The Statesman. — London, England, 1818-05-08 00:00:00

PP " . 7511 , 1F * 3iT'!‘! IS.' +i . ~At • LORD KINNAIKLPS MBAIOIR. 4 s4w•— " On the ff9th Jemmy last, a Frenchman*, wheel 1 met at Brussels, requested permission to call upon me the day following, to speak to me on en affair of importance. With this Frenchman I had the conver sation detailed in the following letter, addressed by me, to General Murray, the translation of which fol lows : I" Erase* Jan. 40,16111. 46 6 It is after baying consulted the Doke of Rich mond. that I communicate to you the following fact : —A French refugee, of whom I know but little, called upon me this morning, and told me that three of his friends wished to return to France, if they could do it with safety; they are two literary cha racters and au Officer 'of the Partisans, who are larder the sentence of a Proves' Court. He asked me if I thought it would be possible to interest the Doke of Wellington in their favour; I answered ' him, Chit I did not think to, for two reasons-- the first, becaue I did not suppose that he would in. tenure in it ; and the second, because I did not per. Mee any motive for request,ing him to do so. He asked me if I thought be cc;eld request this of M. de Cases, .01. revealing ,to him a. commit-au which threatened tlie Duke's life; l'itteAvered, that a ter "ice of this nature would certaltity give him a claim to his attention, but .test it was very difficult to in duce the Dukaftweety any attention to menaces of an ettack upon his person, and that . It would require strop; exidence.to remove the oath,' suspicion that the whole .was an invention to further some private views. He replied that, as far as he himself was concerned, be had nothing to ask, as he was defini. Lively condemned for the part that ha had acted- thst, Moreover, he was free. from restraint, had formed , other plans, and had no desire t'• return to France: that he was only inclined to divulge the conspiracy from the horror with witifh assassination inspired him, and that the only advantege he wished to derive from it was to render a service to hie friends. j en quired of him how he obtained information of the projected conspiracy : he said that an officer (I be lieve on half-pay), whom he had from time to time supplied with the means of subsistence, had commu nicated to him an offer which had beets made to him some months previously to 'carry it into execution, Which he bad refused, and another individual had , accepted it : that the latter had been paid during toils months by those who employed him: that he had been the whole of that time constantly watching the Duke wherever he went, and he was at that mo ment established in Paris, where he waited his arrival. 'l'-he person who gave me this information added, the blow is meditated by a party which is totally differ ent from that *hose cause I have espoused, end is even opposed to it. I then told Lim that I would without delay impart what he had related to me; but desired to know by what means he proposed to ex pose the plan, or at all events to prevent the effects of i• immediately : he answered, that there were two methods of doing it; that he never would con sent to he the instrument of bringing any one to pu nishment, and that lie was not in a position to do so; but that if would be impossible for him to repair to , Prance without a special passport (sauf-conduit). and ; that if be could procure one from the Police Minister or the Duke of Wellington, he would return thither; that this would suffice, and it; 2-I hours he would eertainly denounce the person, whom the Police could have no difficulty its recogniXiog as an admen. tarp and a foreigner, of which they ortuld afterwards be convinced ; that if this measure was no approved, he would endeavour to learn from a friend the name which the wretch had assumed, aed, if pussible t his description, sufficiently exact to be useful ,. although it was to be feared that keweeld Tittles this last diffi cult, by means of disguising Mama. This is whit be has agreed to perform. If I can °Mein It from him before the departure of the Courier, I' ill communi tate it to you. " • Such has been the subject of our conversation, the details of which are of a nature to induce me to give this recital credit enough to convince me of the necessity of instantly informing you. It if for you to decide whether it is requfsite to interim the Duke of it. If it be judged expedient to forward the pass ports, I will endeavour to accelerate the departure of the person by the diligence, without losing an in stant. I troy perceive what advantage this indj. victual would derive from inventing such an affair, which would place him in the heed's of the Police during the whole time he might he in Paris, and whose only ultimate advantage would consist in the favour granted to his friends. 