Part 14

_Q._ Was the Morning Chronicle one of the papers in which you put Lord Cochrane's affidavit?

_A._ Yes, it was.

_Mr. Park._ It must not be said to be Lord Cochrane's affidavit, till that is proved.

_Lord Ellenborough._ He printed something purporting to be Lord Cochrane's affidavit. I have taken it that Lord Cochrane delivered several papers, one purporting to be an affidavit which this witness inserted in the newspapers.

_Mr. Park._ But when once the expression is used by my learned friend, persons do not get rid of it again.

_Lord Ellenborough._ If he published it as an affidavit, it is quoad him an affidavit.

_Mr. Park._ To be sure, my Lord.

_Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Best._

_Q._ You have said that he brought this paper to you, giving you directions to have it printed?

_A._ He wished it to be inserted in the newspapers.

_Q._ Tell us all that he said to you at the time; did he not at the time when he was giving you directions to print it, say, that if De Berenger was the man, he had given the Stock Exchange the clue to it?

_A._ After reading the affidavit, his Lordship said "I once saw Captain De Berenger at dinner."

_Lord Ellenborough._ Was this at the time?

_A._ Yes; he said "I once saw Captain De Berenger at Mr. Basil Cochrane's--I have no reason to think that Captain De Berenger is capable of so base a transaction, but if he is, I have given the gentlemen of the Stock Exchange the best clue to find him out."

_Lord Ellenborough._ Did he say what sort of clue he had given?

_A._ The clue as to De Berenger.

_Mr. Gurney._ By his affidavit?

_A._ Yes, that by that he had given them the best clue.

_Re-examined by Mr. Adolphus._

_Q._ When was it this affidavit was given to you?

_A._ I cannot state the day.

_Q._ Was it so late as March?

_A._ No, it must be about the 27th or 28th of February I think, but the newspaper will prove the date; it might be the first or second of March, I cannot speak to that.

_Q._ Was it not after the 11th of March?

_A._ I cannot state indeed.

_Q._ It was given to you the day before it appeared in the Morning Chronicle?

_A._ It was the day before, about three o'clock.

_Mr. Gurney._ Look at that (_shewing a pamphlet to the witness_) have you received one of those pamphlets either from Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, Lord Cochrane, or Mr. Butt?

_A._ Lord Cochrane gave me one of those at my own request, hearing it was published.

_Q._ Look at that which purports to be an affidavit of Lord Cochrane.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ Is that the identical book Lord Cochrane gave you?

_A._ No.

_Mr. Gurney._ Read the affidavit and tell me whether you know that to be verbally and precisely the same?

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ I submit to your Lordship that will not do.

_Mr. Gurney._ Where is your copy of the pamphlet?

_A._ It is at home.

_Mr. Gurney._ Will your Lordship allow him to go home and fetch it.

_Lord Ellenborough._ Certainly.

_Mr. Malcolm Richardson called again._

_Examined by Mr. Gurney._

_Q._ You are a bookseller?

_A._ Yes.

_Q._ Were you employed by Mr. Butt to publish that pamphlet?

_A._ Not absolutely employed by him to publish it, but I sold it for him at his request, he wrote to me to know whether I would sell it for him.

_Lord Ellenborough._ This should be a publication by Lord Cochrane, to make the affidavit evidence against him.

_Mr. Gurney._ Certainly, my Lord, and if my learned friends wish it, I will wait till the witness comes back.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ I have no wish to lay any impediment in the way, therefore if your Lordship thinks there is no impropriety in my permitting it to be read now, I will do it?

_Lord Ellenborough._ I leave it to your judgment, whether your resistance does you more good than the admission.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ I will not resist it certainly. If I had the original I would deliver it up in a moment, but the fact is, we have not the original.

_The Affidavit was read as follows:_

"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, at 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."

_March 11, 1814._ _13, Green-street._

"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 I 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 £8000. He had no hope of benefiting 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 fathers, and to that, and to Sir Alexander, he would trust for obtaining an honourable 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 crowded, 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 favour 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 connexion in any way with the funds, arose from an impression that in the present favourable aspect of affairs, it was only necessary to hold stock in order to become a gainer without prejudice to anybody; 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 £139,000 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 £2000 in money which I had occasion for, the profit of which was about £10. Further, I do solemnly depose, that I had no connexion of 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."

"COCHRANE."

_Mr. James Le Marchant sworn._

_Examined by Mr. Bolland._

_Q._ Are you acquainted with Captain De Berenger?

_A._ I was so.

_Q._ When did your acquaintance with him commence?

_A._ About 18 months ago.

_Q._ How long did it continue?

_A._ It continued until the 16th of February to the best of my knowledge.

_Q._ Between those periods was Captain De Berenger in the habit of calling upon you frequently?

_A._ He was, from the 10th to the 16th of February.

