THE

TRIAL

OF

CHARLES RANDOM DE BERENGER, SIR THOMAS COCHRANE, COMMONLY CALLED LORD COCHRANE, THE HON. ANDREW COCHRANE JOHNSTONE, RICHARD GATHORNE BUTT, RALPH SANDOM, ALEXANDER M'RAE, JOHN PETER HOLLOWAY, AND HENRY LYTE;

FOR

A CONSPIRACY,

IN THE

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, GUILDHALL,

ON

Wednesday the 8th, and Thursday the 9th of June, 1814:

WITH THE

SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF KING'S BENCH:

TAKEN IN SHORT HAND BY WILLIAM BRODIE GURNEY, Short Hand Writer to both Houses of Parliament.

London: SOLD BY J. BUTTERWORTH AND SON, FLEET-STREET, AND GALE, CURTIS AND FENNER, PATERNOSTER ROW.

1814.

[Entered at Stationer's Hall.]

H. TEAPE, PRINTER, TOWER-HILL, LONDON.



THE

TRIAL

OF

CHARLES RANDOM DE BERENGER,

AND OTHERS.

On the 20th of April, 1814, the Grand Jury for the City of London, at the Sessions-House, in the Old Bailey, returned a True Bill, which set forth:

[First Count.]—That at the times of committing the several offences in this Indictment mentioned, there was, and for a long time before, to wit, two years and upwards, had been an open and public war between our Lord the King and his Allies, and the then ruler of France, to wit, Napoleon Bonaparte, and the people of France:

And that Charles Random de Berenger, Sir Thomas Cochrane, commonly called Lord Cochrane, Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, Richard Gathorne Butt, Ralph Sandom, Alexander M'Rae, John Peter Holloway, and Henry Lyte, supposing and believing, that false reports and rumours of the death of said Napoleon Bonaparte, and of disasters and losses having recently occurred and happened to the said people of France, would induce the subjects of our said Lord the King to suppose and believe, that a peace between our said Lord the King and his subjects, and the said people of France would soon be made, and that an increase and rise in the Government Funds and Government Securities of this Kingdom, would be occasioned thereby. And unlawfully, &c. intending to injure and aggrieve the subjects of our said Lord the King, who should make purchases of and in said Funds, &c. on the 19th February, in Fifty-fourth year of the Reign of our said Lord the King, at the parish of St. Bartholomew, by the Exchange, in the Ward of Broad-street, in London aforesaid, unlawfully, &c. did conspire, &c. to make and propagate, and to cause, &c. to be made and propagated, a false report and rumour, that the French had been then lately beaten in battle, and that said Napoleon Bonaparte was killed, and that the Allies of our said Lord the King were in Paris.

And that they, the Defendants, would thereby induce the subjects of our said Lord the King to suppose and believe, that a peace would soon be made between our said Lord the King and the said people of France, and occasion an increase, &c. of the prices of the Government Funds, &c.

And that Defendants, Sir Thomas Cochrane Johnstone, Richard Gathorne Butt, and John Peter Holloway, respectively, should then sell, and cause, &c. to be sold for them, to divers liege subjects, &c. divers large parts, and shares in said Funds, &c. at higher and greater prices than said parts and shares of and in said Funds, &c. would otherwise sell for, with a wicked and fraudulent intention to thereby cheat, &c. the said subjects, &c. of divers large sums of money.

And that afterwards, to wit, on the 21st February, in the year aforesaid, at the parish and ward aforesaid, in London aforesaid, to wit, at Dover, in the county of Kent, the said Charles Random de Berenger, in pursuance, &c. of said conspiracy, did unlawfully, &c. write a certain false and counterfeit letter, containing divers false matters, which said false and counterfeit letter is directed as follows:

"To the Honorable J. Foley, Port Admiral, Deal, &c. &c. &c.

Dover, One o'Clock, A. M. February 21, 1814.

SIR,

I have the honor to acquaint you that the L'Aigle from Calais, Pierre Duquin, Master, has this moment landed me near Dover, to proceed to the Capital with dispatches of the happiest nature. I have pledged my honor that no harm shall come to the crew of the L'Aigle; even with a flag of truce they immediately stood for sea. Should they be taken, I have to entreat you immediately to liberate them. My anxiety will not allow me to say more for your gratification, than that the Allies obtained a final victory; that Bonaparte was overtaken by a party of Sachen's Cossacks, who immediately slaid him, and divided his body between them.—General Platoff, saved Paris from being reduced to ashes. The Allied Sovereigns are there, and the white cockade is universal; an immediate peace is certain. In the utmost haste, I entreat your consideration, and have the honor to be,

Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant, R. DU BOURG, Lieutenant Colonel and Aid de Camp to Lord Cathcart.

"To the Honorable J. Foley, Port Admiral, Deal, &c. &c. &c."

And did then and there send, and cause and procure to be sent, the said false and counterfeit letter to Thomas Foley, Esquire, at Deal; he, the said Thomas Foley, then being the Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships &c. employed on the Downs Station, with intention that the said T. Foley, should, by Telegraph, communicate the false matters in the said false letter, to the Commissioners of our said Lord the King, for executing the office of Lord High Admiral, &c. and that such false matters should be promulgated &c. to the liege subjects of our said Lord the King.

And that said Charles Random De Berenger, did also then and there unlawfully &c. assert and report to Timothy Wright, and other persons, that he, the said Charles Random De Berenger, had just then landed and arrived from France, and that the French were beaten, and that said Napoleon Bonaparte was killed, and that the Allies of our said Lord the King, were then in Paris; and the said Charles Random De Berenger, on same day &c. did travel from Dover towards London, and did unlawfully &c. falsely assert and report at Dartford in the County of Kent, and at other places on his way between Dover and London, the several false matters and things last mentioned, to divers other of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King with intention that the said last mentioned false matters &c. should be believed to be true, and should be generally reported, &c. by the said liege subjects, &c. to whom he asserted the same to divers other of the liege subjects, &c.

And more especially, with intention that the said false assertions &c. should reach London, to be reported and rumoured and believed there. And that on the said 21st February, at the parish &c. aforesaid, at London aforesaid, to wit, at Dartford aforesaid, the said Ralph Sandom, Alexander M'Rae and Henry Lyte, in pursuance &c. of the aforesaid conspiracy did unlawfully &c. hire and take a post chaise to go from Dartford, and did go from thence, the said Alexander M'Rae and Henry Lyte, then and there having white cockades in certain cocked hats, which they wore; and the horses drawing the said post-chaise then and there being decorated with branches of laurel, to and over London Bridge, and through the City of London, unto and over Blackfriars Bridge, and unto a certain place called the Marsh Gate, in the Parish of St. Mary Lambeth, in the County of Surry, with intention thereby to induce the liege subjects, &c. whom they should pass, and who should see them in their route and way from Dartford to near the Marsh Gate, to suppose and believe, and to report and rumour to divers other of the liege subjects, that they the said Ralph Sandom, Alexander M'Rae, and Henry Lyte, were the bearers to the Government of this kingdom, of great and important foreign news, highly favorable to the interests of our said Lord the King, and his subjects, and thereby to occasion an increase and rise in the prices of the said public Government Funds, &c. in order and for the purpose that the said Sir Thomas Cochrane, Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, Richard Gathorne Butt, and John Peter Holloway, respectively should then sell and cause and procure to be sold for them respectively to divers subjects, &c. divers large parts and shares of and in the said public Government Funds &c. at higher and greater prices than they would otherwise sell for, with a wicked and fraudulent intention, to thereby cheat and defraud the said last mentioned liege subjects, of divers large sums of money.

And that the said Defendants, in pursuance and further prosecution of said conspiracy, afterwards, to wit, on the said 21st February, did, by means of the premises aforesaid, unlawfully &c. cause and occasion a temporary increase and rise in the prices of said Funds, &c.

And the said Sir Thomas Cochrane, Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, Richard Gathorne Butt and John Peter Holloway, in pursuance and further prosecution of the aforesaid conspiracy, did on the said 21st of February, unlawfully, &c. respectively sell, and cause and procure to be sold for them respectively, unto divers subjects, &c. divers great parts and shares of and in the said public Government Funds and other Government Securities, (that is to say,) the said

Sir Thomas Cochrane L139,000 Omnium. Andrew Cochrane Johnstone L141,000 Omnium, and L100,000 Consols Richard Gathorne Butt L224,000 Omnium, and L168,000 Consols John Peter Holloway L20,000 Omnium, and L34,000 Consols

at and for greater and larger prices than such parts and shares of and in the said public and Government Funds, &c. would otherwise have sold for, with a wicked and fraudulent intention, then and there to cheat and defraud the said subjects respectively, of divers large sums of money, of the respective monies of the said last mentioned liege subjects, to the damage of the said last mentioned liege subjects, to the evil example &c. in contempt of our said Lord the King and his Laws, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his crown and dignity.

[Second Count.]—That the Defendants on the said 19th February, unlawfully &c. to induce the subjects &c. to believe that a peace between our said Lord the King and his Subjects and the people of France, would soon be made, and thereby to occasion an increase and rise in the prices of the public Government Funds, and other Government Securities, and to greatly injure and aggrieve the subjects of our said Lord the King, who should on the 21st February, purchase and buy a part or parts and share or shares of and in the said public Government Funds, &c. on said 19th February, with force and arms, &c. unlawfully &c. did conspire &c. together to make and propagate, and to cause and procure to be made and propagated, a false report and rumour, that the French had then lately been beaten in battle, and that said Napoleon Bonaparte was killed, and that the Allies of our said Lord the King were then in Paris.

