The Sun. — London, England, 1812-01-20 00:00:00

ULD BAILkY, .tie TRIAL OF MR. BENJAMIN WALSH, M. P. FOR. LARCENY. At ten o'clock, the prisoner was' ord4edlo oar, and entered the dock, attended by tWOreot Ms friends. He was dressed• in black, .and appeared extremely weak and dejcded; and after the Jury were Sworn, was; at his own request, indulged with a Chair daring his trial. i The indictment was hen read by the - Clerk of the 4 ,rraigns. It consisted of sev e n co unt s , ch a rgi ng the crime alleged in different ways, but all ranging u nder Iwo heads : the first charging the prisoner with having on,the sth of December, 1811, at St. bonstan's in the West, feloniously stolen a cheepte, or bill of ,exchange, from Sir Thomas. Plonser, hight, upon the banking-house of Messrs, GoSs.'jog and Co. ()land fur the value of 22,1001. the 4 Pro perty of t . lie said Sir Thomas Plomer, Knight ; and under the second head, charging the prisoner With feloniously stealing twenty-two Bank -notes, value 10:001. each, and one Bank •note, value 2001. S he property of the said Sir T. Plomer. 11,Ir. ABBOTT opened the pleadings. Air. GARROW followed, in support of the prose cution. After some prefatory observations, and after beseeching the Jury to dismiss from their minds all the anticipating reports of this transaction with W hich the press had teemed, reports which, in the present state of the press, the public called for, and n ecessarily,_ posses , ed ; for so great a Hessing as the 1 ` li berty of that engin e c ould n o t be w ith ou t i ts a ll o y, he proceeded to narrate the circumstances which led to the offence with which the prisoner was charged. The family of Mt.. Walsh had been long acquainted W ith that of Sir Thomas Plomer, whose father was a Director of the Bank of 'England, and who had it 1 2, 1 his power materially to pr o mote th e int erests o f Lue prisOner. He had done so ; and the prisoner, by the sad return which he made to Sir Thomas for t he i _ ben e fi ts w hi c h h e ha d received from h i s firn i ly, "id added. ingratitude to felony. The prisoner '' P as by trade a stock-broker ; and the prosecutor, tn consequence of his personal knowledge of him, had always employed him to traesad his stock-busi ss, placing in him the most implicit confidence. During the last year Sir T. P. purchased an estate ; t he completion of which purchase he was to pay v erY considerable sum of money, to provide which, became necessary that he should sell out stock. e communicated the situation he was in to the pris 84 er, as Iris broker, who at first advised him not to Se ll out till he actually wattled the money ; but who, u Poll deeper consideration, urged the prosecutor to sell a' once, ih'ough be might not immediately want' the money, for that it ,was the opinion 'of many in, sliligent persons that th e 3 p er cents . wou ld yety '°nly fall as low as 50. The.prosecutor told the P r isoner that it was quite uncertain when he sktitald w ant the money, and that it was not likely the title 1° the estate would be perfeded till Christmas : the P r isoner nevertheless persisted in - his advice to the P r °sceutor to srli then, at all events ; and the pro s„e etli or, after consulting another mercantile trier de e "g r eed to sell out.. Here the learner! Counsel ob ...7rved, that it would be necessary footwork to two or thr ee d nes, as regarding the - law and he fads of ill ' base. On N0v.28 th the prosecutor gave the prisoner e authority to sell; and the question then occurred,. what be should be done with the produce till it should Mwanted —whether to place it in the hands of essrs. Goslings and Sharpe, the prosecutor's bank er, or to lay it out in Exchequer Bills. The pri- In ner ad v i se d th e l a tt er ; an d , as M r. G arrow con tended, with a pretneditated view to the perpetra of the felony with which he stood charged. - On } ! l e 2 911), which was Friday, the pr osecu t or was , to ' a ye made the transfer of the stock ; b u t on th e t re vieus day, Thursday' the 28th, he was infernierij ,Y the prisoner, that he had entered into a contras ; ;44 the s a l e o f t h e stoc k , b ut t h at i t cou l d not he i ra rtsferred till th e W e d nes d a y or Th urs d ay folliaw ill)g. sie Th omas Pl omer w i s hin g to di spa . :c h t h e isi ness out of hand, selected the earlier of these da l f s, (Wed nes d a y), t o a tt en d an d ma k e th e trans arid on Wednesday, the 4th of December, the transfer was made. 