MAJOR J. G. SEMPLE, alias LISLE.
CONVICTED OF SWINDLING.
THE case of this offender has obtained considerable notoriety, from the circumstance of his conviction having been disputed, and from the decision upon it having therefore became a precedent often quoted in our courts of law.
Semple, it appears, was born in Scotland in 1759, of a respectable family; and in the year 1775, at the age of sixteen years, he entered the army, and went to America. In the following year he was taken prisoner of war, but was soon after released, and retired from service with a pension for wounds.
He subsequently entered the army of Frederic the Great of Prussia; but in 1779 he again returned to England, and then married an English lady of great respectability, whom he met at Harwich. During a visit to France a short time afterwards, he became acquainted with the Duchess of Kingston, alias the Countess of Bristol, (whose case we have already given,) whom he accompanied on her visit to Russia, and having there consented to join the Russian service, he was appointed captain in the Imperial Army by Prince Potemkin. During his employment in this capacity, his conduct was such as to gain for him many honours; but in the year 1784, being dissatisfied with his position, he retired to Copenhagen, from whence he eventually returned to England, and there misfortune fell upon him in its worst form.
On the 1st of September 1785, very soon therefore after his arrival in this country, he was indicted for feloniously stealing a post-chaise, value 50l., the property of John Lycett, a coachmaker in Whitechapel; and upon the trial, it appeared that he had hired the post-chaise fora limited period, as he alleged to support the character which he was entitled to maintain, but that it was never returned. The defence set up was that the transaction could only be looked upon in the nature of a civil contract, and that the chaise having been regularly ordered and sent home, no charge could be brought against the prisoner except that arising on the sale of the carriage, and that he could only be held to be indebted for its value. Upon argument, however, the court held that there had been a felonious dealing with the carriage, and the prisoner was found guilty and sentenced to be transported for seven years. He was conveyed to Woolwich on his way to a penal settlement, but he was eventually pardoned on condition of his going abroad.
From Woolwich therefore he went to France; and there he became acquainted with Beruyer, Péthion, Roland, and several of the leaders of the day. He was present at the trial of Louis XVI., and shortly after resolved on returning to England, in consequence of the rupture with this country, which he then saw was inevitable. He therefore obtained a passport; he was denounced to the committee of public safety as a spy, who was going to join the enemy; but being secretly apprised of what was going forward, he was able to effect his escape, although with some difficulty, before the order for his arrest was issued.
On his escape he joined the allied army against France, and distinguished himself on various occasions, but particularly in the battle of St. Fronde, which lasted three days; and at the time of the retirement of the King of Prussia from this campaign, he found himself incapacitated from service, and almost destitute of the means of existence. After a short retirement, however, he had recovered sufficiently to remove to Augsburgh; and on his arrival at that place he was suddenly arrested by order of the Baron d’Ompteda, in the name of his Britannic majesty; but his imprisonment not being legal, he was shortly afterwards set at liberty.
Considering he had been ill used on the Continent, Semple again returned to England; and in 1795 we again find him at the bar of the Old Bailey, on a charge of stealing in the shop of Mr. Wattleworth, in Wigmore Street, one yard of muslin, two yards of calico, and one linen shirt.
It was proved that the prisoner came into the shop of Mr. Wattleworth, about noon, on the 10th of November 1794, and, showing two patterns, one of muslin, and the other of calico, said he wanted them matched for Mrs. Coningham, of Egham Green. They could not find an exact match in the shop to the muslin; but he chose one; and a yard being cut off, together with two yards of calico, he said he would give them to the lady’s servant, then at the door; and, calling in a man, he gave them to him. He then said that he had just arrived from the Continent, and should want a quantity of shirts, and wished to take one with him to consult his sister, who, he thought, would be a better judge of the linen than he was; that he would bring it back in the morning, and then give his order. He called his sister Mrs. Coningham; and as Mr. Wattleworth had a customer of that name, he made no hesitation, but gave him the shirt under those conditions. This happened in November; but the prosecutor never saw the prisoner again until January, when he was in custody in Bow Street.
The counsel for the prisoner contended that the charge of the felony was not made out, the evidence, if true, amounting only to that of obtaining goods under false pretences. Mr. Justice Buller, who tried the cause, admitted the counsel was perfectly right as to the calico and muslin; but he did not agree with him in respect to the shirt, and therefore left that question to the jury.