66 4 At all events, have the goodness to answer me very promptly. I send this letter to Mauheuge, be cause I think, should you be absent from Cambray, that this is the best course. "' I am, Stc. (Signed) `• KINNAIRD.' " On the 13th of February, I received the answer of General Murray, who announced to me that the Doke of Wellington did not attach any importance to the news ; that he himself conceived the report to be a perfidious contrivance (one aftrope), but he thought, that I should blame myself (as others would nccuse me), if any misfortune happened, fur too much reserve on my part, in not naming the person from whom I receipt' the communication." A second letter to General Murray, from Lord jiiiinaird, follows, after which his detail proceeds. " On the 17th of the same mouth, the Secretary to the British Embassy arrived from the Hague at Brossela. Being together at the residence of trim Duke of Richmond, and in presence of the latter, issi asked me the name of the individual who had ow inonicated to me the details contained -in my fetter of th . e.30111 January. I answered him, that having ac ceptert from that person, as a sufficient guarantee„ . his engagement to-repair to Paris, to certify the truth - or his &position, areloon as he could •go there with safety, I had niyen him my word 'of honour not to • make it known at Brussels without his previous con sent. " T13811;1:4; ,ell Richmond , the Secretary of the Embassy' Chad), and m yself,‘ sent together to the residence of,the Attorney• General of that town. I there reiterated my Aerosta t to give the name of the informant ;.. but in declaring thit I was co.nrinced be would faithfully moire the engagememtehe had made _ _ • M. Marines, Auditor of the Council of State, condemned t' donth par comlunace, in 131, by the Piero %) Court of No. 114, Londoo-rood, Sevtlionfk. AA for TURNBR'S BLICHINO. •• 1 Ile • • 7 r~;~ • . „ - to proceed to Paris, es soon as he could arrive there; furnished with a •safe conduct which should be de. livered to him on the wool of the Minister of General Police, and on that of rbe . Duke of Wellington. " It was then that M f r. Chad comminicatid to me, a letter from the Duke of Wellington, which esseite ed, that the French Government was actually ready to treat with the informant. I asked these Gentle men, if I could regard lids assurance as a sufficieut guarantee for the interested person; and although Mr. Chad (officially authorised to communicate to me the Duke's letter) did not give me a Positive gee: rantee on the part of the Embassy; yet, on the ob . - 'mention of the Duke of Richmond, that I might consider the wo rd of the Duke of Wellington as an unquestionable protection, I decided to propose to M. Marine (this is the informant's name) to set out immediately for Paris, unless he preferred to name himself at Braisels. The same evening I went to meet the Siege Marinet at. Antwerp, where I pro posed to him to name himself, or to make the jour ney accortlitig to the gifarantee proposed and received. I. accepted the last of these offers, with the aldi• (ion, however, of two conditions—ene was, that I should accompany him ; the other, that the _item,/ should be kept secret, without which,- he said, every , effort on his part to discover the assassin would , be, fruitless.' On my return to Bruss:ll tto nest morn ing, I consolted the Deice of Richmond, who ap proved entirely of my pi ticeedings and projects, end on the evening of the llith I set off eith the Sleet, Marinerfor Paris. " I arrived there on the 21st, at balf-pist one o'clock. I' found the Minister of General . Police with the Duke of Wellington ; and as- aeon 'l.l bed received from his Excellency the seamen°e that the promises made to M. Matinee would be strictly kept, the latter was immediately interrogated by the Minister, from half-past three, until six o'clock in the evening. " The