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contradictions, which it afterwards was proved might have been filled up and removed. On these grounds Lord Cochrane moved 'for a new trial; but it was refused him on grounds no doubt sanctioned by law and precedent, but which we must nevertheless think very insufficient: a new trial was refused him because all the parties did not join in the application for it; so that, as Cochrane Johnstone was absent, it was impossible to obtain it. But can any thing be more absurd, and at the same time more unjust than thus to refuse a man a new trial, not because he does not shew he is now in possession of evidence to prove his innocence which he could not produce before, but because those who were connected with him in the supposed conspiracy do not join with him in the application? Besides the circumstance of one of the parties having fled from justice, as in the case of Cochrane Johnstone, may it not happen in a conspiracy, that one is innocent, while the others are guilty; and consequently that one may have reasons and hopes from a new trial which the others have not? Indeed it is not necessary to dwell any longer on this part of the business: so general was the conviction that the ground on which Lord Cochrane was refused a new trial was at variance with justice, that even those who thought the sentence of the pillory not too severe, were of opinion that a new trial ought to have been granted.

We shall now consider the circumstances which led a great many to feel an interest in Lord Cochrane, independently of the interest excited by a belief or suspicion of his innocence. In the first instance, the nature of the fraud itself, and the place where it was committed; it was alleged that it was extremely harsh to punish so severely the propagation of false intelligence on the Stock Exchange, among stock-jobbers, for the purpose of raising or depressing the stock, when it was notorious that scarcely a day passed, in the course of which some members of the Stock Exchange did not either countenance or create false intelligence, for the same purpose as Lord Cochrane was accused of, its influence on the funds. It was well known (said his advocates) that nearly the whole transactions on the Stock Exchange were of

a speculative nature, and some of them what blunt and rude persons would not hesitate to call gambling transactions: consequently it was to be supposed, that every person who transacted business there, being acquainted with the character of the place, and the mode in which custom had rendered it common to transact business, would be upon his guard, and examine into the truth of every report likely to influence the funds, before he acted upon that report in buying or selling stock. It seemed hard, therefore, in the opinion of many, that Lord Cochrane should be punished for doing that which had been often done before with impunity by the individuals themselves who brought him to punishment, and which also seemed an essential part of the transactions of the place itself. In the second place, the committee of the Stock Exchange, who were appointed to take measures for the purpose of detecting and bringing to punishment the propagators of the false report, it was alleged, stepped beyond the line of their duty or their right, for they almost assumed to themselves the powers and functions of judge and jury; examining witnesses, and giving publicity to their opinion in such a manner as could not but be prejudicial to the cause of the supposed delinquents. Thirdly, a strong impression was made on the public mind in favour of Lord Cochrane, (for the other persons concerned did not excite nearly so deep or general interest,) from the idea that the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, before whom they were tried, did not conduct himself with that coolness and impartiality which became a person in his situation; and this want of coolness and impartiality was attributed to political causes-Lord Cochrane having been long remarkable for the violence of his attachment to the opinions of Sir Francis Burdett, while Lord Ellenborough was attached to the ministerial side. This account of the judge's behaviour on the trial was, however, proved afterwards to be void of foundation, or at least greatly exaggerated. Nevertheless, in a case like that of Lord Cochrane, in which the public took a great interest, and to which very many attached themselves, from their politics coinciding with those of his Lordship, the belief that Lord Ellenbo

rough had conducted himself improperly remained, and Lord Cochrane was the more pitied and defended on that account.

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But lastly, the chief reason which induced the most cool and impartial part of the public to interest themselves in Lord Cochrane's fate, was the conviction that his punishment, even on the supposition that he was guilty, was very disproportionate to his crime; especially that part of his sentence which sentenced him to the pillory. To this mode of punishment there are undoubtedly many very serious and well founded objections, not only of a general nature, but applicable to it when it is inflicted on particular persons: the principal objection of a general nature is, that it places the degree of punishment entirely in the hands of the populace. person is put in the pillory: if the populace think him innocent, they have it in their power almost to make it a triumph, instead of a punishment:-if they are not incensed against the criminal, they are indifferent and inactive, and he in fact suffers nothing but the disgrace of having stood in the pillory; whereas if they are incensed against him, severe bodily punishment, and in some cases death itself, is superadded to the disgrace. Besides, such kinds of punishment contribute to brutalize those who attend them, instead of serving as warnings, as must always be the case where the people, instead of being the witnesses, are the inflicters of punishment. But there are also objections to the pillory in particular cases, since to some persons the disgrace, the only punishment contemplated by the law, is harmless; while to others it is a punishment greater than death itself; and this consideration ought to be sufficient to do away the pillory altogether, if the only defensible object of punishment be the deterring others from the commission of crime, and if all punishment which is more than sufficient for that, is indefensible.

