The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-27 00:00:00

CRIMINAL COURT—Oct. 26.

OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Willis, Mr. Baron Alderson, andle
Mr. Baron Martin.)
THE TRIAL OF SIR JOHN DEA.N PAUL,
STRAHAN, AND BATES.
(Continued front our first edition of yesterday. )
Mr. Alfred Tisdale examined by Mr. Poland am
.clerk to Mr. Joseph Symonds, and received on the 4.th
e:eptember, 1854, the interest on two Danish Five per
Cent. Bonds, Noserso . 458 at Copenhagen.nd 793. The Clnterest was re-
ceived oupons were re-
from a pn
calved for the same bonds on 3d March, 1855.
Mr. WlK_enzie, clerk to Messrs. Overend, Gurney,
and Co.—On Ist September, 1854, received the divi-
dend on Coupon No. 87 ; he also received dividends in
April, 1855, on Coupons Nos. 426 and 457. Messrs.
Dverend
ooand Gu
at rney received
gen the Coupons from their
correspdents .
Mr. Thomas Clarke examiaed by Mr. Poland—l am
clerk to Messrs. Westernholts, 26, Mark-lane. He re-
ceived the dividends on Coupons Nos. 378, 459, 460,
end 573; for a correspondent in Hamburgh, in March,
1855.
Mr. Hamburgh examined by Mr. Bedkin—l am one
of the firm alluded to. The Danish 5 per cent. loan was
negotiated by me. The bonds produced were issued by
me. The Coupons bear the same letter and number as
the bond. Of the same loan bonds of one number only
were issued..
By Mr. Baron Alderson—l think it would be impos-
sible fOr a bond-Of 1001., and one of 2001., of the same
lOan, to bear the same number.
By Sir F, Thesiger—The time when the dividend
becomes due is marked• on each coupon.
Mr. W. Bell, official assignee to the bankrupts, ex-
amined by the Attorney-General—l recollect an appli-
cation from Dr. Griffiths' solicitor on 16th June, after
the bankruptcy df the prisoners. In consequence of that
saw Mr.-Strahan, and also Me. Bates- I asked Strahan
waat had become of Dr. Griffiths securities. He said
they were sold or pawned, and would not be forth-
comiog. Thad asked in. the course of that week, in the
presence of Mr. Strahan and Mr. Bates, if there was no
security book kept. They looked at each other, but said
nothing. No such book had been found.
Cress-examined by Sir F. Thesiger—l am not speak-
ing with great certainty with regard to the conversation
with.MreStrahan. My note to the solicitor for the
prosecntilOn, Wfltten at the time, will show what la was.
By the Attorney-General—No Danish 5 per - Cent.
Bonds came into my possession.
By Mr. Hawkins—l identify the proceedings of the
Court of Bankruptcy in the case of Strahan, Paul, and
Co., now produced.
The Attorney-General objected to any cross-examina-
tion of the witness 'on that point, and the learned counsel
(air. Hawkins) did not press it, but reserved to himself
tales right of again calling Mr. Bell for the defence.
Mr. Lowden, clerk to Messrs. Fearon and Co had
.ea> ched for their securities. He called at the Banking-
on
.2 24th June, and there saw Bates, to the best of
ho 10
ec,iioe i
n. There were two gentlemen sitting with
,l Lu_ 1n
an inner room of the Banking-house.
luhiJra al, AZ 'at of Dr. Griffiths' securities in his band
procluc _ him Dr. Griffiths was anxious about
writing, an '°Kl • • eon taining 5,000 Danish Benda. He
him. I reari the list. nything about thane in part acular'
said he could stet say as they were in the hands: of the
hut that if there.evere arse
6 ficial assianee- the person I saw at the
By Mr. Jaenes—J. believe t
.posit. ve.,,,.behaca.rae I del
bank was Mr. Bates, I ens igtt have
not take special notieo of the P-11"1.
ley, Mr. Serjeant
been Mr. Bates's son.
,O?w,,C) Danish: 5
Mr. Hill recalled and. exam'ned
Bylee---On let June, 1851, I purcemseu\ 5,
Cent Bonds for the prisoners. Th ere 're seven
per • 2,55,6, 1,166,
100/. bonds, Nos. 2.006, 5,289, 5,`290,
bond. for r 001.
1,607, 735 ; 1 bond for 5001., No. 355 ; 1
No. 935 ; another for 5001.. No. 37S ; Isere, wore 30
66 aim from
1001: bonds besides No. 5,373, 5,3.'0
985 to 1,000, both inclusive ; then ten boaide running
from 1,084 to 1,093 ; one bond 1,16
c, and another
1,165 ; they were paid for by them and o `eliverei 1.
This was the case for the prcsecution.
Sir F. Thesiger asked their lordships evhetlaar there
was sufficient evidence against Strahan for him to ad-
dress the jury on his behalf ? The indic 4t neat against
him was in respect ef certain bonds whit were eurn-
bered and sold by Messrs. Foster and 'Bra .ithwaite in
March, 1844, but there was not the slightest proof that
Strahan had anything whatever to do with th at transac
tion, nor was there any evidence against Strahas lin re pact
of that charge, except the conversation state id by Dr.
Griffiths, which referred, not to this tra.nsactit n, but to
a transaction which he said had occurred six 1 reeks
be-
fore- the time of that conversation. That state
esen di
not apply to the bonds in question, which we re bonds
sold in March, 1854. With the exception of the state-
ment made by Mr. Bell, the official assignee, t b et on the
16th June Strahan said the securities of Dr.
Griffiths
were either pawned or sold, there was nothing whatever
to affect Strahan with the slightest knowledg e of that
transaction which took place through Sir John . r.'aul and
the money paid over to him.
Mr. Baron Alderson said he thought there - was evi-
dence against Strahan for the second counsel to address
the jury, but he should not pronounce an opinio n of its
value. After the bonds had been disposed of t Itrahan
said they had got them still.
Sir F. Thesigee—There were Danish bonds re-pur-
