Part 34

Then he says, "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 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 anywhere; 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 of 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," now this is very material, "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_;" what is the dress that Lord Cochrane represents as then belonging to him? a green dress? had he a green dress? he must have had that dress with him whatever it was in which he had come in the coach; he says that would excite suspicion; why, if he had really a green uniform, that would not have excited observation or suspicion; it was the very uniform he ought to have worn; but if it was that in which he had got out of the coach, and it does not appear that he had any means of shifting himself; if he had on an aid-de-camp's uniform with a star, and so presented himself to Lord Cochrane, how could Lord Cochrane reconcile it to the duties he owed to society, and to Government, and to his character as a gentleman and an officer, to give him the means of exchanging it; it must be put on for some dishonest purpose; this red coat and star, and all this equipment, must have appeared most extraordinary, and must have struck Lord Cochrane most forcibly, if he was not aware of the purpose for which it was used; "that he could not go to Lord Yarmouth, or to any other of his friends in this dress, or return to his lodgings, where it would excite suspicion (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 his uniform _in a towel_, and shortly afterwards went away." If he put that uniform in a towel, he must have pulled it off his back, for it was on his back before, and then Lord Cochrane, one would think, must have seen him do it; what business had this man with a red aid-de-camp's uniform? he had no business to wear any such garb, he was almost as much out of his proper character, as I should be if I appeared habited in the particular dress and professional habits of an officer or a clergyman; but it does not rest there, for he himself lends to this person the immediate means of his concealment, he lets him have a hat instead of his _laced cap_; and what had such a cap to do with a sharpshooter's uniform? upon seeing him appear habited as all the witnesses represent him to have been in his way from Dover to Green-street, Grosvenor-square, would not any one who had known him before have immediately exclaimed, where have you been, and what mischief have you been doing in this masquerade dress. It is for you, gentlemen, to say whether it is possible he should not know, that a man coming so disguised and so habited if he appeared before him so habited, came upon some dishonest errand, and whether it is to be conceived a person should so present himself to a person who did not know what that dishonest errand was, and that it was the very dishonest errand upon which he had been so recently engaged, and which he is found to be executing in the spreading of false intelligence, for the purpose of elevating the funds, if he actually appeared to Lord Cochrane stripped of his great coat, and with that red coat and aid-de-camp's uniform, star and order, which have been represented to you, he appeared before him rather in the habit of a mountebank than in his proper uniform of a sharpshooter.

He says, "he went away in the hackney coach I came in, which I had forgotten to discharge in the haste I was in. The above conversation is the substance of all that passed with Captain De Berenger, which, from the circumstances attending it, was strongly impressed upon my mind; 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;" which I suppose will be read, "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 De Berenger wore a grey coat, a green uniform, and a military cap;" now did he wear a green uniform? They are at issue upon the dress then worn by him; if he had not this dress on, what other had he? And if he had the green one on, what true or probable reason existed for the change of that? the unfitness of appearing in it before his commanding officer, Lord Yarmouth, is negatived by Lord Yarmouth himself; supposing him to have appeared in any disguise, it is the conduct of an accomplice, to assist him in getting rid of his disguise, to let a man pull off at his house, the dress in which (if all these witnesses do not tell you falsely) he had been committing this offence, and which had been worn down to the moment of his entering the house, namely, the star, a red coat and appendant order of masonry, seems wholly inconsistent with the conduct of an innocent and honest man, for if he appeared in such an habit, he must have appeared to any rational person, fully blazoned in the costume of that or of some other crime, which was to be effected under an assumed dress, and by means of fraud and imposition; this circumstance is therefore very important for your consideration; the judgment to be formed upon it must rest with you, and you will no doubt consider, whether supposing him to have appeared before Lord Cochrane, dressed as the witnesses represent him to have antecedently been, the circumstance of his so appearing in a dress proper for the commission of such a fraud, as appears to have been committed on that day, by attracting a false belief of the person being a messenger bringing great public news, coupled with the fact of his afterwards walking off with that dress in a bundle, instead of having that dress upon his back, and also with the evidence given in order to prove a connexion with the notes afterwards found in De Berenger's desk, you are not satisfied that he was privy to and assisted in the scheme of effecting a deception upon the public.

Gentlemen, I have taken this subject a little out of its place in adverting to it here. To return--

Mr. Lavie says, "I received the parcel, (_that produced by Odell_), in the Stock Exchange room, in which Mr. Baily and Mr. Wade were present."

Mr. Wade says, "I am Secretary to the Stock Exchange, in company with other gentlemen, I received from Odell a bundle, said to be found in the river, which was given to Mr. Lavie; the star was then in two pieces, and was afterwards sewn together, for the purpose of being exhibited."

