The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

 

264.   CHARLES EMANUEL JOHN DE CHASTELAINE (27), and   NATHAN WETHERALL (31), were indicted (together with   SIR EDWARD CUNNINGHAM , since deceased) for unlawfully obtaining by fake pretences from   William Le Hunt Doyle a certain valuable security, with intent to defraud. Other Counts—For conspiracy, and varying the mode of charge.

MESSRS. MONTAGU WILLIAMS and HORACE AVORY conducted the Prosecution; Messrs. Straight and J. P. Grain defended Wetherall, and MR. COOPER WILD, de Chastelaine.

  WILLIAM LE HUNT DOYLE . I am at present staying at the Ship Hotel, Halliford—I am possessed of considerable property in the counties of Wex-ford, Tipperary, and Waterford—I came to reside in England in 1871, and have lived here since then—in the year 1875 I made the acquaintance of the late Sir Edward Cunningham—I resided at Clunn's Hotel, I think from April 30th, 1875, I till the end of June—I had to pay a large sum of money on certain bills of exchange for Sir Edward Cunningham—I think I left Clunn's Hotel on 10th October, and returned to it on 8th November—Sir Edward Cunningham was living there at that time; he occupied a bed-room next to mine—I was on very friendly terms with him at that time—in November he introduced me to the two defendants—I don't know the date—he introduced them as wine merchants—after that introduction they were in the habit of coming early in the morning to my room—they came at different hours, generally about 10 o'clock—at that time I was in bed—they would remain an hour, perhaps—while they were there they would drink champagne cup—about six or eight champagne cups used to be ordered up in the morning, and hot pickle sandwiches—they had no other drink that I remember—I drank with them—I paid for it—I do not remember the 24th November—I remember their coming to my bed-room on the morning of a dinner with Mr. Hollingshead—they came at the usual hour, about 10 o'clock—they had sandwiches and champagne cup on that occasion—I don't think I had a luncheon party that day—I remember a suggestion being made by one of the defendants, I can't remember which, Owing to a fire at the sessions House, no sitting was held in the Old Court this Session.

about a dinner at Clunn's—I ordered the dinner in their presence, the best that could be got, and drink unlimited—I don't think there were any other persons dining there besides the defendants—I think Mr. Hoofe dined there, I am not certain—there was a good deal of wine drank at that dinner—before the dinner I think Sir Edward Cunningham suggested turtle soup—no reason was given for that, except that as Mr. Hollingshead dined they wanted the best to be put on the table—before the 25th Wetherall, I believe, asked me to go to Spam to buy horses, not knowing an) thing of the wine trade—that was said in my bed-room one morning when the drink was going on—after the dinner on the 24th I remember going to Evans'—I was drunk when I went there—the defendants went with me—we had more drink there; I cannot give any account of what I drank there—I don't know whether I have since paid the bill for the drink—after I left Evans' I think I went to Clunn's—I am unable to state which of the defendants went with me—I have not the slightest idea how I got to bed or at what hour—I can't tell whether the defendants and Cunningham came to my room next morning, most likely, I suppose so—I suppose we had the usual champagne cup; that took place every morning that they came—this document (produced) in signed 25th November—I signed it in bed. (This purported to be an agreement between the witness and the defendants, by which in consideration of Wetherall's relinquishing to the witness a portion of the wine business recently carried on by him and Cottam, at 10, Burleigh Street, Mr. Doyle was to advance 50l. to be used for the purposes of the said business or otherwise; the four partners to share equally in the profits or losses, and to take on themselves the liabilities of the late firm.) I never saw the contents of that document till now; oh, yes, I beg pardon, I saw it before the Magistrate—in consequence of something I heard I went to my solicitor, Mr. Mitton—before I went to him I knew that I had signed that document entering into a partnership with Wetherall, De Chastelaine, and Cunningham, in the wine business; I don't know the date when I first knew it, it was before I went to my solicitor; I was advised to go to him by a friend, Mr. Flores, on the 25th, the morning after the dinner—I suppose this (produced) is the document I signed; I have not the slightest recollection of signing it. (Read: "December 7th, Clunn's Hotel. Dear Wetherall, I have not as yet received your letter, but Cunningham has explained the contents. All I can say is that I have not instructed my solicitor in any way to interfere in the business I have entered into with you, and I am perfectly satisfied with the manner in which things are conducted.") I had a servant John Elwood, attending upon me at that time—I saw my solicitor from time to time, and on 6th December, I attended with him at counsel's chambers, for the purpose of having a consultation—I was unable to see counsel; I don't remember where I went to afterwards—I don't remember whether I went to the Criterion, or whether I went back to Clunn's after I had been to counsel's chambers—I do not remember what happened next morning—I do not remember Cunningham and De Chastelaine coming to my room that morning; they always came there, I don't remember whether they came first and Wetherall afterwards—I remember a letter being dictated to me, I think by Wetherall or De Chastelaine; I can't remember which—I remember writing a letter; I remember it to a certain extent—I think Sir Edward Cunningham may have dictated it tome; I think De Chastelaine and Wetherall were with, him at the tune—I don't know whether they all came together

