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LAW CASES AND NARRATIVES.

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MANCHESTER OUTRAGE. LANCASTER ASSIZES, THURSDAY, APRIL, 4. Before Mr. Justice Holroyd and a Special JuryThomas Redford, Plaintiff, v. Hugh Hornby Birley, Alexander Oliver, Richard Withington, and Edward Meagher Defendants.After the usual forms on opening the Court were gone through, the clerk of the peace proceeded to call over the names of the special jurors, when the following six gentlemen appeared :—

J. Harrison, esq. of Landing. R. Taylor, esq. of Finthwaite. R. Sagar, esq. of Southfield, Marsden.

J. Whitaker, esq. of Broad Clough.

R. Gillow, esq. of Forton. M. Hughes, esq. of Sutton. There being only half the panel of special jurors present, a tales was prayed by the plaintiff, when the following persons answered to their names:

Matthew Jackson.
William Barrow.

John Tichfield.

Robert Chadwick.
Isaac Walker.
William Tomlinson.

These six, together with the special jurors, having completed the panel, the oath was administered to all at once.

The counsel who appeared for the plaintiff, were Mr. Blackburne and Mr. Joshua Evans; for the VOL. LXIV.

defendants, Mr. Serjeant Hullock, Mr. Serjeant Cross, Mr. Littledale, and Mr. Starkie.

The pleadings were opened by Mr. Joshua Evans.-The declaration, in the first count, stated, that the defendants, on the 16th day of August, 1819, assaulted the plaintiff at Manchester, and with certain swords gave and struck him a great many violent cuts and strokes on and about his shoulders, by which means he became greatly wounded and bruised, &c. There was another count for a common assault, and the damages were laid at 500l.

The plea set up by the defend

ants were

1st." The general issue,"Not Guilty."

2ndly. "A riot committed by the plaintiff and others in the view of the defendants, whereupon the defendants requested the plaintiff and others to disperse; and because the plaintiff and others would not disperse themselves, therefore the defendants laid their hands upon the plaintiff, &c., to disperse

them.

3rdly. "A conspiracy by the plaintiff and others to move and excite the king's subjects to hatred and contempt of the government, and to alter the constitution of the realm; and a meeting at the time, when, &c. in pursuance and furtherance of that conspiracy, and a request to disperse, &c., as in the second plea.

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4th. "That the plaintiff and others unlawfully met in a tumultuous, dangerous, and menacing manner, to the terror and nuisance of the late king's subjects, and a request to disperse, &c. as in the third plea.

5th." That the plaintiff and others unlawfully and riotously met to disturb the peace, to the great damage of the public peace, and a request to disperse, &c., as before.

6th. "That the plaintiff and others unlawfully met and assembled in a dangerous and menacing manner, and a request to disperse, &c., as before.

7th. "That the plaintiff and others conspired to excite the subjects of the late king to hatred and contempt of the government, &c.; and that they unlawfully met for that purpose, and a request to disperse, &c. (as in the preceding plea.)

8th. "That the plaintiff and others unlawfully met to excite discontent in the late king's subjects against the government and constitution, and a request by defendants to disperse, &c. as in the next preceding plea.

9th. "That the plaintiff and others committed a riot-that proclamation to disperse was made by a magistrate that the plaintiff and others refused to disperse, whereupon the defendants gently laid their hands on the plaintiff and others to disperse them.

10th. "That Henry Hunt and others riotously met-that divers magistrates, on view of the riot, issued their warrant to the constables of Manchester to apprehend Hunt, and other persons-that the defendants on that occasion acted in aid of the constables-that the plaintiff and others assaulted the

defendants whilst acting in execution of the warrant, and that the defendants in their own defence did a little, strike, cut, wound, &c., the plaintiff.

11th. "A like plea, except as to alleging the assault to have been made by the plaintiff, &c, on the defendants, immediately after the execution of the warrant.

12th. "That the plaintiff committed a riot, &c.; that the defendants endeavoured to restore peace, whereupon the plaintiff and others assaulted the defendants, who, in their own defence, struck, &c, the plaintiff.

13th." A like plea, alleging an unlawful meeting instead of a riot.

14th. "That plaintiff and others made an assault on the defendants, wherefore the defendants defended themselves; and if any damage happened to the plaintiff, it was from his assault on the defendants, and in defendants own defence."

There were originally 51 pleas, containing 39,000 and odd words, and extending over 541 sheets, but the master struck out 37, leaving the above 14.

Mr. Blackburne stated the plaintiff's case to the jury.

