The Sun.
London, England, 1806-09-17 00:00:00

MR. DANIELS.

MAtcSMN-HODSE.---Yesterday being the day ap-
pointed for the examination of this Gentleman, the
curiosity created in the City exceeded all example.
Long before nine o'clOck in the morning numbers
of Gentlemen assembled before the Mansionlhouse,
in anxious expeelation for the hour to arrive, when
the gates should be opened.
About half past nine O'clock the crowd became
so great, that every person took his station as near
as he possibly could to the outside gate. Here, for
the space of an hour, the pressure was intolerable;
and so vigorously did every man endeavour to retain
his place, that it was absolutely impossible for the
Officers, or the Gentlemen immediately concerned
in the business, to gain, admission through this gate.
They were, therefore, adMitted through the side
doors, which, though also besieged, were not crowd-
ed to so great an extent as ,the great gate.
About half past ten o'clock the Prisoner arrived
in a hackney coach ; and shortly after, we under-
-stand, the. Loan MAYOR took his seat in his Of-
fice : the gates were then unlocked, and flew open
`with the pressure ; the crowd rushed .in, and the
outer hall of the Mansion-House was, in a few mo-
ments, filled with the people ; the steps were also
full of Gentlemen, who pressed forward with so
much violence that many persons were extremely
happy to give over the contest, and make their way
'out of the crowd with whole bones. In this situa-
tion the greater part of the crowd remained for up-.
wards of half an hour, being repeatedly informed
that the door of the Justice Room would not be
opened to the Public until the business was over.
This, however, had not the effea of clearing the
place; and, about eleven o'clock, by order ef,the
LORD MAYOR, the dour of his Office was thrown
open, and those who were nearest to it had the
good fortune'to"gaiu adMittance. At this time the
examination of Mr.
,Montefiori had nearly closed,/
Mr. MARRYAT'I,' as Counsel for the Prosecution,
had, of course, concluded his statement but, we .
understand, it was a,plain recital of fat% of the case;
and, with respe& to the legal guilt, of the Prisoner,
he insisted that it must either be a felony, a fraud
at Common Law, or. a fraud, according to the Stagy
tute of the 30th of the King. With respe& to the
two former, the Learned Counsel seemed to ad-
mit, that the Prisoner never could be considered
guilty of eithei ; but with resped to the latter,
namely, a fraud according to the Statute of the 30th
of the. King, he entertained a different opinion, and
submitted that,' by virtue of this; the Prisoner
should be committed .tor trial. This Statute wpkes
it a fraud to obtain money,
,goods, wares, or mer-.
chandizes under false pretences and though this
particular kind of Stock 'Could not be considered.as
either money, goods, or wares, yet. he conceived that
it should be-considered merchandize; and on this...
constrn &ion he chiefly rested his case.
Mr. Montefiori, the Stock-broker, was then sworn, •
and went over the circumstances of the case, so far
as they related to himself, ,He stated, that he had,.
at the request of the Prisoner, pprchased 3 I,oooi.
oMniuni for him,
...Defendant having informed him
that Mr. Abraham GOldstnid, and another friend,
would take a large part of it off his hands. For
this 0 mnizoh, the Prisoner, on the 20th of Attgust,
gave Mr. Montefiori his cheque on ins Bankers,
Messrs. Payne, Smith, and Payne, far 16,8 1-61. 3s.
telling him, •at the same time, that he believed he
would be short of cash, and he could not, therefore,
draty on/ his Banker fbr 17,0001. which was- the
whole amount of the stock., This cheque.
Montefiori paid into hi!S Ranker's. It was presented
to Smith, Payne, and Smith, for paythenr; but
they refused to pay it, alledging; that there was"not
more than 2,5001, of the'Defendant's money in their
hands. By this time the Prisoner had absconded
and when Mr. Montefiori went in a day or two after
to his lodgings, he found there, in a tin box, 30001.
Oniniwii, of which he took, possession.
On cross examination by Mr. GURNEY, as Coun-
sel for the Prisoner, Mr. Montefiori "admitted, that
he had madean affidavit of debt against the Prisoner
for 16,8161.35.

