you ought to pay no regard to what was contained in your declarations
before the Sheriff, and that, whatever you may have formerly said, you
cannot now hurt yourself by speaking the truth. I intreat you to reflect
on the evidence you have given this night, and if you are conscious of
having said anything which you ought not to have said, that you may say
so to the Court and to the jury. It is not as yet too late, but if you
neglect the opportunity which you now have it will never recur to you
again; and I earnestly desire you to beware of this, that if you have
said anything this night to the prejudice of these men at the bar that
is not true, and if you do not undeceive the Court and the jury before
you leave this house, you will commit a most heinous sin against the God
of heaven, in whose presence you now stand, and you will be guilty of
perjury and of murder.
Cross-examined by the DEAN OF FACULTY, for William Brodie--When you went
first to Mr. Scott, the Procurator-Fiscal, did you say anything
concerning the breaking of the Excise Office?
WITNESS--I did.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Who did you say was concerned with you?
WITNESS--George Smith. I did not mention either Brodie or Ainslie until
I returned from England.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Are you sure that Mr. Brodie brought his pistols to
Smith’s in the afternoon?
WITNESS--I am certain.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Did you not say that when he came to Smith’s before
eight o’clock he had his pistol in his hand?
WITNESS--I did.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--How could he have left them at Smith’s, then, in
the afternoon?
WITNESS--I did not say he left them there; he brought them there, but
carried them away with him again. I am certain as to the small pistols
that Mr. Brodie carried in his breeches pocket.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Was Mr. Brodie present when the pistols were
loaded?
WITNESS--He was.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--When did Mr. Brodie first come to Smith’s that day,
and how was he dressed?
WITNESS--He came in coloured clothes, between dinner and tea.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Might that be four o’clock?
WITNESS--I could not tell what o’clock it was.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Was it after three o’clock that afternoon?
WITNESS--I am not certain.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Was it after two o’clock?
WITNESS--Yes, I am certain it was.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--Were these the pistols he brought with him? [The
pistols produced.]
WITNESS--No, not these; I did not say these, but another pair, since the
truth must be told. Do not think to trap me; you may make something of
me by fair means, but not by foul. I do not understand the meaning of
being thus teased by impertinent questions.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--The more violent the gentleman is, so much the
better for my client. The jury will take notice of the manner in which
he gives his evidence.
Lord ESKGROVE--My Lord Justice-Clerk, the witness should be told that he
ought not to talk in that manner to the counsel.
The LORD JUSTICE-CLERK [to witness]--Mr. Brown, you are going too far;
it is the duty of these gentlemen to put any questions to you which they
think proper, relating to the crime charged.
WITNESS--My Lord, in giving my evidence, I have said nothing but the
truth, and I have rather softened the matter than otherwise, with regard
to Mr. Brodie.
The DEAN OF FACULTY--At what hour, sir, did you go to the Excise Office
on the night you have mentioned, and when did you return to Smith’s?
WITNESS--As I was going down to the Excise Office the clock struck
eight, and I was back again at Smith’s house about nine o’clock.
Cross-examined by Mr. JOHN CLERK, for George Smith--Pray, sir, how do
you know that to be the key with which Mr. Smith opened the door of the
Excise Office? You said just now that you were not present when Smith
opened the door; that he was in before you arrived.
WITNESS--I know very well that that was the key, because I knew he made
it for that purpose.
Mr. JOHN CLERK--But how do you know that he opened the door with that
key on the 5th of March?
WITNESS--I know he made the key so far back as November last. I know the
key very well; there is not a key in five hundred like it. You will not
show me such a key in Edinburgh. There is no smith in this city could
make such a key.
Mr. JOHN CLERK--That is no answer to my question.
The LORD JUSTICE-CLERK--It is enough to satisfy any sensible man.
Mr. JOHN CLERK--It is for the jury, my Lord, to judge of that.
[To Witness]--You mentioned your having on a great-coat when you broke
into the Excise Office; pray, sir, was that great-coat your own, or to
whom did it belong?
WITNESS--It belonged to Michael Henderson, stabler in the Grassmarket,
and I carried it home to him the following night.
Mr. JOHN CLERK--Did you carry anything to Mr. Henderson along with it?
WITNESS--I did not.