'Sir Thomas immediately ex teC'ted that Exchequer Bills for the amount would r e deposited with his bankers ; but he was in ,°4lled, that the bills were not ready, and the i'l n btley was therefore deposited with the bankers,. ss 3 lead of the bills, and till they should be ready.— ", b n Thursday,_ sth of December, the prisoner a et.• fo 'Red a cheque from the prosecutor for 22,.200r, th r the eXpress and sole , purpoSe of purcha4g o e z , e ' s ,,e Exchequer bills, to be delivered either r Thomas Planat.r or to his bankers, Messrs. s o u , Bl ings and Sharpe. Previously to the pri t,:ler's receiving the actual ant hority to make the ti" n Sfer of this stock, he had had converse 41'8 With Mr. De Berdt, relative to the purchase b tl a t sum of 10,0001. or 12,0001. American s t oc k ; p ri3o this contract was' not entered into,' before th e l q ner knew that Sir 'l'. P. would have occasiou 11, s ell out a lar g e sour of money._ On the ver y d ay paid lie got possess i on o f t h e prosecutor ' s c h eque, he I d Mr. De Berdt f 1,0001. for American stock, out 1 1 1 t he money he had received from the produce of chequ e u p on M es s rs . G os li ngs an d Sh arpe; tth li nh money he received from Sir T. P. fur no titer trust or authority, but those of purchasing ti eltequ es Bill s f or t h e S o li c i tor -G enera l . U pon A l e Pris oner ' s t rea t y w i t h M r . D e B er d t, f or t h e ,: le rican stock, a question was put by tire latter, scl oether th e s t oc k wa s i nten d e d to b e h e ld b y a per resident in England, or by one intendigg_to itt-Part for America; an() the prisoner stated, !that! h e , stock should be for a person of the latter; de-e t .'Ption. On this day, too, the prisoner paid to brother, Mr. Joseph Walsh, a soul of 1004 or • C ° , ol , other part of the produce of the prosecu -8 cheque, and, deposited in the hands of Mr. (of the house of Thompson, Clarke, and Co. ru nl 'et's), the brother-in-law of the prisoner, a for eMr sn!ri of 4001. for the immediate benefit of his fa - ',Y. On the s ant e d a y, t oo , h e p a id t o M r . F earn , a " : (I stnith, in Cornhill, a sum of money for Portu haa,Pieces of money, for the furnishing of which he previously'contraded with Mr. Fearn. In the after noon of thi s same Th urs d a y, th e p r i soner re -I',rtied to the p rosecu t or ' s c h am b ers , an d e i n fq rt h e d 11 1 that he had purchased Exchequer ltitra',Ab a mount of 60001. o dd, w hi c h h e h a d ecteplasited . . W ith the bank ers ; an d h a d contracted forltrp flu*, chase of the rest, but that they could notte : . yered till the next Saturday, as Messrs. Coitus's b roker, of Whom they had been purchased,. had • . - . • , oc - e t em -tip in raWeri gad on - La ii - " • -' aJ • ' ' l ' gone - I o f town. The Solicitor-General might, however, . depend upon their . being depoSited with Messrs. Goslings ‘On the ,Monday following ;. and ,it had been agreed, that the interest of them should ac crue to Sir Thomas from that Thursday. An appoint ment between the prosecutor and the prisoner was accordingly made, to draw out the d:fference of the '22,0001. from Messrs. Gosling's on the Saturday fol lowing; and the prisoner took his leave. It occurred to Sir Thomas, after the prisoner had left him, to walk down to Messrs. Goslings, and to-,see that all was right ; and there he found that the Exchequer Bills had been deposited, but no money. Inquiry after the prisoner was immediately set on foot, and it was found-that he had left London on that very evening by the Falmouth mail, in which he had .previously taken his place, by a name which stood at the head rif the list, the coach being full. He was imme diately pursued by Sir Thomas's Solicitor, and a Bow-street Officer ; and on the following Monday morning, he was met at Falmouth. Here he de livered up his American stock receipts for 10,5001. and his doubloons to Sir Thomas, and himself to. justice. so. The Learned Counsel was apprised, that attempts would be made to excite doubts upon the law of 'this case, and yet it clearly amounted to felony, the felonious intention being made manifest long be fore the commission of the larceny. The prisoner resided at Hackney, and left that place for LOU don at ten o'clock on the Thirrday morning in question,' by the stage. He brought a portmanteau with him, which he entrusted' to the charge of Mr. Webb, a hosier, in Threadneedle -street, where the stage sat him down. He told Mr. Webb he was going out of town for a few days, and should want a quantify of warm boot-siockings,which he afterwards bought of him,. together with tour night-caps. At Falmouth, he stated to Mr. Jenkins, the prosecutor's solicitor, that