The Sun.
London, England, 1804-11-14 00:00:00

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t_The followinz interesting Article will demonstrate. tie na—
ture of Civil justice i❑ France, as wellas the Honour arid
Hum-unity of its Adniinistrators.]

NARRATIVE OF THE DETENTION AND IMPRISON-

MFNT, AT CAEN, IN THE. DEPARTMENT OF
CALVADOS, OF J. HEN. VON SCHNEIDAN,

MARINE OFFICER IN TI-I/ sIVEDIsEI sFRVICE.

6' On the, 3001 of Septemher, 1803, I embarked,
as a passerger, on hoard a Danish vessel bound to
Havre-de-Grace. We (lid not arrive at the mouth
of that Purl till the begsioorng of the month of De-
cember, and were -there detained by the Merlin
English Sloop of War, Capt. BKENTON, on acc,:unt
of the blockade which existed on that coast. -

NA,Te were in want provisions; I requested
and obtained permission to be received on board the
Mer. But a contrary wind having for three days
successively prevented Capt. BR ENTQN,from con_
dueting his prize. to England, he abandoned her,
with so much the less regret that she was only
loaded with bad planks. I returned, then, on board
the Danish vessel, after having received a letter

from Capt. BR ENToN to his I;rother, who was a
prisoner of war in France.
Qn the 251 of December we cast anchor in the
Road of Cherbourg!) ; I went on shore, and addressed
myself to M. CHANTE RAYNE, Vice-Agent of
Sweden, who conduaed roe to the Municiplity,
where I obtained a passport to go by Havre to
Paris; I visited General D'Au a IGN ET, General of
Brigade, who shelved me the Forts of Cherbourgh :
M. BoNDAINE, a Post Captain, commanding the
Frigate stationed in the Road, shewed me the ditch
and the basins ; they'oterwheltned me with civility.
" I set out from Cherbourgh for Caen with a let.
ter of recommendation from M. CHANTERAYNE to
his brother, Substitute of the Commissary of the
Government of Caen. By
.him I was presented to
General LA ROCHE, Commandant of the 14. h Mi-
litary Division, a vulkar and brutal man, and to Ci.
tizen CAFFARELLI, Prefed of the Department, for-
merly a Monk, hot-headed, and possessing ail the.
charaeter of passionateness, haughtiness, and im-
pertinence : my passports were considered good.
" The following day I dined at the house of the
Commissary, CHANTERAYNE, with all the Members
of his Tribunal, and the day after, the 3.1 of January',
at the house of LA RoCHE; with the Constituted
Authorities, and several military men.
" Placed between General LA RocHE and the
Prefed, the conversation, at first indifferent, soon
turned on the Invasion of England, which all the
guests regarded as certain, as well as near. " And
you, Sir, who,are an Officer of the Navy," said the
General to me, " what aio you think of it ?".." Do
you think that the Invasion will cost us many lives?"
" I have not come to France to meddle with poli:
tics." " But, my dear Sir, you are here at home,
and among friends ; the French and Swedes have
always been so ; God 'wot, with the knowledge
which you possess, you might add to ours." " You
have too good an opinion of the, and it is my inte-
rest to leave you in the error." But, God qua, lay
aside that tone of reserve ; you have nothing so fear
with us, and know
,that. We have a great party in
England, who wish for us, and expea us." " I can-
not explain myself without shewitig you your mis-
take ; and this induces me to be silent. Besides,
what signifies my node of thinking ?"
" The wine beginning to operate, the General
and the Prefea -conSt rued my reserve into cowardice.
To prove to them that.l was not afraid, I told them
plainly, that I regarded the Invasion as impossible,
and I developed to -them ray reasons. "
Sir," replied the General, "areyou come here to dis-
courage us ?" " The rudeness of your apostrophe,"
I replied, " surprises me ; I am an Officer, and nowise.
accustomed to such tleatment ; I hope you will be
ready to give me an explanation this evening."—
The Prefeel then resuming-the discourse, said—" It
appears that you would wish to difiate to us ; but
know, Sir, that Frenchmen, masters of the earth, do
not like to receive law from strangers." 44 Citizen
Prefeet, you know the civil laws ; the General knows
the laws of honour :" on which the latter took my
hand, saying, " You are devilish warm; these sort
of oaths escape us now and then, but I had no inten-
tion of d'ending you." " General, since you say so,
I am satisfied."

" The following day, I was informed that divers
insinuations were propagated in town respecting me,
viz. that I was not a Swedish Officer; that a Danish
vessel had taken me up at sea, coming from an Eng-
lish vessel ; that I did not know a word of Swedish;
that I was an Agent of England, Sze. &c. To these
I paid little attention ; but on the 6th of January,
an Aid-de-Camp came to invite me to breakfast
with the General ; I was not there a lower of an
hour when the Prefed arrived, accompanied by a
Captain of Gendarmerie and four Gens d'Armes.
" The Captain set a talking, and asked me ewhy I
had come into France I' I asked him why he asked
me that question ?‘
" The PrefeCi answered, "Because_you are ar-
rested by order of the Grand Judge :" " What are
the motives ?" " The orders of the Grand judge are
not to be communicated."