Star.
London, England, 1818-12-10 00:00:00

ON Tilt ADMINISTRATION Or JUSTICE
IN FRANCE.

_~

His Majesty Louth YIIL in March,
.1815, boasted
that " he had given a_i;harter to his people which
was the brightest gem in his crown ; his glory, and his,
claim to the gratitude of all his subjects.' These
assertions none will doubt ;—the Charter is the pride
of every patriotic Frenchman ; yet, alas, this Charter,
so excellent ir. itself, is nearly a dead letter, a mere
umbrella, as TALLETRAND called it, hoisted in bad
weather, and folded up and made a walking-stick of
when the political horizon is clear. His MAJESTY to
punish the treasons of 1815, felt the necessity of vio-
lating it ler " that once" by the Ordounance of the
'24th of July, and the example has been so conta-
gious, that every rank of Officers under Government,
from the Ministers, Judges. Prefects, Military Com-
manders of Departments, their Subalterns, Sub-Pre-
fects, Majors, itc. &c. down to the humble Commis-
sary of Police, have ever since violated it, and for the
most part with impunity. Torrents of innocent blood
flow at Nismes, Marseilles, Avignon, Grenoble,
Lyons, &c. The assassins are arrested—the evidence
of cyc.witnesses is positive, and yet a Jury ac.
quits the criminals, under the direction of a Judge,
who has the audacity to assert, that " if the facts
were even proved, the assassins had only anticipated
the Tribunals:" and who are these, whom Justice,
like a roaring lion, seeks to devour ?—Peaceable
citizens—persons.. who would never cry either Five
le. lloi ! or Vire l'Enufereur ! Protestants, whose only
' crime is the following the Religion of their font.:
fathers ;---persons who have purchased or inherited
National or Church property ;—citizens, who prefer
the Charter to the feudal system i—these are the Ordi-
nary victims of the hatred, the cupidity, and the
treason of a faction, which would only be despised, if
their influence in almost every department of Governw
ment did not make us tremble at their sight. The
Tribunals throughout the kingdom are filled with
them, and justice is thus perverted in its source; and,
if any man be bold enough to bring.an action against
'them for the wilful perversion of justice, the Council
of State is there' to grant them impunity in the name
of the KING. Of this we have a recent instance in
the case of M. Jules Pasquier, late Prefect of the
Sarthe. His conduct in the .false imprisonment of
one M. Goyet, was most flagrant. M. GOTET brings
his action against him, and it is stopped in limbic by
a decision of the Council of State, of, which, we be-
lieve the said Junes PASQUIER is a member, as well
as his brother, the ‘‘ Minister of Justice." To the latter,
we believe, is owing the dismissal of the former from
a post he so much abused ; but as Minister of Js.:;
.ice, we wish he had gone farther, and suffered his
yarth y broiler to receive the just punishment of
the offended laws. It is not certain, indeed, that
the Tribunal would have condemned him. No,
their tenderness to the Ultras, makes it vain t 6 treat
for an upright decision ; or, if in certain cases, a supe•
rior aullsorit.,/ orders a Court to be just, and condemn
a guilty tetra, it is merely for form's sake—he
escapes punishment, and laughs, with the Abbe Vinson,
at the sentence of a Tribunal. No, the only benefit,
(and it a great one,) that can arise when a Constitu-
tional citizen seeks redress against an Ultra, is the
publication of the facts throughout all France, which
carries conviction to the bosom of every citizen of
tl.c necessity of an immediate and a radical change in
the Administration of Justice, and'which, see-mg
the Chambers will take into consideration' at the
commencement of the Session. w.
Iv. The Editor agrees with the writer of the preceding
article in his views of the Importance of the subject, and invites
him to continue it • at the same time he must request the favour
e his name and address; this done, his future articles will be
accepted with pleasure and thanks.

THOMAS LETROY, Esq. is the nes King's Serjeant,
in Ireland.
