Star. — London, England, 1819-01-18 00:00:00

EPP- DANK P.I,ZOSECUTIONS. OLD tl LEY SESSIONS, JANUARY 16. A, Adams Wati charge t with having feloniously forged t 5 Bank Note, well knowing it to be t‘ith intent to defraud the Governor and r c of the Bank of England. • ;!rjeant Bos,tmatir, in opening the case on :ar t of the prosecution t the Jury a observed,' •Li; c'ace, and some other s Which would follow . 1 been brought into ft Court of Justice, in con, of the complaints of various tradesmen, ,r were attempted to be defrauded ; te Governor of the Bank of England ,rosecutor, they did so only to satisfy rhich had been thus made to them. insnn stated, that he was by business' lived at 95, Henrietta-street, Covent ; seven o'clock in the evening, on the ler last, the prisoner came co his shop ..er. He asked for a pdund of Bs. tea, in, of Nlunday:s Coffee-house. Mr. r id, wanted a pound of tea on trial, it he would have more of it. Moi - Li;t! was in Maiden-lane, Covent-Gar was served, and the prisoner offered a in payment. Witness wrote Mr. Ito. on the note in black ink, and wrote in it, " 'Munday's Coffee-house, 14-11 — the 14th of the 11th month in the year isuaer asked witness whether he knew lur a brother of his whOhad conic ap try, and who had been permitted by to live in his house to assist biro (the , lie prisoner said he himself was porter This conversation took place. while getting the change. , The £5 n - "te was hands of witness s bankers ; and in • :ght it was returned as a forged note.— uote was returned he made enquiry 'oilee-house, but learnt no tidings of Anson proved that he was the landlord Coffee-house : he had been proprietor t years. On the 14th of November last ►t the bar was not his porter, nor bad so : he knew nothing of a brOther of he never sent the prisoner to buy any th November, or on any other days the never in his service. her notes, passed by the prisoner, were ►nd identified by the shopkeepers who hem. LAW INTELLmrscr.. COURT OF RlVo's BENCH, JANUARY 10. WARD V. certmese. This was an action fora libel, brought against the PrOPvietor of the' Observer Newspaper. The libel contplainedof Appeared in November, 1817, in the Monday impression of that Paper, and was as follows: " DXSIIIMUIRS INSI/116ECTION:Wu stitill proceed to give our Readers 4 more authentic, as well as more minute account of the rise sad progress of the insurrection, connected as it was with al most 4 the manufacturing towata in the kingdom, thou has hitherto been published ; front whence the Public will be ena bled to forth a correct estimate of the real character .0 the dam., ger by which the country was threatered, and Cu: si,volut: :le , cessity which was imposed upon the Minister of the lloitie 1 partment to determine upon the appointment of the Commission at Derby. The sources :if our authoriiy, though eyte: , :ile.l over, a considerable part of the disturbed cue...les,. are Ivighb: -?;poet- able, and we can pledge ourselves for the corm:tn.-A of every la.:t that we shall state. " The 27th of May. Birkin accampari , d Oliver to Nutting-, ham, and introducvd him to the Serrc Committee assembled there—among whom were, Haynes, lit:lmes, Grosvenor, lieu- I son, and Frank Ward." Again :—" ft is a singular fact, and may here be stated, OM at the execution of the baddites who were tried at the Inning Assizes, these unhappy men confessed that -a plan had been formed for insurrection and rebellion, ar.d beat CP,: Md. (moan-' ine Ned J. odd) was to command. esonte of the moat il-sperate of these had been pointed out to storat the barracks*, and to per-I form other dangerous duties. frai: Ward, Oroivenor, non- son, and Haynes, were all apps rated to command, cad had pro- I seeded to their several stations." The damages were laid at £3,000. Mr. CHITTY opened the pleadings. . Mr. Scaancrr stated the case. re should, he said, shew a claim to a verdict upon the great prin. ciPles of the Constitution, and only touch inciden tallyarpon other points, which so naturally suggested themselves, in a case, where so -mach personal in jury was sustained. The plaintilf was new a poor, a ruined man. . He had commenced life in the town of Nottingham in an humble way, ae a journeyman manufacturer of lace, and by his integrity and indus try became much respected. In a few years, he found that the fruits of those habits for which he was remarkable enabled him to employ others. lie be came a master, and added to the favourable impres sion of his character, ,by creditably supporting an aged mother, a wife, and children. to whose society he devoted himself. Temperate, and retired, and frugal, he permitted the