O li. ^J C2 ^- OJITO- jo- .^OF-CAIIFO% .scOF-CALIFOfcu, iO 4r S" v i H irrl .Inrr I STACk THE 020 TRIAL OF GEORGE ROSE, ESQ. SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY, &c. FOR EMPLOYING MR. SMITH, A PUBLICAN IN WESTMINSTER, UPON A LATE WESTMINSTER ELECTION, AND NOT PAYING HIM 5 On which he. was, on Thurfday the 2 ijl of July, 1791, Caft in the Court of KING'S BENCH, BY A SPECIAL JURY, In the Sum of One Hundred and Ten Pounds Five Shillings ! TAKEN IN SHORT HAND, BY A BARRISTER. {t^ 3 This is the moft curious TRIAL ever yet publi/hed, for difplaying the ARTS cf our HEAVEN-BORN MINISTER, to obtain his CANDIDATES SEATS in PARLIAMENT. LONDON : PRINTED FOR J. RIDGVVAY, YORK-STREET, ST. JAMES'S SQJJARE. 1791. Stack Annex LORD JOHN RUSSELL. MY LORD, 1 HE following Trial is peculiarly in- terefting to you. The Hampfhire Trea- fury Opponent of the illuflrious Houfe of RufTel, by {landing Trial with a fimple Publican, has not only blackened his Cha- racter for ever, as an upright Statefman, but he has confiderably foiled the ermine of Mr. Pitt's purity, in allowing it to be proved in a Court of Juflice, where the King, his mailer, is, in the eye of the law, omniprefent, that his 'virtuous, im- maculate ', and heaven- born 'Minifter, was privy to tranfaclions, which, if we may believe the following words of the great Locke, J. DEDICATION. Locke, is a high breach of trufl, and therefore he ought no longer to be trujled ! " He (the perfon vefted with the exe- " cutive power, /. e . the Premier) acts " contrary to his truft, when he either " employs the force, treafbre, and offices " of the- Society, to corrupt the Repre- " fentatives, and gain them to his pur- " pofes ; or openly pre-engages the Electors, " and prefcribes to their choice, fuch whom . What did Mr. ROSE fay ? A. He THE TRIAL OF GEO. ROSE, ESCL A. He fat d he was troubled with this mans nonfenfe ; and I once jaw him take one of Mr. SMITH'S Letters and throw it into the Jire. ^ Do you know that the Plaintiff's Bill . was delivered to Mr. ROSE ? A. I do not remember the Plaintiff's Bill being delivered to Mr. ROSE. Mr. SMITH has been paid his two Bills. ^. By whom ? A. Mr. FROST the Solicitor paid him the one, and Mr. JACKSON the other. ^ Do you know from WHAT SOURCE this money came? A. It was raifed by a SUBSCRIPTION of GENTLEMEN. ^ Of what GENTLEMEN ? A. Of thofe Gentlemen who chofe to fubfcribe to it. <^. Were you a Subscriber ? A. I was not. ^ Was Mr. ROSE a Subfcriber ? A. I don't know that he was. ^. What occafion was there for a Sub- fcription ? A. Mr. Fro/Fs Order was refufed by Mr. SMITH. He would not take Mr. FROST'S Note, 28 THE TRIAL OF GEO. ROSE, ESQ.. Note, becaufe it was not fufficiently ex- plicit. ^ In what fituation was Mr. FROST at that time ? A. He was Solicitor and Agent of Lord Hood. <^. You told us before, that you was a friend to Lord HOOD. I fuppofe you only know him as a Candidate for Weftrnm- fter ? [Here the Witnefs fwelled into confequence.J A. Sir, / have the HONOUR to know Lord HOOD perfinally ! Q. Did you never tell Mr. SMITH that Mr. ROSE 'would pay him? A. I never did. Q. How then was SMITH to be paid ? A. He was to be paid like the reft, by Mr. FROST and Mr. JACKSON. Q. From what fund ? A. That I do not know. Q. Was Mr. SMITH never introduced to Mr. ROSE ? [Here again the Gentleman aflumed an air of dignity.] A. Sir, I bad the honour of PRODUCING the THE TRIAL OF CEO. ROSE, ESQ._ 2Q the INTERVIEW between THESE TWO GEN- TLEMKN ! CROSS-EXAMINED by Mr. BEARCROFT. Q. Now attend, Clubb. Has not Lord HOOD'S Committee paid Mr. SMITH agreat deal of money? A. They undoubtedly have. Q. You faid that you have mentioned the name of SMITH to Mr. ROSE ? A. I put down the names of Mr. Smith's houfe and of his Brothers houfe ; zndfug- gejled to Mr. ROSE and Mr. STEEL, that they were proper houfes. Q. Was any other perfon prefent ? [Here a good deal of hesitation and unwillingnefs en- fued.] A. I CANNOT RECOLLECT wllO W3S in the room when that was mentioned. jg- (Mr. ERSKINE) You muft recollecl, Sir." [At laft out came the anfwer] A. Mr. PITT was in the Room ! Q. You fay, then, that Mr. PITT was in the THE TRIAL OF GEO. ROSE, the room with Mr. ROSE and Mr. STEKL, at the time you fuggefted