o much space. I may,
however, be allowed to quote a short extract or two. Speaking of the
meeting on the 12th July, of which he acknowledges himself to have been
the chairman, he says: "I, and may it please you, sir, being a very
loyal man, was very careful, although it was quite unnecessary, to
admonish the people to obey the laws; and I can assure you, sir, that I
have not heard of a single instance of disloyalty, or violation of the
laws, which occurred during the said meeting. And while we are upon the
subject, permit me, sir, to lament that your Royal Highness did not in
your Royal Proclamation lay down the _law_ which had been violated by
the people of Birmingham." "Finding, however, contrary to our
expectations, that your Royal Highness considers that we have acted
unlawfully, we must humbly petition that the _precise law we have
violated_ may be pointed out, that we may not, through ignorance, be led
to do wrong again. Some persons have supposed the _Proclamation_ to be
_law_, but I have said to them, 'A Proclamation is a _Proclamation_, and
_not the law of Parliament_.' In the same manner as your Highness
profoundly speaks, in your Royal Proclamation, of those 'unlawful
assemblies' which are 'contrary to law.' Truisms, an please your Royal
Highness, are much better than falsehoods."

The number of the _Weekly Recorder_ for August 14th, 1819, contains a
long address to his "Fellow-townsmen," signed by George Edmonds. It
commences by stating that "the last week has been a very important one
in the annals of Warwickshire, and indeed of England.... Five of us,
Major Cartwright, Mr. Wooler, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Maddocks, and myself, have
had true bills found against us for a conspiracy to elect a Member of
Parliament, and at the next Assizes the indictment will be tried."

The grand jury brought in the "true bill" on Monday, August 9th. The
trial did not take place at the Assizes then being held, and the
indictment was afterwards removed by _certiorari_ into the Court of
King's Bench. It came on for trial at Warwick, on August 7th, 1820,
before the Lord Chief Baron Richards. When the special jury was called,
only four answered to their names. Mr. Barber was the foreman, and on
taking the book into his hands, one of the defendants asked him whether
he had "ever expressed any opinion as to the merits or demerits of this
case." The Judge interfered, and said that "as a _special_ juryman he
was not bound to answer the questi