F 158 ^ .^ "' .\^' ■^ ■>. ,,*^ ■o- li ' "^/^ s-^ ,^- o-^ ^^^^ f .<< .# •^. A^ 'K. .-f- i- .s..,,-/: ■-- V ■ N^^, 3."^-' X^ N> •^, ^\. oyne compared with those of the happy Delaware aud Schuylkill' But James was no perjurer; he was the chosen monarch of his people, until his son-in-law, in his oldtdays, went against him with a mercenary army of Dutch, Danes, and Hessians, and with men taken out of the jails, for whom 54 there was no earthly grace, and whose hodies were fit food for powder — there was part of WiUiam's conduct which counsel admired. His great object was to obtain a victory over Louis the Fourteentli of France ; l)ut he' cared nothing for rehgion — he even prohibited the Scots from parlia- mentary privileges and offices, by penal laws, unless they took an oath, from which they were not emancipated until the light of toleration broke forth ; but Jerry had talked to them about light. The hero who marched against France, was followed by such persons as he was then pleading for; and Wellington, knowing the value that the Roman Catholics were to the service, forced and carried their emancipation through parlia- ment. How many of those brave men, struggling for their country, had been consigned, hand in hand, to the gibbet! and their union in so good a cause, would have benefitted that country, were it not for the faction that is personated by that very rabble : but if there were any expectancy of grace for them in heaven, counsel would conclude by saying, " Foi^give them. Father, for they know not what they do." A rabble bedizened with ribands and strings, a show for boys and girls, like a beast decorated with flowers, led by the butcher to its own destruction ; but since this gangrene is exalted in character by a justice of the peace, it was time to put a stop to it. Counsel was an American in his heart, and a Protestant ; his father, grandfather, and brother, had been Protestant clergymen ; he was also born in Derry, the very place that so much had been talked about; and his ancestors had fought at the battle of theBoyne, a circumstance, which, perhaps, he might like- wise take a pride in; but trusted his principles of justice were stronger than to feel that a" deliverance from wooden shoes," &c. was any thing, but the pass word of persecution, and a pretext for robbing the people; it was a dirty bird that would befoul its own nest; but a still dirtier one that refused to clean it. Counsel respected his ancestors; but when he reflected upon their conduct there, in aiding and abetting a system of persecution, and taking money which did not belong to them, he would again exclaim, " Father, forgive them," &.c. ; the very lords justices of the kingdom excited rebellion, which they would not have done, had they been the friends of religion, or the stern supporters of justice. Counsel would uphold toleration, and sustain Protestant and Catholic alike, when deserving ; but he hated bigotry, and considered those Pro- testant fanatics to be doubly blameable, by raising an Orange riot ; and would put it to the jury, if their leaders did not know that a riot would take place in cojise(|uencc of their own conduct on the 12th of July. They talking of Jesuits coming here to endanger the country; did they think tiie country stood in need of such as they were, to protect her institutions? God's warfare and brotherly love, could be equally well supported in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, without Jerry Saunders calling on seven churches; forming hollow squares and pivots; and call- ing out, halt front, &c. ; did he not know that such processions were for- bidden by the king's lieutenant in Ireland; but he was there playing, *' walking gallows," and "Tom the Devil," and in the holy name of God telling them to drive out their enemies; if they, (the jury,) had to de- pend on Jerry Saunders, to wage the swordof Gideon and the Lord, they 55 had a pretty sample of liiin ; he could not indeed give any account of the sermon, but pleading ignorance or forgetfulncss, sung the same cuckoo song with the rest; he could remember the brickbats well enough; but lie could remember nothing of the sermon. IJut there was another in- dividual, who appeared in even stronger relief before them, in the cha- racter of sedition and perjured magistracy; he had brought his son up there to give testimony, and added to his other crimes by guiding unin- formed youth into the paths of vice ; bedizening and ranking him amongst his swordsmen ; leading him to the same disgrace with himself; would the jury teach their children so, or call them forward to swear on the holy gospel of God, to what was wrong. Counsel agreed with his col- leagues, who would not cross-examine the boy, to bring forth fresh or further disgrace on the conduct of his natural father. Were those per- sons who pretend to know so much of history, and palm upon the jury their idle and exaggerated tales of ancient times, to be sutfijred to amuse their minds and tingle their ears with stories, kept up for days, of thiow- ing of brickbats, and about their having no music nor badges, when one witness were enough : but it had been proved that so?ne went out of the Hall singly, and they escaped; that there was no hostility against those. Some have called them Protestants, and others Gideonites, and had told them, (the jury,) it was an ancient custom of Protestants to go out on tlie 12th of July ; and who were those Protestants of Philadelphia ( there you saw them form line and hollow squares, and hrel according to the directions of that audacious man. The Protestants of the city and county of Phi- ladelpliia, were summoned, indeed, by putting an advertisement into an obscure paper, pubHshed in New York. Counsel hoped the jury would never see it in their city ; it circulated but amongst the dregs of society, and like the purple-man's oath, ■would be found by them to contain tires, and faggots, and scraps from old martyrs, and such follies, which for the glory of this country, had long been set at rest. No honest man would deny that Catholics had been persecuted, and the other side must admit there had been fanaticism in ancient times, on their part; they cannot, however, in this instance revile the Catholics, for they had been more liberal than the Protestants. In the great struggle for Catholic Eman- cipation, Pitt and Fox had been for years politically opposed to each other; yet such was the claim which reason and justice asserted, and to which neither, notwithstanding the prejudices against it, could be blind, that they both agreed upon the necessity that existed, of settling that question, but which remained for after years to be accomplished, inso- much, that Mr. Pitt sent to seven or eight universities on the continent, to ascertain if the Pope possessed that political influence which had been urged as so great an obstacle in the way of its adjustment ; but monopoly and ambition led him to court the grandeur of England, and he was promoted premier at a time his sovereign was unable to act. Ireland was, in consequence, deprived of those services which where commenced for her deliverance, and which might yet have been promoted, but for that vile system of Orangeism, which recalled Lord Fitzwilliam — that same banditti — that fattened gang, who in the recklessness of their hearts, mystified every measure brought forward for her relief, told the 56 sovereign he would violate his coronation oath, if he yielded to her com- plaints ; an immense debt — hatred cherished by persecution, that sets man against man, famine and pestilence were the consequences; and the very chains and fetters thus forged in Ireland, were no sooner carried to England, encumbering it by tithes and taxes, than its unhappy effects were felt and ascertained; we found her people, and amongst them some of the kindest and the best of men, both Protestants and Roman Catho- lics, unite in urging the legislature to carry through its counsels those very measures, for an adherence to which, so many honest and just men had formerly bled ; the mystic cloud at length dispersed, discovering the light of truth, and like Emmet — Emmet ! called by his malefactors, traitor! rebel! and inscribed dead! that illustrious friend ! that friend of America, who did more good for this country them he even did for his own ; that champion of liberty — that advocate of freedom — who by spreading vir- tue, disarmed hostility; was by that same infernal organ, carrying the deformed face of bigotry and the lowering crest of persecution, banish- ed from his country and from his home, to wander desolate on some foreign shore. Emmet was refused admittance to this country, by Mr. King, the then minister of the United States ; for which he (Mr. Samp- son,) could never like him, but was glad his son had in some measure atoned for it, by having in his late work passed an eulogium on that great and virtuous man, who lived the greatest example of charity and loving kindness; he was now consigned to the shades of departed worth, and his grateful colleagues gathering around him, hung their heads, and in the court of justice where his spirit fled, raised a monument, and engraved another name on the pillar of this glorious constitution. He was a Protestant ; but could not bear to see the state of misery to which his Catholic fellow creatures had been reduced. That was history, better than Jerry Saunders'. The counsel recurred to those circum- tances, to show the necessity of checking a system so delusive ; to show the quoanimoof the case, and that those people should be held account- able for their acts, by which they had outraged the laws; and it would serve to guide the minds of the jury to the leading facts, and show by having armed themselves with swords, and by their subsequent conduct, how those hypocrites in religion had damned the very principle by which they would sustain their cause. The juiy no doubt had heard of that bright ornament, Edmund Burke; and they knew whether liis authority was better than Jerry Saunders'. Though king William was legitimate and had a title, yet he was not chosen by the people of Ireland ; he had a few Enniskilleners, who counsel would allow were brave devils, and he had conquered his father; but no Irishman would boast of him; an English- man might, though a penal code followed their deliverance, as they call it. [Counsel here reads an extract from the writings of Edmund Burke, of a letter to sir Hercules Langrish, M. P., on the subject of admitting Roman Catholics to the elective franchise.] " I shall not, says Burke, think that the deprivation of some millions of people of all the rights of citizens, and all interest in the constitu- tion in and to which they were born, was a thing conformable to the 57 declared principles oi' the revolution ; this I am sure is true, relatively to England, (where the operation of these anti principles, connparatively, were of little extent,) and some of our late laws in repealing acts made immediately after the revolution, admit that some things then done, were not done in the true spirit of the revolution. But the revolution operated dilFerentlj in England and Ireland in many, and these essential particu- lars. Supposing the principles to have been altogether the same in both kingdoms, by the application of those principles to very ditFerent objects the whole spirit of the system was changed not to say reversed. As lit- tle shall I detain you with matters that can as little gain admission into a mind like yours, such as the fear, or pretence of fear, that in spite of your own power and the trifling power of Great Britain, you may be conquered by the Pope; or that this commodious bugbear (who is of in- finitely more use to those who pretend to fear, than to those who love liim,) will absolve his majesty's subjects from their allegiance, and send over the cardinal of York to rule you as his viceroy; or that by the plenitude of his power he will take that fierce tyrant of the French out of his jail, and arm that nation, (which on all occasions treats his holi- liness with so much politeness.) with his bulls and pardons, to invade poor old Ireland, to reduce you to Popery and slavery, and to force the freeborn, naked feet of 3'^our people, into the wooden shoes of that ar- bitrary monarch."' Gentlemen, there is no archbishop of York here, but these fanatical miscreants will still raise some pretext; we know that George the third sent his Scotch troops to guard the Pope, but J believe there is very little to be apprehended by the people here, that the Pope will come to this country to afflict us with either wooden shoes or brass money; but here they would reviv^e the same miserable feelings again that then existed, and disregarding the peace and happiness of this glorious con- stitution, smother the steady lights which the generous founders of this hallowed country, with such generosity of soul and purpose, esta- blished. Here where no gangrene spirit dare lift itself, they would have those olden times renewed, that would place even quiet Quakers and witches together: the fact of a celebrated