The Express.
London, England, 1860-12-26 00:00:00

THE BONN PROSECUTIONS.

Our yesterday's report of the trial of the English
residents at 831111 charged with the offence of insulting the
Stoats-Procurator Moller in a matter relating to his office,
by publishing in the Cologne Gazette and Boon Gazette a
joint protest against the language applied by that tune-
tieing", to the English nation when he was prosecuting Cap-
tain Macdonald for an alleged assault, concluded by stating
that the advocate Bennerecheid addressed the court for the
defence. The advocate stated that the recollections of the
witnesses as to Miller's speech varied; several of them
would not undertake to remember what that functionary
had said. Some of them, however, bad spoken more dis-
tinctly. The advocate Raised bad deposed that Moiler
had said, " Most travelling Englishmen behaved themselves
with impudence, arrogance, and blackguardism (lawyneki)."
The witness Schoppe spoke to the same effect ; Denary
Cißia, and Kre well alaospoke to the same effect. The witnames
Hagen, Crosthwaite, and Schiller agreed in stating that the
words were textually these :—" The English—at least those
who travel on the Continent—behave themselves with im-
pudence," he. Crasthwaite and Schiiler bad taken the
words down on paper. The advocate &hider, in replying at
the trial to Moller, bad charged him with insulting the
whole body of Englishmen, and Moller had not repelled the
charge. The advocate then said that free speech was the
noblest weapon of free men. The English were so for-
tunate as to be well accustomed to the use of
this weapon ; they wielded it against everybody,
but especially against their own officials. If called
to contend with their authorities, they knew
nothing of the pusillanimity which some citizens of other
state feel in such a situation, and they permit public
men, who, after all, are but the servants of the state, to
entrench themselves in their official authority against the
free expression of opinion. The advocate then proceeded to
examine several passages of the protest upon which the
Attorney-General founded his accusation, and concluded an
eloquent speech by demanding the acquittal of all the
prisoners
The Attorney-General Ammon, in reply, said that the
trial of Macdonald bad attained an importance to which it
was not entitled. They all admired the creative spirit,
activity, energy, self-reliance, and free institutions of the
English, and anything that might loosen the hoods of
friendship between the two nations would be a cause of the
deepest regret. Nevertheless, they were not there to dis-
cuss politics, but to do justice. Much to his regret be
found himself compelled to prosecute men for whom he bad
a high esteem. The Attorney-General then dwelt on the
leading part which Perry had taken in drawing up the pro-
test and procuring signatures to it. He drew a distinc-
tion between the defendants who knew that the
protest was designed for publication, and those
who supposed it was designed for another ob-
ject. Referring to the statement of several of the
defendants that as their country bad bees publicly attacked
it must be publicly defended, he said that plea was quite
inadmissible, for at all times justice could be obtained of the
authorities in Prussia in another way. They might have
applied to Moller for an explanation, and in default of satisfac-
tion, might have applied to the Minister of Justice. He (the
Attorney-General) had not approved, and did not approve of
Mullez's expressions. Moller himself had admitted that he
had been unhappy in the choice of his words, and the Mi-
nister of Justice had signified his disapprobation of his lan-
guage ; but every man was liable to error, and if all our
words were to be nicely weighed, the liberty of defence, as
well as of prosecution, might be endangered. The publics-
tion of the protest bad caused a public scandal. He then sr
gued that Miller had been unfairly said to accuse the Eng-
lish of blackgoardism," and quoted authorities to show
that " could not be fairly so translated. He
accused Dr. Perry of intentionally choosing the expression in
order to give the English journals something to lay hold of.
He then commented on the phraseology of the protest and
ascribed to it a violent and vindictive character. Ho con-
cluded by asking for the acquittal of Baddeley, Rapp, Wash-
ington, and Oldfield, but that Perry might be sentenced to
14 days' imprisonment, and Anderson, Cumberland, and
Drummond to a fine of 25 theism

Dr. Perry then offered some remarks on the speech of
the public prosecutor, and stated that he had WO nothing
to do with the comments that bad appeared in the English
journals on the conduct of the trial.
Major Cumberland, who spoke in English, declared that
all the defendants held themselves equally answerable for
the protest, and declined to bo treated more favourably
than Dr. Perry.
After some remarks by the Public Prosecutor and Advo-
cate Bennersebeid, the Ray. Mr. Anderson rose and ad-
dressed the court, in the German language, to the following
effect :

