The Express.
London, England, 1860-11-28 00:00:00

ri;_z,§VVIM,G, NOVEMBER _ 28. 1860.

14rgS

ILide Irdt-Ufrut.

JUDICIAL COIMTTEE OF THE PRIVY

0017NCIL—Now. 27.
lordsidp mat today for the ant time (helm their
aiding& The noble sad !ems& lamb present were—Lard
Sir J. Oolendge,Larti JuMe• Knight Dews.
aodCititorld mike Toner. noir lordships won sim
t:slstio day is kaarWg arguments in ow from
the Onset of Now Wonswick, which had not
when the court row

7

have agpoietml the hasdalint nephew York b
ems*" leellelekat rieplew Tian
Edin New
burgh the.
He of hie Want NM f The masa woo too should.
1111r0. Cromwell) now came le the LAME of Nov. 12,
which it was admitted wenlglisegiemise, at Gas
as end to the emu In the fleetst was It net p=
thst soh a YAW would haw hem by • man in the
almsamlanese of Mr. Shedd= ? Was lt not Misty that in
wowing the existence of his son he would mile to his
asghew, whom he appointed reardian, inspeak Ids MM-
US'', sat behalf of the beg
_7 Hat Won the hetet was
written Mr. MaMr. Pesti* lad assessed to Mr. William
Path* Om death-bed martlege stating, that Mr. Shed.
don's " object in this proceed's' was to rescue from • state
of baitardy, and introduce into the world, with all the pri-
vileges eggertaning to those who are bore under the influ-
ence of the law, two infant children, one • girl about six
years of ye, sad lir eat a boy of about dye. The cere-
mony toot place ea the 7th indent—it wan to him a hard
struggle but the esmsklerations abovammilioned prepon-
derated." A little farther on he said, " Brides the two
children mentioned Its he. one other, a girl, about 12 years
old, by another woman, who is lon dead—his very
image, but who ma reap no benefit from the measures
adopted, being considered in the eye of the law a bastard."
So that Mr. John Patrick distinguished between the status
of the two children of Anne Wilson and the child of the
diseased by another warm; and it wee perfectly clear that
he (Mr. Patrick) believed at that time that the death-bed
marriage would be effectual for the purpose for which it was
said it was damned namely, for the legitimization of the
petitioner and his sister. What possible °Nest could he
have in entering into • conspiracy to write stetter like that?
To Mr. Patrick's letter was appended this postscript:—
" Nov. 11. In the morning W. Shedden gradually ap-
prowled his end. He has looked into his affairs, and
wrote to his friends. He hos two important kitten to
write, and he dice oontented. One is to you, respecting his
children, &c." So that the deceased had only one letter to
write to Mr. William Shedders- The original letter was not
forthcoming, but instead of that there was what purported
to be • copy of it, attested by John Mills, who bad been as-
'pertained to have been a clerk in Mr. She ldeu's employment.
Another copy of it had come by another ship, aLa at-
tested by Mills ; and, he would ask, what ground was there
for eumwting that Mills, whom Mr. Shedden had actually
remembered items will, would land himself to so abominable
• falsehood as to copy as his master's a letter fabricated by
some one else. The Utter began—" My very dear Nephew,
—My long and painful illness must apologise for my long
silence. lam now going to quit this world. I have mar-
ried Miss Ann Wilson, which is approved of by my friends
here, and which restores her and two line children I have
by her to honour and credit." The whole pith of the document
was in the one word " restores ;" and Mr. John Patrick
must have been very conning indeed to have hit upon •
phrase which conveyed so much without making
any positive statement at all. If he had fan-
cared the letter he would probably have made
it run—"l have hitherto lived with Ann Wilson,
but now I have married her." Then the letter went on
actually to tell Mr. Patrick the name of the boy. The
family wee one that prided itself not • little on Be
P
and yet Mr. Shedden had never announced the birtehTiii
halaVaa he would nodoubt havedone if hehadhadaketimate
sou borate him. The letter was quite consistent with the will,
and also with the letter of Anne Wilson, whieh had been
sometimes relied upon and sometimes repudiated by the
petitioner, just as It suited his purpoce. The original latter,
I es he had said, was not produced. What had become of it 1
Mr. Wm. Patrick said that he had given it to the petitioner,
