Your Lordships having listened to those who had any thing to offer which
they considered material for their defence, emboldens me to trust that
your Lordships, though I do not address you by Counsel, will grant me a
similar indulgence, and even that you will extend that indulgence
further to me on account of my not appearing by Counsel, for the reasons
which I had the honour to state to you upon a former occasion. In order
that those feelings which must agitate me on the present occasion, may
as little as possible enter into what I have now to state, I have judged
it proper to reduce it to writing; and in order to give the Court as
little trouble as possible, to make my statement as short as the
circumstances of the case appear to me to admit of.
It has been my very great misfortune to be apparently implicated in the
guilt of others with whom I never had any connexion, except in
transactions, so far as I was apprised of them, entirely blameless. I
had met Mr. De Berenger in public company, but was on no terms of
intimacy with him. With Mr. Cochrane Johnstone I had the intercourse
natural between such near relatives. Mr. Butt had voluntarily offered,
without any reward, to carry on stock transactions, in which thousands,
as well as myself were engaged, in the face of day without the smallest
imputation of any thing incorrect. The other four defendants were wholly
unknown to me, nor have I ever, directly or indirectly, held any
communication with them. Of Mr. De Berenger's concern in the fraud, I
have no information, except such as arises out of the late trial. With
regard to Mr. Johnstone and Mr. Butt, I am willing to hope that they are
guiltless. They repeatedly protested to me their innocence. They did not
dare to communicate any such plan to me, if such was projected by them,
or either of them. Be they guilty, then, or be they, one or both,
erroneously convicted, I have only to lament, that, without the most
remote suspicion of their proceedings, if they, or either of them, were
concerned in the fraud, I have, through my blameless intercourse with
them, been subject to imputations which might, with equal justice, have
been cast upon any man who now hears me. Circumstanced as I am, I must
keep myself wholly unconnected with those whose innocence cannot be so
clear to me as my own. Well had it been for me if I had made this
distinction sooner.
I do not stand here to commend myself--unhappily, I must seek only for
exculpation; but I cannot exist under the load of dishonour which even
an unjust judgment has flung upon me. My life has been too often in
jeopardy to make me think much about it; but my honour was never yet
breathed upon; and I now hold my existence only in the determination to
remove an imputation, as groundless, as it is intolerable.
The evidence which I now tender to your Lordship, will aid me in
performing this duty towards myself, my rank, and my profession. I first
offer the affidavit, which I have repeated at a risk which I formerly
had no opportunity of encountering. I have been told, that I then
incurred the moral guilt of perjury, without exposing myself to the
legal penalties. I know nothing of such distinctions. I have repeated
the statement upon oath--and I am now answerable to the laws if I have
falsely sworn. The affidavits of three persons who saw De Berenger at my
house on the 21st of February, fully confirm my statement, and I have
only been prevented from bringing forward a fourth, by his sailing to a
distant situation, before I could possibly stop him for this purpose.
The grounds upon which I have been convicted are these:--That notes were
found in De Berenger's possession which had been changed for others,
that had once been in mine. That De Berenger came to my house after
returning from his expedition; and that my account of what passed at
this visit is contradicted by evidence.
The first ground has been clearly explained away; it amounts to nothing
more than that which may happen to any man who has money transactions.
Mr. Butt voluntarily made purchases and sales of stock for me, and
having received a small loan of money from him, I repaid him with bank
notes which he used for his own purposes. He says that he exchanged
these notes, and that a part of the notes which he received in exchange
he paid to Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, who states, that he gave them to De
Berenger in payment of some drawings; but with this story, whether true
or false, I have no manner of concern, and consequently no wish to
discuss it. In what way soever the notes which were received in exchange
for mine reached De Berenger, I can only say, that mine were given to
Mr. Butt in discharge of a _bonâ fide_ debt; and I have no knowledge
whatever of the uses to which he applied them.