that morning, or whether two came first, and the other subsequently, I remember subsequently to that my solicitor sending me away from Clunn's into the country; I don't know the date—I don't remember putting a date to this letter—I don't remember whether I was asked by anybody to put a date to it—before I went out of town I remember going to De Chastelaine's place; that was either in North Street or Bury Street—at one place I played the piano, and at the other place I drank; I don't remember what place it was—there had been conversation from time to time about my going to Spain and buying horses—I don't know when I first became acquainted with the fact that I had signed a partnership in the wine business.

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. I believe I went to Halliford by train with my servant—I think I have been staying at Halliford since then—I came from Ireland to this country in 1871—in 1873,1 think, I was a partner in a wine business of Hallett, Brandam,& Co., in the neighbourhood of St. James Street—I made the acquaintance of Sir Edward Cunningham, I think, in 1874 or 1875, I was frequently in his company, he dining with me and going to the play, and going out of an evening, and so on—I did not know at that time that he had been a bankrupt, I mean not at the time I first met him; I did afterwards—he was a baronet in his own right—I did know that he had been for many years in the habit, when in town, of residing at Clunn's Hotel; I frequently saw him there during 1875—I did not know that he had used the house before 1875—I think I was first introduced to De Chastelaine and afterwards to Wetherall, at different times; I believe so, I can't tell—I don't know how long before 25th November I Had made the acquaintance of Wetherall—I can't swear that I had seen him more than four times prior to the signing of this document—I was not in the habit of sending for Cunningham to come into my room in the morning, I will swear that; I may have done so once, but I don't remember; I have not done so frequently; I won't swear that I have never done so—it is a fact' that I always had half a bottle of brandy placed in my room at night for my consumption; not half a bottle, two glasses, a caraft which was filled at night and always empty in the morning, that was just to pull me together—I sometimes got up at 2 o'clock, sometimes earlier, about 10 o'clock, my usual Hour was about 1 o'clock, I think—I had visitors coming to see me almost everyday, sometimes seven, eight, or ten—I always asked them to have a liquor—I believe I have on many occasions, at lunch, told the waiters to get what they liked to drink—Mr. Hoofe frequently came to see me, and other gentlemen they came into my bed-room and would sit and chat with me during the morning—I remember going to Burleigh Street, Strand; I don't remember how long that was before 25th November; I can't give you any idea—I don't know whether Cunningham was with me, or De Chastelaine, they came in afterwards, I think—I don't know when this document, dated 25th November, was signed; it was signed some time in the day, I can't tell the hour—I don't think Mr. Hoofe was at the dinner on the 24th; Mr. Holling-shead was, and Wetherall, De Chastelaine, and Cunningham—I don't remember that I invited Wetherall myself, I don't know; I don't think he asked if it was dress; I think it was Cunningham who asked him, in my presence, to come and dine—I don't know on what day it was that I went to see Mr. Mitt n—I don't know whether I saw Wetherall more than once after that, I don't remember how many times I saw him after the 25th, or whether I saw him—at all—I may have seen him five times, but I don't remember it: Re-examined. I advanced 2,000l. to Hallett& Co.; besides advancing

that I had nothing to do with managing the business or knowing anything about it.

