than they otherwise would have paid?

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ That would have answered my objection, and that is
the way in which it should have been stated; because then your Lordships
would see, you were raising the arm of criminal justice to protect those
who were the objects of its protection.

_Lord Ellenborough._ Your argument goes upon this supposition, that the
description of persons to be affected by a criminal act, may lessen its
criminality, which it does not.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ But I submit to your Lordship, there must be
something to be gained on the part of the actors, moving them to injure
those who are capable of being injured by the act which is done. No such
thing is stated upon any part of the indictment. A conspiracy may be
complete without any act, but there must be an intention. I say, the
intention here, is too generally stated; strike out all but the words,
"conspired to raise the price of the public funds," and I ask your
Lordships whether it would be possible to pronounce any judgment upon
it.

_Mr. Justice Dampier._ How could the object have been stated with more
particularity, with reference to a future event, than that it was to
raise the price of the public funds?

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ I do not state it to be necessary that any damage
should actually follow, but damage must be meditated by the
conspirators, either a damage which aims at the public at large, or at
some individual. It could not have been stated, nor is it stated, that
any damage was aimed at the public at large; was any meditated against a
part of the public? they must be individuals.

_Mr. Justice Dampier._ All the public could not be named; and
individuals could not be named, because of the impossibility of knowing
the individuals.

_Mr. Serjeant Best._ I submit to your Lordship there could be no
difficulty in that. If the indictment had been preferred before the 21st
February, your Lordship's observation would be unanswerable; but after
that period, the prosecutors could have no difficulty in obtaining the
names of individual purchasers from the books of the Stock Exchange.

_Mr. Justice Dampier._ The crime was complete before the 21st of
February.

_Mr. Justice Le Blanc._ If the conspiracy was, by false rumours to raise
the price of the public funds on a certain day, with a view to oblige
persons who should purchase into the funds on that day to pay an
increased price, the crime would be complete if the funds