Edward Oxford was brought into Court on Monday morning. When
placed in the dock, he began to smile as usual, picking and tasting the rue in front of it. The Attorney-General, Sir Frederick Pollock, Mr. Adolphus, and Mr. Wightman, appeared for the Crown ; Mr. Sidney Taylor, Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Wilkins for the prisoners.
Mr. Sidney Taylor said he had an application to make for the post- ponement of the trial.
Chief Justice Tindal said the prisoner must plead first. . The Clerk of the Arraigns read the indictment, as follows- " Edward Oxford, you arc indicted, and the indictment states that you, being a subject of our Sovereign Lady the Queen, did, on the 10th of June instant, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, being a false traitor to our said Lady the Queen, maliciously and traitorously compass, imagine, and intend. to put our said Lady the Queen to death ; and with such wicked treason, on the said 10th of June instant, you did maliciously and
traitorously shoot off a certain pistol (then held in one of your hands) against the person of our said Lady the Queen, loaden with gunpowder and one leaden
bullet, with intent thereby maliciously and traitorously to shoot, kill, assassi- nate, and put to death our said Lady the Queen, and thereby you traitorously made a direct attempt against the life of our said Lady the Queen. And the indictment states that on the same day you did afteewards maliciously and traitorously shoot off and discharge a certain other pistol, held in one of your bands, at the person of our said Lady the Queen, and leaden with gunpowder
and one leaden bullet, with intent thereby maliciously and traitorously to shoot, assassinate, kill, and put to death our said Lady the Queen, thereby again traitorously making an attempt against the life of our said Lady the Queen. flow say you, Edward Oxford, are you guilty or not guilty." The prisoner, in a firm but rather flippant tone, said "Not Guilty." Mr. Sydney 'Taylor, in a low tone of voice, said this was the proper time for the application lie was instructed on behalf of the prisoner to make, to postpone the trial until the next session, upon facts set forth in an affidavit which he prayed the Court would now allow to be read. The Clerk of Aletigns then read the affidavit, of which the following is a copy.
"Tar our.EN r. E, oxronn.
" Central Criminal Court, to wit.
Jobe Pelham, of Nu. 159. Old Gravel Lane, Bitchily highway. in the county of Middlesex. gentleman, MPH ney Mr the alteve•uatued prisoner, and Hannah Oxford, at
Lresent residing at the Ship 'cavern, in Talbot Court Grweelturch Stret•t, iu the city of ondon, widow. severally 'mike o,tI, nail say—and fir.: the said Jabez Pelham firr himself saith, that he wits requested by the said Hantuth Oxford to defend her son, the above•mtmed prisouer, ahem noon on Tuesday, the 16111 day or June instant ; but having heard Isom her that Mr. It mphries, the attorney, had 'been first instructed to th•fend the said prisoner, this deponent lost Cl.,' remainder at' that day iu
101011111 1110 said Mr. Humphries had declined, and did still decline, being C0111.1111,2;1
for the 1101% Thal having at last ascertained tram the said Mr. Humphries that he had declined to act is the attorney for the said prisoner and his friends, in eon- sequels,' of some interroption isfered to hint in the progress of his duty by some Ma- gistrates, he ( this deponent proceeded, .tecompanied by the said Hannah Oxford, at her napless to the gaol of Netvgate, on Thursday, the 16th instant, in which .prison the said prisouer 11S 11111i is 110W confined, for the purpose of seeing the said prisoner, and for the purpose of :11111111111111i111.; how for his state of tided would enable this dept• neat to receive instructions from him."
Lord Chief Justice Tindal—" There must be some mistake; Thursday was the 18th of this month."
