Volume 1

Letters to the Right Honourable Lord Mansfield. From Andrew Stuart, esq. [On the Douglas Peerage Cause.] / [Andrew Stuart].

  • Andrew Stuart
Date:
[1773]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letters to the Right Honourable Lord Mansfield. From Andrew Stuart, esq. [On the Douglas Peerage Cause.] / [Andrew Stuart]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/208 page 13
    \ [ 13 ] ledged by the counfel on that fide. The participation of Lady Jane in that forgery, was alfo proved by convin¬ cing circumftances, and ail thefe forged letters were found in the cuftody of Lady Jane Douglas. They were pro¬ duced in the trial, as proofs in favour of the perlon claim¬ ing to be her fon. Sir John Stewart was examined with regard to them, and folemnly and repeatedly maintained, before a court of juftice, that two of them were originals, and two of them copies of letters which he had actually received from Pierre La Marre; the falfhood of both which affertions, became fo palpable in the courle of the trial, that the whole account given by him of theie letters, and given with a folemnity equal to an oath, was admit¬ ted to be utterly void of truth. In the Anglefea caufe, there was but one {ingle a£l of forgery, that of the fubfcriptions of the witnefies to the certificate, which confifts but of three lines relative to one fingle fa£t, the marriage ot Lord and Lady Anglefea on the 15th September 1741. In the Douglas caufe, there was a complication of for¬ geries : For, befides a variety of material letters from Sir John Stewart, falfely dated from Rheims, at the cri¬ tical period in July 1748, while he and Lady Jane were at Paris, and one upon the fame plan from Lady Jane herlelf, there were four feveral letters produced, which, from their contents and fubfcription, had the appearance of letters from the perfon who had delivered Lady Jane, but in fa£I were all of them forged by Sir John Stewart himlelf; three of them dated in the year 1749,'and the lafi: of them dated in 1752. The contents of thefe let¬ ters related to various ellential particulars: They were meant to lupport not only the delivery of Lady jane of male twins, at Paris, on the 10th of July 1748, by the afiiftance of Pierre La Marre, and in prefence of certain witnefies, but alfo to fupport the extraordinary fa£I of one of the children’s being left to the charge of the man- midwife,
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3