Monday a woman died at Coppingford, near Hun.
tingdon, who had for the preceding week lain in a
dormant state. In the course of that time she had
been let blood, whets it is said she opened her eyes,
but immediately afterwards fell into her former state
of somnolency, and continued so till she died.
•
BOXERS.
Both Martin and Scroggios were too much injured to be re-
moved yesterday. The latter was put to bed at Hampton after
the fight, and he was bled in both arms. This was the worst
beating he ever experienced. Burn went to East Sheen for ..Star-
tin yesterday morning. but although flushed with extra spirits
by victory, he too could not be safely removal. His left eye is
closed,and he has buffered materially about the left ear, and that
side if the head.
CORONER'S INQUEST.—An Inquisition was taken at
Wimbledon yesterday on the body of Ann Andrews,
aged six years. It appeared from the evidence, that,
Mrs.:lodgkirlon, of Wimbledon, keeps an establish-
ment for nursing parish children. The deceased was
sent to her by one of the parishes in London with
several other children, to nurse. Mrs. Ilodgkinson'ss
son, a boy about 13 years of age, was in the habit of
going to Wimbledon Common to shoot sparrows.—
On Friday last he went there with his gun ; he was,
as usual, heating about for sparrows, and at last came
into the part where the childr:r. had been at play ;
amongst them was the deceased ; he begun to spew
them his gun, when it went off accidentally, and the-
deceased received nearly all the content in her head.
Mrs. Ilodgkinson had gone a few 71-.-d s di.tance from
$e house when the accident liapi:ened, and heard the
report. She repaired to the spot, and found the de-
ceased weltering in blood. She immediately sent for
a surgeon, who endeavoured to extract the shot ; but
some had penetrated into the brain, which caused the
deceased's death shortly afterwards, although every
thing that surgical skill could devise was resorted to.
—Verdict, That the deceased was killed by a gun,
carried by Thomas J-Todgkiuson accidentally going
off, the contents of which had lOdged in her head.
A BRUTE.—Saturday night, a man at the Wheat
Sheaf, Farnham, after eating a good supper, under-
took for a wager, to eat two dozen of hot mutton
pies, and drink a-quart of beer, which he performed
in 18 minutes, to the astonishment of all present.
Mtiansa.—A most shocking murder was conunitted in the
neighbourhood of Liverpool, on Wednesday last. A woman of
the name of Nixes was found about dusk in the evening, in the
road from Derby Chapel to faukerly, with her throat cut,
and expired a short time afterwards. The knife with which the
fatal decd had been committed, was found near the place where
the woman was lying; which havinq been traced to belong to
the family by whom the woman'a husband was employed, ht
was immediately taken into custody, to await the verdict of the
Coroner's Jury. It is said that the women and her husband had
not lived together for somtime. On Saturday, an Inquest wan
held on the body, befora BAIINZT \Valour, Esq. CeroaPr, when
a yLve..i:t Mfr.! Murder was returned ar.inu tb,- hat
the basame
nd,
wh,.) W 29 i*rmvitateiy-tornmittesi for trial, and sent
afictocon to Laos:tr.

LAW iNTELL/GENeE. .
. .
-....
COURT DE KING'S BENCH; DECEMBER 4. •
fete lent° V. AUGUSTINS BOOLE FRINCII, AND OTHERIL.
._. This was an aesion against Augustine 1300
French, Nathaniel Bogle French, deceased, John Bar-
ton, Matthew Welch, and Antonio de Lou, for a
conspiracy.. The defendants Barton and Loza 'did
ant appear ; Ail A. B. French and M. Welch pleaded
Not Guilty.