Mr. Butikiu—•• Your Lordship is right ; it was Tuesday, the 16th: Tuesday was the day." The Clerk of Arraigns resunted—" On Tuesday, the 16th instant, in which prison the said prisoner was and is now centined, ler the purpose of seeing the said prisoner, and ter the purpose of aSCCriaillillg how Mr his state of mind would enable this depo- nent to receive instructions from ton, w Iwo he was informed by Mr. Cope, the Go- vernor thereef, that be lout received instreetions from the Homo Secretary not to per- mit any professional adviser to see the said prisoner or confer with him, unless by his (the prisouet's) ex messed wish • and he (the said Mr. Cope) at the same time inform. ing los deponent, that he would first go to the prisoners room, and ask hint if he wished to see this deponent or any into else. That the said Mr. Cope returned, and till this deponent that the said prisoner laid positively refused to see or confer with him Olds deponent) 01' any other attorney.
"'That this deponent, in the afternoon of the next day, the 17th instant, received permission to I:ell the said prisoner; that in consequeuce of that interview, and the consultation with the prisoner's mother find her friends consequent thereupon, this de- ponent considers it absolutely necessary for the ends of justice that eertam witnesses mentioned in the schedule at the end hereof, as well as a great many' others, should be subptenned upon this trial, many of whom have known him and his flintily from his
advised el the and a ivde BY obi believes rtellimehaLie.Eittevi:sarra.ibnelar;t:1:111 rdeponentisoner,a and etnhel‘sletsllefssorestitiehips put upon his trial in their absence; that many of these witnesses resident and Lye' • and ywwh
ham ; and this deponent also smith that many important and necessary
in other distant parts of the country; some of them in Berkshire 'some ' trite bill soma at Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire; rind, as this deponent has hien ern Informed
and verily believes, there are a great many other witnesses, all of whom at to be called in support of the prisoner's defence, who reside far apart from
other and front this deponent's office. And this deponent soffit that the trite against the said prisoner was only found on Thursday evenino last, and tleItLt • ssa It- cation was made tootle of the honourable Judges iu the Old Court on the without the knowledge of this deponent, the prisoner, otr),Intitsirtfrii‘e,:itril,se,rtsoalittaiel of the prisoner appointed for ItIonday next ; atul this do the peculiar nature of the prisoner's defence, and the reinatemisssiiii,ifptolissell,•eles'' several material witnesses from the Central Criminal Court, and the cartel" "lc"character Qt of their respective testi teeny he is instructed they can give, it tv. • • • • ttomthu shortness of time whirl. has been allowed hint. between the period of his instruction and the day appeinted for the trial, to examine the witnesses, and to together as proper instructions for counsel the variants proofs necessary to lay before put together in defence of the prisoner. particularly as much of this evidence will apply itself to to circumstances relating to the mental alienation of the prisoner's father nisil -LI I father, both of whom ire now dead. And this deponent further :atilt that from deplorably excited state of the prisoner's only parent from grief, hu newspaper and difficulty in getting with adequate facility, which one more calm ntiold. ;aura proper instructions from her on several points and dates connected with the said deletie'tr• this deponent further saith, that the public *Mod, from the various printed reports, is very much itillueneed itgaitist the said prisoner, as amity reportusehn:.:1, been printed and published perfectly manic, atul that the terms • :issiissiti' and traitor' have in cartons prints been applied to him; nail this deponent that ni later than Friday night last it letter, purporting to come fronaid,Dirietisstite•Id(L'CiticepIL.ilistOpui. the Representative in Parliament for the city of
Ireland, was printed in it newspaper of great circulation, diameter, stud intl • e o called the Standard, and contained the following passages; that is to say-
" lithe first Sovereign of the house of Brunswick that ever showed impartial justice to the people of Ireland—if she had fallen betwath the hired assassin's blow—if the Grand Master of the Orange lodges were now, sacred Heaven I the legitimate monarch of these realms, as it was clearly intended that he should, what would he the state of Ireland ? The tears of bitter affliction for the young, the lovely. the pure.lwaried the Just, and benevolent dead would be followed by tears of blood. The exultation of Orangeism would be signalized in ninny a murder, many a massacre, of their Catholic fellow.cotintrymem. wherever Ortnigeism was strong enough to net with impunity. " ' I shudder even to think attic scones that would have followed. I have Ito doubt that the Tory party in litigland would submit to 1w convened into another Ilamover. They would sacrifice to the last remnant all constitutional liberty thr the sake of en: joying irresponsible power. The gratification of triunpling upon Ireland and the Irish would amply repay that worthless faction for the loss of any vain boast or ancient freedom.