_Q._ At what period of the day?

_A._ At different periods.

_Q._ Did he pass his evenings with you?

_A._ Occasionally.

_Q._ In conversations with him, did you ever collect from him, whether he had any connexion with Lord Cochrane or Mr. Cochrane Johnstone?

_A._ I did--with both.

_Q._ State to the Court what he has told you.

_A._ He stated that he was about to go to America under the command of Lord Cochrane; on his mentioning this, I put the question to him, how he possibly could do it under the embarrassments that he laid under, upon which he answered, all was settled on that score.

_Q._ Do you recollect upon what day this conversation passed?

_A._ I should think nearly about the 14th, to the best of my recollection, he said, that for the services he had rendered Lord Cochrane and Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, whereby his Lordship could realize a large sum or large sums of money by means of the funds or stocks, one of the words, that his Lordship was his friend, and had told him a few days before, that he had kept unknown to him till that period, a private purse for him De Berenger.

_Q._ Did he state to you whether there was any particular intimacy between him and Lord Cochrane, or Mr. Cochrane Johnstone?

_A._ He frequently mentioned particular intimacy of dining, breakfasting and supping with his Lordship. He said, in which purse he had placed or deposited a certain per centage out of the profits which his Lordship had made by his stock suggestions.

_Q._ Did you afterwards hear of the events of the 21st of February?

_A._ I did so.

_Q._ Did you upon that make known to any parties, and to whom, your suspicions of Captain De Berenger having been active in them?

_A._ I did so.

_Q._ To whom were those communications made?

_A._ To Captain Taylor of His Majesty's 22nd regiment of foot, and Lieutenant Wright in the Honorable East India Company's Service.

_Q._ Did you collect in any conversations you had with Captain De Berenger, that Lord Cochrane and Mr. Cochrane Johnstone consulted him in any transactions of Stock?

_Mr. Park._ That is a pretty good leading question.

_Mr. Bolland._ Did he state to you any thing respecting their consulting him as to stock transactions?

_A._ Most undoubtedly, or I should not have drawn the conclusions I did.

_Q._ For what was he to have a per centage?

_A._ For the ideas he had given to Lord Cochrane, enabling him to make a profit in the stocks.

_Q._ Did he extend that to Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, or Lord Cochrane?

_A._ To both.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ I am aware that your Lordship will not consider this as evidence against Lord Cochrane, or Mr. Cochrane Johnstone.

_Lord Ellenborough._ No; it is admissible evidence, the effect of it is another thing.

_Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Best._

_Q._ You have been corresponding with my Lord Cochrane.

_A._ I have so.

_Q._ You are now a prisoner in the King's Bench, I believe?

_A._ No; I am not.

_Q._ You have told my Lord Cochrane?----

_Mr. Bolland._ Have you ever had any communication with Lord Cochrane but in writing?

_A._ None individually.

_Mr. Bolland._ Then I object to any questions except as to letters.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ You are a gentleman whose appointment Government have stopped?

_A._ It is not stopped.

_Q._ Suspended?

_A._ It is not suspended.

_Q._ You mean to state that upon your oath?

_A._ I state that I hold the situation of Secretary and Register to the Court of Antigua and Montserrat.

_Q._ You have not been prevented from going out?

_A._ In consequence of being compelled to give my evidence either at this court or some other court.

_Q._ And not on any other account?

_A._ Not that I know of.

_Q._ You know of no other reasons why Government have prevented your going out, but that you may be kept here as a Witness?

_A._ Yes.

_Q._ You mean to state that broadly?

_A._ Precisely.

_Q._ Is that your hand writing? (_shewing a letter to the Witness_)

_A._ It is.

_Q._ Just look at these; are these your hand writing? (_shewing other letters to the Witness._)

_A._ That is not.

_Q._ That is Lord Cochrane's hand writing, is it not, you have got one in your pocket that is a copy of one that Lord Cochrane wrote to you in answer to one of your letters?

_A._ I will look at it. (_the Witness read the letter over._) This is precisely the same as one I have in my pocket.

_Q._ You have got that letter about you?

_A._ I have.

_Q._ Have you not proposed to my Lord Cochrane to lend you money, and have you not told his Lordship that if he would not----

_Mr. Bolland._ My Lord, he says he has had no communication but in writing.

_A._ I have had no communication with Lord Cochrane but in writing.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ Would you have given this evidence if you could have obtained a loan of money from Lord Cochrane?

_A._ Most undoubtedly; I must have been compelled to do it upon oath if brought forwards in a court of justice.

_Q._ I will not have a reasoning answer, but a direct answer, and that answer I will have taken down. Would you have given this evidence here if you could have obtained a loan of money from Lord Cochrane?

_A._ If my Lord Cochrane had not called me forwards, of course I should not have given an evidence, but he has compelled me.

