566. The whole Proceedings on an Indictment in the Case of the KING, on the Prosecution of WILLIAM JONES, gent. against the Rev. WILLIAM DAVIES SHIPLEY, Dean of St. Asaph, for a Seditious Libel, at the Great Session held at Wrexham, for the County of Denbigh, on Monday, September 1, 1783; Before the Hon. Lloyd Kenyon, Chief Justice, and the Hon. Dames Barrington, the other Justice of our Lord the King of his Great Session of the County of Denbigh :4 At the Assizes at Shrewsbury, on Friday the 6th of August, 1784; Before the /Ion. Francis Buller, esq. one of the Justices of his Majestys Court of Kings Bench ;* and in the Court of Kings Bench at Westminster, in Michaelmas Term following : 23, 24, 25 GEORGE III. A. D. 1783-1784. [In the year ins, soon after the conclusion of the calamitous war in America, the public attention was very warmly and generally turned throughout this country towards the necessity of a reform in the representation of the people in the House of Commons. Several societies were formed in different parts of England and Wales for the promo- _ tion of it ; and the duke of Richmond, and Mr. Pitt, the then minister, took the lead in bringing the subject before parliament. To render this great national object intelligible to the ordinary ranks of the people, the late excellent sir William Jones, then an eminent barrister in London, and afterwards one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Bengal, composed a Dialogue between a Scholar and a Farmer, as a vehicle for explaining to common capacities the greatprinciples of society and go- vernment, and for showing the defects in the representation of the people in the British Parliament. Sir Wm. Jones having married a sister of the dean of St. Asaph, he became , acquainted with, and interested in this Dialogue, and recommended it strongly to a committee of gentlemen of Flintshire, who were at that time associated for the object of reform, where it was read, and made the subject of a vote of approbation. The court-party on the other hand having made a violent attack upon this committee for the countenance thus given to the Dialogue, the dean of St. Asaph, considering (as he himself expressed it) that the best means of justifying the composition, and those who were attacked for their approbation of it, was to render it public, that the world might decide the controversy, sent it * Taken in Short-hand by Joseph Gurney.to be printed, prefixing to it the advertisement set forth upon the Trial.] AT the Great Session held at Wrexham, for , the county of Denbigh, in April 1783, a bill of indictment was found against the dean of St. Asaph, to which the defendant pleaded Not Guilty. At the Great Session held at Wrexham, for the county of Denbigh, in September 1783, the following proceedings were had : Mr. Leyeester. I am going to move your lordships upon all affidavit which is now preparing, and if your lordships please, in order to save the time of the Court, I will just state the subject of the motion, and the nature of the affidavit. It is a motion that this trial may be put oft; upon an affidavit which will soon be presented to your lordship.--The purport of the affidavit is, that a certain body of men, calling themselves the Constitutional Society, contribute to the expellees of defending the dean of St. Asaph on this prosecution. That since issue has been joined in this indictment, a certain person, named in the affidavit, has dispersed pamphlets to several of the jury, and throughout tins neighbourhood, the purport of which is, to bias and influence the minds of the jury upon this prosecution. It is stated that the person who circulates this pamphlet brings It from the Constitutional Society, and Dr. 13rockelsby and Mr. Oldfield, under whose authority he has acted, are sworn by the deponent, to the best of his belief, to be members of that society. Upon the ground of the facts thus disclosed by this affidavit, I am to move your lordships, that this trial may be put off. I need not suggest to your lordships the great impropriety of circulating a paper of this sort, tending to pre- 849] for a Seditious Libel. judice the minds of the jury; if it were necessary to cite any autliority, a similar practice in the case of the King versus Martha Gray,* who was inditted for a nuisance, was considered as a sufficient ground to put off the trial. For these reasons, I move your lordships, that the trial may be put off. Mr. Price (one of the gentlemen summoned on the special jury) said he had never seen any such publication as that alluded to by Mr. Leycester. Mr. Leycester. I beg leave to add to what I have already said, that I dont mean to throw the least imputation upon any of the gentlemen of the jury. It is sufficient for the purpose of this motion that these attempts have been made. The AFFIDAVIT of Mr. WM, JONES read: In the Court of Great Session-11hr the County of Denbigh, the King, on the Prosecution of William Jones, gentleman, against