The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1806-08-04 00:00:00

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YORK ASSIZES.

Gorr Ifcrnjh, (late of Manchester, calico-dyer)
was indicted fur forging a bit of ex,hange, value
purporting to he drawn byJames Hastings of
Liverpool, on Sir James Eschnle and Co. bankers. ,
London. There was a second count in the indict-
wi6n, charging him with uttering the same bill of
exchange, knowing it to be forged, with intent to
defraud John Ceren, copperas manufacturer, at
Hipperholme. near Halifax
,her the Cuunsel had opened the case for the

Prosecutor,
John Green was called ; he stated, that he was a
manufacturer of copperas, and that on the 14th of
I.:btu:try the Prisoner came to his manufactory,
and wished to purchase eight tons of copperas, to be
paid for on dclive. y at Manchester : the Prisoner
tit?sepreented himself as a calico-printer, and said
that copperas WAS for hi own use. The wit-
ness sieclinod selling it upon any other terms than
that of r •ady-money. Tile Prisoner said it would
be inconyeaient for him just then to spate the m'-
softy, foci fe %iris g-ing to Bradford to buy aqua-
fortis. and, on his return, if he found it convenient,
he writ:id call the following day and complete t
to
purcliese, on the terms proposed by the witness.
vext day the Prisoner celled again, and the
Witness sold him about four tons or copperas. at
1 il. 10,. per tits The Prisoner tendered him a
bill of exchange for 981. This hill the Witness ob.
lected to, both on account of the largeness of the
sum, and his ignorance of the drawer and endorser.
The Prisoner assured him it was a very good bill :
tsar the drawn, James Hastings, was a merchant
ut Liverpool, and that he did not know much of
; but that the endorser, Peter Higgins, was a
cotton merchant and manufacturer, at Manchester ;
teat he kept a urge warehouse, and that lie hao
sezahred the hill for printing goods for hum. On
tl.is representation, the Witness, after consulting
several pc: sons in corneaey with them, consented
to take the bill, and he gave the Prisoner the ba-
lance in small bills and notes. On tb• dap follow.
but our, (Monday) he gave the bill to his
bankers at Halifax, desiring them to get it immedi-
ately presented for acceptance; and (fa the rfollow-
ing Moaday it was returned to him dishonoured,
being retused acceptance, the drawer having no ef-
fects. The Witness immediately went to Manches-
ter, but could not find either the Prisoner, or the
pew:" to inborn the bill was made payable. (Peter
Higgins,) though he used his utmost endeavour for
that pin p The Witness concluded by staring,
that be delivered the warrant he had obtained for
the apprehension el the Prisoner, to Mr. Nadia,
chief constable of Manchester.
Mr. Nadir; stated, that he was chief constable of
Manchester, (which office he had filled for 17
years,) upon receiving the warrant trims use last
itness, i eused his utmost exertions to apprehend
the Prisoner, hut without success, until the 7tn of
Jane ; he was sure, both from his own knowledge
of Manchester, and the diligent inquiry he had
made respecting Peter Higgins, that there was na
such person either a cotton merchant or manufac-
turer in Mai.coester, or even any person of that
Dime; the Witness added, that some time since, a
Peter lirggins. a weaver, resided there, but that he
was now is the pal at Lancaster, on a charge of
forgery.
Its answer to a question from the Judge, he said,
this Peter Higgins was • poor man, and, he believ-
ed. did not get the pieces he maturfafturrni printed
er dyed. Tins witness din sated, that he made
the mast diligrot inqoiry at Live, p -nl. for a per-
win of the name of James fiasti..gs, out without
surcess.
James Thom:non, Attorney at Law, stated, that
be alio used every means which could be suggested
to hill of discoveries,; the drawer of the bill, James

