Star. — London, England, 1816-04-29 00:00:00

' ' . - '. . r • CONOURO PAIAIPHIST• few days will be published. price With a curapliniestart 1 De ileatleo to His Stasis Mourns Panics Laoroco or Sazz-Csleoue:c, /LH - R E E LETTERS TO HIS ••• COUNTRY COUSINS. by PAUL SI L ENT.—These -4. s contain Remarks on the rejection of the litchis& Tex..- St 4ORICULTVIAL Propositions—Pools NAT'S —TTTIIIIIM.• arId,PAZPLII, Cualsacr--Observations BikallAltefi Oseseca CT Unite; and Suggestions for a. new principle of filing the late of loterest. With other mattes anion which will be re- Islisited " the Speech which may 'not be spoken," which the .New Monthly Mag. for April rceonimisids to the serious perusal of every Englielemist. Vide Pare Y 42. Sold by Mr. Ridgway, Picceddly. • ( f I • PARIS, APRIL 23. ASSIZE COURT or TS; DEPARTMENT or Tag SEINE. TRIAL HRLATIVE TO THE EWA'S (IF LAVALETTE. cowntivvriori). AUDIENCE OF WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24. At Mf.past ten the sitting was opened. M. CONFLANS was first heard in defence of his iciient Guerin. M. Dupre then spoke as follows, in behalf of the three Englishmen Gentlemen—On the same bench where usnally appear only obscure criminals, you see to-day three Gentlemen, whom their noble birth, the elevation of their sentiments, and their honout able character, would, it must have been presumed, have for ever preserved them from such a misfeirtune ; but such is the effect of prejudice, which builds on appearances, Which always goes beyond the truth. and which, though created with inct•neeivable facility, It requires efforts to destroy. My clients babe ezperieticed this to their great disadvantage: a sort of public indigna tion was at first excited against them—marked them out as guilty—and guilty even of the greatest crimes. They meant nothing less, it was said, than the over throw of the political system of all the States of Eu ' tope. However, they succeeded in justifying them. )'chess on this head: their defence was heard, and, above all, felt. Thanks be given to justice, and to the wisdom of the Chamber of Accusation. " If thus their lives ceased to be threatened, their honour still remained in peril; and to them, as to Os, honour is evert thing. Their defence, therefore, has not solely for its object to spare them an impei. sonment more or less long—this is the least of their , concern ; bet what they wish before all, and above aU, is. to preserve for themselves, for their families, for the nation more or less compromised, a considera tion so justly acquired. Their journey would have been still a mystery, bed not Wilson committed the imprudence of in tru►ting the secret of it to paper ; and even this im prudence would have led to no discovery, if the let ter had reached the Noble' Lord to whom it was ad dressed, under the respectable cover of the English Ambassador. But the Juurnwls have told us of the treachery of a domestic of Wilson ; and the letter having thus reached the hands of the French Police, nothing more was requisite as a ground for their arrest. The forms in which they were proceeded against excited their Protest, because they were op- posite to their own laws, their modes, and their con stitutional ideas. It was thus that Wilson, who teased to reply to the interrogatories, having been placed in secret custody, appealed to the Wear torpor law, being unable to conceive that he was ►ound to criminate himself. This resistant not originate in a contumacious spirit, but solely in ig norance of our laws. But the moment he had com municated with his Ambassador, what f r anknes s . What good faith, in all that was personal to himself 1 and his two friends acted a similar part. Their in twrogatories amply proved that their memory was, not framed to betray confidence and friendship." Here the Advocate retraced the proceedings in the course of the criminal inquiry which bad at first for its object merely the escape of Lavalette. but to which was afterwards attached an imaginary eon , spiracy against all Europe. He contended that the and 4 the Chamber of Accusatioa having set aside this pretended conspiracy, it ought not to have been reproduced either in the indictment or in the speeches of Counsel. His clients could not be considered as provoking the discussion, since they were compelled to defend themselves. Here, said M. Dupin, my task is a difficult one: if I defend my clients with energy, I may, perhaps, incur the charge of being turf ; if I display weakness, I may he accuser' of basely deserting my clients—feeedo tier ivies.