Rt. Hon. Alexander Maconochie, Lord Advo-
cate [afterwards a lord of Session and Justi-
ciary, with the title of Lord Meadowbank.]
James Wedderburn, Esq. Solicitor-General.
H. H. Drummond, Esq.
J. A. Maconochie, Esq.

H. Warrender, Esq. Agent.
Counsel for Alexander McLaren.

John Clerk, Esq.
J. P. Grant, Esq.
James Campbell, Esq.

Mr. R. Morton, Agent.
Counsel for Thomas Baird.

Francis Jeffery. Esq.
Henry Cockburn, Esq.
J. S. Stewart, Esq.

Mr. A. Campbell, W. S. Agent. Lord Justice Clerk. Alexander M'Laren and Thomas Baird, attend to the indictment against you, which the clerk of Court will read. “ALEXANDER M'LAREN, now or lately weaver in Kilmarnock, in the county of Ayr, and Thomas Baird, merchant there, you are indicted and accused, at the instance of Alexander Maconochie of Meadowbank, his majesty's advocate, for his majesty's interest: that albeit, by the laws of this and of every other well-governed realm, Sedition is a crime of a heinous nature, and severely punishable: VOL. XXXIII.

yet true it is and of verity, that you the said Alexander M'Laren and Thomas Baird are both and each, or one or other of you, guilty thereof, actors or actor, or art and part: in so far as, you the said Alexander McLaren did, at a public meeting, held at Dean-park, in the vicinity of Kilmarnock aforesaid, on the 7th day of December 1816, or on one or other of the days of that month, or of November immediately preceding, or of January immediately following, which meeting was attended by a great multitude of persons, chiefly of the lower orders, wickedly and feloniously deliver a speech, containing a number of seditious and inflammatory remarks and assertions, calculated to degrade and bring into contempt the government and legislature, and to withdraw therefrom the confidence and affections of the people, and fill the realm with trouble and dissention; in which speech there were the following or similar wicked and seditious expressions:-"That our sufferings are insupportable, is demonstrated to the world; and that they are neither temporary, nor occasioned by a transition from war to peace,' is palpable to all, though all have not the courage to avow it. The fact is, we are ruled by men only solicitous for their own aggrandizement; and they care no farther for the great body of the people, than they are subservient to their accursed purposes. If you are convinced of this, my countrymen, I would therefore put the question, are you degenerate enough to bear

it? Shall we, whose forefathers set limits to the all-grasping power of Rome; shall we, whose forefathers, at the never to be forgotten field of Bannockburn, told the mighty Edward, at the head of the most mighty army ever trode on Britain's soil,Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther;' shall we, I say, whose forefathers defied the efforts of foreign tyranny to enslave our beloved country, meanly permit,

B

in our day, without a murmur, a base oligarchy to feed their filthy vermin on our vitals, and rule us as they will? No, my countrymen. Let us lay our petitions at the foot of the throne, where sits our August Prince, whose gracious nature will incline his ear to listen to the cries of his people, which he is bound to do by the laws of the country. But, should he be so infatuated as to turn a deaf ear to their just petition, he has forfeited their allegiance. Yes, my fellow townsmen, in such a case, to hell with our allegiance." And you the said Alexander M'Laren did, shortly thereafter, deliver, or cause to be delivered, your said speech, in manuscript, to Hugh Crawford, printer in Kilmarnock, to be by him printed and published. And you the said Thomas Baird having been present at the said meeting, and having heard the said speech, and others of a similar tendency, delivered there, did, shortly thereafter, and in the course of the said months of December or January, wickedly and feloniously print, or cause or procure to be printed, at the printing-office of the said Hugh Crawford, in Kilmarnock aforesaid, a seditious tract or statement, intituled, " Áccount of the proceedings of the public meeting of the Burgesses and Inhabitants of the town of Kilmarnock, held on the 7th of December 1816, for the purpose of deliberating on the most proper method of remedying the present distresses of the country, with a full report of the speeches on that occasion ;" which printed tract or statement did contain a number of seditious and inflammatory remarks and assertions, calculated for the purposes above mentioned; and, in particular, a report of the said speech of you the said Alexander M'Laren, with the passage aforesaid, in the same, or nearly the same terms; as also the following wicked and seditious passages, viz. page ninth, -"And a House of Commons-but the latter is corrupted; it is decayed and worn out; it is not really what it is called, it is not a House of Commons."-Page tenth-"The House of Commons, in its original composition, consisted only of commoners, chosen annually by the universal suffrage of the people. No nobleman, no clergyman, no naval or military officer, in short, none who held places, or received pensions from government, had any right to sit in that House. This is what the House of Commons was, what it ought to be, and what we wish it to be; this is the wanted change in our form of government--the Commons House of Parliament restored to its original purity; and this, beyond a doubt, would strike at the root of the greatest part of the evils we groan under at the present day.". Page eleventh," Is it any wonder, my friends, that this country is brought to its present unprecedented state of misery, when the rights of the people have been thus wantonly violated?"Page twelfth, "But let us come nearer home. Look at the year 1793, when the debt amounted to two hundred and eleven millions, and the annual taxation to about eighteen millions;