•• • My countrymen I lion fervent should be our grateful prayers to that God who has saved its from this meditated destruction I flow anxious should he our aspirations to the throne of mercy that the God of goodness should hold the shield of protection over the fair yet fragile being with whose blameless life and impartial reign aro involved not only the liberty but even the personal safety of a generous, mural, and high: minded, but for many centuries persecuted and oppressed people, " ' We have escaped the point which the new monarch could not (even if he wished to do so) protect us from. " • We have escaped. in the escape of our loved and cherished Chive!' ; and hew pure, how sincere, how fervid, ought riot our allegiance to be to that amiable and illustrious being, wie■se charmed life has a talistnaine effect on the safety, the liberty, and the happiness of her grateful and faithful people of Ireland. "'The exidtement of that cis id pleasure which Inc safely produces sluoild not pre. vent us (runt examining cautiously, but firmly, the real nature of the horrible atrocity which ha"; liven committed. It is idle to call it the crime of an isolated individuals The inius!eretis traitor was not the sole criminal; great us his guilt is, he was but the agent of greater r illaitis than himself. •• ' Of this it seems impossible that there should exist a natural doubt in the mind et any man who will calmly look at the eireolustauces. Edward Oxford was a pothoy few mouths ago at au obscure puldic•hotist•. Ile has been some time out of employ- ment; It mark, he was dressed as a gentleman! Who bought his clothes:. With whose money were they purchased ? Ile had been in the habit of :Mollifies at shoot- ing-galleries. paying by the hour for the the of perfecting leis' modems aim. Who was it thud enabled him to pay for the Imitable training? Ile gave two guineas for the pistols. From whom did the potboy get the two guineas: Who taught the
pothoy the use of pistols, testing the gouthiess sermissi, tt caps—the nipple cloths, as they erecalled-'lot prevetiling the pistols explielinsfun his pockets? Who clothed, drilled, and furnished him with money ? itll this were innocently dune, why do we Ind know the names of the worthy innocents? And fur what purpose was it, Of With what clew were alt these things innocently done ? " • Again : who were they that with fictitious names formed the secret satiety el which the rules were found in his possession Who was the secretary whose sum.
manses were found in his posse:sion Anil, above all, what was the meaning of that munitions which required his special attendance at a meeting, to erosive 711.1,5,11V a com- municationfront Ilan,ver? (for that summons has been represented both ways.)
" ' With these circumstances before the public, it being impossible to suppose the crime merely that of the single individual, the nr, st searehiug investigation 'becomes necessary. And at all eveuts I believe that few of you, my countly men, will think that Ilettry Grattau and I were much mistaken when we expressed to you last summer our convicii101, that if the Tory faction were once encouraged, by the itisolence to which the possession at' power would stimulate pant, the life of the Queen would not be safe r the underlings of that patty.