following day M. klarinet infOrmed me, that he bad declared to the Minister, that the tpez pected difficult.es lu the discovery of the assessio, occasioned by the publicity already givers .to ,ozy letter, were so serinus,that it would be absplisteiy. tie cessary for him to return to l3russels,teoilteht;by pe. tutiiary sacrifices, the means of recnenieinit the as sassin, and also to learn his name. M. de Cages had already, on the previous evening, informed me of this circumstance. The next day I saw the Minister, and I supported the propositinn made by the Sieur Marino, as reasonable and nit oral, considering the publicity given to his mission, which deprived him of access to the person whom ha was itt search of; and I did not think it was requiring to much, since the uuion of the Belgium and French Authorities was powerful enough to deprive the informant of any il licit advantage which he might promise himself by such a journey. The Minister objected to me by re marking the delicacy of sorb a measure, and the re. sponsibility which fell upon him, if, in the interval the design should be renewed. But he did not op appear to me totally to reject this proposition. Dur ing these conferences, M. Mariner enjoyed an un restrained liberty. Nothing on the part of the French Government announced an intention to in fringe upon the safe conduct which he possessed.---I met him more than once in the public promenades, which, he told me he frequented, in compliance with the directions of the Minister of the General Police. " On the 25th of Fehtuary, I oas requested to verify, before the Juge d'lnstruction, the letter which I bid addressed to Gen. Murray, on the 30th of Jan. and the following day I was informed, that M. Me duet was arrested an d confirmed in the Cunciergerie. 46 I only perceived in this arbitrary act of the French Government an open violation of a safe con duct, which urged me immediately to make repro- Imitations to the Juge d'lnstruction. I think it re quisite to state them in this Memoir. 64 When the Secretary to the British Embassy came to Brussels on the 17th ult. he requested me to make known the name of him who is the subject of my letter of the 30th of J.atioary, and who had con fided to me the plot conspired against time Duke of Wellington : he commrinic..ted to me a letter from the Mike, which letter asserted, that the French Government was ready to treat with the informant ; and upon the word of the Secretary, upon that of the Duke of Richmond who accompanied me, and in the presence of the Attorney-General of the Low Countries, who answered also for ids Govern ment, that this assurance offered a solemn guarantee, I engaged M. Marinet to fulfil the condition he - had entered into with me—to proceed to Paris as soon as a safe conduct should be delivered to him. Ile did not hesitate ; he arrived :—before I introduced him to the Police Minister, his Excellency confirmed this assurance, and he added a conditional promise of an entire pardon relative to the crimes for which he had been condemned. I am informed, that M. Manuel is actually arrested, and treated as a criminal. I appeal to the good faith of the French Government, to the testimony of the respectable personages whom I have mentioned, and, above all, to the honour of the Doke of Wellington, on whose word the assur ance was given to the i !divides) in question, in order that the conditions establishetrwith him should be ob served. lam bound in honour to reclaim justice, be cause it was through my interference, and upon the faith which I put in the promises of the French Go. vernment, that this individual voluntarily repaired to Paris. " Since the emission of ibis act, the doubts which I had conceited respecting the intention of the Go-' ten IMMO e to proceed upon the former judgment passed upon hint, have entirely disappeared, by the promise made to his Britannic Majesty's Ambassador in France, and which has been repeated to me by the Miuister of General Police—that they would not in- fringe upon the engagements entered into by me, with respect to the Sieur Matinee. My security, with re gard to this, hasimen strengthened by the assurance :en me by the Attorney-General of the Royal [Court (Si. Bellart), that he did not know the affair joi which the Sieur Marinet had been previously con deemed., mut that his arrest was not founded upon any anterior judgment, nor upon political inculpa. truces imputable to him pretieUsly to his return to "Y n triti, could I doubt the fidelity of the Whose answers eiarunimiluivocal rear _ ; __Jpectiag the intentions or. (tatting the en/gait:nits tittered into with me? Yet the . sarri etiodect h violated! After a few days of liberty, t h e Sleet kat-fuels ~-.