"I shall be readily believed when I state that not one of
us ever supposed be would have to stand before this tribunal
on the charge of having violated the law of the laud. We
believe we can venture to say that we are not guilty of this
charge. The act, on which it was raised apparently, was
no wilful, premeditated insult on our part, but simply an
act of self-defence, oocudoned by the unjust attack that
was publicly and unexpectedly made against us and oar
fellow.countrymen. The circumstances that caused this
attack erase clearly from the affair at the station
with Macdonald on Wednesday, the 12th of Septem-
ber. I heard nothing definite about it until the following
Saturday, the 15th, although I read • short account
of the case in the Bonn newspaper on Friday. But, let the
blame be on which side it may, I was convinced that the
law would come to a proper decision about it, and therefore
I did not mix myself up in the business. In the forenoon
of that Saturday the sister-in-law of lilddonald tailed,
with another lady, upon me, and told me of what had oc-
curred. All were personally unknown to me, but directly
I heard the particular I felt it my duty to stand by them.
I immediately went to the house of arrest, and after that
visited Macdonald every day se long as he bad to remain
there. I heard all he had to say on the matter, and read at
the time the letters he addressed on the subject to Lord
John Russell and Lord Bloomfield. I also put myself in
continued communication with the English consul at Co-
logne and the advocate &hider, who was engaged as Mac-
donald's attorney. In this way I learned the full details of
the affair ; not from a vague second-hand report, but from
a reliable mimeo. Ido not wish to cause any more bad
blood by reverting to what took place three months ago.
I was pained to bear ► repetition of it yesterday, became
Macdonald himself and his witnesses were not here. On
' this account the public will have beard the case on one side
only, and consequently the difficulties of the legal
question, which already engages the attention et the
English and Prussian governments, will be much lammed.
Perhaps • change in public opinion may exist to-day. Bat
I shall not further allude to this particular. On Tuesday,
the 18th of September, the trial of Macdonald began, and I
was present to its close. When the Steal-Procurator rose
to speak I knew neither who he was nor his office. I soon
detected, however, that he was urging grounds for the
punishment of Macdonald, and when lie came to that part
of his speech that has made so great an excitement, 11
could hardly believe my own ears. I could not at an
quite understand what he was saying, for one of his gimes-
' mime had never been used before in my pretence during my
intercourse with German gentlemen. But the impression
of the whole speech on my mind was so great that it ma
never be effaced, and that impression is, that be trans.
greased the bounds of propriety and maligned the English
on the Continent. Dr. Perry, who stood near me, and who
is well acquainted with German, at once expressed his dis-
satidaction to me in a low tone. The consul too did the
same. The advocate, Schliier, who took down the words,
coloured them in reply ; and when the judge* withdrew
to consult together on their sentence, and again, when the
trial was at an end, oedematous of disapproval were
uttered on all sides by Germans as well as English.
men. 1 could, therefore, feel no doubt that contemptuous
and insulting remarks bad been used spinet the English.
But why should I express my thought* upon the matter?
Because it was declared yesterday in this court by the preai.
dent of the chamber, lambert ; also by the provincial court-
onuneillor, Oster, and the amessor, von Dusseldorf, who
presided an judge at Macdonald's trial, that the state-pro-
curator did then use expressions which they believed to be
unworthy and highly improper. It is therefore not to be
wondered at that we should have felt ourselves greatly in-
sulted by theni, and before the sun went down that day
our just indignation found vent in our protest. We never
supposed that by so doing we were in any way violating the
law. Had we known that to be the one we should natu-
rally have endeavoured in some other way to redress our
grievance. But we believed the way we were taking
to be quite justifiable. Our couduct hitherto has shown
this. For when men intend publishing anything illegal,
they endeavour to screen themselves from detection,
But we took uo such pains. The document was carried
about, freely and openly, from house to house, for signa-
tures, and the next day was 'rent in its willies' form to the
printing-office. It matters not who wrote it ; we all made
it our own by our signatures. Dr. Perry declared himself

