609]

for Sedition.

"sociated to obtain universal suffrage and "annual parliaments;" and which illegal association, under the names and designations above mentioned, have been in the practice, during the months of October and November last, as well as in the beginning of the present month of December, 1793, of holding various seditious and illegal meetings, at a Masons' lodge, or room in Blackfriars wynd, in the city of Edinburgh, and elsewhere, to the public prosecutor unknown; and which meetings, though held under pretence of procuring a reform in parliament, were evidently of a dangerous and destructive tendency, with a deliberate and determined intention, to disturb the peace of the community, and to subvert the present constitution of the country: with which view they imitated both in the form and tenor of their proceedings, that convention of people, the avowed enemies of this country, who at present usurp the government of France, and with whom Great Britain then was, and still is at war: that the said Maurice Margarot, from his arrival in Edinburgh, did, as a delegate from the said Corresponding Society, in London, constantly attend the illegal meetings of the above-mentioned associations, and did co-operate with them, on different occasions, and act as preses or chairman of their meetings, and did take an active and distinguished part in their deliberations and proceedings; and that while the said Maurice Margarot continued to attend the said illegal meetings, as a delegate, or was officiating in the capacity of president, as above mentioned, various seditious and inflammatory votes and resolutions were past, some of which he moved, others of which he seconded, and to all of which he gave his concurrence and approbation, by voting for passing the same; and which seditious votes and resolutions, as also the inflammatory speeches that were delivered on those occasions, by authority of the said meetings, were inserted in minutes of their procedure, taken at the time, and which afterwards by their order, or under their authority, were published in a newspaper, called the Edinburgh Gazetteer of Tuesday, November 26th, 1793, being No. 78; of Tuesday, December 3d, 1793, being No. 79; and of Tuesday, December 10th, 1793, being No. 80, all of that paper; and were by that means circulated among the lieges; that the said Maurice Margarot did also, when attending in his capacity of delegate at the illegal meetings of the said association, utter and make various seditious and inflammatory speeches, tending to vilify our present happy constitution, and to withdraw therefrom the confidence and attachment of our subjects; and did likewise move resolutions tending to disseminate the seditious and unconstitutional principles, by which these meetings were actuated. And particularly the said Maurice Margarot, at a meeting of the said convention, held on Tuesday 19th of November last, 1793, or on some VOL. XXIII.

other day of that month, in a Mason lodge,
or room in Black-friars wynd, in the city of
Edinburgh, did wickedly and feloniously make
the following motion, or one of a similar im-
port; "That previous to publishing an address
to the public, a committee be forthwith ap-
pointed, to consider the means, and draw up
the outlines of a plan of general union and
corporation between the two nations, in their
constitutional pursuit of a thorough parliamen-
tary reform." Which motion or one of the
same tendency, having been approved of, was
passed unanimously by the said illegal asso-
ciation; and which motion clearly demon-
strated a wish and intention, on the part of
the said Maurice Margarot, of propagating
the seditious tenets of that association over
the whole kingdom, and of exciting our sub-
jects in England, in contempt of legal au
conduct, which the said Maurice Margarot
thority, to adopt the same unconstitutional
And farther, on Monday the 25th of No-
and his associates had presumed to follow.
vember, 1793, or on some other day of that
month, another illegal meeting of the above-
named association, held at the aforesaid Ma-
son lodge or room, in Blackfriars wynd, or
in some other place, to the public prosecutor
unknown; upon a motion being made in the
following words, or words of the same import:
"That in case the minister, or any other mem-
ber, bring into the House of Commons a motion
for a Convention Bill, as passed in Ireland,
for preventing the people from meeting ac-
cording to their just rights by the revolution,
the same motion shall be noticed to the dele-
gates of the respective societies immediately
to meet in convention, to assert their rights;"
which motion having become the subject of
consideration the following day, the said
Maurice Margarot did then wickedly and
feloniously utter and make the following
speech, or one of the like import and ten-
event, which it alludes to, ought to be the
dency: "This is an excellent motion, and the
tocsin to the friends of liberty to assemble. It
seems however to be imperfect: it does not
mention any place of meeting, neither does it
specify the time when the delegates are to as-
semble; for the word immediately is indefinite,
and will not convey the same meaning to
persons residing in different parts of the
country. By those who live near to the place
of meeting it will be understood, that they
are to repair there next day. By those at a
greater distance, within a few days; and by
those still farther off, a week after such in-
formation is received. But the committee of
regulations have in their report an article of
the same purport, which, in my opinion, is
preferable to our friend Callender's motion;
which, as this motion comes properly under
were referred to that committee. I therefore
the chapter of regulations, I wish that it
inove that the report be read, that the con-
vention may judge whether the article I al-
lude to, sufficiently provides for the intention

613]

for Sedition.