And that they, the Defendants, would by such last mentioned false report and rumour induce the subjects, &c. to suppose and believe that a peace would soon be made, and occasion an increase and rise in the prices of the public government funds, &c.

And that Sir Thomas Cochrane, Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, Richard Gathorne Butt, and John Peter Holloway, respectively, should then sell and cause, &c. to be sold for them respectively, to divers of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King, divers other large parts and shares of and in the said government funds, &c. at higher and greater prices than said parts and shares would otherwise sell for, with a wicked and fraudulent intention to thereby cheat and defraud the said liege subjects, &c. of divers large sums of money.

And that on the said 21st of February the Defendants, in pursuance of said conspiracy, &c. unlawfully, &c. did cause and procure divers false reports and rumours to be made, spread, and circulated unto and amongst many of the liege subjects, &c. in certain parts of the counties of Kent and Surry, to wit at Dover in the said county of Kent, and in and along and near unto the King's common highway leading from Dover aforesaid to the said City of London, and also in the said City of London and parts adjacent thereto, that the French had then lately been beaten in battle, and that the said Napoleon Bonaparte was killed, and that the Allies of our said Lord the King were then in Paris. And that a peace between our said Lord the King and his subjects, and the said people of France would soon be made, with intention thereby to occasion an increase and rise in the said funds, &c. in order and for the purpose that the said Sir Thomas Cochrane, Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, Richard Gathorne Butt, and John Peter Holloway, respectively, should then sell and cause and procure to be sold for them respectively to divers liege subjects, &c. divers other large parts and shares of and in the said public government funds, &c. at higher and greater prices than they would otherwise sell for, with a wicked and fraudulent intention to thereby cheat and defraud the said subjects of divers large sum of money, &c.

[Third Count.]—That the Defendants on the said 19th of February unlawfully, &c. by false reports, rumors, arts and contrivances to induce the subjects of our said Lord the King to believe that a peace would soon be made between our said Lord the King and his subjects, and the said people of France, and thereby to occasion without any just or true cause a great increase and rise of the public government funds, &c. and to injure, &c. the subjects of our said Lord the King who should on the said 21st of February purchase and buy any part or parts and share or shares of and in the said public government funds, &c. then and there, to wit, on the said 21st of February, unlawfully, &c. did conspire, &c. to make and propagate, and cause and procure to be made and propagated unto and amongst divers of the liege subjects, &c. in the county of Kent, to wit at Dover, Deal, and Dartford, and other places in that county, and also unto and amongst divers of the liege subjects, &c. at London aforesaid, and places adjacent thereto divers false reports and rumours that the said Napoleon Bonaparte was killed, and that a peace would soon be made between our said Lord the King and his subjects and the people of France.

And that the said Defendants would by such false reports and rumours as far as in them lay, occasion an increase and rise in the prices of the public government funds and other government securities, with a wicked intention to thereby greatly injure and aggrieve all the liege subjects of our said Lord the King who should, on the said 21st of February, purchase or buy any part or parts and share or shares of and in said public government funds, &c. To the great damage of all the last mentioned liege subjects, &c. To the evil example, &c. and against the peace, &c.

[Fourth Count.]—That the said Defendants unlawfully contriving, &c. to injure and aggrieve divers of the liege subjects, &c. on the 19th February unlawfully, &c. did conspire, &c. to write and cause to be written a certain other false and counterfeit letter containing therein divers false matters of and concerning the Allies of our said Lord the King, and the said Napoleon Bonaparte and the French people, and to send and cause and procure the said last mentioned letter to be sent to the aforesaid Thomas Foley at Deal, the said Thomas Foley then and there being the Commander in Chief of His Majesty's ships and vessels employed on the Downs' station, with a wicked intention to impose upon and deceive the said Thomas Foley, and to induce and cause the said Thomas Foley to communicate the false matters contained in the said last mentioned false and counterfeit letter to the said Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain. And also with a wicked intention, that by the means in this Count mentioned the said false matters contained in said last mentioned false and counterfeit letter, should be promulgated and publicly made known to the liege subjects, &c. and thereby to occasion a temporary rise and increase in the prices of the public government funds, &c. and to injure and aggrieve all His Majesty's liege subjects who should contract for, and also, all the subjects, &c. who should purchase any part or parts, share or shares of, and in the said public government funds, &c. during such temporary rise and increase in the prices thereof, to the evil example, &c. in contempt, &c. and against the peace, &c.

[Fifth Count.]—That the Defendants unlawfully contriving, &c. to injure and aggrieve divers of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King, afterwards to wit, on the said 19th February, at the parish and ward aforesaid, &c. unlawfully, &c. did conspire together, to make and propagate, and to cause and procure to be made and propagated unto, and amongst divers of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King, divers false reports and rumours of and concerning the said Napoleon Bonaparte and the French people, and thereby to occasion a temporary rise and increase in the prices of the public Government Funds, &c. and to injure and aggrieve all his Majesty's liege subjects who should contract for, and also all the liege subjects of our said Lord the King who should purchase any part or parts, share or shares of, and in the said public Government Funds, &c. during such last mentioned temporary rise and increase in the prices thereof, to the evil example, &c. &c.

[Sixth Count.]—That the Defendants, on the said 19th February unlawfully, &c. did conspire, &c. to make and propagate, and cause, and procure to be made and propagated unto and amongst divers subjects, &c. a certain false report and rumour, that a Peace would then be soon made between our said Lord the King, his subjects, and the people of France, and thereby to occasion a temporary rise and increase in the prices of the public Government Funds, &c. and to injure and aggrieve all his Majesty's subjects who should contract for, and also all the liege subjects, &c. who should purchase any part or parts, or share or shares of and in the said public Government Funds, &c. during such last mentioned temporary rise and increase in the prices thereof, to the evil example, &c.

[Seventh Count.]—That the Defendants, unlawfully contriving, &c. for their own lucre and gain, to injure and aggrieve divers of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King, on the said 19th February, unlawfully, &c. did conspire, &c. by divers false and subtle arts, devices, contrivances, representations, reports, and rumours, to occasion without just and true cause, a rise and increase in the prices of the public Government Funds, &c. and thereby to injure and aggrieve all his Majesty's liege subjects who should contract for, and also all his Majesty's liege subjects who should purchase any part or parts, share or shares of and in the said public Government funds, &c. during such last mentioned rise and increase in the prices thereof, to the evil example, &c.

[Eighth Count.]—That the Defendants unlawfully, &c. contriving to injure and aggrieve divers of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King, on the 19th February unlawfully, &c. did conspire, &c. by divers false and subtle arts, devices, contrivances, representations, reports and rumours, to induce, cause and occasion, divers and very many of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King, to suppose and believe, without true and just cause, that a peace would soon be made between our said Lord the King and his subjects, and the people of France, to the great and manifest injury of divers and very many of the liege subjects of our said Lord the King, to the evil example, &c.

Plea—NOT GUILTY.

The Indictment was removed into the Court of King's Bench, at the instance of the Prosecutors, in Easter Term.



COURT OF KING'S BENCH, GUILDHALL, Wednesday, 8th June, 1814.

Before the Right Hon. LORD ELLENBOROUGH.

Counsel for the Prosecution. Mr. GURNEY, Mr. BOLLAND, Mr. ADOLPHUS.

Solicitors. Messrs. CROWDER, LAVIE, and GARTH.

Counsel for C. R. De Berenger. Mr. PARK, Mr. RICHARDSON.

Solicitor. Mr. GABRIEL TAHOURDIN.

Counsel for Lord Cochrane, The Hon. A. C. Johnstone, and R. G. Butt. Mr. Serjeant BEST, Mr. TOPPING, Mr. SCARLETT, Mr. BROUGHAM.

Solicitors for Lord Cochrane. Messrs. FARRER and ATKINSON.

Solicitors for the Hon. A. C. Johnstone, and R. G. Butt. Messrs. BRUNDRETT, WAINWRIGHT, and SPINKS.

Counsel for R. Sandom, J. P. Holloway, and Henry Lyte. Mr. Serjeant PELL, Mr. C. F. WILLIAMS, Mr. DENMAN.

Solicitor. Mr. YOUNG.

Counsel for Alexander M'Rae. Mr. ALLEY.

Solicitor. Mr. TWYNAM.

THE JURY.

Thomas Brown, Church-row, Aldgate. } Henry Septimus Wollaston, Devonshire-street. } George Spedding, Upper Thames-street. } George Miles, Gracechurch-street. } John Parker, Broad-street. } Lewis Loyd, Lothbury. } John Peter Robinson, Austin Friars. } Merchants. John Hodgson, New Broad-street. } Thomas Wilson Hetherington, Nicholas-lane. } Richard Hall, Lawrence-lane. } Richard Cheesewright, King-street. } John Green, Suffolk-lane. }



The Indictment was opened by Mr. ADOLPHUS.

Mr. GURNEY.

May it please your Lordship.

Gentlemen of the Jury.