- H But, for the sake of the strangers who listen to us, for the honour of our own nation, it should be known that an Englishman will find here as zealous defen ders as be could have found in his own cduntry. (Here some expressions of applause having pro. ceeded from a remote part of the Hall, the President ordered silence, remarking—" People applaud at a Theatre—they listen in a Court of Justice ' .") M. DUPIN proceeded to remark on some serious errors which had crept into the translation of Wil son's letters. The PRESIDENT stated to M. Dupin that he would call the Interpreter. because he was willing that the defence of the Prisoners should have WI poisible latitude. After some explanations about an unimportant part of one of the letters, Sir R.. Wilson said—" We are satisfied as to the benevolent dispositions of the Court; but there are two sorts of tribunals—the one of Jus tice, and the other of Public Opinion; it is to the latter, especially, that we wish to justify ourselves. The Pena:max.—Wilson, there is in France only one sort of tribunal—that which tries in the name of the Ling. • M. DUPIN pointed out several pisiages mistaken in his client's correspondence; and among others, that in which he gpeaks of a great Movement which unlit be caused, and which only related to a motion to be announced to the Parliament of England.— Relative to the passage which spoke of the discontent of the Protestants, M. Dupin observed, that The brothel' of the accused, in one of whose letters was to be,fonnd the passage noted, merely indicated the persecution, real or imaginary, of the Protestants as one of the causes of discontent which existed against the Royal Government. ?be Fokssian of the Juan.—You give a contra diCtiorr. Dtriti.—Of the same extent as the allegation against me. The Fousaiow.T.Thea the who)e of the letter *Should f:6, 4 144 • elt was thought - dist this was Issaecessary.) a. Possumloo4o vista of - my isscretionsty ' Pow*, I invite the tourelitair 440 b its * W I hoir slated these papers to lish conjenedin oq !bp terace,. Mi. Johis be , Ihe us Pa' r saps marked by M. Dupla, The trandator, after Wig, swim, Sr* this fear that the operation would take up muds tithe, be. cause M. Wilson's midair was vary difficult to reed. Sir lt. Wilson then took his brother's letter of the Bth of January, and read to the inesrpreters the pas. sage of which they had to Is the meaning. He ob served to the Court. that the letter should net be read entire, because it. contained some improper (itas isah4s) expressions. • The interpreter then commenced his translation, but Was internSpted by the Court. The AUVOCATI GIIIMPLALet abandon in the pri soners all she deductions which they may draw from this correspondence. They may give the most favourable interpretation to all the passages Indica cated in the act of accusation, in order to justify themselves from the intrados which we bay ascri bed to them. M. Duper.—After such a concession, I confine my self to the remark, that the letter, in which is the pas sige marked, is a rails!, and not a minuet Besides, it would be merely the opinion of the brother of his client, and nothing could be deduced front it avian the latter. " The public fonds are falling. Bavaria and Au stria are in arms." This was another of the passages for which Wilson's correspondence was reproached. This, however, was merely the repetition of aewsps• per reports. " He wished that the debates of the Parliament of England could be published in France." What was this but a wish proceeding from the nationality of an Englishman, who thinks that sounder political doc trine was not to be sound elsewhere than in his Par liament Bf sides, the French police could prevent the introduction o f debates of the British Parlia ment, as soon as it might be thought dangerous. It was also charged " that he transmitted prognos tics of po, ular commotions." But let as advert to circumstances which the wisdom of the King has al .ready removed from our immediate recollection : it was only # few months ago that agitators endeavod red to excite disturbances amongst us; and if Wilson was deceived on this point, he can only be reproached with having listened with too much facility to popu lar rumours. 