be equally well provided against the present case; for if we shall happen to be dispersed to-night, how or where are we to rally again? To do this your committee suggests a resolution to the following effect; but which I shall leave to be drawn up by the council of the table: that the moment of any illegal dispersion of the present convention, shall be considered as a summons to the delegates to repair to the place of meeting, appointed for the convention of emergency by the secret committee; and that the secret committee is instructed to proceed without delay to fix the place of meeting. I hope that what has been already said, will convince the convention that your committee of regulations, though they have not been able to bring forward their report, have not neglected their duty; and it will convince our enemies that we do not altogether neglect them, they will see that we proceed with regularity, and that we have an eye upon them while they have spies upon us. I therefore move for leave to bring in this motion-which motion afterwards passed unanimously."-The said Maurice Margarot, after moving the said resolution, not only gave his assent to pass the same, but allowed himself to be named one of the four members of which said secret committee was composed, and agreed to act in that capacity. And further, on Friday, December 6th, 1793, or some other day of that month, the said illegal association having again assembled in a room or workshop belonging to, or possessed by John Laing, wright, situated in lady Lawson's yard, south side of Cross Causeway, in the parish of St. Cuthbert and Sheriffdom of Edinburgh. The sheriff substitute of Edinburgh, with others his assistants, having, in the discharge of his duty, repaired to the said room or workshop, with a view to disperse said illegal association, the said Maurice Margarot, with others his associates, did then and there resist the said sheriff-substitute, and did peremptorily refuse to disperse until forced so to do: that on this occasion the said Maurice Margarot was called to the chair, and acted as preses or chairman of the said illegal meeting, after the appearance of the sheriff substitute, and in open contempt and defiance of all legal authority, vindicated the proceedings of the meeting, and peremptorily refused to leave the chair unless compulsion was used: in consequence of which the sheriff-substitute was under the necessity of taking him by the arm and pulling him out of the chair, and of using force in dispersing the rest of his associates: that this conduct of the said Maurice Margarot was highly aggravated by this circumstance: that the said illegal association had been the very evening before dispersed by the civil magistrate. And the said Maurice Margarot having been apprehended and brought before Harry Davidson, esq. sheriff substitute of the shire of Edinburgh, on the 5th of December, 1793, did in his presence emit a declaration

of that date, which is signed by the said
sheriff-substitute, the said Maurice Margarot
having declined to sign the same; and when
the said Maurice Margarot had been so ap-
prehended, sundry papers having been found
in his possession, or claimed by him, the
same were afterwards inspected in his pre-
sence, by authority of the sheriff of Edin-
burgh, and two several lists or inventories of
those papers were made up, one of which,
containing ten articles, is subscribed by Wil-
liam Scott, procurator fiscal of the county of
Edinburgh, and by Joseph Gerrald, of Hart-
street, Bloomsbury-square, London; and the
other, consisting of nine articles, is subscribed
by the said William Scott, and by the sheriff-
substitute of Edinburgh, as the said Maurice
Margarot refused to sign the same. Which
inventories, together with the whole articles
thereof, except No. 1, of the first inventory;
as also the foresaid declaration emitted by
him before the sheriff-substitute of Edin-
burgh; together with a paper signed by the
said Maurice Margarot, and by John Ward-
law, quoted on the back, "Motion of M. Mar-
garot," and signed by the said sheriff-substi-
tute, as relative to the foresaid declaration;
as also the scroll or draught of the minutes
of the said general convention, from the 29th
of October, to the 4th of December, 1793,
consisting of 95 pages; as also Nos. 78, 79,
and 80 of the Edinburgh Gazetteer above-
mentioned, being all to be used in evidence
against the said Maurice Margarot, will for
that purpose, in due time, be lodged in the
hands of the clerk of the high-court of jus-
ticiary, before which he is to be tried, that he
may have an opportunity of seeing the same.
At least times and places above-mentioned,
the said acts of sedition were committed, and
All which, or part
the said Maurice Margarot is guilty, actor, or
art and part thereof.
thereof, being found proven by the verdict
of an assize before our lord justice general,
lord justice clerk, and lords commissioners of
justiciary, in a court of justiciary, to be holden
by them within the criminal court-house at
Edinburgh, upon the 9th day of January next
to come, the said Maurice Margarot, above-
complained upon, ought to be punished with
the pains of law, to deter others from com-
mitting the like crimes in all times coming.
Our will is therefore, &c.

1 Harry Davidson, esq. sheriff-substitute of the county of Edinburgh.

2 William Scott, procurator-fiscal of the said county of Edinburgh.

S James Williamson, clerk to the said William Scott.

4 Archibald Welch, clerk to the same Wil-
liam Scott.

5 Joseph Mack, writer in Edinburgh.
6 James Lyon, indweller in Edinburgh.
7 John McDonald, indweller in Edinburgh.
8 Neil M'Glashap, indweller in Edinburgh.

John Grindlay, rectifier of spirits, Edin- if any exactness is necessary in a criminal burgh.