It is my duty, as Counsel for this Prosecution, to state to you the facts which I shall have to lay before you, and to apply those facts to the several Defendants, and to the Charges contained in the Indictment, which has been opened by my learned Friend; and, Gentlemen, I am sure that it is unnecessary for me to request that you will dismiss from your minds every thing that you may have heard upon this subject before you entered that Box. It is one of the circumstances which necessarily attends a free press, that many cases which come under the consideration of a Court of Justice, shall previously have undergone some public discussion; without blame to any one, that will sometimes occur from the nature and publicity of the case itself. It does also sometimes occur, that they who are accused, industriously circulate matters which they consider as useful to their defence; and even on the very eve of trial, force them into public notice. If any thing has fallen under your observation, either on the one side or the other, I intreat you to lay it totally aside; to come to the consideration of this subject with cool, dispassionate, unprejudiced, unprepossessed minds, to attend to the evidence that will be laid before you, and to that evidence alone—by that evidence let the Defendants stand or fall.

Gentlemen, it would be very extraordinary indeed, if it could ever have been supposed by any person, even the most ignorant, that this was not a crime. It would be a disgrace to any civilized country, if its laws were so defective. If that which has been done by these Defendants in conspiracy, had been done by any one of them singly, it would have been unquestionably a crime; but when done by conspiracy, it is a crime of a more aggravated nature—To circulate false news, much more to conspire to circulate false news with intent to raise the price of any commodity whatever, is, by the Law of England, a crime, and its direct and immediate tendency is to the injury of the public. If it be with intent to raise the price of the public funds of the country, considering the immense magnitude of those funds, and, consequently, the vast extent of the injury which may be produced, the offence is of a higher description. The persons who must be necessarily injured in a case of that kind, are various; the common bona fide purchaser who invests his money—the public, through the commissioners for the redemption of the national debt—the persons whose affairs are under the care of the Court of Chancery, and whose money is laid out by the Accountant General, all these may be injured by a temporary rise of the public funds, growing out of a conspiracy of this kind; and, Gentlemen, this is no imaginary statement of mine, for it will appear to you to-day, that all these persons were in fact injured by the temporary rise produced by this conspiracy. Undoubtedly the public funds will be affected by rumours, which may be considered as accidental; in proportion as they are liable to that, it becomes more important to protect them against fraud.

If this had been a conspiracy to circulate false rumours, merely to abuse public credulity, it would not have been a trivial offence; but if the object of the conspiracy be not merely to abuse public credulity, but to raise the funds, in order that the conspirators may sell out of those funds for their own advantage, and, consequently, to the injury of others, in that case the offence assumes its most malignant character—it is cold blooded fraud, and nothing else. It is then susceptible of but one possible aggravation, and that is, if the conspirators shall have endeavoured to poison the sources of official intelligence, and to have made the officers of government the tools and instruments of effectuating their fraud—Gentlemen, this offence, thus aggravated, I charge upon the several Defendants upon this Record, and I undertake to prove every one of them to be guilty.

Gentlemen, when I undertake to prove them to be guilty, you will not expect that I shall give you proof by direct evidence, because, in the nature of things, direct evidence is absolutely impossible—they who conspire do not admit into the chamber in which they form their plan, any persons but those who participate in it; and, therefore, except where they are betrayed by accomplices, in no such case can positive and direct evidence be given. If there are any who imagine, that positive and direct evidence is absolutely necessary to conviction, they are much mistaken; it is a mistake, I believe, very common with those who commit offences: they fancy that they are secure because they are not seen at the moment; but you may prove their guilt as conclusively, perhaps even more satisfactorily, by circumstantial evidence, as by any direct evidence that can possibly be given.

If direct and positive evidence were requisite to convict persons of crimes, what security should we have for our lives against the murderer by poison?—no man sees him mix the deadly draught, avowing his purpose. No, he mixes it in secret, and administers it to his unconscious victim as the draught of health; but yet he may be reached by circumstances—he may be proved to have bought, or to have made the poison; to have rinsed the bottle at a suspicious moment; to have given false and contradictory accounts; and to have a deep interest in the attainment of the object. What security should we have for our habitations against the midnight burglar, who breaks into your house and steals your property, without disturbing your rest or that of your family, but whom you reach by proving him, shortly afterwards, in the possession of your plate? What security should we have against the incendiary, who is never seen in the act by any human eye, but whose guilt, by a combination of circumstances over which he may have had no controul, or part of which he may have contrived for his own security, is as clearly established as if deposed to by the testimony of eye-witnesses.

Gentlemen, by the same sort of evidence by which in these, and various other cases, the lives of individuals are affected, I undertake to bring home this case to the Defendants upon this Record. I undertake to shew, that such a conspiracy did exist as this Indictment charges; and I undertake to prove every one of these Defendants acting in furtherance and execution of the conspiracy, so as to leave no more doubt upon your minds, when you have heard the evidence, that they were all parties to this conspiracy, than if you had witnesses before you who were present with them in consultation, and heard them assign to each man the part which he was to act.

Gentlemen, in the security in which we now repose, in the triumph in which we are now indulging, it is difficult to carry back our minds to the state of agonizing suspense in which we were at the critical time at which this conspiracy took place. At that time the empire of him for whom Europe itself appeared too small, was not confined within the narrow limits of the Isle of Elba; he had been driven back, it is true, from the extremity of Europe into France.—France itself was invaded, and our illustrious Allies had made considerable progress towards Paris, but they had been more than once repulsed, and one army had, by almost super-human efforts, preserved itself from destruction; but the fortune of war was uncertain; in this age of miracles, no man could tell what would be the final event; and every one was waiting in breathless expectation for the destruction of him (or at least of his power) who had been so long the destroyer of his species. Gentlemen, at that most critical moment, when the funds were so liable to be affected by every event of the war, when they were liable to be affected still more by the Negotiations at Chatillon, which were then pending—at that moment this conspiracy with respect to the Funds took place; and you will bear this in mind, Gentlemen, that if the false news were believed but for a single hour, the mischief to the public would be done—the object of the conspirators would be accomplished.

Gentlemen, the first person whom I shall have to present to you, as bearing a principal part in this conspiracy; the main agent in its execution, will be proved to be the Defendant, Charles Random de Berenger;—he was a fit person to be selected for the purpose;—he was a foreigner by birth; he had resided long in this country; he would pass very well for an officer; he had been for fourteen or fifteen months a prisoner for debt in the King's Bench, or rather within the Rules of the King's Bench; he would be a convenient man afterwards to convey away; as he would prefer a residence in any other country, because his creditors resided in this.

You will find that he made his appearance a little after midnight of Sunday, the 20th of February—the morning of Monday, the 21st of February; at Dover; he was first seen in the street, enquiring for the Ship Hotel; he was shewn to it, he knocked loudly at the door, and obtained admittance; he was dressed in a grey military great coat, a scarlet uniform, richly embroidered with gold lace, (the uniform of a Staff Officer) a star on his breast, a silver medal suspended from his neck, a dark fur cap with a broad gold lace, and he had a small portmanteau; he announced himself as an Aid de Camp to Lord Cathcart, just arrived from Paris; that he was the bearer of glorious news, that a decisive battle had taken place, that Bonaparte was pursued and killed by the Cossacks, that the Allied Sovereigns were actually in Paris, and that now (that most welcome news to the Inhabitants of Dover) an immediate Peace was certain. He desired to have a sheet of paper, that he might write a letter to the Port-Admiral at Deal, Admiral Foley; paper was furnished, and he sat down to write, and soon afterwards the letter was dispatched to the Port-Admiral at Deal. Upon persons coming round him and importuning him with questions, he pretended to be extremely fatigued. He said he had travelled two or three nights. "Do not pester me with questions, you will know it to-morrow from the Port-Admiral." He ordered a post-chaise and four for London, and he offered to pay with some gold Napoleons; the landlord of the inn did not know exactly the value of a Napoleon, and scrupled to take them, upon which this gentleman, rather inconsiderately, produced from his pocket some one pound Bank of England notes, with those notes he paid for his chaise, and he set off for London in the post-chaise and four. When he arrived at Canterbury he rewarded his post-boys very liberally; he gave each of them a Napoleon. A Napoleon, I dare say you know, is worth eighteen or twenty shillings; he ordered horses on to Sittingbourn; the same chaise brought him from Canterbury to London, and he gave Napoleons to all his post-boys. It was difficult to say which was first upon the road, this Colonel Du Bourg or other expresses which had been sent off from Dover with this happy news, for as soon as this news was announced all Dover was in agitation. Post-horses were ordered out, and I believe some of the expresses reached London half an hour before this person himself.

Gentlemen, it will be necessary that I should read to you the letter to Admiral Foley, it is dated Dover, one o'clock A. M. February 21, 1814, addressed to the Honorable J. Foley, Port-Admiral, Deal, &c. &c. &c. signed R. Du Bourg, Lieutenant-Colonel and Aid de Camp to Lord Cathcart. "SIR, I have the honor to acquaint you, that the L'Aigle from Calais, Pierre Duquin, Master, has this moment landed me near Dover, to proceed to the Capital with dispatches of the happiest nature. I have pledged my honor that no harm shall come to the crew of L'Aigle; even with a flag of truce they immediately stood for sea: should they be taken, I have to intreat you immediately to liberate them, my anxiety will not allow me to say more for your gratification, than that the Allies obtained a final victory, that Bonaparte was overtaken by a party of Sachen's Cossacks, who immediately slaid him, and divided his body between them. General Platoff saved Paris from being reduced to ashes, the Allied Sovereigns are there, and the white cockade is universal, an immediate peace is certain; in the utmost haste, I entreat your consideration, and have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient humble Servant, R. Du Bourg."

