Chapter XXIV: Part 24

Mr. _Kelly_. I am now on the 5th of George IV. By clause 2, it is provided, “that it shall not be lawful (except in such special cases as are hereinafter mentioned) for any persons to deal or trade in, purchase, sell, or barter, or transfer, or to contract for the dealing or trading in, purchase, sale, barter, or transfer of slaves, or persons intended to be dealt with as slaves,” and to do a variety of other acts which are by that section declared to be unlawful. Now, my Lord, though the words are general, “that it shall not be lawful for any persons to deal or trade in slaves,” the legal effect of them is, that it shall not be lawful for British subjects to deal in slaves; and your Lordship will see by the subsequent Act of Parliament it also means, that it shall not be lawful for British subjects to deal in slaves, either in Great Britain, or in the settlements or colonies of Great Britain, and that that Act of Parliament did not extend to the trading in slaves in foreign states.

Let us take the two points of the proposition. First of all, this manner of trading in slaves by foreigners becomes material in this view: I presume, from the opening and the evidence, it was intended that this ship and these goods should be taken to Gallinas, and there used by the consignees of the vessel and the goods, either by bartering the goods for the purchase of slaves, or selling the goods and with the produce buying slaves. It is not material to consider now how far that is within the Act of Parliament, but the object, which I presume is the unlawful object with which the prisoner at the bar is charged with having dispatched this ship, is the object that the consignees or some other persons at Gallinas should trade in slaves by means of the ship or the goods. I submit that is not a trading in slaves within the 2nd section of the Act of Parliament, that though the words are general, it does not apply to aliens as the consignees of goods, which Martinez were, but to British consignees of goods, which in the Act of Parliament makes the act criminal. If the act be committed abroad, it is not an offence within the Act. A trading in slaves abroad by Rolo, by Martinez, or any persons whose names we have heard mentioned, would not be criminal within the Act of Parliament. The object of the charge is the trading at Gallinas. Now, the trading in slaves any where abroad by an alien is not an offence within this statute.

In order to illustrate this, let me suppose that the vessel had reached the Gallinas, that the consignees of the vessel had employed it for the transport of slaves, and had taken the goods and bartered them for a quantity of slaves, that would not have been illegal within this Act of Parliament. It would undoubtedly have been illegal for any British subject to have done so within any British colony, for this Act is binding on all British subjects throughout the British dominions, but it would not have been illegal for Martinez or any foreigner to deal in slaves in that place; and therefore, supposing it were proved that the prisoner at the bar had dispatched this vessel, that Martinez or Rolo might deal in slaves in foreign parts, that is not one of the objects to which this statute applies, for it applies only to British subjects, and not to foreigners.

My Lords, I need not cite authorities, they are numerous. There is one which is precisely to the point, The King _v._ Depardo; that is perfectly conclusive upon that subject: that is in 1st Taunton, in which a Chinese sailor who had enlisted, or rather had become a seaman on board one of His Majesty’s ships, committed manslaughter in the Chinese seas, and the question was, whether he was amenable. The great point argued by the late Lord Tenterden and Mr. Burrough was, whether that offence, committed by an alien, was within the Act of Parliament. The prisoner having been convicted, he was afterwards pardoned, on the ground that an Act of Parliament, declaring any particular act to be a felony, such act, if committed abroad by an alien, was not within the Act of Parliament, an alien not being within a British Act of Parliament: so I apprehend no position to be clearer than that a trading in slaves at Gallinas by Rolo, or Martinez, or any person to whom it can be imputed to the prisoner that he intended this ship and goods to be consigned, the trading in slaves by any alien there, would not have been unlawful within this Act of Parliament. If it would, the consequence would have been that a foreigner, Rolo or Martinez for instance, who might be lawfully, according to the laws of their own country or the laws of that place, trading in slaves, might, by engaging in that trade in slaves in the course of this very transaction at the Gallinas, have afterwards been prosecuted here, and convicted here; whereas nothing can be clearer than that these laws against the slave trade can only make the act an offence when it is done by British subjects, who alone are the objects of a British Act of Parliament: therefore I submit that the object being established, supposing the case sought to be established to be so established that Mr. Zulueta dispatched this vessel to enable Martinez to deal in slaves, that is not an object declared unlawful by this statute, for that would have been a trading by aliens who are not within this statute, and the shipping of goods to accomplish that is not within it.