De Berenger's coming to my house, I before accounted for upon the
supposition of his being unconcerned in the fraud; but is it not obvious
that he might have come there to facilitate his escape, by going
immediately on board of my ship, with the additional prospect of
obtaining employment in America? It has been said that there was a
suspicious degree of familiarity in his treatment of me and my house. I
can only observe, that over his conduct I had no controul. But he knew,
it seems, of my change of abode, which had occurred within a few days. I
trust it will be recollected, that he is proved to have left town three
days after such change, and that though not intimate with me, he had the
means of knowing where I resided, even if he should not have enquired at
my former lodgings, where my address was left. Indeed, if taking refuge
in my ship, in order to facilitate his escape, was part of his scheme,
it was very likely that he would have ascertained the precise place of
my abode, previous to his quitting London. Again, I am said to have left
the tinman's, (where I think I should hardly have gone had I expected
such a messenger) as soon as I heard of the officer's arrival. I was in
apprehensions of fatal news respecting my brother then in France, from
whom I had received a letter but three days before, with the
intelligence of his being dangerously ill; and I now tender you his
affidavit, with the surgeon's certificate, dated the 12th of February,
which he brought home with him. And therefore, on receiving the note
from De Berenger, whose name I was unable to decypher, and as that note
announced that the writer, whom I learnt from my servant had the
appearance of an officer in the army, who was desirous of seeing me, I
hastened to learn intelligence so anxiously expected; nor had I the
least doubt that it related to my brother. When, however, I found that
the person was De Berenger, and that he had only to speak of his own
private affairs, the apparent distress he was in, and the relief it gave
my mind to know that he was not the bearer of the news I dreaded,
prevented me from feeling that displeasure which I might otherwise have
felt at the liberty he had taken or the interruption it had occasioned.
Comments have been made on my saying so little to the servant who
brought that note; but the fact is, I did ask him several questions, as
appears by his affidavit. That I did not learn the name of the writer
from the note itself, I have truly accounted for, by its being written
so close to the bottom of the paper that I could not read it. This
assertion is said to be contradicted by the circumstance of the writer
having found room to add a postscript, as if there was only one side to
the paper. Of the postscript I have no recollection, but it might have
been written even opposite the signature. That I did not collect from
the hand-writing, that it was addressed to me by De Berenger, is nothing
extraordinary; my acquaintance with that person was extremely slight;
and till that day I had never received more than one or two notes from
him, which related to a drawing of a lamp. I was too deeply impressed
with the idea that the note was addressed to me by an officer who had
come with intelligence of my brother, to apprehend that it was written
by De Berenger, from whom I expected no communication, and with whose
hand-writing I was not familiar. All that I could afterwards recollect
of the note, more than what is stated in my affidavit is, that he had
something to communicate which would affect my feeling mind, or words to
that effect, which confirmed my apprehensions that the writer was the
messenger of fatal news of my brother.
If De Berenger had really been my agent in this nefarious transaction,
how I should have acted or where I should have chosen to receive him, it
is impossible for me to say: but I humbly apprehend that my own house
was not the place I should have selected for that purpose. The pretended
Du Bourg, if I had chosen him for my instrument, instead of his making
me his convenience, should have terminated his expedition and have found
a change of dress elsewhere. He should not have come immediately and in
open day to my house. I should not so rashly have invited detection and
its concomitant ruin.
But this is not the only extravagance of which I am accused. What
supposition short of my absolute insanity will account for my having
voluntarily made the affidavit which has been so much canvassed, if I
really knew the plot in which De Berenger appears to have been engaged?
Let me entreat your Lordships consideration of the situation in which I
stood at the moment in which that affidavit was made; I was suspected of
being connected with the pretended Du Bourg; if I had known that De
Berenger was the person who had assumed that name, could I possibly have
betrayed him, and consequently myself, more completely than by
publishing such a detail to the world? The name of De Berenger was never
mentioned till brought forward in my affidavit; which affidavit was
made, as sworn by Mr. Wright, a witness on the trial, with the
circumstance present to me, and remarked by me at the time I delivered
it to him to be printed, that if De Berenger should happen to be Du
Bourg, I had furnished a clue to his detection. The circumstance of his
obtaining a change of dress at my house, never could have been known if
I had not voluntarily discovered it; and thus I am represented as having
brought him publicly to my own house, of being the first to disclose his
name, and of mentioning a circumstance, which, of all others, it was the
most easy to conceal, and, if divulged, the most certain to excite
suspicion! Is it not next to impossible, that a man, conscious of guilt,
should have been so careless of his most imminent danger?
