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.

    28/208 (page 24)
    [ ^4 ] they had no other obvious means of faving themfelves^ but by making ufe of falfe or forged evidence. In what refpeft is there any fimilitude between this and the fituation of Sir John Stewart and Lady Jane Douglas ? The capital fadts contefted in the Douglas eaufe admitted of fuch a variety of conclulive and fatis- fadtory evidence, fome particulars of which have been already mentioned, that the total abfence of the proofs which were naturally to have been expelled, has been always deemed by judicious men one of the many ftrong and convincing arguments againfb the reality of Lady Jane’s delivery. In another refpedl, the cafe of Sir John Stewart and Lady Jane Douglas differed materially from the cafes mentioned by your Lordfhip, for they were never confined to any precife time for producing their proofs of the fufpedted delivery; The period of feveral years, fubfequent to the date of that delivery, was at their command for this purpofe ; They had indeed the ftrongefl incitements to obtain at an early period fatis- factory proofs, and carefully to preferve them; becaufe the mortifying reports againfl the truth of the delivery, and fo highly prejudicial to their honour and intereft, were early and often communicated to them ; but as no criminal adtion or procefs of any fort had been raifed againft them at the time of their inventing the forged proofs, they are left without excufe in reforting to that criminal expedient; the delay of a few days would have been fufficient to bring from France authentic and con¬ vincing evidence, if the fufpedted faff was founded in truth ; and as that delay could have been attended with no prejudice to them, it is not eafy, in their cafe, to figure any polfible motive for their having recourfe to for¬ gery, but the impoffibility of producing genuine proofs of an ideal fadt. Thus it is evident, that the cafes of innocent forgeries, fo carefully colledted by your Lordfhip, and fo kindly produced in vindication of the for¬ geries in the Douglas eaufe, contained, when duly examined.