judge of the land, lord Hale, whose abilities as a lawyer were to this day recognised, but who so partook of those feelings and prejudices which then unhappily mark- ed the state of society, is a just lesson to the world, — presiding at a commission at St. Edmondsbury, he directed a jury not, on account of conscience, to withhold their verdict of conviction ; and he then pro- ceeded to pass sentence on a person who was found guilty of witchcraft. Many who were subjected to the resentment of the law for not receiv- ing the Lord's supper in a particular way, were driven to New Eng- land — were even persecuted there, until in Maryland, amongst the Ro- man Catholics, they found an asylum. And now let us reflect while they are calling out against them as " incarnate devils," that in Mary- land lives Carroll of Carrolton, who with none but brave and good men was ever associated; the Adams's, the Jefferson's, and Washington's — and all those generous spirits of his day ; to whom he (Mr. Sampson) might say he owed his deliverance — it must be a reflection dear to 8 58 his fadtng years, that though there are still to be found fanatics from his native land, he had buffeted the waves of persecution, ^nd pledged his Hfe, his fortune, and his honour to support a cause which he has lived to perfect, but which had it failed, his honoured head, with others, would have fallen in the attempt; but he commands our sympathy when, in the peaceful decline of his Hfe he is harassed by the cries of a lawless banditti against all those who hold his religion; they think that they have got into a Protestant country, but it is equally a Jewish country, a Seceding country, a fire worshipping country, a country that tolerates all religions — proclaiming and shouting against Catholics, and with such affrontery go before a jury and represent them as " furious and incarnate devils." The counsel had, at one time, his own preju- dices, but the nature of his profession, and his intercourse with Roman Catholics had, thank God, divested him of them — and he had been the advocate of many Roman Catholic patriots, who withheld from him nothing of their minds. He had known no better men than Roman Catholics, both in the holiness of their lives and the purity of their mo- tives ; the counsel had been told by their spiritual teachers, and they were the organs of the people, that if thePope were to come here for any hostile purpose the Roman Catholics would be the first persons to take arms against him. The distinction was very different between Papist and Roman Catholic — a Papist knew nothing of religion, but gave his devotion to man, and thought the Pope should conquer and sway all power over mankind ; not so with Roman Catholics, they admit of no such power, they belong to the church of Christ which had no particu- lar name ; and if ever there were an invasion of this country, give coun- sel those very men, even ignorant, if they choose to call them, they were far more honest than the others. A verdict in their favour would be a balm and a quiet to their minds, and bind them in ties of still stronger gratitude and attachment to this country. Whereas, those who cry out for king William and king George, well know they are not faithful to this country ; they gave forsooth, " the memory of Washington," and some few others, merely to colour their real sentiments, and gild the bitter pill — but there was no hurraing. Jerry was to have given twelve toasts, and had told them it was usual to wear swords — but they bab- bled and cried out for foreign sovereigns, for king William and king George, and went out as rioters with their pass words; wondered they did not form breast-works, as their counsel had given them the sign. They knew all about the brickbats; but they were not Gideonites, or Orangemen, then why wear swords? " Look at that Mameluke, said Mr. Sampson, [pointing to a Gideonite badge,] that man with his trum- pet." Counsel would engage, that if the procession should next time get a tailor to make them uniforms, and dress themselves up like him, there would be a riot amongst all the boys, blacks, and butchers in the city. He gave every credit to Jerry for his ignorance, for he stated he knew nothing about Gideon, or the wine press; but counsel was very much inclined to think, he knew much more about the whiskey still. [Counsel again referred to Burke, on the subject of the Pope's sup- posed influence.] 59 The jury would, in the opinion of counsel, have very little to dread respecting the Pope, unless, indeed, it was from Pope Evans, whose only rival in this country would be Jerry Saunders, who prol)ably might set up his title against him, and perhaps call him " anti-christ," or "Whore of Babylon." [Counsel here reads the statute of 1G89, which made it felony of tran- sportation for life, to celebrate the mass in the Latin language.] They had also read in history, of a monarch, who sutFcred himself to be whip- ped by six priests, as penance — given possession of Ireland, for and in the holy name of the Pope, and enforcing the payment of Peter's pence, in his name. Not long ago, the Dean of Armagh said, " We have driven them into Popery, and now we want to drive them out of it." The kings of England formerly founded their title solely on the Pope's authority. It was well known also that Elizabeth was so capricious that she made articles with Ireland, and if they did not please her, she altered them; and that she constituted a kind of law macliine, by which she confiscated the property of those killed in war; and it was even re- corded, that she set up her claim to Ireland, under the name of an an- cient king of that country, by reason of Joshua, in the Bible, having met king Brutus in the Orkneys, where he got from him a grant of Ireland, and in his name she claimed it and its subjects as her own. The Irish had no love for king James; those who were untrue to themselves, could not be true to others. Counsel would obloquizeking James, in God's name, if they (the Protestants) wished ; but let them not annoy Philadelphia about it. By Orangeism was meant English inte- rest, and so was Protestant ascendancy, both of which were anti-na- tional; their supporters could never be quiet in this country, nor had they ever disavowed their former principles ; their object was to dis- seminate disturbance. [Counsel reads from Burke, to show that by Protestant ascendancy, is meant old English pride, dominion, '&c.] It was only necessary to set up the cry of mad dog, and plenty would be found to join in the hollow. If there were such a thing as provocation on this earth, his clients received it. In the most ancient times, it was heroism to resent an insult; for even when Peter struck otf the ear of the centu- rion, Christ knew he was man, and loved him not the less. [Counsel also reads from Burke, to show that this question in Ireland was not as a discussion between two parties, for one was tolerated, and the other not.] Counsel w'as not an advocate for reading from books, but let them contrast the strength and wisdom of Edmund Burke with that of the prophet Jerry Saunders, and come to a conclusion between the former and the blasphemous expressions and rank intolerance on the part of his (Mr. Sampson's) deluded countrymen, who did not buckle on the sword of Gideon with feelings of peace, but in the rancour of persecution; it could not be to the honour of God they armed them- selves with reapers: if they supposed they were actuated by good mo- tives, in opposing those " devils incarnate," what right had they to draw those devils out? They were the only persons to be blamed, and they were alone blameable for every brick that had been thrown. One of them struck Albright, because that officer would not join them in their 60 orgies. They had not been told who the man was that lay on the pave- ment with the blue coat; he had been abstracted, perhaps dead; the Gideonites had not, it seemed, made a coirect return of their killed and wounded: for argument, he would say they had raised those "devils incarnate" in this peaceful city ; let them (the jury) ask themselves, w^ould there have been a riot except for them (the Protestants) 1 conse- quently every brick thrown was to be attributed to them. The present king oi" England, was perhaps the best who for years had been on the throne, for he listened to the grievances of his people, and boldly went for- ward to promote reform ; the existence of Orange processions was against his wishes, and his viceroy in Ireland had accordingly issued proclama- tions against them ; but in opposition to him, they had an Orange pro- cession in Banbridge, on the 12th of July, last, when the lives of several Roman Catholics were lost, but not an Orangeman was killed. M'Carron had been placed by them there as a spy ; they sent him out with an Orange riband, to tantalize them, and he said, " I am a king's man, and I will have my rights." He (Mr. Sampson) would then picture to his imagination, that unfortunate woman, in terror, clasping her child to her bosom, waiting, in the agony of her mind, the next coming act of this banditti ! Her feelings could not be known or ex- pressed ; to form a supposition of them, would be vain, and delusive as the fancy of the painter, who would attempt to define a phenomenon of the sky, which he did not comprehend. When they did not wish to gpeak the truth, their excuse was, they did not remember! The absur- dity was as ridiculous as the story of Peter Slemin, who lost his shadow! Counsel would be glad, if his dear friends (he would call them dear, because they were poor) would not mind the orgies of those wretches. [Counsel here read from a paper, (the Liverpool Mercury,) a late account of a body of Orangemen, all Irish, (and he was sorry to say, there were not such devils incarnate any where else,) who went out with swords, in a town in Scotland, against the sheriff's orders; they shot a constable, and the murderer had been identified.] The government of England had employed Plowden to write a his- tory of Ireland, with the right of exercising his own judgment, and giving him free access to the various records of the country. [After stating the union to have been carried by force and perjury, counsel reads extracts from that work, showing thatj upwards of seven hundred families were driven from Armagh to Belfast, and were supported by persons who ulti- mately suffered on the gallows for so doing — that three months after the Orangemen were organized, they sj)read terror through the country; and that thirty of the magistrates, seeing the state of devastation to which the country was arriving, convened and passed, among others, the following resolutions, on the 28th December, 1796, and at which meeting, lord Gosford, the governor of the county, presided. " Resolved, That it appears to this meeting, that the county of Armagh is at this moment in a state of uncommon disorder — that the Roman Catholic inhabitants are grievously oppressed by lawless persons, un- known, who attack and plunder their houses by night, and threaten 61 them with instant destruction, unless they abandon immediately their lands and habitations." The above resolution was proposed, with others, by lord Gosford, the governor of the county. " It is," said his lordship, "no secret, that a persecution, accompanied with all the circumstances of ferocious cruelty, which have in all ages distinguished that calamity, is now raging in this country: neither age nor sex, nor even acknowledged innocence as to any guilt in the late disturbances, is suflicient to excite mercy, or afford protection. The only crime which the wretched objects of this ruth- less persecution are charged with, is a crime indeed of easy proof; it is simply a profession of the Roman Catholic faith." He, (Mr. Sampson,) would then read for them the resolutions passed at the meeting of those worthies, on the 3d of June, to which reference has been made. "At a meeting of Protestants of the city and county of Philadel- phia, held at Independence Hotel, on the evening of the 3d of June; in pursuance of previous notice, Britton Evans, Esq. was called to the chair, and Robert E. Johnston was appointed secretary ; the object of the meeting having been stated from the chair, it was on motion '■^Resolved, That this meeting deem it a matter of the highest import- ance, that they in common with their Protestant brethren, celebrate the 12th of July, next, it being the one hundred and forty-first year of free- dom from Popery and arbitrary power. ^^ Resolved, That the same be celebrated by a public dinner, and other demonstrations of joy; [joy be with them;] and twelve persons be ap- pointed as a committee of arrangement, namely : — Britton Evans, Esq. Augustus D.Tarr, Esq. James M'Causland, Jeremiah Saunders, Benjamin Kennedy, John Murphy, William Moore, Edward Jones, John Murphy, junr. John Maywood, John Coulter, and John Mains ; [who are to pre- serve you gentlemen, from the fate of being buried with cross-bones, or being ever conquered by the devil incarnate.] "Resolved, That the committee have power to call