Mr. Brougham, afterwards Lord Brougham, defended, the defence being that the _Four Brothers_ was a Dutch vessel, owned at Flushing, and her crew Dutchmen. A great deal of very hard swearing went towards this ingenious defence, for the crew, it is hardly necessary to say, were almost all English. At least one witness for the prosecution was afraid to appear in consequence of threats made by prisoners’ friends, and an affidavit was put in to that effect. It appeared, in the evidence given by the commander of the _Badger_ and other witnesses for the prosecution, that the prisoners all spoke excellent English at the time of the capture, and afterwards; but they, singularly enough, understood little or none when in court, and had to be communicated with through the agency of an interpreter.
In summing up, Mr. Justice Parke said the crime for which the prisoners were tried was not murder, but was a capital offence. Two things, if found by the jury, would suffice to acquit the prisoners. The first was that no part of the vessel which they navigated belonged to any subject of His Majesty; the other that one half of the crew were not His Majesty’s subjects. For if neither of these facts existed, His Majesty’s ship had no right to fire at their vessel. But if the jury believed that any part of the vessel was British property, or that one half of her crew were British subjects, then His Majesty’s ship _Badger_, under the circumstances that had been proved, being on her duty, and having her proper colours flying, was justified in boarding their vessel; and their making resistance by firing at the _Badger_ was a capital offence. The reason for the evidence respecting the distance of the vessels from the French coast being given was that, by the law of nations, ships of war were not, in time of peace, permitted to molest any vessel within one league of the coast of any other power.
The jury, after deliberating for two hours, returned a verdict of “Not Guilty” for all the prisoners, finding that the ship and cargo were wholly foreign property, and that more than one half the crew were foreigners. They were, accordingly, at once liberated, and returned to Folkestone in midst of great popular rejoicings. The _Four Brothers_ was also released, and the commander of the _Badger_ had the mortification of being obliged to escort her out of Dover harbour.