security he enjoyed in the bosom of his family to be disturbed by no political discord. His anxiety for the prosperity of those whose avocations resembled his, induced him to be come a member of a Society for assessian the price of work ; and such was the idea entertained of his integrity and worth, that the members elected him their treasurer, a situation which he filled to the SA ticiaction of all. At that unfortunate period of dis. tress amongst the journeymen, on which dissensions arose, the humanity of the plaintiff was easily disca verible ; for it was soon found that he had not kept pace with the more opulent manufacturers in min cing the wages of the workmen. lie had been pi n e himself, and he pitied the poor; he had known what want was, and he chose rather to check the progress of his own accumulation, than to diminish the com forts of those by whose labour he had attained his superiority. The consequence of this generous feel ing was the rallying round him of numbers on work men, and the jealousy of those who had acted upon a more interested system. No one doubted his inte grity, and lie continued to pursue an uneleviitting coarse, content with the advantages resulting from industry, and happy in the commendation of his own . heart. At length thoee- dissensions with which seve ral parts of the country were agitatea broke out into a formidable shape, and here the propriety stamped upon the plaintiff's general conduct was not back ward in exhibiting itself. He exerted himself to the utmost to check the progress of those unhappy ebul- Aitions. Government thought it necessary to inter -1 fere, for outrag es were committed, which required the-interposition of a stronger authority than that of individuals. Several of those who were presumed tta have been implicated were apprehended; and as it was supposed that some might have been impro .• rly suspected, a subscription was set on foot, to &tear for the accused the advantages of an able efence—na thing the more necessary, as under such circumstances, a difficulty might arise in procuring an unbiassed Jury. The subscription was made in the most open manner, and none of those who sub icribed laboured under the slightest imputation of disloyalty for the part they had taken. The plairaitf was applied to to receive those subscriptions. Ile refused, but on being pressed, consented to perform the office, and acted in this new capacity to the sa tisfaction of all. It was worthy of remark, that of all who had been accused, but one was convicted — a proof that the plaintiff was justified in his opinion that his own conduct was deserving of no reprehen sion. lie, however, became an object of suspicion ; and upon the suspension of the Ilabe as Cor p us Act, Was considered a person of such formidable character by the Magistrates, that they thought it due to their own character for activity, to exercise the power Ulrich was just given, and issue such directions re specting him, as a degree of zeal, rendered intem perate perhaps by their suspicions. - dictated. On the 10th of June, ISI7, while with his family, ten or fwelve Constables entered his house, and without a warrant, proceeded to search it from top to bottom. they did not , omit . to examine every canister and shimble, -- and to this day no motive was stated for so extraordinary a liberty. Indignant at the insult, he determined, with the keeling ream al to an English 'man, to - complain to those from whom he expected redress; ,and.by the advice of a Professional Gentle man,-whom be consulted as to the best means . .vindicating his character from the consequence of such as outrage, .applied to the Magistrates for an explanation. Consctous of his own innocence, he demanded the. authority on which the security of his home, and the peace of his family were a,ssailed. He was advised to forbear • but he felt his own indee virulence, and with a b oldness; inspired by integrity, persevered in demanding the cause of such strange ,sod wanton persecution. - The event was such as might be imagined, where power was wielded by those who were unqualified muse it with the modes ' * ration. b 4 a glory round aathority. Theai tiff was committed to prison, He asked them for bread,. andsiwy.savelim a . stone. - He lay captive, `PPl ; OteCtifit and ahandonrisi, for .some time. 4 war et thew cams down for his removal from Ncittiage a awl he-was-conducted ta Coldbath-fieldsprisemn niao',:cbairied: ((Liars W . Scarlett 'coMpti ',limit' Sidmooth :Too bii - istimaOti., 40 ~ , I he • • stated that hit; T.realship had intim a*ed to the hat he should have every advantage a nerstai in ale situation required.) From