to them the propri- ety of opening Mr. SMITH'S houfe.for Lord HOOD and his Friends ? A. He iv as. Q. What made you think that Mr. SMITH'S houfe was a houfe more proper to be opened than any other ? A. Becaufe he he began tojlacken? A. No, be did not Jlacken, \xtfLferJevered, and went A GREAT LENGTH indeed ; but it THE TRIAL OF GEO. ROSE, ESQ*. it was never fuppofed that he would charge any thing for his TROUBLE ! Q. Did Mr. ROSE employ him ? A. No, he was employed by JVJYSELF / 7 recommended him to Mr. ROSE ; and he haw- ing complained he could get nothing for his TROUBLE and EXPENCE, I applied to a " certain Gentleman/' [Lord KEN YON, from his impartial love of Juftice, here interpofed his authority, and took up the exami- nation of the Witnefs himfelf] Q. Who was that " certain Gentleman? Sir? A. I beg you will hear me I fpoke and recommended him to a " certain Gentleman? Q. (Lord KENYON)/^? Who? A. I beg you will excufe me. 0. Lord (KEN YON) No, Sir, you must answer the question. A. I SPOKE TO Mr. ROSE. [Here the bufinefs was interrupted by a bunl of laughter.] Q. (Mr. BEARCROFT,) What did^ fay to Mr. ROSE ? A. I told THE TRIAL OF GEO. ROSE, ESQ., A. I told him this man had GON E a con- fiderable way in detecting bad votes polled for Lord JOHN TOWNSHEND, and that he could detect five or fix hundred of them, but could not PROCEED 'without money. Q. Well, what anfwer did Mr. ROSE make to that ? A. He faid, " Mr. Smith might give them viffuah and drtnk^ but he muft not go too far. He goes too great lengths j he muft not go too far." I told Mr. ROSE that he was very Jtrenuous in the Caufe. RE-EXAMINED by Mr. MINGAY. % 0. You fay then, CLUBB, that when you mentioned the bufmefs to Mr. ROSE he had no objections to allow SMITH for the vic- tuals and drink y but defired that he would not go on too far ? A. He did. g, I think you faid that Mr. Smith had done fome bufmefs, and had put himfelf to fome expencein detecting thefe bad votes before you mentioned him to Mr. Rofe ? A. He had. Mr. Rofe faid he was a troublefome THE TRIAL OF GEO. ROSE, tov^ -,, troublefome fellow; and he frequently extorted an anfwer from Mr. ROSE. Q. Well, Sir, when you came back from Mr. ROSE, did you communicate this conversation which patted between you and Mr. ROSE, to Mr. Smith ? A. When I came back, I told Mr. Smith he might go on to collect bad votes, but mufl not go on too far. Mr. FROST the Solicitor was then called and fworn j but before he gave his tefti- mony, he addrefled the Bench as follows : " My Lord, " I am fworn : but before I proceed to " give my teilimony on my oath, con- " fidering the fituation in which I (land " to the Parties in this Caufe, I wifh to " have fome directions from your Lord- " fhip, whether I mould anfwer fome " queftions that may be put to me by the " Counfel. I prefcribed this rule to " myfelf " E Lord -. THE TRIAL OF CEO. ROSE, ESQ. Lord KEN YON. " Don't make a fpeech. Sir. Tell me what you wifh me to do the Law admits of no fuch de- licacy." Mr. FROST then proceeded in his evi- dence as follows : " My Lord, and Gentlemen of. the Jury, < The contefied Eleclion for Weftmin- " fter ended on the fourth of Auguft, "1788. In the months of September and " October following Mr. SMITH came " frequently to me, and brought me lifts " of bad votes, which he had difcovered " at the preceding Eleclion. After fre- that there was " jbmething of a PROSECUTION going on " with the EXCISE againfl SMITH, and as " a mark of the TRUST and CONFIDENCE *' tbey had in HIM, they had INTER- " FERED, and STEPT IN to SERVE " HIM ; but in what way was not ex- " plained. "The THE TRIAL OF CEO. ROSE, ESQ.., 37 " The Lifts were brought to me com- " pleat in a long Roll, which had been 66 delivered to Mr. ROSE ; and he never " dei-ied that he was to pay Mr. SMITH. " The Plaintiff has no claim upon me or " my Lord HOOD." Mr. ERSKINE. " My LORD this is our Cafe." DEFENCE. Mr. BEARCROFT, on behalf of the Ho- nourable Secretary, made the following fpeech : " May it pleafeyour Lord/hifo and, you Gentlemen of the Jury. " My learned friend, Mr. Erfkine, has got on very triumphantly hitherto in this Caufe ; and it is extremely entertain- ing to go with the wind, whenever there is an attack made