334 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



forms of England. Touching 

 upon the head of accusation, by 

 which the three culprits were 

 charged with being accomplices 

 in concealing Lavalette knowing 

 that he was condemned to die, 

 and as a consequence, that they 

 facilitated and consummated his 

 escape, he said, he must here anti- 

 cipate a dis])ute about Avords. It 

 would be alleged, that the escape 

 was the act of issuing from 

 prison, which was consummated 

 when he was on the outside of 

 the gates ; wherefore it was false 

 to cliaige them with facilitating 

 and consummating a thing al- 

 ready (lone. But the fact con- 

 stituting the crime was the con- 

 cealment, and it did not signify 

 whether it did oi" did not aid tlie 

 escajjc ; for had he been retaken 

 in the place which served as his 

 asylum, the person who had pro- 

 cured it for him would not have 

 been the less guilty. Art. 248 of 

 the penal code declares guilty 

 tliose who have concealed or 

 caused to be concealed. The na- 

 ture of the facts in this case was 

 such, that theie was a moral cei'- 

 tainty, that those who concerted 

 to get Lavalette out of France, 

 also came to an understanding as 

 to the mode of its accomplish- 

 ment the moment his escape from 

 prison took place. It has not 

 been asserted that they had any 

 communication with the first asy- 

 lum in whicli he was secreted 5 

 it was sufficient that they pro- 

 vided hiui with an intermediate 

 asylum ; an<l by his passing the 

 night there, this became the place 

 of concealment. A person may 

 conceal a man either in his own 

 house, or in that of another ; 



hence the law speaks of conceal- 

 ing or causing to be concealed. 

 He who procures the asylum, 

 who has made arrangements for 

 procuring it, who facilitates his 

 entrance into it, are all abettors 

 and accomplices in this species of 

 crime. The advocate-general then 

 applied these principles to the 

 facts acknowledged by the three 

 prisoners, and endeavoured to in- 

 clude them all equally in vhe crime 

 of concealment, flerecelej, which 

 was the essence of the accusation. 

 On a subsequent audience, 

 April 24th, M. Dupin opened his 

 defence of the English gentlemen. 

 In the exordium, taking notice 

 of Sir R. Wilson's resistance to 

 the first interrogatories, he im- 

 puted it solely to ignorance of 

 the French laws. "But (said 

 he) the moment he had commu- 

 nicated with his ambassador, what 

 frankness, what good faith, in all 

 that was personal to himself ! 

 and his two friends acted a simi- 

 lar part." He proceeded to re- 

 mark on some serious errors, 

 which had crept into the transla- 

 tion of Wilson's and his brother's 

 letters, and which had called forth 

 severe animadversions from the 

 advocate-general ; and the inter- 

 preter was directed by the presi- 

 dent to amend the translation, 

 when the advocate-general de- 

 clared that lie abandoned all the 

 deductions which might be drawn 

 from this correspondence. M. 

 Dupin then made .some apolo- 

 getical observations on the poli- 

 tical sentiments disclosed in the 

 letters ; and proceeded to a pane- 

 gyrical explanation of those hie- 

 roglyphics of honour -which Sir R. 

 Wilson wore on his breast, in 



which 