  JOHN ELWOOD . I am servant to Mr. Doyle and have been so since May, 1876—I came with him to Clunn's Hotel about 8th November, and remained there till 7th December—during the time I have been in his service he was almost always drinking, with the exception of a week or two when we were away—he had suffered from delirium tremens three times since I have been with him—he always had half a pint of brandy put by his bedside at night—I first saw Sir Edward Cunningham about the beginning of November; he was then staying at the hotel, he occupied the room next to Mr. Doyle, he was constantly in Mr. Doyle's society, he came every morning to his bed-room and had a brandy and soda—the two defendants were introduced to Mr. Doyle about 10th or 12th November—I did not see the introduction, but I saw them at the hotel in Mr. Doyle's room—Mr. De Chastelaine used to come almost every day—Mr. Wetherall did not come so often—Mr. De C Chastelaine used to come about 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning—Sir Edward Cunningham used to come the first thing every morning while Mr. Doyle was in bed, and he always used to have brandy and soda or whiskey and milk, and champagne cups afterwards—they had five or six quart champagne cups as a rule—Mr. Doyle joined with them in drinking—I never heard anything about the wine business—I heard Sir Edward Cunningham say that Mr. Doyle was going to Spain with him to buy horses—he said that to Mr. Doyle in my presence, and he said it was a very good thing for him, because he was delicate, and it was a nice warm climate—on 24th November I remember the defendants being in the bed-room in the early morning as usual—they had brandies and sodas and five or six champagne cups as usual—I heard that there was to be a dinner—Sir Edward Cunningham, Mr. De Chastelaine, and Mr. Doyle spoke about it—I heard them say that they must have a very good dinner, because it was important, and I also heard Mr. Doyle say that it made a difference of 700l. to him having a good dinner; he did not say why—the three defendants and two other gentlemen were there to luncheon that day, they had some champagne and burgundy at lunch—I remember the dinner that evening—I think there was only one other guest besides the defendants—I waited at dinner—I think they had several bottles of champagne go up—I saw Mr. Doyle before he left the hotel after dinner; he was drunk—I saw them go into Evans', Sir Edward Cunningham, Mr. Doyle, and Mr. De Chastelaine; that was all, I think, who went—Mr. Wetherall did not go with them into Evans'—I saw them when they left 'Evans', at 12.30—Sir Edward came in with Mr. Doyle, he had hold of Mr. Doyle's arm, and Mr. De Chastelaine came in just after them—they had some more drink and sat up till between 3 and I o'clock—I then took Mr. Doyle to bed—I always followed him to bed; "he was very drink, more so than usual—I did not undress him, he would not let me—I took hold of his coat and shoved him on to the bed, and took hold of his legs and threw him backwards into the bed—he dosed off for a little time, he woke up about an hour after and wanted a brandy and soda—I would not give him one at first and he said "Let us have a split old man," and I let him have a split—I then undressed him and put him into bed—next morning Sir Edward Cunningham came into the bed-room early, between 8 and 9 o'clock; he said he was awfully thirsty and wanted a brandy and soda, and I gave him one—all this drink was put down to Mr. Doyle's account—Sir Edward

gat on the bed—Mr. De Chastelaine came in about 10 o'clock, and Mr. Wetherall came afterwards, about 10.30, or from that to 11 o'clock—they had, I should say, five or six champagne cups that morning, besides several brandies and sodas—Mr. Doyle had not got over the night's effect at 10 o'clock that morning, he was drunk all the night and all the morning—he had not at all recovered at 10 o'clock—he had had several liquors to make him a bit right—I was with him till 6 o'clock in the morning—while I was in the room I saw Mr. Wetherall take some paper out of his pocket, something about the size of this (produced)—Mr. Doyle told me to fetch pen and ink—I did not do so because he was so drunk; I did not want him to write anything like that, it was not right—pen and ink was taken up by the bed-room waiter, I followed him up—when I got into the room Mr. Wetherall was sitting at a small table writing at the side of the bed; Sir Edward Cunningham was sitting on the bed, Mr. De Chastelaine was in a chair, and Mr. Doyle was in bed—Sir Edward Cunningham said something to Mr. Doyle in French, and he told me to go downstairs and fetch him some champagne cup and some sandwiches, and I was to wait till they were ready—I went down and returned in about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes; they were waiting for the champagne cup, there was nothing taking place when I went up—I did not see anything of the paper that I had previously seen—that was all I noticed on that day—on 2nd December I was sent by Mr. Doyle to his solicitor, Mr. Mitton, and Mr. Mitton came back with me—after that, on the 6th, I went with them to a consultation with counsel, in the Temple—Mr. Doyle left me at Clunn's—he ordered a cab to the Criterion, he got back to Clunn's between 10 and 11 o'clock that night, he was drunk—I put him to bed—on the morning of the 7th I saw Sir Edward Cunningham in the bed-room first, then Mr. De Chastelaine, Mr. Wetherall came afterwards—before Mr. Wetherall came Sir Edward asked Mr. Doyle if he had had a letter that morning from Mr. Wetherall; he said he had not, and I went downstairs to see if the letter was at the bar—they said it did not matter whether he had the letter or not, Sir Edward said he could tell him what the contents of it were—this was in the presence of De Chastelaine; they ordered pen, ink, and paper, I took it up, and Mr. Doyle wrote a letter to Mr. Wetherall when he was in bed—I saw the letter—I did not read it—Sir Edward told him what to put in the letter, and he said that would do, what he put in—they then had two or three champagne cups and several brandies and sodas—then Mr. Wetherall came in and De Chastelaine took the letter out of his pocket and gave it to Wetherall, and he opened it and read it—after he had read it he said "You have not put the date to it, we must have the date," so he then put the date at the table—Mr. Doyle was then out of bed, Mr. Wetherall gave him the pen and he put the date—on that day, the 7th, Mr. Flores went with my master to Halliford—I waited at the hotel to see if the letters came, and afterwards I went to Halliford and found Mr. Doyle at the Ship Hotel there, and he has been staying there since.