A post boy was sent over with this letter to Admiral Foley; he delivered it to the Admiral between three and four o'clock, I think, and nothing but the haziness of the morning which obstructed the working of the telegraph, prevented the news reaching the Admiralty, in which case the conspiracy in question, which was effectual to a great degree, would have been complete, and all the expectations of the conspirators fully realized.

Gentlemen, when Colonel Du Bourg, alias Mr. De Berenger, arrived at Rochester, he saw the landlord Mr. Wright, he conversed with him a considerable time, and to him he repeated this news. He ordered horses on for Dartford, and gave Napoleons to the post boys, and when he arrived at Dartford, he there repeated his news to the landlord and the waiter, partly in the hearing of the post boys. When he set off from Dartford he desired the post boys to drive as fast as possible; they did so for the first three miles; when they arrived at Bexley Heath, the road being within sight of the telegraph, he spoke to the post boys, and told them they need not drive so fast, that his business was not so pressing, as the telegraphs could not work; they told him they were sure they could not work, that they knew the telegraphs all along the road. In coming up Shooter's Hill, the post boys alighted from their horses and walked by the side of the chaise. They were naturally very desirous to know distinctly what the news was, and one of them said, "Pray Sir, what is the news?—Oh it is all over—Bonaparte is killed—the Cossacks fought for a share of his body; he was literally torn to pieces by the Cossacks,"—he said, "I landed last night within two miles of Dover, and the French boat immediately put to sea; I went to the Ship at Dover. I wrote a letter to Admiral Foley, in order that he might forward the news by the telegraph; I was obliged to do that—it was my duty;" and then still more to put them in good humour, he handed out to them some wine, which he had brought from Dover.—He said to them, do not talk of this news as you go along—as soon as you have parted with me you may tell who you please; by and by he said, Pray where can I get a hackney coach? the first stand, the boy told him, was at the Bricklayer's Arms—"No, I will not take one there;" then the Marsh Gate—"Very well, I will get one there". When they crossed Saint George's Fields, the post boy, who every now and then turned round for the gratification of looking at this generous bearer of good news, observed that he pulled up the blind, and seemed to avoid observation. He did not know what his reason might be for that, and it did not strike him till afterwards. They tried to get a hackney coach at the Three Stags, they could not, and they went on to the Marsh Gate, there they found one coach, and one coach only; Colonel Du Bourg stepped out of the post chaise into the hackney coach. He gave each of the boys a gold Napoleon; he drove off, and away they went, as happy as they could be, to spread every where this very glorious news. This you will find to have been at about nine o'clock in the morning.

Gentlemen, you may very readily suppose that very soon after ten o'clock, this news reached the Stock Exchange; whether through the post boys or by the expresses sent up from Dover, it did reach the Stock Exchange at a little after ten o'clock. Probably you know that business commences at ten. At ten business commenced as it had left off on Saturday; the price of Omnium for some time was 27-1/2. It began extremely flat at 27-1/2—it went on 27-1/2—but in about a quarter of an hour, accounts came that an officer from Paris had arrived at Dover, and had come up in a post chaise and four to Government with this news, which was recited in detail. The Funds immediately rose to 28—28-1/2—29 and 30, and on it went till about twelve o'clock, when no letter coming from the Secretary of State to the Lord Mayor, people began to doubt its truth, and from 30 Omnium fell to 29, and was getting down, when between twelve and one o'clock there came the amplest confirmation. This, Gentlemen, you will find to be auxiliary to the main plot, and a very important auxiliary. In itself it would have been absolutely nothing. There drove through the City, a post chaise and four, with three persons in it, two of them dressed like French Officers, in blue great coats, with white linings; they wore white cockades, and their horses were decorated with laurel. As they went along they dispersed little billets announcing this news. After a kind of triumphal progress through the City, they turned to the left at Bridge Street, went over Blackfriars Bridge, quitted the main road for the New Cut, and when they had arrived near the Marsh Gate, within a hundred yards of the spot at which Colonel Du Bourg had alighted, these three gentlemen got out of their chaise, folded up their cocked hats, put on round hats, and walked off.

Gentlemen, this you may suppose, indeed we all know, produced an emotion in the City not to be described. There is nothing so contagious as popular feeling, especially on a subject of great public interest. This stamped certainty upon the news; this reached the Stock Exchange, and the funds, which had begun to droop, revived; Omnium rose to 30, 31, 32 and 32-1/2. Thus it went on for a short time, till persons having been sent to the West End of the Town, and it being found that no Messenger had arrived at the Office of the Secretary of State with this intelligence, it was discovered that this had been a gross and wicked deception; and the Funds returned to very nearly their former level. But there were very large sales made, and of course there were many persons defrauded. The members of the Stock Exchange felt it, and felt it deeply; and they appointed a Committee to investigate this business, and to ascertain who were the parties to this fraud. That Committee pursued the investigation with great industry, and they discovered that which I shall lay before you in evidence. As the underplot is the shortest, I may as well dispose of that first.—They ascertained that this second post chaise had come from Northfleet, which is, you know, near Gravesend. That Mr. Ralph Sandom, who is a Spirit Merchant, living at Northfleet, but who was at that time also like Mr. De Berenger, a prisoner within the rules of the King's Bench, and who kept within the rules just as faithfully as Mr. De Berenger did, had sent, early in the morning, to Dartford, for a post chaise and four, to be sent to him at Northfleet, and for four horses to be ready to take him on to town; and that Mr. Sandom; a Mr. Alexander M'Rae, a person in most desperate circumstances; and Mr. Lyte, who is, I believe, a little Navy Agent, and a very poor man, were the persons who had come in this post chaise; and that M'Rae and Lyte were the two persons who were dressed in the uniform of French Officers.

Gentlemen, they ascertained further, that Mr. M'Rae resided at a lodging in Fetter Lane; that on Saturday the 19th of February, he had brought into his lodgings a couple of great coats, blue lined with white, to resemble the coats of French Officers; that he had white cockades made up by his wife in the lodging, and upon enquiry being made by his hostess what all this could mean, said, that it was to take in the flats. He quitted his lodging in the afternoon of Sunday, stating that he was going down to Gravesend by water; and he returned about two on Monday, after having, as I stated, quitted the chaise at the Marsh Gate. The great coat was speedily altered, by the white lining being taken out and another lining put in its place, and the white cockades were burnt: and Mr. M'Rae, who had been in the greatest distress for money, was, in the course of that week, exulting in his success, boasting of the money he had earned by that which he had done; and on being expostulated with on the impropriety of that mode of getting money, said, "If I had not somebody else would."

Gentlemen, the Committee discovered that Mr. M'Rae was a party to this business at a still earlier period, and that it had been for some time in preparation, that he had on the 14th (the Monday preceding) written a letter to a person of the name of Vinn, appointing a meeting at the Carolina Coffee-House for the next day. On the Tuesday Vinn met him. Mr. Vinn speaks French very well, and Mr. M'Rae explained the business on which he wished to converse with him; the funds were then in a critical situation, it would be a very good thing if he would but personate a French officer, and bring some good news to Town, and that a hundred pounds were at his service. Mr. Vinn felt a little indignant at this proposal being made to him, saying that he hoped what Mr. M'Rae knew of him would have given him a different opinion of him; but Mr. M'Rae would not let Mr. Vinn go without giving him some French phrases, which you will find were the very phrases in these billets thrown out when they passed through the City. It was therefore completely ascertained that M'Rae was not only concerned as an actor in this under plot, carried on by the chaise from Northfleet to London, but that he had so long before as the Tuesday preceding, proposed to Vinn to do that which De Berenger in fact did.

The Committee afterwards ascertained, that the immediate employer of the persons in the Chaise was Mr. Holloway, a wine merchant, another defendant, who independently of his concerns with those persons, chose to have a little dealing in the funds himself, he had a small milkscore of about forty-thousand pounds omnium, which he disposed of on that 21st day of February, at a handsome profit.

Gentlemen, you will not fail to observe that this part of the plot could have had no effect but for the foundation laid by the appearance of the pretended officer at Dover and his journey to London; for a post-chaise coming through the City with white cockades and laurel branches would have had no effect except to excite laughter and derision, but for the preparation made by De Berenger in the character of Du Bourg; and when you find for the purpose of producing the same effect, such a coincidence of plan, and such a coincidence of time, the one the basis and the other the superstructure, although I shall not be able to prove all the parties meeting together, conferring together, consulting together, still it will be impossible to doubt that these are two parts of one whole; that this is, in short, not two conspiracies, but one and the same conspiracy.

Gentlemen, the enquiry respecting the chaise from Dover led to much more important results. It was the first business of the Committee to learn to what place this pretended Du Bourg went in the Hackney-coach from the Marsh-gate. They found out the Hackney-coachman, and he informed them that he was directed by Du Bourg to drive, and he did drive straight and direct to No. 13, Green-street, the house of Lord Cochrane, and it is not an immaterial consideration in this matter, a house in which Lord Cochrane had resided but three days, a ready-furnished house which he had taken of Mr. Durand, and a person must have been on intimate terms with Lord Cochrane to know where he resided on Monday, Lord Cochrane having gone into the house only on the Thursday evening preceding.