_
Huang,. hut without so,
_-cess.
Mr. Hadin. Police Officer. then produced a
pncliet-hollkond three Bills at Exchange, found on
tie person of th: Prisoner. It was argued by the
Pri-ona's Counsel. that no use ought to be made of
these VISA to the preheat:* of the Prisoner, because
it could not be sorposed that he was repated to
rebut any charge but that set torah in t.,e iodoa-
* en-nt. The Learned Judge admitted that there
wet cons;derable weight in the vi jefiton, and that
be 'et-wild take a now of it
a last wt!ness examined, on the part el the pro-
PECUtiOn, was Mr. Smith. Chute in the house of Sir
Imes Esdaile and Co. Hankers, London. The
hail being *hewn t.) the witness, he said they had no
account with the drawer, nor with any person of
that name, and, of course, it that bi.i had been pre-
vaned for acceptance, it would have been refused:
Ise cnuid not. however. say, whether that bill bad
'aver neza presented for acceptance or not. The
f:.rned dodge said, that he should take this oppor-
tunity of ass-enaining whether the ,!nee bills totted
on Or :terra of the Pri.oner, and which were drown
on the sone house. wan drawn by person. who had
ace•-unts with the house. The querion being put,
the witness said, that the drawers of :hose boll. %vete
Sot cos:consers or correspor.dents of theirs, and
were persons not entitled to draw upon their
house. The examination of this witness closed the
case an the part of toe prosecution.
The only Wi:a-ss c-lied on the part of the Pri-
soner. was Mary kinekley, who sated, that she lived
a: Stan chester, and w.s acquaintid with the Pr-
sitar...whom she 'represented to be a dealer in dyers'
dings. and had loasserly ban a cotton :,:rinter and
dyer $ .he always understood him to be a very
in-
44:StriPtlf man.
Doling the c'nrse of the trial, Mr. HoUock urg-
ed many obit:lions. on points of law, which he ar-
gued with great ability.
His Lordship. in his address to the Jerry, stated.
tloat they had to 'agate, lit, Whether the Pristine,
paid the bill in question to John Green ?-4d, Whe-
ther the bill wus really forged ?—and .td, Whether
the Witness paid it, knowing it to be forged ? On
the first point. he thoul,ht they could eatertain
littli
et no doubt ; it was, therefore, us the :w3 latter
flirt their at:en:Lon *mold be principally directed:
and to constitute it a forgery. it was not necessary
to pore that the d: Jur e r and endorser of use boil ex-
isted, and thtt their Egnatores were put to the bill
without their wrought. it wo.uld be equally a forgery
if so sods persons 'listed ► or, even if s.s.b persons
did eaisr, ye-, if they were in totally different slue-
th.r.s to those represented by the Prisoner, and that
eu.; ::er }mew this, it would
.ilsofy them in

•
finding the Prisoner guilty of. the seeod count in
the indictment, which was the only count on which
there was any evidence. It would, therefore, be
their business to inquire, whether, in the representa-
tions the Prisoner gave of .lames Hastings and Peter
Higgins, h: did not know they were utterly tape!,
The account he gave of James Hastings, was, that
he was a merchant of Liverpool, but that he did not
know much of him. From the drawer, therefore,
perhaps, no strong presumption of fraud could
arise ; but of the endorser, his account is circurn-
stantial. He stated him to be a cotton-me-el, int
and manufacturer, at Manchester, in a i.:,:lsikierable
fine of business, ar.d that he had r:•cciez•d :he bill on
account of work done for him. Here, then (if they
could depend on the accuracy of the firs: witness),
there could he no mistake. They would, however,
take into consideration the evidence by which this
representation was negatived. it was by a man
who had an intimate knowledge of the town, and
who had used great diligence in his inquiry. But it
had been suggested, that Peter Higgins ought to
have been brought into Court, as the most com-
petent Witness in the case. 'llse Jury would, how-
ever, take all the circumstances of the case into
their consideration, and pronounce such a veidia,
as should both satisfy the justice at the country, and
the rights of the Prisoner.
