The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-21 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—June 20.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
Sittings at Nisi Priusein Middlesei.—Before Chief Justice
Jervis and a Common Jury.
etgGINBAL V. MA/i3fATSEE.—TRAFFIO IN FRENCH. GIRLS
FOR IMMORAL PURPOSES. •
The plaintiff in this case, Margaret Reginbal, a French
girl, formerly lived in a house of ill-fame, kept by the de-
- f." fendant, Germain Afarmaysee, and she sued to recover the
• value of seine clothes detained by the defendant, and also
•-•'' about 70t. for money due to her. The court was crowded
.ee dining the hearing- of the case, and one of the galleries
Were 61144 Fren•Ch women, who seemed deeply interested
in the matter, and who more than once Audibly expressed
their feelings.
Mr. Serjeant Byles, and Mr. Massey Dawson appeared
for the plaintiff, and Mr. Serjeant Miller for the de-
fendant.
Mr. Serjeant Byles, in opening the case, said that the
- plaintiff was a French girl, who formerly lived at Havre-
de-Grace and she was something over twenty-one years of_
• age, and the defendant, like the plaintiff, was a native
but
France. The name of the defendant was Marmaysee, bt
sometimes be was called Germain, and sometimes Le Bron.ht
He wag one of those persons in this country whom
hheomwigere
describseasimporting young ladies from Franciechw
need not
to live insa nano kept by him for a purpose which
r of French
, be further mentioned. He had a great number
collected iu the
, girls living there with him, whom Lelia(
course of his business, for the importing drlswwasas;
' as mtich a trade as the purchase of cattle. ofi these girls
bought and sold in
the fact being that these poor girls, having lost their only
possession at an early age, kewainthyinotthheer
. • France andnimported into this r
country
immuredli
e commodity, and they were, when
walls of the defendant, entirely n
control ; they were not even allowedad absolutely under his
to stir out without
- being attended by a person called a femme de confiance,
aI exndpec gtetyo a you
much as you
e a near relative of his, or by some other d,uenna. The
arrangement was this—the
yourselfdefen d a
defendant
said,
agreeable,
,
to, exert yourself to make
one alf of the compliments are to be
"hall' Yon give
can - ;
which you must keep yourself, and one
entid torus out of
t° ine!,
each The expenses of
girl were
ss to be shenet 27seeeveeek , butsometimes considerably more
• e cherged. The defendant kept a carriage,.and
than-thia was
the ladies rode out in the carriage, for their own benefit and
fin his, and each lady was charged ss. for every ride in
the carriage, and this stun was set down in the expenses.
sometimes also the ladies took baths, and for each bath he
charged 2s. 6d., and 2d. for the towel ; and it was part of
c. ,the practice that they were not to be allowed to keep any
• money themselves, beet all their little savings were to be
entrusted to him as their banker. Every morning, at
breakfast, theyheno state to hifn what they had earned
on the preceding' day ; but as the money had been paid to
' thafemme de codfiance, he took care to interrogate both
her ata the ladies, and so make one a check against the
other ;esead he regretted to say that on every Sunday morn•
• , kg the establishment met, and then there was a regular
statement by them of the sums they had received in the
. preceding week, and with the expenses with which those
_ •sums were chargeable itt the meantime. The girls, how-
, . ever, were not entrusted with any money, nor to see any
friend, and he would not allow them to receive any letter
' • from any person in England, although they were allowed to
receive letters -From -France. He was their banker, and
' they were tot allowed to go shopping, for he sold them the
articles they wanted, and when there was any money
e.eoming tothem he had some articles of finery to show them,
:,,and to induce them to buy.. Most of these girls were very
ignorant ; ,but it happened that his client could write, and
Abe had kept a regular book for herself, and she would be
able to tell them exactly Whet amount she had received
'during every week, and what-has been charged her for ex-
penses, and that would leave a balance due to her of about
701., which, sum she-ought to.recover by the verdict of the
e jury. The ease_ would not depend upon her statement
alone, brit he Amnia tenable tie prove from other witnesses
circumstances which would leave no doubt that the defen-
dant was indebted to the-plaintiff in the amount he had
- mentioned e and, in addition to :this, he should ask for
their yea•dicifee .the value of certain articles of wearing
apparel which had been detained; from the plaintiff.
the
Mr. Serjeant- Miller sail he hoped he should have
sanction of his loedship, in suggesting, in order to avoid
going into the mentbsecieellby his learned friend, that
some pet eon ellitittlel'eayinapaivieta- what amount, if any-
,- thing, •thisepardatiewasessititled to. It would save a public
sedineussioe. of tkees9speatlsete.