CoLib:ea-fields raison ;,p was remove 1 to the County gaol of Oxford, whara he remained till .he fah rsf November, ctea flnenteat almo a solitary ; ant front thence, witi,:ait being informed . of the cease of so surprising change, was retttrned to the bosom of his ramify in his native town. But he returned with :t bicker, spirit, to a mother redoeolato.extraate. misery, to .4, wife broken--hearted. His conscience vs, Itc.wever, void. of offence, atal he loolced forwata to increased industry for the niertas of diatieishing the calamities jet° which he had ham plunged. The Jury would be surprised to hear, that what had been l:ept a - secret from the plaintiff, was published to all Eng. Lind by the Editor of a Newspaper,' which assumedin • its tone to derive its authotity from a source of unluestionahle truth. And here, the Learned Cont' sel said, he would state, that he believed from hi.. soul there was truth in the instructions he had • received, declaring that his client was wholly inno cent of the crimes with which be was dais charged. He was not a member of any political society,' nor did he take a part in the politics of the day. Be lived retired with his filthily; and all he knew of po litics was derived from the daily sources ofintelli gence with which the public were supplied indistria minately. Ile never caw Oliver, nor did he know, except from rumour, that such a person existed. Re expected, owyeturniqg to Nottingham, that former good character ti:-ould • remove any - bad impression that might have beet made - by the disgrace of im prisonment, and, that a future investigation would r ove that he bad been persecuted. Whatthen mutt h ave twee his feelings, upon finding the paper new in Court, .containing an attack upon him, which had been circulated v:liee he was in prison, calculated to poison the mind of every -one in whore ear the name of Ward was sounded, mid published with such an appearance. of authenticity as to render disbelief of all its circumstances impossible? What would the Jury think upon hearing it proved that a considerable number of Papers were issued from the Owner Office, each with a blank side, without any stamp, on Monday, 'the 10 th of November, professing to give an accurate history of die dis:erbances, and of all those scenes which led to the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, .as if the Übsrfver hail !Act made the organ of Government? Was not this cal: culated to affect the tribunal of justice, and to distort the public opinion? Under syhat colour had Kr. ('lenient presumed to publish this calumny, and to insinuate that he had in authority not-to be shaken for its insertion ? The Pawned Counsel would say, for he looked without prejudice, that he considered the &Armee a respectable paper ; but that character rendered it the more formidable, where character was attacked. It was worthy of observatien, that this paper, which was published on the Monday, did not contain in its Sunday edition a tittle of the article which was the subject of the present action ; and that the Paper he held in his hand was gratuitously cir culated through all parts of the country without a starals,, under tins pretence of being a speciraen of Cie ,type. Mr. Scarlett read parts of the libel, and asked ally Mr. Clement had not come fore :aid with' :tie boasted proofs that he was jaatiaed ? The article seas Well, composed a it was well. done, and ttaca down a &exiled series of c ircurotaaaces upon a rega lar,systerci. It entered into a vitalica!ion ef,Go.veru ment,t and was, in fact,, a covernraent manifestia, tAiiistie was dekerlheif as.oatifttiillir ache in sedition, until he time armed. before them, vested With command. and actually . about to. perform .1 signal act of treason, by stotMing the barrd.ch. Here then he stood, deserving to he imaged, dream, andquartered, .and to be visited with those elf , :ei privations which the ' law billeted upon-traitors. Ile *as convicted, .by die Observer, of being connected with Oliver ; of beingame of the desperate Ned beds ; of making war against the King anthills Government, and of taking his station among the most deeded enemies of his country ! • All this was attributed to a man who was wholly unconcerncal with political matters, and who was deprived of all means of re medy, except that of daring his accuser to bring.for. ward his authority, a defiance from which Mr. Cle ment shrunk. Ii this question -acre viewed abstracted from all political censidei ations, what would be the opinion of its merits, viewed merely with reference to that Constitution by which Eivaland had attained such a high degree of political