chased by the prisoners in June, 1554, and no conversa-
tions took place until this year. The prieoners heel no
other Danish bonds than those belonging to Dr. Grif-
fiths, and he received the dividends on these bonds till
1854, when they were sold by Messrs. Foster and
Braithwaite, who re-purchaSed Danish hoods to the ex-
tent of 5,0001., on which Dr. Griffiths had received the
dividends since their purchase,
Mr. Baron Alderson said he comidered that was a
question for the play. These re-purchased bonds did not
appear in Dr. Griffiths' pass-book.
Mr. James asked if that opinion would apply also to
Bates.
Mr. Baron Alderson Yes, butt rather stronger
against him.
The Attorney-General—Why were <coupons purchased
if Dr. Griffith.;' securities had not been sold !
Sir F. Thesiger then addressed the jury for the pri-
soner Strahan, under, he said, feelings a pain and anxiety
deeper than he bad ever experienced, anus it was not the
less in consequence of observations which. bad been made
by their lordships in reply to the application he had felt
it a duty to make to them on behalf of Straiten. The
Attorney-General, with that feeling of forbearance in
prosecutions that invariably characterised him, bad in-
lormed them that the gentlemen at the bar had for many
years maintained a high position in society, and a cha•
racter for the highest honour and integrity. He (Sir F.
Thesiger) could not forget the position in which his
client, Mr. Strahan, was placed. Possessed of wealth
and station, and respected by numerous friends,
and surrounded by an affectionate family. When be (Sir F.
Thesiger) contrasted that former position of his with his
appearance before them that day, he confessed he felt
himself almost disabled for the task he was called on to
pe'form. That alone did not create embarrassment in
his mind, because in addressing himself to the defence
of that gentleman he could not be insensible to the fact
that for weeks and weeks there had appeared in the
newspapers articles in which the conduct of these gen-
tlemen tied been strongly argued, and every prejudice
excited against them in the public mind. It was the
boast of England that any person accused of an offence
was to be recorded as innocent until the fatal verdict of
guilty had bees pronounced against him ; and yet these
ee,setlemen bad now for many months been brought th
ba ro f public opinion, alai they appeared beforethem'oacone-
emned by that voice, and they were to be supposed
bled forming beforeti judgment on the case which Ea%
been brought them. Juries were generally warned
to dismise entirely from their minds all they had heard
before they entered the jury-box ; but it was utterly
impossible, when once an idea had gained possession of
the human
mind, to do so, and every effort made to dis-
miss it only tended to fix it more firmly there,
After observing that he expected that justice from them
oat behalf of his client they would expect if siinilarly
situated, and that they would determine the innocence
or guilt of Mr. Strahan by the evidence that had been
that day produced, he felt Pertain that whatever
hasty impressions might have been formed!' by them
against the prisoner, they would be removed by
lea impartial review of the circumstances. - He
was not there for one moment to deny that, in the month
of April, 1855, Mr. Strahan did unhappily, in a mo-
ment of pressure on the bank, agree to the applying of
certain securities, deposited by the customers of the bank,
for the purpose of relieving the necessities of the bank
at that pressing moment, nor to justify the act so done,
but to warn you from letting that have an improper in-
fluence on your mind in considering this case. The
cherge against him now was that of misappropriating
the property of his customers in the month of March, 1854,
and he prayed their particular attention to the evidence
to see if there was any evidence
t. whatever that convicted
Mrs Strahan with that
diwcoulwarasacwt.hotThhoev
ques-
tion they would have to decide fithrsetrewas
that proof ctuiredof
theselling
the
t securitiesStrahan
in question by ale„
Blarch, 1854. They "We Foster
l • and Braithwaite in
was
managed
by
sir
John
recollect that the sale
money for them, and he enterednPaul,
who received the
en the bank books after he received the receipt of the money
pp evidence against Strahan thatlheved it, but that would be
of them. The learned gentle was privy to the sale
man then entered at
jeegth into Strahan
and
. the conversation between some
Griffiths, and Mr. Bell, contending that the Dr.
evidence
shoed that the only knowledge Strahan had was of
showed
disposal in April of the repurchased Danish stock t
Jvcrend'aby
nd Co., and not to the sale of the stock Siro
John D. Paul in 1854. He relied with great confidence
on the section of the act in the 7 and 8 GeorgelV.,
rela-
tive to the disclosures of bankrupts before commissioners
in bankruptcy, rendering his client not criminally
-liable for the act complained of, and which provided a
remedy for the person aggrieved, inasmuch as it allowed
,him to come in and prove with the other creditors. The
,disclosure made by Strahan at the Bankruptcy Court
waa,most full and ample, so far as he was concerned, and
the act in question made no difference with re-
gard to whether it was a voluntary or compulsory di.3-
clatinre. He asked them to closely consider what the
charge really was against the • and to narrowly
prisoners,
watch the evidence by which it was sought to connect
Strohm:, with
emit It, and then he should have no fear for the