My adversaries dwell upon some particulars of this affidavit, which they
pretend to find contradicted in the evidence. The principle one is my
assertion that Berenger wore a green coat. I have repeated this
assertion upon oath, under all the risks of the law; and I also solemnly
affirm, upon my honour, which I regard as an obligation no less sacred,
that I only saw him in that dress. The witnesses on the part of the
prosecution have asserted, that he wore a red coat when he arrived in
town. Granted. But may he not have changed it in the coach, on his way
to Green-street? Where was the difficulty, and for what purpose was the
portmanteau? My own fixed opinion is, that he changed his dress in the
coach, because I believe that he dared not run the risk of appearing in
my presence till he had so changed it. I tender affidavits of those who
saw him, as I did, in his green coat, at my house. That he should have
changed his dress before I saw him is most natural, upon the supposition
of his wishing to conceal from me the work he had been about; but it is
like many other confirmations of my innocence, fated to excite no
attention in the minds of those who only seek food for their
suspicions. Much is said of the star and other ornaments, as if any
proof had been given of his wearing them in my presence. He took
especial care, I doubt not, to lay them aside on his way, when he had
divested himself of his official capacity, long before I saw him. The
small portmanteau before-mentioned, which it is admitted he brought with
him, in all probability furnished him with the green coat, and received
the red coat and its ornaments, and very possibly for this reason no
remark has been made upon it. A good deal of observation has been
bestowed upon De Berenger's unwillingness to appear before Lord Yarmouth
in uniform, and the inference was, that this uniform could not have been
the green dress of his corps, otherwise he must have felt the reverse of
uneasy at being seen in it by his Colonel. Does any volunteer officer go
out of a morning to make calls in his regimentals? Could so unusual a
circumstance have failed to excite remark from Lord Yarmouth? To me,
indeed, he had explained himself--he had of necessity told me his nearly
desperate state, in asking me to receive him on board my ship; but is
there any thing so very incredible in the statement that he was
unwilling to tell his whole case to every body? It may now doubtless be
perceived, that he might have had other reasons for disliking to go out
in a green dress.
Let it, however, be recollected, that my statement was, that he only
asked me for a hat in lieu of his military cap, and that the black coat
was my own voluntary offer. The idea of his applying to Lord Yarmouth,
or to any other of his friends, originated with me, and I proposed it in
consequence of his calling to my recollection the certificates he had
received from them. I then had no suspicion awake, and I believed what
he told me. In what manner the disguise was ultimately disposed of I can
only conjecture, as any one else might, from the evidence given on the
trial. He presented himself to me in a grey great coat, and a green
under coat; and if the persons whose affidavits I now tender had been
examined on the trial, and they did attend for that purpose, I do feel
persuaded that a very different impression would have been made on the
jury and the world at large, than that which they appear to entertain;
and that your Lordships might have been disposed to take an opposite
view of the case as it affected me. Those witnesses would have
corroborated the particulars of my affidavit relative to De Berenger's
dress, when I first saw him at my house, namely, a grey great coat, and
a green under coat and jacket. Unfortunately, through some mistake or
misconception, not on my part, they were left unnoticed, and, of course,
were not examined. I have now to offer their several affidavits to your
Lordships.
I would further submit to your Lordships, that my affidavit was made at
the impulse of the moment, as soon as I heard that placards had been
posted, stating that the pretended colonel Du Bourg had gone to my
house; and in the conscious rectitude of my own conduct, I not only
introduced the name of the only officer I saw at my house on the day
stated, but narrated every occurrence that took place, and all the
conversation that look place at the interview, to the best of my
recollection. If I am censured for having been too ingenuous in my
communication, I trust it will be admitted, that as ingenuousness
disclaims all connexion with guilt, it is indicative only of my
innocence.
