The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-08-30 00:00:00

THE FORGERIES ON THE BANK OF

ENGLAND.

The trial of the four Americana charged with the
Bank forgeries was concluded on Tuesday. The psi.
sonere MarAminell and George Bidwell addressed the
Jury, and each admitted his guilt, but dec:ared that
Austin Bidwell knew nothing of the frauds. Mactlon-
nell stated that in America, when bills were offered for
discount, the acoeptcas were always applied to, and
they were required to initial their ac.ieptance, but here
nothing of the kind was required; and thie led him to
contemplate the howl. Noyes said he knew some-
thing wee wrong, hut he was not aware of the forgeries.
They wore each sentenced to penal servitude for life,
and tr, • fourth of the costs of the prosecution.

After the addressee to the jury, (Macdonald and
George Bidwell personally addressing them)
Mr. leak, Archibald, In eummlng up, mid the prisoners
were indictd for forging and uttering • Mil of exchange for
iLL001), with Intent to defraud. That was the offeece charged
against them, hut, In the course taken by the prosecution,
they had laid before the jury evidence to show that the
Prisoner. were all concerned In • frattlulent seheme for the
purpose of defrauding the Bank of England, and that the
bill in question was hut one of the steps In the execution of
that design If the Jury were satieni,il that there was com•
mon concert and underatanidug between the prisoners to
forge the hill or its acceptance, they all would be as guilty
as If each had traced the hill and uttreit it with it, own
hand, lie need herdly say that in a cam of that kind, as In
every case, they started with the assumption of the entire
innocence of the prisoners, sod It was for the
prosecution to establish u their cue in a manner
remonanly satisfactory, andr to Mode°. evidence *MAI
would carry home to the minds of the Jury a reitannable con-
vlction that the accused were guilty in the manner .1.-
gested to thern. In the commisalon of crime. such as that,
they mast necessarily expect to fled that a great deal had
been done to conceal t; e fraud fierpetreted, aid that the
steps were not those usually to he traced in honest teener:-
Hone, and In emiing with such evidence the exercien et
intelligent and manly common setae was nects.a.y. They
most not lamp to the conclusion that, because there
toad been concealment, there had therefore been fraud,
lout, on the other hand, they must riot be blind to the
Vance, steps which they would expeet to find In cases
of that nature. He did not purpose minutely to go over
the evidence adduced In the cisme. because it would
doubtless ee fresh in the minds of the jury. who hal listened
to it with very great attention and patleuce, and especialy
after the statements of the prisoners George Blilweli
Macdonnell, who had Virtually palmated their Relit.
Macdonnell had openly ennfeesed his participation In the
fraud, arid George htgofl bed adopted his natement, though
without that confession. As regarded the latter prisoner,
there was no doneA from the ell.inllCo that he had been splay
of forging the bill In fpnletiOn and many there George
H.edehhell In titillation, made a stetxment with ewer-
enc. to ate,' slier prisoner. He the Judge) ceutioned the jury
to ',c.0.. that statement with very considerable care, enu t to tree', it as anything open which they could rely, mil se
they ;round theta wee coneletent with the facts of the case at
proved by the witnesses, it was quite open for the prieoultrs
as have pleatied guilty, end then to have been called BM wit-
nesses for the others, but they had net taken that course.
'rhelr evidence if they 1,1 lone so, would have toeen given
on oath, and they would '" to cr.:ewe:amine-
tion. The jury must ceasequently • •'•,.10:101141 as an admission by the prisoners of their own not
rely upon them for any other purpose, except no
lou
'greed with the evidence laid before them. Tney must re-
collect also that they were the *Leaman/a of perecns who ad-
mitted in the same breadth that they were guilty of • very
grave crime, and therefore they ought to receive them wan
the utmost caution. The learned Jielge then reviewed the
evidence with great care with a view to ascertain. for the
guidance of the jury, hoer far the rem cluing prisoners,
Austin Bidwell aim Hills, hail been coricerned in the fennel,
that, aitoongh
He observed, In the course of teat review,
Austin Bidwell hail left England In January, yet, If he
made arrangements for the forgery to be c %entitled In his
name, he was Pest as guilty as If he had written and
signed the 1,111 himself, to conclusion, he ststed that if
the evidence laid before the jury led time to the Conelinfinn
that all the nrisimeis were engaged In a censpiracy eelth •
common dentrn end sciierne to err c, • frau I er intone,
Which was in fact seilinLoiwrit/y ffected, and thiit rich one
of them .as a party t ii, and intonded that if should he
canted out, they would all be guilty. If, however, they
mw any Hurl ground for making a distinction between their
MN, or isle 5 reasonable conviction satisfactory to their

own minds that any one of them was Innocent, though he
. thers were guilty, they would, of c 'arse, give the prisoners
the bent tit of the doubt.

The Jury retired to consider their verdict shortly after
seven Wel .c.k. and in returning into Court after the lapse of
about a quvrter of an hour, they gave in • verdict of Guilty
against a I tour prisoners.