The LORD JUSTICE-CLERK--John Brown, you appear to be a clever fellow,
and I hope you will now abandon your dissipated courses, and betake
yourself to some honest employment.
WITNESS--My Lord, be assured my future life shall make amends for my
past conduct.
The LORD ADVOCATE--My Lord, the parole evidence on the part of the Crown
being now closed, the declarations and other writings, which have been
authenticated in the presence of your Lordships, fall now to be read to
the jury, but as there are some parts of Smith’s declarations which
relate to matters not immediately connected with the subject of the
present trial, I do not desire that these parts of his declarations
should be read by the Clerk of Court or communicated to the jury.
[After some conversation, this proposal, which did much honour to his
Lordship, was agreed to, and such parts of the declarations as were not
read in Court were pasted over with paper, that they might not be looked
into through mistake by the jury after they were inclosed.]
Declarations of George Smith.
No. I.
At Edinburgh, 8th March, 1788.
The which day compeared, in presence of Archibald Cockburn, Esq., His
Majesty’s Sheriff-depute of the shire of Edinburgh, George Smith, grocer
in Edinburgh, who, being examined and interrogated by the Sheriff,
declares,
That it is about a year and a half since the declarant came to Scotland;
that he was never in it before; that he was born at Boxford, within four
miles of Newburgh, Berkshire; that the declarant and his wife travelled
the country of England as hawkers, with a horse and cart; that he
brought a horse to this country but no cart; that, when he first came to
Edinburgh, he put up at Michael Henderson’s, having heard his house
mentioned by travellers in England as a traveller’s inn; that he was
taken ill after his arrival in this country, and confined for about four
months in Michael Henderson’s, which obliged him to send for his wife to
this place; that he sent for goods from England, which he sold, as also
his horse, in order to support himself.
That since he came to this country, he has frequented Clark’s in the
Flesh Market Close, which is a gambling house, and in which house he was
in use to meet with a variety of people, and among the rest Andrew
Ainslie and John Brown; that the declarant first got acquainted both
with Ainslie and Brown in Michael Henderson’s; that Ainslie gave himself
out for a shoemaker, but the declarant cannot tell of what profession
Brown is; that the club, as it was called, at Clark’s, as the declarant
believes, has been doing little these three months past; that the
declarant never played there to go very deep, and was never seen to win
or lose above thirty shillings, having never taken more than that sum in
his pocket alongst with him, but, upon recollection, thinks that he has
won above thirty shillings; that the declarant inclines to believe that
John Brown has rather been unfortunate at the club.
Declares and acknowledges that the declarant took a cellar in
Stevenlaw’s Close from a woman whom he now sees in the office; that the
declarant afterwards took Ainslie to the said woman and told her that
this was the gentleman who was to possess her cellar; but he does not
remember of calling him by the name of Campbell, or any other name; that
the declarant gave the rent, which was ten shillings, to Ainslie, who
gave it to the woman.
Declares that the declarant went with Ainslie to Mrs. Clark’s house in
George’s Square, where Ainslie took a stable from that lady, but the
declarant and Ainslie remained in the kitchen, and neither of them saw
Mrs. Clark, as he thinks; that the declarant does not now recollect for
what purpose Ainslie said it was he wanted to rent the stable; that the
declarant saw Ainslie pay five shillings, or some such sum, as a month’s
rent for the stable per advance.
And being interrogated, What was the purpose of the vice which stands in
the cellar of his house?--Declares that he has had that for seven or
eight years, and that he used it for putting tongues in buckles, or any
thing of that sort, but he has not used it since he came to his present
house; that his wife intended to have set out this day on a visit to her
relations in England, and for that purpose the declarant took out for
her a ticket in the mail-coach at Drysdale’s, where he exchanged a
five-pound bank-note and paid for it.
Declares that the black dog now in the office belongs to a neighbour of
his, but, from the declarant’s giving him now and then some bones to
pick, he frequents the declarant’s house, and follows him and his wife;
that the note he exchanged at Drysdale’s the declarant has had in his
possession for above two months past; that he got it from a smuggler,
and it was battered then as it is now. This he declares to be truth, and
declares he cannot write.
ARCHIBALD COCKBURN.
No. II.
At Edinburgh, 10th March, 1788.
