The National Register. — London, England, 1820-10-29 00:00:00

346 and proving whether false witnesses and suborned testimony had not been suborned at their Lordships' Bar. Mecondly, the abstraction of Hastelli. Thirdly, the ratline in procuring Baron d'Ende as a witness for her Majesty. He (Lord Darnley) atoned any one of these grounds suf ficient to put an end to the proceedings, but taken altoge ther they were irresistible. He, therei e, would enter Lis solemn protest against all further iiruceedings. Lord HOLLAND said, thst he much approved of the opinion delivered by the Noble and Learned Lord on the Woolsack. The LORD CHANCELLOR then put the question, that Lousel be called in, and informed that their Lord skips did not acquiesce in the proposition of a delay. it was castled new. dis. Counsel having been called in, The LOUD CHANCELLOR abated to them what he bad in consumed from the House. The ATTUIRMILY GCNERAL then stated to their Lord. ships, that he wished to call Capt. lirigrs to the bar. Captain Briggs called in, and examined by theAttm ney General. lets stated that you commanded the Leviathan when her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales was ou board t►at ship?-1 hare. Do yen remember Lient. Mamas on board that ship with her Royal Higlincsa?-1 do. 1 believe you stated that Bergami was also on board that ship ?-1 did. Do you recollect having bad any conversation with Liens. Howsians on the subject of Bergson' ?-1 do. Was the conversation about Bergatni's being admitted to a seat at her Royal Highness's table ?—lt was. State what lie said to yon on that occasion ?—I observed to Mr. Huwnem, in the couvi rsatien, dint Capt. Pechell told use that Bergami had waited behind leis chair when the Princess embarked on board the C'hrirodd frigate; and 1 asked him, how it was that he was admitted to her Royal Highness's tablet—lle replied, that it was en; that lie was sorry that the Princess had admitted him; that he had entreated h. r itoyal Highness on his knees , and with tears Weis eyes, not to admit him to her table, but to uo pnr pose. Did he state when this happened?—To the best of my recollection, he told me it was the day that Bergami's situation was changed, the first day that Bergami dined at bet• Royal Highness's table. The AT-massy GICNERAL said, be had no other ques tions to a►k. Cr.is. examined by Mr. Brougham. . . When this convention happened on bolird the Leviat has, where was the ship f—Sbe was uo her passage from I'orto Ferrajo to Palermo, in the year 1815, and the month of November. We were walking to-ether uo deck—we bad oceasionally walked together on deck. You were speaking about Capt. Peeltell and Bergioni, wirer Capt. Pechell had made some objection to sitting down at table with Bergami ?—Yes t his objection was to Sensual ; be had no objection to sitting down with her Royal Highness at all. Oh, 1 dare say not—(A laugh). Bat I understand you to have said to Mr. flownam, that Capt Prchell Mid positively refused to allow Itergnmi to Sit down at table with him / Nei what I said was, that Capt. Prehell had told me Sagami toped to stood behind the chair of her Royal Diplome. Did you make any site of the conversation you 'ay you bad with Limit llownom —Nerve whatever. Lad you are now swearing to words which were spoken Iva years ago have a perfect recollection of the con versation. Whet' . did you nest repeat it to any one ? I believe I have atemloned it several times iu cowrie of conversation. You have said that the conversation was always in your ecolketioe. Can you name any person to whom run men tioded it before you wrote the answer to taut letter f-1 aseudossed it act several occasions. 1 might perhaps name some venous who were present. I remember of once men thols' It to Sir George Cockbora. Y4lllsnesta ate of the Lords of the Admiralty ?—Yes. Did you begin the conversation about it f—We were talking; I forget what led to my mentioning it ; I only reealloct the fact of 'motioning it. Yell have had the honour of dining with the King lately —Wee you Dot I—Yes, when kis Majesty was lately at Was that since you were last examined in this Douse ? Yes, since I was bat examined. Capt. Briggs was now ordered to withdraw. The ATTORIBBY-GIVICOAL said, as the case Dow stood, be would not trouble the House with calling any more wit acmes. He hoped the House would ludul‘e Capt. Briggs with permission to return w his emourand at Portsmouth. Mr. Baotrubt•it.—My Lords, sue have urn the slightest wish to incommode either Captain Briggs or the service.— (A laugh,) 'She LORD CHANCELLOR said, that Capt. Briggs had the ptumWsitso solicited. 'SW LORI) CHANCELLOR now enquired if the Comp ile fec her Majesty were ready to proceed! Mr. PIIkOUGUAN—" My Lords, my friend. Mr. Denrniin, Whore he is new ready In go on." Mr- DUMAN rug(' to film up the Defence at twesity.five usittiotes post eleven o'elvek•—" My Lords (said the Leanied Counsel), if. ender web ciren , rstanct.s. it were possible for on advocate to discharge the inspoi tuftuft duties of his sitenVon without solicit* the indulgence of your Lordships, such eircoarstsnees have net occurred in the present case, but, on the contrary, demand that I should crave a more ample in dulgence than usual. For, from the proreediugs w hie h took plate yesterday ' when the A ttornev•General ri-ketl for lime to fur Col. Brown, it might have been supposed Mal be would nut liwe coutelittd himself ti ith one solitary wittiest but might hare timul it titce,,ary to call other wit nesses to rebut the evidence that had heen ',induced. if to velnst it were possible. Dot, iny Lords, I inak.