The Express.
London, England, 1846-12-21 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1846

he wr.s, and chatted to him. Mr. Richardson the foreman
to Mr. Lawton, pawnbroker, Green-street, Leicester-squnre,
deposed, on the 7th of January, 1815, the very day he
obtained this partion of the property in question from the
prosecutor, the prisoner called at Mr. Lawton'', shop, and
offered two brooches as security for a sum of 2001. Witness
offered 1501. The prisoner refused to take the amount, but
said he would have 75/. on one of the brooches, and make
that sum do fur the present. Witness paid the money, de-
ducting 3s. Bd. fur the agreement. The prisoner received
the memorandum, end a card of the transaction. Witness
questioned the prisoner about the property. The prisoner
(Iceland he had purchased the diamonds abroad, and had
manufactured them into brooches in England. Ott the 9th
of January the prisoner called again, and offered the other
brooch. Witness advanced 80!., and deducted 4s. for the
agreement. The prisoner signed the book, and received the
usual card. On the 16th of January the prisoner called
earth', and had 25!. advanced on a brilliant ring. On the
20th of January he came again, and had a similar sum ed.
vanced on another brilliant ring. Witness questioned the
prisoner agnin very closely as to the property. The pri-
soner again poeitively asserted that all the property
Ile had pledged was his own. The prisoner said
he bad lately come into some property: and in a very
short time he should be able to redeem the Jewellery. Wit-
ness saw nothing more of the prisoner until after his appre-
hension. An application for the return of the property was
made in 1845 to Mr. Lawton by Mr. Linnit. About August
1845, witness, at Mr. Lawton's request, delivered all the
property to Mr. Attenkorough. The interest to be charged
to the prisoner was at the rate of 15 per cent. per annum.
Mr. Lnng fully committed the soner.
I LANILIETII.—IM Rpri
ORIMUY.— William Abbott,
a person who has till lately carried on an extensive baldness
as a boot and shoemaker, and Ann Alexander, a common
prostitute and notorious thief, were placed at the bee h. fore
the Hon. G. C. Nertun, on a charge of robbing Mr. John
Charnock of a direr watch and appendages. On the night
of Wednesday weds, the Prosecutor, on his way home, was
accosted in high-street, ewinatin, by the female prisoner,
who asked him to treat her. Mr. Charnock, slid he had ant
no money, and she snatched the watch from his pocket. Ile
challenged her with the robbery, and was soon surrounded by
two men and another woman, one of ahem knocked his hat
over his eyes. lie, however, held the female prisoner fast,
until a constable came up, to whom he gave her into custody.
Abbott, two days utter the robbery, had sent a man named
Iluat, to pledge the stolen watch and appendages.--Alex-
ander, in her defence, denied all knowledge of the robbery,
and said she had been passing accidentally, when the prow-
cuter seized her, and charged her with taking his watclt.—
Abbott said he had purchased it from a Jew on the day
b More ter 31.—Beth were fully coamittrd fur trial, but
Abbott was admittd to hail.

MOY.RY MIIRKE7I

SAMMAT EVENING.