_Q._ That will not do, I will put the question again; I want an answer, yes, or no, to this; would you have given this evidence if you could have obtained a loan of money from Lord Cochrane?

_A._ I hardly consider that question as fair; if his Lordship says it is I will answer it.

_Lord Ellenborough._ I rather think the terms of the question embrace some communications; he says he has had no communications about a loan in any way but in writing, and I think you cannot in that way travel indirectly to the contents of a letter; if the letter says any thing about a loan of money, you may give it in evidence.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ Will your Lordship allow me to put it in this way. I have no right to ask the contents of any letter but with humble deference to your Lordship; I have a right to ask this man what passed in his own mind, for it does not yet appear that he put it upon paper; if the question had been what have you written to Lord Cochrane? that would have been objectionable, but surely I have a right to ask him what is passing in his own mind upon the subject, to know the motives from which this gentleman, of whom I shall speak by and by, comes to speak.

_Lord Ellenborough._ Do you give your evidence from resentment in consequence of having some loan refused to you?

_A._ None individually--none whatever.

_Mr. Bolland._ My Lord, I must object to my learned friend Mr. Serjeant Best getting the effect of a correspondence which was in writing.

_Lord Ellenborough._ He does not refer to it, but one cannot but be conscious after what has passed, that all that has ever passed about a loan has been in writing, therefore it would be the most ingenuous course to put it in.

_Serjeant Best._ I certainly mean to read this man's letters.

_Lord Ellenborough._ I asked him in the strongest manner possible, do you now give your evidence in resentment for having a loan, or any other benefit withheld from you? You may press that if you please.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ I will put it in the way your Lordship suggests. Do you not now give your evidence in consequence of your being angry with Lord Cochrane for refusing to lend you money?

_A._ No. So help me God.

_Q._ Now take care. Do you know a gentlemen of the name of Palfreyman?

_A._ I have met him twice, I think, within this fortnight past.

_Q._ You have no resentment against Lord Cochrane whatever I understand you?

_A._ None whatever.

_Q._ You have never so expressed yourself to Mr. Palfreyman?

_A._ I am persuaded I never have.

_Q._ You never have told Mr. Palfreyman then that you would be his ruin?

_A._ Never.

_Q._ Nothing like that?

_A._ Never.

_Q._ That you would assist the Stock Exchange?

_A._ Never.

_Q._ Nothing of the sort?

_A._ I have already answered you.

_Q._ That will not do. Where did you come from now?

_A._ I came from the Gloucester Coffee House.

_Q._ I should have thought you had been in a coffee house, it is after dinner time I suppose. You are sure you never said any thing of the kind?

_A._ I have repeated it three or four times.

_Q._ You know this gentleman very well, Mr. Palfreyman?

_A._ A very slight acquaintance.

_Q._ Now I ask you another thing--Did you ever disclose this conversation with Mr. De Berenger till after Lord Cochrane refused you a loan?

_Lord Ellenborough._ If any application you made for a loan was in writing, you are not bound to answer that question.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ My question was as to the time of the disclosure to the Stock Exchange, I will certainly read his letters; this does not touch me, but my learned friends of Counsel for De Berenger had not seen these letters. My question is, whether you ever disclosed the matter you have stated to day against De Berenger till after you were refused a loan by Lord Cochrane?

_Lord Ellenborough._ But if the proposition for loan was in writing, the letter must explain itself.

_Mr. Scarlett._ If we are not allowed to examine this witness as to his motives and his conduct as to these letters, I do not see how these letters could ever be made evidence.

_Lord Ellenborough._ You cannot examine him as to his motives, without producing the letters, that would be extracting the most unfair testimony in the world; I know nothing about the man, I never saw his face before to-day; but he, as a witness, has a right to the common protection of the law of the land, and not to have garbled questions put to him.

_Mr. Scarlett._ We do mean to read the letters.

_Lord Ellenborough._ And then you may call him back to ask him any questions upon them; but I would not have him answer without the letters being read.

_Mr. Brougham._ My learned friend merely referred to the letters as a date, not to the substance of the letters.

_Lord Ellenborough._ But he has said that he never had any communication with Lord Cochrane, but by letter, therefore the request for a loan, if any one was made, must have been by writing, and if he is to be questioned about that request in writing, he ought to have the terms of that request in writing read before the jury, so as to give a pointed answer to it.

_Mr. Brougham._ With great submission, my learned friend, did not ask as to the contents of the correspondence, but in point of date and time merely; he put this question, Was your information given to the Stock Exchange previously or subsequently to that correspondence, whatever the contents of that correspondence were?

_Lord Ellenborough._ I never heard that question put till this moment. Previous to some supposed correspondence, without stating the nature of that correspondence, was the information given by you to the Stock Exchange?