and that the latter had never returned it. There was some
evidence that that was true; for, in a letter of the peti-
tioner in 1829 he said, referring to some letters Mr. Patrick
had sent him, "As I have never seen my father's hand-
writing, and as it probably contains his last signature, you
will easily believe that it is a very dear relic to me." Mr.
John Patrick had said that Mr. Shedden bad two letters to
write, me of them to Mr. Wm. Patrick, and there was,
therefore, every probability that letter referred to was the
one sent to the petitioner. Nevertheless, in his petition to
the House of Lords, and in his evidence on oath before this
court, he had stated that he never saw even the duplicate of
the document till 1849. Nor was that all. In one
of his letters he was complaining, as it would
seem, of Mr. Wm. Patrick's conduct in sending
to America to see if the deceased had really
married Anne Wilson ; and so he said, "sad just to think
of you sending to America for • certificate when you had
received my father's own letters, telling you of
mar-
riaae to my mother." It was impossible to reconcile that
with the petitioner's subsequent statements. It was quite
Islam that John Patrick had no doubt but that the death-
bed marriage would have best sufficient ; and that John
William Patrick would have accepted the guardianship.
But John William Patrick felt that there was • doubt as
to the effect of that marriage, and as be was
agent for his brother Robert, who, in the event of the
petitioners proving illegitimate, would be the heir. He
refused to accept the trust in his brother's abeam. Mr.
Crawford was the appointed tutor. Mr. Crawford, whoa
was • respectable man, though he thought that the udg-
ment of the Court of Session was a strong one, and one_
that would be aimed by the House of Lords, thought it
his duty to appeal to the ultimate tribunal. As to the ease
having been fairly argued there, no one could entertain any
doubt who bed read the wonderful, acute, and learned ease
by Lord Brougham—the only one he had ever
=ti
p for the Home of Lords. Yet on the mere m-
aim, he must be charged with having assisted Mr.
Palciuk to plunder the estate. The *barge of fraud mount
Mr. Patrick having fallen to the ground the whole
ease of the petitioner must fall with it and he (the learned
judge) must therefore pronounce that its, William Patrick
Ralston Shedden, was not a legitimate child of his father,
lindens consequently not • natural-born British subject. One '
word as to the position in which the petitioners were left
by this decision. Per the male petitioner he could have no
sympathy. He might have brooded over his fancied wrong
until he had lost his faculty of judgment; but the
course he had pursued had been such as must totally
exclude him from sympathy. For the female peti-
tioner he (Sir C. Cromwell) did feel most deeply.
He had no doubt that she had been brought up in a full
belief of the truth of her father's story; and from the inti-
mate knowledge which she had shown of every particle of
evidence connected with the case, it was clear that she had
dwelt upon it for rears and ran with the unhesitating
confidence of • dutiful and affectionate child, until it had
at last become interwoven with her very nature. What I
was to be the consequence of this judgment to her? It
must be one of two things If she was not convinced
by it she would lire under a becoming some
and conviction that she had sustained a grievous
smog for which she was unable to obtain a remedy—a pod-
tion sad euough. If she was convinced she would have to
mourn and lament over that course of conduct which had
embittered the latter days of an aged man, who for
• period far exceeding an ordinary life had been loved and
honoured; whose integrity had been impeached through her
instrumentality ; and who had been subjected to a relent-
less persecution which had been carried on by unfounded
aspersion and moat unjustifiable litigation.
Mt. Justice Wight:mu and Mr. Justice Williams empha-
Badly concurred, and the decree was made accordingly.
On the motion of Mr. Hovel, Q.C., the petitioners were
condemned in the meta, and certain papers which they had
obtained from Mr. Patrick in the Court of Saision, were or-
dered to be restored to him.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