The c.44.1ef datstici— As. far, as I am concerned, I think
• • that the ntol, be-in any respect thrown away—if
the staterneiitlortny't4other Byles be at all correct—which
J.may beld.e'vbted; tb -exposing such a dreadful state of
' _things. : •t.
• Mr. Serjeant Miller, said he had no.object in interposing
but.the public benefit.
• Mr: Sergeant Ryles continued—He should make this as
- -"'nearly asliefeonld a dry matter of account. He had said
that under the money demand, he believed he should be
able to show what this young person, the plaintiff, had
earned, and what portion of that amount ought to be de-
- ducted. As he had told them, the plaintiff had bought of
the defendant various articles of female apparel, such as
petticeate, stockiege, lees; and, in addition. to those, there
was one "dye' , a ridie habit, in reference to which there
were seVefdtpieai. This young lady, having now left the
-establishment of this eentleman, was endeavouring to earn
'her living in, at all events, a less disreputable manner, and
.was about
_making her appearance at one of the public
• riding schools of the metropolis, and she therefore wanted
this riding habit, and she had been obliged to hire for her
use another riding habit. He understood that the riding
habit had been sent to a party where she had lodged, that
. squabble had ensued, that the attorney's clerk had at-
. leeepted to_throw it into the house, and that by some means
.it had, been lost; and therefore they should not ask-for the
thing itself, but only ask to recover the value of it.
- The following witnesses were then called
Edward Moons, a laboUrer in the London Docks, proved
•that he' had served .on 'the defendant a notice to deliver
these goods belonging to the plaintiff, and the defendant
said he would not give them up. Witness told defendant
he understood he owed her 70/., and that under those cir-
cumstances keeping her things was rather too bad. The
defendant said herid not owe her so much; he might owe
her 301., but not 70/.
Cross-examined—He knew Mr. Levine, who was con-
ducting this case, but he had not appeared for him as a
witness in any othei case than this. Ho did not appear on
The prosecution of an indictment against Mr. Colbert.
Margaret Reginbal was sworn and examined through Mr.
G. Albert, the interpreter. She stated that she came from
Havre de Grace, and was a native of Saftleur, in Normandy.
She had been sent to England by M. le Conte. Ho was
not the person who had seduced her, but he was one of
his friends. She did not know what sort of a place she
was coming to in England when she came to the defend-
ant's, but thought he was a perfumer. It was on
the 27th December last that she came to England. The
defendant, who called' himself Germain le Bron, told her
some time afterwards that he had paid 81. for her to M. le
Conte. She found out at last what sort of a house M. le
Brett kept, but not knowing any one in London, and hav-
ing no ether course open, she determined on remaining.
He told her that one-half of theanoney was to be hers and
one-half hia, but from her half her expenses were to be
paid. He did not say how
,much the expenses would be
altogether; but he said the -expenses for board and lodging
would be about 30s. a weekeand that she was to pay. She
remained there some time,-and-whilst there she was not
allowed- to- go ont • unless accompanied by the femme de
confiance, Who was the sister-in-law of M. le Bron, and
lived in the- same house 'with him. Witness was not al-
- lowed to receive letters from anybody in London, but
she was allowed to' receive letters from France. She
had not been allowed to make any purchase from a
shop, but the defendant sold her all she wanted, and
never allowed her to buy anything out of doors.
Sometimes the gentlemen paid money to witness, and
• sometimes to the femme de confiance, in witness's presence.
