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

tiAtlar attention to 'the `rplace`' and the circnin-
-stances under which the transaction arose.—Tt,e
'transaction was at Deal.
'" it Is almost too notorious to need obser-
vation, that fcir years smuggliog has prevailed at
Deal, and in its immediate vicinity, perhaps more
thin at any otaer spot in England, and thiS with
ia 'degree of audacity, avhiclr, to• those who -are
strangers to.the place; may seem hardly to be cre-
dited-.
" Outrage after outrage has been committed',
some of them • eten in broad day-light ; Officers
of the Navy a nil of the Revenne have been ob-
structed, and in many instances treated with such
violence as to erntangir their lives. .
" Lest. the .statentent'should he doubted, I will
particularize a few lost stances
In August, 1816, a party front the Ganeyttrede,
then under Captain M'Culiock's c,mtnand, were
attacked and fired upon by the smugglers, closeto
the town, and twir marines were severely wound,
ed ; an attack 'upon' the Revenue Officers being
made at the same time.
" in the same month, the Ganytnetle*s people
were again attacked;- and the boatswain nearly
marderetl.
" On the 11th of Feb., .1817,, at three o'clock
in the'thLy time, a smuggling boat landed at
south cud of the town, and the Revenue Officers
arriving at the spot, found the smugglers with
'ben- fares blacked, who set them' at defiance.
'lwo of. the. Wiest., haiing got into the boat,.
were thrown our of her by the iningOves,- and,
had not been for the coming op of the military,'
hlood would undoubtedly ha‘e hero shetL
" On the 1211 i of August, 1817,.in.the night,
Mr. lionlon, a midsltipmir,o of the SeYerii, having:
seized a D,:al boat laden witlespitits in Margate."
harbour, was attacked by nearly 200 smugglers,
some of whom even lain into the water to assail
them. Ile and two of his men were knockpd.
dawn with stones, and vety severely %rounded.
" On the 13th of September, 1817, Mr. Moore,
another midohipman belonging to the Severn,
seized a boat in the act of landing with 101 casks_
trf Geneva, near the North Foreland) and upon
trying .to launch her into- the water, was unable
to accomplish it on account of the sort.; while the'
haat lay. upon the sand, the smugglers attacked
Some of them, seized Kemp, the coxswain, ear--
tied him upon the cliffs, and stuffed his month
%vial a handkerchief ; others threw 11.1 r.
Moore into the water, jumped upon him, and
kept him there for a considetable time, and after.
wards left hiin in a state of insensibility in a field '
ii-short distimce .off.
" On the 11th of October, 1817, Mr. Nat, a
midshipman 'belonging also to the 'everit, in pro-
'ceedi;,g at two o'clock in the day, to examine a
boat which had latidtd at the notth -end of -the
town, was violently obstructed'; and on that
eVening, Mr. M'Mikin, the "clerk of the Severn,
was.atta, Iced and
.sevetcly beaten by 'a pally of
smugglers, who mistook bitty for Mr. 1' :+t.
" On the 17th of the satne month of October,
Mr. Peat and myself were violently obstructedby
a party-mho had landed a boat at the north CO of
the town, toms of them attempting to throw Mr.
Peat out of the boat ; when' surrounding me,•
striking me, and threatening to murdet me, and
tailing out that our reign was over, and that
they would Soon be masters.'—Worthington was
oflhe party.
" the 17th of .November,• 1817, the sante

Air. I', At was -proceeding, about nine o'clock in

the cieNiing, to inspect his men at the north end
of the town, when he received s`blOw on the head
with a boat stretcher, given with such .violence as
itrbreak the 'weapon with which 'it Was inflicted.
The person who Lad. struck hint being joiliol by
eight 'or teritunre, Mr. Peat fired his pistol, which
brotight some 'of This men to his assistance. A
'constable or the town coining up at the same time,
Peat' desired him to apprehedd the person
who bad assailed him : this the constable did' not
but replied, tharby firing Mr. Peat was dis-
turbing the. peace of the town, and he had a
great mind to report hint to the Mayor For it.'
" On the 4th of .Daeember, 1817; 'James CAV.•
Tenet-, arse of the'ireamen belonging to the Severn,
was attacked in the town of Deal, without the'
least provocation, by 'five smugglers, who beat
him severely ; one of them being Worthington,
who had repeatedly threatened him, telling him.,
that his. Captain had been the occasion of starv-
ing the parish, and. had filled the work.-bouse.'--•
Woithington has been indicted, and is now under
prosecution for this outrage'.
`_.',On the 30th of Januaty, lef the present 'year,
jobb Donovan, unothei of the Severn's seamen,
being stationed to watch a lugger that bad been-
run on shore at the north end of the town, was
seized by a ga!,g of smugglers, who stopped his
Pintail, and dragging him ititti a lane, threw him
down, and stamped upon him;
" And still wore recently, Mr. Soames, -an Offi-
cer of the Customs at Deal, was stabbed, while
endeavouring to secure a seizure of stnuggied