The Coachman further informed the Committee that when he stopped at this house Du Bourg enquired for some person by the description, as he thought, of Captain or Colonel, and that the answer given by the servant was, that he was gone to breakfast in Cumberland-street.

Having proceeded thus far, the next thing for the Committee to discover was whether Lord Cochrane was a person who could have any possible interest in the success of this fraud. They pursued their enquiries upon that subject, and they discovered, to their utter astonishment, that this nobleman—this officer highly distinguished in the navy, then lately appointed to an important command, and one should have supposed his whole soul ingrossed in preparation for the active and important service on which he was going—this Representative in Parliament for the City of Westminster, bound by the most sacred of all duties, not to involve himself in any situation by which his honest judgment could be warped, and his parliamentary conduct influenced—they found Lord Cochrane to have been a deep speculator in omnium; that he had been so for one week only; that on that Monday morning he had a large balance on hand, and that on that Monday morning he had sold out the whole of that balance, and sold it at a profit.

When the Committee had learned thus much, they could not but feel that it was impossible that it could be an accidental coincidence, that this impostor, Du Bourg, should have alighted at the house of a person thus deeply interested in the success of the imposition which he had practised. But their enquiries and discoveries did not end there; they found that Lord Cochrane had not acted alone in these stock proceedings; that he was connected with two other persons, who were still more deep in them, the one his uncle, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone (also a member of parliament), and the other a Mr. Richard Gathorne Butt, formerly a clerk in the Navy Office. They discovered that these persons were engaged together in speculations of a magnitude perfectly astonishing. I have the statement in my hand; but I do not think it requisite, in my address to you, to go through all the particulars. Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Butt, who had commenced their stock speculations on the 8th of February, a week earlier than Lord Cochrane, had dealt much more largely even than he had. Their purchases were the same, their sales the same; they seemed in these stock speculations to have but one soul. If one bought twenty thousand, the other bought twenty thousand; if one bought ninety-five thousand, the other bought ninety-five thousand; you will find the act of one the act of the other; and you will find these three persons, Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt, having on the Saturday preceding this Monday, a balance amounting in consols and omnium to very nearly a million—reduced to consols, you will find it amount to sixteen hundred thousand pounds; and on the morning of Monday, on the arrival of this news, they all three sold—they sold all that they had, every shilling of it; and, by a little accident in the hurry of this great business, they sold rather more.

Gentlemen, it was discovered still further, that the principal agent in these purchases and sales, was a Mr. Fearn, a stock broker; that Mr. Butt was the active manager; that the directions for Lord Cochrane's purchases and sales were made mostly by Mr. Butt, and were recognized by his Lordship; that the payment for any loss (sustained by either of the three) was made by Mr. Butt, and the receipt of any profit was by the hand of Mr. Butt. They discovered that Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Butt, were in the habit of coming every morning at an early hour to visit their broker, Mr. Fearn; that on the morning in question, they had come at an early hour, in a hackney coach, and that Lord Cochrane, after having breakfasted in Cumberland-street with Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Butt, came in the same hackney coach, at least as far as Snow-hill, if he did not afterwards go on to the Stock Exchange. They discovered, too, that Mr. Fearn was not the only broker they employed; they employed a Mr. Smallbone, a Mr. Hichens, and a Mr. Richardson; they may have employed twenty others that we know not of, because it has been only by accident that the Committee learned their employment of Mr. Richardson, for Mr. Richardson not being a member of the Stock Exchange, the Committee had no controul over him to exact information from him. Mr. Butt had employed Mr. Richardson on the Saturday preceding, to purchase fifty thousand omnium, of which he the same day sold thirty; and so anxious was Mr. Butt on that Saturday to be possessed of as much stock as possible, that he endeavoured to persuade Mr. Richardson to purchase one hundred and fifty thousand, but Mr. Richardson trembled at the idea of making so large a speculation, and refused to go beyond the fifty thousand.

You have these persons, then, linked together in such manner, as will render them perfectly inseparable in these various stock transactions; having dealt for some little time; having bought and having sold; having this tremendous balance, this world of Stock, under which they were, on the Saturday evening, bending and groaning, on the Monday morning they had disburthened themselves completely of this with a profit of a little more than ten thousand pounds. If the telegraph had worked, that ten thousand would have been nearer a hundred thousand—that the telegraph did not work, was not to be ascribed either to them or to their agent.

Gentlemen, when all this was ascertained, the Committee apprised those who had appointed them of the result of their labours; they printed an account for the information of the members of the Stock Exchange; they then had some private information, that Du Bourg really was De Berenger; but on enquiry for Mr. De Berenger, they found he was gone off; they had not, therefore, any positive proof, and on that account they very prudently said nothing upon the subject. When they had printed this information, for the use of their own members only; it did get out, and there were published in the newspapers some accounts of their reports, some of them correct, and some of them incorrect, but sufficient undoubtedly to direct the eyes of all men to these three individuals, Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt.

Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt, felt that it was requisite for them to give some explanation upon this subject. Mr. Butt was extremely indignant at suspicions being thrown out respecting him, he abused those who had libelled and slandered him, and threatened prosecution, a threat which he has not executed, nor ever will. Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, too, equally threatened prosecution, and he has equally failed in the execution of his threat; but one fact stated by the Committee, roused the indignation of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone. It had been stated by the Committee, that whereas Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Butt, had been satisfied before the 21st of February with doing business at the office of their agent, that on that morning they commenced business at an office, taken by Mr. Cochrane Johnstone for the use of Mr. Fearn, in Shorter's Court, Throgmorton-street, an office most conveniently situated, just by the side door of the Stock Exchange itself. This office consisted of three rooms, in one of which rooms were Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Butt; in a second Mr. Fearn, and in the third a Mr. Lance, a person also employed by them; and the Committee stated, from Mr. Fearn's information, that Mr. Cochrane Johnstone had taken this office for Mr. Fearn, even without his (Mr. Fearn's) knowledge.

Mr. Cochrane Johnstone was extremely angry at this; he declared it to be a most unqualified falsehood, and that he was ready to swear positively, that he never had done any such thing; that the office was Mr. Butt's, and that Mr. Butt had given it up to Mr. Fearn; now that would not signify much, for I will shew, that Mr. Butt and Mr. Cochrane Johnstone are one and the same. Gentlemen, I am sorry to say, that after what I have seen of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone's conduct in this transaction, I am not surprised at his denying this, merely because his denial is in contradiction to the fact, but I am surprised that he should dare to deny it, when I have a contradiction not only by a witness, but by a letter under his own hand. I will prove to you, by the owner of the house, that Mr. Cochrane Johnstone did take this office; he not only took this office, but he was desirous of taking the whole house; he had taken the office before the 17th of February, and on the 17th of February he called on Mr. Addis, who had the letting of the house, and he wrote and left on his desk this letter: "Sir, I called again upon you to know if you have power to sell the house, part of which I have taken." This is Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, who is ready to swear that he never took any office at all—"part of which I have taken." Gentlemen, mark the remainder, and apply it to the morning of the 21st of February.—"As I find there are several persons in the house at present, which is rather awkward, and makes it too public—WALLS HAVE EARS." Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Butt did not like that their consultations should be liable to be overheard—their guilt might then be proved by other than circumstantial evidence. "If you have powers to sell, I will immediately treat with you; have the goodness, therefore, to leave the terms with your clerk, or send them to me at No. 18, Great Cumberland-street. I will however call again this day, before I return to the West end of the Town."

Gentlemen, that is the letter of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and so much for Mr. Cochrane Johnstone's denial of his having taken the office in Shorter's Court.

Gentlemen, besides this denial of the fact, and this offer to swear to it, these Gentlemen chose to make some criticisms on the report printed by the Committee of the Stock Exchange, and the first criticism was one of great importance.—One person had said, that Colonel Du Bourg got out of the post chaise into the hackney coach, and another person said, he got into the hackney coach having just alighted from the post chaise, and it was supposed that that was a material contradiction. You will find the fact to be, that he stepped from the one into the other.

Another was, that one person called the great coat, a mixture, and another called it brown. In truth it was a greyish mixture, a military great coat.

Another was, that one person had called the lace on the cap gold, and another called it silver. It happens to be a pale gold, which according to the light in which you view it, will appear like either gold or silver. I will produce to you a fac simile of both coat and cap.

But it was felt that these criticisms would not suffice. Lord Cochrane must account for his visitor, and Lord Cochrane came forward with a declaration upon this subject, in a manner, which, I confess, appears to me most degrading. If a person of his rank thought fit to give any declaration, I should have thought that the mode of giving it would have been under the sanction of his honor. Lord Cochrane thought otherwise, and he chose to give it under the half and half sanction of a voluntary affidavit. I call it so, Gentlemen, for this reason, that although he who makes a voluntary affidavit attests his God to its truth, he renders himself amenable to no human tribunal for its falsehood, for no indictment for perjury can be maintained upon a voluntary affidavit. I wish that none of these voluntary affidavits were made; I wish that Magistrates would not lend their respectable names to the use, or rather to the abuse, which is made of these affidavits; for whether they are employed to puff a quack medicine or a suspected character, they are I believe, always used for the purpose of imposition.

Gentlemen, this affidavit I have before me, and I will prove the publication of it upon Lord Cochrane, it is thus prefaced:

"Having obtained leave of absence to come to Town, in consequence of scandalous paragraphs in the public papers, and in consequence of having learnt that hand bills had been affixed in the streets, in which (I have since seen) it is asserted, that a person came to my house, No. 13, Green-street, on the 21st day of February, in open day, and in the dress in which he had committed a fraud, I feel it due to myself to make the following deposition, that the public may know the truth relative to the only person seen by me in military uniform at my house on that day.