Cross-examined by Mb. Straight. At the time that letter, on the 7th, was written, Mr. Mitton had been in communication with Mr. Doyle—I never saw Sir Edward Cunningham till the beginning of List November—he used to drink very hard.

By THE COURT. Mr. Wetherall told Mr. Doyle he had not put the date to the letter—he told him it was the 7th.

  SAMUEL STEELS . I am chamberlain at Clunn's Hotel—it is my duty to

see after the bed-rooms—I produced Mr. Clunn's books before the Magistrate—I have not got them now; Mr. Clunn has them—he is here.

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. I was there during the whole time Mr. Doyle was there—he was largely visited by numerous friends, and they all had drinks—a great many champagne cups, glasses of sherry, and v.c. brandy; that means very good—Mr. Doyle gave luncheon parties—I have on more than one occasion been desired by Mr. Doyle, in the early morning, to go to Sir Edward Cunningham's bed-room and to invite him to come in and have a brandy and soda with him—I have done so, I might say, on twenty occasions.

Re-examined. I have not supplied any bill to Mr. Doyle—it would not be my duty to make out the bill, it would be done by Mr. Clunn, he makes out the bills—this (produced) is the coffee-house book—that contains entries of the business that is done upstairs and down—I have nothing to do with keeping this book—the entries are made by Joseph Tyler and John Clifford.

  JOSEPH TYLER . I am a waiter at Clunn's Hotel—I sometimes make entries in this coffee-room book—it contains entries of liquor supplied to the bed-rooms—the entries of 24th November are in my writing—it contains entries of liquor supplied to Mr. Doyle; they are taken from the score that is put down on a board in the bar by the persons who serve in the bar—I served a certain quantity myself, but what was served up-stairs I don't know—I serve at the dinner and luncheon but not in the bed-room—I did not exactly serve the wine at the luncheon, but I was there at the time—what was served during the dinner I served myself—I served at the dinner about five bottles of champagne for dinner, a bottle of punch, a bottle of chablis,? and a bottle of hock—I cannot speak about the luncheon—Steele would serve the drink in the bed-rooms; that would be entered by the barmaid, or whoever serves in the bar, on the score-board.

Cross-examined. I was at Clunn's the whole time Mr. Doyle was there—a great many gentlemen came to see him during the day, and as a role, I believe, he always asked them to take a liquor—I have been asked by him to, take a liquor on more than one occasion—I was in the room during the lunch on the 24th; there were six persons there—Mr. Hoofe was there, the two defendants, Sir Edward Cunningham, and Mr. Doyle—at the dinner in the evening there were five persons—I was there during the whole evening—I believe Mr. Wetherall was not at the lunch—I saw Mr. Wetherall go after the dinner, some time before the others—I saw Mr. Doyle go down stairs; I don't know where he went to—Evans' is not very far off; I did not see them go in there.

Re-examined. I did not see Mr. De Chastelaine and Mr. Doyle come back that night, but they were in the coffee-room at 12.30.

  SAMUEL STEELE (re-examined). I supplied the liquor in the bed-rooms—I did not keep any record of the drink I supplied—I get it from the bar and take it up to the bed-room—the score is kept on the score-board by the barmaid—I know I served a great deal of drink on the 24th; I might say six or seven champagne cups—I am not able to remember the 24th or 25th particularly—it was generally the rule to have a lot of drink upstairs—there were brandies and sodas as well as champagne cups—they had brandy in decanters sometimes; they sometimes wanted replenishing.

Cross-examined by MR. ST. EUIGHT. I have seen a great many other

persons besides Mr. Wetherall up in Mr. Doyle's bed-room—Mr. Doyle's hour of getting up was about 1 o'clock, but he would ring the bell very often about 7.30 or 8 o'clock and want some brandy and soda because he was a-thirst, and I have taken it up—it was oh those occasions he sent for Sir Edward Cunningham; and while the other gentlemen were in the bed-room he would say "Go—and tell Sir Edward and Mr. Hoofe to come down and have a liquor with me, and get a liquor yourself, Samuel, my son"—I could not tell how many were in the bed-room on the 24th; they would be calling every hour in the day.

Re-examined. On the 24th Mr. De Chastelaine, Sir Edward Cunningham, Mr. Wetherall, and the servant were in the bed-room—I did not see any business transacted while I was there—I don't think there was any one else there on the 24th—I could not answer as to the 25th, because they were coming in droves, and we never took any notice of them, we got so bewildered we saw so many callers.