Mr. GURNEY, Mi; BOLLAND, and Mr. PARE, Con-
ducted the prosecution. The letter Gentleman hav-
ing opened the indictment;
Mr. GURNEY proceeded 56 state the case to the
Jury. It was his duty to lay before them the facts
which would be proved in evidence iii support of this
indictment, against the several defendants named by
his Learned Friend. They had been apprised that
I this was a case of conspiracy—a case peculiar in its
character in the history of a Court of Justice, • ex-
tremely atrocious in its object and character, and
carried into execution by means not less atrocious
than the object. The case had arisen out of a Very
extraordinary state of things which had existed In
the course of the late war. Napoleon Bonaparte had
made war upon the commerce of this country by hls
Berlin and Milan Decrees, and it becaftie necessary
for the Government of this country to repel that
mode of warfare by Orders in Council. At the same
time that Bonaparte thought proper to proscribe all
vessels which should have touched at an English
port, it became necessary for this country to prevent
'French vessels from touching at English ports. In
the result, however, the interests of Europe com-
pelled both Governments to carry on commerce by
the licensing system. It was rightly considered that
t)iis system would be most advantageous to this
country. By these licenses a direct trade was car
ried on with France, and by means of them the pro-
perty imported and exported was protected from
seizure and capture, though it should be the property
*the enemy. The defendants upon this gronn& con-
spired to make an undue, unlawful, and most wicked
advantage of this licensing system. The persons who
were originally parties to the conspiracy were Mr.
Nathaniel Bogle French (who died at the very time
this indictment was preparing), his son, the defen-
dant Augustine Bogle French, Mr. Barton, the other
partner in the house of French and Co. Simon Cock
(nor included in the indictment), and John French
Burke. The house of Bogle French and Co. had
been originally a house of wealth and respectability.
In 1806 it failed ; it then resumed business under
another firm, and at the time when this conspiracy
commenced, namely, at the close of 1816, their cre-
dit (although not generally known) was not only
totally impaired, but was really in the most despe-
rate circumstances. The contrivance now charged
against them was, to retrieve themselves by the means
which would be laid before the Jury in evidence,
namely, by fitting out an English vessel, sending her
to Spain—making a pretended sale of her to Spanish
subjects—getting a Spanish letter of marque, and
'bringing her to cruize in the British Channel, for the
purpose of capturing ships and their cargoes navi •
gating the seas under the protection of British licen-
ses. h was impossible for the Jury to conceive any
thing more base and wicked than this contrivance,
which, it would be found, was pursued with the ut-
ism Ingenuity and art, the most del'berate wicked-
ness, and containing within itself a complication of
crime, which the Learned Counsel had scarcely met
with in a Court of Justice. For the purpose of ef-
fecting this plan, the brig Pitt (the registered pro-
perty of she defendant, Augustine Bogle French) was,
at the close of 1812, sent out to Portugal with a
cargo of goods, which being sold to advantage, the
ship would be near the scene of action. The execu-
tion of the plan was confided to Mr. John French
Burke, with the assistance of a Mr. Simon Cock, a
r person of no common ingenuity and cleverness, who
was to assist Mr. Burke as clerk. The ship having
-gone to Porttlgal, Mr. Burke followed ; and the first
L step towards the completion of the conspiracy was to
make a pretended disposal of the ship, for the pur-
pose of obtaining letters of marque, which could only
'be procured upon the oath of the party applying,
that the ship was the sole property of a subject of the
power from which the letters of marque issued. It
ilia& necessary, therefore, to make a pretended sale to
ime Spanish subject, in order that he might make
I oath that this ship was his property, in order that
the letter of marque might be granted to him. The
eiecution of the plan, therefore, commenced in
foul perjury, and whether it was committed by
'the man who kissed the book, or the person who
suborned him for that purpose, the moral guilt
was the same in both. The execution of the plan
would necessarily involve this crime, in the very
Outset of the transaction. It would appear that
Mr.. Burke made a pretended sale of this vessel
to a Spaniard of the name of Mendez ; but as one
*sale was not quite sufficient to cover the transaction,
',Mendez again fold her to a gentleman at Corunna,
calling himself Don Juan Baptiste de Larragoiti. It
appeared' that Mendez had changed the name of the
vessel from the Pitt, to the General Porlier, and Larra-
goiti 'again changed it to the San Juan Baptiste. The
next fact to be proved was, that Larragoiti made ap-
pli,;ation to the Spanish Government for a letter of
marque, swearing that the ship was his property, and
it was not unworthy of observation,_ that though the
affidavit was, in fact, sworn in May 1813, it was
ante-dated to September 1812, at which time the
ship was the undoubted property If Augustine Bogle
French, and was then lying in the River Thames. The
ship was then fitted out at Corunna as a Spanish pri-
7vateer, with 12 carriage guns, blunderbusses, guns,
pistols, and other warlike instruments and ammunition,
the crew and commander being Spanish; and, strange
as it might appear, die commander was engaged by
Mr. Burke, notwithstanding the supposed change of
owner from Mendez to Larragoiti. This engage-
ment was made by Mr. Burke, with a Mr. Lora, but
v. ith an express stipulation, that when on board the
latter was only to act as first mate. 'f he ship had
been originally navigated to Portugal by a Captain
Anderson, who was dismissed upon her arrival. In
the month of February,Messrs. B. gle French and Co.
