HETHERINGTON ***




Produced by David Widger.




                   *THE TRIAL OF HENRY HETHERINGTON*

                                  _By_

                          *Henry Hetherington*

                    _On an Indictment for Blasphemy_






CONTENTS


    A FULL REPORT OF THE TRIAL OF HENRY HETHERINGTON
    THE TRIAL
    INDICTMENT
    Second Count:
    Third Count:
    Mr. Bult opened the proceedings
    DEFENCE
    OBSERVATIONS
    Extract from The Sun Newspaper
    "TO LORD DENMAN, ON THE LATE PROSECUTION FOR BLASPHEMY




A FULL REPORT OF THE TRIAL OF HENRY HETHERINGTON


ON AN INDICTMENT FOR BLASPHEMY,

LORD DENMAN AND A SPECIAL JURY,

ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1840;

FOR SELLING HASLAM'S LETTERS TO THE CLERGY TO ALL DENOMINATIONS:

THE WHOLE OF THE AUTHORITIES CITED IN THE DEFENCE, AT FULL LENGTH.

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY HENRY HETHERINGTON, 1-26, STRAND;

AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1840

Price Sixpence.

To

JAMES WATSON,

BOOKSELLER,

THE FRIEND OF TRUTH, THE INFIDEL TO ERROR, AND THE LOVER OF LIBERTY,

THIS TRIAL

IS DEDICATED,

IN PROOF OF THE AFFECTIONATE ATTACHMENT THAT SUBSISTS BETWEEN TWO
FRIENDS, WHO FULLY RECOGNISE AND ACT UPON THE PRINCIPLES AVOWED AND
CONTENDED FOR IN THE FOLLOWING DEFENCE; AND AS A TRIBUTE OF ESTEEM,

TO GOD'S NOBLEST WORK--AN HONEST MAN!

BY HIS FAITHFUL FRIEND,

HENRY HETHERINGTON.




THE TRIAL


COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, December 8, 1840.

Sittings at Nisi Prius at Westminster, before Lord DENMAN and a
Middlesex Special Jury.

PROSECUTION FOR BLASPHEMY.

THE QUEEN Versus HETHERINGTON.

This was a prosecution instituted by Her Majesty's Attorney-General, Sir
John Campbell, against Henry Hetherington, bookseller, of 126, Strand,
for the publication of a blasphemous libel.




INDICTMENT


Of Easter term, in the Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria.
Middlesex:--

Be it remembered, that on Tuesday, the twenty-eighth day of April, in
the third year of the reign of our sovereign lady Victoria, by the grace
of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen,
Defender of the Faith, in the court of our said lady the Queen, before
the Queen herself at Westminster, in the county of Middlesex, upon the
oath of twelve jurors, good and lawful men, of the said county of
Middlesex, now here sworn and charged to inquire for our said lady the
Queen for the body of the same county; it is presented as followeth,
that is to say, Middlesex to wit. The jurors for our lady the Queen upon
their oath present, that Henry Hetherington, late of Westminster, in the
county of Middlesex, bookseller, _being a wicked, impious, and
ill-disposed person_, and having no regard for the laws and religion of
this realm, but _most wickedly, blasphemously, impiously, and profanely
devising and intending to asperse and vilify that part of the Holy Bible
which is called the Old Testament_, on the third day of February, in the
third year of the reign of our sovereign lady Victoria, by the grace of
God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender
of the Faith, at Westminster aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, did
publish, and cause to be published, a certain scandalous, impious, and
blasphemous libel, of and concerning that part of the Holy Bible which
is called the Old Testament, containing therein, amongst other things,
divers scandalous, impious, and blasphemous matters of and concerning
that part of the Holy Bible which is called the Old Testament, according
to the tenor and effect following, that is to say, "What wretched stuff
this Bible (meaning that part of the Holy Bible which is called the Old
Testament) is, to be sure! What a random idiot its author must have
been! I would advise the human race to burn every Bible they have got.
Such a book is actually a disgrace to ourang outangs, much less to men.
I would advise them to burn it, in order that posterity may never know
we believed in such abominable trash. What must they think of our
intellects? What must they think of our incredible foolery? And we not
only believe it, but we actually look upon the book as the sacred word
of God, as a production of infinite wisdom. Was insanity ever more
complete? I for one, however, renounce the book; I renounce it as a vile
compound of filth, blasphemy, and nonsense, as a fraud and a cheat, _and
as an insult to God,"_ to the great displeasure of Almighty God, to the
great scandal, infamy, and contempt of that part of the Holy Bible which
is called the Old Testament, to the evil example of all others, and
against the peace of our said lady the Queen, her crown, and dignity.




