The Sun.
London, England, 1802-01-26 00:00:00

SMUGGLERS

Edmund Davy, William Dunk, and William
Kennard, persons convicted of obstructing Officers
' of the Revenue in endeavouring to seize a very
large quantity of smuggled spirits, with between
50 and too armed men, whose ca. .e was a desperate
one, most of the circumstances of which we gave
on a former occasion, when the Defendants were
brought up and committed, came now to. receive
the Judgment of the Court, on which an excellent
address was delivered by Mr. Justice GROSE, but
for which we are sorry we have. not room at length,
we must therefore only give the leading .parts of it.
The Learned Judge observed, that the Defendants
stood convietcd of a .charge of assaulting an Officer
of the Revenue, and of obstruding him in the due
execution of his duty. On this complaint it was
grievous to observe the numbers which had lately
come before the Court.—lt was painful and even
shocking to recoiled, what mischief to, society these
events produced. They began by defrauding the Re-
venue, and proceed from one step to another, until
they become at last regardless of all Law, whether
of Morality, Religion, or the Law of the Land, by
Which they became fathers, bad masters, bad ser-
vants, bad subjects, and bad men.—ln the desperate
pursuits to which Smuggling leads, they;became care-
less of property—they took away their neighbours'
horses, broke down their fences, and became des,
perate. They went armed in defence of their ille-
gal pursuits; and he was sorry .to say, when neces-
sary for their purpose, they, without remorse, put
to death those who obstruded them—to such cor-
ruption of morals did those habits of Smuggling lead,
and yet such was the fate of those who followed that
mode of life, that the labour which they necessarily
underwent, was far more than sufficient to earn an
honest and comfortable livelihood by fair pursuits.
It was true some of them became rich by a misera-
ble sacrifice of health and comfort, to anxious and
fearful nocturnal watchings, and, at last, perhaps,
to be overtaken by the Law.--It was only far a
time that even these persons were successful, since
they were almost always sure to fall a sacrifice to
Justice in the end Men might become occasionally,
rich, but it was almost impossible in a society well
regulated by Law, .for them to continue possessed of
their wealth, if they did not aeqUire it fairly, the
Laws which such a Society must necessarily have
for its own protection; must bear. upon property so
acquired. SO that of those who became rich, for a
while, by illicit conduit, there were few; indeed,
who did not, at last, find their -doom: in the con-
tempt of mankind; poVerty and diSgrace.—ThiS
was the first view to be taken di the effect of Smug;
gling, and the evil whiCh it produced to society.
The second consideration was, that this practice,
which, for a moment; made a few individuals rich,
increased to an enormous degree the burthens of the
State Upon the honest and industrious, who must, by
their labour, and their suffering, make. up the 'defi.;
ciency in the Revenue which these practices created.
Of all the cases that came before the court, there
were but few Misdemeanours that were more alarm-
ing than Smuggling was-;-and; of those cases, fpw
more alarming in their kind than the present one—.
Here were from so to too men, 'in
.the dead of
night, when the sober and peaceable, and honest
part of mankind were at rest, coming forward in
their illicit business, offering bribes to those whom
they hopedito corrupt, and holding out terror to
those whom they despaired of bribing.—Every
thing that could aggravate a case was to be found
large gang (linen, headed by a person pro-
fessing to be the Owner of a vessel and its cargo—a
number Of boatS ready td land the goods-=fires on
the adjacent hills to convey the proper signal for
those at sea---4torses in troops ready to carry away
ihegoods when they were brought on shore-=then
in bodies to assist in packing.—Under suOb circum-
stances; it was not Wonderful that the Officers of the
Revenue could not either seize the goods, or render
any thing like a Correa account of them.—
All these Circumstances of aggravation belonged to
the present case ; but here the Learned Judge could
not help observing, that much credit was due to those
who had the manageinent of this Prosecution, for
the judicious seledion which they made of the'ob-
jeCts brought forward: That all persons concerned
in such a scene as this, were guilty persons, was
beyond question; but that there were shades in
their guilt, was beyond a doubt also; and the most
enormous had been seleded, and although all 01
them. might be punished, yet those who had been
brought forward, were fitter objeds for punishment
than the miserable labourer who had no advantage
from this iniquitous traffic, but the pay of the: night;
which; he understood; was one guinea,
every working. man in the village of Rotte:ean
might have, on this occasion, provided he lent his
assistance' in this wicked business. Edmund Davy
was' the ringleader here, and the Alledged Proprietor
of the Vessel, and the Goods on board-, as well as
of the horses. He was therefore properly seleded in
this Prosecution. The other twoe Wm.. Dunk and
William' Kennard were the most alive in this
desperate mob; and' upon a view 8f their conduct,
the epithets which they had applied to those who
resisted theme were
_perhaps as' descriptive of Hitt.

seifei; ihtefidett thetii in efi;
" rascals; robber§, murderess; tidd VillaittB;" theSfr
were epithets which they applied to then who did
their duty under the Law, but which -better liecahie
themselves than • those; whom they calumniated.-4
There was one fit subject; of animadversion, upon
which, he said, he MuSt touch at this time,
peared that a person who kept a public-house ,hear
the sea coast where this scene took place, had been In
the habit ofgivingidgings to these desperate Smug.;
&cis; and the Magistrates of the County with a care
and circumspeelion which did them honour, had taken
from that Publican his licence. The Learned Judge
then censured the mode in which these DelendantS
had offered matter for mitigation, because it went
to arraign the prOpriety of the Vcidift; which Was
perfectly to the satisfaaion .of the Learned Judge
before whom the cause was tried, and which Ver_
diet waS perleCtlyconsciencidOs; and no 'doubt, jti:su
Nor was this pradice to be tolerated ; for if it was,
the Trial by Jury Would. lose its charatler. The
season for all such evidence was at the trial; for the
Jury were the.only judges of the credit that was
due to Witnesses. Taking all the Circumstances of
these Defendants' case into consideration—hoping
that the Defendants' children might profit by their
example—and trusting that the County of Sussex
would be satisfied that the _ LaW will fall heavily
upon such offenders, the Court did order that the
Defendants, and each of them, be imprisoned in the
common Gaol for the County of Sussex for one
year and six calendar months in addition to tht
punishment they had already Suffered;

AMERICA.