meetings, fill va- cancies, [and God knows there is vacancy enough,] and appoint sub- committees and other ofticers for their assistance, and to provide a band of music [tuneful souls !] and other necessary appendages for the in- tended celebration. ''Resolved, That we adjourn to meet at this place on Friday, the 10th of June, at 8 o'clock, precisely." Counsel would, after that, read for the jury the appropriate speech of Jerry Saunders to that meeting, which was like the appropriate sermon they had heard of. He, (Mr. S.) could fancy that he saw the preacher — good easy man ; God bless him if he held the opinions he expressed on that occasion — look around, when his heart failed him, on observing the rough faces of the" Protestants of the city and county of Philadelphia;" but afterwards, when the collection was made, his coun- tenance cheered; and he gave them his blessing ; but what was done with that collection, he (Jslr. Sampson,) knows not. [Reads the speech.] " Mr. Chairman, — We are called together on this occasion, to concert 62 measures for celebrating the battle of the Boyne, one of the most im- portant events recorded in the history of the Protestant cause. Who can look to that eventful day, and picture to himself the misery endured by our noble and self devoted ancestors, to obtain civil and religious liberty, not only for themselves but for us, and not shed tears of grati- tude to Almighty God, who inspired them with courage to stand and conquer their numerous and barbarous foes, although wasted by famine and disease. The glorious results of that day had been told us by our fathers; and that it may make a more tirm and lasting impression on our minds, they have by common consent celebrated that glorious vic- tory, the benefits of which we, their offspring, are enjoying to the fullest extent. The memory of the immortal Walker, and the apprentice boys of Derry, [as he, (Mr. S.) was born in Derry, takes that as a great com- pliment,'] surely cannot fail to find a warm reception in the heart of every true Protestant; and, it is not possible that the distance we are now removed from that ever memorable spot, when the bones of our ancestors have whitened the plains, and their blood moistened the soil, can have the least tendency to chill our affections for the faith of our ancestors, for which they suffered all the barbarity that Popery could invent. [Still Popery, all about Popery.] It is not my intention to har- row up your feelings, by painting in their genuine colours, the evils and wretchedness which Popery has brought, and is still bringing on the world at large ; [Popery ! colour ! oh, aye — if he had but a httle more carmine, but he was afraid to put it on too strong ; and in his (coun- sel's) opinion, there was more danger to be apprehended from Jerry Saunders than the Pope ;] but it must be obvious to every man of a discerning mind, that she is straining every nerve to establish her power in this happy country, and to regain if possible, that universal sway which she held in Europe. [Happy country ! the gentlemen might go to sleep very quietly on their pillows, for Jerry would watch for them.] It is then the duty of every friend of civil and religious liberty, to watch with a jealous eye over all their movements, as there are at this moment shoals of Jesuits inundating this yet free and happy land; and the papal see is furnishing them with funds, in the hope that they will be able to establish their authority here, which, may heaven forbid! [The Jesuits, in counsel's opinion, were just as good citizens here, as any others, and their institutions would prove harmless as a sword of lead.] It may be asked what course I would pursue [pursue ! fly Jerry ! only if you please, we'll have M'Carron with the ribands, and have swords and stab a constable,] to counteract the baneful effects of Popery ; I would answer, not by persecution of any kind ; but I would say to my Protestant fellow citizens, make your children, your friends, and the public at large, ac- quainted with its corruptions, and tell them what they may expect if ever she obtains the ascendancy. I would urge them to contend manfully 'for the faith once delivered to' the saints;' [counsel would'nt wonder if Jerry would set up for saint,] and that that may have a stronger influence on the mind, let us unanimously celebrate the day on which the worst of despots received its death wound. This 1 do not recommend for the purpose of injuring the feelings of the advocates of Popery, in this or 63 any other country; [considerate Jerry !] but when we see that they arc not ashamed to celebrate, and even idoHze the memory of men who have caused Protestant blood to flow in torrents, shall we be ashamed to commemorate those glorious events which broke the tyrant's chain, [quite poetic! Jerry,] and shed light and liberty on the Protestant world? If we forget the ashes of a Cranmer, a Rogers, a Ridley, and a Latimer, [counsel thinks Jerry knows as much about Latimer as he did about Gideon,] and a host of other worthies, who suffered the refined cruelty of Popery for believing as we do, they would rise up in condemnation against us. These are painful topics to dwell on, but the nature of the case demands it; and I should be a traitor to myself, my children, my country, and my God, were I to withhold my honest sentiments on this occasion. [Counsel thought that Evans was more a traitor for bringing his two children there.] The majority of people are on the side of truth, but how long they will remain so is indeed doubtful, at least while Popish money and influence will have so much control over the people. [Counsel thinks, the Pope, poor man ! wants money as much as any of them.] They have nearly subsidized the press, and I beg the gentlemen present, to bear in mind with what avidity every circum- stance that has a tendency to forward their cause, is published to the world, and how careful they are not to admit into their columns, any thing that will show Popery in its true colours: these are facts that can- not be denied. The Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore journals, are ample proofs, if there were no others. [Jerry wants to make the people believe, that Chandler, and the other respectable editors of Philadelphia, are afraid of the Pope !] We have no daily publication, which we can call our own, where we can exhibit our views to the world and state our grievances. [Because they are despised by all, with nothing to disturlj them but their own fanciful imaginations.] To be sure, there is one, called the Protestant, a weekly paper, published in New York; [poor fanatics ! were obliged to send home for an editor for it, who was discarded from Scotland, jealous that the Pope comes between him and his glory, its pages teeming with his own sentiments, scraps, and collections from the Book of Martyrs, but wisdom has frown- ed it down, for it does not contain a single ray of intelligence ;] but, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon, that it is on the decline, from want of patronage. [Can't raise the wind, Jerry..] Where is the spirit of our fathers ? Almost every town of note in this country, maintains a press, devoted to the interests of popery, and is well sup- ported, while ours languishes from neglect. Let us arise, then, and do our first works over again; [and if they did, they would be bloody works;] let us support a liberal and independent journal, to whose co- lumns all shall have free access — one that will exercise a due regard for our interests, and our whole interests — one that will serve as a bea- con, whence may emanate the light of truth." In his (Mr. Sampson's) opinion, their meanness might save them (the Protestants) from the indignation of the jury; they could not view them in so contemptible a light, and be angry with them, were it not that they aver the sanction of the law, in the organization of a system, which 64 must strike at the root of social order, by recruiting in their service the Avorst and lowest of society. [Counsel again reverting to the Orange obligation, which he reads in sentences.] Supposed the woods were their former places of resort, and probably, heretofore, sprung from the gipsies, they made no distinction between others and themselves; the inference, therefore, was, they mifht injure others; riots were not excepted; would see a brother of- fen^ded for twenty-five cents, if not quite convenient to lend him so much, but then they had the continence of Scipio, (great laughing;) but if he did not know them to be wives or sisters, &c. he would have carnal con- nexion: then the spears! the mysteries of the fire-worshipper were never equal to it. He (Mr. Sampson) never heard such ribaldry, vice, folly, and vulgarity : they were to walk within three paces of a spear ! it was like the story of twenty thousand of St. Anthony's men dancing a saraband on the top of a needle. Counsel, though feeble, would impress on the jury, that they (the Protestants) were men of violence. They drew their swords as the signal of vengeance ; if they had a right thus to blaspheme God, the others had an equal right to knock down constables, and hold green ri- bands to their noses; what description of city would they then have? then was the time to put it down, by convicting them. They had not as yet committed murder, but by convicting them then, the jury would probably be saved the more painful task, at a future period, of convict- ing them for that crime. The jury would therefore find them guilty. Other counsel would follow him, who would do more justice to the me- rits of the case, and bring it more fully to their view. As to the judgment to be pronounced by that enlightened court, it was not vengeance that his clients asked ; if the wishes they expressed were known, it would make the court love them for their past griefs, and pour the balm of comfort into their wounds. If they were igno- rant, it was the fault of others; the court would sooth their angry pas- sions ; their manners might be rude, their vices were apparent, but their virtues hidden. Would to God he (Mr. Sampson) could speak the feel- ings of his heart for them ! but they had chosen him, feeble as he w^as, and feebly had he done his duty ; but he had done it fearlessly. More, probably, had been expected from him than he had realized ; but his great anxiety was to show the danger of permitting a body to exist, which nurtured such feelings of persecution and intolerance as had been displayed before them: the others had been goaded on, and probably error mi^ht be attached to them, but the jury would have some feeling for them, under the recollection that their religion had been insulted ; and the court, he (Mr. Sampson) hoped, while it dealt its severity towards the offending party, would, in case it considered it necessary to visit any punishment on his clients, apply the rod of correction as ten- derly on them, as the nature of the circumstances would admit. Mr. Brown. Following the example, to a certain extent, of the learned counsel who liad preceded him, he (Mr. Brown) would likewise recur to history, which informed us, that in ancient times, a young and illus- trious hero, influenced by the sacred flame of patriotism, plunged into a 65 yawning gulf for the purpose of redeeming his beloved country Irom anticipated peril or impending calamity — and his name wasyCurlius, In the present time a hero scarcely less illustrious if the doctrine be true, which emanated from high authority, that " great name not more survived from good than evil deeds," plunged into a still deeper and more fathomless gulf, for the purpose of redeeming himself and his friends from anticipated punishment — and his name was Hugli Flana- gan. Pursuing those distinguished examples he (Mr. Brown) would plunge into the gulf which that case exhibited for the less glorious, but the scarcely less commendable object, of releasing them (the jury) from unnecessary toil, or obviating the infliction of unnecessary penalties. There were two cases presented to their consideration, and which it became his duty to discuss. The former of which was an indictment for an unlawful assembly — the latter for a riot. In the one which con- tained a single count, those whom he represented, were the defend- ants; in the other their adversaries, to the number of sixteen, were the defendants. That last mentioned indictment contained fhree counts. The first alleging a riot, with the overt act of an assault and battery committed upon a portion of the procession which had been so much talked of. The second count alleging a riot with the overt act of an assault and battery upon Robert Elliott, and the third being a count for a simple assault and battery, committed upon the individuals whose names were specified in the first. Having thus apprized them of the character of the charge, it was proper, in the next place, that they should be made acquainted with the nature of the law to which those charges were to be applied — and by which only, could they be sustained ; for all indictments were idle and vain, and worse than both, unless