by Colonel John Stille, Jr. and Mr. Henry McIlvaine,
who threatened him with a prosecution for the forgery of consular
papers, if he dared to appear. He declared that he did appear,
nevertheless, and was honorably discharged; that his claims and
evidences of debt, handed over to Mr. McIlvaine, the assignee, amounted
to $7,620 for cash lent, while his debts altogether amounted to less
than $1,000; that he was arrested while in court, on a warrant for
forgery, and there subjected to a long and rigorous examination by
Messrs. McIlvaine and Stille, who had got possession of all the claims
against him; that the offence charged consisted in issuing a commission
as Vice-Consul of Greece, _with General Bratish's own signature_! that
McIlvaine went before Mr. Alderman Binns to get the warrant for forgery,
and employed Colonel John Stille, Jr., his coadjutor, to appear as
public prosecutor in the Mayor's Court of Philadelphia; that he, General
Bratish, was put upon trial before a bench of aldermen, not a man of the
whole except the Recorder being acquainted with the rudiments of law;
that, on being arraigned, he refused to plead, and called no witnesses
himself, though some were called by his counsel,--when the Recorder
directed the plea of "Not guilty" to be entered, and the trial to
proceed; that he claimed to be a foreign consul provisionally appointed,
entered a formal protest, which appeared in the papers of the day, and
never deigned to open his mouth, until, to the consternation and
amazement of all who understood the case, the jury found him _guilty_,
under the direction of the Recorder,--a direction which amounted to
this, namely, that, while General Bratish could not be legally convicted
of the offence charged, he might be convicted of another offence _not
charged!_ that a motion for a new trial was entered at the suggestion of
the Recorder himself, and was finally argued in a burst of indignation
by General Bratish, who thrust aside his counsel, and refused to be
delivered on technical grounds; that the motion was opposed by Messrs.
McIlvaine and Stille, but prevailed; that the verdict was set aside, a
new trial granted, and General Bratish was allowed to go at large, on
greatly reduced bail, every member of the court concurring, except Mr.
Alderman McKean; that no sooner was the trial over, and the proceedings
published, than a public meeting was called through the National
Gazette, the Public Ledger, the United States