Historical References
O'Brian bases the story and many of the details of Captain Aubrey's trial on the experiences of Thomas Cochrane, Lord Cochrane. In the Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814, Lord Cochrane was tried before Lord Ellenborough at the Guildhall and similarly convicted and sentenced to the pillory and fined £1,000.
According to O'Brian's Author's Note, Lord Cochrane and his defendants always passionately maintained that he was not guilty and that Lord Ellenborough's conduct of the trial was grossly unfair. Lord Ellenborough and his descendants, however, took the opposite view. The whole affair was described in a long, fully documented and closely reasoned book written by Mr Attlay of Lincoln's Inn, and which Patrick O'Brian referred to for documenting the proceedings of Jack Aubrey's trial.
The public reaction to Aubrey's conviction and sentencing in the book is quite similar to those recorded in history.
Read more about this topic: The Reverse Of The Medal
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“Nature never rhymes her children, nor makes two men alike. When we see a great man, we fancy a resemblance to some historical person, and predict the sequel of his character and fortune, a result which he is sure to disappoint. None will ever solve the problem of his character according to our prejudice, but only in his high unprecedented way.”
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