-- 1...-. T,, tifir; Rl'Al'rSl‘4Nll ~r~ COURT. F RING''4 BENCH, MA.i - __ soiled by vines a a ' , sealant issued by •tbe 'loge alloOreeilen. I overt to conciliar, the( be le treated as a culprit. lam ignorant of the- french Legialt tureg but it is impossible to believe, that .it contains enactments arbitrary enough to transform into a criminal an informant, accepted by the Government s under a safe conduct; land 'that,' in virtue of the simple will of a Minister or Judge; and to, incar cerate an individual in a dungeon, because he has not satisfied to the extent diet his promises of disclosure would perhaps have justified, if by an imprudent precipitatiOn he had not been deprived of his own resources. 64 The legality of such a proceeding, thirvespect doe to the guarantee, the uhprecedented measure of converting an accepted informant into an accomplice, and the possibility of employing. eves in the fur. therance of justice, a witness civilly dead; all these questions, of the highest social and judicial interest, demand au examination so profound, that I dare net undertake it ; they will doubtless be duly considered by an upright and enlightened Magistracy by a Government fa'::hful to its engagements; and by a nation mine., iy jealous of the lust enotoachuttut upon indiviPal liberty." . , The remainder of the pamphlet, coneisttng of aboet a citizen pages, contains merely the Oploioni of the Noble Le,rd: upon the transaction above de-' tailed. • LAW lATELLIGENGE. COURT OF CHANCERY, MAY 7. LORD JOHN TOWNSIIEND V GIIONGER. In this close, originally brought before the Court on a Bill filed for the specific peifiitthanee of an (agreement, Sir ARTUOR Pscaorrprwiid-Viat the Pefendant might be ordered to pay.iptai Court the sum of 42681. . 75. 6d. being the remainder uf,bis pur chase money in respect of certain properti t eirehasefl ox . hint„of the Marquis ,Tewnshend. The . LORD CHANCELLOR observing as tiv the stint offered to'be paid-intO emit by NI; Heald ititittniel prated for •by Sit- A. Piggin' .g4i4lbe' , lsest:seay: would he to split the.differearce, snit according! v , *- ter some observations from Sir A. PIGGOTT and Mr. I HEALD decreed that 15001. ahould be paid is. 3 • JANE MARIA ITAiILTDN V. BELL AND HARMER. Mr. Clitrrar - stated, that this was an - action for a libel *fished in the Weekly Dispal(k Sunday Newspaper, of the 20th July, 1817. - It was in these terms :- 6 CHILD STEALING.—At thelote Sepions at the Old Bailey, it appears that the female convicted of the above crime was formerly the wife of an eminent printer, in Fleet-street ; that, for a short period of her life, she 6 strutted and fretted her hoer upon the stage,' and performed several times at the little 'theatre, in the Haymarket; since which time She had formed a connexion with a Gentleman is Pavia, and left that place some time ago preparatory to her accouchement in this country : the child she was de livered of died, and upon ac sg eount of receiving a large . sea of money from the father, she stole the child alluded to, in order to ^ revern-; with it. to France, to impose it upon the- reinter! 'ether as her offspring. She is a female. of considerable taleets." Mr. Scanterr, on opening the intirs case, said' that his client was, he believed, a - widow Lady, for merly the wife of a Mr. Archibildliamilton, a prin ter, in Falcon-court, Fleet-street, wfto had been pro pri.oor of several important and valuable works. Mrs. Hamilton was equally well known and respect. erl, and the mother of four children : about thirteen years ago the affaits of her husband became embar rassed ; he left his family in consequence, and his wife bad neither seen nor heard of him Since, but had . reason to believe that I.e had died about four years ago. The maintenance of four children devolved upon Mrs. Hamilton (with some small assistance from her relatives) ; and to do so, it was necessary that she should curt ell her talents and indestry. She had appeared in Revere' characters at the Hay. mat ket Theatre ; but three