Tyger by Julian Stockwin Page B

defensive.
    Popham seemed nettled. “Were you one of the secretaries at the Treasury during the administration of Mr Pitt?”
    “I was.”
    “Then do you recall, sir, confidential information received by your office relative to the situation obtaining in Buenos Aires?”
    “I have a faint recollection only.”
    “Come, come, sir. Of such import, and bearing so on the—”
    “I object—leading the witness!” rapped Jervis.
    “Quite. Sir Home, in any case the witness has further admitted only an unreliable knowledge of this. I rule the question disallowed.”
    “As the court pleases. Mr Bourne, do you recollect the confidence Mr Pitt reposed in me in respect of secret matters pertaining to South America and in particular the situation in the Rio de la Plata?”
    “He mentioned you in cabinet discussions on the subject,” he said carefully.
    “And did he not in your hearing seek my personal opinion on the officer to command the Cape expedition?”
    “I have some remembrance of it, but not sufficiently strong for me to speak positively on it.”
    Admiral Young interjected, “Sir Home, where your questioning is headed is not altogether clear to the court. I have but one question to put to the witness: Mr Bourne, in the conversations at which you were present with Mr Pitt and Sir Home Popham, was it determined or proposed to attack the Spanish settlements in South America after the assault on the Cape, in the event that it proved successful?”
    “I recollect no proposal being made in any conversation respecting a descent on the Spanish settlements in South America.”
    “Thank you. Have you any more questions for this witness, Sir Home?”
    Bourne was stood down and William Huskisson was sworn in.
    A young, intense individual, his prominent forehead and alert eyes gave an impression of high intelligence.
    “Were you one of the principal secretaries in Mr Pitt’s government?”
    “I was.”
    “Do you recollect my taking leave of Mr Pitt in your room at the Treasury, immediately prior to my sailing for the Cape?”
    “I do.”
    “Was the impression at all on your mind that I had at that time a conversation with Mr Pitt on South America?”
    Jervis objected immediately. “The question is illegal. How can the witness testify to what transpired when he was not present?”
    “Sir Home?”
    “Mr President, I cannot understand distinctly what the learned prosecutor means when he calls this illegal evidence. Unfortunately for me and the country, Mr Pitt is no more and I am therefore under the necessity of seeking that from others he could prove by himself were he alive. In the absence of this testimony I now adduce one of his most confidential friends in order to show the wish and views of that illustrious man.”
    “We will allow the question.”
    “I had the impression that the conversation related to South America, yes,” said Bourne.
    “Sir, did you have any discussion with Mr Pitt yourself upon the subject of South America, particularly Buenos Aires?”
    “I did have, as I was directed to take certain steps by his desire concerning Buenos Aires.”
    “And what was the nature of this direction?”
    “In that instance it was to explain the existence of a map or chart of the approaches being lately taken from the King of Spain’s depot in Madrid, being afterwards copied for the French military.”
    “For what purpose, pray?”
    “It was believed to form part of a design by the French for their own incursion, a likelihood which was not thought much of.”
    “Sir Home,” the president came in, “I find myself under the painful necessity of intervening once again. Let the witness answer: did Mr Pitt at any time communicate to you any orders of a nature requiring Sir Home to attack Buenos Aires upon successful conquest of the Cape?”
    “I certainly never understood from Mr Pitt that Sir Home had such positive or provisional orders, no, sir.”
    “Sir Home?”
    “Sir. It could be said that plans were