4 . Wilson, (it was also said) thought proper to characterise several of our political events from his interpretation of the capitulation of Paris." Admit ; ting this to be an error on his part, it was an error which originated in a feeling that attached the grea test importance to every thing connected with his country. In a worm?, it is against acts, and not opinions, that we must here make war. True or false, these opi nions belonged to the accused alone ; he was respon sible for them to no one, particularly if he gave them no publicity, and he is an Englishman, to whom, on this head, the Constitution of his country accords ent:re liberty. This indefinite liberty of ecpressing opinions is balanced in England by the tendency of Ministers to enlarge heir power ; and this liberty, which has been represented under the falsest colours, is very far from that unbridled licence which was, amongst us, the cause of so tnany calamities and so many crimes. Think not, however, Gentlemen, that, in speaking thus, I place the English above us ; for we also have both our liberty and our constitutional principles ; and by the freedom with which I defend my clients, they may judge that a subject of the King of France is as free as themselves. _ _ _ It is time, howeve; Gentlemen, that I should make you acquainted, by his actions, with him whom it has been endeavoured to devote to public hatred, by describing him as an enemy of public order, and of the repose of nations. It is time to explain to you these &wrthes 4' hewer which he wears on his breast. a as decorated with the Orders of the Red Eagle, of St. Anne, of St. George, of Maria Theresa, of the Tower and Sword, of the Crescent, and of se veral others because he has served with distinction in Flanders, Holland, Ireland, at the Helder, in Egypt, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, in Russia. Prussia, Germany, and Italy ; because he has been charged with important missions at Constantinople, St. Petersburgh, am. He had already distinguished himself, when scarcely 21, he went to serve in Egypt uniting his arms to those of the blussulmens, be obtained by his merits the Order of the Crescent from the Grand Seig nor ; and, joining literary to military merit, he be. came the first historian of that famous expedition, where the uncle of Hutchinson commanded in chief the English Army. Wilson went again to combat Bonaparte in Spain, where he powerfully contributed to arrest his pro. gre.s, by himself raising that Portuguese legion which had so great an influence on the fate of the Peninsula. It was in this war he became acquainted with Mar shal Nay : he fears not to avow that be was con. quered by him, but in his defeat he had reason for praising the generosity of the conqueror ; and hence the origin of that interest which, from ignorance of its deriving its source from a just gratitude, has been ascribed to political considerations. At Moscow Bonaparte had still Wilson opposed to him. In his Bulletins be complains bitterly of Mai Eigath Caesioilser y p this is, in other words, to attest the services which Wilson performed in that cam. pal n. • When Moreau received his toortel wound, Wilson was close her that General, and was the first to raise him and afford hits succour. in fine, and to finish the picture, the eldest of Wil.' son's sons is a middsipman On board is um.; berland, that vessel which conveyed its. Sr. Helena. deF I now ask you, Gen whether General Vin son be an enemy d the cams—whether be is a Bogatertia ? for that is t epithet with which it has been sought to tarnish his character. Wilson has performed signal ItfliCali to all the So vereigns of Europe I he has had the happiness to be also, In more than one instance, metal so his Majesty Louih XVIII.—to that Sovereign , wisese twang is strong enough to "eosin the smallest services. Here M. Dupio read the five following letup s " Gement Wikos, irks I decorated ya Were the map vritb Ay thilitary Order .1 th. George des 614 C 164,1 did' justice to the thdefetliable sad width, bring the wiliele toi l peso, thostaady Axed foe as th e *drawl pow tie the 'valuer and Orrutediels at which 1 wai whom at ilaßriatd* • • • ' . • • • SW." lid w to NNW eidatir pipes .r bllerplifity stordial by Ibe bsaviterts of Itso assimblaorameica. grnifyW MIM to you Is writing t%e islilimonlos to wlsles 1 00 hajea ie %larked s tide, and to metre you Of toy soda:eats. (Siteed) " Atecasiask. 