The Jury were about to retire, when the Counsel
for the Prisoner begged lestye to suggest an objee-
, tion, which appeared to him of consider able import-
ante, which was, that no evidence had been ad-
duced to thew that the bill was not drawn by
James Hastings; and he contended, that, should this
be the case, it might be a Era's frAid, but could not
be a forget-Q. He also observed, that, with respeet
to Peter Higgins, all that had been said of him,
amounted to nothing; for the Prisoner was not
charged either with forging the endorsement of
Peter Higgins, or with uttering the bill, knowing
the endorsement to he forged.
His Lordship said, the objeCtion was of great
weight, and materi thy altered the case, and that
the Jury ought to lay out of their consideration all
the evidence this related to Peter Higgins, as well
as all the observations he had made upon it. Alter
some Midler observations of a similar tendency, the
Jury withdrew to consider of their verdiA. aad in
about halt an hour returned into Court. The Fore-
man was about to pronounce their verdiet, when
the Judge sa;d, he had sort: tanher observations to
offer to their consideration, and which might pro-
bably induce them to retire again. His Lordship
said. !:is doubts as to the sufficiency of the evidence,
respetting the knowledge the Prisoner had of the
sirower of the bill, appear-d. t i hen in a stronger
light since they had left the Court, than before; there
Seas one circoms aice which he wisaed particularly
to point out to them ; that the person woo took the
bid if the Prisoner, aid not take it on his represent-
ation of Hastings, but of Higgins, aad which part
of ease they were entirely to lay out of their
11111.811ution. His Lordship concluded a ith re-
minding the Jury, that in all cases, where a teas •n-
-, able doubt remained upon their minds, it was:heir
duty to acquit the Prisoner. kier the Jary need
been nut of Court a considerable ti tie, a Jurym
begged permission to ask some questi ins of ins
Lordship, which brag granted, .n officer 0: the
Court cooduCted him into the jury-box, when he
proposed this question : " Supposing a James
Hastings drew the bill, would th • mteitnx of it in
that case be uttering a forged billi" he said, "they
were all convi-cecl, that it was a case of great
villainy; but he wis.red to have this doubt re-
moved."
His Lordship, 'n reply, stated, that if a James
Hastings lad really drawn the Bill, yet if he was a
totally diffs-rent person from that represented by the
Ptison-r, and that the Prisoner had so represented
him for the purpose of living a fietitious credit to the
bill, for Lie purposes GI fraud, in this case the crime
laid in the indiftment would he proved : as for in-
stance, it this James Hastings was a ploagloboy, and
that OA; Prisoner, knnwi g this, had teptesented bias
to be a merchant " i lie Lots:ship added, " that
when the Pricers ci spook: of Hastings, it was in so
twee and general a manner. •hor t was more likely
to 'operate as aca eflQll tha as an inchnceme.a to the
Prosecutor to take the bill. ' His Lordship again
repeated. •'• that in all cases of reasonable doubt, it
wa. their duty to find a P:isiiner not guily."
The Juryman theta withdrew. and in about half
an hour the Jury returned into the Coma with a 'm-
aid of—Grilty.
['he Judge, previous to passing sentence upon the
Prisoner, said, he should respite the execution until
he had an opportunity of consulting the other Judges,
both upon the proof and upon a point of law, which
had arisen in too trial ; and thoegh be thought great
credo was due to the Jury far their patient attention
to the case, he doubted of the proprisrty of tlicr ver-
dia andthought the evidence was too silght trajtortiv
• terda f gasky. Under all the circumstances of the
case,. that they ought to have unrifled Me Primmer.
His Lordship acknowledged that these observations
*Pouted to trench upon the peculiar province of the
Jury, and therefore it was on the point of law
that be principally justified to himself the respiting
of the execution. His Lordship then posted the
sentence of the law upon the Prisoner iti use usual
manner.