William Davies Shipley, clerk, on an In- dictment for a Misdemeanor. " William Jones, of Ruthin, in the county of Denbigh, gentleman, maketh oath, and saith, that the defendant in this indictment, is, as this deponent believes, supported and assisted in defending the said indictment, by a certain society of persons, calling themselves the Society for Constitutional information, and that a considerable part of the expense of defending the same, has been, and is, borne by- the said society, with the consent and approbation of the said defendant; he this de- , ponent having seen and conversed on the subject with one Yates, who publicly acts as the secretary of the said society, and also, with another member of the said society, who informed this deponent that a subscription was carrying on amongst the members of the said society, for the purpose of assisting and supporting the said defendant in his defence to the said indictment; and this deponent hath the more reason to believe the said society contribute to the expenses of the said defendant in defending this indictment, because this deponent bath seen and read a letter, signed with and published with the name of the said defendant, in several public prints and newspapers, addressed to the said society, which this deponent believes was printed in such prints and newspapers with the privity of the said defendant, in which letter the said defendant expresses himself to be under obligations to the said society for their assistance on this occasion. " And this deponent farther saith, That since the traverse of this indictment has been at issue, and during the present great session, a person, who calls himself Thomas Blandimer, hath distributed and dispersed through the town of Wrexham, and the parts adjacent, a number of pamphlets or printed pa- * See this Case referred to, vol. 20; p. 1339. VOL. XXL A. D. 1783. [850 pens, of the same tenor and purport as that hereunto annexed. "And this deponent farther saith, that on Saturday last he saw and conversed with the said Thomas Blandimer, who declared to this deponent, that he was sent down from London, by one Dr. Brockelsby, to attend the trial of this indictment ; and the saidThomas 1Msndirnor, soma tinm, shewP1 to this deponent, a letter, or a copy of a letter, from the said Dr. Brockelsby to the defendant, recommending the said Thomas Blandimer to his notice. "And this deponent farther saith, that the said Thomas Blandimer also declared to this deponent, that one Mr. Oldfield, who, as this deponent bath heard and believes, is another member of the said society, delivered to him the said Thomas Blandimer, a great number of such pamphlets or minted papers, for the purpose of distributing the same at this present great session to the persons summoned to serve as jurors upon the traverse of this indictment ; and the said Thomas Blandimer at the same time declared, that he had used his endeavours to distribute the same accordingly; and this deponent submits to this honourable court, that the obvious and manifest tendency of the said pamphlets is to bias and prejudice the minds of the jurors, and to prevent their coming to hear and give their ver- dict on the saidi traverse with impartiality and indifference between the parties. "And this deponent farther saith, that about two months ago, he this deponent received from the said Yates, who acts as secretary to the said society, several pamphlets or printed papers, purporting to be published and distributed by the said society, in some of which a list of the members of the said society is contained, and in which list the names of the said Dr. Brockelsby and Mr. Oldfield are inserted as members thereof: "And this deponent saith, that he bath heard, and verily believes, that the said Dr. Brockelsby and Mr. Oldfield are members of, or connected with, the said society. " WILLIAM JONES." " Sworn in court, this 1st Sept. 1783. " Rxxxox." [The following is a copy of the printed paper alluded to in the foregoing deposition :] "At a Meeting of the Societyfor CoN STIFF-TI ON AL INFORmATIoN held on Friday, August the 1st, 1781. Dr. 3 EBB (Vice- President) in the chair. " As the liberty of the press is an object of the greatest importance, and essential to the existence of a free state, and as it is of the utmost consequence to the preservation of this great privilege, that British juries should be well acquainted with the powers with the constitution has invested them, csimc ifdly in proSecui ions ITT libels : Resolved, flint the two following ex, i 831] 23 GEORGE III. Proceedings-against the Dean of St. Asaph, [852 tracts from the sixth volume of British Bio- I do constantly judge of matters of law, as well graphy, on the powers and duty of juries, in : as fact. When persons are indicted for murder, prosecutions for libels, be inserted in the it is a matter of law, whether the action corn-books of this society. mitted, provided the fact be proved, falls under the denomination...
