Then Broad, upon his cross-examination, says, "I have long lived at the Fountain, and have known Thomas Dennis some years; I do not know that I ever drove a fare that he brought before; I might; there are a great many boys from that inn at Dover; I have driven a single gentleman before, and sometimes a chaise and four." But upon re-examination, he says, "I never before received a Napoleon for it."
Michael Finnis, the driver of a chaise at Sittingbourn, says, "I remember the last witness bringing a gentleman in a chaise and four to our house, I did not take particular account of the time, it was early in the morning, it might be between four and five o'clock; I did not take particular notice, for I had no watch with me—it was dark; I drove him to the Crown at Rochester, Mr. Wright's house; I cannot say what time it was when we got there, we were not above an hour and ten minutes in going. The Gentleman got out there, and gave me two Napoleons, one for myself, and one for my fellow-servant; I took no particular notice of him; he had a pepper and salt coat on, and a red coat under that, I perceived, and a cap." So that this man took no particular notice of his countenance, but speaks to his dress and his appearance, as the other witnesses do.
Mr. Wright, who keeps the Crown Inn at Rochester, who saw him in the house, speaks with much more particularity; he says, "I remember a chaise and four from Sittingbourn arriving at my house on the morning of the 21st of February, I remember that was the day; it was a tall person, rather thin than otherwise, who came in the chaise; he had a pepper and salt great coat, with a military scarlet coat under it; the upper coat was nearer the colour of that coat, than any thing I could state (pointing to the coat on the table); the scarlet military coat he had under that, was very much trimmed with gold lace down the front, as it appeared by candle light, and a military cap with broad gold lace round it; it appeared to me to be cloth or fur, it appeared to be nearly the colour of the great coat." The cap does not appear to have any resemblance to the great coat, but in all other respects his description seems to be right. "On the military coat, there was a star, and something suspended, either from the neck or the button, I do not know which, something which he told me was some honour of a military order of Russia;" it turned out to be a masonry order. He is shewn the star, and he says, "it had very much the appearance of that sort of thing. I suppose I was in conversation with him about ten minutes; it was about half past five when the chaise drove into the yard; during those ten minutes I was getting some chicken for him, in our bar parlour. I was called up by the post-boy of my brother at Dover, I went into the yard, and found a gentleman looking out at the front window of the chaise, and he said, he was very hungry, could he get any thing to eat? that he had ate nothing since he left Calais; I asked him, if he would have a sandwich, as I supposed he would not get out of the chaise; he said he would get out, and he did get out, and I took him into our bar parlour; when he got there I said, I am led to suppose, that you are the bearer of some very good news to this country;"—a very natural overture to conversation on the part of an innkeeper, and to extract a little intelligence from him; "he said, he was, that the business was all done—that the thing was settled; I asked him, if I might be allowed to ask him what was the nature of his dispatches? he said, he is dead; I said, who? he said, the tyrant Bonaparte, or words to that effect, I believe these were the exact words; I said, is that really true, Sir." Upon which this gentlemen seems to have been piqued at having his veracity questioned, and said, "if you doubt my word, you had better not ask me any more questions;" in answer to which, Wright, not being willing to have his curiosity unsatisfied, said, "I made an apology for doubting the veracity of his story, and asked him, what were the dispatches? he said, there had been a very general battle between the French and the whole of the allied powers, commanded by Schwartzenberg in person; that the French had been completely defeated, and Bonaparte had fled for safety; that he had been overtaken by the cossacks, at a village which I think was called Rushaw, six leagues from Paris; that the cossacks had there come up with him, and had literally torn him in pieces; that he had come from the field of battle from the emperor Alexander himself, and that he either was an aide-de-camp of the emperor, or of one of his principal generals." Now the account he gives, tallies almost in terms with the letter which had been sent off to Deal; so that there is another proof of the identity of this person, and a connexion of him with this letter sent to Admiral Foley. Then he adds, "He told me, that the allies were invited by the Parisians to Paris, and the Bourbons to the throne of France. That was pretty well all the conversation that passed; he ate very little, if he did any thing—he said he was very cold; I asked him, if he would take any brandy? he said, no, he would not, for he had some wine in the carriage;" it turned out that it was so. "He enquired what he had to pay? I told him, what he had had, had been so uncomfortable, I did not wish to take any thing for it; he did not accept of that, he threw a Napoleon on the table, and desired me to take that for what he had himself taken, and wished me to give the servants something out of it, he meant the whole of the servants, for when he got into the chaise, the ostler asked for something; and he told him, that he had left something with his master, out of which he might be paid. He went away in the same chaise that brought him, with four horses. James Overy and Thomas Todd, were the persons who drove him." Mr. Wright had proceeded thus far, and then he looked round the court, and fixing upon De Berenger, said, "I believe that is the person; I have no doubt—it is certainly the gentleman; I had never seen him before, or since." This undoubted identification of person, is almost peculiar to this case; I never saw a case in which so many persons turned into the court at large, recollected a man at once, and with so much certainty.