when liberty began to rear her drooping head in the country; when associations were framed from one end of the kingdom to another, composed of men eminent for their talents and virtue, to assert their rights; when a neighbouring nation had just thrown off a yoke which was become intolerable-what did the wise rulers of this country do? Why, they declared war, not only against the French nation, but also against the friends of liberty at home."-Page twenty-ninth, "Our oppressors have taxed the very light of heaven; and they seem surprised and indignant that we should not bear the insupportable burden, with which folly, corruption, and avarice, have loaded us, without reluctance and complaint." -Page thirty-second, "Their reverend hirelings would convince you that you are suffering under the visitation of the Almighty, and therefore ought to be submissive under the chastening stroke."-Page thirty-fifth, “We have these twenty-five years been condemned to incessant and unparalleled slavery, by a usurped Oligarchy, who pretend to be our guardians and representatives, while, in fact, they are nothing but our inflexible and determined enemies."-" They have robbed us of our money, deprived us of our friends, violated our rights, and abused our privileges."—" At present we have no representatives; they are only nominal, not real; active only in prosecuting their own designs, and at the same time telling us that they are agreeable to our wishes." -And you the said Thomas Baird having obtained a number of copies of the said printed tract or statement, containing the said false, wicked, and seditious passages, and others of a similar tendency, and being altogether of a seditious nature, did, in the course of the said months of December and January, and of February immediately following, at your shop in Kilmarnock aforesaid, wickedly and feloniously sell, publish, and circulate, or cause to be sold, published, or circulated, many of the said copies thereof, at the price of fourpence each, or other small sum, one of which was then and there purchased by Hugh Wilson, weaver in Kilmarnock. And you the said Alexander M'Laren and Thomas Baird having been apprehended and taken before William Eaton, esq., sheriff-substitute of the county of Ayr, did, in his presence, at Kilmarnock, on the 26th day of February 1817, both and each of you emit and subscribe a declaration : which declarations, being to be used in evidence against each of you respectively, and the manuscript of nineteen pages, and the half sheet of paper, titled on the back, "No. 5." both referred to in the said declaration of you the said Thomas Baird, being to be used in evidence against you the said Thomas Baird, as also three copies of the printed tract, or statement, above mentioned, being to be used in evidence against both and each of you, will be lodged in due time in the hands of the clerk of the high court of justiciary, before which you are to be tried,

City of Edinburgh.

William Marshall, jeweller, South-bridge-street, Edinburgh.

