circumstances, having nothing but what she earned, and if it was known that he was to be a witness, she might suffer ill-will from the public. Mr. D. then replied, Poor women, she will be ill off; write a letter to her, give it to Captain Sibbald, and mark a one pound note on it, Sibbald would bring it to him (Mr. D.), and he would inclose the note.' Mr. D. also desired him to write her that he was to be a witness, and to leave Glasgow, and to go to his (witness's) father's at Symington, in Ayrshire. Witness said that would be the first thing that would make it known in Glasgow that he was to be a witness, as she could not read write well: after some conversation about writing to some friend at Glasgow, it was agreed to, that witness should write a letter to his wife, stating that a friend of his would send her a one pound note to bear her expenses to Edinburgh by the coach, and she would receive money there to carry her back. This letter was given to Mr. Sibbald in consequence of the conversation with Mr. D.; but some days afterwards it was brought back by Mr. D., who told him that the Lord Advocate disapproved of such a letter, but that MR. SALMOND at Glasgow had been directed to send for the witness's wife, and tell her to come to Edinburgh. After stating this, Mr. D. read a letter from Mr. Salmond, stating that he bought her a ticket to come in the boat to Falkirk, and from thence to Edinburgh, but his wife was unwell, and could not come, but would come in a day or two; and the witness then burnt the letter he had written: it was mentioned by Mr. Drummond that the Sheriff was coming to examine him: and he and his Substitute, the Solicitor-General, Procurator Fiscal, and a Clerk, came in. On the first question being put-Well, Campbell, what have you to say in this business?' he answered, supposing he was concerned in that affair, and was to tell the whole truth, he did not consider either himself or his wife safe-and that without he got a passport to go to the Continent, and means to carry him there, he could not be a witness.' Upon which Mr. Drummond said to the Solicitor-General, 'Answer you that.' The Solicitor-General then ordered the Clerk to write these words, as he thinks-'Whereupon the Solicitor-General assures the declarant that every means necessary will be taken to preserve him and his wife, and that he will get a passport to quit the country and go to the Continent, and the MEANS to carry him there.' During this time the Sheriff was walking up and down the room, which is pretty large; he was desired to come and sign this, when he came and sat down at the table, and after perusing the paper for some time, he said, 'I will not sign this,' and stated that he being an Officer of the Crown it was his duty to see justice done; and he could assure the witness, if he was to sign that paper, he would have much to answer for; for when he was brought as a witness, if he said he had received no reward nor promise of reward, and that paper to be produced, he would perjure himself. Witness answered, no, if it was considered as a means of his preservation; upon which he was supported in the same argument by Mr. Drummond. Upon which the Sheriff said he would sign no such paper. Mr. D. pro

posed it should be put down that he should go into one of the British colonies, but the Sheriff refused this also, adding, he was willing to put down that every means should be used for the preservation of him and his wife, but nothing farther. A pause ensued, and Mr. D. looked at the witness, and said, 'Now, Campbell, you know best whether you will be a witness on these terms or not.' Witness remained silent, and Mr. Drummond said, 'Now, Campbell, do you believe that we are able to do that for you which you expect, without its being set down on paper?' and at this time the Sheriff was sitting at the table. Witness answered he knew they were able if they were willing. Mr. D. said, would he rely upon them for that? Witness answered, May I?' Mr. D. answered, You may;' and then the witness said loudly, Then I shall rely on you as gentlemen. Shortly after this he was allowed to write his own declaration, all excepting one part relating to Mr. Kerr. A few days after, the Sheriff, Procurator Fiscal, and a Clerk, came up to have the narrative signed, when the Sheriff advised him to go home to his loom when he got rid of this, and let them rule the nation as they chose. Witness answered, that if he thought he was to go back to his loom again, he would rather be served with an indictment, even after all that he had wrote; to which the Sheriff said, he had nothing to do with that, as it remained between him and others. Witness was again visited by Mr. Drummond, when he ordered Captain Sibbald to give him plenty of books, which he got to the extent of nearly one hundred volumes. About a fortnight or three weeks ago, he wrote a letter to Mr Drummond, stating he wanted some clothes and some money for his wife; he received a pair of shoes from Mr. Sibbald, by order of Mr. Drummond, and received for answer from Captain Sibbald, that he could not get any money at present, but he would get it after the first trial. He wrote another letter to Mr. D., stating a part of what was given in his declaration as a gentle demand for money, and got the same answer from Captain Sibbald, who said he received it from Mr. Drummond."(Continuation of Deposition in next No.)