they be founded upon some well esta- blished principle of the law. They were mere castles in the air that, for a time, it was true, might attract their attention and excite their admiration and surprise, but which were no objects of reasonable or legitimate reliance ; and which too frequently vanish even while they were engaged in their contemplation. He should first then, consider what was the definition of a riot, since that was the highest grade of the imputed misdemeanors, and indeed embrued in its constituents the other alleged oifences. A riot then was where three or more persons did an unlawful act of violence, with or without a common cause of quarrel; so that in order to meet this defi- nition, three or more persons must be concerned, and an act must be done, and that act must be unlawful. Those essentials of a riot being supplied, it became unimportant to consider, whether or not there was a common cause of quarrel, or to what extent the respective parties individually participated in the violation of the public peace. Nor was it necessary to ascertain in what portion, or what period, of the alleged criminal transactions they became parties, since in misdemean- ors of that description there were no accessaries — they were all prin- cipals. And the act of one became in the consideration of the law, the act of all. It would be endless and useless, in affairs of that kind, to 9 66 inquire into the precise extent of their several breaches of the peace ; and to attempt to distinguish between nice shades of guilt. The motive being presumed to be joint, and the act indicating that motive to be wicked, nothing more could be requisite in order to render them pun- ishable. It became him (Mr. B.) in candour to state, however, that this was but one branch of the definition of a riot; and that where the same number of persons even did a lawful act, in a violent and tumultuous manner, they also were rioters. Thus they saw in the first branch of the definition, the act done was required to be unlawful. And in the second branch the unlawfulness of the manner imparted its character to the act, and rendered that illegal which, if properly performed, would be allowable. So much for a riot. An unlawful assembly consisted in three or more persons assembling to do an unlawful act, or to do a lawful act in an unlawful manner, with- out taking any steps towards the accomplishment of their object. For if anv measures be taken, it would in that case technically be denominated a rout. Or if the object were effectuated, it would, as has been shown, be a riot. With these explanations of the charge, and the law, instead of launching a feeble barkinto anarrow,a doubtfuland a deviouschannel, without helm or rudder, chart or compass, they were enabled to put to sea at once in a trim ship and favouring gales, and with the most auspicious indications of a prosperous, and secure, though somewhat protracted voyage. It would not be denied that, as guilt was the off- spring of the heart, so consequently were those innocent, in whose heart no crime was meditated. Were persons to be indicted for carrying swords? for an offence which was not a crime? the legislature did not fix penalties to any act unless meditated in the heart, for it was by the heart alone that the intentions could be ascertained ; and surely the punishment sought against his clients and in the indictment, could not attach to them for an act, which to say the most, was one of imprudence. Nor could the law ascribe crime to an individual, in whose intentions no act of crime were ascertained to have existed. They assembled to celebrate the one hundred and forty-first anni- versary from the thraldom of fanaticism. They (the jury) had nothing to do with Protestants or Catholics, Orangemen or Kibandmen; they were to view them all as the children of one republic, worshipping at the same altar; each claiming the protection of one common parent, but equally bound to yield submission to the laws ; the refractory alone were to be visited with punishment. But if tfiey were permitted to go unpunished, the great end of justice would be defeated, and that tie which bound society would be dissolved. Having so assembled, without exciting any just terror, they were justified; their motives were to be tested by their actions, but the learned counsel (Mr. Sampson) had called them Orangemen. He (Mr. Brown) did not care if they were Lemonmen. Were they to be told, because one man wore an orange colour, and another a green, that for so doing they should be punished by the law? The learned counsel had likewise told them that lord Hale had desired a jury to convict a person for witchery, for an act which 67 they could not*coraprehend ; and were they, therefore, on tlie same principle to be called on to find men guilty because they did not com- prehend the nature of an Orange oath? it was said, the purple in the oath meant blood, but they had heard nothing whatever in the testi- mony, to make them think so; it was as air drawn as their spears; and would again contend that if they had pursued a lawful act, they were justified. The learned counsel (Mr. S.) had also said it was not merely incorrect in Orangemen to walk or assemble, but it was likewise wrong and impolitic to act in any way about matters belonging to other coun- tries ; that would be monstrous. One had said " this is a free country, how dare you, and what right have you, to walk here!" The learned counsel (Mr. S.) said we had no right to exercise the right of our reli- gion; but he (Mr. Brown) would say we had. Had the Papists any right to tell to the Protestants they should not assemble to celebrate their religion? Should the butchers who go forth in all the pomp and pride of their profession tell the people of this good city they should not eat beef on Good Friday, or any other particular day? the toast of St. Patrick, the patron saint of the Roman Catholics, had been drunk at the St. Patrick's Society, but how did that influence any person? Let every one pursue his own views. They had also been told, that it was impolitic to permit any interference in, or countenance transatlantic concerns. At a time when the Greeks were struggling in the cause of liberty, did we not sympathize vv'ith them, and meet for the purposes of contribution and assistance? Did we not, in a similar spirit of feeling and admiration of the conduct of the gallant Poles, meet for the purpose of advancing their noble cause? Would any Turk or Russian have a right to go to those meetings, and like Cromwell to his parliament, say. Begone ! and demand what right they had there, or complain that they were disturbing the peaceful repose of their minds, by holding meetings in favour of persons of a dilFerent opinion with themselves? Going nearer home, let them (the Roman Catholics) but look to the time that the Emancipation Bill was in agitation; they had their O'Connell fund here, and collected money for papal influence. How could they reconcile those facts with their present conduct? A few years ago, at an elec- tion, a certain party exhibited a picture of General Jackson, like death on the pale horse: it might have been annoying to some of that party, but were persons, therefore, who might be displeased with it, to wreak their vengeance on the painting? It was the same in politics as in reli- gion: let them do all they could to support their candidate or their creed, but not interfere with others. Gentlemen had chuckled at the notion of their having sw^ords; but they could only point out a dozen of swords amongst two hundred and forty persons: they thought to dazzle the eyes and blind the intellects of the jury with the glitter of their blades. He (Mr. B.) was not only glad they had swords with them, but would justi- fy them if they had a six pounder. A shillelah, well used, was, in his opinion, better than any sword. They found that one of the Protestants had brought his wife among them, and others their young children; to good people they could have been no terror — nor was there aught in their conduct or demeanour, in the least to show they were cause of 68 terror. Such an idea could not be reconciled with their conduct ; but terror there was unquestionably, for the howl, and threat, and madden- ing desperation of their enemies, were to them a serious, and but too just a cause of terror. The learned counsel had told them, indeed, what was truly evident, that there would not have been a riot, if the procession had not been there. He (Mr. Brown) gave every credit for the saga- city of the deduction; but was it because the procession was there, that a riot should necessarily take place, or be attempted to be justified? It put him (Mr. B.) in mind of a story of an old gentleman who happened once to have his bald head out of a window, when an honest Hibernian going by, struck him on the sconce with a stick, and in his defence, said, the bald pate looked so very inviting, that he could not possibly help hitting him on it. He (Mr. Brown) would take a legal view of such a position. In a case of larceny, would it be any extenuation, that the temptation had been too great to resist the crime? Would it be moral or lawful? The law did not recognise any such feeling. They, therefore, had no right to interfere with the procession ; they had an opportunity of avoid- ing collision, by not attacking them. Those persons, in pursuance of certain religious feelings, had a right to express their thanksgivings for the benefits which they enjoyed as Protestants, or citizens of the world. It had been said, that they excited terror opposite the Hall. Who ap- prehended it ? If they had been permitted to go out quietly, there could not have been any terror. If persons going to church, were to be inter- rupted by a rufiian banditti, brandishing weapons, and heaping impre- cations on them, wherefore the pride and beauty of our justly boasted structure, under whose broad, expansive dome, the stranger, from every soil, was secured in the possession of civil and religious liberty ? They convened at La Grange, in the same manner that the Masonic and other societies were in the habit of doing, but they were soon met in the spirit of persecution. Was it by cries of Crucify him ! crucify him! they would promote either their political or religious advance- ment? Every one should deprecate that mode of acting against men, whose conduct was the best test of their character, and whose only fault was availing themselves of that privilege, which the others would equally contend for, " liberty of conscience." They left La Grange, equipped with swords. and badges, the usual insignia of all societies, and they proceeded to church, there to sanctify the holy object which brought them together. If they had intended riot, why publish notices of their assembling at seven Protestant churches? why not do so in the Catholic churches? why, instead of fire- arms, they brought but swords, and only of those ten or twelve in the entire procession? But they brought them not for protection even, for they did not anticipate an attack, but for display, and counsel would call it a virtuous display. Why take children with them, if they had meditated a riot? but in every circumstance their conduct tallied with their intentions. He (Mr. B.) would apply the law to the case, which said, they might carry what they pleased, if they did not create or ex- cite terror. Not by the procession was terror excited on that day, but by the others, who afterwards wanted to transfer their guilt to them ; 69 and yet they (the jury) had been called on to exculpate those persons, and to visit punishment on the unoffending party. They had gone to church, where a collection had been made, and hoped his venerable and learned friend did not intend to insinuate, by saying he did not know what became of the money, that a fraud had been committed in the house of God, by being mal-appropriated. He hoped he would not on that matter form his judgment as Sir Mathew Hale had done, and equally trusted the jury would not follow his ad- vice or apparent example, by forming their judgment similarly. If they were indeed a jury of old women, he would not wonder at their liabihty to be led astray; but in men, like them, of reason and inteihgence, on their oaths, he felt every confidence and security. Scarce had the procession left the church, when a ruffian, then upon his trial, denounced them, and profanely threatened to burn the house of God. That was, however, but the signal; they proceeded amidst the taunts and insults of the mob, without noticing tliem; and in their de- meanour acted not as men contemplating a riot, but as good christians and as good citizens, resolving not to violate the laws of the land of their adoption. They were again impeded in their progress at Fourth and Chcsnut streets : at that time, Albright, the constable, to whom some praise was due, arrested a person, w ho, though he had no badge, had been called one of the procession; but there were several witnesses who swore he was not. He (Albright) w^as no friend to some of them. He ac- knowledged, in speaking