But, my Lord, I go further; I have the case of Depardo, in Russell on Crime, it is not at so much length as in the report in Taunton. The marginal note is, “A manslaughter committed in China by an alien enemy, who had been a prisoner at war, and was then acting as a mariner on board an English merchant ship, on an Englishman, cannot be tried here under a commission issued in pursuance of the statutes 33 Hen. VIII, cap. 23, and 43 Geo. III, cap. 113, sec. 6. 1 Taunton 26.” The principle is perfectly clear, that a person afterwards coming to the country, is not to be treated as if he had previously been a subject of the country; so I say here, that the trading in slaves at Gallinas, or any where abroad by a Russian or a Pole, or any other alien, would not have been within this Act of Parliament at all; it would not therefore be an illegal object within this statute, and the dispatch of goods or a ship to accomplish that object would be no felony.

But, my Lord, the case is rendered perfectly clear by the highest authority, namely, the authority of the Legislature itself, by means of another Act of Parliament, the 6th and 7th of Vict. cap. 98. This Act of Parliament shows that the case is stronger than I have put; and it shows that until the passing of this last Act of Parliament, which took place in the present year, 1843, it was not illegal, within the statute of the 5th of Geo. IV, even for British subjects to trade in slaves, except within the British dominions. The object of this Act of Parliament is to extend the provisions of the 5th of Geo. IV, so as to make it, from some day mentioned in the Act, criminal in British subjects to trade in slaves in any part of the world, in foreign states as well as in the British dominions.

Your Lordship will find this Act recites the 5th of Geo. IV, and recites the second section, to which I have called your Lordship’s attention; “whereby it is enacted (among other things) that it shall not be lawful (except in such special cases as are hereinafter mentioned) for any persons to deal or trade in, purchase, sell, barter, or transfer, or to contract for the dealing or trading in, purchase, sale, barter, or transfer of slaves, or persons intended to be dealt with as slaves,” and so on. Then it recites all the different acts which are declared unlawful by the 5th of Geo. IV, and then it proceeds: “And whereas it is expedient, that from and after the commencement of this Act, the provisions of the said Act hereinbefore recited shall be deemed to apply to, and extend to render unlawful, and to prohibit the several acts, matters, and things therein mentioned, when committed by British subjects in foreign countries and settlements not belonging to the British Crown, in like manner and to all intents and purposes as if the same were done or committed by such persons within the British dominions, colonies, or settlements, and it is expedient that further provisions should be made for the more effectual suppression of the slave trade, and of certain practices tending to promote and encourage it; Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that all the provisions of the said consolidated Slave Trade Act, hereinbefore recited, and of this present Act, shall, from and after the coming into operation of this Act, be deemed to extend and apply to British subjects wheresoever residing or being, and whether within the dominions of the British Crown, or of any foreign country,” and so forth: so that your Lordship sees this Act of Parliament clearly shows this, that before the passing of this Act, though it was declared to be unlawful to trade in slaves, the Act meant that it should be unlawful only for British subjects to trade in slaves any where within British settlements or colonies, and that it required the aid of another Act of Parliament to make it unlawful (not for aliens--for as to them it still is not unlawful--but to make it unlawful) even for British subjects to trade in slaves, or do the other acts referred to in this statute. The state of the law was, that aliens might trade in slaves in foreign parts without contravening that Act of Parliament, and that British subjects might trade in slaves in foreign parts without contravening that Act of Parliament. By the Act of the 6th & 7th of Vict. the provisions of the Act of Geo. IV are extended to the case of British subjects: it leaves the case of aliens as it was before, and it makes it unlawful for British subjects to deal in slaves, in the Gallinas for instance--so that your Lordship sees the objection presents itself in this way--this is an indictment for a felony, the felony being the dispatching a ship for the accomplishment of an illegal object, that being the slave trading at the Gallinas; but at the time when this Act passed, it was not illegal for foreigners to trade in slaves at Gallinas. If it is not illegal now, it was not then illegal for British subjects to trade in slaves in foreign countries. The present Act of Parliament renders it illegal for British subjects to trade in slaves in the Gallinas, or any other foreign country; but it was to come into operation only on the passing of the Act in 1843. My learned friend reminds me that it does not come into operation until the 1st of November: but that is quite immaterial; it has no retrospective operation; it was not in operation in 1840 or 1841, when it is stated that this felony was committed by the prisoner.

Before I sit down, I would also take your Lordship’s opinion whether there is any offence proved within the city of London. Your Lordship observes this is not a trial under a section contained under one of the Acts of Parliament, providing that any offence against the statute may be laid in Middlesex. The indictment is not at all framed on that section of the Act of Parliament; it is framed on the common law, except so far as it is governed by the Central Criminal Court, and the venue is laid in London. It must be proved, therefore, that a felony was committed in London. The felony, said to have been committed, is the equipping, dispatching, using, and employing the ship, as charged in one set of counts; and the shipping the goods, as charged in another set of counts. Now, the dispatching the ship was at Portsmouth, and afterwards at Liverpool. It was dispatched at Portsmouth, went to Liverpool, was there loaded and then dispatched, and there all the goods were shipped. So that your Lordship sees the equipping, the using, the dispatching the vessel, any thing that could be done with the illegal object of dealing in slaves, must have been done at Liverpool. Neither the vessel, nor the goods, as far as appears, were ever in London. I submit to your Lordship, on that ground, there is no offence committed in London. Another objection which arises on the indictment I do not trouble your Lordship with, for it will apply in future, if necessary.

