The National Register.
London, England, 1812-02-23 00:00:00

1~

L.411' REPORTS.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, FRIDAY, FEB. 21.

SITTLNGS AT WESI MINSTER HALL.
THE KING 1110.)wtir.
This was an information aga:ust the defendant, Colonel Browne, for
a forgery at common law. The information charged with having
forged certain instruments purporting to be signed by George I larrison,
Esq. one of the Law Clerks to the Treasury, and by the Hon. Cecil
Jenkinson, Esq. eta! of th lei Secretaries of State, with a view to
defraud Government, by ptitiously obtaining a grant of 6,000 acres
of land in the island of St. Vincents.
Mr. ATToext:r-GrsirgAs stattal the circumstances of the case as
follows.—ln the year 1809, Colonel Browne represented ro Government
that he had a large gang of Negroes, which he aad nurtured with parti-
cular care, and h id succeeded in reducing them to such domestic hi.
bits, that they multi; lied as fast as by the cina-se of nature thay weuld
die off; and he prayed for an allotment of the C. own lands itt the Island
of St. Vincents. It was thori:ht that he had claims upon the Govern-
ment of this country, having suffered as au American I .oyal;st ; and as
Government had at that time a part of the lands fornlerly allotted to the
Caribbs, in conseqa ence of a grant made to Mai of 6000 acres. It was
discovered that a part of these lands had been granted to other occu-
piers, who held at the will of the Crown, and as they had expended
their money to reduce the land to a state of cultivation, it was thought
inequitaMe to expel them, and they tharefore were allowed to pur-
cha,e, which was done to the amount of (4(),0: in order to in-
demnify Colonel Browne for this disappointment, Government gave
bim half the money, namely, 30,0001. wllleit was cou'idered a munifi-
cent recompanse. It • happened, however, shortly afterwards, in the
tear 1310, that Sir Charles Brisbane,. the Governor or St. Vincent's, te-
tei:ed a dispatch under the oMcial seal of the Secretary of Stare's Office,
directing him to make a grant of the same quantity of land which had
btten deducted from the six thousand acres of land, originally granted
to Colonel 131 owne, which direction purported to be by oriter of me
Lords of the Treasury, and was signed by Mr. jenainsoo, the Under-
Secretary of State. A discussion however ensuina. with Col. Browne's
pnt,the Governor thought proper to send home for instructions, when
it was discovered that the whole was a forgery, no ,tich ortttrs having
ever issued from the Secretary of State's Office. in England. How Co-
lonel Browne got possession of the seal of Office he was unable to state,
but he should be able to prove that the papers were written, all hut the
signatures, in t!.e Office of a Mr. Steele, a Law Stationer in Chancery.
lane, and that Colonel Browne brought the rough draft, amid took tl.cm .
away when finished. And the plan which accow panted them was
drawn by a Clerk in the Duke of Bt dford's office, who was employed
by Colonel Browne, so that he traced him in giving directions for the
forged instrument; and it was proved no other person had any interest
fn the fraud. Under these circumstances he thought no doubt could be
entertained of the guilt of the def. ndant.
'These facts were proved by Sir .Charles Brisbane, Mr. Harrison, Mr.
leitklnsota and Mr. Steele and his clerks, who engrossed the papers by
Colonel Browne's directions.
!qr. PAK szs addressed the Jury on the part of the defendaist.
Lord Moira, Sir Abroad Clarke, and several Clt utlenmen of rank,
taste a high character of Colonel Browne ;--but the J ury, notwithstand-
tag, found him Gutty.

SATURDAY, FED. 22.
THE K!NC; V. ALEX.VMER
This was an indictment against the Wench:lit for Perjury, apon seve-
rel allegations contained in affidavits sworn by the defendant in the
Court of Ch.! nci ty.
The prosecutor in this case was Mr. William Taylor, one of the prine
eipal Proprietors of the Opera House, and the defendant one of the
peinr;pal Clei Its beloneieg to that concern. The various perjuries al-
ledged to have been committA arose out of the proceedings in a cause
in the Court of liar eery. in which Messrs. Waters anti Taylor were the
• litigant parties, and in the course of which the deferithuit had made
two affidavits, which were the grounds of the present indictment. In
these affidavits the defendant had sworn thet he bad paid various sums
tot. money by order ef Mr. Taylor the prosecutor, in payment of
Mr. Vs own private and individual debt.., out of the funds beloie:,ing to
- the Opera Howe- coneern,—The denial of the truth of which allegations
forned the averments in the several counts in the present iadietment.—
When after a long examipation and cross-examination of Mr. Taylor,
and the several.persons to whom these payments were mode, it appeared
that the pecuniary transactions of the Ole.:ra H cense, and the private con-
ceres of Mr. Tallur were soblended together, it was alino,:t impossible
to discriminate out of which fund, or upon which account, these several
suns were paid, and out of the various Perjuries assigue:‘, .all hut two
w re completely and satisfactorily answered.—Ot these two the proof
wis v.. ey doubtful. And after an inves:iention which lasted front 12
si'c'oelt at noon, until six in the evenine,
Lord ELLENFORGUGH observed, that where the affairs of this con-
ee ti re of ; o cee plicate& a na' lire, and the different funds so
bi eideo togosser, it was most difficult to come to the conclusion, that
the defendant bad been guilty of wilful and corrupt Frjury.. And as
out .it all the Gbarg.'l, two ur,ly remainc4 tycn ervtvoct: fu'r

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THE NATIONAL IZEGISTJIR:

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OLD BAILEY.

