784 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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752 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS

Mr. Child referenced "Parliamentary Tables," by which he claimed he could demonstrate the type of individuals who had entered the British navy. He stated he could show the names of over 3,000 lieutenants, many of them veterans in service, who had been superseded by inexperienced youths.

The Court stated that any established work of science could be quoted as evidence, but the mere opinions of a writer regarding the conduct of a government or individuals could not be admitted.

Mr. Child argued that if an announcement had been made regarding the loss of life consequent upon the capture of the Panda, a court of inquiry would have been convened on the matter. However, no such announcement had been made. He also suggested the possibility of Captain Trotter having succumbed to corruption. He noted that Bacon, one of the greatest men England ever produced, had accepted a bribe of one thousand pounds, and questioned why a similar course might not have been pursued by Captain Trotter. Mr. Child expressed confidence that if they could bring before the court some individuals who were at Prince's Island at the same time as the schooner, they could prove that the Panda was searched by British officers and declared not to be the vessel that committed the robbery.

Mr. Dunlap urged Mr. Child to refrain from further remarks on this subject, warning that he would be compelled to disclose facts that could prove detrimental to the prisoners. He claimed to possess evidence showing that an American vessel arrived at Prince's Island around May 1833, bringing news of the robbery, and that upon learning of this intelligence, the Panda immediately fled.

Mr. Child mentioned that Mr. Quentin had testified about a seaman named Turnbull who removed the match from a bag of powder in the Panda's magazine. He asked the jury to remember that this same man had been demoted in the British service. Mr. Child questioned why, if the money was left on the coast of Africa, it had never been traced. He also challenged the assertion that dollars are not current on the coast of Africa, suggesting that the jury must know otherwise.