The funds were without variation from yesterday
at the opening of the market, rather heavy however, but on
the arrival of the French mail some time alter the com-
mencement of Lu-iness, bringing prices lower from Paris,
followed by sales of Tnrce-and-a-Quarter per Cents., prices
were not maintained. Consuls declined to 933 tog for the
opening. Three-and-a-Quarter pc r Cents. to 931 to 1. Some
rather considerable sales have been made during the last few
days, it is stated, in Three-and-a-Quarter per Cent. Stock by
parties usually acting for public bodies. Reduced Threes,
931 to 4. Bank Stock, 2n61 to 71. Long Annuities,
9 13-1 G to Exchequer Bills have fallen to 10s. to 124.
premium.
The indisposition to active operations in foreign stocks of
any extent continues to prevail. Although the prices of
some of these securities are made to rise, even from clay to
day, and are secularly quoted at advanced rates, the facts
which, if they were the results naturally sprineing from suf-
ficient causes, should attract speculation among dealers, if not
investment on the part of the public, appear to act in the
adverse sense in both respects. Spanish and Portuguese
may both be reported with quotations in advance upon those
of yesterday, which were also better than those of the day
before, without the continuous improvement being followed
with active, or almost any, business in either case. Spanish
Fives are now called 263 to ; the Thre,s, 37' to ,i. l'ortu-
guese, 37 to 8. Mexican, 231 to 4. Venezuela, 391 to 401.
Dutch Two-and-a-half per Cents., GO to 3 ; the Fours, 921
to 1.
A report was in circulation on 'Change to-day of the
stoppage or embarrassments of a mercantile house of some
standing in the city, understood to have mainly reeulted
from extensive but unfortunate railway speculations.
The Bank of England averages for the week ending the
12th instant give, as compared with those of the week preced-
ing, the following results :
Circulation—lathe £28,410,733
Meal-Won —Active 19,783,920
Public deposits ....... 9,183,471
Other deposits
Government eccurlticsin
Banking Department.. 12,807,417
Otht r securities 13,879,960
Coin and bullion
day and other bills ... 883,995
The Rest 3,437,378
The feature in the present returns IS the rather consider-
able increase of coin and bullion at a time when, to
some exteut, an outflow for exportation had commenced.
The increase would most probably result from purchases
made by the issue department of a corresponding proportion
of metallic values held under lock for merchants' account,
separately of course from the Bank reserves. The increase,
minus 9,0101 in the banking, was altogether in the issue de-
partment, and represented the balance between 31,5411. of
silver withdrawn, and 173,1711. of gold bought in. If the
additional quantity of gold had arisen from the excess et
internal circulation returned upon the Bank, it should have
figured perhaps in tha stock of the banking department in a
certain degree, if not to the corresponding amount, against
securities retired, or matured. The decrease of private, or
" other " deposits would seem to forbid the supposition that it
could have entered the Bank in that direction. The accru-
ing reserve of note. in the banking department, then accu-
mulated to 8,623,815 k, serves to denote the absence of pres-
sure for accommodation on such classes of securities as the
bank would admit for discount, or is in the habit of ad-
vancing upon. The next returns, embracing the week now
closed, will show how far advances may have been required
to the dote, of the shutting of Consols and other stocks.
There has been u controversy for sonic days past in the
papers about the uses and abuses of crossed cheques. Certain
parties complain that the Bank of England has infringed a com-
mon custom in paying a cheque presented by one banker which
was specially crossed with the name of another. With re-
spect to the " custom " assumed, that question has been de-
cisively di. posed of by a correspondent signing " 111." in
our last publication. There is no such absolute custom.
It may, and it does, happen in some very few isolated cases,
but these are the exceptions to the general rule. The Bank,
however, is not quite blameless in the matter. Some four or
five years since it promulgated certain regulations for the
government of its own practice, and with a view, doubt-
less, to adoption in general banking business. One of
these, was, we believe, that no cheque which had
Leen cut in halves, though wafercd or pasted to-
gether subsequently for presentation, would be paid at
the Bank. This regulation had reference, of course, to the
growing practice of drawing and remitting cheques from a
(listener by post, headed and dated as they must be from
London, and as documents, therefore, for paying upon ques-
tionable or illegal. Another regulation was that the Bank
would honour no cheques, except to the banker's name first
crossed upon it. This rule of the Bank caused much dissatis-
faction in banking circles at the time, and neither then, nor
since, has it been adopted as a standard of usage, except by
cue or more westend banks. Finding this, the Bank, after
a time, found it convenient silently to drop the rule in
its owe business. Blame therefore attaches to the directors
of the establishment for not having given public r otice that
the order was rescinded, so that no misapprehension could
prevail in any quarter. It may be doubted whether, legally,
cheque., however crossed, could be refused payment by
whomsoever presented, as they are made payable to bearer.
However convenient as a male of checking payments, or as a
sort of receipts, not law fully recognisable after all, except in
the shape of collateral evidence, the system of erossieg and
re-crossing herders so closely upon endorsements as to bring
it very nearly., if not quite, within the category of bills of
exchange. The crossing system, in fact, is made use of to a
vast extent for the purpose of putting off payments in cash
for one day. Thus, on a settlement of account day at the
Stock Exchange, three-fourths of the business at lenst
ore liquidated by crossed cheques, which arc squared
off against each other, so far as private bankers, at the clear-
ing house. But if, next day, A shall be Et defaulter, the
cheques of B, C, and D, with whom have been his chief
deahnge, find no corresponding funds to answer them, along
with other claims, at their payment depended on the funds
to be procured from dishonoured cheques A. Thus the pas-
sage of elopes is no criterion of a balance of stock accounts,
and the broker or jobber cannot know until the next day how
the liquidation may have left him circumstanced, although a
large gainer upon balance of dealings. In a time of great
fluctuations of prices and excitement many members of the
house are thus condemned to sleepless hours betwixt pay-day
and the day following, when cheques unhonoured are return-
able.
ENGLLSII FUNDS.

Bank Stock, 207
3 per Ct. Red. Anne., 944 34
New 31 per Ct. Anns., 94 4
Long Auu.s., lip. Jun. 3, 1540, 9:
POBEI(3

Coast,ier opening, 933 3
Each. 11111,4, 4:1,0110, 13d.„ 10 12
Ditto, £5OO, 10 12
Ditto, mail, 13
4 FUNDS.

5 per Ct. Mexican, 1816, 24 -
Ditto Account, Dec. 31, WI
Ditto small, 244
3 per Ct. Portuguese limuls, 341
4 per Cc at. Portuguese Barb.,
ACCOIIII4 374 B.

5 pee&rit: Spanish Bonds, Dir.
from Nov., I Sin, 261.
5 per Ct. Spanish rass.ce 8d.., 5j
3 per Cent. Kr anish Sonde, 37;
2 per Cent. Venezuela Bonds, 40
4 per Cent. Dutch Certificates, 921
I Erut-tES ABROAD.
Drr.

EXCHANGER AND
PAIIIR, 1