The Sun.
London, England, 1805-07-17 00:00:00

1,,A.1 PEPOL:T.

COURT OF KING's 13F.NC1-1,

JOAN LINDI,I;,P, ZIMMERMAN', A...43)`CrrITERS, V. J. A.

Nc..- opt), v.5t.1

•
A,
TIMA first Phi ni in are .4erchants in Philnet-
. . ,
lane, the -D4feridant it, 4. Post-C,al)tato
jesty's service, :arid coroMande the Acasta. ThiS
tion was brought- tO recover if stilt far prize-money,:.
which the former had. I),:en•deprived of by the Uri-
,,press of four of the Crew of. the 'Regulus Privateer,
of which t.,le Plaintiff; wcreowners.
Ihe Se tAc,ercet-G Af., for the. Plaintiffs, ,stat-
edi that for,this vesoel .they had
_procured 16tters' of
marque rb cruize against. the'French. The aaion
'was bronght • riot 'So much to obtain a-liberal coin.
peesation in anni:7,es, as that the law on the subbed
of the Impress trii,,;ht be correctly understood, for
there omit be an end of all hostility by private Ships
of W*.jf they, Wile to be.deprived of their men at
the pleasure of every Commander.in the Kings 'Set- '
viee. The Corrunissietier; for executing the office of
Lord lii.;11 'Admiral had granted a protedion to 70
men cm board the Regulry, tar the term' of three
months,
,catmueneing May 27, 1801; and it would
be seen, th'it this privilege ~,,•as violated within the
period stated. This Trivateer falling in with .the
.Acasta Fri, te, the Defendant 'ent his Lientewant,
Mr. Griffiihs, on beard, in the Bay of Biscay. On
the appearan..m of this Officer, 'the whole crew
were. ordered on deek, and six of them were. SC..;
lured to, go in the Acasta's boat. Mr. White, who
cemthanded the Regulus, accompatied -thein; and
in. vain
.shewed the- protedion with which he was
pro?ided; two, however, it was. the good pleasure.of
the Defendant to resign. After this occurence, the.
Regulus
„joined company with . the Ajax, and cruizing
to ether, they... fell in with .a French vessel, called
:124,n Camr, which they captured, and which pro.
after all .expences were deduaed, nearly,
folouol, By the order of his Majesty, the division
of a Prize made,by •Private Ships of War was Ppm-
tionzrl to each, according, to the number of men of
which the crew consisted. The share to which these
four Inen would, have, been entitled was 1581. bs.
11d. ; to which this bounty of• three guineas and a
hall, each beieg added, the total constituted the
claim, on this part of the special, damage, of 1721.
.l es. 1 id. 'Mit jury would likewise eonsiderthe in-
jury the Plaintiffs sustained by the loss- of the ser-
vice of 'these four men in other l'e;:pva4, although
it could not be easily re'cluced to ealculation.
Benjamin Landley deposed- to the names of the
o' liners. James Anderson, from the Admiralty, proved
Letter of Marque; and Mr. Reynolds, from the
Earn,-: Office, proved the identity of the seal,and.af
the protectien. The latter was read, in Court by the
Clerk, and expressed,, that tbe men were'. not to be
llaole to the impress when on board, or in the Ship's
Boat performing ,their duty to the Vessel. Among
the names of the mariners-proteded, thvfre appeared
In be those-of Hugh Jones,' ChLities Macnrty, John
Whaley, and Edward Hawke. William Wheatley
delivered in theproclamation under which the dis-.
tribution of Prizes was direaed.
William Burton, a sailor on board tht. Regulus,
deposed to the detention 4f the four men,and.to the
general statement of facts in the opening of the
Learned Counsel. ...

Ertsxr4.—Q. " I warrant yoU they kept'
Edward' Hawke ?"—A. " Yes, he waS as good a Man
as any among us." •
After a 19ng cross-examination by Mr. GAR ROW, •
it appeared that the Regulus ;had not her. cornpleL
menu of seventy men when she sailed, on which the
;led (-`ounsel took an objedion,.. as the MI of
the :43 Geo. 111, made such protektiono invalid un-
leSS the munber,olimen.were coned. •
EassciNa observed, in• re .ply, that the Aet
just referred .16' ceased with the last war, and that,
the new ,Aa for• the same 'purpose, in the present
war, did not commence till the. 12th .of August,
. 1803, whereas this transaCtion 'happeued,in the pre.
ceding ,Tithe, so that 'either the one or the other could
have no operation in this.cause.
GA kg()
,said, that 'although the Solicitor
Gt.)neral was instruded tot declare his, Clients had no
lwaricions views unfriendly, to the gallant Officer who
way the De faidant itrthis *cause, he had pressed the
rhilin of the ,Plaintift's-to the utmost farthing. .Ano-
.ther pre,:tension 'was', that the Plaintiffs were opulent*
met, cants and ship.owners, and were.dcsirous that
the with respaiit to-naval properly, 'should be
tivell tinderstood„,andwidely promulgated. No
was moreaccurately understood, than the law on
this subjeta ;•,his Lordship had lately givers the An..
thority of •his ciPum in. the -,case of a Greenland
skips and ,whatever had his tuition could not -fail
to be extensively circulated. . He shoukF piove that
the men were not impressedthat they volunteered.
on hdard /lie King's ship,: and received the hounty,
money ; and to substantiate: these fae`l:s lie ,shoUld.
produce Lient; Griffiths, _whom his Learned Friend
• had prudently declined to call.
Lieutenant John -Griffiths did not support these
instrations to the Learned Counsel.: ha .said the men
were brought on beard—they did not enter immo.!
diately, :MI he could not tell how soon they co n-
I.sliNd grit is the proposals, •
Lord Et,rx.risossotruis 'said, their entering after-
ward 3 could have, no influence in,the present cause,
and flit re was no doubt the men Were,lrnoreased,......-
The Privateer having been thus stripped Ora portion'
h:.l, crew; and ttic. parties having beets deprived
0-rite quantum of reward to which they wauld have
bt'en entitled; no doubt could remain oh the minds
of the Jury ;is to the remuneration they Ought to re.'
ccive. Wits the. De,fendaut hits *done May be ex.
cusable, and 010 Admiralty, po•hays, rttigttt Indem-
iffy him; but in the present imLtnixt tits could not
be taken into consideration.
Verdi& for the' Lid.