COCHRANE."

"Dated 13, Green-street, March 11th, 1814."

Now comes the Affidavit:

"I Sir Thomas Cochrane, commonly called Lord Cochrane, having been appointed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to active service (at the request I believe of Sir Alexander Cochrane) when I had no expectation of being called on, I obtained leave of absence to settle my private affairs previous to quitting this country, and chiefly with a view to lodge a specification to a patent, relative to a discovery for increasing the intensity of light. That in pursuance of my daily practice of superintending work that was executing for me, and knowing that my uncle, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, went to the City every morning in a coach, I do swear on the morning of the 21st of February, (which day was impressed on my mind by circumstances which afterwards occurred) I breakfasted with him, at his residence in Cumberland-street, about half past eight o'clock, and I was put down by him (and Mr. Butt was in the coach) on Snow-hill about ten o'clock; that I had been about three quarters of an hour at Mr. King's manufactory, at No. 1, Cock-lane, when I received a few lines on a small bit of paper, requesting me to come immediately to my house; the name affixed from being written close to the bottom, I could not read; the servant told me it was from an army officer, and concluding that he might be an officer from Spain, and that some accident had befallen to my brother, I hastened back, and found Captain Berenger, who, in great seeming uneasiness, made many apologies for the freedom he had used, which nothing but the distressed state of his mind, arising from difficulties, could have induced him to do; all his prospects he said had failed, and his last hope had vanished of obtaining an appointment in America, he was unpleasantly circumstanced on account of a sum which he could not pay, and if he could that others would fall upon him, for full L8000. He had no hope of benefitting his creditors in his present situation, or of assisting himself, that if I would take him with me, he would immediately go on board and exercise the Sharp Shooters (which plan Sir Alexander Cochrane I knew had approved of;) that he had left his lodgings and prepared himself in the best way his means allowed. He had brought the sword with him which had been his father's, and to that and to Sir Alexander he would trust for obtaining an honorable appointment. I felt very uneasy at the distress he was in, and knowing him to be a man of great talent and science, I told him I would do every thing in my power to relieve him, but as to his going immediately to the Tonnant with any comfort to himself, it was quite impossible; my cabin was without furniture, I had not even a servant on board. He said he would willingly mess any where; I told him that the ward-room was already crouded, and besides, I could not, with propriety, take him, he being a foreigner, without leave from the Admiralty. He seemed greatly hurt at this, and recalled to my recollection certificates which he had formerly shewn me from persons in official situations: Lord Yarmouth, General Jenkinson, and Mr. Reeves, I think, were amongst the number. I recommended him to use his endeavour to get them or any other friends to exert their influence, for I had none, adding that when the Tonnant went to Portsmouth, I should be happy to receive him, and I knew from Sir Alexander Cochrane that he would be pleased if he accomplished that object. Captain Berenger said, that not anticipating any objection on my part from the conversation he had formerly had with me, he had come away with intention to go on board and make himself useful in his military capacity. He could not go to Lord Yarmouth or to any other of his friends in this dress, (alluding to that which he had on) or return to his lodgings, where it would excite suspicion (as he was at that time in the rules of the King's Bench) but that if I refused to let him join the ship now, he would do so at Portsmouth. Under present circumstances however he must use a great liberty, and request the favor of me to lend him a hat to wear instead of his military cap. I gave him one which was in a back room with some things that had not been packed up, and having tried it on, his uniform appeared under his great coat, I therefore offered him a black coat that was laying on a chair, and which I did not intend to take with me; he put up his uniform in a towel, and shortly afterwards went away, in great apparent uneasiness of mind, and having asked my leave he took the coach I came in, and which I had forgotten to discharge, in the haste I was in. I do further depose, that the above conversation is the substance of all that passed with Captain Berenger, which from the circumstances attending it, was strongly impressed upon my mind; that no other person in uniform was seen by me at my house on Monday, the 21st of February, though possibly other officers may have called, (as many have done since my appointment;) of this however I cannot speak of my own knowledge, having been almost constantly from home, arranging my private affairs. I have understood that many persons have called under the above circumstances, and have written notes in the parlour, and others have waited there, in expectation of seeing me, and then gone away; but I most positively swear that I never saw any person at my house resembling the description and in the dress stated in the printed advertisement of the Members of the Stock Exchange. I further aver, that I had no concern, directly or indirectly, in the late imposition, and that the above is all that I know relative to any person who came to my house in uniform on the 21st day of February, before alluded to. Captain Berenger wore a grey great coat, a green uniform, and a military cap. From the manner in which my character has been attempted to be defamed, it is indispensibly necessary to state that my connection in any way with the funds arose from an impression that in the present favorable aspect of affairs, it was only necessary to hold stock in order to become a gainer, without prejudice to any body; that I did so openly, considering it in no degree improper, far less dishonorable; that I had no secret information, of any kind, and that had my expectation of the success of affairs been disappointed, I should have been the only sufferer. Further I do most solemnly swear, that the whole of the omnium on account which I possessed on the 21st day of February, 1814, amounted to L139,000, which I bought by Mr. Fearn (I think) on the 12th ultimo, at a premium of 28-1/4; that I did not hold on that day any other sum on account, in any other stock, directly or indirectly, and that I had given orders when it was bought to dispose of it on a rise of one per cent. and it actually was sold on an average at 29-1/2 premium, though on the day of the fraud it might have been disposed of at 33-1/2. I further swear, that the above is the only stock which I sold, of any kind, on the 21st day of February, except L2000 in money, which I had occasion for, the profit of which was about L10. Further I do solemnly depose, that I had no connection or dealing with any one, save the above mentioned, and that I did not at any time, directly or indirectly, by myself or by any other, take or procure any office or apartment for any broker or other person for the transaction of stock affairs."

Gentlemen, Lord Cochrane has complained that he was not called upon by the Committee of the Stock Exchange to give his explanation personally. It appears to me that he has no reason to complain that they did not so call upon him—would that he had been so called upon: what would any man have given to be present to see whether any human countenance was equal to the grave relation of this extraordinary story. Let us examine it, Lord Cochrane tells us that being at this manufactory of Mr. King's he received a note, the name of the writer of which he cannot read, yet, that he hastens home directly; engaged as he is in the superintending the making of a Lamp for which he had a patent—engaged too in this tremendous stock account, which is at this very moment, under the guardian care of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Butt, abruptly closing, he instantly quits the City, and hastens home to see a person whose signature he cannot decypher, and when he comes there he finds Mr. De Berenger to be the writer of the note, and he has all this extraordinary conversation with him about going on board the Tonnant to instruct the crew in sharp-shooting, and then when a negative is put upon Mr. De Berenger's application at least for the present, Mr. De Berenger tells him he cannot forsooth "go to Lord Yarmouth or to any other of his friends in this dress." Why, I beg to know, cannot Mr. De Berenger go to Lord Yarmouth or any other nobleman or gentleman in the dress in which he waits upon Lord Cochrane? if he was dressed as Lord Cochrane describes, there could be no impropriety; but still more, "or return to his lodging, where it would excite suspicion," coming out of his lodging in this dress might to be sure excite suspicion, for persons who saw him might imagine that a gentleman thus dressed was going a little beyond the rules of the King's Bench, but how could his return excite suspicion? If he was returning to his lodgings why would he want any other dress? except that he was afraid to return to his lodgings in that dress because it would afford the means of tracing and detecting him. "If I refused to let him join the ship now, he would join it at Portsmouth, under present circumstances however, he must use a great liberty, and request the favor of me to lend him a hat to wear instead of his military cap. I gave him one which was in a back room with some things which had not been packed up." Then we are to suppose that De Berenger was satisfied; he had got rid of this cap with the gold border which might excite suspicion, and he was content to go. No says Lord Cochrane that will not do. "Having tried it," that is the hat, "on, his uniform appeared under his great coat, I therefore offered him a black coat that was laying on a chair and which I did not intend to take with me." We are, I presume then, to understand that he put on the black coat, though that is not expressly stated, "he put up his uniform in a towel and shortly afterwards went away." Then he was to go off entirely, was he? Gentlemen, I am sorry to find that my Lord Cochrane, filling the high situation that he does, sees nothing wrong in assisting a person within the rules of the King's Bench to abscond, for whose stay within those rules sureties have entered into a bond; either Lord Cochrane's mind has confounded all right and wrong, or what is more probable, he confesses this smaller delinquency to conceal the greater, for I say he would not have made this acknowledgment unless he had to conceal that he lent the dress for another purpose, for which purpose I say De Berenger resorted to him, and which purpose was answered by Lord Cochrane's assistance.

Another part of this affidavit is very important, "Captain Berenger wore a grey great coat, a green uniform, and a military cap." I will prove to you that the uniform was scarlet; that it was embroidered with gold, and that there was a star on the breast. I will prove that by many persons who saw it, and I will produce it to you to-day.

