The Sun.
London, England, 1801-12-14 00:00:00

BARBADOES, StP.T. 1g

Ti F Fairy Sloop sailed this .morning.in quest of
the Privateer, which has lately so annoyed our
,trade
to windward: One of the mail-boats, properly
armed, weiit with her... .
Lord SEAEORTI-1 has appointed P. FAIRERAIN,'
Esq. to be Captain-Gunner of Charles Fort anti its,
Distria. .

The Heads of our Naval and Military Staff, are'
shortly ekpea'ai to assemble here' for the purpose,
-it is stated, of engaging in some. new Expedition.
The Admiral is hourly looked for from Surinam.
A Convoy is *appointed to sail from hence for
'England'on the zgth OEtober.

MARTINICO) OCT. TO:-

We have advice from Guadalonpe,' thatia
ous Insurreaion has broken out there.,:opo9, qpp
turn of two or, three hundred. ,Emigraos,i;"glu3„ for
some years past, have resided on .this Islando'j It is
said that.DE t,n CROSSE, the Commanding Military
Officerat Guadaloupe,.has been, poisoned, and that
the person su3pedied. of
.doing it, assassinated the
Officer who was., sent. to arrest him ; and that the
whole Island is again involved h 1 all those hotrars
of 'ell v ikwar and -anarchy, .whicl formerly ravaged
it..

We. have accounts that the Windsor Transport,
which sailed from ,Barbadoes with the May Fleet,
with Frisonersl, and a party of the 4.gth Regiment,
had been seized by the Prisoners, who overpower_
ed the Guard, after her arrival io ;he. British Chan-
nel, and carried her to America. ,

DOMINICA, SEPT. 19.

His Majesty's Ship ,L'Er/thr has captured two
large French Privateers. from Porto .Rico, out only
a few.daysi and had -not taken any thing.
The Sally, HALL, bearing a Flag of Truce, some
days since saw a fine Bristol Ship, name unknown,
carried intoPaint-a-Petre..

ANTIGUA, OCT. 22.

We are much concerned to,hear, that His Ma-
- ,
-jesty's Frigate Proselyte has been lost near St.
Martin's ; she struck on some rocks, and is stated
to have sunk immediately. •

There has been another storm 'it Providence,
and it is reported that out, of there, three
only were saved. 3,,3d
A Spanish Privateer, of t-i;'guns an& 120 men,
has been eaptuied and carried iiito.Martinique.
The 'first Mail for September is.hourly expeaed.
The body of -a negro man was on Sunday morn-
ing found in the burial-ground at the Point, sup-
posed to ha\ve been exposed there by some pers9n in
the neighbourhood, to avoid the trifling expellee of
burying it.
A laige body of Troops, it is said 6000, are re-
ported to have arrived at Barbadoes.

BASSETERRE, ST. KITT'S, OCT. 20.

His Majesty's Ship Southampton arrived here • on
Sunday; and after landing several Soldiers, sailed
this morning to the Southward. An American
brig, called the William, loaded with lumber, is on
shore in the lOWer part of this hay, and it is sup--
posed will be lost. The cargo will he saved.
A Fkes from England had on the 7th inst. arriv-
ed at Barbadoes.
Two ships have arrived at Martinico with troops
from England.

The beautiful Piflute of ,Mrs.. BILL' NcToN, in
the chara&er of St, Cecilia, which is one of the best
produaions of Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS, is now, it
seems, in the possession of the Duke of BEDFORD.
The PiEture is so admirable in all the great quali_
ties of the art, and is so excellent a likeness, that
it ought to come to the Enkravcr, particularly at
this period when the fame of the original is so de-
servedly high in the musical world.

Five Miles an hour have been usually considered
as the proper qvalking.rati of horses, but the pre,
sent pedestrian rage seems to sbeW that it is now
equally .fit for asses. , .

Married on Thursday last, at Twickenham,
HENRY WILLIAM 'ESPINASSE, Esq. Major in the
4.th- (or King's own) Infantry, to the Hon. Mrs.
G. PETRE, reliet of the Hon. GEO. WM. PETRE,,
son to the late• and brother to the present Lord
PETRE. ,

Two Privates of the r7th Dragoons,- quartered.
at Blackhurn., having had- a dispute at a public-
ho•ise there, a few days ago, .came to blows ; they
botlrfell ,itt the struggle, and while on the ground,
. one of them bit off the right ear of the other.
Mr. AOSim WATIIAN, some days since, after a
courtship of 40 years, led Miss LETITIA BEVAN,
of Talbenny.Hall, Pembrokeshire, to the Hy,me-
ncal Altar. The united ages of this happy pair,
amount to something more than one hundred and
forty years..
. .
-A nest of, young. thieves who infested Bath,
consisting of ten -boys, have, lately been appre-
hended ;. several of them have acknowledged how
they had disposed of various articles of their,depre.
dation.

