Mr. JOHN CLERK--My Lord, I mean to offer a special objection to the interrogatory mentioned by my Lord Advocate, on which I have not yet been heard, nor do I understand that any opinion has been given respecting it by your Lordships. It is proposed to ask this woman what dress Mr. Brodie wore when in her husband’s house on the 5th of March last previous to the robbery of the Excise Office. I formerly observed, my Lords, that my client and Mr. Brodie are accused of the same crime, and are nearly in the same circumstances, and this is a question from the answer to which it may appear that Mr. Brodie was guilty of the robbery laid to his charge. But at the same time, my Lords, it will appear that Mr. Brodie was at the house of my client in a suspicious dress and in suspicious circumstances, and will it not be from thence concluded that my client was engaged with him in the very design which he at that time intended to put in execution? Such a presumption would likewise be most forcibly corroborated by their known intimacy, by their being frequently concerned in the same pursuits, and, above all, by the presence of the other two persons who are supposed to have committed this crime. I say, my Lords, on the supposition that Mr. Brodie is guilty, the circumstance of his dress is one of the strongest presumptions that can be figured against my client. But, farther, my Lords, my client has an interest in preventing the conviction of Mr. Brodie; if his guilt is not proved an inference is afforded me of the innocence of my client, for Mr. Brodie being with my client so recently before the crime was committed presumes that they were employed in the same manner; and the suspicion against Mr. Brodie being groundless is an argument that the suspicion against my client is equally groundless. Now, my Lords, if this woman be examined her evidence may, though indirectly, tend to the crimination of her husband. And if the law does not allow the evidence of a wife to be taken against her husband, I cannot see that there is a good distinction between her evidence as taken directly and indirectly; and therefore, my Lords, I hope that your Lordships will sustain the objection. The LORD JUSTICE-CLERK--The Court will take care not to allow the witness to give any answer against her husband. But, as she is a good witness against Brodie, the Court cannot help it if, by establishing his guilt, a presumption thereby arises against Smith. I am therefore for repelling the objection. The objection was repelled accordingly. [The witness was then brought in.[4]]