What is the date?—The 23rd of September, 1840, as far as I can judge.
Mr. Kelly. This is the letter about which we have already had a discussion?
Mr. Serjeant Bompas. I am not aware of any discussion about it at present.
Mr. Kelly. Are you about to offer it in evidence?
Mr. Serjeant Bompas. Yes.
Mr. Kelly. Then I object to it; I do not understand the principle on which it is offered. This is a letter which Captain Hill proves to be in the writing of Bernardos, written to Captain Jennings, and dated September, 1840. That is sought to be given in evidence against the defendant. There is no proof that he ever saw or heard of the letter in the whole course of his life.
Mr. Serjeant Bompas. Your Lordship will find the letter No. 18.
Mr. Kelly. It is a letter, I understand, which is printed at page 35, in the Appendix to the Appeal Case, at the top of that page.
Mr. Serjeant Bompas. It is a letter written by one of the parties to the other of the parties who were engaged in paying the money for this vessel, which was received from the prisoner at the bar. It is a letter from Bernardos, your Lordship will see, describing the voyage.
Mr. Kelly. You had better not speak of the contents of the letter; it is before their Lordships, and for the purpose of deciding the point of law, my Lord may look at the letter. I cannot help complaining of the course taken, which is not correct or usual. My learned friend takes the opportunity of stating, in the hearing of the Jury, something of the contents of that letter, which is before your Lordships, and of which your Lordships may possess yourselves while we are discussing whether the contents of it are to be stated in Court at all. If your Lordships hold it admissible, it will then be read; but, for the present, you may read it yourselves, and hear the argument upon it.