Mr. Dallas moved on the 25th of April for a new trial, upon the following grounds:—
First,—The infamous character of the girl, who lived in open prostitution with Pedro Ruiz, and who had been privy to a robbery committed upon her paramour by Carlos Gonzalez; and that when a complaint laid against her had been brought before a magistrate, she, refusing to confess, had been ordered to be tortured.
Secondly,—That Governor Picton, who condemned her to this torture, did not proceed from any motives of malice, but from a conviction that the right of torture was sanctioned by the laws of Trinidad; and that he was rooted in this opinion by a reference to the legal written authorities in that island.
Thirdly,—That whatever his conduct might be, it was certainly neither personal malice, nor disposition to tyranny, but resulted, if it should prove to be wrong, from a misapprehension of the laws of Trinidad.
Fourthly,—That one of the principal witnesses in this trial, M. Vargass, had brought forward a book, entitled “Recopilacion des Leyes des Indes,” expressly compiled for the Spanish colonies, which did not authorise torture; and that the defendant had no opportunity of ever seeing that book; but it had been purchased by the British Institution at the sale of the Marquis of Lansdowne’s library, subsequent to his indictment, and that having consulted it, it appeared that when that code was silent upon criminal cases, recourse was always to be had to the laws of Old Spain, and that those laws sanctioned the torture.
The Court, after some consideration, granted the rule to show cause why a new trial should not be had, and as the second trial, which was eventually allowed, was attended with a different result from that of the first, we think it no more than just to the memory of Governor Picton to conclude our notice of this affair with the following apology for his conduct, which is extracted from a respectable monthly publication:—
“In an evil hour the British Colonel associated with him, in the government of the island, the British naval commander on the station, and Colonel Fullarton. This was, as might naturally have been expected, and as certainly was designed by one of the parties, the origin of disputes and the source of anarchy. It is well known that Fullarton, on his return to England, preferred charges against Picton, which were taken into consideration by the Privy Council, and gave rise to a prosecution that lasted for several years. No pains were spared to sully his character, to ruin his fortunes, and to render him an object of public indignation. A little strumpet, by name Louisa Calderon, who cohabited with a petty tradesman in the capital of Trinidad, let another paramour into his house (of which she had the charge) during his absence, who robbed him, with her knowledge and privity, of all he was worth in the world. The girl was taken before the regular judges of the place; who, in the course of their investigation, ascertained the fact that she was privy to the robbery, and therefore sentenced her, in conformity with the laws of Spain, then prevalent in the island, to undergo the punishment of the picket (the same as is adopted in our own regiments of horse); but, as it was necessary that this sentence should receive the governor’s confirmation before it could be carried into effect, a paper, stating the necessity of it, was sent to the government-house, and the governor, by his signature, conveyed his assent to the judges. The girl was accordingly picketed, when she acknowledged the facts above stated, and discovered her accomplice. That the life of this girl was forfeited by the laws of every civilised country is a fact that will not admit of dispute; yet clemency was here extended to her, and she was released, having suffered only the punishment above stated; which was so slight, that she walked a considerable distance to the prison, without the least appearance of suffering, immediately after it was inflicted. But what was the return for the lenity of the governor? He was accused by Colonel Fullarton of having put this girl (whom he had never even seen) to the torture, contrary to law; and the caricaturists of England were enlisted in the service of persecution. After a trial which seemed to have no end, after an expense of seven thousand pounds, which must have completed his ruin, had not his venerable uncle, General Picton, defrayed the whole costs of the suit, while the expenses of his prosecutor were all paid by the government, his honour and justice were established on the firmest basis, and to the perfect satisfaction of every upright mind.”
RICHARD PATCH.
EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF MR. BLIGHT.
THE case of this offender is one of those which fully prove, that the most wicked caution, the most deliberately planned scheme, or the most artful preparatory measures to attach suspicion to some other than the real cause, or to make it fall upon the guiltless, will never conceal murder.