- nu complaint that I did not espoct to be callei an thus lo.wolng to turn up theridente = for, consider's* the tithe that has elapsed in in preol>satf ercatetionagainst her Majesty, and liken ,se her defence. I, an the Queen's Cooarel, should have bete ex.semely.reasiss in my duty, If I had tint attewled closely Si, the whale of the evidence. I will now, my Lards, I v)- teed to ma/se my itiasuks on the whole of that cvideucc— evidence which bas satisfied me, which has satisfied my Mirk *144 bus satiated the people of Euglaad, and it hitch has dose more—has satisfied all Europe, which has take') a deep interest s this great, this moiaeatous proceeding.— Yes, my torsdo, all Europe will rejoice that the defence of the op." qt. k l agland Has been triumphant, and that she refitted the foal ewes Against her honour '.—l wish, my Lords, to inoteed to thii examination with that that deliberatiou, and that absence of all Personal fechue. wbicb will bed enable me to elicit the truth. lint it was . • THE NATIONAL REGISTER scarcely to be expected, baiithat, In the dlseassioas whkh have taken place, nad in the interlocutious that have oc curred, that some hasty expressintiggpould not have escaped an Advocate, whose feelings may Mee been overwhelmed with the importance of the cause in which he was engaged.— My Learned Frieud, the Attorney-General, yestesday, , seemed to think that I was questioning his veracity, but most unequivocally declare taut such was not my intention. I disclaain the slightest imputation against his personal cha racter or his honour. It has never beets my wash to give un easiness, but I have felt it acutely. The Illuste Mew Client, a hose interests have been ciailiJed to our cute, has beets the victim of the must cruel usperviom, of the most severe and degrading wrongs. This, any loud* we have Mt in the whole comae of the inquiry. lint, chile I disclaim all per sonality against my Learned Friend opposite, I claim the right to observe on tee whole of his conduct as an Advocaat in these proceedings. It is my Learned Friend's misfortune to be engaged in this ariarieciatiou, te misfortune fur whirls no honours can compensate hies. His °thee h.is imposed on him the duty utpioseenting the U hl of Pains and Penalties against the wite of his &overripe, no mike n kids I would not have filled fur any railk, lamenir., or %aridly sedvantnges it were possible to ototain.—(The Learned Geutleenan then read the preamble of the Bill, respecting the conduct of the Quern to Bergaini, which Mai said Is, have brought dishonour and disgrace on the Sovereign, and seas a scandal to the peo ple of England. lie then proceeded a] —I can only apply myself in these allegations, and to the maitre of the evidence by which they have been supported. It is true, that lit r genii was received into the Melee of her Royal Highness as a menial ; that he received marks of favour; and that some of his relations were taken into her service. We have been told that titles were obtained for him; but no attempt had beets de to prove that they were übtained by her MN vice. No other proof was given, out that her Royal High ness had conferred on Bergatni an Alder, which she had cleated, it was said, without ;lute! aueliority. This, any Lords, I deny, for several of the Nubility in France, with out any Sovereign authority whatever, have created Orders; and there is at, instance of three Italian merchants, brothers, having instituted au Order. I treat this subject seriously, because it has been treated seriously its the Bill. But, my Lords, I think, if a Princess goes a visit to the holy sepul chre, and is pleased with the saint, does what Dukes of Boarbon timid Onke. or Orleans have dime in former time— raised some memorial of the event in the creation of an Order of Knighthood, there is certainly nothing criminal in it I—Princes arc fond of toys, tometimes erecting buildings, and at other times creating Orders. The Princess of Wales did boils, she put wings to the Villa d'Este, and made it a Palace, which did no discredit to her taste, though it was toot a Pavilion I—The only question to be decided was, whether the adulterous intercourse c h arged in the preamble of the Bill land taken place, and in such a matinee as bring dishonour on Lis Majesty, and discredit on the people of Leal/mid ? He would refer to the Attorney-General's open hog speech, us the cue he was called upon to answer; he would observe on every one of his stutements, and on the evidence by which it had been attempted to support those statements. The first count set forth in the indictment, or first overt act, was what passed tit Naples the night after the arrival of her Royal Highness there; and certainly the statement made by the Attorney-General, on this head was one calculated to make ten impression. Ile said that, on former maniocs, the individual who was charged as the paramour of her Royal Highness had slept .stes distance from her, but that, on that night, she desired he might be Dear her; that the boy Austin, wilts had hitherto slept in the bet-room of her .Ruyal Highness was that night removed to a dastaneta--that she. reaorned catty ft - um the Opera ; that she did not occupy her owe OA, but that the other bed had the marks of two perases haying .slept fo it; that next morning the Princess could not be seen at her usual hour by persons who had 'called upon her,- 7 Stich was the statement of the charge inside by the Attor ney-Gencral,and such the facts trots which, if proved in evidence, uuly one conclusion could have hien drawn.