Mr. Justice _Maule_. Are there any others?

Mr. _Kelly_. No, my Lord.

Mr. Justice _Maule_. I think there is no ground for the second point on the Act of Parliament of 6 & 7 Vict., cap. 98, as affording a construction to the Act of 5th Geo. IV, cap. 113. The suggestion is, that this Act amounts to a Parliamentary declaration, that the Act of the 5th of Geo. IV, cap. 113, does not prohibit Englishmen engaging in slave trading abroad. I should be very sorry to put a construction upon that Act, which would involve so great an absurdity to it, as would be created by its being supposed to be laid down that that which was declared to be illegal in Great Britain, and Ireland, and the Isle of Man, and also in the East Indies, and West India Islands, is not at all prohibited on the coast of Africa, which is the construction sought to be put upon this Act of Parliament. I cannot help thinking the Legislature have expressed the intention of prohibiting English subjects trading in slaves on the coast of Africa; and if that be so, the construction which Mr. Kelly insists ought to be derived from the statute of Victoria is not the true construction, or one which ought to prevail. With respect to the other objection, we think there is evidence to go to the Jury of Mr. Zulueta’s acts in London.

Mr. Serjeant _Bompas_. May I call your Lordship’s attention to the 50th section: “And be it further enacted, That all offences committed against this Act may be inquired of, tried, determined, and dealt with, as if the same had been respectively committed within the body of the county of Middlesex.” If it is within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, the venue is perfectly immaterial, if it is within the venue of the Court.

Mr. Justice _Maule_. I apprehend, that if a prisoner is indicted for a felony in Essex, within the limits of this Court, he will be tried here.

Mr. _Bodkin_. In a case in this Court where the venue stated merely the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, the Court of Queen’s Bench held that indictment bad, because it was impossible to say from what county the Jury were to be called.

Mr. Justice _Wightman_. There the indictment had been tried in Middlesex, being removed from the Central Criminal Court. It was removed by _certiorari_ and tried in Middlesex, and it was said there was no direction on the record to try it in Middlesex.

Mr. Justice _Maule_. But Mr. Bodkin says, if it is a London case, there ought to be a London Jury; if in Essex, an Essex Jury.

Mr. _Bodkin_. The Court of Queen’s Bench held the locality to be material.

Mr. Justice _Wightman_. Not generally. I have stated how it became material there, and why it is not material here. The case was removed by certiorari, and therefore it became material.

Mr. _Kelly_. As this is the first trial under this Act of Parliament, your Lordship will probably consider it proper to reserve the point whether this trading is within the Act.

Mr. Justice _Maule_. The point has been very fully and ably argued, and I think the Court has given it sufficient consideration. We have no doubt about it; we do not consider it a point on which there is any doubt.

Mr. _Kelly_. Perhaps the Jury will retire for a few moments before I begin my address.

Mr. Justice _Maule_. For a few moments, not to exceed a quarter of an hour.

[_The Jury retired, and after a short time returned into Court._

* * * * *

Mr. _Kelly_. May it please your Lordships.

Gentlemen of the Jury,--Their Lordships having determined that this case is fit to be submitted to your consideration, I now proceed to discharge the very anxious, the painfully anxious, duty imposed upon me in consequence, of addressing you on behalf of the prisoner.

Gentlemen, _I should ill discharge that duty if I hesitated one moment to denounce this prosecution as one of the most unconscientious prosecutions that ever any individual has dared to bring forward in an English court of justice_.

Gentlemen, pardon me if I should express myself in any part of this case with any undue warmth; attribute it to the anxiety I must naturally feel, when I know that all the interests in life, the happiness here--I had almost said hereafter--of the young man at the bar, whose defence is committed to my charge, depend upon your verdict upon this transaction, upon which I, and I only on his behalf, have to address you.