The which day compeared, in presence of the Sheriff of Edinburgh, George
Smith, formerly examined on Saturday, the 8th current, after having sent
notice to the Sheriff that he wished to speak with him. Came to the
office and told the Sheriff that he wished to have an opportunity of
making a clean breast, and telling the truth, upon which the Sheriff
informed him that, as he, the Sheriff, knew he stood in a very ticklish
situation, it was his duty to let him know that whatever he told or
discovered was not to be accepted of under any condition or promise
whatever, or that his doing so would operate anything in his favour, and
that therefore he was at perfect freedom, either to speak or hold his
tongue, as he judged best. And that the said George Smith having
declared that he wished to tell the truth, and communicate all the
guilty scenes in which he had been concerned for some time past, since
he came to the town of Edinburgh, he was desired to proceed.
Declares that, in the end of October, or beginning of November last, the
declarant, in company with Andrew Ainslie and John Brown, whose real
name is Humphry Moore, went to the College of Edinburgh about one
o’clock in the morning. Having got access at the under gate, they opened
the under door leading to the Library with a false key, which broke in
the lock, and thereafter they broke open the door of the Library with an
iron crow, and carried away the College mace.
Declares that the declarant has, almost since his first arrival in
Edinburgh, been acquainted with Deacon William Brodie, and he saw him
first at Michael Henderson’s, where he was introduced to the declarant
by one Graham at the time the declarant was confined in that house; that
Brodie, in the course of conversation, suggested to the declarant that
several things could be done in this place, if prudently managed, to
great advantage, and proposed to the declarant that they should lay
their heads together for that purpose.
That, in consequence of this concert, the declarant and Brodie were in
use to go about together, in order to find out the proper places where
business could be done with success; that Brodie, in their walks,
carried the declarant to the College Library, where, having observed the
mace standing, Brodie said that they must have it; that Andrew Ainslie
was afterwards sent by the declarant and Brodie to look at the Library,
under pretence of calling for somebody, in order to see if the mace was
always in the same place, as they suspected it might be one day in the
Library and another somewhere else, which would have rendered an attempt
upon the Library precarious; that Ainslie reported that the mace was in
the same place that the declarant and Brodie had seen it, and, upon
getting this report, the theft of the mace was committed as before
mentioned.
Declares that, since the mace was stolen, as the declarant thinks, the
declarant, along with Brown and Ainslie, laid a plan of breaking into
John Tapp’s house and taking his money; that this business was
suggested, and pressed, by Brown, the declarant rather being averse to
it; that Brown told the declarant that he knew the key of Tapp’s shop
opened the door of his house, and brought it to the declarant to look
at, which, upon seeing, the declarant said there was nothing in it,
meaning by that, that the lock to which it belonged could easily be
opened.
Declares that, accordingly, soon after this, and, as he thinks, about
Christmas or near to it, Brown kept Tapp in his shop drinking, and the
declarant and Ainslie, betwixt nine and ten o’clock at night, opened the
door of the house with a false key and took out of his drawers eighteen
guinea notes and a twenty-shilling one, a silver watch, some rings, and
a miniature picture of a gentleman belonging to Tapp’s wife, which
picture they broke for the sake of the gold with which it was backed.
Declares that in the month of August last, as he thinks, the declarant,
in company with William Brodie and Andrew Ainslie, went to a shop in
Leith, which they broke into by means of two pick-lock keys, one for the
padlock and another for the stock-lock; that the declarant and Ainslie
went into the shop and Brodie kept watch, to give an alarm in case of
danger; that from this shop they carried off two pair of wallets full of
tea, which were taken from four chests; that Ainslie was ill at this
time, and Brodie being weakly, Ainslie and he could scarcely manage one
of the wallets, which obliged him to put it into an old press bed (as
the declarant took it to be) which they found standing in a shed in a
field adjoining to the Bonnington Road to Leith; that it was proposed to
lodge the tea in Brodie’s, but he afterwards objected to it, which was
the reason that they never inquired after it more.
