distinctly, as to precise expressions; that the mob intended
merely to rescue Vincent; and that the expressions used must have
been, not "Surrender _yourselves_ our prisoners," but "Surrender up
our prisoners!" or simply, "Surrender our prisoners,"--thus rejecting,
from the witness's answer, the single significant word "yourselves."
The attempt, however, was wholly ineffectual; but out of two other
witnesses were extorted on cross-examination, the following (so to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account