of her children having been provided for, she thought fit to visit France, for the purpose of completing tile education of one of her daughters. She remained there two years, and toward the latter end of that period, a person of the name of Harriet Mollinens Hamilton was tried and convicted at the Old Bailey of child.itealing. On the 20th of July, the libel in question was publish ed, charging Mrs. Jane Maria Hamilton, the Plain tiff, (for the descriptiott could not be.miataken), with having been guilty of that offence. While still in France, she found by all the English Papers (for the libel was copied very generally), that 'she was held out to the world as a convicted Moss, and she imme. diately returned to this country, to take stepa to vin dicate her character., by an effectual contradiction to the aspersion. Such had beet, ,the effect of this ca lumnious paragraph, and so eceurately and unequivo catty was the plaintiff pcintell out in it, that many of her friends were impottetf arson, Red 'the Solicitor she had been formerly accustomed to-employ, even went to Newgate to visit her, expecting to see her precious to the ii.ffiction of the sentence of transpor tation. Deep as was the Nall, She wus not desirous of proceeding vindictively ; but instructed her ettbr. 'my to write to the proprietors of the Weekly Die,. patch, desiring merely that the name of the author should be given up ; for Mrs. Hamilton had reason to suspect that the Defendants had merely been made the instruments of a . ctnel and malignant persecutor. No reply, however, was condescended upon ; and Mrs. Hamilton was driven into Court to clear her reputation, es the Defendants bad pertinaciosaly re. fused eveu to insert a contiadiction. The ordinary proof of the proprietorship'of the Defendants was produced by a person from the Stamp Office : the newspaper centainisig the libel, dated the 30th of July, 1817, was also given in evidence, and the paragraph, the subject of this action, was read. Mr. GURNEY took an objection, founded upon the omission of the word it in the record ; but Mr. Jus tice ABBOT held it tint to be a material rarkt.ce. Mr, Lawrence Williams, Attorney to the Plain tiff, deposed, .that he had beets concerned for her some years ago, and when he first saw the libel in question, from the descrip'ion, he had no doubt that Mrs. Jane Made Hamilton was intended : he even went to Newgate to skit her, ns hP imagined, under sentence of ttanspertation. He oiled several times L • JJt••I I rirtv and D. 'IA , V INA, • , 1 SrtrzvaiAN ()tries, No. 4, Sati,trapcoati,'Pkrt4eve. • . . • 11111111==21=111;1m11111111111 a; the officer:lf publication of the Weekly Dlspuj c h i ' but not being able to meet with . either of the Dar; 4a M ilin s t . ll H h s e r s at w e r r °le ou s l e y r e quiring tleter t t h o e am th n ein' e of thdaftcl a ‘1 to 1l author of the paragraph. He received no sn t s ha ene t o any of the applications, and s In conseq u e nce sent si a r. cti i n ie n r pr i CrocweLdol,&a jeweller, deposed,l the pre. knew Mrs. Ilamilton. He had read . the libel, and k betitseed• it referred to Mrs. Hamilton. Il e sew 14 pass his house when he thought site had eh.e bee r c u taing : e n bt ; Penitentiary, suffering the sentence for chitd.arem ig i Mrs. Peeks bad been surprised iv the same lowedrgedby withser seeing ~lineal till w at ea l t a t r o g in France. Capt. G. W. Darensy had known Mrs. Hatelltee in Paris. Her daughters, particularly theyeeepa l were with her. Mr. GURNEY thee very shortly eddr t er t t b s e ed ing rk e left J a rt for the Defendants . Ile said that th e Defendant Ms 1 'llarmer,whn was an attorney, had anther)* to do win; the conduct of the Weekly Dispatch, tha t tirely to his co-proprietor. Th. Plaintiff hid is. strected Mr. Scrqlett to state, that she was nor ma r . ried, or that her husband was not living; h at */ bad not ventured to swear it, and shelled not deehr o d "as a widpw : the fart was otheroise. sod thesimpki question w es,w hat dam 'gee, under thracircerasts ought to be given; if the clearing of lier.tbs tt et e : • 'tare her object, the publicity of this trial errata* saver her purpose: but whatever sum the Jury theeglit she,fairly merited, the Defendants Were ready to pay, desiring merely that it should be understood thai they admitted that the libel wag, wholly enfoonded; In fixing the