A circumstance is resorted to by Lord Cochrane, and indeed by his associates, as a defence which affords another proof of the infatuation of guilt. They have thought it a favorable circumstance for them that they sold out their stock early in the day at a small profit; in my mind it is one of the strongest circumstances against them. If they had believed the news would they have sold out early, and at that small profit? why did they so sell out? but because they knew that belief in the news would last but a very short time, and that they must take advantage of it without delay, for when I have stated that ten thousand or ten thousand five hundred pounds was the amount of their profit I have very much understated it, their profit vastly exceeded that, their profit was all they had been saved from losing, they had been that which is well known in the language of the Stock Exchange, they had been Bulls and they had been invariably Bulls, they had been raising the price by their purchases, their purchases had vastly exceeded their sales, as appears by the amount of the balance, they had gone on plunging deeper and deeper till they were completely out of their depth; the market was flat, if they had sold at 27-1/2 they would have been losers to a small amount, but unless they had made all mankind as hungry for stock as they were for profit, they could not have got rid of their million of omnium and stock, without an immense loss; and when they tell me they sold at once, I say yes, so you did, that is my argument against you: I say you did not wait half an hour when the news came, that as fast as you found the news operate, the telegraphic communication from Shorter's Court to the Stock Exchange took place, Mr. Fearn was set to work—he was ordered to sell, and he did sell by twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties of Thousands, and in the hurry and confusion they were in, one sold Ten Thousand Consols less than he had, and the other Twenty-four Thousand omnium more than he had; I think therefore this selling early, and selling at a small profit will not much avail them, but very much the contrary.

But, Gentlemen, it was felt that if the case rested there, they had done very little indeed, because no man could be so infatuated as to suppose that this story of De Berenger and his Sharp Shooters would go down, unless they shewed that De Berenger was not Du Bourg: for, if De Berenger was Du Bourg, it was very easily seen through, and therefore they set up for De Berenger, (who was not forth coming to set it up for himself) that best of all defences if true, which is sometimes resorted to in Courts of Criminal Judicature, and is commonly known by the name of an ALIBI.—It is, I say, the best of all defences if a man is innocent, but if it turns out to be untrue, it is conclusive against those who resort to it. Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt, published two affidavits of a man and woman of the name of Smith, who were the servants of De Berenger; the affidavits are of the same manufacture with the others. Affidavits are commonly in the third person, "A. B. maketh oath and saith," but I observe all these affidavits, as well Lord Cochrane's as the rest, begin I A. B. do swear, these Affidavits I will read to you, "I William Smith, servant to Baron De Berenger, do swear, that my Master slept at home on Sunday the 20th of February, 1814, as I let him in about eleven o'clock at night; that he went out early next morning, as I went into his room between eight and nine o'clock, and found him gone out. I went about nine o'clock, and did not return till three o'clock, being that day at my mothers cleaning some Pictures for her, and when I returned, I then found my Master at home, and I went to him to ask if he wanted any thing, he desired me to get him some ale and a mutton chop, which I did; I saw his grey military great coat and his green drill dress, and a black coat which I knew was not his, lying upon a chair in the room; he went out that day to dine between five and six o'clock, and came home about eleven that night; he slept regularly at home all that week, until Sunday the 27th, when he went away in the evening, and desired me to carry a box of clothes with him to the Angel Inn, which I did, and I there left him and have never seen him since, and this is all I know about my Master." This, Gentlemen, we have too upon the sanction of a voluntary affidavit. Then comes his wife, "I Ann Smith, female servant to Baron De Berenger, do swear, that my Master came home about twelve o'clock on Monday the 21st day of February, in a Hackney Coach,—that I believe he did, he had on a black coat, he had a bundle with him, which to its appearance, contained his grey military great-coat, and green uniform, he went out the same morning before breakfast without my seeing him; and I do further swear, that I made his bed and cleaned his room as usual, on the 21st day of February, which had been slept in: he always slept at home regularly until Sunday the 27th of February, and he went away that day, and I never have seen him since." Now, Gentlemen, if this be true, to be sure it is idle to talk of Mr. De Berenger having been at Dover on that night; he could not have been at Dover, and at the same time sleeping in his bed within the rules of the King's Bench Prison. These affidavits were put out as complete and conclusive evidence, that all the surmises of Du Bourg and De Berenger being the same person were absolutely mistaken, that the visitor of Lord Cochrane, Mr. De Berenger was not, and could not be the impostor Colonel Du Bourg.

Gentlemen, at that time it was supposed Mr. De Berenger, was safe out of the kingdom, and that no contradiction of these affidavits could ever take place; and that being supposed to be the case, these parties grew very bold and there was a good deal of vapouring. Mr. Butt wanted his money. The Stock Exchange Committee came to this resolution, and it appears to me to be most honorable conduct, they resolved, not that the agreements of that day should be cancelled, but that an account should be taken of the profit made by those persons, who, in these extraordinary circumstances, had attracted suspicion to themselves. That that money should be paid into the hands of trustees, to await the result of the investigation, and if the suspicions were cleared up, they should have it, if not, that it should be disposed of, in a way that could attach no motive of interest whatever to the Stock Exchange or to their Committee. Upon this resolution, L10,500, the profit made by Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt, were paid into the hands of trustees, to wait the event. Mr. Butt was not satisfied with this arrangement, and he was clamorous for his money. They said, "wait a little, Mr. Butt, you shall have it presently, if you are entitled to it."—"No," he says, "give me my money."—"It is perfectly safe, Mr. Butt, for your own honor and character's sake wait a little."—No reply, but "the money—give me the money."

——Populus me sibilat; at mihi plaudo Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca.

Gentlemen, that was the consolation to which Mr. Butt looked, for the contempt to which he found his conduct had exposed him;—that consolation he will not have—he will have conviction and shame, but he will not get the money.

Gentlemen, the complete developement of this business, however, now approached. In the beginning of April, Mr. De Berenger was heard of at Sunderland, endeavouring to get out of the kingdom. A warrant had some time before issued from the Secretary of State for his apprehension; and most fitly had it been issued, for though Mr. De Berenger, as an alien, had a licence to live in any part of Great Britain he had no licence to go out of it; and he had abused the privileges of an alien, by having attempted a gross imposition on a high Naval Officer of the country: and information being given to the officer, who had had that warrant in his possession for three weeks, he set off to Sunderland after him. He found he had gone from thence to Newcastle, from thence to Glasgow, and from thence to Leith; and at Leith, on the 8th of April, he apprehended him. He was brought to London, and arrived in London on the 12th, and then on being shewn to various persons who had seen him in the course of his journey, he was identified by every one of them as Du Bourg;—by persons at Dover,—by persons at Dartford,—by the drivers,—by the coachman,—and above all by a very important person in this transaction, he was identified by a Mr. Solomon.—And I will tell you who Mr. Solomon is.—An account of the dress of Colonel Du Bourg having been published, the public attention was drawn to that circumstance, and in the latter end of March a fisherman in dredging in the Thames a little above London Bridge brought up from the bottom a bundle (which had been sunk by pieces of lead) containing a scarlet Aid de Camp's uniform cut in pieces, and a star and badge which identified it beyond contradiction, and upon this being advertised, a Mr. Solomon, an Army Accoutrement Maker, who has one shop at Charing Cross and another in New-Street Covent Garden, came forward and identified these as the cloaths which, together with the grey coat and the military cap, he had sold to a gentleman on Saturday the 19th of February; the gentleman was very liberal in his purchases and said that all these things were to be sent into the country for a person to perform the part of a Foreign Officer. Mr. Solomon said perhaps Sir you had better take them on hire. No. He was not disposed to do that, he would rather purchase them, and he did purchase them, and he paid for them in one pound notes and took them away in a Hackney Coach. On Mr. Solomon being taken to see Mr. De Berenger he recognized his person as the person who had so bought the clothes and paid for them.

Gentlemen, what now becomes of these affidavits and of those who made them? what becomes of this alibi for Mr. De Berenger? what becomes of the affidavits of his servants Smith and his wife? what becomes of Lord Cochrane swearing as he does to his green coat? why do persons resort to falsehood, but because truth convicts them? If any person who is found in suspicious circumstances, and is accused of the highest offence known to the law, resorts to lies to excuse himself, his life pays the forfeit, for no man resorts to lies unless he knows that the truth is absolute conviction: why have these persons thus involved themselves deeper, but because, when they found detection approaching them, they wished to ward it off, careless what were the means, careless who was the instrument, careless too who was the victim.

Gentlemen, suppose I were to rest my case here, and were to call upon my learned friends to answer this case, I beg to know what answer they could give? what are they to say for this impostor Du Bourg, this real De Berenger, resorting to the house of Lord Cochrane thus deeply interested in the success of this fraud? thus linked inseparably with two other persons equally interested in the success of the fraud, who, if a different kind of news had arrived that day, would have been absolutely ruined: for if on the 21st of February that news had arrived, which just a month after did arrive of the rupture of the negociation at Chatillon, there would have been such a fall in the price of the funds that these three persons would have been losers to the amount of upwards of one hundred and sixty thousand pounds. What will my learned friends say for persons thus circumstanced, thus involved in suspicion, thus by falsehood and by moral perjury, though not legal, endeavouring to defend themselves? Will my learned friends to day call these Smiths? will they put these persons whom they have made commit this moral perjury into that box and expose them to the charge of legal perjury? if they do not put them there they "die and make no sign;" and, if they do I think I shall be able to shew you who manufactured these affidavits, and how these servants, the Smiths, have been dealt with. I will undertake to prove out of their own mouths that their master was from home that night instead of being as they pretend, in his bed.