his intention was to have gone to Lis bon by the next packet, and thence, as opportunity might offer, to America ; as, indeed, his possession of the doubloons and American stock fully proved : which latter, it would be recolle&cd lie stated to Mr. De Berdt, was wanted for one about to reside there. The use Mr. Garrow made of this, was to prove that at the time the prisoner received the prosecutor's banknotes at Messrs. Goslings, he intended to steal them, or to convert them illegally to his own use, without the authority of their proprietor. The pri soner had stated a control with Messrs. Cootts's broker, which had not been entered into ; had de elated himself to hake made a 'deposit which had • been paid; and had made an appoiromi'ent for Satur day with the intention of taking his :departure on the previous Thursday. He had purchased si,merican .stock, for *which Le had no funds of his own to pay ; he had bought foreign coin with the manifest into)- , tion of going to Lisbon ; and there could be no doubt that he :.ad always the felonious purpose in his mind, arc' had long to mired his plan. Did the July want more than this, the prisoner had furnished them with it. His letters written alter his departure would shew t I , e, progress of his mind neon . the sub ycr, and would r-v ince a very early intention to de fraud somebody ; the object having first been a Mr. O. whose mercenary habits would suffer no body to pity his loss. Sir T. P's money came, however, in the prisoner's way; and 'though his liberality _of mind gave him the eery opposite character to that of Mr. O. yet his ample fortune would render the. loss nnsuscepible by him. There was also another letter- to the prisoner's wife, in which he informed her, that he had well provided himself with linen for a longer journey than that which he gave out to some people, and accounted to her for what she might miss from his drawers. Still' if any dif culty should occur upon the law 'of this case, the Learned Counsel had no doubt but his Lordship would permit it to be discussed in the most so lemn manner, at a future opportunity, upon time taken for the discussion. MO. Garrow, however, thought the law clear, upon the oldest authorities, that this was larceny, simple larceny, without the aggravation o stealing from the person, dwelling house, or upon the highway. The definition of larceny was the felonious taking of personal chattels against the will 0-11-d without the consent of the pro prietor. One of the first cases in which the Learn ed Counsel was employed, - recognised the old law upon this subjeti. It was the case of J. H. Aickles, a money-lender, who was tried for stealing a bill of exchange of 1001. value, the property of S. Edwards. Aickles undertook to get this bill discounted for Ed . wards; and under pretence of taking it to a neigh bouring street for that purpose, ran away with it, .and was prosecuted fur the felony. It was contend ed by the present Learned Recorder, who was then Counsel for the prisoner, that this did not constitute felony ; and the question was made, what was the intention 91 the pr isoner in receiving the bill; if with, a felonious intention to convert it to his own use, as the Jury found upon a special verdid, it was decided by all the Judges to be felony. In that case, there was no declaration on the part o(t he prisoner by letter that he had made preparations to depart for a distahf : country ; there was no provision of American stock, or of Lisbon doubloons : there was only the fa6t of the prisoner's withdrawing himself with the bill: and upon the decision of all the Judges he was trans ported. With the rest of his life the learned Coun sel had nothing to do. The present charge did not affect the life of the prisoner at the. \ bar ; and the qdestion was, whe her he did not all along intend feloniously to convert the 'prosecutor's money. - Had the Jury any doubt that the prisoner's mind was big with that intention when he negociated the purchase of the Ametican stock with Mr. De Berdt, —when he purchased the doubloons,—when he pro- , .vided himself with the portmanteau and quantity of linen• far a long absence ? His letters would shew that he entertained the purpose, probably as early as 'the time when he threatened Thomas with the fall of the funds as low as 50 ; and advised him, that he had better sell out at once. It might be said, that the prisoner actually bought 6,0001. Excite !. quer Bills, and therefore could not ~ have in tended, to . convert. the whole : but this was evidently done, to conceal his purpose: it was