— But if none of these facts prove true—if the bed-romns are changed without the knowledge of her Royal Highs news; if' it is considered unsafe that she should sleep too near the garden, and that a bed is prepared for Bergaini in the cabinet ; if her Royal Highness's Chamberlain re monstrates Wills her that Austiu was getting too old to sleep in her bed-room; if it is proved diet she returned Irons the Opera very late, and not early, that instead of going secretly to her chamber she was accompanied by Sir Wm. Gell ; that she rose next morning at her usual hour, and that no persons called on her Royal Highness, and that nothing took place to indicate that any tlaiug re markable had passed between her and Berganii, then the impression must be very different indeed. He felt also, ke must incur the hazard of being tedious to be distinct, but he mint refer to the Minutes for each distinct tact, and he would convince their Lordships, that the Naples charge was not only not proved, but couipletely negatived. Si. card negatives the charge of changing the room, and chews, that it was his own act in placing Ben garni in the cabinet. Mr. Craven states, that he had represented to her Royal Highness that William Austin should not con teen to sleep in her room ; and Carrington swore, that he had previunshy made a bed for Austin in other rooms, Mr. Craven and Sir William Gell state, that they remain. ed wills her Royal 'Renew very late at the Opera. And from the testimony of De Mont herself you will find, that she was not there accidentally, but was sent fur by her Majesty, as if in order to see all that took place ; and Sir %V. Gcll states, teat he accunipanicil her Ma jesty to the room. All Use charge. in the opening speech to the Naples business, Nal to use ground ; nor is the in• terference of the haughty conduct of Bergami, which would have followed the adulteress intercourse, at all proved ; on the contrary, Mr. Craven states him to have been always obedient and respectful, whether as Classier or Chemist Hain. Now as to the state of the beds : Du ' moot laid said that no one slept in the travelling bed, and that the oilier appeared &mimed and tumbled, and this, nut for one night, but fur Iwo mouths. Now, if' an adul terous intercourse bad taken place, the little bed would have been slept in, if only to veil the connexion. Ma demoiselle Dumoot, in her cross-exanithatitm, said there was nothing that iudicated that two persons had slept in the bed; but aßerwards,ou the third or fourth day of lies examination, in answer to a qtaestiou put by a Noble Lord, considering, perhaps, the gluey acquired by Barbara Kresse in her precivas evidence, and anxious of a siwilar honor Dumont stated a feet which no one could believe, that there were stains mashie the bed, but she modestly added she did not know what they wet e, as She had neve r seen any latch before! It was there the ungrateful Da. MOM LlOll4lll proper to fix the crime on her illustrimis mistress, lint, admitting all Disinusit said to be true, so far as rebated to facts of which site alone could have knowledge, yet, when she was refuted in every fact Ilia could be known to another, it was impossible to believe her in any. Surely no case had ever failed so completely in evidence as that charge against her Royal Highness ss ;deli related to her conduct at Naples? The ;mint rows witnesses which had been called, the numerous charges which had been made, and the indefatigable efforts to retorter those charges available had, it was impossible bnt to perceiv e, produced an impression upon their Lordships' minds %%hick it would be difficult to remove. Here the Learned Coninel quoted a passage from the Quarterly Review, which, he said, was extremely applicable to the ease. It was the comparison of an edifice to a reputation ; and it described the almost insurmountable diffictilty of repairing the inttaties of either; asserting, that nothing short of a miraculous demonstration could operate in re. pairing the amanita upon a female's character. Unforito. nately the Queen's case strongly exemplified the truth of the Roman maxim—" Colltomniando semper "tat." The infamous calumnies vented against her had produced their effects ; and though the tiihnual before which she appeared should deride that they were base fahri- Cllll6llS—yet they wont(' leave ; *sloment and suffering behind, and a set of feelings would be raised to the pi e.tu. dice at the ceased, which neither time nor circumstances could everTfface. _ The Learned Counsel then adverted to that part of the statement against her Itlajest; , which accused her of having rotninitted adultery, and having continued in an tiluillerollll intercourse with flagaiiii. Although this story had been most completely refuted, still an impresOim remained which he could not regard without the utmost horror. The story of the masked ball, is ako given as very strong ) resumptive proof of guilt. Of that there codld exi-t no doubt, if the describer tells the truth, hr it was said, that her Royal flightless