If your Lordships will be pleased to reflect on all that I have offered
respecting De Berenger, and to bear in mind the avowed intercourse which
I had with two other defendants, respecting whose conduct I have been
compelled to speak at last upon a supposition of their guilt, I am
confident you will perceive how easily any man living so circumstanced
might have been placed in the very situation. But waiving the
supposition of De Berenger acting under the direction of either of the
other defendants, I do still contend, that any man who had stock
concerns, and was slightly known to De Berenger, ran the same risk with
me, of being driven into the ruin, which undeservedly, as I am still
willing to hope, has befallen the others.
The artifices which have been used to excite so much prejudice against
me, I unfeignedly despise, in spite of the injury they have done me. I
know it must subside, and I look forward to justice being rendered my
character sooner or later: It will come most speedily, as well as most
gratefully, if I shall receive it at your Lordship's hands. I am not
unused to injury; of late I have known persecution: the indignity of
compassion I am not yet able to bear. To escape what is vulgarly called
punishment, would have been an easy thing; but I must have belied my
feelings by acting as if I were conscious of dishonour. There are ways,
even of removing beyond the reach of ignominy, but I cannot feel
disgraced while I know that I am guiltless. Under the influence of this
sentiment, I persist in the defence of my character. I have often been
in situations where I had an opportunity of showing it. This is the
first time, thank God, that I was ever called upon to defend it.
* * * * *
The following Affidavits, handed in by Lord Cochrane, were read.
"In the King's Bench.
"The King _against_ Charles Random De Berenger, & others.
"Sir Thomas Cochrane, commonly called Lord Cochrane, one of
the above named defendants, maketh oath and saith, That the
several facts and circumstances stated in his affidavit, sworn
on the eleventh day of March last, before Mr. Graham, the
Magistrate, are true; and this deponent further saith, that in
addition to the several facts and circumstances stated in his
said affidavit, he deposeth as follows, (that is to say); That
he had not directly nor indirectly any concern whatever in
the formation, or any knowledge of the existence of an
intention to form the plot charged in the indictment, or any
other scheme or design for affecting the public funds. That
the sale of the pretended omnium on the twenty-first day of
February, was made in pursuance of orders given to his broker
at the time of the purchase thereof, on or about the
fourteenth of that month, to sell the same whenever a profit
of one per cent. could be realized; and that those directions
were given, and the sale thereof took place without any
knowledge, information, hint or surmise on the part of this
deponent, of any concern or attempt whatever to alter the
price of the funds; and the said sale on the twenty-first took
place entirely without this deponent's knowledge. That when
this deponent returned home from Mr. King's manufactory, on
the twenty-first of February, which he did directly after the
receipt of a note, he fully expected to have met an officer
from abroad, with intelligence of his brother, who had by
letter to this deponent received on the Friday before,
communicated his being confined to his bed, and severely
afflicted by a dangerous illness, and about whom this deponent
was extremely anxious; but this deponent found Captain De
Berenger at his house, in a grey great coat, and a green
jacket. That this deponent never saw the defendants, Ralph
Sandom, Alexander M'Rae, John Peter Holloway, and Henry Lyte,
or any or either of them, nor ever had any communication or
correspondence with them, or any or either of them, directly
or indirectly; that this deponent, in pursuance of directions
from the Admiralty, proceeded to Chatham to join his Majesty's
ship "The Tonnant," to which he had been appointed on the
eighth day of February last; that the ship was then lying at
Chatham; that previous to the eighth day of February, this
deponent applied to the Admiralty for leave of absence, which
was refused until this deponent had joined the said ship, and
had removed her down to Long Reach; that this deponent in
pursuance of those directions removed the said ship from
Chatham to Long Reach; and after that was done, viz. on
Saturday the twelfth day of the said month, this deponent
wrote to the Admiralty, to apply for leave of absence for a
fortnight, for the purpose of lodging a specification for a
patent, as had been previously communicated by this deponent
to their Lordships; that leave of absence was accordingly