of Britton Evans, if he had not a quarrel, he had at least some misunderstanding with him. They proceeded to the Hall, as they were by law entitled to do, where all the defendants were present, or at least in the neighbourhood, continuing to recruit and col- lect a mob in the adjacent streets. There were Nicholas M'Intire and Grant from Germantown road, and others, from various parts, collected to aid the attack: those persons knew of the procession being there, but displayed every reluctance in telling how or from whom they knew it. Could it be denied, that Neal Harkan, with the severe nose, and severe disposition, and still more severe club, struck Robert Elliott over the head? Probably he did so from the same irresistible temptation, which occasioned the old gentleman to be struck on his bald pate. When in the Hall, those rebellious spirits were parading about, and to show their disposition, he (Mr. B.) would advert to the fact, that the Mayor, though unconscious of it, had been pursued by them. When the Protestants were in quiet harmony, surrounding the festive board, they got up to the windows, on the outside, and at every toast, assailed them with menaces and imj)recations, threatening what they would do when night came. One of them abused the aged and venerable, and then insulted the officer who chid him for it, thus evincing, in all the various circum- stances by which character could be distinguished, that system that would bear before it at one fell swoop, every feeling of charity and bro- therly love, and sunder every tie of society. To the Mayor he (Mr. B.) would offer every respect; but some, perhaps, were beyond the reach of praise — much less would it require an episode from him to raise that officer in public estimation. But he (the Mayor) saw a disturbance, 70 and the necessity of precaution ; he saw the lion, though slumbering, was about to roam; he said, he advised them, not commanded; but it would seem, like the old gentleman who exhibited the bald pate, they (the Protestants) afforded too great a temptation to the others to create a riot. But was the master spirit of our laws to be thus violated, and such conduct to be a by-word of reproach to us ? The jury had been told that out of more than two hundred in the procession, only seventy or eighty were enabled to enter the Hall, owing to the attacks made on them. They had heard of the imprecations of that mob through the win- dows, when they were calculating their strength, evincing by their ma- levolence a deadly hatred towards them, and by their menaces, a deter- mination of acting on that hatred— every eye, a lynx-eye, fondly glaring on their victims, and every heart meditating their destruction; had they then gone out of that Hall alone and unprotected, their destiny would be written in one word, and that would be blood. What did they assem- ble round the windows for, except to give information to those outside'' By the Mayor's request, the procession disrobed themselves, dismissed their music, and agreed to depart : it required some time for the Presi- dent to confer with them ; and some, who were more fearful than the rest, who had wives and children, said they would remain with those who had the swords, for protection ; for they saw all the horrors of the cataract before their eyes, and they heard its roar, and they expected every moment that its torrent of annihilation would rush upon them. " Say ye severest, what would ye have done t" Men in their situa- tion, cribbed, cabined, and confined, what were they to do? They did all they could, probably more than many would have done, and were they to have departed singly, the blood stained menaces and awful im- piety of their enemies would have been too surely realized. Dubois saw muskets and a fowling piece with men in Prune street, and they were evidently connected with the rest. In Chesnut street, other per- sons were seen with arms, one of whom had a gun, which he endeavoured to conceal, while others had weapons at the Hall, and there was too much reason to believe that those were only parts of one organized sys- tem. The Protestants could not have expected a riot, or they would have acted and prepared themselves very differently for it; but one thousand persons had gone out on that day for the express purpose of provoking an assault, and consequently any terror which existed on that occasion, was produced by that ruffian mob. The procession left the Hall without badges or music, more like the citizens of Calais, who walked through the gates with halters round their necks, than men in- dicating triumph. They had scarce arrived at the steps, when they were assailed by a brick, thrown at them, which struck the door; a brick and other missiles were thrown at them, opposite the church, and as they went along, before ever their swords were drawn. Then in- deed, but not till then, they drew them, under the directions of Mr. Evans,ybr the protection of their lives; they could not escape, for they were surrounded by the mob ; and were it not for the protection those swords afforded them on that day, their story would have been told in the one short word — murder. But it was not until they had arrived at 71 the end of their eventful journey, which they pursued without connmit- tinga single act of annoyance, that it was even pretended that they had used them. There, at the corner of Fifth and Pine streets, coals, por- ter bottles, and brickbats, with iron bars and shovels, &.c. taken from a blacksmith's shop, were all seized upon, to swell the tide of ruflianism against the then small band of twenty men, some ten or twelve of whom alone were armed. Of what annoyance to their enemies could swords be ? A sword was not so good as a bludgeon, nor would it do half so much execution as Neal Harkan's axe handle. A man might as well be indicted for carrying a penknife as a sword: but he (Mr. B.) would say, if they had brought a twelve pounder there, and swept that mob of ruffians off the face of the earth, they would have been justified. Had they not, however, acted as they did, the hope of their salvation in this world, would have been but small. That Spartan band stretched itself across the street, maintaining order, and putting to flight many of the cowardly miscreants, and stood together, until they had an opportunity to retreat, for virtue was their shield, and justice their support.- " Dangers confronted, retreat when boldly faced." The great cause and end of the procession had been shown. They might be called Orange- men or Gideonites, but let their conduct be recollected, and people might whistle their prejudices to the wind. They behaved as honourable men; there had not been any thing shown in their conduct or demeanour cal- culated to excite terror, nor had there been in that procession any thing more than what was usual in any other orderly procession. He (Mr. B.) would then call the attention of the jury to that nice distinction of light and shade, which he would exhibit in the picture. The first wit- ness called to support the bill against the Protestants, was Hugh Flana- gan; and he was found at the corner of Fifth and Pine streets, com- mencing an attack, where he should have been ending it. He (Mr. B.) did not know if he were any relation of the great tear-a-way O'Flana- gan ; but though he seemed so dreadfully angry at the tune of the Boyne Water, was inclined to think he would have no great objection to a lit- tle of the same Boyne water mixed with American whiskey. It seemed, however, that Mr. Flanagan screwed up his courage, on the morning of the 12th of July, last, and went down in his shirt sleeves, to get money, which he said was due to him. He went to four houses, quite regard- less whether he got the money or not ; but, however, he got some gin, joined the mob, and hovered about like a vulture, gratifying the malevo- lence of his unrestrained passions: he showed very little anxiety about the money, but he was to be seen at the Hall, with a brick in one hand, and a hatchet in the other, and he was one of those sensitive creatures into whom the procession had struck such terror. Why did he not go away, instead of joining them ? The fidelity of the wind or the waves might be as well depended on, as his testimony. Flanagan, who, accord- ing to the lady's account, looked as if his head was off, got up and walked over to an apothecary's shop. He (Mr, B.) had heard of a Saint Benedict, who lost his head, but found it again. The same Mr. Hugh Flanagan had there sworn that they had a white band ; it however turned out that it was a black one : yet that fellow, who did not know 72 black from white — that most mysterious personage, who walked without his head, undertook to claim credit for his testimony. He had also sworn that they had badges at the corner of Pine street ; their own counsel admitted it was useless to examine other witnesses on that fact, as it could not be proved. But honest Mr. Hugh Flanagan thought it quite ne- cessary they should be arrayed in all the pageantry of Orange dress. Could the testimony of that fellow, who threatened them M'ith the priest, and who promised to give him a Uft to send all the damn'd rascals to hell, be relied on? He had also stated, he had nothing in his hand; whether that was true, had been clearly ascertained. The next witness against Evans was Albright, and all he could say about him was, that he had looked scornfully at him, and the evidence of both went to show, that there had been persons scattered in different directions, only waiting the tocsin to be sounded, to commence ; but such was the certainty of truth and justice, that crime could not be hidden. It had been proved by their own witnesses, that ten of them and modest Hugh Flanagan and Mr. Neal Harkan, to make up the dozen, were there about the time that Elliott was struck. One of them, Nicholas M'Intire, stood on his own privilege, and would not answer ; although he did not criminate himself, yet he invalidated his testimony, by drawing on that most con- venient resource — mental reservation : but he stood mute and con- demned ; his lips were as heavy, if not so pure, as silver, and his mouth was sealed by the ponderous weight of his jaws. Then came a Mrs. Seener, or Sinner, and believed the last was her proper name. The last of the Mohicans was nothing to her. Counsel confessed, he hated Beldams and Amazons from his very soul. He had read of two of them, and that was all he cared to know about them: one had encountered twenty men, and died in conflict with the last ; the other, who was an empress, encountered twenty-five, and had survived them all. Mrs. Sinner told them, she had, at the Hall, mounted an equivocal scaffold, which he (Mr. B.) truly hoped might be the last. She acknowledged they came out very peaceable, and had said she did not see the swords drawn until stones were thrown. He (Mr. Brown) would be ashamed to set up the evidence of fifty negative witnesses against one affirmative. She stated, however, that she tumbled over M'Carron, and that she could face twenty men, much better than her daughter; it was not in scrip she had given her testimony. After her came M'Donnell, from the Northern Liberties; that was the man who saw Flanagan, after receiving twenty sabre wounds, ruiniing over to the apothecary's shop with his head off. Then came Willis H. Blaney, who stood alone, amongst them all, and swore they had their badges on, and sw^ords drawn, coming out of the Hall. The opposite counsel had, however, abandoned that position, as it could not be maintained. The hearing of the witness must have been nearly as defective as his sight; for, with the same degree of in- correctness, he said, they hurraed for king William. It appeared to him (Mr. B.) unaccountable, how he could make such an assertion. That preserver of the peace went down with the Mayor, and was found associating with the procession, telling them not to move until they saw a riot, or were assailed, and not to stir, until, like " the torrent pouring from 73 the giddy height, Submerging all below," it would have been useless. He would ask, if that were prudent 1 If they were an unlawful assem- bly, they should have been taken from the Hall — from that place where he saw the swords glittering, and throwing back their rays upon his re- fulgent imagination to such an extent as to have blinded his eyes and intellects: but he (Mr. B.) could not possibly withhold from him that praise which should ever be rendered to foresight and sagacity; for, after a due survey of both parties, he told Barger, fhat on the east side was the stronger, and he would therefore arrest the other party; but, in trying to do so, he was first knocked down by a Papist, and then kick- ed by a Protestant ; but that was merely in the spirit of the times, though it would be well for him then, had he been like Mrs. Seener, who thanked heaven, she was neither Protestant or Papist; and finding himself so uncourteously treated by both parties, he took the very wise precaution of sending for the marines, a/ier the ajfray was over. That excellent public officer