•
gOods.•
" If smirglin,g were not very general in De-al.
and its neighbourhood, if illicit practices of this
nAture were not habitual and of-daily occurrence,
such enormities could. not' have_shappenedi or if:
they bad happened, they could not hare gone itil-
Ftwished,
So mitell'the reverse of there being an incli-
nation to put a stop to rhoe 'disgraceful proceed-
placards are put' un.with an of of re-
Iv ;;rd for. discovering such °Tenders, they are not
suffered to remain upon the walls for four-and-
twenty hours. If-they are put up in the day, they
are torn thiwn in the night.
" if any one dares tt- think of coming forward
with information` as to offenders,'vetiOanceii de-
nounced against- him, and he is no knitter Safe.
" I have in Cowl the particulars of reward's;
ethotiiiting: together to 3,5G0t.; which lave been
Gifered at Deal', within 06 great length. of time,
add yet not a single discOvery has been produced
by them.--qUltre he laid the•several handbills`
the table of Court.)-So-leagued-together
the majority of the inhabitants ; -so, otterawed•anti
apprehensive of vengeance are the reinainder'.
Such, then; was the.station'olthe.Sei-ern, the
ship to which we belonged:
" The very object and purpose' of her being
there,' was to- act against the persons' Who thus
bet the law at defiance.
' " It could-not be otherwise, then, but that the

`ship,.-and e'velly*min that belonged to her, shohla
be obnoxious to nine-tenths of the neighbour-
hood.
" "Officers and men were exposed to insult_ in
the day time, and outrage in the night.
It this were the case with the Officers in ge-
heral, it was particularly so with myself. I had
received a deputation from the Board of Custott;s,
expressly authorising me upon the subject of
seizures ; and it had been my lot to make four
considerable ones within a vely short time before

the transaction.
In each of these, persons belonging to Deal
it ere concerned, and in the last of them (a seizure
Of tubs of spirits which had been sunk and secured
with an anchor), IVorthington, of whom I have
before spoken, came and asked for tbc anchor, as
belonging to himself.
" It is not surprising, then, that I should be
regarded with jealousy and hatred, either by the
people of Deal in general, or those more imme-
diately concerned in-this transaction'.
" It is not surprising, then, that, leagued and
connected togeiber as the smugglers are, they
should strain every point to procure a conviction
against
Worthington and Robinson, two of the persons
who were foremuit in the business, are now under
prosecution for their outrages of that night. They
Hmay well be anxious that I should be put out of.
the Way by a capital conviction.
':" I,4llink also, that it will not escape the oh-
:scrvation of the. Court, that my brother Officer
there and myself have been jointly indicted in each
.of two indictments,: more front a design of ex-
.cludit+~; tine of the only nelson whom
ithey thought we could call As'ti WiIIICSS. for the
'defence, titan with any other view.
It•does happen, however, If at nottritlistarid-
ingtl); danger he may incor,4 witness will he pro-
,duced of irreproachable character, of most re
spe.ctable condition, who has been induced to come
foriv.,ard (to his own great inconvenience), flout
i loVir. of justice, and a love ofjUstice only. lie
will prove most material facts relating to the' case
before you, and will skew this.trausaction in its
?right and real colours. '
" Taking into consideration the observations I
have alreAtly made to the Court, as_to the situation
in which I stood, I trust that the charge w Welt
is made against me of wilfully and maliciously
shooting at Wotrhiogt on will be deemed to he
mitoundcd. Had Worthington died of the shot,
I submit that it would not have been murder.

" The transaction was slimily thus :—On the
evening in question, the nfoon.rose het ween seven
and eight o'clock, until which time there were
neatly three hours of darktitss. This we knew
would be the likeliest tiute for the smugglers to
work. We were therefore on the alett, acting
upon the 'plan and by 6.2 order of Captain
Nl•Culloch (our Captain), lining the shore where
the smugglers usually landed with parties of our
Men staiiimed at certain intervals.

-" Mr. Arguimbau walked to and fro from time
to time to see that the men were at their posts,
they being at some distance from us, and out of
hearing.
" About half-past six, while we were in the mid-
dle street, al the corner of King-atreet, we observed
three men crossing King-street with loads on
their backs, accompanied by two others who were
not loaded. They: were smugglers. ‘Ve made
towards -them: The 'moment they perceived us
they ran ; we followed. The hindmost man was
herevily laden ; I overtook hint, and demanded
what he had got. Upon thiS,one of the men who
was attending as a scout, and without any load,
and whom I afterwards found to be Robinson,
knocked me down by a blow on the breast. [Jere-
upon
~Mr. Arguittibau came to my aid, and
seized ItobinSon.