glory as was envied by all Europe, and value] by all. who valued order and liberty ? The personal liberty of an Englishman was his chartered ptivileae; and if that elevated part of the Constitution. the ilahea , : Corpus Act, was at any time suspended in cow:cep:viler of real or suppcaed danger, it was a season of calamity ; those who were exposed to it were left to the discretion of M inisters,aad also subject to the crafty operational privatemalignity. In such an extremity it became all good men to pity those who were dragged from,their homes .and im mured in a prison, without the opportunity of justifi cation. It became every good man to look with great jealousy to the power thus added to the autho rity of Ministers, as well as to regret the necessity that for a time destroyed the right which the immor tal Blackstone desctihed as the unfailing secarity• of the British Constittition. But what had Mr. Clement shine? While the unhappy plaintiff was withid the walls of a prison, in expectation of being bror.;llt face to face with his accusers ; while Government thought it necessary to detain him there from a pro. seated necessity, Mr. Clement had the audacity, the inhumanity, to publish agaiiat the helpless 2,a aban doned man, a calumny of the most eTective kind, which no one could read xvithoitt,*cayirs; tho whsle matter had been fully investigated, and t:haas-ertion L .of Ward's guilt was bottomed upon Volt:I-sisal:le an- I thority. What could have been the metive.? If Wind was to be tried, why prtjudice the Jury against him ; and if not, why fix on him tan- ever the stigma w hi c h his imprisonment' had already in dege* 'ri v en rise to? This wa s what the plaintiff' had to complain t of—that during the suspension of the habeas Corpus Act, Mr. Clement had endeavoured to oppress aft a l re ady oppressed man ; that he had endeavourtd to prejudice the minds of the Jury by whom it was pae sumed be would have been tiled ; to wrest from him ' c he beneSt of a fair anti impartial hearing, • rod to ahoy the Liberty of the Press. The Learned and inf. g euious Counsel for .Mr. k!letnent might attempt to .retest his client by general, observations on hat •v. He.(Mr. Starlet) wereld..tell the jury villa: h t of the Libcrty:ci . tho l'iet;. He con • I • • OLD r -" Ls ' 0 , 2 . 4d a ms wa' ' a forge d 1: ith mite of the •'esnt Bc • . art' o f the p c'Ace, 4 j• D een o f the been or ithattuh the as the pi . n . s wI s'regt llopkir :0 ., and Ii About -.*Sovernbe i• ced as a port) ,)I:. Rohinsor ainson, he sai it he liked it Coffee -how The tea Nv B an k rime it ill's name nt od ink under it, 18," meaning th IBIS. he pris d a s itu T ati on fu from the countr At. Bobinsca The ri ,one v. the honse• ii irpess was g iatiOrttl.o the P- . ajat g, On the day the 111...nday's CI pr i.oner. Robert Rebi 3lunday's C for eight prisoner ;it ever been s he prisoner : sa on the l4t -,; t .soner was r &Several oth roc;aced, an iad taken the J o hn Lees' the Bank o vars. He w Bank pap ;;le sigr,ature ;.itu were all original !Irgeries salts :dab in the ad notes en :\ Ir. Serje: ;.at the Ban amount arc of A.—" It' Ttom the A.—" C Quid hare te the mad: Tae Sigr. t sigrata Mr. .lus .4:thout a Before t • iio was a • t age, crit ercy of t • the practic with wars Edward ▪ CI notes- :dais are Messrs. a square, Cl boys o the fabric eitected • u.e lads, Angel, in erterwarc cs witness g ene of thi t- t;z. He re s to tt o• bar e " Ts. evning 77.cers received of c . :rt the ed Fivinn .0 Lcis him ri • i:1 in Cis 17e of try , t ar- . 11F. o ur • 2t T ed. ;se:: ey's 1tY.114: ore eat-To T b e et it tor nm- the ra4k al of 11 kcre ::in I sc i Po! Ft Pr . :au 14#, trat selling Idling for Gs. which, if genuine, would be worth 20s. . , wai one of the Inspectors of Bank notes of England, and had been so for twenty was well acquainted with the testure of aper, the water-mark, the engraving,. and , res. The several notes now produced to ' forgeries. The water-marks, which in were wove in the paper, were iw the ,sequently impressed—the No. and figures ia genuine were stereotype, were in the !ngraved. :ant BOSANQTYLT-••••• 44 Has it ever happened ak has issued two notes of the same mutt it and signature, for 1 find two of these ..be same number and signature ? has happened." to COURT—" Is that a usual occurrence r Certainly not; it is quite unusual, and only happened through some irregularity linety of the printing. piing Clerk, Mr. James liamb*rt, ?rota tares to be forgeries. ;stice HoLnovn charged the, Jury, whO,. . moment's hesitation, found the prisoner..