COPY OF INDICTMENT,

FOUND AT THE OLD BAILEY, JULY 18, 1822,

AND

Moved by a Writ of Certiorari into the Court of King's Bench in the fol lowing Michaelmas Term, to which the Defendant pleaded Not Guilty.

LONDON (to wit). The Jurors for our Lord the King, upon their Oath, present, that Susannah, the Wife of William Wright, late of London, Bookseller, being an evil disposed and wicked person, and disregarding the Laws and Religion of this Realm, and wickedly and profanely devising, and intending to bring the Christian Religion into disbelief and contempt among the people of this Kingdom, on the ninth day of May, in the second year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Fourth, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, at London: (that is to say) at the Parish of Saint Dunstan in the West, in the Ward of Farringdon Without, in London aforesaid, unlawfully, and wickedly, did sell, utter, and publish, and caused to be sold, uttered, and published, a certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous and profane Libel, of and concerning the Christian Religion, containing therein, amongst other things, certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane matters, and things, of and concerning the Christian Religion, in one part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following: (that is to say) "You are either an impostor as a Priest, or an idolator as a believer and worshipper, in what is called the Christian Religion, but which I deem to be a mythology as ridiculous in its present state, as it has been gross and cruel in its origin and progress." And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following: (that is to say) "Religion has been the chief source of war, and has vied with every other power and plague in inflicting misery and destruction on the human race. If you wish for universal and constant peace in preference to all other objects, you must advocate the Representative System of Government, the abolition of Religion established by Law, or the Laws relating to it." And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following: (that is to say) "Though I admire men of a patriotic and bold spirit, that will dare to publish the truth, yet I would not, for my own part, sacrifice my comforts as you have done, for all the truth on all the subjects in the world. I go to church every Sunday, and as loud as any of my neighbours repeat the creed, that I believe in God the Father,

who manufactured all things, and in his Son Jesus Christ, who went to Hell for three days, quite long enough to stop there, and also in the Holy Ghost, who the Virgin Mary who was a Virgin before he visited her. I am not like the narrow-minded Unitarians who only believe in one God, I acknowledge three Gods in one God, and one great Devil." To the high displeasure of Almighty God, to the great scandal and reproach of the Christian Religion, to the evil example of all others, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity. And the Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath aforesaid, do further present that the said Susannah, the Wife of William Wright, further impiously, and profanely devising, and intending as aforesaid, afterwards (to wit) on the same day and year aforesaid, at London aforesaid, in the Parish and Ward aforesaid, unlawfully, and wickedly, did sell, utter, and publish, and cause to be sold, uttered, and published, a certain other scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane Libel, of and concerning the Christian Religion, containing therein, amongst other things, certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane matters and things, of and concerning the Christian Religion; in one part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following (that is to say) "You are either an impostor as a Priest, or an idolator as a believer and worshipper in what is called the Christian Religion; but which I deem to be a mythology as ridiculous in its present state as it has been gross and cruel in its origin and progress." To the high displeasure of Almighty God; to the great scandal and reproach of the Christian Religion; to the evil example of all others, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity. And the Jurors aforesaid, upon their Oath aforesaid, do further present, that the said Susannah, the Wife of William Wright, further impiously, and profanely devising, and intending as aforesaid afterwards (to wit) on the thirtieth day of May, in the year aforesaid, at London aforesaid, in the Parish and Ward aforesaid, unlawfully, and wickedly, did sell, utter, and publish, and cause to be sold, uttered, and published, a certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane Libel, of and concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Christian, Religion, containing therein amongst other things certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane matters, and things of and concerning the Holy Scriptures, and the Christian Religion, in one part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following: (that is to say) "A Representative System of Government, would soon see the propriety of turning our Churches and Chapels into Temples of Science, and perfecting and cherishing the Philosopher instead of the Priest. Kingcrat and Priestcraft I hold to be the bane of Society, and to entail all those miseries which are now and have been constantly felt by the great body of mankind those two evils operate jointly against the welfare both of the body and mind, and to palliate our miseries in this life, the latter endeavour to bamboozle us with a hope of eternal happiness! A frail and ridiculous notion!" And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effeet following: (that is to say) "I would not put the Bible" (meaning

the Holy Bible) "as a whole into the hands of my children, because it abounds in fictions and obscenities. The Book of Proverbs is the only Book in it that I could consider fit for them to read. With respect to your tracts, and I believe those printed at Bristol are of your own composition, Mrs. Carlile and myself have amused ourselves in reading them, and as they are Sacred Scriptures I have put them into the water-closet as an appropriate sacrifice to Jehovah.. Do not call me blasphemous! I consider Jehovah no more allied to the God of Nature than was Jupiter, Jehovah is the Jupiter of the Jews, whom the Christians admit also as the chief Deity in their mythology, but to whom, in imitation of the Pagans of old, they have given a wife" (meaning the Virgin Mary) "and a son" (meaning our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ)" and with whom they have allied a number of inferior deities, such as the Holy Ghost, and his army of angels, and Satan with his host of Devils. All religion is in my eye paganism, and such as Christians call the the offspring of heathen darkness.'" To the high displeasure of Almighty God; to the great scandal and reproach of the Christian Religion; to the evil example of all others, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity. And the Jurors aforesaid, upon their Oath aforesaid, do further present, that the said Susannah, the Wife of William Wright, further impiously, and profanely devising, and intending as aforesaid, afterwards (to wit) on the same day and year last aforesaid, at London aforesaid, in the Parish and Ward aforesaid, unlawfully and wickedly did sell, utter, and publish, and cause to be sold, uttered, and published, a certain other scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane Libel, of and concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Christian Religion, containing therein, amongst other things, certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane matters and things, of and concerning the Holy Scriptures, and the Christian Religion, in one part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following: (that is to say) "I would not put the Bible as a whole into the hands of my children because it abounds in fictions and obscenities." To the high displeasure of Almighty God; to the great scandal and reproach of the Christian Religion; to the evil example of all others, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity.