SECOND EDITION,

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY

MUIR, GOWANS, & CO., 42, ARGYLL-STREET,
(Opposite the Buck's Head);

SOLD BY J. STEWART, 11, ST. JAMES'S STREET, PAISLEY;

AND ALL THE BOOKSELLERS.

EXPLOITS OF RICHMOND ;

EXPOSURE OF THE SPY SYSTEM;

LETTERS OF ANDREW HARDIE, &c.

Pier. Yet, Jaffier, for all this, I am a villain.

Jaff. A villain!

Pier. Yes, a most notorious villain..

Otway.

CAMPBELL, in his Deposition, went on to state, "that although the engagement with him was not put in writing, in consequence of the interference of the Sheriff, and which writing was immediately burned in his presence, yet he considers this as an existing engagement, upon the performance of which he thinks himself entitled to rely; and that the declaration he made and gave to the Sheriff of Mid-Lothian was made upon a reliance on that engagement: That at the conversation with Mr. Drummond, when he got the order to get books, he had been cited as a witness on the trial of Mackinlay, and the first book he got was on the 22d of April last, in the week Mr. Drummond went the circuit: that the idea of danger to himself was first suggested by the Sheriff and Fiscal of Glasgow, who asked if it was for fear of his life that he would not be a witness. He cannot say he thought his life was in danger, but he did not like to go back to Glasgow after being a witness." Campbell then signed his declaration in presence of the Court.

Mr. Jeffrey, as Counsel for the pannel, then proposed to call Sir William Rae, at that time the Sheriff of the County of Edinburgh, to corroborate certain parts of Campbell's declaration. But the Lord Advocate objected to the proposition as quite unnecessary.

The truth is, the Crown Lawers saw that the foundation of their case was now completely knocked from under them by their own "leading witness," Campbell, on whom they had" confidently relied," and, to make a virtue of necessity, they ABANDONED the case.

The Lord Advocate rose and addressed the Court, stating, that in consequence of the disappointment he had experienced in the turn which the evidence he had adduced had taken, he found he could not receive the verdict which his former impressions had led him to expect. He therefore would not take up the valuable time of the Judges and Jury in going farther into a discussion, which could neither be beneficial to the country nor to the pannel. He therefore left it to No. III.] [Price 2d.

C

the Jury to return a verdict of Not Proven or Not Guilty, as they deemed most proper.

Mr. Jeffrey said, after the very candid and judicious admission which the Public Prosecutor has made of the utter failure of THE CASE, I should be inexcusable in detaining the Court with any argument or observation.

The Jury returned a verdict of Not Proven.

And thus (says Richmond, p. 107.) terminated the case, in Scotland, UPON WHICH THE MINISTRY DEPENDED FOR A JUSTIFICATION OF THEIR PROCEEDINGS!!"

"As the circumstances (adds he) which led to this unexpected conclusion, on the part of the Crown Lawyers, are a little curious, I will now relate them as they afterwards came to my knowledge.

