Part 229

SUMMING UP.

Lord ELLENBOROUGH.

Gentlemen of the Jury,

You are now come to that period of the case in which your most important duty is to be discharged, as it respects the individuals who are the object of this indictment, and the public, whose interests are to be protected by the justice you are called upon to administer.

This is an indictment for an offence of great malignity and mischief; it is for the offence of conspiracy, which is charged to have been committed by the eight persons whose names are upon this indictment; and it is for you to consider upon the statement of the evidence I shall make to you, how far that offence is brought home to all or any of these Defendants.

The offence of conspiracy, gentlemen, is an offence consisting in a wicked concert, contrivance, and combination of individuals, to effect some public or private injury or mischief; that contrivance and that combination is not to be collected, nor is it practicable, in the course of human affairs, to collect it from the mouths of the parties assembled for the purpose of communication, but from the actings and conduct of the several parties as they may appear generally, to conspire and conduce to the same wicked end and purpose; and if it appears to you, from the actings and conduct of these parties, that they entertained the same common purpose of mischief, and that they have by their several actings combined and co-operated to the effecting that same wicked purpose, that is sufficient to bring home the imputation of the crime charged against the parties; therefore the prosecutor need not shew that they have met in common council, or even that they have seen one another before, if their acting shews they were influenced by one common purpose of mischief, and aimed at the production of the same malignant end and effect. Suppose persons jointly charged in an indictment with the breaking of an house, are found on different sides of the same house, besetting and endeavouring to enter it at the same time; you need not shew that they had actually met, and previously contrived the plan of this joint robbery; the unity of their conduct proves their joint contrivance and concert to accomplish the same end; though, indeed, this is a case where personal presence at the acts done, renders all intendment of the personal concert of the actors unnecessary. The same rules which apply to the offence of conspiracy as a misdemeanor, apply equally to all crimes committed by concert up to the crime of high treason, which is often established by evidence of the distinct actings of separate parties breathing the same purpose, and immediately conducing to the same end. The question, therefore, for you to consider upon the evidence (which I am sorry it will be necessary for me to state to you at a greater length, than, with regard to your ease and convenience, I could have wished) will be, whether the case is not brought home by satisfactory evidence to a great number, if not to all the Defendants.

The crime charged upon this indictment, in eight different charges or counts, is that of conspiring to raise the price of the public funds; in some of them it is charged to be with a view to corrupt gain upon the part of these persons or some of them, or at least to the prejudice of other individuals; for that is enough to constitute the offence, even if the individuals engaged in this conspiracy had not (as it is imputed to them that they had) any corrupt motive of personal advantage to all or any of themselves to answer; if the criminal artifice operated, or was in all probability likely to operate to the prejudice of the public, and was clearly so intended, we need not go further; when we know that a great amount in the funds is at certain periods bought for the public or large classes of individuals; and you find by the testimony of Mr. Steers, that on this very day the sum of L.15,957. 10. 8. was bought for the Accountant General, which would have been bought for less; and every person for whose use the Accountant General purchased, having to acquire by means of such purchase shares in the public securities, would of course have so much the less stock for his money, on account of this fraud, and would consequently receive a great pecuniary injury thereby; and no doubt, multitudes of persons besides those immediately alluded to, and whose cases are not brought individually under your view, must have been affected by it; for the dealings in the funds are, we know, every day carried on to a vast amount, and every person dealing on that particular day, as a purchaser, was prejudiced by the practices by which a false elevation of the funds was on that day occasioned.

Of the counts, one or two, I think, are not counts on which, properly, your verdict can be founded, because they state, that every one of these Defendants knew that a gain was to be acquired by Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, Lord Cochrane, and Mr. Butt; and it does not appear, with sufficient certainty, that they knew the relation in which these three persons stood to the funds, or their interest and speculations therein; I mean, that such persons as M'Rae, Holloway, and so on, might not know the precise situation in which the three stood; but if they all co-operated to the same end, and the Northfleet imposition, as I may call it, was intended to be auxiliary to the imposition intended to be effected by the way of Dover, and the parties knew that they were acting in the same fraud, and were respectively conscious instruments in producing the same effect, they are all guilty of the same conspiracy; and it has been admitted, by a learned counsel for some of the Defendants, that his clients, Holloway, Lyte, and Sandom, have been concerned in a conspiracy; but, he says, that the conspiracy in which they were concerned, was another and a different conspiracy, from the one in which the three first-mentioned of the Defendants were engaged; and that you cannot unite the two conspiracies together, and convict them all as guilty of one entire individual conspiracy; and it will be one material point for your consideration, whether, under the circumstances which have appeared in evidence, it is made out to your satisfaction, that they were all conspiring to effectuate the same purpose, pursuing similar, and with almost a servile imitation and resemblance, the same means, at the same time, in the accomplishment of the same end.