— ,--Death. the .verdict was pronounced, the prisoner, a tall handsome young man, about 9.5 years vied very much, and laid himself up on the the Count . He said he had been led into ice through the instigation of others, and s in his eyes he begged for mercy. trd Dent, 18, was indicted for uttering several ces.—The trial lasted five hours, but the parti are briefly as follows: sus. Heath and Co. paper-stainers, of Queen-' , Cheapside, having suspicion that some of the their employment were engaged iu the cir of forged, notes, for the purpose of detecting icators, and of saving the boys, if possible, Showell, one of their workmen, to apply to , which he did, and went with them to the in fleet-market, where he saw Dent ; but was Ids introduced to him at the Rose, where got a forged note from the prisoner through he lads, named Lucas, and for which he paid afterwards met Dent at different times, and several notes of him. At last Showell pur- Len £1 notes of the prisoner, at ss. 6d. each ; -gained for five more to be delivered the same, at the Flying Horse, ia Charter-house -lane.' s were sent by. the Bank (to whom all the notes froin Dent were given by Showell) to inter lc prisoner. They lid so ; took him into the 1-Firse, where they searched him, and found a pier with attempts at imitating the hand of the Signing Clerks In the Bank, and of 'rnents of some of the first Banking-houses in 13esIdes this, they observed, on opening 'trails, a roll of five forged El notes fall to the on which the prisoner put his foot. 4n ani)- - .4 - the prisoner's pockets they found a roll of ten notes, and a forged £5 note. The mate ▪ these facts received corroboration, and w.loner was found —Guilty--Death. e foreman of the Jury, said, it was to be wished rite method was adopted to nave human lives,' Aling forged notes not SO easily fabricated. • • Justice Bunnouots said, that what one man tit: execute, however excellent, might be imitated. raother ; and alluded to the case of Ryland , t he . aver, who was executed for forging ludia.Bills. Szrjeant lloaaNstuve said, he was happy to corat the Jury, that a Committee of the most seen men were now sitting to devise some mode of . king notes more difficult of execution. Ile Foreman of the Jury observed, that he had r. some notes of the United States, so excellently ;raved, that he believed it impossible to imitate vm by one 'nand in less than three or four mouths. MT. Justice Bonaorom repeated, that what was ttrforrnecl ernild be imitated ; • but these observations aid have no reference t a case where a man was ecklng widi by own life, and that of others, by • • OLD BAILEY, JANUARY 19. . This morning Thomas .Watson aged 16, was in!. ,!ictecl for having, in the mouth of - December last; passed a LI forged Note, with intent to defraud the' t,overnor and Company of the Bank of England. He was also charged, in other counts, for a similar offence in the same month. The case was stated to the Jury by Mr. Serjeam BOSANQUET. The first witness that was called on behalf of the prosecution was John lielph, a grocer, who on being sworn, stated that he lived at No. 4, Gracechurch street ; that at the early part of ' December, or the latter part of November, the prisoner came to his shop and purchased grocery amounting to eighteen pence, and tendered a 1/. note in payment, for which he received change. Ile asked him his address, which he gave as Mr. Merchant, Ingram-court, Fen church-sweet. The following day he paid it away, and about three days afterwards it was returned him as forged. He then went to Mr. Nlarchanes, Ing ram-court, but found no such lad as the prisoner. The prisoner, about three o'clock on the 12th of December, came again to his shop, and on entering it, he instantly recognised him. The prisoner now asked for some more grocery, which the deponent, wishing to see in what way he meant to pay for it, gave him, when he again tendered him another note, which also proved to be forged. He then took his pen in his hand, saying, " Now, my lad, what name shall I put on here ?" The prisoner replied, " Mr. Watson, Bell-yard, Gracechui ch-strect.' The witness then seized him, telling him that a few days ago he had brought him a bad note, with a different ad dress, and insisted on his going with him to 13e11- yard. When they arrived there, he found that no such person resided there, it being the Excise Permit Office. The prisoner then took bins into the George and V u lture Tavern where be said he had got it. — The witness asked then to see the landlord, who said he had no knowledge of the prisoner ; he asked him if he could see the gaiters ?