He is a young man, now I believe only seven or eight-and-twenty; he is a foreigner, born in Spain of a Spanish family; he and his ancestors are of that country and not of this, and he has become a member of the mercantile house of which his father is the head. He has, during the latter years of his life, been resident in England, and has from time to time bestowed some attention upon the business of the counting-house and the commercial concerns in which the firm were engaged, and he has participated but as a member of the firm in the ordinary course of business in this transaction, which is, indeed, a very small transaction among many very great and important ones passing through that house; and now, to his consternation, and to his unspeakable astonishment--he, a young man of spotless character--he, who one of the witnesses for the prosecution has already described to you upon his oath as a good son, a good brother, a good father, a good husband, and as an honourable member of society--he finds himself charged here with a felony, and that upon evidence such as I shall have in detail to call your attention to. He is charged with a felony upon which, if from want of ability or from want of caution in his advocate he was to be convicted, he must be transported for fourteen years as a felon, and forfeit his property, and forfeit his character, and be ruined for life.

Gentlemen, this is the case before you, and I do ask in the outset, is this a prosecution which ought to be brought forward? Mr. Serjeant Bompas, whose duty it was to state the case to you, having opened that case--how, I shall have to remind you when I call your attention to something which in the opening fell from my learned friend--having opened his case fully and in detail in a speech of some two or three hours, after he has sat down thinks it necessary to rise again and tell you that Sir George Stephen is the prosecutor in this case.

Gentlemen, you have already heard from one of their Lordships, and you know it is a matter of history, that the British government has long exercised its energies and its mighty powers in putting down and preventing the odious slave trade: you know that the powers of the government have been wielded for many, many years past with that view, by those who are sincerely, from the bottom of their hearts, determined by every lawful means to put down that trade; you know that the whole conduct of this honourable and innocent young man has been under the consideration of the former government and the present government. The late Colonial Secretary, Lord John Russell, whose duty it would have been to have protected his own character, and that of Great Britain, by this prosecution, if any offence had been committed, was a member of the Committee, and inquired minutely and distinctly into the transaction; Lord Stanley, also, the present Colonial Secretary, was a member of the Committee. Both governments were regularly and fully acquainted with all the transactions in question, and those governments, whose duty, as my learned friend has told you, it was to do every thing they might to put down the slave trade, so far from feeling it a case for prosecution, the Committee themselves, and the present and the former governments, have fully acquitted this young man, and the house to which he belonged, of any guilty participation in this transaction, as I trust you will to-day acquit him by your verdict. The government of 1840 and the government of 1842, the past and the present government, fully acquainted with all the circumstances, have thought it proper, so far from dreaming that any guilt could be imputed to this young man, to agree to a Report of a totally different character. And a society, called “The Anti-Slavery Society,” existing in this very town, failing to take up the prosecution, you have this very singular fact, that Sir George Stephen, though he put his name upon the back of the indictment, dare not put himself in the box for me to cross-examine. You have Sir George Stephen failing to sign his name to the notices, and you have at last the tardy and reluctant acknowledgment of his counsel that he is the prosecutor. I ask you, gentlemen, to recollect this: Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley were both of them members of the Committee; both were present when this matter was inquired into; before whom Captain Hill was examined, before whom Captain Denman was examined, and before whom another gentleman, Colonel Nichol, was likewise examined. That Committee put forth the large volume which I hold in my hand, and before them this young man voluntarily came, and was examined as to every part of this transaction; aye, and as to the conduct, and character, and dealings of his house, from the time it was first established. And do you believe, if this had been a proper subject for prosecution, that the members, the leading members of a government, the government of a kingdom which has spent twenty millions of the public money to put an end to the slave trade--do you think, if they had felt that this was a proper subject for prosecution, that it would have been left to Sir George Stephen to come forward with his own money, and with his own means--for what purposes I cannot conceive, they must be left to his own feelings, and I do not envy him his feelings--to be the prosecutor of an indictment, which, if it succeeds, must for ever crush and ruin a young man, with respect to whom I shall demonstrate there exists but at most that species of suspicion, which ought never to be cherished against one whose character is, as I shall prove this young man’s character at the bar to be, above all sort of suspicion--that suspicion, which, if it does exist, may be a fit reason for inquiry, but ought no more to be the ground for a prosecution for felony than it ought to be the ground for a conviction without any inquiry at all.