It was soon perceived that it would by no means be prudent, or even safe, to put Lord Cochrane in the pillory: meetings were held by his constituents in Palace-yard, Westminster, at which his colleague Sir Francis Burdett declared that, if Lord Cochrane was put in the pillory, he would attend him, and

consider it an honour instead of a disgrace; and in this resolution he was joined by nearly. all who were present. His Lordship's case was also taken up in the House of Commons; and July 5, Mr. Broadhead moved the order of the day for the taking into consideration the copy of the record of the conviction of Lord Cochrane and Mr. Cochrane Johnstone.

The speaker stated that there was also an order for the attendance of Lord Cochrane and Mr. C. Johnstone; and having inquired of the serjeant at arms if Lord Cochrane was in attendance, and being answered in the affirmative, his Lordship was called in. The noble lord having entered, he was desired by the speaker to take his place. The messengers, Skelton and Jones, were called to prove the delivery of the order of the house, for the attendance of Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, at the place where he resided previous to the trial. Mr. Graham and Mr. Kerrison, two members of the house, stated that they had seen Mr. Cochrane Johnstone at Calais on the 31st day of May last.

Lord Cochrane now read to the house a

very long defence, which none of the papers have ventured to report, after a warning given by the speaker and Lord Castlereagh. His Lordship asked for a patient hearing, and mentioned the case of a man, who was condemned in France to be racked and burnt for magic. The poor creature, whilst protesting his innocence, was struck on his mouth by a monk, to prevent his being heard.Though what he had now seen of ********* ******** convinced him that cowardice and malignity was not the exclusive property of monks, he trusted that no means would be resorted to stifle his voice, or to prevent the public from hearing his whole defence. He did not ask for compassion or pardon. The country had indeed felt indignation at the sentence passed upon him,—a sentence more heavy than ever yet was laid upon persons clearly convicted of the most horrid of crimes, and for an act now for the first time deemed a legal offence. But the fine, the imprisonment, the pillory,-even that pillory to which he was condemned,-weighed as nothing, when put in the balance against his desire to show that he had been unjustly condemned. In the presence of the house, then, and with

the eyes of the nation fixed upon him, he most solemnly declared, that he was wholly innocent of the crime laid to his charge, and for which he had been condemned. His Lordship here observed on the improper conduct of the Stock Exchange, the prosecutor, in erecting a sort of court, calling evidence, &c. &c. and prejudicing the public mind before the trial by various publications. And what, he said, must the world think, when they see those to whom the welfare and the honour of the nation are committed covertly co-operating with a committee of the Stock Exchange? He was indeed prepared to expect much, knowing how his endeavours to expose corruption had roused the impure and the hypocritical, and had engendered a thirst for vengeance, particularly in the grasping and never-pardoning phalanx of the law, for exhibiting to the world their frauds upon his ill-treated brethren of the navy. A bill of indictment was preferred; but a common jury was not to be used, and a special one was therefore resorted to: for these were not the times,

"When sterling freedom circled Alfred's throne, "And spies and special juries were unknown." “No,” said his Lordship; "a special jury is composed of 12 men, hired and paid to be a cloak to a judge. A special jury is composed of 12 persons taken out of 48 persons, the whole of which 48 persons are selected by the master of the crown-office. It is notorious, Sir, that these special jurors follow the business as a trade; that they are paid a guinea each for every trial; that it is deemed a favour to be put upon the special jury list; that persons pay money to get upon that list; that if they displease the ****, care is taken to prevent them from serving again; or, in other words, to cut them off, or turn them out of a profitable employment. And, is it this, Sir, which we call a jury of our country? Have I been tried by a jury of my country? No, Sir, ****************. The institution of special juries, an institution unknown till times of modern date, and repugnant to the laws of England, had its rise in a pretence, that in matters of technical difficulty a common jury might not be competent to understand; as in cases of insurance, shipping of goods, and the like. But

