The Sun.
London, England, 1818-03-30 00:00:00

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HOME CIRCUIT.

•
MAIM ONE, KENT, MARCU 27.

jun. the son of the last witness,
said, he saw the scuffle; and he said, the prisoner
fired the. pistol when he was standing about five
feet from the prosecutor.
MR. ROBILLIARD'S DEFENCE.
-" Painful and distressing as it is to be placed
at the Bar as a criminal, and aboveall upon a
capital charge, I rejoice, nevertheless, that the
hour of my trial is come.
" I am satisfied that, upon an impartial consi-
deration of my case, I shall have a verdict of ac-
quittal. And I hope and trust that I shall not
only stand justified in the opinion of the Court
and Jury,. but that I shall appear in the eyes of
my country without any imputation on my
conduct.
" My situation, and that of every officer' who
is employed upon a service such as th,t in which
I was etwaged, is indeed arduous and difficult. It
alike calls' for his courage and his discretion.
" Before I enter farther upon my case, I must
be excused for observing, that my brother Officer
here,. and myself, from the time when we were
first detained, have been treated very differently
from what we should have expected ; and in a
manner reflecting some considerable discredit
upon the gnarter from whence such treatment
originated. Me were treated with unnecessary
severity, being debarred from the advice and _
assistance of our Commandingpfficer on the even-
ing of our first detention. • •
" On the evening of this transaction, it was
between seven
.and eight o'clock I.{.certainly not
more-thatreight),when, having been carried before
the Mayor, we sent to Captain 1.114;ulloch to in-
form him what had happened. .1-le came within a
very short time, .and as we had hee.” removed to
the Gaol- in -the interval, he made application to
.theMayor,foraccesS to us.
" '1 his, which • would hardly
hiVe been c.cnied to the.meanest criminal) met
with alperemptory refosal.
Captain Al' Ctillocik Was not 'Permitted to
sec us,

'Kitt this is not all.. The Mayor, in this in-
tervieW, took upon himself to.assert. to Captain
IK`Culloch that my brol her Officer and myself were
in a state of intoxication. And Capt. M'Culloch
repeating his application to see us, in order that
he might satisfy himself as to our sobriety, the re-
fusal was still perSiSted in.
" And why was this ? The hour was not un-
seasonable. The Mayor was fearful that'Captan
M'Culloch would see, and be able to depose to
the falsity of this insinuation. - _
" Anti again, on the following morning, when
Captain M'Culloch applied to the filayor, that we
might he bailed during the examinations;—in re-
fusing the application, he made use of expressions
.ill-becoming a Magistrate at any time, but indeed
Unworthy in a case where he was to sit judicially.
"• He spoke of us as blood thirsty Rascals
.and Puppies,' and added, that one of us, on being
told that Admiral Harvey's servant had been
wounded, bad said, Damn • him, I wish I bad
shot him through the heart.'

" And so anxious was he to establish this ex-
,Rression against us, that when the examination
:took place on the following morning, he put
question after question in vain to the witnesses, to
:make it appear that we had said so, as well as to
spew that we had been intoxicated,
'' Whereas, there was not the smallest founda-
rion either for the one,assprtion or for the other ;
zliteitliefor us hail made. use of any such exit' t 6 •
kind' bath of were fl'e'ilectly sober.
•r " Not are these the only points upon which we
lave..had,reason tosompluin. Our case has been
'prematurely discussed.; no little pains have been
to.kett-t to call forth tifid encourage every unfa-
vourable impressiolt,alkititst us ; in order, if pos.
sibleathatthe minds
.o.(.the public, and amongst
thoie of the Jur:y, might. be biassed, and
yO-ur %cr.lict might be a verdict of prejudice
4tistlier Than ofjustice..
SO lately as the 7th of this month an article
-'matte its appearance in the Kentish Gazette, tom-
:lhenting pretty openly upon this transaction, and
cellitlg upon the inhabitants of Deal to come for-
vard with subscriptions in support of this pro-
secution.

I fearnothing from such itklecent and ill.
Aimed contrivances, but they Shew the eager-
ness at least of persons who have mixed thew.
selves but too much with this prosecution.
" I shall now make some few observations upon
the merits of the case which is before the Court;
but time cannot fairly be judged of without par-

TRIAL .OF' I'H5 MIDSHIPMEN FOR SHOOTING AT
PERSONS AT DF,LII-
NichOlai Robilliard anti J 4rguimbau, two young
midshipmen, were charged on t, o indictments,
the first with shooting at, and th( other with
aiding him in shooting at J. Williams, at tight
o'clock in the evening of the 27th day of De-
cember, in King-street, near the Fishmarket,
Deal. The prosecutor described himselt as a
mariner, and stated that he was returning home
on the eveni!:g of the 27th December, having
been for a walk ; when he got into the Fish.
market he beard the noise of quarrelling, and
saw Mr. Arguimbau disputing with a man of
the name of Robinson ; he cried out " Llano !
-what's the matteri':-. ‘vben Robilliard step-
. ped up to hinr„ and sai4,,_ you
.are the fellow.
-that just now insulted ttte.. He. replied that
'he was. not, and was ready to go before the
Ajayor. Robilliard had a pistol in his hand, and
after a few words fired it at hint, anti then threw
his cutlass. Tlie prosecutor close:! with him,
-and in doing so received a Wonnd across his
_face, .but .he succeeded in throwing.
llown,. and .esfaped. In_ cross-examination, he
denied that be had ever seen Robi-iliard to his
`-knOwledge before that night, or that 'lie had been
Stnirggling "that evening.
J.,Baroes, a grocer at Deal-, near whose house
the affray happened, said, he heard -the noise of
the diqinte between Arguitnbau and Robinson,
and he went to his door: He interposed, and
thought ate had succeeded in restoring peace,
and had returned to his shop, when he heard
'the repiirt of a pistol. The • ball ..struck his
tiritnlow-shutter. He came out and found the
prosecutor.and the prisoner Robilliard struggling
"on the ground.