Then Solomons, who originally sold the dress, is called; he says, "I am a military accoutrement-maker; we have a shop at Charing Cross, and another at New Street, Covent Garden. On Saturday the 19th of February," the very day before this is put into execution, with the intervention of the Sunday; "a military dress was purchased at my house; a military great coat and foraging cap made of dark fur, with a pale gold border; I have since had a cap and a coat made exactly resembling them, as nearly as I could possibly recollect." He had them made I suppose in order to exhibit them. "The person purchased at our house in New Street, something which came to Charing Cross shop, as being ordered at New Street, and the person came to Charing Cross and took it away; there was a military great coat, a military staff coat, such as persons on the staff wear, the uniform of an aid-de-camp. I have examined the fragments, the star and the badge, I believe those to be the same, we had the very fellow-star to that; except those two, I do not know that I ever saw any star like them, the badge I did not take much notice of;" that is the silver masonry ornament, "I have examined these fragments, and they appear to be part of the same materials, the same description of embroidery, the same description of coat; I had a conversation with respect to the great coat, and also the cap; he observed that they were wanted for a person who was to _perform the character of a foreign officer_, they were to be sent into the country that evening, he took them away with him in a coach, he had a small portmanteau with him;" you remember there is a leather portmanteau spoken of; "he did not beat me down in the prices, or make any observations about money, but merely paid for them, I was conversing with him for a short time, I have been since introduced to a person at the Parliament-street coffee house; I cannot undertake to say it was the person, in point of appearance he resembles him, except that the person I served had whiskers." Now if you recollect the history of the whiskers, it is established that he had worn whiskers, though the woman who endeavoured to make us believe that he slept at home on the Sunday night, said she had not so much as observed (though she had been his servant two years and a half) whether he had any whiskers. It appears to me that is a circumstance in the countenance of a person which one would very much observe; he says, "the person I saw in Parliament-street had not whiskers;" he then looked at Mr. De Berenger, and said, "this is the person I was introduced to at the coffee house in Parliament-street; I really cannot undertake to swear that he is the person, the gentleman that represented himself to be Mr. Wilson, was dressed in a different manner, he had black whiskers, and from that circumstance I could not possibly undertake to swear it was the same person, it resembles the person, except that the person I served had whiskers, I cannot say that I believe it is the person, or that it is not."

Mrs. Abigail Davidson, the woman with whom Mr. De Berenger lodged, is then called; she says, "In the month of February last I resided in the Asylum Buildings, near to the Asylum; the house is within the Rules of the King's Bench. Mr. De Berenger lodged with me; he finally quitted my house on the 27th of February, on a Sunday. I do not remember where he was on the Sunday before that, I did not see him on the morning of that Sunday; I cannot say whether he slept at home that night, we never attended to the door; I usually heard him in the morning, I did not hear him as usual on the morning of the 21st; I used to hear the bell ring for the servant, more than once; he occupied the whole of the upper part of the house, I and my husband had the two parlours. I heard him also occasionally playing the violin and trumpet, and he used to walk about; he then wore whiskers. I generally heard his bell; I did not see him come home on the Monday; I saw him in the evening, about half past five; I had heard him in the afternoon. He quitted my house on the Sunday after; I remember a gentleman calling on the Saturday night, the day before he quitted, with a letter; I have since seen that gentleman again, I saw him at the Temple; Mr. Lavie was then present. I cannot say that I positively knew the gentleman, but I think it was the same that I had seen deliver the letter on the 26th of February. Mr. De Berenger had two servants of the name of William Smith, and his wife; when he dined at home, his servants attended him; on Sunday the 20th, I cannot say whether he dined at home; his usual dinner hour was about four. I think his servants went out about two or half past on that Sunday." If you remember, Smith and his wife swear to De Berenger's going out about four on that Sunday, and Smith says, that he and his wife went out soon after; this woman swears, that they went out at two or half past. "There was a private place where the key always hung, for the accommodation of Mr. De Berenger, and as the key was always under the care of Smith, I did not see where the key was put that evening."

On her cross-examination she is asked, what Sunday it was that these servants went out to dinner at two or half past? she says, "On Sunday the 20th, about eleven o'clock, I heard my husband observe, De Berenger was gone out; I cannot say whether he slept from his bed on Sunday the 20th; I sleep in the back parlour. I have heard him trumpet by nine o'clock, not by seven. I had no call to look after him on any morning."

Upon her re-examination she says, "My husband observed to me, our lodger is gone out with a new great coat on." So that he is, for the first time, observed by them in that great coat on that Sunday.

Mr. Lavie says, the person Mrs. Davidson saw at the Temple getting out of the hackney coach, was Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, that she said she believed that the person who was striking the Jury, and who was Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, was the person who brought the letter on the Saturday.