The first witness called was, Alexander Anderson:-I reside at Manchester, and am, by trade, a weaver. I was at the meeting of the 16th of August; I went to it betwixt 11 and 12 o'clock; there were then a great many people present, old and young, women and children. I stopped till Mr. Hunt passed me in a sort of carriage, and mounted the hustings; soon after that, I quitted the spot. I had no object in attending that meeting, except what is stated in the requisition; nor, to my knowledge, had any body else.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Hullock. On the 16th of August, I stood near the Quakers' chapel. I had seen Hunt before, but I did not know who was with Hunt, except from what the people said who stood near me. I was at work in the morning, and saw the people coming through Newtonlane; they looked very poor and very ragged, and had nothing in their hands; they walked quietly, but not like soldiers, for these always carry firelocks some persons in the crowd had in their hands a small rod or switch. I will not say each party was 3,000 or 4,000-nor swear to more or less in their numbers. I never saw such a party before, as were at that meeting. I was near enough to read what was written on some of the flags; but I will not pretend to say what was on them. I saw a black flag, but cannot say now what was on it. I cannot say but I did see the flag with "Let us die like men, and not be sold like slaves." I never attended any drillings before, nor saw any. I saw the people halt, but do not know who gave the word to halt, or whether it was done by bugle-sound or otherwise. I saw no persons telling them to march or wheel, or the like. I was born in Ireland, but have resided 22 years in Manchester.

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William Mickleroy.-I am weaver, and live in King-street, No. 69, Manchester, and attended the meeting of the 16th of August. I was a party to putting my name to the requisition for calling that meeting, and had no other object but what was therein expressed. I stopped there till betwixt 11 and 12 o'clock, or thereabouts, when the cavalry charged; and I then made the best of my way off. I

stood first within some yards of the hustings, and at the head of, or close by the line of constables. That line reached from near to the wall over the brow, and down to the hustings or close up to it. Mr. Baxter's house was close by me. Our meeting consisted of men, women, and children, old and young. I saw some of the countrymen with bits of sticks, bits of things, crooked and straight, between sticks and rods, but I saw none armed with bludgeons. There was no disturbance, until the rush of the cavalry on coming amongst the people. The cavalry came round the wall near Cooper's-cottage, then rode forward, and formed, one end of them in front of the wall close to the line of constables; then made a second move rather farther down towards me. They formed three deep there. A gentleman in coloured clothes, whom I did not know, came and seemed to me to read something to the commander. They then advanced, and, coming to a straggled part of the crowd, they went on, till coming to the close body of the meeting, I saw some of the people fall. There was not the least attack made on the yeomanry, further than to cheer them as they came down. I saw no stones thrown, and am certain there were none thrown, for I stood upon a height, and might have seen if any were within my view. I do not know if the height where I stood had any particular name, but it was only 11 or 12 yards from the hustings. I am positive no one struck at the yeomanry as long as I durst stand where I did on the height. I had no apprehension they would cut the people, until I heard one of the constables say "stand fast, number one," and at the same time

they began to lay on with their truncheons, or short staves-then I thought it time to run. The yeomanry at that moment, were, as well as my bustle to get away enabled me to see, within about 30 yards of the hustings. I made the best of my escape home.

Cross-examined.-I saw the people on the 16th come upon the ground, I was there betwixt 10 and 11 o'clock, and saw a great many of the people take up their ground in the most beautiful order possible; each corps took its station with standards planted near the cart. They came on, some with drums and fifes, and some with only fifes. There might be bugles, but I do not know of them; they did not take up their ground like soldiers, but like a sick club, or a society, and not like regulars. I mean to say, that they did not march like volunteers having the step. Besides the drums and fifes, some had little rods, like what the country people carry when they go to walk a bit. There were no bludgeons of any size. I call a bludgeon what would knock a man down a shilelah, in Ireland, is that sort of thing: they were not here. A man in coloured clothes came up to the yeomanry before they charged, and read something to the officer, and then retired back. He did not ride up before

them.

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Re-examined by Mr. Blackburne. I have seen many processions of sick clubs and societies, and this meeting, in respect of order and step, resembled them : they had the same form. The sticks or rods, which I did see, were very unfit to cope with swords, and (looking at the sheriffs rod) some were rather thicker than this, and some a good deal smaller.

William Harrison.-I am a cotton spinner, and lived at Oldham in August, 1819. I was born there. I went with a company of my townsmen from Oldham to Manchester on that day. We set out betwixt 8 and 9 o'clock, and reached Manchester a little before 12 o'clock; the distance is 7 or 8 miles. There were four di visions of us, the "Lees, Mosley, Royton, and Oldham." We all met at the green at Oldham, in number about 5,000 or 6,000; there were women and children among us. My wife, with a child a year old, went along with me, on the side of the road to the meeting. The proportion of women in the 5,000 or 6,000 might be about 1,000, including girls of 10 or 13 years old. We had no sticks, except for a few of the old men. When we got to New-cross at Manchester, we stopped upon seeing three or four gentlemen on horseback, whom we thought were magistrates, and then, for the first time, we thought there was something hatching. We called out at that moment for such as had sticks to throw them away, and, in my company, I saw that it was done. The New-cross is a mile from St. Peter's-field; when we got to the field, I took up with my party the place at the higher side of the hustings, towards Buxton's house, and opposite the Quakers' chapel. I stood, as near as I can think, 7 or 8 yards on the higher side of the square hustings. I saw the cavalry come on the field and form before Buxton's house, as regularly as they could, considering the speed with which they rode. saw the yeomanry get among the people and begin to get up to the hustings. In their progress, I saw them cutting their way right and

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