granted for fourteen days, commencing on the fourteenth of the
said month; that this deponent was engaged in London
respecting the said specification, till the twenty-eighth of
the said month, when the said specification was completed; and
this deponent left town about one o'clock on the morning of
the first day of March, and arrived at Chatham about day-light
on the same morning; that on the eighth or ninth of the same
month of March, this deponent received an intimation, that
placards were affixed in several of the streets, stating that
a pretended Colonel Du Bourg had gone to this deponent's house
in Green-street; that he was on board the said ship at Long
Reach, and in consequence went to Admiral Surrage, the Port
Admiral at Chatham, to obtain leave of absence, which was
granted previous to the receipt of the leave forwarded by the
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; this deponent arrived in
London on the tenth of that month, to the best of his belief;
and that after his arrival, he himself, conscious of his own
innocence, and fearing no consequences from a developement of
every part of his own conduct, and desiring only to rescue his
character from erroneous impressions made by
misrepresentations in the public prints, he without any
communication whatsoever with any other person, and without
any assistance, on the impulse of the moment prepared the
before-mentioned affidavit, which he swore before Mr. Graham,
the magistrate, on the eleventh; that at the time he swore
such affidavit, he had not seen or heard the contents of the
report published by the Committee of the Stock Exchange,
except partial extracts in the newspapers; that when this
deponent understood that a prosecution was to be instituted
against him, he wrote to Admiral Fleming, in whose service
Isaac Davis, formerly this deponent's servant, then was, under
cover to Admiral Bickerton, at Portsmouth, and that Admiral
Bickerton returned the letter, saying, that Admiral Fleming
had sailed for Gibraltar; that this deponent sent his
servants, Thomas Dewman, Elizabeth Busk, and Mary Turpin, on
the trial of this indictment, to prove that an officer came to
this deponent's house on the morning of the said twenty-first
of February, and to prove the dress that he came in, but that
the said Thomas Dewman only was called; and as this deponent
has been informed, he was not interrogated as to the dress in
which the said officer came to his house; and this deponent
further saith, that had the said witnesses been examined,
according to the directions of this deponent, and who were in
attendance on the Court for that express purpose, they would,
as he verily believes, have removed every unfavourable
conclusion respecting this deponent's conduct, drawn from the
supposed dress in which the said De Berenger appeared before
this deponent on the twenty-first of February, and on which
circumstance much stress was laid in the charge to the Jury,
the said De Berenger's dress being exactly as stated in this
deponent's former affidavit hereinbefore-mentioned; and this
deponent solemnly and positively denies, that he ever saw the
said De Berenger in a scarlet uniform, decorated by medal, or
other insignia, and he had not the least suspicion of the said
De Berenger being engaged in any plot respecting the funds,
but merely believed he wished, for the reasons stated in this
deponent's former affidavit, to go on board this deponent's
ship, with a view to obtain some military appointment in
America; and this deponent declined complying with his request
to send him on board his ship, without permission or an order
from the Lords of the Admiralty; and this deponent further
saith, that he was in no degree intimate with the said De
Berenger; that he had no personal knowledge of his private or
public character; that he never asked the said De Berenger to
his house, nor did he ever breakfast or dine with this
deponent therein on any occasion whatsoever; and further, this
deponent saith, that he hath been informed, and verily
believes, that the Jury who tried the said indictment, and the
Counsel for the defence, were so completely exhausted and worn
out by extreme fatigue, owing to the Court having continued
the trial without intermission for many hours beyond that time
which nature is capable of sustaining herself without
reflection and repose, that justice could not be done to this
deponent.
_Cochrane._"
Sworn in Court the
14th June 1814.
"In the King's Bench.
"The King _against_ Charles Random De Berenger, & others.
"Thomas Dewman, servant to Lord Cochrane, maketh Oath and
saith,----"
_Lord Ellenborough._ This was a person called as a witness on the trial;
if the affidavit goes beyond what he then stated, or in contradiction to
what he stated, it cannot be received.