Mrs. Davidson, on being called again, and further cross-examined, says, Mr. Lavie desired me to attend to see a gentleman; I was told Mr. Cochrane Johnstone was to be there; I will not swear that the person who left the letter was Mr. Johnstone. I had a conversation about the person with Smith, Mr. De Berenger's servant.

Then Mr. Launcelot Davidson, the husband of the last witness, is called; he says, "Mr. De Berenger lodged in my house; he quitted my house finally on Sunday the 27th of February. The Sunday before that, I saw him go out before eleven (that was on Sunday the 20th); I had been out before; I was waiting to hear the Asylum clock strike eleven; I saw him go out, I had seen him come in ten minutes before; when he came in, he had a plaid cloak on, which he had worn the winter; when he went out, he had a great coat of that colour (pointing to the grey coat produced by Solomon); as he went, I observed to my wife, there goes our lodger, he has a new great coat on; he did not come home again at all during that day, that I saw or heard; I did not see or hear him the next morning before nine; I go out at nine. I generally used to hear him before that time walking about, or ringing for his servant. I made an observation upon his servants going out on the Sunday at two; I do not think they were at home _at four o'clock_, which was Mr. De Berenger's usual dinner hour; the man servant always attended him when he dined, and the woman dressed his dinner; he did not dine at home on that Sunday. A conversation took place with the Smiths afterwards, respecting that Sunday night." Now to be sure it is a most obvious thing, that if he had been in town at that time, nothing could be so easy as to have proved where he dined; and probably those who might have been called to prove that fact, would have been persons of a better description than Donithorne, Tragear, and the other persons called, to give an account of him on that day.

On cross-examination he says, "I had nothing to do with his domestic life. He made a loud rap at the door, and had few visitors. I am a broker, and clerk of a broker, and out a considerable part of the day."

Gentlemen, the next evidence applies to the Northfleet part of the transaction.

Mr. Vinn says, (and to be sure it is an odd story he tells); "in consequence of a note left at my house, dated the 14th of February last, I went to the Carolina coffee-house on the 15th, where I met Mr. M'Rae, in company with an elderly gentleman; he desired me to sit down. I had known M'Rae before for some years, he was standing near the door, and in about seven or ten minutes, he came and joined me; he told me he had known me a long time, and that he thought he had now an opportunity of making my fortune; that he knew from the knowledge I had of languages, I should have an opportunity of benefiting others and myself; I asked him what the object was; he said not to travel abroad, but probably at home, and that almost immediately; that it was a scheme that he had in contemplation, to be employed by men of affluence and consequence, and that no man was more competent than myself; he said there was no moral turpitude in the business, but that it was practised daily by men of the first consequence." What M'Rae says, is, you will observe, evidence criminally only as against himself; because what he _confesses_, is not evidence to affect others. What he _does_, may affect others as parties to the conspiracy; but what he _says_ cannot affect others; "that it was only biting the biters, or in other words, a hoax upon the Stock Exchange; and that by going down to Dartford, Folkestone or Dover, I should receive instructions." So that in his communications, Dover is mixed with Dartford, as the probable destination to which the parties to this business might be sent; "that it was necessary to have for himself and me, two dresses of French officers;" so that dresses similar to that in which the Dover plan was executed, were in his contemplation. "I there stopped him, and asked him whether he really meant to be employed in this transaction; to which he replied, certainly; and that I should be in the first place remunerated, and ultimately have a fortune made me: I replied with indignation, that I would as soon be concerned in a highway robbery; that I thought he had known me better; I expressed myself rather loudly, as offended at it; he endeavoured to hush me, saying, hush! that we might be overheard. He took me up Cornhill, where I left him; I told him if he would go with me to another coffee-house, I would introduce him to a person who, though I would not undertake the business, might do it. I took him there; it was the Jamaica coffee-house; there was a young man there, to whom I was about to introduce him; but he turned round suddenly, and I did not: upon M'Rae returning, he asked me whether I would not give him in writing some French sentences, sentences such as Vive le Roi, Vive les Bourbons, Vive Louis Dix huit; I gave him those terms in writing;" so that he might play off those terms, to assist in the prosecution of this business. A letter is then shewn to the witness; he says "this is the letter I received from M'Rae; it is his hand writing." The letter is in these terms, "Mr. Vinn, Please to meet me at the Carolina coffee-house, about eleven to-morrow, upon very particular business, yours," so and so.

On his cross-examination, he says, "I am an accountant; I have been acquainted with M'Rae five years and a half. I never bought and sold as a broker; I had been in business myself; there was no person to hear the conversation I have stated. I communicated this at the Stock Exchange to Mr. Rothery, and mentioned it publickly on the 15th, and that I had refused it; my object was not to get another person really to undertake the business, but to furnish myself with a confirmatory witness."