Note 125 — CHAP. XV.

Notwithstanding the severity of the Law, the composition of felonies and misdemeanors is carried to a much greater height than it is almost possible to believe; and various artifices are resorted to, to elude the penalties.—An instance occurred in August 1792; where a Jew was ordered to take his trial for a rape, committed on a married woman.—The offence appeared, on examination, to be extremely aggravated.—The Grand Jury however did not find a bill; which was thought a very singular circumstance, as the proof had been so clear before the Magistrate. The reasons were afterwards sufficiently explained; which show, what corrupt practices, artifices, and frauds will be used to defeat the ends of justice:—In consequence of a previous undertaking between the Jew and the husband of the woman who had been so grossly abused, a sum of £.20 was left in the hands of a publican, which the prosecutor was to receive if the bill was not found. In this confidence the woman gave a different evidence from that which she had given before the Magistrate. The Jew, however, cheated both the husband and the wife; for he no sooner discovered that he was safe, than he demanded the money of the publican and laughed at the prosecutor.