Now how has it been done? in both instances, by the adoption of disguises. Of what nature are the disguises? in both instances, military disguises; one, indeed, has gold lace round the cape, and the other has embroidery. Sarah Alexander says, those procured by M'Rae, were officers coats, with flowers of worsted, and that the hats were embroidered, the one having a brass plate, and a gold tassel, instead of the sort of ornaments that the superior actor in this conspiracy (if such you shall be of opinion he was) had. One was decorated with a star, and that silver ornament that you have seen; the other was in rather a plainer dress; but there was in each case the assumption of the character of officers; and the communication of false intelligence respecting the good news which was to accelerate peace, was common to both parts of the scheme. You will consider, upon the whole of the evidence, whether there is not a link or connection, between the upper and under plot, through the means of M'Rae, and perhaps of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and, whether the two conspiracies are not united through the means of that person, M'Rae; his conduct itself is extraordinary; by a most remarkable offer, on the part of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, it is proposed that there should be the sum of L.10,000 given to this man; a man in a low and ordinary and desperate situation; and it is stated, that Lord Cochrane, Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and Mr. Butt, would give L.3,000 among them. Why should they give that? If, indeed, they could thereby mislead and draw away the public attention, and divert it to the pursuit and hunting down of M'Rae, as the sole artificer and perpetrator of the fraud, and could thereby turn aside observation and suspicion from themselves (supposing them to be properly charged with this offence), L.3,000 would be well paid, and cheaply employed for such a purpose. It is for you to say, whether these letters which have been read to you, do not appear pregnant of this contrivance and device on the part of the writer.

The first question, gentlemen, will be, was the Defendant, De Berenger, the man who was found at Dover, about one o'clock on the morning of Monday the 21st of February, and who proceeded through the several stages to London, and ultimately to the mansion of Lord Cochrane himself, and was there received with that dress, whatever it was, that he wore; but the dress he wore, is proved by so many witnesses, that I will not fatigue you with stating it now, because I must, by and by, state the whole of the evidence to you.

A great deal of observation has been made about the character of hand-writing, of what I call the Dover letter--the letter sent to Admiral Foley; the object of sending it to him cannot be doubtful, for it was intended that the Port Admiral should (as he would if he had believed the report) communicate that intelligence to Government, and which, if the day had been tolerably clear, might by telegraph have reached this town in much less than half an hour, I believe in a quarter of an hour; and having been sent off at this very early hour to Admiral Foley, who was called out of bed to receive it, it would have been in town early, and the stocks would have been up at the very moment, when under the peremptory order before given, L.50,000 would have been sold, as well as every other part of the stock, standing in the names of the Defendants.

Gentlemen, there has been great stress laid upon this letter, and whether it be or be not the hand-writing of De Berenger, I will not (for it is not my province) draw the conclusion which might be drawn from looking at that letter; it appears to me evidently an artificial, upright, stiff hand, as contrasted with the ordinary natural character of hand-writing of that gentleman. It is sometimes useful to look where the same words occur in different parts of the same letter; and when you come to look at the words, "I have the honour to be," in one part of the letter, and the words "have pledged my honour," &c. in the other; they present in the first instance, a more angular formation of letters than I have generally seen, and with reference to the idea thrown out of this being written in great haste, it is not impossible that this gentleman having meditated the whole contrivance before-hand, should have brought this letter down with him, ready written and directed from town, and that he had called for pen and ink merely to go through the appearance of writing a letter, and which he might fold up as if for the purpose of being sent; but that he might hand over to Wright, of Dover, the letter he had brought with him, not trusting to the hurry of the moment for the proper formation of one. I do not say that such is the fact; but it is clear that the letter produced, is the one he actually sent; for he says afterwards to the witness, Shilling, that he had sent a letter to Admiral Foley, in order to apprize him that the telegraph might work; the Dover express-boy proves that he carried the letter given to him, to Admiral Foley, and what letter can that be, if it is not this, which is proved to have been delivered to Admiral Foley? This letter was calculated to impress the Admiral with the belief, that the allies had obtained a decisive victory, that Bonaparte was killed, that the allies were in Paris, and that peace was likely to take place immediately. After the calamity of the long war we have had, ending as indeed it has ended, in the fulness of glory; we all feel that we have had an abundant measure of glory, though painfully earned; every body recollects the sort of electric effect produced upon this town the moment the news now under consideration arrived; the funds were raised preternaturally; one cannot indeed on looking back, account for it, how the omnium should have been up to twenty-eight at that time; there was a considerable elevation beyond that price during the course of that day; it rose to thirty and a fraction.