necessary : to his fraud upon the remainder. If the prisoner h:ti nai returned to the prosecutor with any ExchequcAßllls on the Thursday, suspicion would have bees alive instantly, and every mail-coach and expeltion would - have been searched that set out from London 'net night.. The right appropriation of 6,0001...wa5. necessary to lull Sir Thomas into a security, f; fin which he was not exile led to wake till the S4tircJay ' I or Monday following. And it was, inde4l,llle Mere accident of his walking doWn Mestit. Cos; ling's on the Thursday, and asking therri the sti -1 rfitious question, " Has Mr. Walsh paid in the Exchequer Bills, and the money too ?" that led to the immediate discovery of the W! ale fraud. The learned Counsel concluded by saying, that he could see nothing in this case which dis anguished it from all former ones, except its greater strength ; and his Lordship would either decide the law now, or reserve the point, as he-should set) best. Sir T. Plomer was then examined. He stated, that for many years past he had employed the prisoner as his stock-broker. In the course of last summer he made a contra& for the purchase of a conAlderable estate, and informed Mr. Walsh of the circuinitance, and that he shoutd be obliged to complete the pur chase by Michaelmas. In consequence of which, he consulted with Mr. W. upon the propriety of selling a large quantity of stock in the furlds, for 'the purpose of meeting the occasion. Mr. W. how.: ever, advised him not to sell so soon, as there was a prospe& of a considerable rise in the funds, and the later the sale was postponed the better. As the title to the estate which he intended to purchase was not made out, he was not in such a hurry, and there fore waited until Mr. W. himself, about the middle of November, urged him strongly to sell otu his stock ; giving him, as a reason, that the fundsseould fall. He complied wit h his suggestions; but as the con• treat for the estate was not sufficiently forward tor_ completion, he suggested the idea of laying out the money, which would otherwise lie idle, in the pur chase of Exchequer Bills. He had given a written permission to the prisoner on the 28th of Novem ber, to sell out his stock ; and a subsequent day (vas fixed by MI% W. for him to attend at his office, for the purpose of transferring the stock. He should not have sold out so soon, but for the repeated soli citations of Mr. W. When the stock was sold Out, he received am account of the produce from the pri soner, which he left him to pay into Messrs. Gos. hng and Co's, (the witness's bankers), and which he said he would do. It- was the .4:h of December that._ he went into the city to transfer the stock: The , prisoner said he would, call next morning at hiS chambers, in Lincoln.inn•square, and receive - a check for the money, which he did, - and witness gave him a check on Messrs. Gosling for 22,2001. If was given for no other purpose titan to purchase ' Exchequer Bills, which prisoner promised to bring to him at - 4 o'clock on the sth Dec. The-prisoner ac cordingly cabled next day, about half-past four or a gnat ter before five. He seemed flurried ,and out of breath, and complained of being afflicted with an asthma, of which indeed his father-had died. Wit tiess requiested him to sit down and recover himself . before he proceeded to business; and shortly after: ward, the prisoner produced alsaper containing an account of Exchequer Bills amounting to Mirth which he said he had deposited at Messrs. Go,lings, and added that. he had contracted for the amount of 15,5001.- more with Mr. Trotter, the broker of Messrs. Coutts, 'which he said could not deli vered to him on that day, as they were locked up in a drawer at Messrs. Coutts's house; but that they would be delivered to him on Saturday the 7th, and said that he should,'on that day, call on the witness for his check for the amount on his bankers, where the prisoner then said he 'bad deposited the ha lance of the 22,000 i. after eying for the former bills, the banker's receipt for which bills he gave the witness, but not for the money ; and after some friendly and familiar inquiries respecting Sir T. P.'s family, went away. Sit 'l'. on his way home to dinner, called in at his bankers', and, on inquiring there, rather from accident than any sus picion, found the Exchequer Bills had been lodged there, but no money. Witness, rather surprised at' this circumstance, compared with the prisoner's de claration, called next morning at his office, in An gel-court, but was told he was out. Witness never saw him afterwards