Mr. Sergeant Byles, in a speech of short duration,
after adverting in. the part the press had taken in pre-
; judging the public mind, against his client on account of
his charities and religious principles, addressed himself
almost entirely to the learned Judges upon the law of
the case under the act enabling him to make disclosures
as tr) the state of his affairs before the Commissioners
in Bankruptcy, and the question was, was .that" disclo•
bur.) such a cotnpleta one as to absolve the prisoner from
tha consequerkes of II is previous att. The learned cowl._

sel then adverted to the character of those disclosures, '
which he said were of the fullest character.
Mr. Edwin James, upon the behalf of Bates, denied
that he had any knowledge of the act of his other partner.
What he wished to show was, that even if he bad
ever gone to Dr. Griffiths' box he would have seen those
bonds, and that would account for the conversation
which took place with reference to this transaction.
Dr. Griffiths was regularly paid his dividends up to the
moment of the disclosures made by Sir John Dean
Paul and Mr. Strahan. There was no evidence to show
that he had any knowledge that the securities were
not safe in the custody of the firm.
At the conclusion of the speech of the learned
gentleman,
Mr. Baron Alderson said, let the case now stand un-
til ten o'clock to-morrow morning.
The case was then adjourned.
Bates was admitted to bail, but the other two were
not bailed, and will remain in Newgate all night.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—Oct. 26.

SOUTHWARK.

EX.TENSIVE ROBBERY OF WOOD.— William Basset, a
labourer, was finally examined before Mr. Combe,
charged with stealing three thousand nine hundred and
seventy-nine bundles of wood, the property of Thomas
Humpheries, of Bridge-wharf, Deptford, and Dockhead.
The prosecutor said that the prisoner was in the habit
of coming to his premises at Dockhead for wood for a
customer named Lonedale. On Wednesday evening, the
17th inst., about eight o'clock, the prisoner came as
usual with his van, and after it was loaded witness asked
him how many bundles he bad on his van. He replied
that he bad 3,200 or 3,300. He had his suspicions about
his conduct at the time, and he gave his directions to his
foreman about him. The next morning the prisoner took
his van away, when witness followed him to Thornton-
street, Dockhead, and gave him into custody for stealing
the wood, which amounted to 3,979 bundles, and were
worth about 71.
William flop., the prosecutor's foreman, said he re-
ceived information from his master on Wednesday even-
ing, the 17th, and on the following morning he saw the
prisoner in the yard with a van laden with wood. He
asked him how many bundles he had, when he said
about 3,200. Witness told him not to leave the yard until
he had gone to the wharf and received directions about
the van leaving, and that he should want him to sign
for them. He accordingly went to the wharf, and on
his return to the yard he missed the prisoner and the
vaa of wood. The prisoner had received instructions
not to take any wood away without signing for it.
William Fuller, 244 M, said he received charge of the
prisoner, when he said that his orders were to load 3,500,
and if there were more he knew nothing about it. He
took him to the station-house, and afterwards counted
them in the prosecutor's yard, when there were 2,979
bundles.
The prisoner pleaded guilty, and was committed to
Wandsworth House of Correction for three months,
with hard labour.