Gentlemen, the prosecutors allege that the Defendant, De Berenger, having forwarded this letter, pursued his course, coming to town in the manner stated, and that he ultimately came to Lord Cochrane's house, upon which I shall hereafter comment. You will not, I think, have any doubt that De Berenger was the man who appeared under the name of Du Bourg; but in order to obviate or remove that impression from your minds, the learned counsel for the Defendant, De Berenger, did adventure or rather was forced upon an attempt, which I own it seemed to me to require the utmost firmness to attempt to execute; for there never was evidence given since I have been present in a court of justice, which carried to my mind such entire conviction of the truth and authenticity of that part of the story; you were yourselves witnesses to the manner in which the witnesses, who spoke to the person of De Berenger, were put upon the investigation; they were told to look round the court, and they accordingly threw their eyes about the court in every direction, before they found the person whom they said they had so taken notice of; you saw them look behind them, look down, and on every side of them, and then suddenly, as if they were struck by a sort of electricity, conviction flashed upon their minds the instant their eyes glanced upon him; this occurred in every instance I think but one, where the witness not having his eyes conducted that way, did not discover him. The learned counsel having such abundance of proof on this head, did not resort to a means usually adopted on occasions of this sort, and to which it is perfectly allowable to resort, namely, that of shewing the person to the witness, and asking him whether such person was the man; when a man stands for his life at the bar of the Old Bailey, the witness is frequently bid to look at the prisoner at the bar, and to say whether he remembers him, and whether he is the person, or one of the persons (as the case may be) who robbed him; and he pronounces whether according to his recollection, he is the person or not. So multiplied a quantity of testimony, so clear, and so consistent, was, I think hardly ever presented in the course of any criminal trial; differing in no circumstance respecting his person and dress, excepting in some trifles, which amidst the general accordance of all material circumstances, rather confirmed by this minute diversity, than weakened, the general credit of the whole, and gave it the advantage which belongs to an artless and unartificial tale. Some saying his cap was a little flat, as it might be owing to its being drawn over his face; one saying that it was brown; another I think, that it was of a fawn colour; and one who spoke with the utmost certainty in other particulars, that it was nearly the colour of his pepper and salt great coat; but in all the other substantial particulars, they concur in their accounts most exactly; and these minute variances exclude the idea of any uniform contrivance and design in the variation; for where it is an artificial and prepared story, the parties agree in the minutest facts, as well as the most important; and indeed, gentlemen, so abundant, so uniform, and so powerful is the evidence as to one point, viz. the identity of Berenger, that it strikes me, that if these witnesses are not to be fully believed as to this point, then almost every man who has been convicted at the Old Bailey upon so much weaker proof of his being the person who committed the particular crime with which he is charged, (and which has been the case in almost every instance I have known), may be considered as victims unjustly sacrificed in a course of trial, to the rash credulity of their judges and juries. If the evidence produced is not sufficient to establish this point, I am at a loss to say by what description and quantity of testimony, such a point can be satisfactorily made out in a course of trial.