That about two months ago the declarant, in company with Andrew Ainslie,
broke into the shop of Inglis, Horner & Company, and took therefrom a
large assortment of valuable goods, composed of silks and cambricks;
that the silks were mostly black, excepting two pieces, a piece of plain
white sattin, a piece of variegated ditto, and a lead-coloured silk, in
quantity about ten yards, which Brown gave to a girl, an acquaintance of
his, of the name of Johnston; that the silks were all sent to England,
except the silk before-mentioned, a piece of black silk of about two
yards and a quarter, in two odd bits, which the declarant gave to his
wife to make a cloak to her child, and about twelve yards and a half of
thick tweel’d black silk for gentlemen’s vests and breeches, and two
yards and a half of black florentine sattin, with about six yards of
cambrick.
That Brodie suggested to the declarant the doing of Inglis & Horner’s
shop, as the goods there were very rich and valuable, and a small bulk
of them carried off would amount to a large sum; that Brodie and the
declarant went frequently to try the pad and stock-lock of Inglis &
Horner’s shop, and they did so most commonly on the Sunday forenoon,
when the people were in church; that the padlock was of a difficult
construction, and was opened at last by a key of the declarant’s own
making; that Brodie made one that did it also, and he on one occasion
went by himself with his key and unlocked the padlock, but could not
lock it again, upon which he came to the declarant and told him what he
had done, which he did also to Ainslie and Brown; that they were all
very angry with him, and said that he had more than likely spoilt the
place after all the trouble they had been about, but Brodie told them he
hoped not, as he had fixed the padlock with a bit stick in a way that it
would not be discovered, and, upon looking at the place afterwards,
which they all did, they found the lock to be just as it was.
Declares that on Wednesday evening, the 5th instant, the declarant,
along with William Brodie, John Brown, and Andrew Ainslie, between the
hours of eight and ten o’clock at night, broke into the Excise Office
and carried off from that about sixteen pounds, consisting of two
five-pound notes, four guinea notes, one twenty-shilling note, and about
seventeen shillings and sixpence in silver; that this money was divided
among them, and Brodie received his share.
That Brodie first planned the Excise Office, and repeatedly carried the
declarant there under pretence of calling for Mr. Corbett from Stirling,
and other people, in order to learn the situation of the place, and, on
one of these occasions, the declarant observed the key of the outer door
hung upon a nail near by it, and, without taking it down, he clapped
some potty upon it, and carried away the wards; that Brodie took a
drawing of the wards of that key, which the declarant thinks he has in
his possession; that Brodie told the declarant how to get into the
cashier’s desk, and where the money lay, which was in two places, and in
each of these places some money was found; that Brodie came to the
knowledge of these circumstances, by being present, when Mr. Corbett,
from Stirling, who is a connection of Brodie’s, drew money at the
cashier’s office.
That, when they broke into the Excise Office, the outer door was opened
by a key which the declarant had filed from the pattern
before-mentioned; that the plan of accomplishing this business was as
follows:--Ainslie was to keep on the outside of the office, hanging over
the palisadoes in the entry with a whistle of ivory, which was purchased
by Brodie the night before, with which, if the man belonging to the
Excise Office came, he was to give one whistle, and if any serious alarm
was perceived he was to give three whistles, and then make the best of
his way to the Excise gardens in the Canongate in order to assist the
declarant, Brodie, and Brown to get out at the back window of the hall,
it being determined in case of surprise to bolt the outer door on the
inside and make the best of their way by the window.
That Ainslie was armed only with a stick, which he left somewhere in the
court, and which stick was purchased by the declarant; that Brodie had a
brace of pistols, the declarant a brace and a half, and Brown a brace,
which the declarant borrowed from Michael Henderson; that these arms
were all loaded with double balls, as they were determined not to be
taken, whatever should be the consequence.
That the declarant and Brown were told afterwards by Brodie and Ainslie
that a person had come running down the court and gone in at the outer
door and upstairs; that upon this Ainslie had given the alarm by a
whistle, as was agreed upon, and made the best of his way, but none of
them in the inside heard the whistle, at least neither Brown nor the
declarant did, and Brodie said he did not; that when the door opened
Brodie was standing behind it, and, upon the person’s running up stairs,
Brodie made off; that the declarant and Brown, when in the cashier’s
room, heard the outer door open, but, trusting to Brodie’s being at the
door and staunch, they did not mind it; that the declarant and Brown,
when coming out of the cashier’s office, heard a person coming hastily
down stairs, which made them stop or they must have met him; that upon
this the declarant said to Brown, “Here must be treachery; get out your
pistols, and cock them,” which they did accordingly; that upon coming to
the outer door they found it shut, the declarant and Brown having seen
the person that came down stairs smash the door after him when he went
away.