had, in the due administration oi Ids law, taken part with the strong, and oppressed the weak. Ankora saw no drawn swords coming out. Stewart saw Ankora threatening them at the window; and Cullen swore he heard whispering in Cannon's. To those whisperers he would say, " Suspicion haunts the guilty mind," and apply to them a Spanish proverb, "That the guilt is known by the cloak." As to the tune of the battle of the Boyne, at which they seem to have shown so much anger, it was the same air as the battle of Plattsburg, a national air of this country. But if such interdicting principles were introduced, they would soon have such a drab coloured state of society, that we would become a miserable set of beings ; and because, indeed, a part of the community were so void of soul, as to dislike music, they would punish those who might indulge a taste for it. In their attack, they had not even the manliness to grapple with the procession, but as " cowards are ever guilty," they had gone behind them, to assassinate them. If they came to this country, they would be gladly received in this asylum of liberty; but the oppressed in other countries were not to become oppres- sors here ; and let us not be told by them, that this was free, if an Orange- man be not permitted to walk. He (Mr. B.) would not concede a particle or atom, in a single instance, whereby a doubt could be thrown on his clients. It signified nothing, whether the parties in that transaction were Orangemen or Ribandmen, Protestants or Papists; they were all received here as children of one common parent, to whom she would extend protection, but from whom was expected submission to her laws. If those four men, who were in- dicted for riot, had done nothing more than what men ought to do, or what the laws required of them, were they to be sacrificed? and if they were twenty times wrong by assembling, counsel would twenty times deny that there was any justification for the assault committed on them. How stood it on the other side? Out of sixteen who were assembled in that riot, none of them had approached the book, to peril their salva- tion by denying their guilt. Out of all the defendants, only Mr. Hugh Flanagan had been examined; but the fact recoiled upon themselves, and they stood self-crushed, self-immolated. Their counsel was aware 10 74 that *' they had done those things which they ought not to have done, and there was no help in them." Their general deportment had been, from the time they commenced at the church, one continued scene of outrage. They had been bound together in concert, and opposed to the other party, and each participating in one common object. From the tenor of the evidence, it had appeared, that nothing in fact had been done on one part, but every thing on the other; and if he (Mr. B.) were to utter volumes, in praise of the men in that procession, he could not say more than that they had obeyed the orders that were given them by Mr. Evans, "Keep firm, give no insults, but take all." And yet he was the man who was to be hunted down like a wild beast by that confederacy. Let the jury contrast the character of the two parties, and bear in mind Flanagan armed, who said he would send the Protestants to hell, with the help of the priest ; Flanagan, whom he (Mr. B.) would not designate as a devil incarnate, but as a ringleader of a band of ruffians. As regarded Patrick Reilly, Gay stated he was so disgusted at his conduct, that he withdrew from him as from a murder- er; that dastard, ever ready to strike a blow, and justly fearful of every one. Neal Harkan was identified, not by some, but by all; not merely by his having so severe a nose, but by his having so severe a disposition; he was the man who called the respectable persons in that procession " a pack of damned rascals." [Counsel recapitulated other portions of the evidence, to show the shades of guilt attached to the several defendants in the second bill.] They were urged by one common cause and motive, and confederated for mutual service; and being so, should meet the same condign punish- ment. Was there a man, who had heard the evidence, that would not justify the conduct of those Protestants, after the melancholy scenes of guilt, and horrible confederacy, which had been developed on the part of the others, throughout the investigation? Whether there was or not an unlawful assembly on the part of the Protestants, four of them only being indicted, showed clearly that their case was of a totally different nature with the other. He would there leave the case with the jury, feeling an assurance that they would discharge the duty that had been imposed on them by their country, in giving the case their cool and dispassionate consideration, and firmly and fearlessly delivering that verdict, which he had no doubt would reflect honour to their feelings and intelligence. In the Court, he felt satisfied, he could repose the utmost confidence ; and that what- ever way the scale would preponderate, its judgment would be justice. Friday morning. Mr. Ingersoll. It was an extraordinary and novel circumstance, that a Philadelphia court and jury should be occupied for so many days in the investigation of matters concerning the Orange Society. It was the pride and blessing of this country, to be free from those institutions which distracted others. The subject had been, however, very ingeniously in- troduced by the opposite counsel, for the purpose of influencing the public mind, and of creating an effect calculated to produce excitement. But here they had nothing to do with it ; it was, in a measure, forcing 75 the question, and the jury had nothing whatever to say to, or decide upon, the merits or demerits of that institution. It had been ascertained, that in this city, a breach of the peace had been committed on the 12th of July, last;' but to whatever institution or society any of the parties in that transaction may have belonged, was not for the consideration of the jury, as the entertainment of that question would be equally foreign and irrelevant to the subject at pre- sent under investigation. If the Orangemen were that fearful institu- tion represented by Mr. Sampson, that was not the place to put it down; the course of the argument which followed, was, that it was connected with the Gideonite Society, which was incorporated as a beneficial in- stitution; but the law to be applied was to the body polilic. concerned with the transaction. 'I'here was another tribunal, before which its encroachments could be punished, or its existence annihilated. That Court had no right to investigate the nature, danger, or tendency of societies; as perfectly incapable would that Court l)e, to decide a cause in which it had no jurisdiction, or investigate this present prosecution without the necessary process of indictment. The jury was called upon to lay hands on that nefarious institution, and crush the hydra-headed monster; but they could not crush it if they would, nor would not if they could, in the manner they had been called upon: but they had nothing whatever to do with it; the great objection to it seemed to be the name : the subject here to be ascertained was the conduct of the parties implicated ; the name of an institution was nothing; it was the motives that were to be inquired into, and if t/iei/ were ascertained to be legal, the parties would be protected. A case occurred sometime since, respecting an application to the Supreme Court, on the subject of the name of the first Baptist Society, by another society claiming the same one; but the Court would have nothing to do with it. If the Orange institution were that which had been described — if its objects and views were injurious, let the legislature be applied to, and they would grant a law that would put it down. Our criminal courts, however, took cognizance of any act, on the part of a collective as well as an individual body; but it would be dangerous and absurd, as well as illegal, in that Court to exercise a power which belonged only to the legislature. He (Mr. Ingersoll) had risen as the amicus cura?, when a witness had been called on to divulge the secrets belonging to that society, and to reveal matter that was quite irrelevant, for the purpose of throwing an odium upon his testimony and cause. He would, as in that case, do a similar justice to the individuals be- longing to a respectable society; he would call it respectable, because, from the evidence and character of the persons belonging to it, nothing whatever had appeared in the nature or constitution of that society, opposed to charily, benevolence, or brotherly love. The preamble of its constitution breathed the purest principles of religion and lovinn- kindness. [Counsel here read the prayer which formed part of the Orange constitution.] Nor was there any thing in it opposed, in any way whatever, to the duty of a good christian, good citizen, or good member of society. In respect to its character, in a political ^oint of view, it 76 was laudable. It was well known to the Court, as well as to every gentleman of polite education, that the revolution in England of 1688, was the harbinger of that of 1770, in this country, and that in many parts the wording of the bill of right?, incorporated in the statute of William and Mary, was the same as that of the bill of rights of Penn- sylvania, which shed so much blessing on that state. The exclusion of Roman Catholics, by the oath of the society, which would seem proba- bly to be the chief and great cause of dislike and objection, arose from a dread, and, in his opinion, a very amiable and just one, that in the frequent poUtical and religious discussions which might naturally be supposed to exist at their meetings, the presence of Roman Catholics would either impose a total restraint upon them, or be attended with those unpleasant results, which conflicting opinions on such topics would inevitably produce. In that view, they were perfectly excusable, and showed policy and wisdom by providing against that which would un- questionably occur, from an otherwise heterogenous association. The assembly, however, was not Orange or Gideonite, but Protestant ; and amongst them, were many Americans, born and bred, whose ancestors were the same, and who met together for the purpose of celebrating a deliverance from religious intolerance. When the learned counsel (Mr. Sampson) suggested to the jury, to crush that institution, he took rather too wide a scope, and indulged in rather too wild a fancy. All Pro- testant societies' were, by his doctrine, to be swept away, and those who did not agree in the same religious tenets with his party, were to be crushed — all were to be annihilated. Never did Mahomet, with persuasive policy and still more extermi- nating sword, sweep proselytism before him at such a rate. But, let the organization of the society be what it might, however impure, diaboli- cal, or alien, if its acts and conduct were in conformity with the law, those connected vv^ith it were not to be punished for the crimes of their ancestors. The opposite counsel had left them to wander, without chart or compass, on a wide expanse, leaving his (Mr. Ingersoll's) colleague to explain the nature and merits of the case. With every respect for Mr. Sampson, he had said not one word ; in fact, nothing, except about a constable being knocked down, and even his name he miscalled, and though he had delighted them with his wit and humour, and displayed in his best style, considerable research in history, and amused them with a very pathetic story of a handsome young woman, &c. the whole scope and tendency of his argument was, that the Protestants were guilty, or, if not, their ancestors in another clime, a hundred years ago, were, and they must therefore be brought to the bar on their account. He did not wish to be severe, but it put him in mind of the story of the wolf and the lamb, who happened to be drinking at the same stream, when the wolf said, you are disturbing the water, and making it muddy. The lamb replied, he did not do so, as he was below the wolf; but you have done something to annoy me, no : well, but your ancestors did, and then the wolf set on him. He (Mr. I.) might probably differ somewhat from the counsel who had gone before him, in collecting and making deductions from the evidence. 