" ' Let me be understood. I do oat mean to accuse prince, or peer, or great man, of a participation in the crime which has been committed. 1 could triice it to ;my per- son, from the mottarch upon any throne to the lowest peasant, I would not shrink front doing so. But there is ample evidence arising from the circoni,tatices or the case lc justify ms iu attributing the concoction of (his horrible crime to snow of the underlings of that Orange.Tory faction which naturally dett•sis the virtues of our beloved Queen, and iglu for the countenance and protection of a monarch ninon they deem to possess opittiotis and mutinies of a difibrent character.' " Aud this deponetit also stunts that yesterday, Sunday, the 21st day of June instant, was printed and published in it certain newspaper of great circulation and influence, called the Obscreer, a Wailing article, int lolled the recent attempt on the life of the Queen, containing several statements and allotments relative toting trial, and a certain Passa.ge thereat particularly tolerable to the said prisoner and his defence is as follows; that " 111e trial of Edward Oxford, the polboy, who fired two pistol shuts at her Most Gracious Majesty on the t.vetting of the 10th instant, is fixed ibr to-morrow. The ease will be very properly tried at the Old Bailey; neither the condition of the itemised nor the result of the dreadful art empt made by him rendering necessary the paraphernalia, the piing, and ciretinistance, of it special commission—or au appeal to any other than the ordinary tribunal for the trial of grave sffinces against person or property. lit adopting this course, theielbre, her Majesty's advisers hate ;toed well and wisely.; for while, on the one hand, they have itisured rut impartial investigation and a
nwitt — as we hope and trust—tat the other, day have avoided that which was perhaps
just olds- most to he dreaded as a sesult of the cent con ii.rred by it special commission—tin ea- couragenwnt to insanity, sr vanity, or ans. ether of the mad, miserable, a r mischievous forms of thought which it diseased or a wicked imagination may be noliappily moulded to 11S8111110. So far, consequently, the ease has been rightly Inanaged; that a similar opinion trill be pronottheed upon its future conduct there is no rational ground at this time to doubt. All we require is justice. " ' Pending the trial of this vicious or insane person, we shall not enter into any speculation us to his guilt or itinoceno.—as to the probable finding al' the stay in this case—o• as to the consequences likely to accrue to the Queen and the country in the event of Ins acquittal, or to himself should he le convicted. But us there have been, ever since his apprehension on this charge of attempted regicide, very strenuous to•fforts made by a portion of the public press in this metropolis to redeem lam hum all impe- l:Oh& of guilt, to exalt hint even to the dignity at' un entloyo waclr r, ou tarious pre- tences, some of them the most absurd imagittaide; and as these elfin is may succeed, if unopposed, not alone in creating a presence in his favour,
(which we hold to be equally injurious to justice and to truth as a prejudice against him.)
l Mg the ends of justice, and countervailing the advantages of law, we hold also old "17 it n o dbeefeeaut; duty to endeavour to place the case in as clear a light as pussible before the public eye, and to lay it, divested, an much as L111111111 feeling will permit, of all extraneous matter, under the notice of all honestly-constructed minds in the community.
In the first place, then, we state the bare ihrt: a young mid gentle woman, the beloved Sovereign of this country, has boot tired at twice by the prisoner—each time
with a deliberate aim, and in a most determined manner. This is not denied by our spurious humanity-mongering contemporaries; haply they cannot muster sufficient effrontery to gainsay a circumstance unfortunately so notorious. But, say they, be is insane; or if not, he did it because he wished to obtain a had eminence in the eyes of men—to he the Erostratus of the time ; or (for even something quite as ridiculous has been suggested by them) he did it to show his loyalty—firing a brace of Birming- ham pistols at her Majesty—as they were not loaded with ball. All this might be very amiable, if there were no other considerations to he looked to besides the salvation of the prisoner's life; but there happen to be such in existence--considerations. no of such weight and magnitude to tint general state, involving so many interests of the highest character and deepest importance to the whole c•omnu affecting the fortunes anti lives of such a count hiss crowd of individuals lot' all ranks, of every age, and of both sexes, that the existence or non-existence of perhaps all the tallboys in the country should not be a subject of a moment's deliberation, when guilt, such as he stands charged with, is aura satisfactorily proven. Those silly ptFrsons who seek to acquit the criminal wholly, forget the intended object of his crime; what matters it to them that a Queen, young and beantiful mid good, be assaulted with deadly design, that her life be attempted at her own door, so that a potboy escapes punishment for the act ? Nothing. All their sympathy is reiierved for the