_Lord Cochrane._ Would your Lordship permit me to explain the reason why
he was not interrogated?
_Mr. Justice Bayley._ It is a settled rule, not to allow the affidavits
of persons who might have been called upon the trial, much less of
persons who were called.
_Lord Ellenborough._ And if any were not called, they were not called
under the discretion of your Lordship. It would be a very dangerous
thing, if persons whose evidence may have been discreetly kept back,
should afterwards be admitted to come forward as witnesses.
_Mr. Dealtry._ The next is the affidavit of Sarah Busk.
_Lord Cochrane._ My humble hope is, that you will be pleased to grant a
new trial, in order that these persons may have the opportunity of being
examined: they were not called from an error in the brief, which (so
little was I conscious of any participation in the fraud) I had not even
read.
_Mr. Gurney._ My Lord, the Counsel for the defendant were not
uninstructed, as to the evidence which these persons could give;
because, annexed to the affidavit which your Lordship has stated, of
Lord Cochrane, were the affidavits of all the servants, of the one who
is not now in England, as well as of the three who are in England. They
are all printed together in Mr. Butt's pamphlet, which was produced at
the trial. Therefore the Counsel for the defendant were informed of
every circumstance, and they might, if they had thought it would serve
their client, have called all those persons as witnesses.
_Mr. Justice Le Blanc._ There is no rule better established, than that
after trial we cannot receive the affidavits of persons who were called,
or who might have been called as witnesses. Whatever might be the reason
for keeping back their testimony, that the Court cannot hear.
[_The following Affidavit was read._]
"In the King's Bench.
"The King _against_ Charles Random De Berenger & others.
"The Honourable William Erskine Cochrane, Major in the
fifteenth regiment of dragoons, now residing in Portman-square
in the county of Middlesex, on his oath saith, That he was
seized with a violent and alarming illness on the first of
January one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, at Cambo in
the south of France; and that this deponent remained in a
state of dangerous illness until the eighteenth of the
following month. That early in February last he wrote to his
brother Lord Cochrane, to acquaint his Lordship with this
deponent's situation, as deponent had then very little hope of
recovery, and telling him that he had received a notification
that he would be ordered to England, where he should proceed,
if ever able to undertake the journey. And this deponent
further saith, that the annexed certificate was given to him
for the purpose of being laid officially before a board of
medical officers at Saint Jean de Luz, by the surgeon of this
deponent's regiment, and is in the said surgeon's
hand-writing.
_W. E. Cochrane._"
Sworn in Court,
this 14th day of June 1814.
By the Court.
"Statement of Major the Honourable William Cochrane's
Complaint. Monday, February 12, 1814.
"Was seized with the usual symptoms of fever on the 1st of
January, which was continued for the first three days; then
the remittent character developed itself. The evening paroxism
was severe every day, and he was all through much worse on the
third day than on the two preceding days. The treatment
consisted in keeping the bowels perfectly free and the skin
moist, and this was generally obtained by calomel and
antimonial powder combined, in the proportion of two grains,
and three every third hour, and an occasional purge of neutral
salts. When the bowels were well emptied, I frequently gave
saline draughts, which kept the skin moist and favourable for
the exhibition of bark, the use of which was commenced the
16th day. On the 23d he had a crisis, and went on very well
till the 1st of February, when he suffered a relapse, attended
with rather alarming symptoms. There was great determination
to the head, the eyes were suffused, great drowsiness, and a
tendency to comæ; however, these symptoms gave way in six
hours, in which time he was actively purged, the skin was made
moist, and a profuse perspiration kept up for twelve hours,
which left him perfectly tranquil and free from fever. From
this term I continued to give him small doses of calomel, till
his mouth was very slightly affected. He continued free from
fever from the morning of the 2d till the 7th; his appetite
good, his strength increasing, and every sign of health. On
that morning he had a second relapse, but by no means so
violent, though more embarrassing; he has not been well since,
and has suffered very much indeed. The treatment latterly has
been attention to the state of his bowels and diet. He has not
taken bark since his first relapse. I hope the change of air
and objects will serve him.