617]

for Sedition.

My lords, in page three of the indictment | are these words, which I understand to be taken from the Gazetteer. "This is an excellent motion, and the event which it alludes to, ought to be the tocsin to the friends of liberty to assemble." In the Gazetteer it is, "the friends to liberty"-here it is "the friends of liberty" Therefore, that is a flaw in the indictment, which quashes it at once. My lords, if you go according to justice, these are valid objections; but if you think proper to repel them-if it is only to state an objection, and as soon as stated it is repelled, you may do as you think fit; but, if I have not impartial justice done me, I will sit down, not make any defence, but desire you to disband the jury and pass sentence.

Lord Justice Clerk.-Have you any thing farther to say as to the relevancy?

Mr. Margarot-It is irrelevant in toto. Then my lords, again, at the conclusion of this libel, I come back with my first objection-I see it both at the beginning and the end, and it is not a mere matter of formno act of parliament can do it away, or if an act of parliament can do it away, why is not the letter, as well as the spirit of the act maintained? It says here, all which, or part thereof, being found proven by the verdict of an assize before our lord justice general, lord justice clerk, and lords commissioners of justiciary. It says so at the beginning it says so at the end. My lords, this is an inaccuracy that cannot be overlooked-it must not be overlooked; and, as you thought proper to repel it in the first instance, I urge it again in the second, it is a flaw in the indictment. There are three flaws, which I think sufficient to quash the indictment entirely.

Lord Justice Clerk.-Have you any more objections to make?

Mr. Margarot.-No, my lords; three are as
good as three thousand.

Mr. Solicitor-General.-My lords, in an-
swer to what has fallen from the panel, his
objections are so extravagant as hardly to
The only appearance of
merit an answer.
any thing like a legal objection is this: the
gentleman says he is accused of sedition, and
calls upon us to point out where sedition is
made a crime, and by what law, and what is
the punishment affixed to it. My answer to
that is, that sedition was made a crime not
by any statute, but by the common law of
Scotland; and if the gentleman wishes for
authority, I refer him to the book called
"Regiam Majestatem," where sedition is
expressly stated to be a crime, and I would
tell him, that it is there declared to be pu-
nishable as treason. That is in the oldest
book that we have upon the law of Scotland.
Since that, sedition has not been punished as
treason, but remained upon the footing of
the common law, punishable by what is
called an arbitrary punishment. As to a de-
finition of sedition, your lordship knows

there are many crimes of so complex and so
vague a nature, that it is hardly possible to
give a general definition to comprehend them
all. If I am called upon to give a definition
of high treason, I do not know any that I
could give, except by enumerating all the
different cases of treason; or, suppose I was
forgery, there are twenty different kinds of it;
called upon to give a definition of falsehood or
no definition can comprehend the whole. So
At the same time, if a definition is wanted of
also, I imagine, it stands with regard to sedition.
the crime charged against that gentleman,
I will read him Mr. Erskine's definition of it
in his first institute: he divides it into two
says, real sedition is generally committed by
parts, real sedition and verbal sedition; he
convocating together a considerable number
of people without lawful authority, under
pretence of redressing grievances, to the de-
stroying of the public peace. Then he says,
general sedition is inferred from the convoca-
tion of a number of people without lawful
authority, tending to disturb the peace of the
community. Is not this the very crime
charged against this gentleman? if there was
any lawful authority, the gentleman will tell
us what it is. Can there be a doubt, that if
the facts stated in this indictment be true,
they not only tended to disturb the peace of
the country, but to subvert the constitution of
as it stands, there cannot be a doubt with
Great Britain. Therefore, taking the charge
any one of your lordships, that it does
amount to a charge of sedition, and that se-
dition is a crime punishable by the law of
this country. If there is any other country in
the world, where sedition is not made a
tlemen, next time they hold British conven-
crime by the common law, I wish these gen-
Scotland, I will assure them, there is a law
tions, would meet in that country, for in
to punish them.

Mr. Margarot.-My lords, I hold in my
hand a definition of Mr. Erskine's a little
differing from what the gentleman has read;
he says, "it consists in raising commotions
or disturbances in the state; it is either verbal
or real. Verbal sedition or leasing making,
is inferred from the uttering of words, tend-
ing to create discord between the king and
his people;" and I think it is that gentleman
who is guilty of sedition, inasmuch as he
seeks to alienate the hearts of the subjects
from their sovereign. He says, "it was
formerly punished by death and the forfeiture
of goods, but now either by imprisonment,
fine, or banishment, at the discretion of the
judge." Now it seems to me, that that
cannot be the sedition which this gentleman
means, for, if I understand rightly, the sedi-
of Messrs. Muir, Palmer, and Skirving.*
tion I am charged with is something like that
Now if their sedition had been the sedition
that is meant here, they would have been

* See these cases in this volume, antè.