Gentlemen, what is the charge brought forward? Pedro de Zulueta, the young gentleman for whom I appear before you, is, I believe, the eldest son of his father: his father, now advanced in years, is the head of the house. He is a gentleman, who has filled the very highest offices in his own country, and who has been, I believe, at one time, the President of the Cortes in Spain, an office analogous to that of Speaker of the House of Commons in this country, and was member for the city of Cadiz as long as his commercial concerns required him to remain and discharge the duties of that situation. He is a gentleman, who has now reached a very advanced age without a shadow of imputation upon his character; who has been engaged during the whole of his life in commercial transactions of the largest and most important nature and extent, and who not only himself, but his father and grandfather before him, who for seventy years carried on an extensive trade in Spain, and at a time when not only Spain, but I grieve to say our own country, Britain, was engaged through her colonies in extensive slave trading, abstained from ever dealing or turning to their own account the value of a copper farthing in that trade; who, so far from that, when from some bankrupt estate some slaves became the property of the father, he immediately gave them their freedom--a number of slaves passed to him as a part of a bankrupt estate, as they might do at that time, he immediately manumitted them, and gave them their freedom--he it is, who having mainly conducted this transaction, he finds it in vain to look back to a long life, spent in honour, honesty, and integrity, a life spent in deeds of charity and kindness--he finds it in vain to look to the character of his house never before assailed by the breath of suspicion--he finds his own son indicted in this country--a country, under the protection of the laws of which he is living, and to which he has brought his commerce, and in which he and those belonging to him are spending the large fortunes they have gained in their trade; he finds, under the laws of this country, his son is indicted as a felon, for having signed his name to one or two documents--and I will prove to you that is all he has done in the course of a transaction which passed through their house as commission agents for the house of Martinez & Co., at the Havannah--and I will convince you, when I refer to the evidence before you, _evidence which has been, I must say, most unfairly adduced, which has been perverted and brought before you in a way which I cannot commend_, I will show you upon the evidence that that is all that can be charged upon this young man--that in the course of a transaction which passed through the house in which he is now a principal, but only since he has been of age has he been a member at all to entitle him to sign documents--he signed a letter, perfectly innocent in itself, and a charter-party, a regular mercantile transaction, the profit of which to the house was of the most trumpery amount--he did those two acts, in the absence of his father, the house here conducting the business for their agents--and for that he is brought to the bar of the Central Criminal Court, and you are asked to pass against him a verdict of guilty, fixing upon him the crime of felony, and all the dreadful consequences of that guilt, which by this indictment he is liable to.

Gentlemen, _I must say, that a proceeding of this kind does no honour to those great and zealous efforts made for the total extinction of the slave trade by Britain and British means_. If those, who sincerely desire to see that trade effaced, as we all trust in God it soon will be, from the surface of the earth; if they desire to see their efforts succeed, and if they desire to aid the great exertions of Britain for the destruction of the slave trade, let them not treat as felons those merchants in Great Britain or elsewhere, who may, without having any reason to suspect they are illegal, carry on trading concerns with the coast of Africa; let them try, by their cruizers, to stop the slave vessels and liberate the slaves on board; let them exert themselves to put an end to the slave trade wherever their arms or their efforts can be carried; but let them remember, it is not by force of arms it will be abolished--it is by civilisation, and the arts and commerce, the basis of civilisation, it alone can be put an end to. If you would lead to the total destruction of that trade, let it be indeed by vigilance, let it be by all the great efforts made by our ships abroad and our councils at home; but, above all things, seek to introduce commerce--for where there is commerce, there must in time be civilisation, intelligence, and moral improvement, and education, and progress in the arts, which are calculated to raise the character of any country--wherever there is commerce, there must be commercial people, there must be educated people, there must be persons to carry on the government, there must be courts of justice established, and persons to administer the law--that commerce will increase, and will lead to civilisation, and we can introduce all that is good in this world, and promote all the best objects in life--and then the slave trade will cease, not by force, but by civilisation. And I will show you, when I go through the evidence, if you will fairly consider it altogether in the way in which it ought to be brought before you, and in which it ought to be presented to your minds, I undertake to satisfy you that these gentlemen are not capable, and that there is no ground for imputing it to them, of lending their assistance to that odious traffic; and I say, that no Englishman, nor English house, has done more to prevent and destroy it than the house of Zulueta & Co., both in Spain and in this country.

Now, Gentlemen, let us see what the charge is. The charge is this:--That the prisoner at the bar employed and dispatched a vessel, and shipped certain goods, in order that the goods and vessel might be employed in the slave trade. Gentlemen, I wish that my learned friend, Mr. Serjeant Bompas, had been more explicit in his opening address. I think it would have been but fair if he had stated distinctly what he alleged to be the object of the party prosecuted. To say he has the general object of engaging in the slave trade is speaking most vaguely. Does he mean that the prisoner has dispatched this vessel, intending that slaves should be taken on board the vessel? Does he mean, that Pedro de Zulueta engaged in shipping the goods, in order that the goods might be bartered against slaves? or, does he mean, that he shipped the goods, in order that the goods might be sold for money, and with that money that slaves might be bought? Gentlemen, whatever might be the object, I think I shall satisfy you that Mr. Zulueta was perfectly innocent; that he had no such object, that he had no such intention, that he had no such idea: but it is hard for him, that in a matter so much affecting his happiness I should have to grope my way in the dark to find out what the charge is, and that while I am exhausting my strength and your patience in finding out the charge, it may turn out that something more was in the mind of the prosecutor, or in the mind of the person who framed the indictment, merely because Mr. Serjeant Bompas, acting under the instructions of Sir George Stephen, has not properly defined what he imputed to Mr. Zulueta. It is very easy to say to a British merchant, who purchases and ships for another house a quantity of goods, and sends them on board a vessel consigned to the coast of Africa, it is easy to say to him, upon some part of the coast of Africa the slave trade is carried on, and you, in some way or other, intended to promote it; it is easy to say that may be, but it seems to me, it ought to have been fully and distinctly alleged what was the object they meant to impute to him--whether it was to do that which my learned friend has thought fit to accuse him of.