_Tho. Cartan_,
Surgeon, 15th Hussars."
_Lord Ellenborough._ This affidavit is not even material to shew, that
Lord Cochrane was in possession of his brother's letter previous to the
morning of the 21st of February, so as to account for a connexion
existing in his mind between the note he on that morning received, and
the state of his brother's health, which should induce him immediately
on the receipt of it, to return home?
_Lord Cochrane._ I was not present at the trial, or those witnesses
would have been examined.
_Lord Ellenborough._ But those witnesses would not have gone to this
point, and your mind must have been drawn to it at the time you made
your affidavit, when you came to mention your brother's illness?
_Lord Cochrane._ My brother's affidavit states, that he wrote to me
early in the month, and I received his letter on the Friday previous to
the fraud.
_Lord Ellenborough._ That was capable of being most distinctly verified.
_Mr. Justice Bayley._ The original letter is not annexed to the
affidavit?
_Lord Cochrane._ It is not; I had no idea of bringing the letter of my
brother before a court of justice.
[_The following Affidavit was read._]
"In the King's Bench.
"The King _against_ Charles Random De Berenger, & others.
"Charles Random De Berenger, the above-named defendant,
(having been found guilty of certain counts, but acquitted of
the two first contained in this indictment,) maketh oath and
saith, That he, this deponent, has zealously and loyally
served His Majesty and this country as a volunteer, during a
period of sixteen years, without ever receiving pay,
remuneration, or reward of any kind, although by a most
punctual and uninterrupted discharge of his various duties,
his pecuniary interests and views were consequently greatly
injured, but more especially during the time he acted as
Adjutant, being for a period of near seven years, when his
time was daily occupied more or less by the duties of that
situation; and instead of drawing permanent pay, as is the
usual custom of volunteer adjutants, he even put himself to
considerable annual expences, to further the views of that
service. And this deponent further saith, That the
testimonials now produced in Court, as proofs of his energetic
and loyal services, are of the proper hand-writing of the
parties whose names are thereunto respectively subscribed. And
this deponent further saith, That he has lost his paternal
fortune, exceeding the sum of thirty-three thousand pounds,
solely owing to his father's loyal adherence to the crown of
Great Britain, during the American revolution; and that no
indemnity of any kind has ever been given for such loss,
either to his late father or to himself. That perfectly
unprejudiced by such hard fate, this deponent constantly and
without fee, or even condition for reward, has since, not only
tendered his loyal assistance to this country to the utmost of
his power, and in a variety of ways, but has actually given
several important suggestions and communications, which
although made use of by the offices of Government, still
continue unrewarded. And this deponent further saith, that he
lately lost a considerable fortune from the failure of an
expensive and spirited endeavour on his part, having the
formation of a national fund for the succour of artists, and
the relief of their widows and orphans, for its object,
whereby he was ruined a second time, and deprived, in
consequence, of his liberty: that although distressed himself,
and having numerous debts on his books due to him from
Englishmen unable to pay, he has always been merciful to them.
And this deponent further saith, That he has already suffered
a painful imprisonment, ever since the eighth of April last,
by which his means of defence were not only decidedly impeded,
but his strength and health most materially injured; that in
this particular, as also in the mode of seizing his papers and
property, he has suffered considerable hardships, while his
slender pecuniary resources, from the aforesaid causes, and by
the heavy expences of his confinement and trial, are totally
destroyed; and that on these accounts his sufferings have been
greater than those of any of the other defendants. And this
deponent also saith, that any further degradation must ruin
his prospects in life for ever, and bring anguish and despair
upon him, who has already suffered so severely from his
attachment to this country; and he respectfully hopes, that
his severe losses and ruined circumstances, his general
exemplary conduct, his uninterrupted loyalty, and his many
unrequited services, will have due weight with this honourable
Court, in mitigation of punishment; he also relies that
considerations additionally stimulating to forgiveness, will
animate his judges, when it is stated, that deponent to this
moment has received no recompence whatever, for his many
patriotic exertions and ruinous sacrifices; and above all,
that in consequence of his not having succeeded in obtaining a
respite of the judgment for a short time, he has been
prevented from experiencing the benefit of important
affidavits, which he anxiously expected from other persons.