  WELBURY JAMES MITTON . I am a solicitor, of 2, Gray's Inn Square—I have acted as solicitor for Mr. Doyle since 1871—I am the solicitor conducting this prosecution—on 2nd December Mr. Doyle's servant came to me—in consequence of what he said to me I went and saw Mr. Doyle at Clunn's hotel—I had some conversation with him, in consequence of which, on the following Monday, the 4th, I wrote this letter to Mr. Wetherall. Read: "Dear Sir,—My client, Mr. Doyle, informs me that he has placed his signature to a document in your possession, of the purport of which he appears to be in perfect ignorance. Will you furnish me with copy, in order that I my approve it on Mr. Doyle's behalf?") I received no reply to that—I wrote again stating that as Mr. Doyle was not in a state to sign any such document I must insist on its being given up or I should take the most summary measures to bring him and others to justice—I then received this answer. (This was dated 6th December, 1876, from Wetherall, and stated that he had positive evidence of Mr. Doyle's approval of what he had done, and (that on receiving a note from him he would place the document in question before him, for inspection.) I received that letter on the morning of the 8th on the morning of the 6th I got this paper with a billhead from Mr. Flora, he sent it to me and said he had found it in the hotel—I only know Wetherall's handwriting by the letters I received; this is in the same hand-writing as the letters. (Head; "5th December, 1876. Wetherall, Doyle, &Co., wine merchants, &c, 10, Burleigh Street, Strand, We have received the enclosed letter from Mr. Doyle's solicitor. What is the meaning of it? It seems to me very sharp. Please show it to Doyle and ask him to see me on the matter").' On the morning of the 6th I went to 10, Burleigh Street, strand—I found there a sort of vault, or cellar, and two small offices—the name of Cottam, Wetherall, & Co. was on the door post—on first entering there was a small office, there was a large desk in the centre of the room, I id not notice anything else; there was very little furniture indeed—you passed through a green baize door into another office; there were three desks there, a sofa, and a few chairs, cigar boxes, and a bottle or two of wine—here were some bottles of brandy on the table, and I think a bottle of sherry—I did not notice any claret—I saw no clerks there—I saw De Chastelaine, he came out of the inner office—I told him that I wanted to look at the agreement that I understood Mr. Doyle had signed—he said he was not able to let me have it, it was in the possession of Mr. Wetherall, and Mr. Wetherall was out—I told him that if any use was made of any document

that had been signed by Mr. Doyle it would be made a very serious matter of, and I cautioned him against allowing any use whatever to be made of anything that Mr. Doyle had anything to do with, that Mr. Doyle was a man that I considered incapable of entering into any engagement whatever—he expressed his surprise, he said he was not aware that was the case, and a copy of the agreement should be sent to me by that day's post, I was to have it that afternoon, it did not come, and on the morning of the 8th I called again at Burleigh Street about 10.40—I found nobody in the offices, they were locked up—I saw that the name on the door had been changed to Wetherall, Doyle,& Co.—I went there again about 4 o'clock that afternoon—I then found Mr. De Chastelaine there; there was nobody else there then—I had a long conversation with him, it was merely a reiteration of what I had said before, that Mr. Doyle was a man incapable of entering into an agreement and I must insist upon having the document and have it destroyed at once—I asked Mr. De Chastelaine whether Mr. Doyle's credit had been in any way pledged in connection with the business—he said "Yes," they had entered into certain arrangements which would make it very difficult, and so on—I told him it was a very serious matter, that I was in full possession of all the facts in connection with their having got his signature to the agreement, and I urged upon him considerably that he should hand over to me the document at once in order to prevent any further unpleasantness—he said that it was simply impossible to do so, that Mr. Wetherall would be there that afternoon and he would talk to him on the subject—I said I must have it before I left, so I took a seat and remained till Mr. Wetherall came, which was about 5.30—I reiterated to him what I had said to De Chastelaine and said that I must see the agreement at once—he said he wound fetch for me from his solicitor, Mr. Shires—he went out, came back, and said that Mr. Shires was out—I said I would wait till he returned—I waited, and after a time Mr. Wetherall went out again and returned and handed me the agreement; I took a copy of it; this is the agreement; I think it was stamped at that time—I told Mr. Wetherall it was a matter in which it would be impossible for me to allow any time to elapse, that the thing must be destroyed at once, and I must also have a guarantee that Mr. Doyle's credit had not been in any way pledged, because I did not consider that he was a person fit to enter into an agreement—on that morning, finding that the offices were locked up and that the cellar was open, I went down into the cellar and took the opportunity of making an investigation—I found a small boy there, between eight and twelve years of age—I saw three casks, I don't know whether they were full or not, a number of dozen bottles of racked wine, they looked like claret bottles, perhaps forty dozen—the bottles looked clean, they did not look like old port, or anything of that sort I have on many occasions written for Mr. Doyle's bill at Clunn's, I have not been able to get it—I saw Mr. Doyle before the 24th or 25th November—his state duaing the last two or three years has never been very satisfactory, it is very difficult to get him when he is not more or less under the influence of intoxication.