But, Gentlemen, when my learned friends find it impossible to stand upon the ground which their clients have before taken, perhaps they may say, for in the distress of their case I do not know what may not be said;—well, admitting that De Berenger was Du Bourg, are we to infer from his visit to Green-Street that Lord Cochrane and he were thus criminally connected?—why you must infer the contrary; it is a proof of innocence, for if they had been so connected, De Berenger would not have been such a fool as to pay his first visit to Lord Cochrane, he would have gone to any other house rather than to Lord Cochrane's. Gentlemen, that argument will not assist my learned friends, for it is too much to ask credit for rational conduct in those who cannot act criminally without acting irrationally. They who contrive schemes of fraud cannot always provide for all possible events. No, Gentlemen, it is the order of Providence, in mercy to mankind, that wickedness should be defeated by its own folly. When the mind is in disorder the course is not straight and even, but irregular and wavering, it is detected by its obliquity: it is by the winding of the course that you discover you are in the path of the serpent "Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat," is a maxim which comes down to us sanctioned by the experience of all ages; and no man who has not slept for the last two years, can hesitate to set his seal to its truth. Gentlemen, it is as true of Stock-jobbing conspirators as it is of those who have lately been entrusted with the destinies of empires. There is always something omitted, the omission here was this; in settling their plan of operations they had forgotten to provide where De Berenger should resort on his arrival in Town, and on his way his heart failed him, as to going to his own lodgings; he dared not enter into his own lodgings in a dress, which dress would lead to detection, and he therefore drove to Lord Cochrane's to get rid of his dress; and there he, by Lord Cochrane's assistance, did get rid of it; he procured a round hat and a black coat, and then went confidently and safely home to his lodgings, exempt from observation and suspicion.

But, Gentlemen, I have to tell my learned friends, that if they could dispose of all this, their task would be but just beginning. You will naturally ask, was De Berenger a person known to the Cochranes?—Can it be shewn from any other source, that they had ever been together before? Gentlemen, I will shew you that De Berenger was extremely well acquainted with them; that he was a visitor at Lord Cochrane's, and a visitor at Mr. Cochrane Johnstones; that he made it his boast that he was on very familiar terms with them, and that he had given them important assistance in stock-jobbing transactions, and that he expected to be handsomely rewarded for his services, for that by his means they would get a great deal of money by these stock-jobbing transactions. I will prove this to you by more than one witness. I will prove their acquaintance, if necessary, by persons even of Mr. Cochrane Johnstones family.

Gentlemen, my proof does not end there. If Mr. De Berenger was the hired agent of these persons, for the purpose of committing this fraud, what would you expect?—why that after they had used him they would pay him and send him away.—I will prove to you, that they did so pay him, and that they did send him away.

You have learned from these affidavits of the Smiths, (which so far are true,) that on the evening of Sunday the 27th, (which was the Sunday after he was at Dover,) he quitted his lodgings, and was seen no more. Who do you think was his visitor on Saturday the 26th?—Mr. Cochrane Johnstone. On Saturday the 26th Mr. Cochrane Johnstone came to his lodgings, and left a letter for him; that letter, no doubt, hastened his departure, and off he went. He was taken at Leith, and there were found in his possession certain books and papers and bank notes; these bank notes Mr. De Berenger has desired to have returned to him. The prosecutors thought that one bank note for one pound was as good as another bank note for one pound; and in order that Mr. De Berenger might not complain of being cramped in pecuniary matters, they gave over to him notes of corresponding value. But that does not satisfy Mr. De Berenger; he wants the very identical notes taken from him; he has contracted an affection for them I suppose, on account of their having been his travelling companions. They were his solace in a long journey, and the support to which he looked in future in a foreign land. What harm can these notes do to Mr. De Berenger?—He is much too deeply implicated in this to make the presence or the absence of these notes of the least consequence to him. Who can be so blind as not to see, in the pretended anxiety of Mr. De Berenger for these notes, the real anxiety of his fellow conspirators; who having made him their instrument in the fraud, wish to make him their instrument in the destruction of the evidence.

Gentlemen, there have been differences of opinion on the subject of Bank Notes as a circulating medium, but there can be no difference of opinion as to their being most admirable detectors of fraud. I have these Bank Notes here, and you will find that the fears of these Defendants are well founded, for they furnish conclusive proofs of their guilt. I will read to you first, however, a memorandum of Mr. De Berenger's, in a little book, which was found in his letter-case; from this he appears to have written on the 1st of March, a letter to "C. J." which I take to be Cochrane Johnstone; there are other initials mentioned in the same page, as "W. S." which I take to be his servant, William Smith; and "G. T." which I presume to be Gabriel Tahourdin, his attorney.

The name of Mr. Tahourdin reminds me of something which I had forgotten to mention. The sureties for Mr. De Berenger keeping within the Rules of the Bench, were a Mr. Cochrane, and Mr. Gabriel Tahourdin, his attorney, and also the attorney of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, they were bound in a penalty of four hundred pounds for Mr. De Berenger keeping within the Rules of the King's Bench, Mr. De Berenger absconded and left them liable to the penalty of their bond; and I cannot sufficiently admire the good nature of Mr. Gabriel Tahourdin, who not only has forgiven him for leaving him in the lurch, but actually defends him to-day, and is also one of his bail on this indictment.

Gentlemen, there are some parts of this memorandum which I cannot interpret; perhaps Mr. Cochrane Johnstone will give us the letter, and that will supply the explanation. It begins, "To C. J. by March 1st, 1814, L350, L4 to 5000, assign one share of patent, and L1000 worth shares of Mr. De Beaufain, at Messrs. H. to their care." Now comes the important part; I should tell you, Gentlemen, that Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt, allege that their gains were not quite so great as the Committee of the Stock Exchange estimate them to have been. They say, that the gains of the three were but L6500, of which Lord Cochrane's share was L1700, and Mr. Cochrane Johnstone's and Mr. Butt's were L4800. Mr. Butt was the person who transacted the business, being more a man of figures than the other two, and acting as their agent, he had rendered his account to Mr. Cochrane Johnstone; and it should seem as if Mr. De Berenger's compensation was a per centage upon their gains, for he writes thus: "Believe, from my informant, L18,000, instead of L4800;" he thinks their profit was four times as much as they say; "Suspicious that Mr. B." who can that be except Mr. Butt? "does not account correctly to him as well as me—determined not to be duped—no restrictions as to secrecy, requesting early answer."

These are evidently the heads of a letter which he has written to Mr. Cochrane Johnstone. There are other notes of letters to Mr. Tahourdin and William Smith, giving directions, which plainly indicate that he was a man quitting this country never to return.

Gentlemen, there were found I have told you, certain bank notes, and a memorandum book, and you will find in this memorandum book there are the figures 450 and 90 summed up together, making L540. You will find that he must have received about that sum from Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt, he accounts here for the expenditure of a considerable part of it, and as you go along with me, you shall be able to account for it: so here is W. S. that is William Smith, L50, W. S. again, L20 and so on, with names and sums altogether amounting to L163, and then there is a statement of expences on his journey: he appears from both to have had in his hands L540. From whom do you think he had it? From his associates in this transaction, Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt; we have traced the notes up to every one of them. I shall be enabled to shew these persons actually paying him this very money, and when? Between the time of his transaction and his absconding. I will shew you that Mr. Fearn on the 10th of February, drew a check on Bond and Company for L56 5s. payable to Mr. Butt, that that was paid partly in a fifty pound bank note, that bank note was found in the possession of Mr. De Berenger when he was taken at Leith. On the 16th of February, Mr. Smallbone drew a check on Jones, Loyd, and Company for L470. 14s. 4d. made payable to a number, but actually given by him to Lord Cochrane, that was paid in a two hundred pound note, two one hundred pounds, a fifty pound, some small notes, and the fraction in cash. The two hundred pound note was by order of Mr. Butt, exchanged by Christmas (a Clerk of Fearn's) at Bond's, on the 24th of February.—Mark the day, Gentlemen, the Thursday after this fraud, for two L100 notes, those two L100 notes this same Clerk of Mr. Fearn's carried to the Bank, exchanged them for two hundred notes of one pound each, brought them back and gave them to Mr. Fearn, who put them into the hands of Mr. Butt; and, as if these persons had been anxious to link themselves to each other inseparably, Mr. Butt, in Mr. Fearn's presence, handed them over to Mr. Cochrane Johnstone. Gentlemen, of these two hundred notes, I will shew you that eleven were passed at Hull, Mr. De Berenger having been at Hull at that time; that seven were paid by him at Hull, that seven more have come into the bank from that country, marked with De Berenger's name, and that sixty-seven of them were found in Mr. De Berenger's writing desk at Leith.

Gentlemen, I told you that there were two other notes for L100 each. At the same time that Christmas went to the Bank on the 24th, Mr. Lance, who was another of their Agents, went to the Bank, and immediately after Christmas (for the numbers follow each other in the Bank Books) for the other two notes of L100 each, he got two hundred notes also of one pound each, and he gave them to Mr. Butt. Gentlemen, of those two hundred notes, forty-seven have come into the Bank with De Berenger's name upon them, and forty-nine more of them were found in Mr. De Berenger's writing desk. I mentioned to you that another note given in payment of this check to Lord Cochrane, was one for fifty pounds,—that Bank note of fifty pounds, I will prove Lord Cochrane himself paid away to his own coal merchant.