When the learned counsel addressed himself to prove an alibi, I could not foresee how it would be satisfactorily accomplished; I cannot say I believed he would accomplish it, but I believed it would be attempted by better evidence than that which has been adduced; you recollect the prior testimony of the Davidsons; the servants had gone out at two, instead of four; Mr. De Berenger, according to the evidence he has adduced, is found three miles and a half off; where he had dined, is not shewn, he is in a hurry to get back; according to the next set of alibi witnesses, he is found at Mr. Donithorne's between eight and nine, having been found there in the morning, to measure the garden, at not a very convenient time, with the snow upon the ground; and who are the people who speak to this? a man who has been in the habit, which some of us are, of examining the countenances and demeanor of men brought forward to speak to guilty untruths, becomes in a degree familiar with the modes of behaviour which such persons adopt. From something in the manner of one of the witnesses, which suggested to me that such a question might not be improperly addressed to him, I asked him, whether he had not been used to be bail? (thinking that he might possibly be one of those hired bail, who are the disgrace of our courts of justice). What does he answer? why, he had been bail once, and then he had been bail another time, and the amount he did not know; and I think he said he did not know whether he had not been bail oftener; a man who is in the habit of being bail, must swear to the amount, and he must swear he is an housekeeper; and this man had no house over his head of his own, but was living in the house of another; I thought, too, the man might have failed, and been obliged to quit his house on that account; and it so appears, that he was undone in his circumstances, and that he was a man occasionally presenting himself to swear to his possession of property, warranting his becoming bail for others. Then what becomes of Donithorne; he is an inferior cabinet-maker, employed by Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, and has brought a great number of penal actions for him; at every turn of the case, he doubles in upon us, and you will presently have to say, whether he and others, and which others, are not affected by this case.

Gentlemen, the evidence begins with that of John Marsh, who keeps the packet-boat public house at Dover, he says, "Upon that 21st of February, I heard a knocking at Mr. Wright's fore door of the Ship Inn, between one and a quarter after one o'clock; I went out upon hearing that, and, on going out, I found a gentleman there, who had on a grey great coat, and an uniform coat under it. I called for a person at my house to bring two lights across; when I had the two lights, the gentleman had got into the passage; he had a star on his red coat, under the great coat; it is similar to this star." Now, it is said these persons saw him in the dark, but candles were brought over, and you may see a man's countenance by the light of two candles placed near him, almost as well as you could in the day-light we have at present; it would certainly be sufficient for the purposes of observation; if it were not so, half at least of the injuries done at night would be very imperfectly proved, if proved at all. He says, "I do not recollect that he had any other ornament; he was very anxious for a post-chaise and four; the porter at the Ship came down to him; he wanted an express horse, and a man to send to the Admiral at Deal;" then it is highly probable, as he wanted an express horse, that he did send this letter by that express; the witnesses swear they saw him writing a letter. "I asked him where he came from, and he told me, he was the bearer of the most important dispatches that had been brought to this country for twenty years; I asked him where he came from? he told me, from France. I asked him, where he landed? he told me, on the beach; and he begged of me to get a post-chaise and four for him; and then I went and called Mr. Wright, of the Ship Inn; then he wanted pen, ink, and paper. I had shewn him into a room; as soon as Mr. Wright came down stairs, Mr. Wright gave me a sheet of paper, and pens and ink, which I carried into the room; I gave it to him, and he began to write upon it; he called for a bottle of Madeira, and something to eat." That circumstance of his having wine, is afterwards confirmed, for when he is going up Shooter's hill, he is giving it away to some of the postillions. "I asked him, whether I should call the collector of the port? telling him, that it was his business to see such people when they landed; he made answer to me, that his business did not lie with the collectors; then Mr. Wright came, and I had no more conversation with him; two candles were placed, one on each side of him, and I could see him; that is the gentleman; (pointing him out.) A gentleman of the name of Gourley was there, and another of the name of Edis, was also there." Then he says, "I went to get horses with all possible dispatch; he told the two postillions he would give them a Napoleon each;" and that description of coin attends him throughout, nor does it quit him to the last, for in the very desk when he is taken up in Scotland, there were found Napoleons tallying with these; therefore the proof in this particular is dovetailed and closed in, beyond any thing I almost ever saw in a court of justice. Then he says, "he had a German cap on, and gold fringe, as I thought;" and it turns out, upon an exhibit we had made to us of a similar cap, that De Berenger had such a cap; those that are shewn, were made in the resemblance of what, from the evidence, they collected the articles to be. They are not the originals; the coat, it appears, was cut to pieces, and got out of the Thames, but the actual cap is not produced; "this is all that I heard and saw."