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. I should certainly say there was not 120 dozen sherry in the cellar, the bins were not racked very high—I am not prepared to say they were not double racked—the first communication that was made to me in reference to this document was on 2nd December, that was not by the servant coming to me—I had not seen Mr. Flores prior to that—I saw him at Clunn's Hotel, on 2nd December—I received a letter

from Mr. Wetherall, after my visit there—at that interview Mr. Wetherall said "Well, but is your client insane"—I don't think I said "I am not I prepared to say that"—what I more likely said was "I am not prepared to I jay that, but I don't think he is of a condition to sign a document"—this is I the letter, it' is dated the 8th. (Read: "I have called to-day at Clunn's to see Mr. Doyle, but I hear he left yesterday in company of a person named Flores, and has not since returned, can you oblige me by letting me I know who Flores is, and the present address of Mr. Doyle.") I did not give him the address, or answer the letter at all—Mr. Doyle has not been put I under restraint—Mr. Wetherall said at the interview that if he was advised by his solicitor to tear up the document he would do so.

Re-examined. I asked him to tear it up there and then—he said "No, I will be advised by my solicitor, that Mr. De Chastelaine and Sir Edward Cunningham said they had entered into arrangements, and the money must I be paid"—Mr. Doyle left London, on the evening of the 7th for Halliford—I did not communicate to anybody where he was.

  CHARLES GROSJEAN RENE L'ENFANT . I am a clerk in the Court of Bankruptcy—I produce the bankruptcy proceedings in the case of J. J. E. C. De Chastelaine, the adjudication is dated 29th June, 1868—the liabilities are 1,532l. 16s. 6d. and the assets nil—he has never taken up his discharge—he is described as formerly of 32, Great Portland Street, iron monger, &c—I also produce the bankruptcy proceedings against Sir Edward Cunningham, dated 28th May, 1874—no accounts were filed, and no discharge, it was adjourned sine die, on 16th February, 1875.

  EDWARD LEWIS HILL . I am a clerk in the Bill of Sale Office, Queen's Bench division—I produce registered copies of the bills of sale against De Chatelaine—the first is a bill of sale of 23rd October, 1873, for 1501 to Richard Watts, not satisfied, the 2nd is dated 9th March, 1875, for 48l. to Dyson—then there are two others by Sir Edward Cunningham, one dated 3rd July, 1874, to E. C. Deny, for 80l., and one dated 21st November, 1874, for 851. to G. W. Small—those are not satisfied.

  HENRY CLINTON COOPER . I am an auctioneer, of 10, St. Martin's Lane—I have known De Chastelaine, a very short time—I first knew him about a fortnight or three weeks previous to 1st November—he came to me for an advance of money—I introduced him to a Mr. Warren, and he executed this bill of sale for 24l., on 1st November, 1876, on some furniture in York Street—I subsequently removed the furniture and sold it by auction at the latter end of December—he is there described as a theatrical agent.

Cross-examined by De Chastelaine. You had other transactions with me; they were satisfactory—you have borrowed money of me on frequent occasions which you repaid me—I had known you by reputation in the theatrical world for sometime before I saw you.

  JAMES HOMAN . I am a carver and gilder, of 40, Queen Victoria Street—I have known De Chastelaine, for sometime—he was indebted to me 25l. 15s. for goods supplied and delivered in October 26th, 1876—I applied to him several times for payment—he called on me on 1st December, in a bounceable manner and said "Since I last saw you my circumstances have extremely improved, I have been made a partner in a firm of wine merchants through introducing a wealthy gentleman with capital of the name of Doyle, who has a private income of about 3,000l. a year, which of course a partner will be at De Chastelaine's disposal, and he can suck every penny of it if he chooses"—he requested me to draw two bills upon him for

the amount of my debt, payable at the end of January, 1877, at 10, Burleigh Street, which was the place of the wine business—I asked how it was that it came about so suddenly—he said "Oh, I have been at work at it for a long time, but have only just brought it off"—I went to Burleigh Street, and on the following day, I declined to accept the bills unless he would make them payable by the new firm—he declined that as he said only a preliminary agreement was drawn up, the deed itself was not yet signed—the claim is still unsettled.

  HENRY JOHN GIRDLESTONE . I live at 152, Belsize Road, St. John's Wood—in June last I let my house furnished to Wetherall—he continued to reside there until the end of November—I did not know that he was going to leave—he was indebted to me about 37l. odd when he left—I have sued him for that amount—I have received part of it, not all—I had not been paid at the time I was examined at the police-court, I have received it since he was committed for trial; 12l. odd is still due to me—what I did receive I received in one sum, it was about 25th January—it was paid to my solicitor, not to me.