W. Tcrrtatt, Esq. has offered himself a candi-
date to reeresent the borough of
General Mack has published a DecLuation, iu
which he requests the public to withhold their
judgment. all his trial is finished. lie remarks,
that sa the late unfortunate war, he was not the
principal in command ; but that he managed the
aff.irs of the campaign simply as Field-Marshal of
Artillery.
The Olive BrameA, Rten•ans. from Baltimore
arrived at Cork the 117 ill ult. On the 20. i, in lat•
50. 52. long. 13. was boarded by the Brithasit fri-
gate. who said, there were two or three Frenca fri-
gates in that quarter.
The Surinam, &Alice. and Demerara ships (about
30 sal), sailed from Demerara the 16th June, un-
der noavor of gen-goo ship, for Grenada.
Koutsford Races. which commenced oa Teesdar,
premise to be more brilliant than hare ewer been
remembered. as His Royal Kgliness the Duke of
Gtoncestsa honours them with his presence. liia
Royal Highness arriveJ. on Wednesday, at Tabiey,
the magnificent. beautiful, and IWSpotabla scat .4 .sir
Jong Latcssraat It.

LAW' INTELLIGENCE.
, —......._
COURT OF CtiANCFItY, I.lacosa's4ms, Aseusr 2
BODKIN and MARY hi, vrtre V l3ltV condemn
and tire ATTORNEY.C.E.ritAL.
Mr. R lea &not, oa the part of tae Plaintiff, moved,
that Mr. Langden, the Defendant. be compelled to
rbring a certain deed of feoffment, executed by one
• Henry Holley, in the ;tar 164. i, into Court, for ti.:
inspection of the Plaiiitiff The grounds anar whirls
he made this inetion„ as stated by the learned Gen-
tleman, were as follow ; la the 221 year of the
reign of Charles I. Henry Hanley, to whom the
present Plaintiff claims to be heir, being seized of an
estate in fee, the value of which was then about
I`.lol. a year, executed a deed of fenffinent, by which
he vested this estate in the hands of trustees, for
divers charitab:e uses ; one of those sari, the !....01.
a year should be allowed to a Minister, for pet form-
ing Divine Service, once every Sunday, in the town
of Nottingham. The ocher grants in the deed,
were of a similar nature as this, and in case the ser-
vices were not performed, the money of course
would remain in the bands of the trustees, for
the benefit of the heir. The Plaintiff. therefore,
alleging himself to be the her, filed a bill against
'ilex Longdies, who is heir to the trustees, appointed
by the deed, and prayed information with respell
to the nature of the grant. The Defendant, in his
answer, stated, that it was not the estate which
Henry Hanley vested in the hands of the .trustees
fsr chat itable uses, but merely a rent charge on
the estate of 1201. a year. The Plaintiff, however,
queltioning the truth of this answer, now came into
Court, and prayed that the Dlfendant should be
compelled to bring the Deed of Feoffment, of 1646,
into the Master's Unice, for the inspection of the
Plaintiff.
Mr. Ricira ens futther stated, that if what the
Defendant in hi; answer stated, was clue, namely,
that it was only a rent charge which was vested by
the deed in the Trustee., he was aware, that it
would be impossible for the Plaintiff to recover the
estate ; 'he Defendant and his ancestors being in
possession for a period of l t;0 years ; but the deed
itself tumid show wh-ther it was not the estate itself
which was vested ; and, in that case, the heir would
be entitled to the difference in the value at the
tine of the feoffment and its present value. There
was also another point to which he wislid to call the
it
attention of his Lordship, and that was, that even if
what the Defendant stated in his answer was true,
still the Plaintiff would be entitled to the different
annuities forfeited by the non-performance of the
services direfled, and, in point of fed, he beneved
none of the annuities had Seen paid for many years
back. From these consid‘rations, he hosed that the
deed would hr produced, as by the wording af that,
every thing would be sett:ed.
Mr. HEALD, on the same side, said, he was aware
that the Court would not, in general, suffer a deed
to be produced, for the purpose of picking holes in
it, as the term was in the looks ; bur, in the present
case, he did not think this Rule could obtain, as the.
Defendant was merely a trustee.
The LORD CH ANC ILL° a observed, that he thought
when the Plaintiff called for this deed, in order to
turn the Defendant out of possession, it was picking
a pretty large hole in the deed.
Mr. Cu c c en, on the part of the Defendant, said,
it was impasible to put a man 03 the proof of his
title, who had been in undisturbed possession for a
hundred and sicty Tears ; the heir at law, he said,
had not a spark of equity left after suck a length of
time, and he therefore hoped the motion would be
refused.
The Loan CHANCELLOR said, a Coon of Equity
could not compel a man to shew his title-deed in
destruction of his own title, particularly as he had
1 shewn in his answer, that the Plaintiff could have
no claim on the property. He therefore refused
the motion, but riot with coats.

SWINTON'S BANKRUPTCY.
Saturday last, the Bankrupt, A. Daffy Swinton,
underwent another long examination at Guildhall,
by Mr. %%resin, as counsel for the creditors. He
again went over the same grounAs as he had done
the day before, of whieh we have already given an
account in our paper of Saturday last. He con-
fessed that all he had sworn upon former occasions
was false respecting his b.icks. He admitted that
the profits of the sale of Dalfa's Mamie" of which he
was sole proprietor, amounted, on an 'average, to
from 12 to 1,4001. per annum. His daily accounts,
he said, were kept on slips ut paper, from which, at
the end of the week, transcripts were made on sheets
of paper, but what became of them he could not
tell ; they were also transcribed into the ledger, but
by wbnm he did not know; sainctimes by Wallace.
and at other times by Miss Moore, (a lady who
lived with Lim as his companion, and hy whom he
had some children,) who chiefly managed his busi-
ness and kept his accounts He also produced a
book, which he had received from Miss Moire,
through her son, but neither the Bankrupt nee the
boy could tell where she was. This book he admit-
ted wholly to be a fabrication, from which the ui t-
rust leaves had been taken out, and blank or ruled
ones substituted ; these now leaves contained fabri-
cated entries of his deli transactions in business,
and be assigned as a motive for making ose cf it,
that was without any regular accou.,ta, and being
assured that he most produce some book of attrutes
boors the Commissioners, he Laureate. ibis, lo: Oat
purpose. He caul,' not recollect who brought it to
the book-binder's, nat. for some time could he recol.
legit what became of the original leaves, but at last,-
he said, they were burnt or destroyed by himself ;
and be swore positively that they contained n.e. •ng
more than rezeipts for horse medicines, and some
memoranda of the addresses of persons who be-
spoke medicines, and other trifling entries of Me
nature. OW of the creditors having t'-ea pees
the book, dee:area he bad n•-es seen it in its oeiginee
state, when it contained ell M e.dries rf the Account,
and isles, and was regularly posted up at the Slid
of every week.
After some further examination, in the coarse .1
which the Bankrupt contrail' :tea most of his former
statennans, Mr. Watson übrerved, that the amok-
rapt having so constantly contradreed himself. it
would ba with the remelt pain he s!muli proceed
in the further examine on, as it w.m1.1 only be en-
trapping Lim in still more perjury ; he therefore