Upon his cross examination, he says, "I am not in the least connected with the Ship Inn, but on hearing this knocking, I went across to see who the gentleman was out of mere curiosity; I did not observe whether it was moon-light, foggy, or star-light." It does not signify which it was, for he saw him by candle-light. "The boots let him in; I was with him about five minutes altogether, but I cannot speak to a minute; he was in great haste to get away; I should think he was not more than twenty minutes at Mr. Wright's altogether. I held the candle while the boots unlocked the parlour door, and I went and put them on the table; he wished me to quit the room, and I did not go in any more." Then he is asked about a large company in the inn, he says, "I do not know that there had been any; I never saw him before nor yet since, till to-day, but I can take upon me confidently to swear, that this is the man." He made a very strong observation upon him, and he pointed him out in the manner you saw. "I never was examined upon this subject before, only by Mr. Stow, the collector."

On his re-examination, he says, "he told me before I sent for the lights what his business was, and that he had landed on the beach. I was in the passage with him till the lights came; my attention was called to him as a stranger of importance. I saw the person when I was by myself in the hall, and knew him the instant I saw him; I have not the least doubt that he is the same man."

One of the other persons who saw him, of the name of Gourley, a hatter at Dover, speaks to the same thing--"I was at Mr. Marsh's, the packet-boat, on the morning of the 21st of February; Mr. Marsh went over and called for lights; I took two candles and went across with them to the Ship, where I perceived a gentleman in a pepper and salt coloured coat, similar to that which is shewn to me. Mr. Marsh asked me to go and call the ostler up, and to tell him to get a post-chaise and four immediately. I did so; and after some time, when I had got the ostler up, I returned back again and found the stranger in the parlour; there were lights in the room; there were two candles upon the table; the gentleman was walking about in a red uniform trimmed with gold lace, with a star upon his breast, and he had a cap on similar to that, with gold lace on it. I asked him, what news; having heard them say he was a messenger. He said messengers were sworn to secrecy, but that he had got glorious news; the best that ever was known for this country. He rang the bell and called for pen, ink and paper, to write a letter, to send off to the Admiral at Deal." So that he professes, as the first witness says, to write a letter; and here he speaks of sending it off to the Admiral at Deal:--"that was brought to him, and he continued writing some little time while I was there. I took leave of him before he had finished the letter; the candles were sufficiently near him to observe him; that is the gentleman, and I have not the least doubt that it is him."

On his cross examination, he says, "I came over when I was called by Mr. Marsh to bring candles; I went and called the ostler, and waited till I waked the ostler; I left the candles in the passage; I saw him write on the paper when it was brought; I was sitting with Mr. Marsh when he arrived; I had not dined at the packet-boat." I suppose the question pointed to whether this man was likely to have been sober or drunk at that time: I do not know that there is any thing extraordinary in a man's sitting up till twelve or one o'clock; but that has been the subject of the observation.

Upon his re-examination, he says, "perhaps I might be in the room, so as to have an opportunity of observing him three or four minutes; my attention was called to him particularly; he had a cap on sometimes, and sometimes not; I have no doubt that is the man."

Eliot Edis, a person who you recollect was rather deaf, says, "I am a cooper in the victualling yard at Dover, I was at the packet boat on the morning of the 21st of February, Gourley was there with me; my attention was called to a messenger who had arrived. I saw the messenger first at the Ship, he was in a room at the time, walking up and down the room. I observed his dress; he had a grey great coat and regimentals, scarlet trimmed with gold; I did not particularly notice any other ornament; he had a cap with a gold band, that was the colour of the coat, it was a slouched cap;" upon that there has been much observation; "the cap appeared to be made of a kind of rough beaver, I do not know whether it was black or brown;" by that light you would not know very distinctly whether it was black or brown; "it was rather flat all round, and had no rim like a hat. I saw him sit down and write. I did not hear him say whom he was writing to. I could hear him talk; but not to understand him, being rather deaf; his cap was on while I was there." He is desired to look round, and to point out the gentleman, and he says, "that is the gentleman," pointing to him. "I have no doubt that is he; I had never seen him before that night, nor since;" and yet as you saw him, looking round, he instantly found him out among so many as there were then round him, it is not probable that if they had not seen him before, and had not his picture engraved upon their minds, they would have known him again so well; and it would be very remarkable that they should all pitch upon the same person. "I might see him perhaps for five or six minutes; the cap was rather slouched; it had no brim to it; it was drawn over his forehead; the round part of it was drawn over his forehead. I was not in court when Marsh was examined." It was suggested that he might have picked up his story from Marsh; but a man who was deaf could not have heard him, if he had been in court.