When witness received money, she gave it to the
femme de confiance, and every morning she wrote down
what she had done the night before, and that book
she now produced. Germain, the defendant, inquired
of Hermandine, his sister, every morning what had
been earned, and she told him, and gave him the money
before witness. Every Sunday morning they made their
accounts up for the whole week with Herusandine ; and
then it was settled how much for the defendant, how much
for the girls, and how mush for expenses. Witness, while
there, was called Blanche. She received various sums
from gentlemen ; sometimes 11., sometimes 2/. simetimes
• 3/. From the 27th December, when she arrived at the de-
fendant's, until the end of the month, she earned 71. The
first week in the new year, from the Ist of January to 7th
inclusive, she earned as fellows—the first day 31., second
. deer 31., third day 31., fourth day 41., fifth day 41., sixth
day 31., and the seventh day 31., making for the week 231.
The defendant never explained the expenses, but said they
were so much. The first week in the year the expenses
were Q. 55., and the expenses were always kept back. The
defendant had never given her any money at all, and, de-.
dticting the expenses, he now owed her, according to her
account, 701. 'She left him on the 3d or 4th of April, and
asked forsome- money and her clothes before she left. He
said he had none to give her. She asked for her iding
- habit and he said be had none to gave her. She wranted
the riding habit, but he refused to let her have it, and she
never had had it. She left hint because one day she asked
him-for money, see he would not give her any. Her linen
ewes at a "male washerwoman's:' She wanted money to
• baYeeveral
articles because some that he had sold her were
toct:aear
,She •
•
had boon practising riding sines she left Le
Bronis house
of hersiabde +;(1?he 14d
learnt riding because she was tired
that she %situ
be
and wanted to get rid of it. She thought
hire a riding engaged at a theatre. She had had to
paid ss.
eagti about 18 or 20 times, and had
Cross- exaesesued. 17
with, AL Mr. Serjeant Miller—She had been
receive mea at: sheet aril kept a house for women to
which was Unde.athe sifi had done so at that house,
had been living there bole'
rice of the French police. She
came to London., Before thials ;her five months before she
at a house of the same description tad-lived at Marseilles,
had lived there nearier a years 2relt bY M. Lucie. She
been at Paris with her sister, who was °eel to that she had
had been at Lyons, and had also lived inaalherw°man- She
there for about a year. She had never lit:xi:immoral house
When she was first seduced she was about. 21
years old. At each of the ere.
and was now 234
the surveillance caa ea° had
mentioned she Was under of the
she did not know she was e TK's lice,
When she left France
She had -eni`ng to
a house of ill-fame-in London-been to the ha
les
t she had been. to casinos -•
tre' in London Only once, bu 0 accom-
,panied by the defendant's sister. She d
ridingtolessons fr,,m
plums in a carriage. She had
Mr. Allen, a riding master, whilst living in defendant's
house, and the defendant;defendant;paid for those lessons, and also
for the riding habit. She understood
1 her linen had gone
to it up eto the laundress, 'who said he would not give
with-
out being paid for washing it, but he offered it to her
if the would it. pay for She was only allowed to take
her clothes midi' few things away. The defendant told her if
she wanted to go away from him he would put her in prison.
He had not shown her her accounts entered into a book
every week. She saw him write, and he said to her, you
have so much, there is so much for expenses, and then there
is so much foe you and so much for mo. He did not show
her the book; but he was looking at the book when he said
She.did pet look at it. He did not show her that she
sowed him a balance of 61. when she went away. He never
spoke of if,till she asked him for money. When she left
she went to Madame Caroline's, and lived at her house.
She was a lodging.honae keeper, and let apartments.
Witness knew that she let apartments to any one coming,
but she did not know .that they were let to women to re-
ceive mene,,,Since she had been at Madame Caroline's, she
had regularly walked Waterloo-place,
Mr: Serjeant Miller—Who walked with you at Waterloo-
-plebe ?,
The Chief Justice—l suppose you are now coming to the
point • that is, that the defendant met her there and paid
s• leer the money. (A laugh.)
.
Urcies-eiamination resumed-:.When she walked Wetter-
led-place she was accompanied by Madame Catollie, -be-
cause she did not know suybody else. She had never seen
_ 1

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