At Bow Street two trunks belonging to Brodie were opened, and in one of
them was found a bundle of papers. Among these were two draft letters or
unsigned scrolls, afterwards produced at the trial, and printed in the
following report, which throw much interesting light upon the writer’s
position and prospects. They were evidently intended for friends in
Edinburgh, and written subsequent to the letters which he had intrusted
to the treacherous Geddes. He writes--“I hope to embark in the first
ship for America, to whatever port she is bound, which will probably be
Charlestown, South Carolina, as there is a ship lying-to for that port.
I will settle there, if I think I can do better than at Philadelphia or
New York.” He asks his correspondent to inform him “what has been done
with the two unfortunate men Smith and Ainslie, and the greater villain,
John Brown _alias_ Humphry Moore? Was John Murray _alias_ Jack Tasker
brought from England? I shall ever repent keeping such company; and
whatever they may allege, I had no direct concern in any of their
depredations, excepting _the last fatal one_, by which I lost ten pounds
in cash. But I doubt not all will be laid to my charge, and some that I
never heard of.” The last quoted passage told strongly against him at
the trial, and it is difficult to see why he had preserved such
compromising documents.
In the same trunk was found an account or state of Brodie’s affairs
prepared by himself on 24th March, the day after he embarked in the
“Endeavour.” This document was founded on in the indictment and produced
at the trial; but Creech tells us, in the introduction to his report,
that, “although laid on the table for the inspection of the jury, yet,
being of a private nature and not necessarily connected with the crime
charged, the jury had too much delicacy to look into; and it is hoped
the same motive will be a sufficient apology for not laying it before
the public.” It was, accordingly, not published in any of the
contemporary accounts of the trial, and is now for the first time
printed in the following report from the original MS. in the Justiciary
Office. From this most interesting document we are able to learn the
financial position of Deacon Brodie at the time of his flight, and it is
surprising to find that he brings out a balance in his favour of upwards
of £1800.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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