Mr. Fuller was next examined by Mr., MAn..
RY ATT. He stated, that he had started twice: from
London, in pursuit of *the Prisoner. The second
time he went in company with Rivett, the Bow-street
Officer, to the Isle of Man, for the purpose of iden-
tifying him. When he first saw Mr. Daniels, he
did not mention that lie had any warrant to appre-
hend hiin ; but after some conversation with hit,
he went to the Governor of the Island, and obtained
his permission to take him into custody. On this
authority he ordered Rivett to search Nina; and he
foimd ott 'his person' 9561. in, Bank of England
notes, all of which were advertised numbers, ek—
copt about 181. in small notes. He pressed the
Prisoner to disclose to him where the reniainder of
the notes were; but he positively denied having any'
others, and he gave his keys to Rivett that he might
Search his trunks and dratklers; which he did, but
found none. In the 'course of conversation, . the.
PriSoner said, it was his wish to remain in the Isle
of Man until he had 'settled. with his- creditors.—
For this purpose he commissioned him, the Wit-
rieSs, to enter into a negotiation with them, and
to adjust all ,matters. ' He was -aware, he said,
he could not be taken out of the Island, as. he was
under the proteaion of the Governor, who had
pledged ,himself to.. that effea. i Mr. Daniels' had
in his hands, at the tiine,.the Manx Statutes, whiCh
he seemed to study with attention, and they not
being very voluminous the Witness brought them
over with him. The Prisoner
.at length, after
much persuasion, agreed to give-up the rest of the
property in his possesSion,,i provided the 'Witness
promissed'him that he should not .be taken befo're
the Lord Mayor, or be Made a - public spectacle
of. This the Witness promised ; and then Mr.
Daniels took him up stairs to a bed-room, in which
there was, a Lady. When they went into the'room
the Lady Was about to retire into another room,
but the Prisoner said to her, " you will please to
walk down stairs, I wish to have the whole floor
to myself ;" the Lady then went down, and Mr.
Daniels, pointing to a corner CupbOard, said " the
rest of the property is behind that." AYitness
looked behind it, and saw some paper there, but
not being able to get at it, he called Rivett, and
he pulled down the cupboard ; they there found
a parcel of Batik of England Notes, sealed. up, in
all amounting to within a few hundred, pounds of
10,0001; the numbers 'of which corresponded with

the numbers in the adkrtisc.ment. Full said,
lie had heard 'the Przsofier say, that he was often
very'uneasy at haviirg ti-ege notes in his;possessiOn;
and once; on the sea-shore, he was debating with
himself whether he should not throw them all into
the water.

On Cross-examination, Mr. GUR_NEY produced a
paper to the Witness, which he acknowledged was
his hand-writing. This paper was then read by Mr.
GURNEY, and purported fo'be• an agreement'entered
into by Mr. Fuller, on the part of the Gentlemen of
the Stock Exchange, not to take the Prisoner before
a Magistrate, or put hiM into confinement, provided
he gztve up the property in his possession.
Rivett • was then asked, if he could • add any
, .
thing to this statement? and ne answered' in the
negative.

Handcock, from the house of Smith, Payne,
.and Smith, then deposed, that on the 29th .of-Att
gust the Prisoner had not more than about 5001. in
their hands. On the 20th, he paid in there about
70001. in divers drafts and bank-notes' There are-
two clerks, as the Witness sated, in this house, one
for paying, and the other for receiVing, who sit op-
posite each. other. When the Prisoner had paid in
drafts to the amount of 6,7681. he instantly went over
to the other side of the room and drew a check, or
presented one Which he had ready drawn, for 4,7101.
payable to the .ast, India CoMpany. This was not
a regular mode oC doing business, as the drafts to
the amount of this sum being only that moment paid.,
in, he pact no right to draw on the_ house until after
six" o'clock in the evening, when it would be known
whether they were paid or not. When the Prisoner
presented the check, Mr. Salmon, who was the pay-
ing clerk, first inquired-whether Mr. Daniels had
money enough in the house ? and finding that he had
just paid it in in drafts, he hesitated a little, as it, was
not usual for any Gentleman to a& in such a manner
without first making application to one pf the part-
ners of the house, or to some of the confidential
Clerks. At this moment, the Prisoner 'seeing it was
doubtful wheth( r he should receive the money of
not,
:asked foe th Witness, and went
,up stairs, as if
to cousult him on the subjel-in consequence of
which, when he next presented himself to Mr. Sal-
mon, the money was handed over to hini and he took
it away.