wstil-he was in custody at Bow street. On the Saturday morning following, there ) was a letter brought, to him by Mr. Atwright, the prisoner's clerk, accompanied by Mr. Tdson, a pro fessional gentleman ; which letter stated, that Mr. Coutts's broker, Mr. Trotter, would not come to town until Monday, and therefore the Exchequer Bills could not be deltverederil then; and that the prisbner had stated to the ' broker, that Monday would be a vet y inconvenient day for the witness; but upon his assuring him that the interest should commence from the Thursday preceding, he agreed to the day, and said _he shotild call for Sir Thomas at half-past three on Monday. - Several letters were now put in from the prisoner, to his clerk . , Mr. Atwright-, to Mr. Clarke, his bro ther-in-law, to his brother, and:others; which the witness identified to he the hand-WyWng of the pri soner. The witness was then cross-examined by M. Q. It appears, Sir, that you placed implicit confi dence in the prisoner at the bar ?-11'. Yes. 1 believe you have done so for a considerable time ?—l' have, in the purchase and sale of stock.. ~ • He was a stock-broker by trade ?•-•-•He was. 'You recollea whether the proposal to , purchase Exchequer Bills came from you originally, as a ques 'tion upon which you took your own opinion, or was it his suggestion ?—lt is very likely it might be my own suggestion; I certainly told him I did not want the money., but that something might be' done with it in the intermediate time, between the sale of the stock. and the completion of my purchase of an estate; or else the money must lie idle at the b;mker's. I told him repeatedly I was not in want of the money, and I asked him whether it would not be well to .vest it in Exchequer Bills, in the ioterim ; and lie said it certainly. would. Do you know, when the money was.receivert for; .the sale of the stock, whether he immediately paid the produce into the hands of }'our bankers, or with 'a draft upon his own banker ?—That does not fall within my own knowledge ; but I have heard that he paid it with his own check upon another banker. I presume, then, he lodged . the money at his banker's, and paid it to your's by means of a check "on his own ?—I understand that he did so in great part ; but that there was 2701. short of the v hole sum which he paid by another check. Ip this transaction, he was , engaged for the sale of stock, in the way of his trade, as a stock-broker ? You have stated that .when you gave him the check for 22,2001. the only object you had in view was to lay it out in the purchase of. Exchequer Bills ?-7—ye, Du you recollect giving him any particular in. 1-t nctioti to i to the mode iii NiPhich he ili6uld obi4iti 11)9 money for the 6htfcic ?-- . .1\10, I do nOt: Then it was left at his dhcretion v;Thether. should get the 8a...k notes froni your banker int: rdediately, or pay it in In his Own banker and get the trioney froth g4v6 bitn the chebk With.; out any. injunoliotij. Then the objeti }on had in vieW wonid have beeti as• Well answered, if . lie had paid the check to the person (row Wii.oin he wasth purelAi e the PAette cider or paid the money Vito his own l;:mkers --.:Ceriaidljr, I had no idea but-that fie was going Co my bankers ininiediwely. Wag that joy part Of the contract cer tainly not. Q. (By Sir A. M‘Doriki.b.) There were no di rections bat he should do when he got the check ? —Certainly not, my Lord ; but it was Understood hat .hea,ciaa to lay out the piOdUce in the pure - base' of Ex,cbequer Bills. He told cue that he had }mkt the money into the banker's and that he had called upOrt cue for a check to purchase Exchequer Mils. - Q. (By Mr. SCARIATT.) _Wii;il I mean is, was it any part of the centract, that he should take that check, and receioe the Bank notes for it ?=--A. No ; certainty. It was my intension, and he told me it wits his intention to take the money from the banker's._ Do you know whether it had been his pra6lice to take your checkg•.6 your bankers, or pay them into' the hand; of his own i—For a considerable time he used to lay out the rtiOney out of Ois own pocket, and afterwards call upan kg a check on my bankers to reimburse hitnself. - Here the examination of the prosecutor closed, and he retired. Now the letters hefore-mantion4d in the hand- . writi2ig of the- prisoner w e re read. They were chiefly &retied to hi - Orr - other, to his brother-in-law, - and'his clerk. 