Upon his cross-examination, he says, "I never saw the gentlemen before nor since till to-day; he wore a large cockade, very dirty, as if it had been worn a long time;" then he produced the Napoleon; and he says, "upon looking at him, I am sure he is the same person."
James Overy, who was the postillion, says, "I took up a person at my master's house at Rochester, on a Monday; I do not remember the day of the month. I drove him to Dartford, to the Granby; he had on a grey mixture coat; a red coat like an aid-de-camp, adorned with a star, very full indeed, something about his neck hanging down, and a cap, and a bit of white ribbon about the cap, such as officers wear, with a gold lace band round it. When I came to Dartford, it was ten minutes before seven; it was day-light two miles before we came to Dartford. I am not sure I should know the person again; he gave me two Napoleons, and he paid me five £.1. notes, and a shilling for mine and the Dartford horses, and the turnpikes; he gave us a Napoleon a-piece. Thomas Shilling and Broad took him from Dartford."
On cross-examination, he says, "the cap was such a cap as officers wear in a morning, slouched down, I think the top of the cap a little turned down; I did not observe the colour."
William Tozer, the next witness, says, "I keep the Crown and Anchor at Dartford; I remember Jem Overy bringing a fare to a house in our town on a Monday about the 21st of February, and the person I took notice of was sitting in the chaise. I made my obedience to the gentleman in the chaise, hoping that he had brought us good news; he said he had, and that it was all over; that the allies had actually entered Paris; that Bonaparte was dead, destroyed by the cossacks, and literally torn to pieces." Here again is the same account in effect which is contained in the letter to Deal, given by word of mouth, "and that we might expect a speedy peace. During the conversation, I saw him give Overy two gold pieces, which afterwards proved to be French pieces; I had them in my hand. I saw enough of the person in the chaise, to be positive I should know him if I saw him again." This was the witness, who looking round, did not find the Defendant; to be sure, the Counsel might have asked him whether that was the person; but from delicacy that was not done, which was certainly an unnecessary delicacy upon such a subject.