• Mr. Sal Mon corroborated this statement, and
when the .PriSoner asked fin-Mr. Handcock, and
went up stairs, he was impressed with' the' belief that
he went to speak to him on the subjea rand he there-
fore gave him the cash. , •
The case on the' part of the prosecution being
here closed, Mr. GURNEY, for tire Prisoner, rose
to make .a few observations with respect to his
cOnception pf the state in• which the matter
stood. In doing this, he-cOnfessed he stood in ra-
ther an awkwaiel situation; as although the Prisoner'
could not strictly be considered a. culprit, still the
statements which had appeared in the public news-
papers Were of a nature that made it' impossible for
any than to'read theta without being prejudiced'
against him. There was nothing, he confessed,-
which so strongly induced him to believe that- are-
Prisoner could not he Considered. a "ct:ilprit, a the
statement of his Learned Friend:Of Wilose acuteness'
and ability no person could ente•rtani the slightest;
doubt. He, in' his opening, stetted,' that it•mnq
either be a 'felony, a fraud 'at common law, or a'
fraud according to the Statute, of the 3oth of
the King ; he appeared to be in doubt 'which it
was; but nsinge, 'to hiM, the most uncommon ftr-:
gument, he thought if it was not the first or the'
second, it intist of 'courSe be the third. The pre-
sent case could net be consideredany thing- similar
to the flurious case of .Major'SertipleT'tihrOiti hors:4
had seen hir'eci ned-Seld iiy the Prisotieoiid 'the
property lagv,•T, was
,trineferred trc)rn the owner of.
the.-horse; \'ho had only. Ahmed hitn tcl 'fieee(' the
use. of it foe a limited' tirne: In the present instanter'
the stock was purchasedThr the Prisoner, end handed
Over to him, he giving what waS considered a valuable
consideration, and if, 'after he had got possessien of
it in bilis way,
.his pocket had- betjn picked of it,
he could have indicted the offender for the 'offence.
this account, 'it could not be considered- the
property of Mr. Montelturi, or of any person Other
than, the prisoner, and it Was monstrous to suppose
that a mar. could be a Criminal for making use of his
own, By ,a solemn adjudication, it was:settled,
that if a person borrowed 201. and gave a draft On
a Banker for' the amount', which draft Was not paid,
it was nut a larceny ; for if it was so considered; the
consequence would' be, that if ever
.it could be
proved that any man borrowed 1001. without hav-
ing the. means of paying it; he could be-indiefed fir
the offence. The Learned Counsel then adverted
to the case of the King and I.ara, which* was .an in-
diarnent for fraud at Common Law, for obtaining'
a nuaritity of Lottery Tickets under false pretences ;
• but Lord Kenyon held it waS not a frand,'but there-
ly
obtaining money under false pretences ; and cited
the case of thew King- and Wheaoy, who Was tried
before Lord Manstield'for a fraud, in delivering Only
sixteen gallons of beer when he should have:hell-
Vered..eighteen. Lord' MANtsnEen, was 'here of
'opinion, that this waS not a fraud, but merely a non--
perfordiance of a cen'trael---,-the Priconer not Ur-
itig' delivered a sniliciency. So, in :`theeprest‘iit
Case, the Learned Counsel contended, this could
not be tonsidered"'aefraudi but a non-perform-
mice/ of a crintraCr; the Prisoner not having de-
: liVered a Aufficiet#.' From this, h&-conceived,
it was fully established, that Mt'. Daniels was not'
guilty of a trand at Common Law.: The next thing
to be considered was, whether he was guilty' of a
fraud according to the Statute of the 30th of the
King And 'with respeet to this, it mast he money,
goods., wares, or merchandize. ' His Learned Friend
allowed, that -Omnilim 'could' not' Be.' considered ei-
ther money; goods, 'or wares ; but heqhonght it
might come under the denomination of- ttirchan-
dize : the 'Learned Counsel then argued for a con-
siderable time on this point ; in the course of which
he contended,- that as Omnium was iv a chattel or
a chose in aßion, it could not be considered Mer-
ehandiZe. From these consideratinns, he submitted
that it was not larceny, as Mr. Montefiori bad trans-
ferred the property to the Prisoner; ,that it was not
a fraud at COmmon Law by obtaining money under
false pretences, because, giving a draft on a Hank, in
which you had no money, was already adjudged not
to be a fraud; and that, therefore, as the only point
to be decided was, whether Omniuirt could be censi-
dered merchandize, as wined in the Aet of the 30th
of the. King; he conceivt-d' that It's Lordship .might,
- with' the very able advice which he could have at any
time, decide the matter in a summary way.