had engaged Mr. Matthew We:cli to go out and I
command the newly named ship, and accordingly he
assumed the command at Col mina, from whence the
ship sailed about the latter cad of May, 1813, with
Mr. Burke on board, De Loza, nominally as Captain,
with LO 6Lsaui t; .l: on Loa: d, and the vessel came into

the British Channel about the 9th of liine; the i•essist
went into the hal-both of Guernsey, under the ;Ire-
tente of careening hef bottdrn: She hoisted shit •
Spanliitll Rdyal ensign, and came to anchor in the
rdadsi The ship was thins not under the dire.ction of
•
De briia, nor of Mr. Welch, but of Mn Burke, who
assumed the supreme command. The warlike ap-
pearante of this vessel attracted the notice Of the Go-
vernment of the I-land, and the Spanish Consul went
on board to make enquiries and offer his sconces. •
He was informed by Mr. Burke that he had come
last frdm Coruna—that the vessel Only entered
Guernsey for the purpose of being careened, although
sheshad been but ten days at sea—and that he him.
iielf was only a passenger. But notwithstanding
he applied to a merchant on the Island for money to
'supply the ship with stores, which WaS advanced to
" him upon the credit of drafts upon Messrs. Bogle,
French . and Co. of London which were afterwards
duly paid. Though: Mr. Burke was only a passenger
for England, and had inquired when the packet sailed,
he never availed himself of any such means to go so..
•his destination. On the contrary, to the surprise of-
every body, he remained on board—provided stores.,
and, paid for them by drafts on the house of Bogle,
French and Co: in London. The suspicious appeai-
since of the San Juan was at length confirmed by ad .
experiment which was tried for that purpose.--kship,
in the harbour called the Palmira wits sent to sea,.
pretending to pursue her voyage. She was immes
tiatcly followed by the San Alan, under the orders et.
Mr. Burke, who-was in such a hurry that he ordered
the.cabkes to be slipped. Seeing that the trap took,
the Pahnirai after going to sea about three miles from
the shore, returned to the port, and was afterwards
followed by the San Juan: The suspicions at fiest
entertained being thus confirmed, the Governor, Sir
John Doyle, thought it neaskary to enquire into the
views of Mr. Burke and Mr. Welch' and he had these
gentlemen brought before him. On that occasion
Mr. Burke did not deny that his object was to capture
the Palmira; on the contrary, he said that if he had
chosen to take her no power on earth could take her
Sivas him—having a commission from the SpariLls
Government and he would bring an action against
any man who interfered with him The Sai.hien
,'then sailed for England and arrived at Dartmouth
about the 24th of June when Mr. Burke came straight
'to London, the affair at Guernsey having excited very
general suspicion. It would appear that Mr. Welch
himself came to London, and in furtherance of his
project examined and marked out the ships in the
London Docks, particularly those which had licensee.
