disposed, no effectual Prosecution can be expected from them; and therefore I am clearly of opinion that, if upon Examinations there appears sufficient ground to proceed, it is necessary & will be for the honour of the Government, that the Prosecution should be carried on at the expense of the Crown, & that Mr. Sharpe should be forthwith ordered to take the proper steps for that purpose under the direction of Mr. Attorney General.  There have been several Instances of such flagrant offences having been prosecuted at the Government’s expence.  I remember two when I was Solicitor & Attorney General; one against two Welshmen, Athowe by name, for a Murder in Pembrokeshire; the other against a Woman in Oxford Road, who, in concert with her Gallant, murdered her Husband privately, & afterwards cut his body in pieces, & packed it up in a Basket.[14] The reason which prevailed for both these orders, was that there was ground to apprehend that the Criminals might have escaped Justice without such an extraordinary Interposition; and that Interposition was much applauded by the Public.  In the present case it would be a Reproach to the King’s Justice, and I am sure would create the justest concern & Indignation in His Majesty’s own mind, if such an atrocious Crime of Poisoning & Parricide should escape unpunished, by means of the Prosecution being left in the hands of the Prisoner’s own Relations.

There is one circumstance in Mr. Pauncefort’s letter, which deserves particular attention.  He says it is thought the Maid and Charwoman (who I presume are two material Witnesses) cannot long survive the effects of ye Poison they partook of.  If that be so, my opinion would carry me so far as to think, that a special commission should be sent into Berkshire, some days before the next Term, to find a Bill of Indictment there, & then the Trial may be had at the King’s Bench Bar within the next Term; for otherwise no Trial can be till the next Spring Assizes, before which time these Witnesses may probably dye, if what is repeated be true.

I have said all this upon a supposition that the Informations & Examinations lay a sufficient foundation for a Prosecution, for I have not seen any Copies of them.  If they do not, id neo dictum esto.  But there your Grace will be pleased to refer to Mr. Attorney or Mr. Solicitor.

There is another matter arising upon the enclosed Papers, which ought not to pass without some notice; and that is the behaviour of Mr. Carre, the Sheriff-Depute of Berwickshire,[15] and of Richard Lowe, the Mayor of Henley’s Messenger.  The Sheriff-Depute’s letter contains a strong Charge against Lowe, & Lowe in his examination, swears several odd circumstances relating to the Sheriff-Depute, & to some relating to himself.  Mr. Carre is a Gentleman of good Character, but this matter deserves to be enquired into; and I submit it to your Grace whether it may not be advisable to transmit copies