Walter Lamb, upholsterer in Edinburgh. Archibald M'Kinlay, haberdasher in Edinburgh. John Baxter, confectioner there. Sharp Callender, clothier there. William Pattison, junior, haberdasher in Edin burgh.

that you may have an opportunity of seeing the same. At least, times and places foresaid respectively, the said seditious speech was wickedly and feloniously delivered, containing the said or similar wicked and seditious expressions: and the said seditious tract or statement, containing the said seditious and inflammatory passages, and others of a similar tendency, was wickedly and feloniously printed, sold, published, and circulated, or caused or procured so to be, as above mentioned: and you the said Alexander M'Laren and Thomas Baird are both and each, or one or other of you, guilty thereof, actors or actor, or art and part. All which, or part thereof, being found proven by the verdict of an assize, before the lord justice general, the lord justice clerk, and lords commissioners of justiciary, you the said Alexander M'Laren and Thomas Baird ought to be punished with the pains of law, to deter others from committing the like crimes in all time coming.

"H. HOME DRUMMOND, A. D."

3. Alexander Murdoch, writer in Ayr.

4. Andrew Finnie, merchant in Kilmarnock. 5. William Merrie, wright there. 6. Hugh Crawford, printer there.

7. Thomas Murray, journeyman to the said Hugh Crawford.

8. James Johnstone, muslin-agent there. 9. David Ramsay Andrews, writer there.

10. Hugh Wilson, weaver there.

11. James Samson, weaver there.

Andrew Mellis, haberdasher there.
John Pollock, insurance broker there.
James Howden, jeweller there.
John Drummond, manufacturer there.
Alexander Anderson, general-agent there.
James Spence, perfumer there.
Peter Brown, linen-draper there.
William Kennedy, glover there.
James Gilchrist, clothier there.
Charles Howden, shoemaker there.
Edward Gilchrist, haberdasher there.
James Virtue, Button-manufacturer there.
James Richmond, insurance-broker there.
James Stoddart, wine-merchant there.
Andrew Wauchope, turner there.

H. HOME DRUMMOND, A. D.

LIST OF ASSIZE.

County of Edinburgh.

James Watson, of Saughton.
Charles Fraser, of Williamston.
Alexander Falconer, baker in Dalkeith.
William Crichton, glazier there.
William Watson, farmer, Middle-Kenleith.
John Dodds, farmer, Saughton-mill.
John Drysdale, farmer, Clermiston.

County of Haddington.

George Rennie, of Fantassie.

David Pringle, of Blegbie.

David Skirving, farmer at East-Garleton.
Peter Sheriff, farmer at Drem.

John Hislop, junior, grocer in Haddington.
County of Linlithgow.

Norman Shairp, younger of Houston.
John Stewart, of Binny.

James Gardner, jumior, merchant in Bathgate.
John Calder, farmer at Drumcross.
John Russell, farmer at Mosside.

Panels.-Not guilty.

The following Defences had been given in. DEFENCES for Alexander M'Laren, Weaver in

Kilmarnock, to the Indictment at the instance of Alexander Maconochie of Meadowbank, his Majesty's Advocate, for his Majesty's interest, for Sedition. "The panel has been employed from his early youth in his trade as a weaver. He has always preserved the most sober and orderly habits, and, if necessary he could bring forward complete proof of his uniform and steady loyalty. He never was engaged in any riot or disturbance whatever, and never was connected, or accused of being connected with any of the societies, or combinations of men formed for unlawful purposes, or whose objects have been regarded with suspicion. He was a volunteer in the Glasgow Highland regiment during the whole period of its establishment, and when the volunteer system was put an end to, he transferred his services to the local militia. During the greatest part of his service, he was a serjeant, a situation which he obtained by his good conduct.

"Of late years, the panel, among many others, lamented the distresses of the country, from which he himself had severely suffered in his situation and prospects. He therefore approved of the petitions, which were presented in such numbers to his royal highness the Prince Regent, and the two Houses of parliament, the object of which was to obtain relief.