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. I let the house through an agent—he took it for six months and to continue on if he wished—I do not think it was for two months first—I brought an action for 37l., the Court ordered him to pay 25l.

DR. THORN. I am a licentiate of College of Physicians and a M.R C.S.—I have known Mr. Doyle for some little time, he has been a patient of mine from last April—he was suffering from the effects of drink—I have not attended him exactly in any attack of delirium tremens, but for something rather worse; his usual condition was one of intoxication; what I attended him for was a severe attack of alcoholic poisoning, with a comatose condition; that was in April—I only attended him once for that; he was ill for some considerable time.

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. I have seen him sober—I have not seen him to-day—he is a man of very fine constitution naturally, he has injured himself—I saw him daily when he was under my charge, he was then living in lodgings in Eardley Crescent, West Brompton—I restricted his drink at that time entirely, I allowed him nothing at all alcoholic.

By the Court. I saw him in November last—he was not then in that grave condition in which I had seen him on previous occasions, but he was drinking pretty hard then—his mind was affected exactly in proportion as he got liquor into him—he is generally very stupid when he has got liquor in him.

Cross-examined by Be Chastelaine. I have seen him sufficiently drunk to be excessively stupid and yet able to walk about pretty freely, so as not to attract attention; until he was engaged in conversation you would hardly know whether he was drunk or sober—I dare say a man might discover it if he questioned him—I have seen him able to go about in Hansom cabs and walk across the street when he was so stupid that if you asked him fifty questions he would give you the same answer, quite irrespective of what was asked him.

  LOUIS FREDERICK COTTAM . I live at Howard House, Howden Road, St. John's Wood—I first became acquainted with Mr. Wetherall about a year and a half ago—I subsequently lodged at his house, 152, Belsize Road for about six months—in March, 1876, I entered into partnership with him—there were no articles of partnership signed between us—I brought about

260l. into the business, in two payments of 250l. and 10l.—subsequently, November, I arranged to dissolve the partnership, I think about the 27th, I am not sure—I had not received any of my money back before that, only what I had drawn, which was about 140l.—I did not keep the books, I have made entries in the books, of course, but I never kept them, Mr. Wetherall kept them—we had do partnership banking account; the money was all paid in to Mr. Wetherall's private account—a boy was kept to look after the premises, we had no cellarman, we occasionally employed one—the boy was about thirteen or fourteen; we paid 'him 5s. a week—he Was the only servant we had in the wine business—I have not received the balance of my 260l.; Mr. Wetherall was to pay me in three instalments, at one, two, and three months after the date of the dissolution—I received three 10 U's for 35l., 5l., and 40l., and a bill for 40l.; the 5l.1 0 U was taken up almost immediately after, and I have received about 25l. off one of the other 10 U's at different times, one was a sum of 13l. and one of 7l.—I applied for them—I do not think Wetherall told me anything about a new partner until I had dissolved partnership with him, but I can't say for certain; my impression is that it was about a fortnight after—we talked about dissolving partnership for about a week or ten days before it took place—the books were never made up and I Can't tell whether I received any of the profits, except the 140l. I drew; I treated that as part of the capital—there were books kept, a ledger and cash-book—I have not had notice to produce them—I believe Wetherall told me that he had made an arrangement to join Mr. Doyle, and that Mr. Doyle objected to the agreement that had been drawn up; to the arrangements that had been made—he said nothing further—the business was carried on at 10, Burleigh Street—this book is in my hand-writing—Mr. Wetherall would make entries in it—it is a cash-book, a day book—I did not keep the books—there was no cellar-book, there was an order-book—my reason for leaving the business was entirely of a personal nature, a disagreement between ourselves privately—it was not a subject of money—Wetherall put in about 15l. into the business—I don't know what he drew out.

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. I made Mr. Wetherall's acquaintance about November, 1875, I met him casually, and afterwards became on intimate terms—the reason for my quitting the partnership was with reference to some private and domestic matter, and there was a quarrel between us on that point—during the time we were in partnership we dealt in the purchase of wines with Montis, Smith,& Co., of Mark Lane; they are a wellknown firm—I think we purchased wine of them to the extent of over 200l.—we also purchased wine of Oak, Simson,& Co., well-known wine merchants, to tie extent of over 100l.—we purchased wine of Boursot & Co., of 9, Hart Street, wine merchants, to the extent of 230l.; also of Messrs. Southend & Co. of St. Dunstan's Hill, to the extent of about 50l., and cigars of Archer—I remember Mr. Wetherall going to Spain—while he was there I received from him value to the extent of 300l. in shares of the Union Steam Navigation Company; 150l. of that came to my hands; that was not part of the 260l. that I drew out—the remainder of the 150l. was paid to somebody else to whom money was owed—75l., I believe, was used for the business—I left the 150l. in Mr. Mattie's hands; I had no portion of that—at the time of making Wetherall's acquaintance I learnt from him that he had something like 1,000l. due to him in Spain—Mr. Anderson, of Shepherd's Bush, was a customer; also Mr. Burgess, of Newland House, Carlisle Square; Mr. Beattie,