0 Trap/its, 47dk.deptember, ills." Owed Wilson—At the asomeat when you My about tb Ot the armies, wliere I have had each ikequent opportunity to *quake to your seal and roast brilliant vatotor, In order to fol low soother destination I have resolved to give you a new proof at say smistacties by decorating you with my Order of St. Ana ease** 0.... You will find herewith enclosed its decora tive.. The heave men, by whose side you have so often fought, will log et you. For myself, I shall always .r collect your cou rage and your indefatigable activity; and ahoild ov:lnts again being you back to your aid brothers in anus, I shall see you with pl i ersire. pray Gen, ht. (Signed) 0 ALLILAN DIR. Fribing, Dee. 54; 1515." Oeneral--1 feel gratified by the sentiments which you ex irMis to me In your letter of the ist hamar/. In partite so the Bad pm hove Astlayedi he As:mimes.. and partkularly So your at-' tadtment to my person, I shall feel a pleasure in proving to you, ea every occasion, die interest which I feel for you. (Signed) eittOtinCE WILLIAM. . 14 liar-sur-Seine, Feb. 7, 11114." . " General—The Emperor having informed me that you have lost the Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa in consequence of a conduct as brilliant as fine, which in itself would have merited diat distinction, has charged me, as Chancellor of the Order, to transmit to you a fresh decoration, to which you daily acquire new claims. Conservator of this hue institution, I feel personally interested in seeing worn, by men of your merit, a mark of va lour on which they do not shed less lustre thin they receive from it. (Signed) " Prince METTCRNICM. " Toeplits, Sept. 24, ISIS.* - - - - General —I feel particular satbfactinn in being able to an. 'mecca to you, that his Majesty the Emperor, wishing to give a special mark of the esteem with which you have inspired Mei, both by the services you have performed as a soldier, and by the faithful conduct which has distinguished you during your re sidence at bead-guarters, which his Imperial Majesty sees you grit with regret. has resolved to grant you the Cross of Com laauder of hls'Order of Maria Theresa. °' My sentiments are shared by * army which has been wh ims to your brilliant conduct, and by all my compatriots who leme beat In a situation which enabled them to ettresiste the I pi& sf jour ;siert. (Signed) 44 Prince Marscautcr. Frtberg, January 4, 11114." M. Unpin , next detailed some traits of Sir R. Wil- 1 son's humanity. "In 1808 be found a great number of French prise,• ners in Spain. The ion of the Duke of Feltre, and the nephew of Prince Talleyrand, owelto him their safety in the Russian campaign: it was Wilson, also, who saved the celebrated French physician I)esge nettes, and who gave him succours for the French prisoners. " Well 1 Wilson. distinguished by so many traits of beneficence; Bruce, the nephew of the celebrated traveller, and who has travelled himself in order to enrich science with Isis observations; and Hutchin son, still too young to enable me to speak to you of his life, but who came among us by the paths of ho nour—all three are deprived of their liberty, and ap pear before you as prisoners for an act of geneloiity. which the very Arabs of the desart would have pro nounced worthy of the finest recompense. " Having now reached the principal point of the case, I reduce it to two very simple propositions : lst, There was here no act of complicity between the accused Englishmen and the principal culprit ;. 2d, the fact imputed to them cannot be considered as a crime nor as an offence." Taking his ground on art. 60 of our code, M. Dn pin :hewed that complicity supposes direct and neces sary relations between the chief culprit and him who is marked as an accomplice ; and that, in this case, not the least connection could be indicated between the Englishmen and an: of the other e persons accused. The means furnished to Lavalette for quitting France could not constitute complicity in the offence of escape (evasion), because the escape was then con summated. The very meaning of the word indica ted this • for we found in the Dictionary of the Aca demy t he following phrase, which appeared com pktely in point : he skilfully got out et prison, and after his escape (evasion) he retired to a place of safety. If, on the Bth of January, the day when Lavalette was executed in effigy. any one had thought proper ;to demand the delay of that execution on the ground that, the escape was still not consummated, he would not have failed to have been considered as a mad. man or a fool. Proceeding to the Ski proptisition, M. Dnpin laid it down that there could be no concealment, unless ' where these was an intention to secrete