"When they (the prisoners) were removed to Edinburgh Castle, the witnesses were kept separate from those intended to be brought to trial; but for the benefit of air and exercise, they were aliowed to get out on the ramparts at intervals, under the charge of sentinels, where many opportunities occurred of eluding their vigilance, and holding communication with each other. The Counsel for the defence were excluded from access to the witnesses, but had regular admission to those who were indicted, and the weak part of the prosecutor's case came to be discovered, and pointed out. Whether Campbell originally intended the trick played off upon the Crown Lawyers or not, can only-(says Richmond, from whom we are still quoting)-be known to himself. After he had agreed to become a witness he was allowed csnsiderable indulgence; and when he had taken his resolution he wrote a detailed account of his communications with the Crown Lawyers, and the promises made to him. This statement he secretly inclosed in a roll of tobacco, which he sent as a present to Mackinlay, who immediately put it into the hands of his Counsel, who kept it a profound secret, until Campbell was put into the witnesses' box. The Crown Lawyers had not the most distant suspicion; and his answer to the interrogatory, if he had received any reward or promise of reward for giving his evidence, utterly astounded them, coming upon them like their death knell. Nothing (continues Richmond) could be managed on the part of the prisoner's Counsel, with more address." (page 109.) Most certainly, the admirable tact of Mr. Jeffrey, in first raising the objection to the admissability of Campbell as a witness at all, only enabled the ingenious Counsel of the prisoner to make the discomfiture of the Crown Lawyers the more glaring and complete. They never would have put Campbell into the box, if they had thought he would have turned tail upon them in the way he so properly did.

But listen to the following graphic statement which Richmond makes (vide Narrative, p. 110):

"When I called upon the Crown Lawyers next day, to learn the particulars of the trial, they appeared like chagrin and mortification personified. Mr. Drummond attributed their failure, TO A WANT Of

MANAGEMENT, in not, in the first instance, making sure of evidence to produce a conviction. On the conversation turning upon the means adopted to break up the organizations formed during the administration of Mr. Pitt, he, with a strong emphasis, remarked, had the case depended on the late Lord Melville, he would not have drawn a trigger UNTIL HE WAS SURE TO KILL!!'

Such is a small, but choice sample of the dignified" conversation" which took place in the year 1817, between the Crown Lawyers of Scotland and Mr. Alexander Richmond, as reported by that honourable person himself. Its merits will easily be understood and appreciated by our readers. We shall not therefore presume to dwell upon it farther with any observation of our own. But we think it would have been a pity, and perhaps altogether inexcusable, if we had omitted to let the Public see the high estimation in which Richmond was held by the Crown Lawyers, who evidently reposed the most "unbounded confidence" in him, otherwise they never would have unbosomed themselves to him in the way this "conversation" itself proves they

did.

And now, how galling must it be to them to find, that he has turned out to be a real "Traitor," who has made no scruple to tell their own tales;-to blab out their own secrets; their own very words against themselves, in a way we are certain they as little expected, as they did the overwhelming statement of John Campbell, which Richmond has well described, by saying, that it "utterly astounded them," and came upon them" like their death-knell."

But Richmond leads us into other scenes with the Crown Lawyers, which are too interesting, and too extraordinary to permit us to remain silent about them, especially as they partly disclose the operations of his own conscience.- "The dreadful situation," says he, p. 110," in which it (this trial of Mackinlay's) had left me, by affording me no opportunity for explanation,* was sufficient to absorb all my attention; yet the very awkward appearance they (the Crown Lawyers) madethe sense of shame, and the soreness they felt at their complete discomfiture, produced in my mind a mixed feeling of pity and gratification; pity that they should have exposed themselves in such a manner by pursuing an erroneous system of policy; and gratification that the men had escaped.

"As I had frequent opportunities of unreservedly hearing the sentiments of the Crown Lawyers during the progress of the trial, I will state the impression produced upon my mind, as to the original intention of the measures pursued. Had they, in the first instance, SUCCEEDED in establishing the administration of the oath, of which they entertained no doubt, TWO OR THREE WOULD HAVE BEEN SENTENCED TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, and A NUMBER MORE to TRANSPORTATION; and had the circumstances which I have related not intervened, I HAVE NO

* He expected to have been called as a witness.