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As illustrated in the Prosecution and Punishment of

WILLIAM COBBETT.

(832

In order that my countrymen and that the two sureties in the sum of 1,000 pounds each; world may not be deceived, duped, and cheated that the whole of this sentence has been executed upon this subject, I, WILLIAM COBBETT, upon me, that I have been imprisoned the two of Botley, in Hampshire, put upon record years, have paid the thousand pounds TO THE the following facts; to wit: That, on the 24th KING, and have given the bail, Timothy Brown June, 1809, the following article was pub- and Peter Walker, Esqrs. being my sureties; lished in a London news-paper, called the that the Attorney General was Sir Vicary Gibbs, COURIER:- "The Mutiny amongst the LO- the Judge who sat at the trial Lord Ellenborough, "CAL MILITIA, which broke out at Ely, was the four Judges who sat at passing sentence Ellen"fortunately suppressed on Wednesday by the borough, Grose, Le Blanc, and Bailey; and that "arrival of four squadrons of the GERMAN the jurors were, Thomas Rhodes of Hampstead "LEGION CAVALRY from Bury, under the Road, John Davis of Southampton Place, James "command of General Auckland. Five of the Ellis of Tottenham Court Road, John Richards « ringleaders were tried by a Court-Martial, and of Bayswater, Thomas Marsham of Baker Street, "sentenced to receive 500 lashes each, part of which Robert Heathcote of High Street Marylebone, "punishment they received on Wednesday, and John Maud of York Place Marylebone, George "a part was remitted. A stoppage for their knup- Bagster of Church Terrace Pancras, Thomas "sacks was the ground of the complaint that ex- Taylor of Red Lion Square, David Deane of St. "cited this mutinous spirit, which occasioned John Street, William Palmer of Upper Street "the men to surround their officers, and demand Islington, Henry Favre of Pall Mall; that the "what they deemed their arrears. The first Prime Ministers during the time were Spencer "division of the German Legion halted yesterday Perceval, until he was shot by John Bellingham, "at Newmarket on their return to Bury."- and after that Robert B. Jenkinson, Earl of LiThat, on the 1st July, 1809, I published, in the verpool; that the prosecution and sentence took Political Register, an article censuring, in the place in the reign of King George the Third, and strongest terms, these proceedings; that, for so that, he having become insane during my impridoing, the Attorney General prosecuted, as sedi- sonment, the 1,000 pounds was paid to his son, tious libellers, and by Ex-Officio Information, the Prince Regent, in his behalf; that, during my me, and also my printer, my publisher, and one imprisonment, I wrote and published 364 Essays of the principal retailers of the Political Register; and Letters upon political subjects; that, during that I was brought to trial on the 15th June, the same time, I was visited by persons from 197 1810, and was, by a Special Jury, that is to say, cities and towns, many of them as a sort of depuby 12 men out of 48 appointed by the Master of ties from Societies or Clubs; that, at the expirathe Crown Office, found guilty; that, on the tion of my imprisonment, on the 9th of July, 1812, 20th of the same month, I was compelled to give a great dinner was given in London for the purbail for my appearance to receive judgment; pose of receiving me, at which dinner upwards of and that, as I came up from Botley (to which 600 persons were present, and at which Sir place I had returned to my family and my farm Francis Burdett presided; that dinners and other on the evening of the 15th), a Tipstaff went parties were held on the same occasion in many down from London in order to seize me, per- other places in England; that, on my way home, sonally; that, on the 9th of July, 1810, I, toge. I was received at Alton, the first town in Hampther with my printer, publisher, and the news-shire, with the ringing of the Church bells; that man, were brought into the Court of King's Bench to receive judgment; that the three former were sentenced to be imprisoned for some months in the King's Bench prison; that I was sentenced to be imprisoned for two years in Newgate, the great receptacle for malefactors, and the front of which is the scene of numerous hangings in the course of every year; that the part of the prison in which I was sentenced to be confined is sometimes inhabited by felons, that felons were actually in it at the time I eutered it; that one man was taken out of it to be transported in about 48 hours after I was put into the same yard with him; and that it is the place of confinement for men guilty of unnatural crimes, of whom there are four in it at this time; that, besides this imprisonment, I was sentenced to pay a thousand pounds TO THE KING, and to give security for my good behaviour for seven years, myself in the sum of 3,000 pounds, and

a respectable company met me and gave me a
dinner at Winchester; that I was drawn from
more than the distance of a mile into Botley by
the people; that, upon my arrival in the village,
I found all the people assembled to receive me;
that I concluded the day by explaining to them
the cause of my imprisonment, and by giving
them clear notions respecting the flogging of the
Local Militia-men at Ely, and respecting the em-
ployment of German Troops; and, finally, which
is more than a compensation for my losses and all
my sufferings, I am in perfect health and strength,
and, though I must, for the sake of six children,
feel the diminution that has been made in my
property (thinking it right in me to decline the
offer of a subscription), I have the consolation to
see growing up three sons, upon whose hearts, I
trust, all these facts will be engraven.

Botley, July 23, 1812.

WM. COBBETT,

Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent-Garden.
LONDON: Printed by J. M'Creery, Black Horse-Court, Fleet-street.