or conceal ; but such intention could not be supposed in this case, since the stay for a few haurs of the convict Lava. lette at Hutchiuson's lodgings had solely for its ob jest to facilitate his departure. Hutchinson, in mili tary quartets, could not besides give an asylum to any oae at his house ; he might receive every minute an order to depart, and in this view a concealment (cad) at his house was impossible. Besides, added he, the acknowledgment of Hut chinson is the only proof existing on the trial of the short stay which Lavalette made with him ; this con fession must therefore be taken simply as it stand ; he has declared, however, that he Wit urged by an anonymous letter to procure Lavalette the means of departure from Paris, and not to conceal him. The passports demanded, and the cabriolet furnished by Bruce, sufficiently indicated also that the object was the departure of the convict, and not his concealment. Our criminal laws forbid the procuring of liberty to him who is detained in prison, or entrusted to an escort; but Lavalette had recovered 'his state of tural liberty when the three Englishmen lent him I their aid. They enabled him to get out of Paris, of France, but not oat of prison. It was a pure sentiment of humanity which in this affair directed the conduct of Bruce and of Wilson ; and why were we not to believe that a man might interest himself for another who was unknown to him ? Towards a relative, a friend, this sentiment would be a duty—towards a stranger, it was merely a noble movement of the soul. AI Athens a young man was capitally condemned for having killed a pigeon which had taken refuge in his bosom ; because it was thought that be who Was without pity must be always a bad citizen : and among us, in the 19th century, shall a man be coo &toned for having saved another man ? My clients are strangers, are Englishmen, and this is precisely the reason why you owe to them all your justice, as I owe to them all my zeal. You will thus verify that fine thought of a celebrated Chancellor of France—Strangers are sacred persons with us When they invoke the justice of the King. This speech being closed, the - President asked of Bruce whether be passed the night of the 7th Jan. at Hutchinson's apartments f • Bruce—No, Sir; I retired at midnight The Passunsni—Genetal Wilson, however, writes 'in his letter, that, when at night at the door, you exclaimed, we are ' beg pardon of the following are the words of my lette then himsTlf exclaimed, we The PRPSIMiNT" Sir Robert not write that yon were armed, lend yourselve• ?" Wilson—" Mr. President, as I friends and all those who ate should believe me inc-tpable of , will read to yoO the passage from to the fact as to which you interrop ed We were prepared for resist,- much more dependence on our prt. The proceedings having closed, son rose, and, with a dignified assurat _ _ speech, of which the following is a Mr. PreSident, you did me the day,before yesterday, in telling perfectly familiar with tie French contrary, I hare need of all your deavouring to express to you hot of the liberty you have allowed well as to express our gratitude , hasafforded us his services witn as muck.. " Notwithstanding the decision of the Chamb or d Accusatiou, circumstances have been repeod ore d k m which ought to have remained foreig: discs sion before the Court. I have been overwb e i tned* fore you with the most offensive expr essions; and lee all my crime consisted in Writing as tbuugAt, ,L t berty is the Vivifying principle of ctii ger oloretri and that liberty was always my idol. My political creed forbids to mix in foreign p a litics. Yes, I would Wish to see all men free ml independent, and that is not the wish of a consp:taror, a The exercise of their.duties and of their nghts the prerogative of men truly free; and you, G ra , tlemen, like us, will be convinced of this, when shall have longer enjoyed the constitutional Gomm ment of your King. 46 It is from intertepted letters that proofs of ' minality have been endeavoured to be derived ag • me. The violation of correspondence is it crime , thus it will have been by the aid of a crime that has been wished to prove against me a CorreC offence. I do not dwell upon this point ; brt thought it my duty to point out this circismhanee the meditation of the jury. But who gave publ" so my thoughts ? Who laid hold ot, and by what aseses..a correspondence addressed solely to the eyn of a brother, and of a personage .whose name aims carries with it the guarantee of all that is most Ulu trious and loyal in that nation of which he has coo scantly been one of the most zealous and enlightened supporters ? _ _ _ Upou the accusation of having conducted Is valette out of France, I will sot detail you long. The fact is acknowledged ; I have only insisted a the motives. 