'They,are rather too long for repen fion-liefe;' but their ptirport, however, so far as they bore upon this case, was to state, tha . t the mu . ti%es ts wltjvh . - indUced bitrk to this ad of embezzle,. tript, and to abscond farm the country; were tli ruinous and hopeless state of his atLiirs, the dread of 'plunging into poverty and wait a helm ,ed wife, in the last few days of her prttnancy, atieseven ehildien ; and the desperate determina tion of securing some meaus`for their manienance. They expressed the deepest sorrow and remorse for having thus robbed Sir T. P. •of so ()inch property, and thereby aggravated the crime of fraud by ingra titude and' treachery to a confidential .and generous friend, to'Whom lie owed many signal acts offriend ship 'and - ':fisiistance ; but stating, that he. ,rasher cljoso the fraud on Sir T. P. whose afii ple . fortunFwould enable-, hi m to sustain and. 011 - 81.14 ) Ow loss with little difficulty, than. o(mm/tilers' whom it. might rain. And 'in one of thrise letters ; addressed to Sir T. P. himself, dated the 7th of, December, he acknowledges his -cri• minality and ingratitude ; explains his motives ; professes the deepest - remorse; throws himself t n his clemency, and promises to repay him if ever he should possess the means. • In one of those letters to his brother, dated from Falmouth, -dfter avowing his plan for quilting the country, and expressing his hove of a speedy change of wind, favourable to 'his departure in the Lisbon packet, he requested his brother to address him by the name of Bryan Wallace; and also requests him to call on Mr. w arn, silversmith, in Cornhill, frotn whom he had purchased, a qulntily of doubloons, to request he might keep the matter secret. , Wirnesses were next produced to carry on the chain of evidence. Wm. Hu.wings, clerk to Messrs Gosling, Fleet street : he•probed the payment and numbers of 22 one-thousand pounds Bank notes for Sir Thomas Plomer's check, to Mr. Walsh himself; and also prov,ect i haying giCen the prisoner a receipt for six thouiand pounds in Ei(chequt-r Bills, which ha 'lodged on the sth of December, for Sir Thom s ; and that he had paid in no other security nor money at the time. William Harman, stock-broker, proved that he had sold the prisoner Exchequer Bills to it e amount of 60001. and India BDnds to - the amount of 15001. and was paid by him with eight one-thousand pound notes, tallying in numbers with the termer list ;this witness denied that the prisoner spoke to him for any other E'schequer Bills, and he never kneW any dittiCulty in procuring such B Its to the ampAtit •i1ff2.54,0001. on any day. Mr. Peupis.De Berdt, of the house of Dearman, anate.' ,brokers, proved, that previous to the 29Ifigil'Iveinher, the prisoner called on. him, and hat] several conversations respecting the purchasing ten or 1 1,000!. worth of American Stock; which Mr.'Walsh'said was not for a capitalist in this coun try, but for a person going to reside in America.— On the 2gth of November the prisoner called at his office, and gave his _final_order for the purchase of the stock of I 1,0001. ; and on Thursday, the .sth of December, witness called at the pr soner's office, and received eleven one-thousand pound Bank -notes, to lying in nurnbeis with those paid by Mr. Gosling. The certificates of the stock surren• dered by the prisoner at Falmouth, were then pro• duced, and poved by the witness.' . Mr. Joseph Walsh, of the Temple, the prison; . 'ii brother, said, that the prisoner paid to _him on the stlr of December, a debt of l i 991. which. he had owed :him for some time, and for which be bad urged him - several days previously ; part of the payment was a Bank-note of 10001. the number of which was afterwards proved to be one of those received that day by the prisoner, at Messrs. Gos. 1i9P;4115_ Mi . , Thomas Clarke, the prisoner's brother-in f)roved,.that, on the sth of December he re ceived froin . the prisoner a Bank-note-for Lowit: which proved to be one of the not,s paid to . the prisoner by Gosling and Co. and out of which the witness gave him (ioul. ; the remainder, as appeared by the letters, to be left for certain family purpos'es of the prisonei "Henry Atwright, the•prisoner's clerk, proved his .having received,44orn the prisoner" another 10901. note of the 5t h of December, for which, by the prisoner's desire, he obtained change in smallei - notes at the Batik of - England, and out of which he paid, by the prisoner's desire, 3001. to his father, which the prisoner -- owed hi4n. This note was proved. to .be one of those paid by Gosling and. C 9. , It , GARROW here said, that after the palpable proofs of fraud already adduced, be. would not take up the time of the Court, unless their Lord•