compensation, theliry would not take into view all the various topics of•aggrevasits. ia. trodaoed by-the Cooasel on the other side, very kw, indeed, of which were supported by the facts. A Mr. Justice ABBOT, in seaming- up, went over the • statements in'the libel, which we're all allowed to tie untrue, and . for which the Piainiiff had a claim to 4• such damages as would set her right in the ()pities 1 -of Are Whoever was thi• author of this • ms: lignant and unfounded paragraph, the publishers rr i were by law and reason liable: the Defendants had refused all correspondence or explanation, choosing that the matter should be submitted to„ Jury. The Jury consulted a few milt MP., and gave the Plaintiff a verdict, with 2.001. dmages. PO LAX. . 4 • , M A MSION.HOU't E.—A Gentleman yesterday "tetras that ho had been paying some notes into the Bank, amongst n !rich one for 11. was declared to be a for- gery. He knew from whom he took it , and re. quested it might be returned to him, that he might recover the value. This, however, the Inspector refused. The Loap 11syon said, there was no mode of obtaining redress but by a legal action against the Bank, as such errs : their uniform proctice, booster unjustifiable; and as such he could not interfere. • GUILDLIALL.—The Overseers' of St. &planes parish appealed to answer the complaint of Mr. (4arnpbell, for -not providing for two paupers who had been found in a state of vagrancy in the streets by an Agent of the Mendicity Society; sod when legally passed to them, they gave them 24. Gd. each, and sent them shout their business. In defence, they said they meant to take them into the work- house at their nest meeting, and had given them the money to serve in the interim. The Complainant said, this was one great cause of the mendicity that now prevailed ; instead of providing an asylum for r . 4• paupers, they were shifted off with a trifling sum and a few promises, which rendered the ef f orts of the Society nugatory, as the paupers return to their vs- grancy in a few hours. They did not, in the present instance, mean to enforce the penalty ; hot should a • similar case occur, they were determined to pat the law in force. Sir J. SHAW approved the conduct of the Society, and ordered the Overseers to give them instant ad- mission. i. OLD BAILEY. THURSDAY, Marten 7. , Yesterday Christopivr Fernand', uli s Richard Clerk. 31, capimity convicted of assaulting Thomas , Hancock Rood, on Laster Sunday, near Maiden-lane, Battle-hridge, sod steal. • lag from his pe.son a silver watch, and some monies in site?. Thomas Spencer, 17, was capitally convicted of stealing a quantity of Iris 4 linen, in the sbup of Andrew Connolly, vales 41. 7s. 6d. The following were also capitally convicted : :lames Clarke, for stealing a horse of George White. E•izahe.h Bastin. for stealing 381. in Bank-notes, of Beals/MI Longstuff, iu his dwelling-house. DIED. At Wigan. Lancashire, on Thursday. the 30th ult. aged et, •i Mrs. Rachel Button, who bad been more than 90 years is caw sittiatban. At Wigan, Lancashire. on the lit inst. Mr. Ellis Dean. On the 3d ult. in the 7Fd year of his age, Jacob Omen, 91 Myrtle-house. Peckham, one of the floc.ety of Friends. On the 7th inct.. Archer Moore Harlow, E'.q. of South-street, Finsbury-square, lAA of Aastin-friars, London. On the 6th ilia:, the wife of Thomas i.e Mercier, Esq. Van' hall. On the 9d iast., in the 3 8 th year of his age, .Wm. Hansikoll. 1 7 .5 q. of W findeoel-hill. near Harrow. On the sth inst., the Infant daughter •of• E. R. Genii, Deptford. t TO MR. RICHARD TURNER, ON HIS INCOMPARAISLE • • Toll NER , Aly name OA reword stands, High rap the pinnacle of fames Thy lively genius then deniands • • Stine little tribute to tby setae. Thy curintis,tiqvid,shiaing Black, The rare Invention of tbv mind. iv as not eg i llored in ages back. • Nor ever equatl'd by mankind. This Blarking.,w ben it isapplied To Boots or Shoes, such lostreyields, That toots- who use it think, with pride, Ott TT:AMER, of St. George's-fields. Gentlemetimay Atierve, that this Composftion, wises owl For their G.g or Carriage Harness, after one or two applies- nts:.,,ttrt titre acts bbrilliant,erritohr. the ue Leather. y Black and 4 e T., Le eau in Stooe'Bottles. at Gd. Is. and Is. 6d. each. r (De( e,far4ia No. 114, London-road, Smithisnlk. st., . fi. or *rm. n raw DI A e•tt vi en •• '