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REPORT,

&c. &c.

IN consequence of Mrs. Wright having been first indicted in the name of Jane Carlile, having invalidated the first Indictment by a plea of misnomer, and having subsequently passed a state of pregnancy and child-birth, this case has been pending upwards of fourteen months. The Defendant was fully prepared to defend herself in the first sittings after Michaelmas Term, to which time many dates and references in her prepared defence would have been more suitable than at present. The Society did not think proper to press the trial, evidently from the same motive as a second has now been deferred, a fear of so great an excitement of the public mind against them at one time.

As soon as the Lord Chief Justice had taken his seat, this case was called on by Mr. Abbott. Eight special jurors answered to their names, after which a tales was prayed by Mr. Gaselee, who, in the absence of Mr. Gurney, through indisposition, appeared for the prosecution, and four common jurymen were sworn. While the officer was swearing the jury, the Defendant, attended by several female friends, entered the court.

Mr. John Ellis stated, that the Defendant was indicted for publishing two blasphemous libels, tending to bring the Christian religion into contempt.

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Mr. Gaselee said, that as it would be his painful duty to bring the paragraphs which were indicted under the notice of the jury, his learned friend had properly abstained from reading them in his ing, that their ears might not be more than necessarily wounded. would not be his duty to address them at any considerable length, because the law of the case was completely established, and the tendency of the libels could not be mistaken. Christianity, as the greatest authorities had holden, was part of the English law, which would not permit any attempt to subvert or turn into ridicule the religion of the country. Still he would not have sought for a verdict, if the Defendant had only discussed particular doctrines of the Gospel with temper and fairness; but when a libel assailed religion with mere calumny, and represented it as one entire system of fraud and delusion, it became a duty to protect public morals by seeking the aid of the

laws against its publishers. It was a matter of notoriety, that a person named Carlile had been found guilty of a similar offence, and imprisoned in Dorchester Gaol; but this punishment had failed of producing its legitimate effect-of removing the offender, or even of warning others; for the sale of similar works had, until lately, been continued in the same shop by other members of the family. They, too, had been visited with penalties; but others had arisen to supply the poison on the same scene; and among these unhappy persons was the Defendant, who had no necessities to plead, for she was the wife of a person engaged in trade, which enabled him to support his family in comfort. In the first of the pamphlets in question, dated, "Dorchester Gaol, March 3, second year of the Spanish Revolution," and entitled, "An Address to the Reformers of Great Britain," Mr. Carlile stated what the Jury would be glad to hear, that the sale of his works had decreased, because persons were afraid to sell them, but promising that individuals should be found hardy enough to undertake the task. The passages complained of in this pamphlet were part of a letter, purporting to be a reply from Mr. Carlile to admonitions addressed to him by the Rev. Mr. Wait of Bristol. Whether this was a genuine correspondence, or only a subtile means of conveying the venom to be diffused, was unimportant; for there could be no excuse for such a sentence as the following :-"I am bound to tell you, Sir, that you are either an impostor, as a priest, or an idolator as a believer and worshipper of what is called the Christian Religion; but which I deem to be a mythology as ridiculous in its present state, as it has been cruel in its origin and progress." In another part of the same article, the writer, alluding to the wish of his correspondent for universal peace, thus proceeded. in his calumnies: Religion has been the chief source of war, and has vied with every other power and plague in inflicting misery and destruction on the human race. If you wish for universal and constant peace, in preference to all other objects, you must advocate the Representative System of Government, the abolition of religion established by law, or the laws relating to it, and the mutual toleration of all opinions." There was one line, not included in the Indictment, which would sufficiently show the spirit in which this system of blasphemy was pursued. "All our motto is perseverance." The next passage was an article purporting to be a letter to Mr. Carlile, signed" Amicus," of so revolting a description that he trusted it would not find its way into any report of the trial. "Though I admire men of a patriotic and bold spirit that will dare to publish the truth, yet I would not, for my own part, sacrifice my comforts as you have done, for all the truth on all the subjects in the world. go to church every Sunday, and as loud as any of my neighbours repeat the Creed, that I believe in God the Father, who manufactured all things, and in his Son Jesus Christ, who went to Hell for three days, quite long enough to stop there; and also the Holy Ghost, who the Virgin Mary, who was a virgin before he visited her. I

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