Mr. CorisT, as COunsel for the Committee of We
Stock I:::change, rose to speak in reply; bin being.
objected •to by • Mr. Gutomi-, :is not-employed for
Mr. Montefiori, he sat down, after
.shortly observ-
ing, that as the Prisoner was in custodvurider the
Chief Justice's Warrant, it would be. the better way-
to take the opinion of the Recorder, as soon as con-
venient,
On the construction of the Aa. ,
Mr. MARRVATT then shortly .replied, that he ,•
had no objection to the method proposed, ntunel,.',
taking the opinion of the Recorder; but he thought
that his Learned Friend might: better have reserved
his arguments tbr a; motion in arrest-of judgment.
With respect to- the paper Aigned• by Air. roller,
he thought it nrcesiary to state, that this Gen-
tleman had nothing to •do with. Mr. Montefiori,
nor 'were they before this known to each other.
•Mr. Fuller had been sent., to the Isle. of Man
by some of the Gentlemen the,: Stock Ex-
change; who were anxious to have the Prisoner ap-
prehended, as they wished to keep the, Stock bu-
siness as pure as possible.' It could not, however,
be expeaed, that becati.r. Mr. Fuller was employed
in.this way, andhad entered into this agreement,
that Mr. Montefiori should be bound by it. The
Learned Counsel then observed on some of the .
points of the case, and said .it was quite clear that
the Prisoncr intended to get the stock,,and to get, it
without paying for it ; .so that he conceived, as:
there were instances enough •of false pretences, it 7
would be an eternal disgrace to the law, if a man,
who was so clearly-guilty of a fraud, ,was permitted
by it to escape punishlnent,
The -Loa. o MAYOR, after a • few minutes con-
sideration, said, he thought it was necessary for him
atbnce to cline to a deciNion on thisbnsitie,s. .It
was laid down, as an established maxim of the law.,
that no persfai could, by fraud, obtain' the }Hisses-
Sion of any property ;as the Obtaining it that
,way was, in fact, void from the beginning. In the
present case, he was not able to determine, whether
or• not it was a fraud according to the Statute ; but
as it was evident that so Much -fraud-was pitti•tised
in the transataion, •he thought it his duty --to'cbm-
mit the Defendant for trial at the-next Old Biller--
Sessions,
.which would.'cominence in a short time,
and then the--Judges would determine' on the- na-
,ttirtts of the- of ertce for which he stood Ili trial.'
.Mr. GURNEY then, with, the consent of Lord-
.

Montetiori,' whether, the
had not a: few days, betore.the 20th desired jinn
to sell this stock for him.' he could do it without a
loss? and was onsWeied in-t116,-allirinatie. • • •
Guam:v. then s' ;:ante that fram this it
wa.-zi sufficiently evident, that Mr.' Daniels Ci,i not
.
originally intend to afii-rwards'd;d.
The .1..,0Rn 11.14.v0tt said, ,he should rather con-
sider it as ,a proof of a dee..p7laid sphi:iie; for t; c;
'purpose of throWing-,Mr;'Montefiori entirely. off his
, guard.
, :L • . .
. After some private convergation between the Conn -
seJ, it was then agreed th:it the Prisoner should he,
rernanded..tintil to-tnorro*W„ o'clock, and -11 w it
brotag-lit np for the parpOse oflOviwg thc'dppoitions•
read over before him. • •
• Air. aniels was dressed in black, and-stood at the.
har with his right hand in, the hresst:of his coat dur-
ing the whole. of- the. p\amination : his eyes were'
. fixed to .the ground,:andivrountenanee was unal-
tered—nordid be, that we could .wreeive, 'change
his-position, except_once ,that he stooped, to speak to
Mr. GURN EY. Wili?*ll he retired, he bowed to The
Court, and ktilked lowly—he, howe er, appeared in
perfeei health.

- SO great v.,a's• the aro;lety to see. the Prisoner,
thit ihmitside of the 4.iiridow•!;-of the I.;(ird Mtiyor's
Office was crowded, so as, to darken the roorrr, and
?lumbers were waiting' iii the different 'streevi
sto Newgate., in expedation of Bting hinyai he
assed.
. •