The Court was then crowded, and much excitement pre-
vailed The armed policemen In plain clothes—who since
the oiscov,ry of the recent plot to liberate the prisoner.
Iron. No Agate had guarded the dock—now cloecd in behind
them to a formidable body as sentence wan about to be pro-
nounced.

Ou tieing asked, In the usual form, If they had anything to
cry why sentence should not he parsed upon them, the pad.
loner Austin IS:dwell replied that he had uothirg to say for
himself, though he 'bight at such a time have retorted to op-
porturiltiel thrown away and talents wasted. hut he would
take advantage of the only opportunity he would have to
repair a wrong he had done to a gentleman in. u in Court,
and for which he was t xtrernely sorry. tie alluded to Colonel
Francis, the manarer of the Western Breech Of the Bank of
England, g that as years rolled on the Colonel's re...0-mani
mani towards him would wear away. That gentleman had
been made the subject of considerable criticism, but, speak•
log from his knowledge of the circurnAtences he would say
that any other mania London, however able, had he been In
the position of Colonel Francis, would have Meets deceived
In the same way as he was. The only reparation he could
now make him was to say how extremely and sincerely
sorry he was to have deceived him In the manner he had
done.

George Macdonntli observed that he had nothing to say to
the vi.r.lict so far as himself was cmcerned, hut he must
refer t the case of Noyes.
Mr. Justice Archttaid, interrupting, told the prisaner he
w4s thi.n only allowed to state anything why judgment
should not be passed, sod could not go into the cAle of any
otlr prisoner.

Mandolinell, reruining, said so:far as any forgery was e
cerned he kuew nothing whatever of it, and had no idea that
forgery was about to be perpetrated.

litorge 11,1..01 said he had now not a shillivg In the
world, except what was in the hands of the authorities, he
had to request that some portion of the property taken
from him, and which he brought with him from Am-rica—
It being no part of the proceeds of the forgery—alight be
placed at the disposal of a p.rson In whom he was Interested,
anti ..1.030 name he would give.
Mr. Justice Archbald said that was a matter with which
the Court could not deal.

George Bidwell said he did not ask any sourideration for
hluitelf, hut he begged that his brother, who waa a young
man, and but recently married, might Ire dealt with merci-
fully. Referring to the prisaaer Noyes, he said he had
been kept in ignorance of the real state of affair,.

Noyes, addressing the Court, mid it was not in evidence,
hut the prosecution knew that it we. with great reluctance he
cave to London. Ile did not deny that he had been so-
nu .Inted with ell the other prisoners, bu . when he arrived
he knew nothing that was going to take place. it was not
until the latter part of the time that he became aware any-
thing we. wrong. lie was kept in ignorance ag to who the
man Warren wee. and what he ihougat wrong appeared to
him to have reference to depreciated stock, lie c dmiuded
by making all earnest appeal to the Judge to temper justice
with mercy . .

air. Jusiice Archibald, after a pause, proceeded to pass
sentence. Addressing each of the lour prisoners by name,
he said :—You bare severally been convicted of this offema,
and although the Indictment only charged you with forging
one bill of exchange, It has been necessary to the evidence
adduced for the prosecution to bring before the Court and
Jury teethm ny which shows you were each Implicated in a
crime which, perhape, lo r the audacity of its conception, the
magnitude of the fraud perpetrated, and the misdireoted skill
and legoeulty with which It was attempted to be carried
Into effect. is without a paralleL I can see no pallistlug
or militating circumstance., in your offence. You were not
pressed by want ; on the contrary, you appear to have em-
barked In this nefarious scheme a very considerable amount
of money. How you became possessed of it does not appear.
You were not Ignorant or unable to contemplate the full
effects of the crime you were cell:minting. You were per-
sons of educath n, so far, Indeed, as I can apply that term
to niece intense ual training, without any cormsemiding
development of the moral sense Seme of you can speak
several foreign linguages, and all of you were acquainted
with commercial and banking business. The success of the
enterprise was only rendered possible by the fact that In these
day., with the Immense commercid operations going on In
various directions, it is necessary to extend to those who
are engaged In or who contemplate such operations, and who
Kiva reason to believe they are IT en of business and of ap-
parent respectability, the utmost confidence. It is not the
least atrocious part of your crime that you have given a
never° blow to that confidence which has been so long
maintained and protected In this couhtry. You, who now ,
ask for mercy, and who are not restrained by respect for
law or h meaty, must be met with a terrible retrinutioll
and It should be well known that thou who commit
crimes which only persons of education sometimes
commit will be sere to meet with a very heavy,
punishment. I cannot see any reason to make a distinction
in t-e sentence lam about to pan. In regard to that sen-
tence, if I could conceive any case of forgery worse than this
I should have eudeavoured ticks Into corisiderati,in a-bother
some punishment less than the maximum might have been
sufficient ; but, as I cannot conceive a worse case, I cann.t
perceive any reason for mitigating the sentence. That gen-
tee. is that each and all of 3ou be kept in penal servitude
for life ; and, in addition to that sentence, I order that
each ore of sou shall pay one-fourth of the costs of the
prosecution.