what was there in this case that a common jury, composed of tradesmen in the city of London, would not have understood? A common jury would surely have been as competent to decide upon my case as upon the cases of hundreds who are condemned to death upon the decision of such a jury in that same court, where, to do me justice, my case should have been tried." His Lordship then proceeded to state the manner in which he had been employed since he was actively engaged in his professional duties. At an expence of nearly two thousand pounds, he had examined the situations, and procured plans of various important ports and places in the Mediterranean, some of which plans were considered infallible by some of the most distinguished officers now living. He was occupied with the perfection of an invention of public convenience and utility the very day this offence was so unexpectedly laid to his charge. He had expended more than a thousand pounds in fitting himself for sea, after his appointment to the command of the Tonnant. He returned to his duty on board that ship on the first of March, and it was not till the 8th that he found his name was connected with the fraud. On reading a paragraph in the public prints in which he was named, he obtained permission to return to town. He returned merely with a view to clear his character, and not in consequence of any communication from the admiralty. His Lordship then entered on various details of his case-of the alleged difference in De Berenger's dress-of the bank-notes traced to De Berenger, which he could prove to the house were given by his Lordship to Mr. Butt for bona fide transactions-of Lord Ellenborough's charge to the jury, where he takes one part of his Lordship's affidavit as truth and the other as falsehood-of Lord Ellenborough's making his Lordship represent De Berenger as coming in disguise; about which, if there was one word in his Lordship's affidavit, then was he perjured, and Lord Ellenborough spoke truth, &c. His Lordship then complained that it was not stated to the jury, that he was from home two hours after De Berenger called; who had consequently time to change his dress, and had a portmanteau with him to carry off

his disguise; the same probably in which he carried it to Dover: that he (Lord C.) first disclosed the fact of De Berenger's coming to his house, &c. &c. His Lordship, after making a variety of other observations, proceeded nearly as follows:-" Of all tyrannies, Sir, the worst is that which exercises its vengeance under the guise of judicial proceedings, and especially if a jury make part of the means by which its base purposes are effected. The man, who is flung into a prison, or sent to the scaffold, at the nod of an avowed despotism, has, at least, the consolation to know that his sufferings bring down upon that despotism the execration of mankind; but he who is entrapped and entangled in the meshes of a crafty and corrupt system of jurisprudence: who is pursued imperceptibly by a law with leaden feet and iron jaws; who is not put upon his trial till the ear of the public has been poisoned, and its heart steeled against him, falls, at last, without being cheered with a hope of seeing his tyrants execrated, even by the warmest of his friends. In their principle, the ancient and settled laws of England are excellent; but, of late years, and especially since the commencement of the present reign, so many injurious and fatal alterations in the law have taken place, that any man who ventures to meddle with public affairs, and to oppose persons in power, is sure and certain, sooner or later, to suffer in some way or other. Sir, the punishment which the malice of my enemies has procured to be inflicted on me, is not, in my mind, worth a moment's reflection. The judge supposed, apparently, that his sentence of pillory would disgrace and mortify me., I can assure him, and I now solemnly assure this house, my constituents, and my country, that I would rather stand, in my own name, in the pillory every day of my life under such a sentence, than I would sit upon the bench in the name of **** for one single hour. Something has been said, Sir, in this house, as I have read, about an application for a mitigation of my sentence, in a certain quarter, where it is observed, that mercy never failed to flow. It was, I am informed, his Majesty's Attorney-General, who (I suppose, unintentionally) offered this last insult to my feelings. I excuse it, because I am aware

that the learned gentleman is an utter stran ger to the sentiments that inhabit my bo som; but I can assure him, that an application for pardon, extorted from me, is one of the things which nothing has the power to accomplish. No, Sir, I will seek for, and look for, pardon nowhere; for I have committed no crime. I have sought for, I still seek for, and I confidently expect, justice; not at the hands, however, of those by whose machinations I have been brought to what they regard as my ruin, but at the hands of my enlightened and virtuous constituents, to whose exertions alone the nation owes, that there is still a voice to cry out against that haughty and inexorable tyranny, which now commands silence to all but parasites and hypocrites." His Lordship concluded by protesting before Almighty God, that he never knew any thing about the offence of which he had been found guilty.