on perfons in the fituation of the prefent Defendant. How wife it is to refift this demand, I fhall not fay ; but if there is any thing unwife THE TRIAL OF GEO. ROSE, ESQ., unwife in it, I am not the caufe. Gentle- men, you have not yet heard the whole of this Caufe : when you have, in God's name, do Juftice ; but flop, and do not proceed on fuch fuggeftions as have been made to you in the opening cf this Cafe. My learned friend told you, " That a great <{ number of obfervations in this Caufe " might prefent themfelves to a mind dif- " pofed to mifchief ; but that he mould " fludioufly avoid all fuch obferva- tions." " He fpent nine tenths of the whole time he took up in his opening, in fuggefting, or others with the philanthropic Club of that amiable^ learned^ and benevo- lent martyr, PRIESTLY ! Having men- tioned Prieftly, I much wonder, had Price been alive on fas. fourteenth .> if fat populace ^ (i. e. in my dictionary, the mob) would have paid an igncal vifit to his unhallow- ed Meeting-houfe ? I rather think it would have been in their lift 5 and I, therefore, fo far rejoice in the Doctor's death, as that circumftance has very pro- bably faved the peace of the capital. I can- REFLECTIONS, ' I cannot help here congratulating the inoftenfible Lord Hawkefbury, in the ab- fence of Mr. Dundas, who, as Treafurer of the Navy, was reviewing the fleet at Portfmouth ; fo far interfering himfelf in the Secretary's affairs, as to write to the unfortunate fufferers at Birmingham, with proffers to fend the more eminent Counfel to afiiit in their enquiries concerning the origin of the Riots, under the direction of the Attorney and Solicitor General. With all my predilection for the mild Mr. Mac- donald, and the fhrewd Sir John Scott, the King's Attorney and Solicitor General, I beg, Sir, you will recommend thefe Gentlemen to call in, as eminent Coun- fel, the Prince of Wales's Attorney and Solicitor General, Meflfrs. Erjkine and P/gotf. I fhall, in that cafe, have very great hopes of the grand authors of this horrid plot being difcoveredj and furely to obtain fuch a difcovery, neither ex- pence, time, nor talents, ought to be fpared. Would it not likewife be worth while to enquire, why the foldiers were fo long in reaching Birmingham, and how the ADDRESSED TO GEO. ROSE, ESQ^ 63 the furious populace were fo well trained, and fo humane all of a fuddcn, as to train off', without one life being loft, at the ap- proach of the military ? Had the Dt/ettters raifed fuch a mob, I wonder if the military would have been fo tardy in their march, and the lives of the vile mob (not the populace then !) fo miraculoufly have been fpared ? I fee, by - the papers, that the police populace in Dub- lin, too, have been firing, on that evening, a few rounds of powder and ball m the ftreets, upon harmlefs paflengers, by way of a feu de joie y which, very luckily, was ended, without rifing to a Birmingham illumi- nation. Is it not ftrange, nay unac- countable, how tint populace of Birming- ham and Dublin fhould, cvn that day, agree in endeavouring to deftroy the friends of freedom, and the Eritijh Confli- tution? The train was well laid; but I am fure you rejoice with me in this, Sir, that all thole Riots have ceafed. To return : enough being faid of your fiieiid 6j. REFLECTIONS, ADDRESSED TO CEO. ROSF, ESQ., friend Club What a ferious charge does Mr. Froft make againft you, Sir, refpect- ing the Excife-Jine of Smith ? Mr. Froft is a refpeitable character ; and your anti- pathy to Lord Lanfdowne, the noble- man who iirfl drew you forth from obfcurity, ought not fo far to have ex- tended, as to pro&Vibe Mr. Frofl, be- caufe he, like you, has been patroniied by him. You will, I fear, foon rue the day when you quarrelled with Lord- Hood's Agent. He has both fpirit, per- feverance, and anecdote ', to undo you totally in the public opinion. The Ex- cife-fine alone, if properly handled, of which there can be no doubt, will com- pletely do your bufmefs : and after bcring puniilied by public cenfure, you \viil, per- haps, be permitted to retire to Cuttnels j and efcape, by feclufion, the fcornful, pointed linger of your indignant Country. ALFRED. , 1 1 inr 1 s fOr^* inrs O y= f A f J 55 lrt = A 000 035 035 5