OLD COURT.
(Before the Recorder.)

&Wood Muthleeoete, 32, a respectable looking man
described in the calendar as an agent, was indicted for
having feloniously appropriated to his own uses cheque for
941. 10e. that had Leen entrusted to him for • specific pur-
pose, as bailie..
Mr. Sleigh was counsel for the prosecution ; Mr. Metcalfe
was counsel for the prisoner.
• The facts of this nee appeared to be of a somewhat com-
plicated character, and the nature of the charge will be
more intelligible, if the more material points are given in
the form of • narrative. The prosecutor was a Mr. Wil-
liam Onion, who carries on the business of • carriage
trheming manufacturer in Drury-lane, and it append
that he became acquainted with the prisoner in June last,
and that shortly afterwards he entered his service as
clerk and traveller, upon a salary and commission, but he
remained only a very short time in his 'orrice,
although they still seemed to be on friendly terms. In the
beginning of July the prosecutor wanted some money for •
temporary purpose, and be applied to the prisoner to know
whether be could procure him en advance upon some
carriage velvets. A day or two after this' the prisoner told
him he could do se, and requested him to send the velvets
to the offices of Messrs. Werner and Palcke, merchants,
of Burr-court, St. Mary-Aze, and he did so, and on the same
day the prisoner brought Mr. Onion 901., which he said
bad been advanced by Moen. Werner and Melte upon
the velvets, and he also mid that the loan was to be for
one month, and he bed gives • promissory note as
collateral security. The prosecutor asked if be could
sot get • larger advance, and the prisoner said be would
try, and on the following day he told the prosecutor that
they would not lend more than the 901. The promenery note
became due on the 9th of August, and on the eth the
' prosecutor gave the prisoner a cheque for 94r. 10s. ; 90f.
of that sum being to repay the mosey borrowed, and 4/.los.
for interest for one month, which it seems was the terms
upon which the money was advanced, and the prosecutor
at the same time directed him to get the cheque cashed and
to take the money to Messrs. Werner and Co. and dear the
velvets, but be wished them to bold the goods in their pos-
session fora short time to his order, as he did not want to
have them brought again into steak after having pawned
then He saw the prisoner again on the same day, and he
then said that he had been to Messrs. Werner's offices, and
that note of the firm were at home, but that lie had left
the money with • clerk and that it was all right. A sheen
time after this the prosecutor discovered that the reoneyhed
sot been paid to Maser,. Werner, and he also ascertained
that, instead of his only having obtained M. from these
gentlemen, in point of fact, the sum really advanced
wee 1001., end that 151. was deducted in the first instance for
interest for one month, and that • cheque for
964 was given to the primer, out of the pro-
needs of which cheque he only gave the pro-
secutor 901., so that he thus obtained 61. at the com-
mencement of the trecsaation. It turned out that be
afterwards appropriated to his own nee the whole of the
proceeds of the chegse for 941. 10s. that wits given to him
by the prosecutor to redeem the velvets tie the 6th of
August.

The Jury, after a abort deliberation, returned a verdict
of Guilty, WS neemonended the prisoner to mercy on account
of the mean of the transaations that had taken place
kolaream barn and the prolocutor.
Judson* was respited upon a technical objection made
tlfr. Maloalis am to whether, under the circumstances,
al tatwas shako of the cheque, within the meaning
:: parliament.
I%rense Briscoe, 17, clerk, pleaded guilty to charges of
stealing money, amotmting to 1151., belonging to Lou
Abeabsin Boss, his muter.
lir. Metcalfe, who appeared for the Prisoner, said that
he bad to urge in mitigation of punishment that the pri-
soner and his friends were highly respectable, that he only
received a galaxy of 301. • year, and eo much as 8001. •
month passed through hit hands, and be could not resist
the temptation which such a state of things offered to him,
of misappropriating the money bedocgiag.to his master. In
addition to these facts he was also Distracted to say
that although such large sums of money passed through
his hands, his acoounte bad not been balanced for a period
of twelve months.

Mr. Sleigh, who appeared for the prosecution, said that
Mr. Boss informed him that, although oonsiderable sums
of money had undoubtedly passed through the
prisoner's hands, he never had more than 50/.
in his possession fora whole day. As to his accounts not
being sooner, he was informed that repeated appli-
cations were made to him to balance his accounts, and that
he constantly evaded doing so.
Mr. Metcalfe said it !appeared to him that this only con-
firmed the statement he -bad made with regard to the irre-
= with which the prosecutor's business was con-
The Recorder, in passing *esteem, said that under ordi-
nary circumstances the court always inflicted a sentence of
pad servitude in cases of this description, but there were
some facts in the present case which, it appeared to
him, would justify him in not going to that extent.
It was very grievous to see the great extent of this
description of crime, and he could not help observing that
hi some instances masters did not seem to be aware of the
duty that devolved upon them of not placing any unneces-
sary temptation in the way of their servants ; and he mast
say that in the present cue it was a very great temptation
toe boy like the prisoner, who was only receiving a salary
of MX a-year, to be allowed to have such large sums of mo-
ney pass through his hands without proper check. It was,
of course, no excuse for the crime, but it appeared to him
that under all the circumstances, it would be a sufficient
punishment for him to sentence the prisoner to twelve
months' hard labour.

Thonaa Perry, 31, pleaded guilty to three charge+ of
attain( forged receipts for email sums of =soy with intent
to defraud.

Mr. Lllley appeared for the prosecution.
The prisoner wu a member and trustee fora benefit
Society called the Loyal United Friends, and it appeared
that he had received contributions from some of the MM.
ben and forged the name of the secretary to the receipt,
and never accounted for the money. Some of the parties it
appeared were " scratched," as it is termed, from the
eadet7 in consequence of the prisoner's proceeding, but they
had sines been reinstated.
Tbs prisoner was sentenced to twelve months' hard
labour.