"A meeting was held near Kilmarnock in the month of December last, at which a great multitude of people attended, for the purpose of considering of the expediency of petitioning his royal highness the Prince Regent and the Houses of Parliament, upon the present distressed state of the country, and the subject of parliamentary reform. The panel was present at that meeting, and made a short speech, not in the terms alleged in the libel, but in other terms, which appeared to him to be warranted by law in such a case, The meeting was afterwards addressed by other persons; certain resolutions were agreed to; petitions were drawn out, addressed to the Prince Regent, and to the two Houses of par liament. These petitions having been signed by a great number of persons, were sent to London and presented. The petitions ad

dressed to the two Houses of Parliament were presented, read, and ordered to lie on the table of each house. In his speech, the panel did nothing more than lawfully recommend the said petitions: and he denies that he is guilty

of the crime of sedition.

"The panel took no charge whatever of printing the pamphlet produced with the libel; and he finds that his own speech is inaccurately reported.

"It is an evident misconception, that such a speech, spoken at a lawful meeting for lawful purposes, was calculated to degrade and bring into contempt the government and legislature, and to withdraw therefrom the confidence and affections of the people, and fill the realm with trouble and dissentions. If there are grievances or abuses, or such men as bad rulers, or bad ministers, those who complain against them, or petition against them, do only exercise their legal rights. The panel, while he was disposed to petition for redress of grievances, was filled with the same reverence for the legislature and all its different branches, and for the government of the country as established by law, that is impressed on the mind of every good subject.

"Under protestation to add and eik.

"JOHN CLERK.
"J. P. GRANT.
"JAMES CAMPBELL."

LIST OF EXCULPATORY WITNESSES.

Hugh Wilson, weaver, Kilmarnock.
Jumes Samson, ditto, ditto.
James Johnstone, muslin-agent there.
John Kennedy, schoolmaster there.
John Blackwood, wool-spinner there.

DEFENCES for Thomas Baird, to the Indictment at the instance of his Majesty's Advocate for the Crime of Sedition.

crime charged against him. He was not a "The panel denies that he is guilty of the speaker at the meeting mentioned in the indictment, and neither spoke nor wrote any of the words there set forth. He also denies

that he printed or published any of the said words; and if any circumstances shall be proved tending to connect him with the publication or sale thereof, he has no doubt, both from the tenor of the said words and the nature of his concern with them, that it will be apparent that he is entirely guiltless of the crime here charged.

"Under protestation to add and eik.

"F. JEFFREY. "H. COCKBURN, "J. S. STEWART."

LIST OF EXCULPATORY WITNESSES.

David Ramsay Andrews, writer there.
John Andrews, chief magistrate of Kilmarnock.
Walier Andrews, writer there.
Andrew Finnie, merchant there.
James Johnstone, muslin agent there.
John Brown, writer there.

Bailie William Brown, manufacturer there.
John Willie, assessor of taxes there.
Robert Howie, merchant there.
Thomas Murray, printer there.
The Rev. James Kirkwood, relief minister there,
residing at Riccarton.

Lord Justice Clerk.-Have the counsel for the panels any objections to state to the relevancy of this indictment?

Mr. Campbell.-I appear on behalf of the It is not my panel, Alexander M'Laren. intention to state any objections to the relevancy of the libel, but to explain to the Court and Jury the nature of the concern which he had in the transactions now brought before this Court. At the same time, it is proper I should state, that we who are his counsel hold it to be the undoubted law--and law which has never been questioned in this part of the countrythat it is the province of the jury to consider both the facts and the law of the case-that it is for them to say whether the facts charged in the indictment are proved in the course of the trial, and if they find them proved, whether these facts do amount to the crime charged. And that being the case, we hold that we are not deprived of the benefit of any pleas which we may afterwards maintain, by any interlocutor of relevancy now to be pronounced.