77 He would claim for the Protestants what they had a right to, by the law of the land, which permitted them to assemble in number, and to bear arms as private citizens, to hear orations, to form processions, and play on musical instruments, to banquet, to drink toasts, and wear badges, and, if attacked, to defend themselves, by using arms, or to pre- fer inglorious flight : they possessed and claimed a perfect and a moral right, which could be maintained by the law, and would not be punished by the law. There were two prosecutions — one against Patrick Reilly and fifteen others — the other against Britton Evans, and three indivi- duals besides. All the jury had to do was, to preserve the peace of the city, according to tbe law of the land; it signified not how many or how few were found guilty ; but he would be sorry to press the conviction of any who were not implicated. The evidence against Schooley and Bryan Mount, was not so strong as against the others; but the convic- tion of any number would uphold and vindicate the law. The jury were the preservers of the public peace, and would show them that though this was a country of protection and equal laws, yet none should insult the majesty of those laws. Respecting Mount, who acknowledged he was amongst the mob, the jury would judge how far he was concerned. The respective parties stood before the jury in some respect without difference, each charging the other with riot. If he were disposed to imitate the example set him by the opposite counsel, he too, could open the page of history, and read the relations of Roman Catholic cruelty, in characters of blood. He would turn aside for a moment from the merits of the case, to show, by a few examples, how readily the catalogue of crimes connected with the opponents of papacy, might be paralleled and surpassed. Recollection sickened at the detail of the atrocities of Charles the Ninth of France, and his mo- ther Catharine de Medicis, in 1572; by whom the butchery of thirty thousand Protestants, in cold blood, was perpetrated in the short space of two months. Popish historians boasted, that the salvation of their faith, south of the Alps, was owing to the establishment of the inquisi- tion in 1543. It drove out of the country, or buried in dungeons, or put to death all who ventured to exercise their own judgments. It had been truly said, on that memorable occasion, " They made a solitude, and called it peace." All traces of the reformation were made to disap- pear. It sunk like a drowning man, over whom the waters had passed, and not a solitary murmur remained, to proclaim where it had once existed. During the single reign of Philip the Fifth, of Spain, seven hundred and eighty-two Autos da fe were celebrated. All who called themselves Protestants, were destroyed; and then the less hateful strangers to the Catholic faith, Jews and infidels, were made the prey of exterminating fires, until opposition was literally extinguished in the flames. A colony of Waldenscs had fled to Calabria, and increased to four thousand per- sons. They were mercilessly slaughtered, and their dead bodies were hung up from one end of Calabria to the other. Some had their throats cut, others were sawn asunder, and others were thrown from the tops of lofty rocks. Their fate had been recorded in Milton's well known lines : 78 Avenge, O Lord ! thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains coldj — — In thy book record their groans, Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roU'd Mother with infant down the rocks. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway The triple tyrant. Let those illustrations suffice. Of Ireland, he " could a tale unfold, that would harrow up their soul." But it was far better that the feelings engendered in that ill-fated country, should be left buried with the vic- tims of fanaticism, who had suffered there. He would leave to the counsel of his antagonists to recall those mournful events, and to deprive them of the hue and character of fiction, with which humanity would desire to invest them, by adding to the evidence of history, the sad con- firmation of his own personal remembrance. He merely referred to those historical recollections, for the purpose of showing which, the Protestants or Roman Catholics were the more furious. He would not say with Mr. Sampson of one party, " Father forgive them," &c. for it applied equally to both; but the question was, which of them, at present, were the worst. His clients had been charged with riot, into the indictment for which could not be introduced any overt act ; they first met at a sequestered spot removed, as they considered, from the chance of interruption — they proceeded to church, where they had delivered to them a discourse, in the language of gospel peace ; with them, they had not even as many swords as Mr. Brown had said, for they had but eight; and could the jury believe that four hun- dred men, having previously meditated a riot, would go out and subject themselves to destruction, with only eight swords — long used and hung up for monuments ; which were preserved by them but as memorials of that sacred cause of liberty which they were on that day celebrating. Evans, accompanied by his two children, of tender years, was at the head of the procession, and another had brought his wife amongst them; and would any person believe that if those men had even anticipated, much less meditated, a riot, they would have brought their wives and chil-* dren into the field of strife ? Those men who were associated, to the number of four hundred, and of whom but seventy-five were enabled to enter the dinner Hall, when walking were assailed with blows, scattered and went home to avoid a contact with them. Yet those were the men met for tumult ! the very church in which they were offering up their thanksgiving to their God, threatened to be burnt ! when going into the Hall they were beaten, trampled upon, and had their faces and clothes torn. Robert Elliott was one of those persons. And yet all was received without resistance ; and when inside, peace- ably enjoying themselves, were taunted, reviled, and hooted at — not alone the young, but the aged and venerable ; like the Roman sena- tors, by Cataline and his followers, pointed out for slaughter; their small party dreading to expose themselves singly, and knowing the fate that awaited them, remained together for protection when the expediency of flight was considered dangerous ; when they did venture to go out. 79 a brick was instantly flung at Mr. Evans, which struck the door near where he was standing. Immediately when they appeared in the street they were assailed with stones and bricks, and hunted down like wild beasts, or like the primitive christians in the limes of Nero and Diocle- sian — and all which they sullercd without resistance; was such for- bearance and regard for the law like men associated in crime, and as- sembled for riot ? their actions were in accordance with their motives, as the string that vibrates with the most perfect harmony. A continued attack was kept up against them from the church ; from upwards of four hundred, the procession, at the Hall, was reduced to seventy-five; and at Pine street to ten ; and up to that period not a single arm had been raised in their defence. Evans ranged his men so as not to be outflank- ed ; eight of the ten had swords, and ultimately those ten had to re- treat and conceal themselves in schoolrooms and under carpenters' benches until the rabble passed. It had been said, indeed, they should have gone out at the back door of the Hall. Suppose that court and jury, in the discharge of their lawful duty were told by ruflians at those windows that if they went out they would be murdered, would they not repel the threat? Would they submit to pass under the yoke like a subjugated army? was it because those men did not ingloriously retreat, and choose to go out at the front door, as they ought, and had a right to do, and that a riot took place in consequence of it, they were to be visited with punishment merely for defending their lives in that riot? Was not the law itself injured in the persons of those men? Should it be a less character of innocence on their part, that they did flourish their swords, or should a flourish or brandish justify the fe- rocious and brutal attack made on them? Several of their own wit- nesses had sworn the procession did nothing to provoke the assault. It had been said that Evans, on coming out, turned upon his heel and waved his sword to those behind him. Counsel would acknowledge that an insult might be conveyed by a motion of the hand, or exist in signs. Shakspeare had stated that hatred had been perpetuated between the Montagues and Capulets, by a mere biting of the thumb ; but that motion or beckon by Evans was, for the purpose of keeping the men in order and regulating them in danger. Blancy thought they hurraed for king William, Ankora thought it was for king George, consequently their evidence neutralized the testimony of each, and perhaps they were both mistaken ; but as in the multitude of counsel there was safety, so in the multitude of witnesses there ought to be truth. But should the foolish hurra, or the folly or madness of one individual be a justification for an assault^ He (Mr. I.) would ask what any of his clients did to commit or cause a riot, much less actuated by the bloody design which had been attributed to them. Was going out at the front door instead of the back — waiving the hand, or a person calling out, as alleged, for king William, a sufficient provocation or cause for riot ? He (Mr. I.) would admit they had assembled, but if lawfully, they were acquitted at the hands of the jury. He would justify the act of a body acting legally, but they would justify themselves to that jury, and to the community. Evans was armed, and waived his sword, cast a scornful 80 glance at Albright, and at Pine street it was alleged he had struck Flanagan ; and one person in stating so, said he was chopping at him. But in counsel's opinion, that person had been playing the part of Fal- staff — perhaps he was not even hurt by him. Blaney said he saw Evans stab at a man, but his vision was ascertained to have been very imper- fect indeed. Nicholas M'Intire's evidence was like Loughry's, not to be relied on: having refused to tell what they knew, they were not to be treated as perjurers, but their testimony was not to be received. An indictment had been preferred against Mr. Evans, for an assault, with intent to kill, but the jury ignored that bill, knowing there was nothing to sustain it; and the indictment against him now stood for riot, even of which, from the evidence, he was acquitted: even Flanagan did not say he was struck by Evans. Mrs. Seener, in the whole of her testi- mony, could not, with all her ingenuity, manufacture a single blow. She said she saw a man, who appeared to have no blood in his carcass, standing over another. She told the jury she had the blood of '76 in her veins, and that she had inhaled it from her mother's milk, and that she recollected the swords the Hessians used in the war in 1777, though she was only born in 1776! She must have been unquestionably a most precocious infant! She stated, she had the Amazonian spirit to en- counter twenty men, and indeed her Herculean appearance would, in some measure, bear her out in that portion of her testimony. No de- finite time could be arrived at respecting the drawing of the swords; but that they drew them in their defence, had been clearly established. Were they not justified in taking their swords out of the Hall, after the threats, and when they perceived those outside with arms and bricks in their hands, and their pockets stuffed with coals, like living capoons on a field of battle, with a thousand threatening, and ready to crush, as Mr. Haly expressed it, that nefarious institution ? That was the amount of the riot. Elliott had been struck by Neal Harkan ; he was also struck by bricks on the side and back, to which he made no resistance. Blaney stated he had been struck in Pine street, but that he did not know by whom, but afterwards, on suddenly turning round in Court, said it was by Elliott, although, at the same time, he stated, the person who struck him had no su'ord; but he (Mr. Ingersoll) believed it was ascer- tained as clearly as any thing, that Elliott had a sword. But after four months, and having first said he did not know the person, he then turned round, and said it was Elliott; the conclusion to be drawn, was, that Mr. Blaney was totallv mistaken. Flanagan stated a man to have been struck with the back of a sword, and coupled Evans with that transaction. Cash stated, that when Elliott's sword was brought to the office, it had blood on it, although Bokum, the schoolmaster, who saw it long before Cash did, and who examined it on the instant after the affray, swore there was no blood on it; and he (Mr. I.) believed that Elliott's sword was as free from the stain of blood as his soul was. Could there be any doubt that Saunders remained in the Hall after the procession ? yet Blaney swore he went out and drew his sword. Mr. Blaney had a mace to be respected. Was he afraid of his popularity? If so, he was to be condemned indeed; his errors were preposterous; he 81 saw eight or ten ruflians, with stones and arms, threatening, and hkoly to connmit homicide, and yet they were permitted to go at large. VV^as that conduct to be pursued by a high officer of the city? The duty of an officer of justice was not merely rctributorv, he was bound to pre- vent crime; but he was afraid, indeed, if he interfered, there would be a riot. What a dangerous tendency had that officer, by his conduct, introduced ! Respect for his fellow citizens, and a proper observance of his duty, would have produced probably very opposite results. How very