•

yesterday to be the author ; but he was not the originator,
only the organ to express feelings which, as soon as the
subject became known to his countrymen, were shared by
them all. Padinges„ doubtless, there are in it open to eriti.
cism ; as in a paper so hastily drawn up there could hardly
fail to be. But we were in our hearts persuaded that it
was substantially true, and did not stop, therefore, to
weigh syllables in the balance. A public insult demanded,
as we believed, not only a public but a prompt exposure.
By delaying it we should have obtained more signa-
tures, for several of the English residents in Bonn,
who were absent have assured us that they
would have signed it had they been here.
But delay would only have weakened the effect of our re-
monstrance; and, therefore, we lost not an hour. With
respect to the three passage* represented as libellous in our
protest, our answer is that they only declare facts, the pub-
lication of which cannot properly be regarded as an insult
to the Stoats Procurator in reference to the exercise of his
office. Rather ought they to be regarded as a proof that
he was not in the exercise of his office, and that he had for-
gotten it and all its especial functions at the very moment
in which he was bound most carefully to adhere to
them. That this is the view taken of the conduct
of the !Rants Procurator by his superiors in office
is established beyond all doubt by the reproof which, as I
hear, he has received. Such a reproof never could have
been given, had not the words spoken against us been re-
garded as unworthy of an officer of the crown. It matters
little whether hie insulting remarks were applied to all'
the English travelling upon the continent (as some wit-
needs say), or only to many' (as others maintain). The
utterance of any such language, even under the most
favourable construction of it, was a grave offence, and has
justly drawn down upon him a reproof. I cannot believe, ho-
noured sirs, that we are now to be punished for complaining
of an offence which has called forth the ()ensure of govern-
ment against its own officer. I cannot believe it ; for there
are certain broad, eternal principles of law—that law of
which our own illustrious Hooker has declared, that " her
seat is the bosom of God, and her voice the harmony of the
worlds"—principles, the same in all lands and in all
times, which he at the base of every article
of every code under heaven—principles which alone
invest each differing code with the authority
which ought to distinguish all—and the violation of
which must, sooner or later, confound the wisdom of
the wisest, and bring to nought the might of the mightiest
nations upon earth. To vindicate the right and to expose
the wrong are among the foremost of these sacred princi-
pled ; and to uphold these in their integrity is all that we
have sought to do. If for doing this we are to suffer pu-
nishment, be it so. We will show our respect for the
majesty of the law by submitting patiently to the
judgment of those who administer it. Let the sen-
tence, therefore, of fine or imprisonment be what it
may, we shall not shrink from it. We shall neither
make aay parade of the hardship which some may deem in-
flicted upon us ; nor provoke excitement by appealing in
any quarter to a morbid sympathy. We wish only to live,
as we have lived heretofore, in peace and quietness ; to re-
frain from every word and every act which may bring just
reproof either upon the church of which we are members or
the state of which we are subjects ; and to maintain in pri-
vate life, with our German neighbours, that friendly Inter-
course which we hope may long continue between the two
great united nations of which we are citizens. This we
have done already. This, with God's help, we hope still

henceforward to do. But the voice of truth we cannot
stifle ; and, summoned as we are this day to answer the
charge brought against us, our only answer is and must be,
that we are not guilty.
After he had ended, the President again asked whether
any of the defendants wished to speak ; and Mr. Drum-
mood, through the interpreter, briefly said that, although
residing for a time in Bone, he regarded himself only as
one of the Englishmen travelling on the Continent, and
therefore included in the remarks which had been so un-
justly made by Muller. The other defendants declined to
say anything more ; and the President concluded the pro-
ceedings by requiring them all to appear in the same court
on Monday, the 24th inst., at one o'clock, when judgment
would be delivered.

On that day, according to a telegram which we published
yesterday, the judgment of the court wee given u follows :
The defendants /3addeley, Rapp, Washington, Rochfort,
Thurston, and Oldfield were immolated ; Perry, Anderson,
Cumberland, and Drummond were found guilty, with ex-
tenuating circumstances, of having committed an offence
against the Staate-Procurator Miller while in the perform-
ance of his official duties.

The extenuating circumstances were declared to apply in
a less degree in the case of Perry, who was fined 100 thalers,
or five weeks' imprisonment in default.
The other three were fined 25 thalers each, or nine days'
imprisonment in default.