But, let us see what the charge is. I must assume it to be this--that, in some way or other, Mr. Zulueta knew, that when he, as a member of the firm, took some part in dispatching the vessel, or in shipping the goods, that the vessel, or the goods, or both, were to be employed in the slave trade--by whom employed, whether by Messrs. Martinez & Co., at Cadiz, or the consignees, Rolo & Co., or Captain Jennings himself, my learned friend has found it to be convenient to withhold even from you--therefore, what the precise charge is I am seeking to find out, but I am utterly unable to ascertain. It may be, that they contend that the object was that Martinez & Co., who are supposed to have some agents at the Gallinas, intended to convert the goods directly into slaves, or into money to buy slaves; it may be, that the consignees of the goods are the parties to do that; it may be, as he says, that Captain Jennings was a slave trader on his own account, and that he was to do it: which of the three it is I do not know; but whichever it is--though it would make considerable difference in the legal form, because sending goods to be converted into money is no offence, though that money may be converted into slaves, although sending goods may be an offence--but I am not entering into that, for though there is a distinction in law, I make none in fact--I entirely, on behalf of the prisoner, disclaim the slightest notion or idea of giving the slightest countenance or aid, directly or indirectly, to the slave trade, in any shape or form that any man can suggest; and I say it would be a most uncharitable wresting and perverting of facts, which may be capable of two constructions from their ordinary and fair effect, to say that they throw a shade of suspicion upon any part of the conduct of the prisoner.

Gentlemen, I pray you to consider the real nature of the transaction, as it is to be collected from that to which my learned friend has been obliged to refer--and he could not make out his case without it--from that statement made by Mr. Zulueta himself voluntarily before the Committee. It is this, that this young man, born in Spain, but having from the high station of his father had a most excellent education, being of amiable character and intelligent, thought he might be of use to the house in England--there is a house in Cadiz, but the house we have to deal with is that in England--he comes here, becomes a member of the firm, and remains here; he speaks English a great deal better than his father, and in the transactions requiring more of speaking English he took a more prominent part: but the correspondence and the evidence in the case shows, that the orders given in the commercial transactions are entirely in the handwriting of the father almost; and it is a mere accident that the name of the son is put to documents not prepared by him, as I will show you he puts his signature to them in the ordinary course of business in the house. The house of Zulueta & Co. has transactions with most parts of the world, but is most largely engaged with Spain, and the Havannah, and several other places. With regard to Africa, the house has nothing to do with it--and I pray your attention to this point, I implore your attention to it, or you may misunderstand the evidence given by Captain Hill and Captain Denman--they had no more--Zulueta & Co., had no more to do with the trade to the coast of Africa than I have, or any of you I was going to say, I hope, you have, but if none of you, had. But it so happened, that trading to the amount of three or four hundred thousand pounds in the course of three or four years, or more largely still, with this house of Martinez & Co., that Martinez & Co., whose business was carried on at the Havannah and Cadiz, also had some dealings with various parts of the coast of Africa, amongst others at the Gallinas; and out of transactions to the amount of 200,000_l._ or 400,000_l._, there are transactions to the amount of 18,000_l._ or 20,000_l._ in ten years or more--call it twenty years--I believe it is ten years--to the amount of about 18,000_l._ or 20,000_l._, which consisted in this--not a trade to Africa, but this kind of dealing--Martinez & Co., who trade to the Havannah, to which Zulueta & Co. trade, also were in the habit of consigning cargoes of sugar, and other produce, from the Havannah to England; and having some dealings with the coast of Africa, they have upon some five or six occasions desired the house of Zulueta & Co., who live in England and carry on their business here, to furnish them with this trifling amount of British manufactures, and send them on board any vessel they may buy or engage for the purpose, to such part of the coast of Africa as they may direct. The house of Zulueta & Co. carrying on business here, from the immense extent of their transactions having a house at Liverpool, upon receiving an order to ship goods to the amount of a few hundred pounds, they order the goods through their Liverpool house, the great emporium of manufactures in that part of England, and they put them on board any ship directed by Martinez & Co.; they ship the goods in any shape or way as they may direct; and from the time the goods are shipped, they know no more of them, and have no more to do with the subsequent disposition of them, than any one of you I am addressing. It turns out, for so Captains Hill and Denman who have been upon the coast say, that the Gallinas has no produce to return for goods; they say that there is nothing but the slave trade there; that though the goods may be unshipped and landed, there is no return produce: but Messrs. Zulueta & Co., who had no trade with the Gallinas, who I will show you upon the evidence never until this transaction heard the name of any one of the three parties to whom this cargo was consigned, they sent the goods to the Gallinas as they would have done to the Havannah or to Gambia, to Madagascar or the East or West Indies, and troubled themselves no more about it as soon as the goods are shipped: because it is suggested that some parties concerned in these slave trading establishments may make an iniquitous use of these goods in the slave trade, they are to be told that this young man--(not attacking his father, whose ancient name and character for honour and integrity would protect him)--has committed a crime; they seize upon this unhappy young man; they say, because your house have sent goods to that place, ordered by your correspondents, you shall be seized as a felon and tried for a felony.