That the declarant and Brown went down into Young’s Street, where Brown
gave the declarant a small crow, with some wedges, and a shirt, as also
a large chissel; that the chissel and the shirt were given to Brodie
afterwards, with the bank-notes, the declarant’s dark lanthorn, and two
bottles, which they had carried off from the Excise Office, and took for
wine; that the key with which the outer door was opened, the crow, and a
pair of curling irons with which the outer door of the cashier’s room
was opened, were all hid by the declarant in a wall between the Earthen
Mound and the North Bridge.
That, in virtue of repeated observations, it was discovered that two men
watched the Excise Office time about, and Ainslie and Brown found out
that from eight to ten o’clock at night there was commonly no man in the
Excise Office, which was the reason of the thing being done at that
time.
That it was concerted by Brodie, in case of interruption, by the man
coming into the office before the business was accomplished, to conceal
themselves quietly until he was gone to rest, and then to secure him;
and they were, if this happened, to personate smugglers who came in
search of their property that had been seized, and the declarant had a
wig of Brodie’s father’s in his pocket in order to disguise himself;
that the wig and scarf and small wedges were left in the second arch
from the south of the North Bridge; that the scarf was within the wig.
That Brodie, after having been in the Excise, where he had on black
clothes, went home and changed them to his ordinary dress, of a marbled
colour, and a round hat; and that Brodie told the declarant that his
sister had remarked him changing his dress in such a hurry.
That there is in Brodie’s house a horse-pistol belonging to the
declarant, as also a very large, remarkable key, which Ainslie and
Brodie stole from the Abbey when there was a sale there; that Brodie has
a parcel of keys of different sorts, which he has been altering, and
among them is the key which he had made for Inglis & Horner’s padlock;
that, in Brodie’s bedroom, there is a chest containing a false till, in
which the declarant inclines to think some of Brodie’s false dice and
other things leading to a detection of his guilt may be found.
That the College mace and Tapp’s watch were sent to Chesterfield, under
the direction of William Ward, at William Cowley’s, “Bird in Hand,”
Chesterfield, Derbyshire, to which place, and at which time, the rings
taken from Tapp and the gold from the miniature picture were also sent;
that a private letter was wrote by Brown, as he thinks, to one Tasker,
formerly of this place, and whose real name is Murray, a man of bad
character, which letter had no name at it but only a G. and S., and a
stroke for each of the other letters in the declarant’s name; that the
pocket-book taken from Tapp’s, with the money, was thrown by Ainslie and
the declarant into a deep piece of water to the south of the Meadows.
That the goods taken from Inglis & Horner’s shop were sent to
Chesterfield in trunks, one of which was purchased by the declarant and
another by Ainslie; that the declarant knows the places where they were
purchased, and will point them out.
That the first trunk went from this by the Berwick carriers three weeks
ago on Wednesday next; that the goods were removed from a cellar, in
which they were originally put, in Stevenlaw’s Close, taken for the
purpose, notwithstanding of what was said by the declarant in his
declaration of Saturday last; that Ainslie went and brought a porter
from the street, who received the goods from the declarant and Ainslie
half-way or more up Burnet’s Close, where Brown and Ainslie lodged, near
the bottom; that the porter had no creel, but only ropes, with which he
tied the trunk upon his back; and Ainslie followed him and saw him carry
and deliver it to the Berwick carrier’s quarters, for which he received
sixpence.
That the second parcel of the above goods were sent under the direction
of Elizabeth Scott or Sprott, at William Cowley’s, “Bird in Hand,”
Chesterfield, and the reason of putting this was because the initials of
her name were upon the top of the trunk; that no letter was wrote to
Tasker or Murray about the last parcel of goods, as the declarant’s wife
was to have left this on Saturday last, and the declarant told her he
had some goods for her to dispose of at Chesterfield; but she knew
nothing how the goods were obtained, and is entirely innocent of any
participation or knowledge of his crimes.