The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-12-15 00:00:00

OLD BAILEY, MONDAY, bECEMBEIL

In consequence of the great interest which the
public have recently taken iii the prtivecuti,ms
the Bank, the Old Bailey was crowded at an e,oly
hour this morning, as it was understand that tw.-I%e
per.osis would he put to the bar on ("latices of hirg-
log Bank notes aho had already pleaded Guilty
to the minor offence of basing forged antes is their
',asset...lo%, hut vtho had now petitioned the Court
for peritti,sion to tkithdrave their former plea, and
put themselves on their
At ten o'clock, Air. Bunn Wont), Mr. Justice
Hot.aoitn, and the Recounts, took their seats Olt
the Bench.

The following prisoners, on Bank prosecution..
were then brniight into the Dock, viz.—Brode-
rick, Jones, Ihivies, (Yorker, Heifers, Kingitun,
King, Townsend, O'Hara, and three others.
The foll.owing Jury were then sworn
Dinars. Edward Wilkinson (Foreman), tivo. Goof& Rola.
Nrwril3ll, Wm. Abbott, Jaa. Winthia, Jas Ald•ratan, tt nj.
°richt, Jeremiah Blount, Robt. Raughton,Johu Lynch, Jo..
mph E. Miller, sod Julio Williams.

Rickard Broderick was then pet to the Irtr.
Mr. srrjeent 809.0441/61' rose god addressed iI e
Court us follow.:

" My•Lord—Before the Prisoner is put to the
bar to take hiA trial on this indictment, I think it
necees►ry to address an observation or two to your
Lordship: It has been for a long course of years
the practice of the Prosecutors, in cubes of this
kind, to prefer two indictments against persons
charged with the offence of forgery against the
Bank ; one of them for uttering the note knowing'
it to he forged—and the other for what is called the
minor offence, namely, having in the P►iaiu-r's
possession without lawful excuse, and know-
ing it to be forged. This has been the uni-
form course during all my experience. And where-
ever the parties have been permitted to plead to
the minor offence, the application has uniformly-
eome from the Prisoner to the Prosecutor, and
without any the slightest intimation front the later
as to the particiair election which may be made by
the accused. I find that the Prisoner at the bar
was one of those who, early in the present Si'bVi
applied to the Prosecutors to be permitted to
to the minor offence, and that the acreded to
his applicatioo II- permission of the Cont. N,iw
while this p!ekt stdiode, we, on the part of the pro-
secution, have no wish to proceed against, the Nil-
sonrr upon the capital charge—on the contrary, it
is our earnest wish not to be called upn:► to eirry
the prosecution still further, with such o plea u;im►
record. It in ihi'refore my rumble prover, in this
stage of the proceeding, to be permitte .1 to with-
draw the prosecution against the Prism; er for the
capital cl►ing.."
Mr. Baron \VOOD-sr But I umlerstrind there is
some petition from certain Prisoners respecting the
withdrawal of the plea on record."

Ntr. SIIELTON —" The Prisoner, my is not
one of the Petitiiners."

Mr. Baron Woon—" Prisoner, you have already
pleaded godly to the minor offecce; do you 'wish to
withdraw your plea ?"
Prisoner—" I signed same paper on Friday, liut
I did pot know its
Mr. B Wouo—" Than do you, or do you
not, abide by your former plea ?"
Prisoner....... I don't want to withdraw my plea."
Mr. Baron WOOD" Then do you persevere in
pleading guilty to the charge of having in your
possession a forged Bank nine, knowing it to be
forged ? Because, if you du, the Prosecutors sav
they will not proceed against you on the capital
charge; but if you withdraw your plea, it will he
at their option to proceed on whichever indictment
they please. You had better let me know what IL
iv you say you have signed."
Prisoner—" I signed • paper brought to me Ivy *
fellow-prisoner on Friday, but I don't know what it
was."

Mr. Baron WOOD—" Where is this pepe► ?"
Mr. REYNOLDS (who wss one of the Counsel
for the Bank) said, that the petition presented by
same of the Prisoners was handed into Court ante-
cadent to Friday, so that whatever paper was signed
by the Prisoner must have been a distinct document
from that alluded te.

Mr. Baron WOOD—" Who brought you the
paper which you signed ?"
Prisoner —ff I don't know." —(.4 voice in the
Court cried out. " It was Miller.")
Mr. Baron WOOD—" Is there such a person as
Miller in Court ?"—(No answer way returned.)
Mr. Browne, the Gaoler—" I will expLtin, soy
Lord, how this hes taken place. After the late
trials of the Bank, in which the men wereaccoittrel,
the persons who had pleaded guilty, sent me a let-
ter, stating that they were very sorry they had plead-
ed guilty, and hoping that I would apply to the
Court to get them permission to retract that plea.
I said I would do no such thing ; but I would prt-
fent to the. Court any paper in writing with which
they might furnish tne. The petition in your Lord-
ship's hand was given to me last Thor day, and
gave it to the Common Serjeant. Ott S tturdity
last I asked whether the petition was meant
from all the parties; I had not read it, and slid not
know by how many it had been signed. I will In-
formed in answer, that it came from all the pat-
ties."

Mr. Serjeant BOSANQUET said, that the. Bank
Director+ were only anxious that the Prisoner should
know clearly the situation in which he atood,
receive whatever indulgence the Court thought pre-
per to grant hint.
Mr. Baron WOOD Prisoner, do I 'till under.
stand you to persevere in saying that plead
guilty to the charge of havii.g • forged Bank note
knowingly in your prmiession 1"
Priaoner—s. I did not know it to be forged."

Mr. Baron WOOD —" Them you should -plead not
guilty.
Prisoner—" I rather plead guilty, and throw my.
self un the mercy of the Court."
Mr. BROWNE, the Keeper of Newgitte, said that
he hod got a letter from the Batik Solicitor some
days ago, and he immediately apprized the Prisoners
of the situation in which they ►tool,

Mr. Serjeant BosArstwer —4* As Mr. Browne
has adverted to a letter, l mu desirous that lie
should be asked what letter it is he means. l wn.b
that letter, as well as any other trouseetioo