6 ' It is true that M. Lavalette, with whom I had no particular connexion, had inspired me with an ie. ter.:st which I shared with all classes of society is France. The painful sacrifices, the interesting de. votedness, the well-calculated audacity of Madam! Lavaletti., had singularly increased that interest; and where is the man who would have seen without pain and regret the happiness of that virtuous and for ever illustrious woman close in misfortune and in despair ?, It is true, also, that I looked upon M. La valette as a man condemned at a period of revolution for an offence solely political, and who, having freely given itauself up, trusting to his innocence and the presumed faith of treaties, merited all our interest. But I declare that these considerations, howev powerful, had a very secondary influence uu my • a' . 11111 111 • -. it 6 " The appeal made to our humanity, to oar per. sonal character, and to our national generosity; the responsibility thrown upon us of instantly deciding on the life or death of an unfortunate man, and above all of an unfortunate stranger!-this appeal wet im• perative, and did not permit us to calculate his other claims to our good will. At its voice we should have done as much for an obscure unknown individual, or even for an enemy who had fallen into misfortune. " Perhaps we were imprudent ; but we would ra• Cher incur that reproach than the one we should ban merited,, by basely abandoning him who, full of con. ,fidence, threw himself into our arms: and these very men who have calumniated us, without knowing either the motives or the details of our conduct— these very men. I say, would have been the first to stigmatise us as heartless cowards, if, by our refusal to save M. Lavalette, we had abandoned him toi certain death. 4‘ We resign ourselves with security to the decision of the jury ;• and if you should condemn us for hav ing contravened your positive laws, we shall not at least have to reproach ourselves fpr having violated the eternal laws'of morality and humanity." This Address prodded a strong impression, and the respect due to the majesty of justice could scarcely prevent the expression of it. Hutchinson declared that he had nothing to add to the speech of his counsel. . M. the President having asked M. Bruce if he had any thing to add to his defence, Bruce spoke as follows : I appear before a court of justice, on an masa- Lion. of having contributed to the escape of Lava• lette : if it is a crime to have saved the life of a mai I avow that I am guilty. I do not wish to derive any vanity from what I have been able to do : an appeal was made to my humanity, and my honour imposed on me the obli. gallon of answering it. If the accusation had bees confined to the affair of Lavaiette, I should have but few words to say to you ; •but I have been ac•, cused of having conspired against the political sputa of Europe, of having excited the inhabitants of France to take arms against the authority of the King. It is true that this charge, absurd, ridieulinur destitute of all foundation, and which has e xcited equal astonishment and indignation throughout all Europe, bas been rejected by the wisdom of the chamber of accusation. But although this meow don has been rejected, the motives on which it wi4 founded still subsist. The Procureur•General, is his act of accusation, has allowed himself to say-- M. the PaLuDiatr.—Accused, you speak French with very great facility; in speaking, therefore, of a Magistrate, and of so respectable a Magistrate, mea: sure your expressions. M. Brum .ontintscd.—The Procateur•Gsorsi said thew Init al are discover e d, ' re President ; letter :••••." M.. :. are discovered en Wilson, did• and prepar e d I am anzlon s •a ll present at thi s alterin g the tbe om my le tter 1 iers rrogate me: WA( ;tame; hut we I presence of mind.* 'be ised, Sir Kofi n r eo_.n ' assurance, delivi*, °`_..., is the substance: Th; ne too much ho w: y '!___,_ fling m e t h at 1 -11/DI sell language; on 4/1 nr indulgenc e i n tt : . Sir 3 W very sensible Tai- u I Lid to my Sena e as w IP to the advocate of l. as muclitalent :stea ion of th e eimr.L.. _, _ II di