I conceive also, that in justice to the panel and in justice to the opposite side of the bar, (who always meet me with liberality, and whom Ì wish to meet in the same manner), I should at once and openly state the nature of the defence we intend to maintain, and should say something of the history and character of the panel.

legal meeting which they were entitled to hold: it was for a legal purpose; there was no harm in going there; and every person was entitled to state the grievances he felt, and in a manner that might induce the meeting to take constitutional measures for what he conceived would bring them relief. The panel did not intend to take any part in the proceedings, nor to open the meeting as he did. But those persons who were to have opened the proceedings, were not equal to the task when the time came, and he was asked to undertake what was refused by the others. He went into a house in the neighbourhood, and hastily threw upon paper some observations which he wished to submit to the meeting. He did address the meeting, but he did not submit to it,

The panel, after learning the trade of a weaver, in the county of Perth, went to Glasgow, where he continued a good many years. He acted as assistant foreman in a mercantile house, and during the whole of his engagement gave entire satisfaction to his employer. Seventeen years ago he entered into the Highland corps of volunteers in that city, and soon rose to the rank of serjeant, and continued with the corps till it was disbanded, and the volunteer associations were discontinued. He next went to Kilmarnock, where a great many weavers are occupied in working for the manufacturers of Glasgow; and, at the same time, he again gave his services to the public, by entering into the local militia corps of that district, in which corps he continued down to 1812, when the period of its service expired. And not only was there no complaint against him during all these periods, as a man either troublesome or quarrelsome, but he maintained in Kilmarnock, during the period of nearly eight years during which he lived there, a character remarkable for sober habits, attachment to good order, and to the government of the country; and last harvest, during a riot which occurred about a scarcity of meal, so far was he from taking any part in the riot, that when a house was to be attacked, he put himself forward along with two constables in order to protect the house. He enjoyed the same decent, respectable, and good character, till this charge of sedition was brought against him.

He does not deny that he attended the meeting in December. His means of subsistence, and those of his neighbours about him, had been gradually declining. They had arrived, before the period I speak of, at, I hope, their worst state of distress; for he worked fifteen hours a day for 5s. a-week, although he is not only one of the best workmen, but so expert as to be able to execute the best work in the shortest time. And I will prove, that other workmen who could execute as good work, but who were not so expert and expeditious as my client, were able to obtain only 3s. a-week. The panel admits that in this distress he began to think of the causes which had reduced his neighbours and himself from a condition in which they were prosperous and happy to a state in which they could scarcely gain the means of subsistence; he confesses he came to be of opinion, that the evils were partly owing to the excessive taxation which had been imposed on the country; and he and some others thought it right to call a meeting of the inhabitants of the place where he resided, to consider the propriety of a petition to the legislature on the subject of their distress, its causes, and what appeared to them to be the proper remedies.

They conceived, that to do this was their undoubted right; and it will not be denied on the opposite side of the bar, that such was their right. There is no charge in the indictrent that the meeting was illegal. It was a

and there were not contained in that paperwhat are cited as offensive expressions in the last part of the indictment.

As to the passage about a corrupt administration, which is cited in the indictment, it was in the manuscript, but was not spoken in the field. I admit that the manuscript afterwards went into the hands of the committee of the petitioners, at the request of the committee, in order to be printed in an account of the proceedings, but he had no concern in printing that account.

With regard to the expressions which are charged as seditiously directed against the legislature, we shall satisfy the jury, and shall show your lordships, that giving them a fair construction, they contain nothing improper against any of the orders of the state, against the King, the House of Lords, or House of Commons. In sound construction, the expressions apply only to the administration for the time, and every person at such a meeting is entitled, if he thinks it right, to attack the policy and conduct of ministers. I need not enter into the question, whether there has been mal-administration or not; but every person feeling himself aggrieved is entitled to state his grievances, and more particularly at a meeting convened for the purpose of applying to the legislature for redress. This will not be denied. And what was done in consequence of this meeting, and of the speeches which were made there? Every thing was conducted in a regular and orderly manner;, no injury was done to any property or to any person; the only consequence of the meeting was, that three petitions were resolved on, one to the Prince Regent, another to the House of Lords, and the third to the House of Commons; which last petition, when presented to that House, was ordered to be brought up and to lie on the table. This is proof that the petitions contained nothing that was offensive to the Prince Regent, nothing seditious, nothing offensive to the Houses of Parliament. Every thing that resulted was legitimate and proper.

Taking the whole circumstances into consideration, it clearly appears, that the first passage objected to, relates to the measures of ministers; and I will prove even by witnesses