The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-02 00:00:00

Prosecution une-_

..er the Foreign Enlistment
Act.

Yesterday afternoon, at the 13ow-street police.
court, John Seymour, of 32, Weliclose-square,
Whitechapel, was placed at the bar before Mr

Henry, to answer the charge of having unlawfully
attempted to hire one Robert Sadd and others to
serve by sea "in the employment of certain persons
assuming to exercise the powers of Government in
a foreign country."

The prisoner, who appeared to be about 45 years
of ege, was described in the charge-sheet as a
boarding-house keeper, and a native of Cephalonia
in Greece.

He was defended by Mr G. Lewis, sen., of Ely-
place.

Mr Giffard, instructed by Mr Pollard of the Trea-
sury, conducted the prosecution, and stated that the
facts of the case had been taken so carefully and
minutely by Mr Burnaby, the chief clerk, that he
thought it would be sufficient to request that the
depositions of the various witnesses might be for*
many read over.

Mr Giffard stated that the warrant
.against the
prisoner had been obtained by direction of the
Crown under the 59th Geo. 111., chap. 69, an act
which was passed for the purpose of preventing the
enlistment of men or the fitting out of vessels in
the service of a foreign country without the licence
of the Crown. It appeared from the evidence which
he was about to lay before the Court that there was
a vessel now lying in Calais harbour, called the
Rappahannock, for the purpose of collecting men to
serve under the flag of the Confederate States of
America, and the charge against the prisoner was
that he had been engaged in hiring several persons
to assist in warlike operations against a country
with which we were on peaceful relations. He had,
in fact, bargained with a number of men to go on
board the Rappahannock on certain terms and for
a certain period of service, in express defiance of
the law of this country, with which he must
have been to some extent acquainted. It had been
always held to be a punishable offence to engage
recruits for foreign service, and thus to embroil us
probably with nations with which we were at
peace; but, in order that the matter might be ren-
dered more imperative up-lia us, the Act of George
111. was passed to make the offence a penal one.
Now, it was quite clear that the prisoner knew he
was performing an illegal act, because his move.
ments were conducted in secrecy, and he had shown
a constant disposition to avoid the observations
especially of the officers of justice in all his trans-
actions with the witnesses. It would be very diffi-
cult, therefore, to resist the conclusion that he had
been duly cautioned and informed of the probable
results if his operations became known. At any
rate, it was desirable that the illegality of the pri-
soner's proceedings should be well understood ;
and, if the facts he had stated were proved in evi-
dence, he should ask the magistrate to commit the
prisoner for trial.
The depositions of the witnesses were then read,
as follows

Robert Sadd, examined—l live at 16, Baker's-
row, West Ham, Essex, when I am on shore. I
am a fireman, at present on board the East Anglian
steamer, trading between Liverpool and London.
On the 7th of April last I saw a man (the prisoner
at the bar) at his house in Wellclose.equare. I
asked him if he wanted a fireman. He said he had
gut too many, and asked me to call the next day. I
went again the next morning (April 8), and he was
there. He said he was just going out, and asked
me to call at three o'clock. I returned to him at
three, and then he asked me if I had got a new
discharge, as he wanted me. I replied "Yes," and

I gave a new one and an old one also. He
told me that he was going to take them to an
office i❑ the city, but he did not say where. He
said he would return them to me at five o'clock.
I went back to him at 5, and he gave me the dis-
charges, and said he wanted me to join a ship at
Calais as fireman. I asked him what my wages
were to be. He replied 43 a day and my victuals
while the ship lay in dock, and when she sailed I
was to have £5 16s a month and £lO bounty, and a
day's liberty after being three days aboard. The
bounty money and wages were to be paid by a check
upon a Liverpool bank, so that I might send it home
to my friends. I asked him how I was to get to
Calais, He said, " My man will lend you the money,
and I will pay him again, for I must not be seen in
the job." I was to meet him at his house on Satur-
day morning, the 9;h of April. I went there at
half-past one o'clock after midnight, and I saw a
friend of mine, and from what he said to me I re-
used to go to Calais. I saw all the three witnesses
now present—Connell, Smith, and Grace—at the
prisoner's house two or three times. They are all
firemen.

Edward Smith, examined..._l am a fireman, and
live at 21, King-street, Rotherhithe. I am on board
a steam Vessel when lam in employment. I went
to the prisoner's house on the 7th of April last. The
prisoner is a boarding-house keeper, and he ships
men for vessels going abroad. He asked me if I
would go toCalais to work on board the Rappahan-
nock for 4s a day and my board and lodging. I
said I would. Connell, Grace, and many others were
there. He asked them all for their discharges, and
they were given to him. He selected six trom among
them, and mine was one of them. He told us to
meet him at his house at a quarter before 6 o'clock,
to go to London-bridge, and take the train for Dover,
and thence proceed by boat to Calais. The next
morning I accordingly went
to his house, and met
the 5 men there, and we all prcceeded to London-
bridge station together, The prisoner said he had not
got enough money to pay for us all down, it being
an express train; but he had enough to pay for four
of us, and he wanted the other two to go by the boat.
We refused to be separated, and then he desired us
to wait till the 9 o'clock train next morning. We
went to the station as
again proposed, and Soya
moues man met us in a cart and drove ns all to the
prisoner's house. We saw him, and it was arranged
for us all to go by the Hanover steamer from Lon-
don-bridge at 12 o'clock at night. He produced a
written agreement to go to Calais and work on board
the Rappahannock at 4s. a days
with board and
lodging, and all expenses to be paid. We all signed
the agreement, and at night we sailed for Calais,
arriving there at half- past 1 o'clock the following
afternoon. On getting there we found a steam ves.
Bel called the Rappahannock in the harbour, with
the Confederate flag. I 'met one of the officers of
that ship, and he asked who had sent me there. I
told him John Seymour (the prisoner). He asked
ma what grounds I a came upon. I told him I came
to work on board the Rappahannock at 4s. per day
and my board, Sec. 11e said he knew nothing about
4s. a day, and he desired me to go on board and see
the first lieutenant. I went on board and saw that
officer, and he asked me similar questions, and I
gave the same answers, but he would not have any
thing to do with us, more than to sign on board the
ship for three years at £5 16s. a month, and £lO
bounty. I refused to oin on these terms, and, after
being there till
Monday, my passage was paid back
to London by
the first-lieutenant. When I returned
to London I called several times at the prisoner's
house, but was unable to see him till the expiration
of eight or nine days, when I asked for the discharge
I had left with him before going to C;lais, He said
he had not got it. I asked him who was to pay for
my lost time. He said I must see him at 12 o'clock
the next day, and in the meantime be would see a
gentleman in the city about it. I asked him why
he had not told me that the Rappahan-
nock was a privateer ut first. He laughed, sad
said I was a fool that I did not join her, as I should
have had £lO bounty, The day after I went again,
and he paid me Iss. for my loss of time.
James Grace corroborated the evidence of the
two preceding witnesses. The prisoner had also
called him a fool for not joining the Rappahannock,
as he would have had the £lO bounty and prize
money besideA.

James Connell, another fireman, gave precisely
similar evidence, and Inspector Clarke, of the
Thames police, deposed to apprehending prisoner.
Mr. Giffard said the case for the prosecution was
now cicsed.

Mr. Lewis presumed that his worship, whatever
might fall from him, had made up his mind to send
the case before another tribunal, and if sa, he should
prefer to reserve the prisoner's defence.
Mr, Henry—lt is my present intention t 6, send