viiiion; they cannot afferd a single particle of it for the victim.' t' And all of which this deponent humbly sIdneits to this Honourable Conti must bare the effect of influencing the judgment and Militating the minds of the Jury pre- judicially against the prisoner, and lime a to to prevent the course of justice. And this deponent further saith, that there are upon the back or the indictment (ache witnesses, being four more than the number returned ill the depositions, the nature of *lose testimony is unknown to this deponent. And lids deponent further saith, that one of the said witnesses mentioned in the sail tb.mositii us, a hrother.in-law of the prisoner, is not put on back of the said intlict mem, nor was he called before the Grand Jury. And this deponent further saith, Bud he has received a communication from George Maude, Esq., the solicitor combo:ling the prosecution, intimating that the Crown wound loot be limited to the number of witnesses tat the back of the bill of indictment, it the pr, duction or other testimony should be thought mate- rial. And this deponent further saith, tint the present proceeding is almost new in practice, being, as far as he (this deponent) has been :thle to ascer- tain by research, the first indictment preferred against any individual for a similar offence under the particular statute upon which this indictment is founded ; and that, in consequence thereof, importind points of law might arise essential to the in- 9airy, and the due administration ofjustice in this particular, with which this deponent fs desirous of being prepared, properly to discharge his duty to the prisoner, who stands charged with the highest offence known to the laws of his timothy. And the said de•
pelmet, ih11111ah Oxford, for herself saith, that there are many persons whom she is anxious and desirous should give evidence on the trial of her son, the above-named
prisoner, Mille of whom she has seen and ascertained from them that they are capable
and willing to give material and necessary evidence on the trial, she haviw,: lest returned from Birmingham, where they reside. And also that there are many other witnesses whose names she lias, but has had no time to collect them together, who all live at a distance from London, and some remote in the country, and others in stud about the extreme suburbs of tho city of Loudon. Aud she, therefore, most humbly
and fervently prays this Ihnummble Court, in merciful consideration for her deep affliction, to allow the trial of her unfortunate and only sou to stand postponed to the next session of this Court, to IT holden on the fith day of July nest ensuing, to enable her to get all her witnesses together, and put before the Court such fads as the im- portance and seriousness oh' the case requires."
The Attorney-General said he should have opposed the application for delay, had nothing been stated in the affidavit except that the pub- lie mind was excited, and that paragraphs had appeared in newspapers; for he knew well that the accused would have a full and fair trial at the hands of the Jury. Neither should he consent to postponement because this was the first trial under the statute ; nor yet again because Mr. Maule had given notice that he should not confine himself to the wit- nesses on the back of the indictment-
" My Lords, I should have considered all these grounds insufficient to sup- port the present request ; and it would, in my opinion, have been as well if the affidavit had abstained from noticing them. But, my lords, looking at the fact that we find the agent of the prisoner and his nearest relation stating, that by a postponement they will lie able to bring forward material witnesses for him, which they arc not now prepared to produce, I would not wish now to urge on this trial. It is of the last importance to public justice that there should be no reasonable complaint of the expedition of the trial. I recollect that there was some complaint of tbe expedition of the trial of Bellingham for the assassina- tion of Mr. Percival ; and I should he sorry that in after times, when this trial shall be referred to, it should be said that the Attorney-General of this day was found opposing a motion for its postponement when there is an affidavit stating that there are material witnesses absent, who will show that the prisoner is not amenable to the law, or, as I suppose from the tenons of the affidavit, that he is not competent to form a judgment for himself. On this ground alone I ant prepared to consent to the present application. If; however, the trial shall be postponed for a fortnight, 1 hope that there will be no farther discussion of the prisoner's case in the public prints ; that there may be no publication of letters from the prisoner to the Secretary of State ; that by general assent there may be no attempt made to influence the public mind, or to throw the slightest im- putation on any party."
Chief Justice Tindal said—" The Attorney-General has taken the high ground, he has pursued the proper course. I fully agree in what he has last said ; and I have only further to state my earnest hope, that from this time till the trial the public prints of this country will upon this case maintain a profound silence."
The trial was postponed till Thursday the 9th of July.