Thomas Shilling, the chaise-driver from Dartford, says, "I remember taking up a gentleman who came in a chaise and four to Dartford, I believe it was on the 21st of February, it was on a Monday. I had the wheel-horses. On our road to London, he discoursed with me a good deal; the waiter at Dartford, at the Granby, first spoke to him, asking him whether he brought any good news; the gentleman said, yes, it was all over; Bonaparte was torn in a thousand pieces; the cossacks fought for a share of him all the same as if they had been fighting for sharing out gold; and the allies were in Paris. We were ordered to go on; we had gone to Bexley before the gentleman spoke; the gentleman then told me not to hurry my horses, for his business was not so particular now, since the telegraph could not work. I told him, I thought the telegraphs could not work, for I knew almost every telegraph between Deal and London. He then said, "postboy, do not takes any notice of the news as you go along;" I told him I would not, unless he wished me to do so; he said, I might tell any of my friends as I returned, for he durst to say they would be glad to hear it; he said he had sent a letter to the Port Admiral at Deal, for he was obliged to do so;" therefore you have him, unless this be a premeditated falsehood in the evidence of this man, Shilling, authenticating the fact of the letter from Dover; "he said that he had walked two miles when he came ashore at Dover, before he got to the Ship Inn; that the Frenchmen were afraid of coming any nigher to Dover, for fear of being stopped." Where he got into Dover, or how, we do not hear; of the points of the outward voyage we know nothing; of the homeward we have a pretty good account of all the places where he touched, &c. "then we drove on till we came to Shooters Hill; when I got there, my fellow-servant and I alighted, and the gentleman gave us part of a bottle of wine; he said we might drink, because he was afraid the bottle would break; he gave us some round cakes also. I chucked the bottle away, and handed the glass again into the chaise; he told me that I might have it; he then said, "postboy, you have had a great deal of snow;" I said, "we have;" he said, "here is a delightful morning, postboy; I have not seen old England a long while before;" then he asked me which was the nearest coach stand; I told him at the Bricklayers Arms; he told me that would not do, it was too public, he was afraid somebody would cast some reflections, and he should not like it." It was bringing him very nearly within the vicinity of the King's Bench, where it should seem his countenance was better known than he liked it to be. "I told him I did not think anybody would do that, they would be too glad to hear of the news; he asked if there was not a hackney-coach stand in Lambeth; I said "yes," he said "drive me there.""
Now it has been observed he points his direction towards Lambeth, and the other express, it seems, that went through the city, which has been called the Northfleet expedition, is ordered not to go Lambeth, but to Lambeth Marsh. The learned Counsel has remarked, that they are not ordered to the same point at first, and that it would have been a strong confirmatory point, if they had been so; but there is to a great degree an identity of direction, an identity of object, and something like an identity of disguise in military uniform; "he said, drive me there, postboy, for your chaise will go faster than a hackney-coach will. I drove him to the Three Stags in the Lambeth road; there was no hackney-coach there. I ordered my fellow-servant to stop, and looked back, and told the gentleman there was no coach there; but that there was a coach stand at the Marsh Gate." So that the Marsh Gate arose incidentally, and was not his original plan; "and if he liked to get in there, I dared say nobody would take any notice of him; I think he pulled up the side blind, that had been down before all the way; when I got there, I pulled up along side to a hackney-coach; I called the coachman, and the waterman opened the coach door, and I opened the chaise door; the gentleman stepped out of the chaise into the coach without going on the ground;" the question which produced this answer was put with a view to something adverted to, as published upon the subject, in which some evidence was supposed capable of being opposed to the story of the driver, in this particular, who, however, relates it plainly and naturally, and is confirmed by the waterman, who was there at the time; "he then gave me two Napoleons; he did not say one was for my fellow-servant, and the other for myself, but I concluded that it was so; I have got them here," and he produces them; so that it does not appear that he has distributed this gentleman's bounty, but he is still a trustee for his fellow-servant. "I did not," he says, "hear him tell the coachman where to drive to. The name of the coachman is Crane. I know the person of the waterman very well. The gentleman was dressed with a dark fur round cap, and with white lace, and some gold round it; whether it was gold or silver I cannot say; he had a red coat on underneath his outer coat; I think his outer coat was a kind of a brown coat, but I will not swear to that; I saw a red coat underneath it, down as far as the waist; I did not see the skirts of it; I think it was turned up with yellow, but I should not like to swear that; it had some sort of a star upon it. I think upon his outer coat there was a kind of white fur; but I should not like to swear to that. I should know him in a moment. I have seen him and knew him again; that is the gentleman (pointing to him); I have no doubt. I saw him once before in King-street, Westminster, in a room; I knew him then the moment I saw him; I never had the least doubt about him; the moment I saw him I knew him."