—He also took an account of their cargoes, and fur-
nished with this information, and with instructio:`s
from his principals, he returned to Dartmouth, and
put to sea, taking his station near Havre de Grac.:,
1 where he expected a Danish ship called the Charlotta,
with a cargo value.' at £30,000 on board, which he
I ha?. heard, when in London, was destined for Havre.
The appearance of the San Juan attracted the no-
tice of Captain Gordon, of the Dwarf cutter, then
cruizing in the Channel., What passed on that oc-
casion would appear in the subsequent evidence.—
In the result the Charlotte was captured,, and taken
to Portsmouth, under the guidance Of the San
Proceedings were then instituted in the Admiralti,
by the owners, for the restitution of the ship ; and
on that occasion the defence was, that the San Jain
was solely a Spanish ship ;on the same -occasion ,
davits were adducei by Burke, Welch, De Loza and
others, which would appear by the subsequent evi-
deuce, to be founded- on the wickedest and foul tat
perjury. Another part of the machinery of this case
was the procuration of a sentence of condemnation,
obtained by the like means in the Spanish Corti, by
which the conspirators attempted to supersede the
[jurisdiction of the English Courts of Admiralty; but
Ihir William Scel pronounced sentence of re-AittitilA.
The Spanish sentence had arrived the day at.ler.
' Messrs. French and Cc. became bankrupts, and
the subsequent dis:::osurc ef their affairs, the whole
of this foul conspiracy was completely d'iscov'ered,
and shewed that the defence in the Court or Admi-
'salty was supported by the grossest perjury, After
a full detail of the circumstances of the case, and a
variety of ingenious, eloi;••,..at, and impressive obser-
vations, the Learned Coans:.l concluded by offering
the following evidence:
Voluminous documents, consisting of letters of the
defendants, their affidavits in the Court of Admiralty,
:reef-milts, drafts, &c. &c. were put in and read, to st,p-
port Mr. G'urney's statement, and found-the follow-
ing oral testimony :
Robert Moore, Er,t. Spanish Vicz-Consul, residel.t.
at Guernsey in June :SI", Mated that on the 9th of
that month the ship .S:n ,Iraan Baptiste ente;ed ti!
port, with the Spanish Ili•yrd standard flying. Le
went on board mid searched her papers, and De Loan,
the apparent Captain, produced a letter of mugs%
granted to him by Ferdinand VII. and dated Wart:,
lthlr Sept. all% and apparently issued the ‘22.1
cf
Nay, 161.3, signed by the Duke d'infantada.
Loza stated that the snip came from Cornfina some
days;'that his' first object was to crane in the Chan-
nel afew days, and then to go to Darer for a cargo.
Witness said, Why cruize in the Channel? there •
are no enemy's vessels at tear He 'replied that he
would take his char ce. He said his object in cornirg
to Glierriicy wak to careen the eerie'.. On going down
into the cabin, Berke asked him when the packets
sailed fot England? and witness informed him. he
said tQ witness that he was only a passenger en booed
the ship. *Had no conversation with Welch. The
vessel came into harbour and her bottom was cleaned,
she remained. there about a fortnight. in the course
of that time.duee or four packets sailed !or England.
About the Odd' June a vessel calked she' lalmira,
sailed out of the' Roads--shewas followd by the
San Juan. The Palmira hid only gone about three
miles and returned to the Roads again, and the Sall
Juan returned also. This transaction excited a good
deal of alarm in the island, and the consequence was
that Burke, Welch, and Loza, were summoned me
same day before the Governor. On that occasioa,
Burke said, that according to the maritime law,
which he well understood, he Was authorised to cap-
ture any of these licensed vessels, alluding to the Pal-
mira, which had a British license, bound to France,
and he said he would p•osecute any ihitish officer,
however high his rank, who attempted to inten ape
him. The defendant De Loza being told by wine ss
that he had placed himself in a perilous situation, he
took a letter out of his pe..kci, written in Spanish,
which was handed to the Go. et nor.
Mr. Joseph Collings, a resident merchant of Gnern-