The Sun.
London, England, 1801-11-21 00:00:00

4 d :wished .to conAne.., if possible, tne
Courts to that.whidCwas4natter for mitigation.
fie could not think of supporting the allegation in
the Affidavit, which tended to state, that there was
a -custom in We l'S'.nvy for Officers -to•sign Paper's and
Documents without Athority; that-was impossible:
He should only .endeavour ,to press on the. Court the
sufferings. of the affn.lant, as they ..appeared in
the statement of his Affidavit, a!td he ventured only
to re:wat the words of my. Lord KEN Non a former
case----" We should 'not. endeavour to break the
• bruisea reed."--Under these circumstances he pre-
sented the Defendant 'to the Court, hoping for as
• mild a judgment as the nature of the case would

admit. •
,
• The .R
ATTON. l-lENERA Wt 'YA,that the crime
bf which•-•the ljefend,intsto-Od cone iaed, was aggra-
vated, in an extranrdinary degreei by the Affidavit
Welt had been Actiteskd to- the Court, on his be-
half, not by his-Learned Friend, Mr, Eitskutet, for
he was Mo discreet. to adiiise Such an Affidavit- to be
• piesented, birt by • the. Defenti.ant himself. It was
proved in evidence, upcin the• trial of this ease; that
there, was afratid committed on,Government, to the
amount of the:allowance to the Defendant, on account
of°ProviSiOnsThr 3.3 days, of whichthe Defendant had
defrauded the Publie'. He h-ati• thrown.ont also be his
AffidaVi titbit sornethinglike an undeserVedodi um had
attached to his chain aer in, consevenceOf this Pro.
setutibil ; as. if his moral charader had been insured
by it : he attempted to -shield himself under that
which he would indece that Court to believe,:wassa
general praalee in the Navy, 'an- if there
rwas•
iii
the pradice of the Officers. 'of the Navy, a custom
which set dial at liberty 'to do this ; but that' was
not true ; it was impossible, under the- regulatiOns
of our Navy. It was therefore impossible to_
be.
lieve that part of the Defendant's Affidavit. Such
a pritaice as this he hoped 'did' not often 'happen.—
That some ablises did exist, and were carried on by
stick-dishonest mere as the Defendant, he knew and
it had been and would be his. endeavour to re-
press them. Some_ of . a higher 'nature had been
folloWed by. a punishment of the- highest degree,
which he thought was fortunate- for 'the.•Publie.' He
must, however observe, on ;Mother part of the Delen-
aant'sAffidavithehati stated himself as a person of
a'cliatader unblemished befOre the transaaion which
now brought: hiM before the Court. That ,was. not
true ; he had ii-ideed been. acquitted bn another
charge, but 'sh iuld not lie stated in a way. that
Might lead the Court' to consider him as a• person
Whose condua had never before been the sUbjeet of
complaint. He was before-chin...zed with an offence
similar to thii, to the •aerienne of iool. although
he was acquitted. This he' stated by way of. set.
Off to the general complaint of the Defendant, that
a man so an,uspeBed as lie wasp until' this instance
°CCM CL.(I; Skill id hay e guttered so' Much undeserved
repkiach "from this Prosecution.• AS to what he
had stated on 'his Merit, in stopping letters that
Were intcnded to cotCysey infOrmattoteto the Enemy,
he must- observe that theetnswer of Mr. Greville,
the Duke of Portlard's Seeretary, to the Defendant,
did not of necessity irtyly that ;he-Correspondence
Was, or his condua on it, Such is he had stated
•hr his Affidavit. * But givinghimthe full merit in
that transaaiOn, it' was not to be a license to him
plunder the Public afterwards, nor. W(,uld it
furnish' him with any defence against' :the punish,.
'meet which was due to this offence. This clime
was not the less for the difficulty of detecting it,
which was considerable ; for the Defendant had
,ale use of some 'mines of Officers: which had been
' really signed three or four months back, and then
Be bad added name of another at the time the
Certificate bore date, by 'forging it : this, besides
its general iniquity, was a trespass on the forget...
tress of -the °Akers whose signature' it bore ;
for the fraud could not be 'diSenVered until all the
afferent CertifieateSof that period could be collated
andexamined at the Viaualling Office.
As to the length of the imprisonment which the
Defendant stated he had endured, it was an attempt
to impose up•on the Court, for that during the whole
of th time, he would have been in confinement as
Much if this charge had IVA been exhibited against
him, for he Was, all that while, detained under
civil process. In a word—khe crime which the
Defendant now stood to answer for, was very great.
Tie had endeavoured to follow up these offences-with
every faculty, he. possessed. And he :was deter-
mined to continue to folloW' them. ' He knew the
.),„ justice of the Court would not leave the Country
dissatisfied with the result of a prosecution of a
crime, by which theburthens, of War were aggra-
vated to an enormous degree, for the purpose of
having property conveyed into the , fraudulent
pockets of such persons as the-Defendant, who was
an object of severe punishment, which he trusted
• would be infliaed.
Lord Kt iciro N.-L-4 to what amount. the 'Public
are plundered nobody, I. believe, can tell; tOa vast-
amount I am confidente • I stand pled4ed to make
known one•ease to the Public, by communicating
'the' circumstances of it, as.they appeared before me,
to the ATTORNEY GfNER.AL.—It is a of enor-
. Mous size ; I have not forgotten my 'pledge. This
Defendant must stand committed, and he brought up
- the last day but dne [we think his' Lordship. said]
to receive the Judg.ernent Of Court.. But the
Affidavit of the,Defendant should. be laid before the
Admiralty.' y
Mr. ATTOW.I4EY GENEAAL.-4' My Lord). will
take care it 'shall.' •-

COURT OF EXC.REQUER.; Ky. a.

COLL i;l' ;V: RUDLAND AND. OTfri ERS.