Now let us look at the evidence. I will take the evidence as it was given, and consider the evidence apart from the statement: take my statement as nothing, and take my learned friend’s statement as nothing; let us see what the case is, divested of speeches and speech-making, and those reasonings which I will show you have no application to the conduct of Mr. Zulueta.

There is the house of Zulueta & Co. many years established in England, they have correspondents abroad, the house of Martinez & Co. at Cadiz--and this young man writes a letter, in these terms, dated the 20th August, 1840: “In reply to your favour of yesterday, we have to say that we cannot exceed 500_l._ for the vessel in question, such as described in your letter, namely, that excepting the sails the other differences are trifling from the inventory; if you cannot therefore succeed at those limits, we must give up the purchase, and you will please act accordingly;” then it is addressed to Captain Jennings, Portsmouth. What is stated concerning that letter is true, that it is not written by this young man at all. I do not know whether the original letter was handed in, but you shall see it: my learned friend says, it was proved that it was written altogether by this young man himself to the captain.

Mr. Justice _Maule_. It was proved so in this way, “I believe it to be the writing of Pedro Zulueta.”

Mr. _Kelly_. Whether it was so or not it is quite immaterial, I need not say that the contents are perfectly innocent. It is clear, that before this time the house had employed Captain Jennings to treat for the purchase of this vessel. There was some demur about the price. This letter was written, in order, if possible, that the vessel might be obtained for the sum of 500_l._; and in the way in which people bargain they tell them, that if they will not take that sum they will not buy it at all. That letter is written by Mr. Zulueta: I need not say that there is no felony in the member of a firm like Zulueta & Co. authorising Captain Jennings, or any other man, to offer 500_l._ for a vessel. Here the evidence with regard to the young man I am defending is a blank: it does not appear he interfered directly or indirectly in any way, or knew what was going on; but it appears that the vessel was ultimately purchased at that sum, dispatched to Liverpool, and the goods were loaded on board the vessel; and then the charter-party was made out, to which I will now call your attention, and which was signed by the prisoner Mr. Zulueta. Now you will see how my observations apply: it is in the usual form; it is printed, and the blanks, as you will see, are filled up, not in the handwriting of the prisoner nor any member of the firm, but in the ordinary course of business by the clerk whose duty it is to prepare the charter-parties; and it is signed, because it had to be signed. Mr. Pedro Zulueta was in the counting-house, and his father was out upon some other business, and Pedro Zulueta signed, “for Martinez & Co., of Havannah, Zulueta & Co.” These are the two papers in the handwriting of the prisoner--a letter to Captain Jennings, saying, offer 500_l._, if they will not take that no more will be given, and the charter-party by which the vessel is chartered from Captain Jennings to Martinez & Co., the house of Zulueta acting as agents, not buying the ship, not entering into the transaction as on their own account, but acting as agents for Messrs. Martinez--that is a paper partly written and partly printed, and the name is subscribed “for Martinez & Co., Havannah, Zulueta & Co.” Those are the only two documents in the handwriting of the prisoner: his evidence I will refer to more particularly by and bye. The evidence shows what I never denied, that the house of which he is a member are civilly responsible for all the house may do. That his house effected the purchase of a vessel at the time--that it was desirable that Captain Jennings should be the captain (and I will give you a reason for that presently)--and that the house caused goods to be shipped in it at Liverpool--and that from that time they heard no more of it, is not denied. It is perfectly clear, if the case rested there, it was merely this--that the house of Zulueta & Co., as agents for Martinez & Co., purchased the ship for Jennings, and that the purchaser made Martinez & Co. the mortgagees of the ship, so as to put them in possession of the property, but to leave Captain Jennings nominally the proprietor and captain; and then they shipped for their principals a quantity of merchandise, regularly passing through the Custom-house on board the vessel, and consigned to the coast of Africa. It is perfectly clear no sort of imputation can be thrown upon any one concerned in that transaction.