—the waiters then came ; who also said they had no knowledge of the prisoner. The landlord reproved the prisoner very severely, for saying that he got it at his tavern, when the pri soner said he had found it. The deponent then gave him in charge of an kfficer, when the prisoner said his name was Williams, and he had a brother a sil versmith, living in Smithfield : and that he had found the Note at the top of Lombard-street. The witness was cross-examined by Mr. WALFORD, but nothing to the discredit of his testimony was elicited. Samuel Shepherd, a constable, stated, that he was sent for and took the prisoner into custody on the 12th of December last. That on searching him he found nothing whatever ; that he told him - his name was Williams; asked him wherehegotthe note? The prisoner told him he 'found it in Bell-yard ; asked him where he lived? He answered, he lived with his brother in Smithfield; took him towards Giltspur street Compter, when the prisoner asked him where he was going to take him ? he replied, " I am going to " take you to your brother's," when The risoner said, it is of no use to t ake me there." witness then tk him to the Compter, and afterwards went to Smithfield, but could find no such person as the pri soner's brother. Jones Dallamere swore that he resided .No. 15, .West-Smithfield, the place where the prisoner had said his brother lived, and that no such person re- Tided there. Mr. Lee, Bank - Inspect or, being sworn, stated that the note in question was a forgery. Mr Justice.HOLROTD, before whom this trial took place, at 12 o'clock , det ailed to the Jury the whole of the evidence which had been brought forward. —At five minutes before one o'clock they retired out of Court to consider their verdict, and returned at a quarter before two, finding the prisoner Guilty, ' but recommended him to mercy on account of his youth, believing that he had been the dupe of some designing villain ! This young prisoner's case crated a considerable degree of interest, and whose examination before the 'I Lord Mayor caused an equal degree of interest. On' that day being asked where he got the note for which he stood indicted ? he said he had it from Sho wel, (a principal witness in the case of Dent, who was tried on Saturday for the like offence.). During the examination before the LORD . MAYOR, every step was taken by his Lordship to discover his associates, but he refused to divulge any person's name except that of Showell. Saturday, the Grand Jury of Middlesex presented to the Court, at the Sessions House, Clerkenwell Green, the following Address: The Grand Jury of the County of Middlesex cannot separate without stating to the Court, that the painful duty devolving on them has been rendered more acute by the bills brought before them, on the part ef the Bank of England, agalnst individuals charged with possessing or uttering forged Mei. purporting to be the notes of that estahlialiment " The Grand Jury are aware that a strong prejudioe is abroad. against the Bank on this subject, and It is not their wish to in crease it ; it is, however, well known that the notes of the Rank of Ensland are much too easily imitated, and they cannot forbear expressing their decided opinion, that such easy imitations might be prevented, and the frequency of the crime be consequently , I diminished. " The Grand Jury bog also.to exlstess their hope , t h at a rev ' - sion of the Criminal Code is in contemplation, and more parti cularly the law respecting forgery of tik Notes, and if they. I may with propriety, they would suggest at some other mode of punisluueut than that at resent adopted, such as perpetual hard labour, and solitary imprisonment, would be mote dreadful its the eye offender than the chance of escaping capital puishment, ofd (be cununutation of death for transportation.. " Signed on behalf of the Grand Jury, by their .Foretnau. " CHARLES DERRICK." Yesterday the Lord Chief Justices of the Court•of King's Bench and Common fleas, Mr. Justice Rica itlsrosoN and Mr. Justice BEST, attended together in St. Martin's Church to hear Divine Service and re ceive the sacrament on their appointments. On Tuesday last the State Lottery finished Draw ing, when.(as usum,) Brut shared Capitals 'greater i n number and amo unt than any other Office-keeper , amongst which were No. 5,556 a Prize of. £ lOO Money, and seSO,OOO Consols, (divided into eight Shares); Nos. 12,816, £1100; 6044 £looo,a.a. 'l4r rious other Capitals of smaller .arnounts,...4:lW, L ott ery. of only 6.000 Tickets, for which aisigrs the Contractor, is n ow en sale at his Offices,, 4,4;trek." and 9, Chasing-cross; and .4,3! jigs Agent. • • • Country. • il s ; : . ,:, ti I f I 4 4 ); '4e . Isi • t • J , .t . k • -:; • r ! I