_Charles Random De Berenger._"
_Mr. Topping._ I was of Counsel with Mr. Serjeant Best on the trial; I
am not furnished with any affidavit on the part of Mr. Butt.
_Mr. Butt._ I came into Court, my Lord, expecting the privilege of
asking for a new trial, upon certain facts which I have put down in my
pocket-book.
_Lord Ellenborough._ You are not in time to move for a new trial.
_Mr. Butt._ I know I am not, my Lord; I was merely going to explain----
_Mr. Justice Le Blanc._ If you appear by Counsel, your Counsel had
better state what you have to suggest.
_Mr. Topping._ I have no instructions on the subject.
_Mr. Butt._ I hope you will forgive my importunity in begging for a few
moments to address you, having never been before in a court of justice,
either as plaintiff or defendant; that I trust will plead my apology. If
you will hear me, I shall be much obliged to you.
My Lords; I have been tried for conspiring with other persons, to raise
the price of the public Government funds, and also for promoting
assistance to those measures, by the changing of notes, and various
other circumstances. I beg to assure your Lordships, that I do not
address you on the idea or wish of a mitigation of any punishment you
may think proper to inflict upon me; it is merely to express to you,
that my sole wish and desire is to claim the indulgence of the Court,
in permitting me to have a new and distinct trial, that I may clear my
character from the cloud with which it is now depressed, and which had
previously been without a blemish; as I am confident, if my case was
separated from other persons in the indictment, it would be the means of
my acquittal. It was my intention to have appeared in Court some days
since, to have made the same request which I now do of your Lordships,
had it not been for my Counsel informing me, that I should have been
committed directly I entered the Court; and that the defendants should
all appear before the Court could grant my request. This I found
impossible to accomplish; and I declare, that the defendants, Sandom,
Lyte, Holloway, and M'Rae, are all perfectly unknown to me; that I never
directly or indirectly had any knowledge or communication or ever saw
them in my life, neither did I ever see Mr. De Berenger more than two or
three times. I beg also to acquaint your Lordships, that the bank notes
which have been stated to have passed through my hands must, unavoidably
so have done, as I permitted, without thinking it any crime, at the
solicitation of my friends, that all drafts connected with the Stock
Exchange business should be paid in my name, whether I was in London or
not; and I did at any time change notes, or lend Mr. Johnstone money, as
a temporary accommodation, when he wished it; and yet it is a fact, that
I had never seen Mr. Johnstone till the 2d of January last. But it is
impossible for me, and certainly a case of hardship, that I should be
answerable for the manner in which those notes might be disposed of
afterwards. There appears no one witness on the trial, that can give any
extraordinary reason for my having paid the notes alluded to by Mr.
Johnstone; for I might, hundreds of times, have paid notes to an equal
amount to him, or to any other man.
My own conscience clears me of the offence laid to my charge, and so
far was I from avoiding investigation, that I courted it, and instructed
my Counsel not to take advantage of any flaw, should there appear one in
the indictment, but to force the trial to issue.
I can only, my Lords, accuse myself of one fault, if it can be so
called, that of being too generous and unguarded upon money affairs. I
shall not intrude myself any further upon your Lordship's time, only
assuring you, that the magnitude of my concerns in the funds, upon which
so much stress has been laid, was not, according to my calculation, any
thing extraordinary, neither was the sum I held on the 21st February, an
act of premeditation, my concerns being as extensive before that period
as at that time, and my profit upon that day, which has been so much
exaggerated, was only £.1,300, instead of £.3,000, as stated by the
counsel for the prosecution. Whatever your Lordships decision may be
respecting myself, I shall bow with submission, feeling conscious of my
innocence of the charge upon which I have been found guilty.