different w-as the nature of things when the Mayor went down. Danger fled before him, hke the waves of the ocean, and all was still as the peaceful lake. His presence was command, because he went in the majesty of the law: an involuntary obedience manifested itself on his approach, for in every country where authority was recog- nised, there would it exist : in monarchies, and even where the desti- nies of the people were held at the caprice of the tyrant, it was ascer- tained that wherever the sovereignty subsisted, the main energy of the nation was to be found. If the nod of despotic power struck terror into the hearts of slaves, the majesty of the law tranquillized the passions, and quelled the rising violence of freemen. The banished Demaratus truly depicted his virtuous countrymen to Xerxes, when he declared — " To them more awful than the name of king", To Asia's trembling millions, is the law." Not long since, an officer of the Russian service, expressed his surprise to him, (Mr. Ingersoll,) that the agitations and threatenings to dissolve the union, which seemed for a time to distract society, disappeared as suddenly, and on the instant that the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on a subject, which, though contrary and op- posite to the feelings of some parties, was received by them with com- mon consent, and public opinion submitted at once to its decision. Let Mr. Blaney know that the majesty of the law here, only required to be asserted, to be maintained. Carrick was found concealed in a car- penter's shop, by Barger; and he was the officer, who, when the dogs of war were let loose, cried, "Havoc!" Several saw MCarron, and said to him, " Go home, you fool." It had been said by the opposite party, that he had been sent there as a spy: he was insulted when sit- ting on the steps, and they told him they would " tear his Orange soul out;" to which he only replied, if he had (he use of his arm, they would not oflend him with impunity. He was guilty of nothing except folly, and the only thing he did was winding a small piece of string. As far as Evans was concerned, he was actuated by the purest and holiest de- fence of himself and children — by those dictates of nature, that were sanctioned by God and man. Against him only was there any evidence set up: it was, however, shown, that he did not give a blow, until cir- cumstances justified it; and there have been several, as well as himself, who have contradicted the evidence sworn against him. He (Mr. Ingersoll) considered, that no one could doubt that the fero- city came from the mob on the east side of the street. Its excuse was for the consideration of the jury, its existence was not doubted; but justifica- tion was impossible. He would protest altogether against raising for them 11 82 an excuse, on account of feelings : feelings were not to form provocation on one part or the other. It was not attempted until the trial had been gone into, to set up, or attempt to show any specific provocation? Were the threats against the procession made conditionally? did they say, if they drew their swords? &c. If those swords had been buried in the earth, the same pretended provocation would have existed, and the same attack would have been made. Morbid, indeed, would that mind be that could conceive a justification. Persons might, with equal justice, construe the drawing of swords by a military body on parade, as an intention to do harm. A party in a procession, on a 4th of July, called the Washingtons, who were cele- brating the liberty of their country, happening to have in their hands batons, which resembled somewhat the truncheons of kings, a mob flew on them, and attacked them, and was there one of that jury would say such an attack was justified? Were persons, who might strain a per- verted judgment, or exercise a morbid prejudice of mind, to form a mob, and be permitted to assault a peaceable party of citizens? Seve-- ral witnesses had distinctly proved, that a brick was thrown on their first coming out of the Hall, and that three persons in the procession were struck before the swords were drawn. Lieut. Gay heard Reilly tell Farran, that the riot was commenced by the mob plucking the ri- bands from the breasts of the procession. It had been satisfactorily proved by fifteen witnesses, that the riot commenced long before the swords were drawn, and that the Roman Catholics were threatening to murder them. But they should be told, that they were not to put down the citizens of Philadelphia, by the exercise of feelings brought by them from Ireland, nor to implant in this happy soil those passions which abounded in hatred and malice. The jury were enabled to judge of the fixed and determined hatred implanted in their hearts, and uttered by their tongues. But the assault was planned before the swords were drawn, and it was the crimes committed in Ireland that were to be avenged in Philadelphia! They were yet to learn that liberty did not consist in licentiousness, but in obedience to the laws; and he hoped in this case the jury would vindicate the authority of those laws. Reilly, even after being arrested and bailed, went back to the scene of riot, and in open deliance of the laws of God and man, recommenced the attack. It was proved that fourteen of the Catholics on trial, had taken an active and violent part in that bloody affair; and as they were all principals, if one were proved guilty of the act, they were all equally so. A host of witnesses had shown that Flanagan had told a wilful lie: he had sworn that he saw the procession with their badges on, coming out of the Hall — that there were not any stones thrown by the mob, when it was proved to be otherwise even by the testimony of their own party; therefore, as a false witness and a culprit, his case had been clearly made out. The Roman Catholics might allege that their fu- rious passions impelledthcmtoact so, butinlawthat was no excuse; for though the law admitted the weakness of man, and pointed out what a man should do when attacked, the same law would likewise measure the degree of punishment by the conduct of those who were attacked. A 83 man, by law, was to retreat, when attacked, as far as he could before he should ever raise his arm in resistance; but the sanne law allowed hinn to use resistance for the protection of his life. The toasts which the learned counsel (Mr. Sampson) animadverted on, were proved to be national ; he complained that there was no hurraing after the " memory of Washington, '"and that they did not make the welkin ring after it : he (Mr. Ingersoll) did not consider it was usual to do so on such occasions; he rather commended the respect they showed for it, and considered that the silence they observed, much more became the solemnity of the toast. It had been stated by the opposite counsel, that " Kick the Pope," had been played ; but there was not a tittle of evidence offered in proof of it. Those persons who allowed the supremacy of the pon- tiff) after attempting to break up and crush that institution, (accord- ing to Mr. Haly,) go into Court, and ask applause for their own conduct, and require at the hands of that tribunal, a deprivation of the rights of^ a portion of their fellow citizens, and wished to deny that to others which they would require for themselves. Did they want that Court to recall the great principles which the labours of their forefathers had realized, and which formed the most splendid gem in the diadem of our boasted constitution — that liberty, which was every day inviting stran- gers to this asylum of the oppressed ? Those citizens who had honoured us by preferring our country, and adopting it as their own, and who had left the graves of their forefathers, were not to be trampled upon — neither were untoward passions, oi- paltry prejudices, to distract so- ciety. Whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, he would insist alike for all. The Roman Catholic citizens had their institutions, and should ruffians be permitted to go to them, and tell them they were the chil- dren or grandchildren of those who had done wrong, and they should pay the vengeance? Our Saviour had said, " Suffer little children to come unto me," and would not the free laws of this free country protect them ? Processions, of all enjoyments, probably were the most innocent, and certainly were very ancient. They begun, perhaps, with Myriam the prophetess, and the women who, with timbrels and dancing, went out to meet the Israelites after the passage of the Red Sea. Greece and Rome had their processions upon the occasion of their generals obtain- ing victories; and where were they so frequent as in our own country? The establishment of the federal constitution was commemorated by the most memorable procession on the 4th of July, in the different cities of the union, and especially in Philadelphia; and he trusted in God, as the elder Mr. Adams had wished, that the procession of that day would be observed for ever. He (Mr. Ingersoll) hoped to find every 4th of July ushered in with the roar of cannon, and with guns and swords, and bon- fires, and not only a general thanksgiving to the Almighty for the bless- ings of peace and plenty which they enjoyed, but that the neighing steed, the piercing fife, the shrill trumpet, the spirit-stirring drum, and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of war, would ever contribute to swell the praise, and preserve the recollections of that glorious event, from one end of this extended union to the other. Literary and professional institutions had their processions. Even the humble, though presump- 84 tious sons of Africa, on whom the sun had burned the hue of degrada- tion, if not of dcpendance and slavery, on the opening of the new year, turned out, and had their procession in commemoration of their domes- tic triumph. Those excellent societies, which were formed for the laud- able purposes of relieving foreigners, St. Patrick, St. Andrew, and St. George, annually assembled, and invoked their patron saints to look down and bless their efforts; and when the social glass imparted its warming influence, it was not Hail Columbia, but Rule Britannia and God save the King, which were listened to by Americans, without objec- tion. They should reflect that when the event of Catholic emancipa- tion was announced in this city, the Protestant bells of Christ church were the loudest in acclamation ; and in Liverpool, on the last 4th of July, there was a procession of American citizens assembled to comme- morate the event which stripped England's crown of the brightest gem „\vith which it was adorned — and they did not hear of Englishmen inter- fering with them, much less resorting to bloodshed. Some rival insti- tutions might probably regard each other with incompatible feelings, but would the generous bosom feel annoyance at the negro society that marched with all the accompaniments of modern chivalry? Who could say he had a right to break it up? or, reckless of the right, but assum- ing the power, would break it down, with his arm dipped deep in blood? He cUiimed as much liberty for the Roman Catholics as the Protestants. The counsel who would follow him, could not say this procession had been offensive, for they passed harmless. It was formed from the Gi- deonite Society, incorporated by the laws, constituted as a beneficial society, by affording relief in time of sickness; but, forsooth! fault had even been found with its name. Were they (the jury) to be dictated to for the names they might think fit to call their children, their country seats, or their ships? There sat a youth. Napoleon, (pointing to young Evans,) and would those men whom Mr. Sampson described so ardently fighting under Wellington, against Napoleon, venture to tell Mr. Evans that fine youth should change his name, or they would dip their hands in his blood? Gideon, after whom the society had been called, was a great man, for he cut down the grove of Baal; but the sword which had coupled with that personage, was not Gideon's, but the Lord's. Few, however, were responsible for the names given them by their parents, and if their derivation were ascertained, while some w&re classical, others would probably be found very extraordinary : Charles, for instance, meant a stout man; Philip, a lover of horses; Samuel, a prophet; Robert, a cunning man; George, a farmer; John,God's grace; and it was a circum- stance by no means unworthy of consideration, that Neal [the name of the gentleman with the severe nose] meant nigdlus, black. Bryan means noisij, clamorous, and probably the not least curious coincidence of fact was, that Hugh, [the gentleman that had the hatchet,] meant a cleaver or cutter. They were called on to investigate this matter, and the aggres- sors were to be punished. He thanked God they did not live in such times as the Due de Sully wrote, who tells us that the only brother of the king of France, was murdered in the streets of Paris", and the Courts allowed a lawyer to defend and justify the assassination. If the 85 procession were idle or foolish, it should be laii