When I got up, I continued my pursuit., and
again came up with the hindniost man; in thenext
street, which gave me • an opportunity of ascer-
taining what he had upon his back. He had two
half-atiker casks,' which froth their xveight tyere
evi,!emtly full of liquor-. Upon this Worthington
knocked me down by a blow on my head, which
stunned me. Mr. Argnimban being at this
time in Kit;g..stfeet, engaged with Robinson,
and there being. no one near lint the smuggling
party. This gave the man with the load the

means of escaping. When I recovered my sense's,
1 foam! IVorthink.;ton standing over Inc. l se-
emed him of having ,_struck me ; he answered,

• If I have insulted v;ntbefoie, I will do it again,'
and put himself in a boxing attitude. He is a
very strong and powerful man. I retreated across
the street ; IVnrthingtun followed, striking mne.
1 told I,lm I was'au (Meer on duty, and'then,
and not till then, 1 drew My cutlass•in self-de
fence, and said, that if he persisted in attacking
me, I should cut him down. He defied me, and
continued his attack ; I then cut at him, with my
cutlass, and wounded him. He closed and over-
powered me. I fell, first against a fish-stall, and
then npon the ground,. and he tell upon
Worthington fixed his knee upon my breast, and
leaned ttpOn rae.With all hiSlweiiiit. In thiS situa-
tion, knocked down for the third time, over=

powered, and in danger of my lift, I had nothing
left in order to defend wyself, .but.to make s like
use of my pistol. I did so ; .but UAW. not fire
until I had told Worthington that if he did not
get of I shoidd shoot him, being in hopes that,l
phould not betdriven to the necestrity of 'bring.—
Notwithstanding what. I had said, be continued
to press,-upon me, calling out, Shoot, who's.
-afraid:P-0n this I fired my pistol: I had no
wish.to ,sl}6Ot hiss, I only ‘visircd to :intimidate
him— lie was perfectly close to me, aud, there-
fore, if f had wished it, I could' have 'shot him
throtight the body with the greatest ease ; but this
I should .have been-sorry to have done, and there-
foreturned my pistol aside.'
'Under these circumstances, I trust my con-
dnettwill appear to • the Court and Jury 16 have
been that of necessity, and only done
,for self
• prestrteation, in the execution of a lawful duty,
duty infinitely more unpleasant': than that of
:facing the enemy,: and Upon which .1 had been
placed' not by my Oven choice, but by the order
of my Captain, and in' which, unless I (vete 'to.
have recourset6arins; it would
.be quite' impos-
rsible'thal I (or indeed' fti any"Oeer placed in the
,same Situation) could properly execute my duty.
4, have no'further obscivation to make, ex-
cent that if there is the smallest uoubt.that I was,

the -ground at the time of firing my pistol, I
shall produce evidenCe. of persons who have ex-
amined the hole which was made by the ball, it
having-pasiedthrough Mr. Barnes's slintte'r, who
Will distinctly state, fr6rn the direction taken by
the bail; it could not have been otherwise."

• MR. ARGUI MBAU'S -DEFENCE an the SAME CHARGE.
" I have vet y few wOrts to add to the Address
which has been oGred to the Court and -Jury by
lay brother Officer, in 'every word ,of' which I
most heartily concur, and the truth of which (as
to all the parts of the transaction at Which I was
pt'eselit) I most solemnly and entirely corrobo-
rate.

" The same reason 'Orhith had contributed to
make LUr. 13ubilliaril 'obnoxious to the Strugglers,
had raised in them a similar animosity against
myself.
" ‘Vithin a month only, of this transaction, I
had made three seizitres of contraband goods in
the immediate 'vicinity of DeAl.
" observations, therefore, as applying to
the situation in which he stood towards them,
would, a great degree, apply to me. But,
with respect to the filing against Worthington,
at the Titne.the pistol was fired by Mr. Robilliard,
I was at a considerable distance, and ignorant of
whist was psysiog. spas not even in the•same
street. They were hi. King-street ; I was- mum:
the cornet,'in Lower-street. Therefore, with re-
speet to,the firing the pistol by Mr. Itobilliard,
neither was, nor could be, in any possible way
contented."

'Sonit ttitnesses were thiqt-called, who had exa-
Mined the Matti of the ball in 'the shtitter, and
they said, (rota its direction, it must have been
fired Inca person lying on the grOund. This was
confirmed by one witne,s who saw the transaction.
The Jury found them--Not Guilty.
Th-etii.rst indictment was against Mr.. Argnimbau
alone.! It Appeared, that alter Robinson ran
awq, he pursued, and intending to fire at Robin-
son, his ball Unfortunately Lit another person, and
he was indicted for filing at the person whom
he hit.

The Learned Judge invnedia;ely lichl that Ibis
wound nut do, as the crime Consisted in the in--
tent,,ainl thcat he mast actually be charged for
firing at the I;erson. he-intended to fire at. On
this ground he directed the Jury to fiud them—
Nut theilly.

The prisoners were both very • gentlemanly.
young men,.and selected by their Captain for this
disagreeaLle 3er%ice, in consequence of their pru-
dence and discretion, as WAS stated ny Captain
M'Culloci, their Commander. hard is a
native of Guernsey, and Arguimban a native of
Minorca.