of Bessborough Gardens; Dr. Buzzard, of Grosvenor Street; Mr. Beall of Catford Bridge; Mr. Greatbach, Captain Jarman, Mr. St. John, Mr. Deacon, of Wimpole Street; Mr. McNorman of Grosvenor Street; those were all persons who dealt with us—I had been in the wine trade prior to this—Weatherall had not been in the wine trade before, so I do not suppose he was experienced in it, I should think he knew quite as much I did—I believe he had been a general merchant, and I daresay he had dealt in wine, indeed I am sure he did—I should think he was a man of good business habits—he and I took stock before the dissolution—I should think there was very nearly 100 dozen of sherry on the premises, including what was in cask, and sixty-three dozen of clarets of various kinds—there were three sorts of sherry—I should think the whole stock would be worth about 200l.—if orders were given for what we had not in stock we should go to wholesale wine merchants and get it; we combined a sort of commission business—there was certainly a business going on from March to November—this is the ledger—I believe it is properly entered up; it is Wetherall's writing, I don't understand books or accounts—the rent of the office was 80l.—there were some small repairs done to the office while we were there—I first saw De Chastelaine when I went into business with Wetherall, but not on Wetherall's introduction.

Cross-examined by De Chastelaine. You introduced some customers and their accounts have been paid.

He-Examined. Some of the names that have been mentioned as customers were friends of mine, not most of them—I have not yet received my share of the 200l. stock—I was to be paid out—I did not claim any share of the stock, I did not know the amount of the liabilities, I should say they were about equal to the stock when I left.

  ROBERT WOODHAMS . I am manager of the St. John's Wood branch of the London and South Western Bank—Wetherall opened an account with us in 1873; the account is still open, it is overdrawn about 5l.—about 1873 it was overdrawn—in October, 1876, about 50l. was paid in, and I took a promissory note for 50l., the balance of the overdraft; that note was not met it is still due, and the 5l. is overdrawn.

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. I had known Wetherall about three and a half years—as far as I knew of him I believe he was honest and respectable—he has had a balance in our bank of more than 800l.—I do not know anything of his connections or associations—I have received a draft against the promissory note and the overdraft which I believe will be paid at maturity.

  ARTHUR COTTER . I am an accountant of 14, George Street, Mansion House—in 1873 I was appointed trustee under a liquidation by arrangement of Horatio N. Wetherall. (file file of proceedings was produced by Mr. L'Enfant.)

Cross-examined by MR. STRAIGHT. At that time Mr. Wetherall was trading with Mr. Louis Quinton and another brother of Wetherall's—I do not know whether that is the brother who is Vice-consul at the Grand Canaries; he has a brother there who is Vice-consul—there was nothing discreditable about that liquidation; the creditors unanimously granted him and his Partners their discharge—I entrusted his brother with a power of attorney to collect money to the extent of about 30,000l. in respect of the liquidation—altogether 30,000l. has been collected for the estate by me, and a great portion of that has been paid to me by Wetherall and his partner who purchased a

great part of the estate—he always bore the character of a respectable, honest man—the business was a large business with the Canary Islands—I received 15,000 a short time ago in respect of transactions with Spain—Mr. and his partners purchased the whole of the estate in the Canary Islands; they purchased it of me as the representative of the creditors—it might realise 20,000l. or 30,000l. for what I know; I don't know what it did realise—I don't know how they paid for it—some portion of the money, I believe, was advanced by their friends.

MR. STRAIGHT called the attention of the Court to the various counts of the indictment, and submitted that as to most of them they were not supported by the evidence. THE RECORDER. "The question for the Jury will be whether the defendants taking advantage of the drunken state in which the prosecutor was induced him to sign this document, they at the time being perfectly aware that he did not know what the nature of his liability was in so signing it."

De Chastdaine, in his defence stated that being introduced to the prosecutor by Sir Edward Cunningham, and learning that he was anxious to enter into me business, the arrangement with Wetherall was made in good faith, and that he had no reason to doubt, that the prosecutor perfectly understood the nature of the arrangement.

GUILTY .

DE CHASTELAINE— Twelve Months' Imprisonment . WETHERALL— Three Months' Imprisonment.