dent, and Officers of the Honourable Court;--It is with the
greatest humility that I venture to address you. I shall be very brief,
nor shall I attempt to disprove the charges which have been made against
me, but confine myself to a few facts, the consideration of which will,
I trust, operate upon your feelings in mitigation of the punishment to
which I may be sentenced for my fault--a fault which proceeded, not from
any evil motive, but from an ardent love for my country. I am by birth a
Frenchman; my life has been spent in the service of France until a few
months after the revolution in Spain, when I, together with those who
composed the French squadron at Cadiz, was made a prisoner. The
hardships and cruel usage which I endured became insupportable. I
effected my escape, and after wandering about the town for two or three
days, in hourly expectation of being assassinated, the fate of too many
of my unfortunate countrymen; desperate from famine, and perceiving no
other chance of escaping from the town, I was reduced to the necessity
of offering myself as a volunteer on board of an English frigate. I
dared not, as I ought to have done, acknowledge myself to have been a
prisoner, from the dread of being delivered up to the Spaniards. During
the period that I served on board of your frigate, I confidently rely
upon the captain and the officers for my character.

"The love of our country, although dormant for a time, will ultimately
be roused, and peculiar circumstances occurred which rendered the
feeling irresistible. I returned to my duty, and for having so done, am
I to be debarred from again returning to that country so dear to me--
from again beholding my aged parents, who bless me in my absence--from
again embracing my brothers and sisters--to end my days upon a scaffold;
not for the crime which I did commit in entering into your service, but
for an act of duty and repentance--that of returning to my own? Allow me
to observe, that the charge against me is not for entering your service,
but for having deserted from it. For the former, not even my misery can
be brought forward but in extenuation; for the latter I have a proud
consciousness, which will, I trust, be my support in my extremity.

"Gentlemen, I earnestly entreat you to consider my situation, and I am
sure that your generous hearts will pity me. Let that love of your
country, which now animates your breasts, and induces you to risk your
lives and your all,