Mr. William St. John is next called; he speaks in the same manner; it is unnecessary to go through the whole of it. He says, "he wore a scarlet coat with long skirts, buttoned across, with a red silk sash, grey pantaloons, and a grey military great coat, and I think it was a seal-skin cap;" now with that light he might very easily mistake; I believe it is very common to have seal-skin caps for travelling.

Mr. Gurney. This is seal-skin, my Lord.

Lord Ellenborough. I did not know that; "he had, I think, a seal-skin cap on his head, of a fawn colour," and it is a fawn colour, certainly; "there were some ornaments on his uniform, but I do not know what they were, something of a star on his military dress; he was talking up and down the room in a very good pace; I asked him, whether he knew anything of the coming of one Johnson," a messenger whom the witness expected; "he said he knew nothing at all about him, and begged I would leave him to himself, as he was extremely ill;" this gentleman appears too inquisitive, and he did not seem to like him. "On my leaving the room, he requested that they would send in paper, and pen and ink; I immediately retired, and met the landlord, Mr. Wright, coming into the room, I believe, with the paper, pens and ink; in a few seconds afterwards I returned into the room, and he was writing, I did not hear him say any thing about the paper he was writing. I left the room immediately. I saw him again at the door in the street. When he was stepping into the carriage, I asked him what the news was; he told me it was as good as I could possibly wish; I did not see what he did with the paper he was writing upon, nor did I hear him say what he was writing about, he went away the first of us."

Now this man has been made a good deal the subject of comment; for it appears that he had gone down to Dover, and was, in some respect, waiting for news; there was a kind of reluctance in him to acknowledge that, in respect of which there need not have been any, for there is nothing whatever objectionable in his sending up paragraphs for the Traveller newspaper. I believe the publishers of these papers mostly have some persons stationed at the out-ports, to obtain intelligence of important events, and particularly so critical and anxious a moment as that was they would naturally have such persons at the port of Dover; there was nothing he should not avow; and if it was with the view to purchase in the funds, in consequence of the intelligence he should receive; if a man purchases funds upon public intelligence fairly and honestly come by, when every body has an equal opportunity of acquiring it and the intelligence is genuine, it is like buying any other article in the market, upon fair knowledge of the circumstances connected with its value; it is as allowable to deal in that article as in any other, upon equal terms; but the objection here is to a dealing which resembles the playing with loaded dice; if one plays with secret means of advantage over another, it is not fair-playing--it is a cheat: I own I have been much shocked with this sort of fraudulent practice, called three times over, in the letter of Cochrane Johnstone, a hoax; I cannot apply a term which imports a joke to that, which if the Defendants are guilty of, is a gross fraud upon public and private property; and unless every species of depredation and robbery is to be regarded as a species of pleasantry, I think the name of hoax, which has been given to it, is very ill applied to a transaction of so dishonest and base a description.

Then Mr. St. John says, "I went to Dover, by desire of a friend of mine; his name is Farrell; he is a merchant in the city, and is a proprietor of the Traveller." Then being asked, where that gentleman lived, he says, "In Austin Friars: I was to communicate to Mr. Farrell or to Mr. Quin." Then he says, "certainly the arrival of news at such a time would have an effect upon the funds."

Then William Ions, the express-boy, being shewn to the last witness, St. John, he says, "this is the boy whom I saw sent with one of the two expresses that was sent that night; this lad went with the express to the Port-admiral at Deal, I believe; it was the express that Mr. Wright gave him from the gentleman who was there; from that gentleman."

William Ions says, "In February last I was in the service of Mr. Wright, of Dover; I was called up when the officer arrived there, and was sent with an express to Admiral Foley; I took the letter I received to Admiral Foley; Mr. Wright gave me the letter whilst I was upon my pony; he came out to the door with it; and that letter which I received, I delivered to the Admiral's servant at Deal. She took it up stairs to the Admiral, and I saw the Admiral before I left Deal, after the letter was delivered to the servant, who took it up stairs." Therefore, whatever he received at Dover he delivered to the Admiral, and what the Admiral received we have here; there is an interruption in the proof certainly, in consequence of Wright, of Dover, not being well enough to be here as a witness; and therefore it did not appear by his testimony, that that which he, Wright, had received, Wright had delivered to his express-boy, to go over to Deal with; but that is supplied by the circumstance of De Berenger, if he was the person, telling Shilling, the Dartford driver, that he had sent off such an express; therefore it must be presumed that he had sent that letter which contained an express to the Admiral; and that which the Admiral received he shews you.