Star.
London, England, 1820-09-06 00:00:00

MILAN COMMISIFION COURIER.

. • (Frosp,tke Tiet!&)
. We have received thebfollowing letter from the
most respectable quarter Its important contents
require no' comment. They relate to a person whose
name occurs in the examinations of yesterday :

• " Pans, Sarennuta 1.
" Indignant at the unjust and ridiculous vial of which your
excellent Queen is the object, I have thought that it might not
be unacceptable to you to arm yourself with an additional
means of demonstrating how careless your Government has been
of the moral conduct of the men whom it has employed to for-
ward its inquiries, and to conduct the other measures which it
has followed in Italy.
a Among the individuals attached to the Milan Commission,
there was one called Crouse. He held the title of courier for
the British Cabinet, but, as it would appear, executed functions
not distinctly marked by his ostensible occupation. Sometimes
he received an order to go in search of discarded servants, for
the purpose of collecting their evidence • sometimes he com-
menced his operations in the central spot evidence;
the examinations of
these soi-distad eye-witnesses; and sometimes he was dispatched
.from Milan to London, carrying the result of these infamous,
proceedings. On this journey he usually passed through Paris.
Not satisfied with the considerable pay which he received, what
did this tricky knave do? Why he took advantage of some
days stay at l'aris to utter forged Bank of England notes. One
of my friends, who was the victim of his knavery for a large
sum, denounced him to justice. Mr. Crouse was arrested and
thrown into prison at Paris. In the examination of his papers
proof was found of his crime. Many forged notes, similar to
those which he had sold, were found upon him. He had the
address to destroy a considerable quantity of them before his
arrest. The agents whom he employed to dispose of those
forged notes, declared that they saw large packets of them in
his possession. In fine, taken jfegrcmie deficit', he would infalli-
bly have undergone the punishment denounced against forgery,
if bis Ambassador, whose protection he claimed, bad not em-
ployed all his diplomatic authority to snatch him from the hands
of justice. When interrogated as to his forged notes, Crouse
declared that he bad revived them at Milan. This wore the
air of truth, as it was always on his return from Milan that
r Crouse was the bearer of these forgeries. Thus Milan was at ,
once the den of conspirators and the refuge of forgers. The
English Ambassador promised to the justice of France to pro-
cure the punishment of Crouse at London. These assurances,
however, were not fulfilled. Mr. Crouse remained in the ser-
vice of his Government. People sufficiently clever to compro-
mise imprudently the honour of their Sovereign, and to Increase
their means by forgery, would appear by this to deserve the spe-
cial protection of your Government. As the name of this in-
dividual may perhaps be frequently mentioned on the trial of '
the Queen, it may not be without its use to make known to you
his morality. I will engage to furnish you with all the proofs
of the facts which I have now brought to your notice, and to
guarantee their correctnesa.
" L'p to this time my friend has not been indemnified for the
forged notes which Mr. Crouse circulated here.
" P.S.—M. Crouse, or Kraus, was arrested in the month of
November, 1819. The Ilenommee, which published several ar-
ticles at the time on the incident 1 have mentioned, may have
erred in the orthography of the name ; bet it is the sante indi-
vidual who was arrested for forgery that was engaged in hunt-
ing out and collecting witnesses in Italy.
" Enclosed you will find the articles of the Renononee which
I have alluded to. The person who interfered in favour of
Crouse is the Secretary, and an employe of the English embassy."
[lt would be needless to insert the three articles
from the Renommee of the 4th, 10th, and 15th of
January last, which relate to this subject : suffice it
to say, that they fully bear out the statement of our
correspondent. The following are the most material
passages :3
" Sir W. Temple was twee on the point of leaving the em-
bassy of Holland, because the local Authorities at the Hague
refused to give up one of his suite accused of a grave offence.—
It would appear that this protection, which goes the length of
securing impunity to the subaltern agents of an Embassy, makes
a part of the instructions of the Cabinet of St. James. At least
we are forced to draw this inference from the pressing and rei-
terated instances of the English Embassy, in favour of a man
accused of trading in forged notes of the Bank of England. The
following are the facts to which we allude, as stated to us by
one of the injured parties :
" A money-changer in the Palais Royal bad bought of an in-
dividual twenty Bank notes, which being sent to London for
payment, were returned as forgeries. The report of this trans-
action excited suspicion among the money-changers, and ren-
dered them distrustful in their operations. Meanwhile, notes
were offered to another money-changer, who asked twenty-four
hours to inquire into the address of the seller. The address was
given; it was that of a British Cabinet Courier. The money-
changer went next day to the appointed place, accompanied
with two other persons, who had been the dupes of the first
transaction. They found the trader in notes of the day before,
who was much embarrassed at their presence. They found
with him new notes, which they considered as forged. They
proceeded immediately to inform the Authorities of the circum-
stance. An inspector of Police ordered the arrest of the ac-
cused, whose papers were ordered to be sealed. The affair was
about to be put in a train of judicial inquiry, when the action
of justice was all at once paralysed. The individual arrested
applied to his Ambassador, who evinced an extraordinary zeal
in withdrawing from the operation of justice a subject of his
Sovereign. His Excellency wrote the most pressing letters to
several of the Ministers and to other Authorities. He repre-
sented, that thg individual accused being a Cabinet Courier, the
public service might suffer by his detention. In fine, he alleged
in his favour an aiiii of twenty-fours. This last allegation satis-
fied justice, and the accused was released."
In the Renommee, of the 10th of January, we find
the following defence of Kraus, set up by an apolo-
gist for him, writing under the signature of J. Y.
" The British courier, Kraus, bcught at Milan six Bank of
England notes (three of them of .C.Xt, and three of 410) of a
person named Colombo, which Colombo had purebred of a
shopkeeper called AlbertellL Colombo would not at first sell
them for less than 24 Uvres per pound sterling; but Kra fis after-
wards obtained them at 22—a price below the rate of ex&ange
at the time.

4, Having arrived at Paris, Kraus wished to sell them to
money-dealers of the Palais Royal, and at their request left with
them his name and address. Colombo is at present before the
Tribunals of Milan."
The Renomtnee, after inserting this letter, gives a
history of the transaction, with the names f money-
changers concerned in it. It is said that Kraus was
agitated when he saw them—that he was arrested—
and that he was liberated without a trial, to the in-

jury of those who had taken the forged notes. It is
afterwards said, that he must have known he was
uttering forgeries, for that he was proceeding to
London, and had with him more than 500 francs,
which rendered the change of his notes unnecessary
till he reached his destination, where the notes, if
genuine, would be of more service than French coin.
A lighterman, being on yesterday morn-
ing about one o'clock, in his skiff, met with an. Ad-
miralty barge going through London-bridge: it was
full of people. On his going near, he was astonished
to find the oars were muffled, viz. pieces of leathei
fastened round the filling, to prevent noise. It was
very foggy at the time. There was a boat made fast
behind, loaded with luggage.