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the charge could be founded, his Lordship recommended to the Jury
upon the principles of justice to impute the mistakes of .he de feudant
(if any) to error rather than to wilful a::(1 corrupt perjury ; and Mr.
Garro‘v, for the prosecution, declining, to offer :al). evidence upon the
two remaining charges, the Jury accordingly found a verdict of ac-
quittal.
This case evited the most lively interest, and the Court was uncom,
moldy crowded during the whole of the trial.

---
Wednesday the General Sessions of the Reice commenced in this
Court before the LORD MAYOR, Mr • Justice HEAT U, Mr. Justice
Bedersr, and Sir Genitor Wool).
Yesterday 73,;(jawin Hitchcock, a letter carrier, was indicted for
taking two Bank of England notes, of one pound each, from a letter
which he was entrusted to deliver in the course of his business. Mag-
dalen Losbourne, who resides in Canterbury, sent the two notes in
question on the :'7th of January, by post, to. a Mrs. Barrington who
lives at No. 67, in the Old Bailey. This letter did not reach its destina-
don ; and souse suspicions having arisen about this time against the pri•
soner, his house was searched, and severed Country bills and London
' Bank notes were discovered in a tea put. The notes met.. kind in the
indictment were not found, hut the letter in which they had been en-
closed was. These facts being di tiectly proved, the prisoner was
i called on for his defence; when he stated, that he was in ill health, had
I a large tinnily of children, and was apprehensive, at the time he 1,.:l
1 committed the crime which had been proved again it hint, of being sent
1 te prison, a circumstance which would have been attended by the loss
of his employment, and of course by the utter ruin of himself and his
, family. He professed himself willing to mal.e what nnaration he could
to those he had injured, and handed sonic li.eik notes to the Solicitor
who bad been employed to prosecute hlm. :. number et respectable
persons from I eicestershire, of which county di prisoner was a native,
and from Nottinghamshire, where he had been fur some time resilient,
attended, and gave him an excellent character.—Sir Cs. WOOO summed
up the evidence; and the Jury returned a verdict of Guilty—but ear-
nrstly recommended the prisoner to mercy.
After the above ease had been disposed of, A LADY, named Frances
Lissul, who had been out on bail, was placed at the bar to take her
trial on a 'barge of larceny. Her appearance seemed at once to surprise
i and interest the spectators ; her d, •ss was tasteful, though plain ; her
1 figure elegant, though emaciated ; her manners highly polished ; and
her countenance, which had once been handsome, hearing the deepest
1
impression of anxiety and grief, the result probably of that menaced
1 infamy which, spite of nature and educatiee, accident had placed be-
t fore her eyes. So powerful was the ;ympathy which she created, merely
by her appearance, that almost every individual of the mere gentle sex
in Court wept. When, in a scarcely audible vAce, she pleaded not
guilty—the fountains of her own tears appeared to have teen exhausted.
Mr. BoThouf, Counsel for the prosecutor, proceeded to state that a
person of the name of Arundel, had about four years since come from
Gloucestershire to reside in London, when he entered into the service
of Hankin and Co: as an accountant, and having been obliged h; give
up this employment on account of ill health, had set up some time
since in business with his wife, who was a worker of muslins. Mr.
Lisson called en him on the €.:4th of ls.st Januar, which was on a Fri•
day, and having informed him that she had been recommended to deal
I with him, desired he would brie; some goode of a certain description
Ito her house. in Ashley-street, Northampton square. On the following
morning he a ...lilted, and called with a box of goods, according to
appointment. He was shown into a room without a lire, and shanty
afterwards Mrs. Limn came to him. She looked at some articles, and
admire d them, but observed that the room w?.s cold, and nal,ing up a
parcel of the goods in her hands, they went into a room where there was
a tire, this he did, but observing when he got into the s which sha
had reached a little time before him, that she was ee:ployed putting
some article into a chest of drawers, in a hurried manner: his suspicions
were excited by this circumstance • he did not, however, say any thing,
but proceeded to display his muslit!fs, &c. and Mrs. Lis.ain bought arti-
cles from him to the amount of 31. ss. 6d. When this purchase was com-
pleted, he proposed to show her a ruff similar to thatiwitich she hadb,)ught ;
1 but on searching for this, he perceived that it was missitte., as well as some
other articles he thought he !sad brought with him. He then mentioned
his supposed loss, and 21Irs. Lisson desired a young lady who had come in-
to the room, to search for them where they had been; be search how ever
proving ineffectual, Mr. Arundie left the house, returned to his own,
when he again searched for the articles, on the presuattption that he had
not taken thou from it ; but not finding them there, he immediately
proceeded to the Police-office, Hatton-garden, when Le got two war-
rants, one to search the prisoner's house and another for her apprehene
sion. The search fur the prol-erty proved ineffectual ; but the lady, who,
though absent from home, made no attempt to conceal herself. was
taken; but after an examination before the Magistrates was held to
hail, her :securities entering into very heavy recognizances. Her row
coming forward, though it was in her power to at; ;con. l, Mr. 130 era+ Nia
admitted was a circumstance much in her favot.r. i'- understood more-
over, be said, that a number of persons of high taolt were now it: at-
tendarxe who would give her an excAlent character; but notwith-
li4nding all this, if the case were duly made out, it wearing that thill