Pages 162-164. H Hobhouse to W Bedford, Birches Green, Birmingham. Sidmouth accepts...

Pages 162-164. H Hobhouse to W Bedford, Birches Green, Birmingham. Sidmouth accepts that Bedford is acting merely out of public duty in the prosecution of Russell, there being no suspicion of any other motive. It is not surmised that Harley has any improper motive in the prosecution, but if he should be the principal witness the defendant will suggest that he acts out of private malice, and everyone knows the undue weight juries give to unwarranted suggestions of this kind, and how important it is to guard against such suggestions from the outset. The two points to bear in mind, and which Sidmouth needs to know before indicting Russel at the next assizes, are whether there is any evidence except that of Harley to show selling of pamphlets since Hone's acquittal, and whether the sale still persists.