The Speaker stated, that a member, under his Lordship's circumstances, having made his defence, should withdraw.

Lord Cochrane said, he would withdraw; but again expressed his hope that the house would investigate the matter for itself, and that no punishment should be inflicted, unless the house was satisfied that he was guilty. He again declared, before Almighty God, that he was entirely innocent of the charge.

Lord Castlereagh said, the house must be aware how much of what they had now heard was not defence, but inculpation of others of high character. But he should think it a great abuse of the indulgence of the house, if what was said there were re ported elsewhere, so as to make it the vehicle and means of circulating libel and calumny. If it should be necessary to interpose afterwards on account of any abuse of this kind, it must be recollected, that, after this, the want of warning could not be heard as an excuse.

Mr. Broadhead did not wish to wound the feelings of any individual, but in his humble opinion there was no duty more sacred than that of averting any stain from the popular branch of the legislature. A due attention to this was a political duty of great importance. Fully satisfied, then, that the house would do justice to its own character, he

concluded by moving, "that Lord Cochrane, a member of that house, having been found guilty of a conspiracy, ought to be expelled that house."

Mr. Brown felt it inconsistent with his notions of justice to adopt implicitly the judgment of a court against which the party had appealed, though without success. He could not help being struck with the manner in which the noble Lord had this day repeatedly protested his innocence, in the name of his constituents, his country, and his God. When he considered what must be the education and habits, the rank and feelings, of such a person as Lord Cochrane, he thought it impossible that he should not have been more depressed by the degrading sentence of the pillory, unless he was conscious of innocence. He could not believe that it was in the power of such a man, if guilty, to come forward and boldly assert and reassert his innocence before such an awful tribunal as the House of Commons. The noble Lord had entered into a long and distinct analysis of the alleged proofs of his guilt. The house could not be competent to embrace all the new matter advanced, without further inquiry. Could any man say, that he was prepared at once to decide on these circumstances? if not, no harm could arise from a little delay. He therefore moved, that the statement and papers of Lord Cochrane should be referred to a private Committee, which should have power to report thereon.

The Attorney-General said, that the noble Lord had stated, that the judge could not effect his wicked purpose of condemning him without the aid of a jury packed for the purpose; and that the master of the crown-office was compelled to appoint the jury. The master of the crown-office was not appointed by political influence, but by his court, and he held his office during good behaviour. The master merely turns over the leaves of the book which was given him by the sheriff, and in the presence of the agents of both parties selects 48 names. Each member strikes off one, till the number is reduced to 24: these 24 are to appear at the trial, and no man knows which 12 will be selected. It had happened that the jury who tried the

defendants were all new men, probably selected on that very account; but if, which was impossible, the judge should know the disposition of any man, and wish to influence, yet he had not the smallest power. The learned gentleman then pronounced a panegyric on juries. He should give no opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the noble Lord, but he trusted he should be pardoned for rising when the chief tribunal of the country was arraigned.

Mr. Brand had always entertained doubts as to his Lordship's privity in the late transactions; that privity chiefly rested on two points, the dress of De Berenger, and the circumstance of the bank-notes. The noble Lord had only been able within two or three days to give an account concerning these notes, and had now five persons prepared to prove that De Berenger arrived in a different dress. He was now, therefore, able to account for two circumstances, which before appeared inexplicable. The character of the house was engaged not to act precipitately; the country had been carried away too violently, The prosecutors had acted with a most indecent activity to advertise and prejudge; while it appeared that the noble Lord, from a consciousness of innocence, had been too proud, or too careless, to use proper means for his defence. He should vote for the amendment.

Mr. Barham had all along doubted the noble Lord's guilt, and now his doubts were stronger than ever. He thought much blame was due to that self-erected tribunal which had been so active in all its proceedings: he doubted whether an innocent man might not have suffered under such circumstances; he should not like to be so tried. The house should, under such circumstances, be slow to add to his penalties, and be ready to inquire into his statements.

Mr. Ponsonby said, the noble Lord had been heard with much tenderness. He thought, however, that his wish to investi gate the propriety of the charge of the Chief Justice was not unreasonable. Judges were not infallible; nor were they so deemed, either by themselves or the constitution.He hoped the debate might be adjourned; for he could not that night sleep

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