bad retired for a considerable time to her room with Bergaini, and in his presence exchanged the drers she wore, for one of the most indecent description. But, that a woman under such circumstances, should have retired from the hall unobserved was utterly impossible; and if the had wished to retire for the purpose of indulging in indecent familia rities with a man it was not all probable that she wolikl have thought of I lacier, her female attendant im an adjoin big room to a inlet's her depravity. Dun 1111 l t herself had declared that nobody but herself was there, with the exception of the two whom she thought proper to accuse. The story then was beyond the possibility of confirmation; and thus, upon the evidence of this abandoned tvi.mati, the Learned Counsel for the Bill had looked upon nue of the most desperate charges as established. To expect that it became the duty of her Majesty's Como el to cross examine such a witness inure closely, was absurd. A person like this, wit was determitied to give false evidence —began with a determination to use the most itigetil , lls arts of deception, and the more eager was the ir.q , icy after truth, the more skill was called into practice to bottle the fruitless spec illativll. It was not likely that, after a digestion of the neces sary plan for the iniquitous deviations from crown, a study of three years could have disqualified the false witness from the power and inclination of adding falsehood to falsehood ; and if a further cross-examination had taken place, nothing could be expected less than an addition to the first statement, for the purpose or adding to the ge net al effect of her testimony. An anecdote came to recollection which bore npon this point. He had heard a circumstance, which he communicated tea friend, oho took the opportunity to make smite additions of it very extraordinary nature. When some surprise was matiilest ed at the additions, his friend said, he certainly had a tight to know the matter better than his (Mr. Denman's) informant, because lie bad nut only given the intelligence to that informant, but had actually made the stoiy!---tA laugh.) Delmont was the fabricator of this story, and of course she must have been better acquainted with the particulars than the Attorney-General, who hail receited it at second hand, and she could embellish it, for tho amusement or service of those to whom she looked ler approbation. The more facts it appeared necessary tor her to draw into action, the more copiously she drew loin the sources of her polluted invention. Trite indeed it was, as Sir William Gell believed it lie, that her Majesty had a ,multitude of enemies. The Lei/rued Conned theta alluded to the assertion of Dumont, that Bergami had returned from the masquerade apparently mortified, and that her Royal Highness had in rain endeavotireti to pre vail upon him to return. This part of the evidence was, lie said, completely overturned by the testimony, that Itergami had been, on the very night on which this cir cumstance had taken place, employed in waiting tre.lt the other attendants npon the Princess's guests. lie litt'o called their Lordship's attention to that part of the evi dence of Dmilout, which described the Princess ewe walking aria iu arm with Bergand in the garden, and compared it with the statement of the Counsel for the Bill, who had said flied her Royal Highness had repeat edly degraded herself by thus associating with her me nials. This, he said, proved that they had not unlyto contend against the vilest descriptions, but to deal s%ltii a witness whose principal artifice was to engraft falsehood upon until—the must dangerous sort of enemy ?—lt was DUIIIOIIt that had placed them arm in ants together. 'h is fact was true that they were in the garden. Her Royal Highness found it necessary to have Itergand in the gar dee, to give diretions to the workmen, with whose language site was unacquainted. What did Sir Rotel t Gehl so 7—That they were in the garden, as IllitilleSs all I servant r that he regretted it, as he bail heard that site had enemies, and that the garden was open to the view . of all.'Thus, this matter turned out to be the history of a Lady walkiiig in her garden, with her servant bellied her, employed to give directions to those who were engaged in working. Could any misrepresentation be wove dreadful ? Yet, this is the evidence of one of those who were considered the most efficient props of the vast fabiie. His Learned Friends had declared that they had no anxiety upon this subject, but that whirls anise from their anxiety to perform their duty. Ile had, at the com mencement of this case, supposed that the whole pro ceedings would he coodueted, as far as regaled hit Learned Friends, with the utmost fairness, and that tier at titude of the conflict, which was at Bost such as justified an expectation of that kind, would he maintainedto the 1161. But what was the fact t. How hail the promise been ftilfdled ? The must atarving attorney that ever appeared before an indignant Jury, to obtain a recompeoce for an assault committed npon himself, never exhibited more matiagement or usanotuvviog than had been betrayed on the part of the Crown. He did not blame the Attorney" General. the cause which had been put into hi., I I init. was Ma a good use, he could not help it. 1 t was the abo minable witnesses who were deserting of exectetion, ;tett