322 A TRIAL FOR MR. MERRY. 



origin in the discovery by Mr. Merry of many things 

 of which he could not approve ; and that Buchanan's 

 pretensions were entirely wrong. For, whatever 

 Mr. Merry may not have done, or have done wrong- 

 fully — to my mind one thing is perfectly certain; and 

 that is, that lie always supplied Buchanan, before- 

 hand, with sufficient funds for any and every purpose 

 for which money might be needed. How could it 

 be otherwise ? As is well known, all the accounts 

 were paid on the nail, as it is termed; and it is equally 

 ■certain that Buchanan had no money of his own 

 wherewith to settle them, even if he had the wish. I 

 was subpoenaed on the trial for the defence, and 

 attended at Westminster for several days ; but when 

 it came on for hearing it was settled out of court 

 by Buchanan taking a part of his claim, and the 

 threatened exposure averted. As for ' the exposure ' 

 — it stands to reason that, in the close connection of 

 the two on the turf, there may have arisen matters, 

 however straight the conduct of the one of them who 

 had a high character to maintain had been, the dis- 

 cussion of which, under the leading of a hostile 

 counsel, might have created discomfort. And it was 

 probably in this belief, rather than that any claim 

 whatever existed, that the attempt to get the money 

 was made. But Buchanan profited little by it ; for 

 my opinion was that held by many others, and he 

 never got over the disgrace. 



It is difficult to understand how Mr. Merrv ever 