But, Gentlemen, let us see what are the circumstances upon which the prosecutor calls upon you to infer, not only that Zulueta & Co., and particularly the prisoner at the bar, purchased this vessel, and dispatched this vessel, and loaded the goods on board it, but that he did it not merely knowing, but for the very purpose, in the language of the indictment, “to accomplish the object of using them in the slave trade.” What is the evidence upon which they call upon you to infer that? First of all they do this, and _I do pray your attention to this part of the case, because it is a point affecting, and vitally affecting, the safety of every manufacturer, every merchant, nay every tradesman in this country_, who happens to deal in any goods, however lawful, but which may be shipped to the coast of Africa; they say this, you, young man, Pedro Zulueta, a member of this firm, you knew that these goods in this ship were to be used for the slave trade, and you dispatch the ship and goods that they may be used in the slave trade. Why, have you ever admitted you knew it? No, I have denied it, and have offered to deny it upon oath.--Have we proved you ever gave any secret instructions they should be used for that purpose? We give you notice that we call for your instructions, but before the Court and Jury we dare not call for them.--Did you receive any information from Martinez & Co. that they might be used for that purpose? No. We give you notice to produce all the letters from Martinez & Co., and his counsel comes forward and says--_Here is every document, here is every account, every scrap of paper at all relating to this transaction_,[15] and I offer you the oaths of every body in the counting-house, without examining them myself, that this is all that can be found. No, says the prosecutor, it suits us better to charge you with a felony, and call for documents which might or might not support the charge; but when you have got them here we will not read them before the Jury, we will not lay them before the Jury, but we will do this--in order that Sir George Stephen, sitting near Mr. Serjeant Bompas and instructing him _from his own grossly perverted views of the facts and the truth, to misrepresent and to colour almost every material document_ to be given in evidence in the cause, in order to give them a reply, they say “you may produce them.” That is what they do. This, then, is a case in which they say we will call for your instructions to the captain, because we say, although there was nothing in your handwriting found in the vessel, except this innocent letter offering 500_l._ for the purchase of the ship, and the charter-party signed by the house, there were some secret instructions. We call for all the letters, we will not use one, but we leave you to prove there were none such. We say, you were informed by Martinez & Co. that they were to be so used, and we give you notice to produce the letters; we will not call for them, we leave it to you: and if we were to read twenty different letters, all the letters from Martinez & Co. to Zulueta & Co., you would have from Mr. Serjeant Bompas, with Sir George Stephen behind him suggesting--Oh, there were secret instructions behind! How do we know there was not a letter behind, which contained secret instructions? That is the way that a case for felony is to be conducted; and therefore I beseech you not to look at what my learned friend urges upon you, but look at the facts. The facts are, that this young man offered 500_l._ for the vessel, and that this young man signed the charter-party, and those facts he admitted before the Committee of the House of Commons; he admitted that this ancient and honourable house, without a stain upon its character, purchase the ship, and charter the ship, and ship the goods, as the agents of Martinez & Co., to the coast of Africa. Then, when they have to prove the guilty knowledge that this was done for the purpose of these goods being used in the slave trade, after going through this farce of calling for papers they dare not use, they say this--We cannot prove that this young man ever thought, or wrote, or sent, about the slave trade; we cannot prove he ever said a single word to Captain Jennings that he was to use the ship or goods in the slave trade; we cannot prove that their correspondents ever wrote or said a word to them upon the subject; but I will tell you what we will do, he was never at the Gallinas, but Captain Denman was at the Gallinas, Captain Hill was at the Gallinas, Colonel Nichol was at the Gallinas, and we will prove by them that the slave trade is carried on to a considerable extent there; we will prove through them, that there are such persons there as Rolo, Alvarez, and Ximenes; and we will prove that those three persons are notorious slave dealers; and we trust that the Jury will say, here are goods sent to the coast of Africa--and it is true, because goods are constantly sent there, British produce to the amount of millions is sent there, and forms a great part of our commerce, but it is sent to that part of the coast where these three honourable gentlemen will say that nothing but the slave trade is carried on--and it will then lie upon him to show that they were not intended to be so used.

[15] Pointing to a mass of books and papers on the table.