Second Count:


And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, further present,
that the said Henry Hetherington, devising and intending as aforesaid,
on the eleventh day of February and year aforesaid, at Westminster
aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, did publish, and cause to be
published, a certain other scandalous, impious, and blasphemous libel,
of and concerning that part of the Holy Bible which is called the Old
Testament, containing therein, amongst other things, divers scandalous,
impious, and blasphemous matters of and concerning that part of the Holy
Bible which is called the Old Testament, according to the tenor and
effect following, that is to say, "One great question between you and me
is, 'Is the Bible (meaning that part of the Holy Bible which is called
the Old Testament) the word of God, or is it not? I assert that it is
not the word of God, and you assert that it is; and I not only assert
that it is not the word of God, but that it is a book containing more
blunders, more ignorance, and more nonsense, than any book to be found
in the universe," to the great displeasure of Almighty God, to the great
scandal and contempt of that part of the Holy Bible which is called the
Old Testament, to the evil example of all others, and against the peace
of our lady the Queen, lier crown, and dignity.




Third Count:


And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, further present,
that the said Henry Hetherington, further devising and intending as
aforesaid, on the day and year last aforesaid, at Westminster aforesaid,
in the county aforesaid, did publish, and cause to be published, a
certain other scandalous, impious, and blasphemous libel of and
concerning that part of the Holy Bible which is called the Old
Testament, containing therein, among other things, divers scandalous,
impious, and blasphemous matters of and concerning that part of the Holy
Bible which is called the Old Testament, in one part thereof, according
to the tenor and effect following, that is to say, "My object, and I
fearlessly state it, is to expose this book (meaning that part of the
Holy Bible which is called the Old Testament) in such a manner, that the
children of the Stockport Sunday-school will reject it with contempt and
in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following,
that is to say,

"Such a book (meaning that part of the Holy Bible which is called the
Old Testament) ought to be rejected by every one. The human race have
been too long gulled with such trash. Moses was the inventor of this
grand cheat; and although it may have done some little towards
frightening people into what is called morality, the purpose for which
Moses invented it is now out of date,

"to the great displeasure of Almighty God, to the great scandal and
contempt of that part of the Holy Bible which is called the Old
Testament, to the evil example of all others, and against the peace of
our lady the Queen, her crown, and dignity."

[Witness] ALEXANDER KERR,

One sworn in court.

A true Bill.

On the names of the gentlemen summoned as Special Jurymen being called
over, only five answered to their names.

The Attorney-General prayed a tales, when the following were sworn:--

The Jury.

Special--

Robert Savage, Esq., 11, Montaguplace, Bloomsbury.

James Arboine, merchant, 3, Brunswick-square.

William Fechney Black, merchant, Wilton-place.

Charles Frederick Barnwell, Esq., 44, Woburn-place.

Robert Eglinton, merchant, 29, Woburn-square.

Common Jurors--

Charles Ricketts, stove-maker, 5, Agar-street, West Strand.

William Polden, licensed victualler, Villiers-street, Strand.

John Osborne, confectioner, 401, Strand.

John Johnson Ruffell, painter, 24, Church-street, Soho.

Thomas Reid, baker, 24, Old Compton-street, Soho.

Charles Phillips, ivory brush-maicer, 20, King-street, Soho. J. Mahew,
baker, 84, Greek-street, Soho.




Mr. Bult opened the proceedings


The Attorney-General said, this was an indictment found by the Grand
Jury of Middlesex, for the publication of certain blasphemous libels. It
appeared to him that all he should have to do, would be to prove the
publication of the libels in question. He had not hesitated for one
moment, when he found there were only five Special Jurymen, to pray a
tales, because it was to him a matter of perfect indifference from what
class of society the Jury was taken. It had frequently been laid down by
the Judges, that to insult and vilify Christianity was against the law.
Publications insulting religion, and addressed to the vulgar and
uneducated, were most dangerous. He would call a witness who purchased
these books in the defendant's shop, the defendant himself being
present; and he should prove that the defendant was rated to that house.
It gave him pain that it should be necessary for the Jury to hear such
shocking attacks as were contained in this publication. It consisted of
a series of letters, and each number was sold for a penny. It was
"Letters to the Clergy of all Denominations" and was, in fact, an attack
upon the Holy Scriptures, particularly on the Old Testament. He should
content himself with reading one extract.--(The learned Gentleman then
read an extract from Letter 8, contained in the first count of the
indictment.) Mr. Hetherington was in person to defend himself: they
would hear what he had to say, and then he (the Attorney-General) would
have an opportunity of again addressing them.

The following witness was then called and examined by Sir F. Pollock.

Alexander Kerr, a policeman, bought the "Letters to the Clergy," 5, 8,
and 13, at the shop of the defendant, 126, Strand, on the 5th of
February last. A young man served him. Knows defendant--he was standing
on the threshold of the door at the time; has known him for the last
three years; has seen him