A windmill belonging to Mr. Harvey, of Hap-
pishburgh, Norfolk, was struck by lightning, a
few. ,clays ago, and the interior part totally de-
stroyed,

-Last week, Ann Norman, a woman supposed in
great poverty, died suddenly at Ipswich ; oh strip-
ping-her, there were ion guineassfound:sewed up, in
her cloaths, and•property to the amount of between
five' and 6c,,01.- found concealed in•different parts of
her apartment. • • ,

Oa Wednesday evening, as ,a girl was-returning
from Kendal ,to Witherslack,-driving a cart, the
horse took fright on- .Breathwaite Green, and pre-
cipitated.down a cliff twenty, yards high, and 'was
dashed 'to pieces: The• girl—seeing her danger,
sprung from :he cart as it was on-.the brink of the
precipice, and fortunately escaped- unhurt.

The average Price -of Sugar, computed from the
returns made, for the week ending, the, grh day of
December I.Bor, is. Ea rtr!hrq,Sl4l(inv and, Seven
Pence Farthing re:i hundred weight.

COURT OF' KING4s BENCH; 15gc:, ri

SITTINGS BEFORE_, Mt Jt`STICE LE IIL?tNC

GUILDHALL, LONDON, 12.

SCHOOIANG AND OTtrEaS V. WINDER.
THIS was an Adior upon a Bill of Exchange for
3661: 17s, dated the 18th May, tBOO, at three
months, payable to the Order of J. Bowser,
accepted by the-Defendant, and -indorsed by Bow-
ser, and paid by him to the Plaintiffs, for a vaiu-
-
able consideration:

- Mr. ERSKIt openeA the case for tile Plaintiff's.
He said, they were I\4cl-chant's' in the City, anct
became the Holders of the Bill in qUestion, for a
valuable consideration, which, he belieVed was nor,
as he was sure it could not be, dispUted:
The Defendant was an iron founder; in LaMbeth--:
Road. He should prove, to. the satisfaaiOn of
Jury,, that P. J. Bowser, the DraWer, and Indorser
of this• Bill, accepted-as it was by the Defendant,
had been in the course of drawing Bills' on this
Defendant to a very large amount, there being
large concerns between .theth in trade. IVIr Bow-
ser was the Drawer of the Bill in question : he was
the Indorser of it ; there were other respthable names
upon the Bill, and if siecessary, he
,could prove the
whole history of, the Bill in the bands of the subse-
quent, Indorser, but that the Plaintiffs were the
Holders of it "for a-valuable consideration, was all
that was necessary in this cause.'

The Defednant, he understood, but he hoped he
was.misinstruaed„ meant to enter. upon a 'defence,
the whieh, if he Persisted in, would i.e mot in-
jurious to him : if lie went on with the Dei7ence;
which, he 'was toldi.Lhe' meditated, he might as
Well publish an advertisement that there was an end
put to his trade; for if he was the Acceptor of this
of'ExChange„ and had sent it into the world as
hii acceptance, .upon the faith of which the Pfaintiffs
had adviinces their property, and then turned round,
and denieliat acceptance, calling. it a forgery in
the face s";staa Court of Justice, knowing, as well he
i must, that if "was his acceptance, he must be one
of the most Wicked of mankind, He hoped no such
case would be entered into,. on the part of the De.
fendant.- He should pause a moment to observe,
whether his" Learned Friend; Mr. PARK, the Coen-
.sel for; the Defendant, should intimate to the .con.
trary ; [Here Mr. ERSKlNEpaused for a nitiment,
'and then proceeded] but as his Learned Viisott
made him no answer, he took it for granted, aids ..
Was the defence whiCh was to be set tkp.--,/t-.,•A'S,
therefOre, necessary kr him to take a Coilis&2dit:.
%latent froM 'that which otherwise he should follow
in the .condua of such a cause as'this, because, ordi-
narily speaking, it would„be sufficient to prove the
hand-writing of the Acceptor, and that the Plain-
tiffs . were the flolders:for a valuable,Consideration.
He understood, he Should prove, to the pert e'd sa-
tisfadian of the Jury, every thing that was neces.
sary to overset this defence. The first obkdicti
that was made to this Bill, .was,. that it was de-
fe&ive in the Stamp, when it was refused payment.
There was not then a whisper that the acceptance
was a forgery. The idea then started, fvas, only
that the Defendant was not bound to pay it, because
the Satnp.waS not a legal one. There were two
Stamps upon the Bill, the one was adapted to a Bill
of this amount,: at,the time of its date, which was
the ISth Of Allay, aot, which was that of zs.
Bd. The Bill, however, was not drawn on the day
it bore date, but at a subsequent period, and ante.
dated, and the reason of it was, that it was given
in lieu of another Bill to the s,une amount, accepted • ,
by the same persons'but which was not sent out into
the. world, but cancelled, and this given in its stead,
with a further time toruti before it became due, and
therefore this had, addition to the zs. Bd.
the Stamp of is. 4.d. which was required by At of
Parliament, to.take place .on the 6th of June fol.
lowing, and it would have been •a fraud upon the
Revenue, if this Bill had been sent into the world
without this additional Stamp. > Taking the Bill,
therefore, according to its date, the Bth of May,
the first Stamp of 25? 4d. was legal. Taking it ac,:.
cording to the time of issuing it out, the additional
Stamp of is. 4.d. was necessary to make it, legal,
and so it had both. If he could not prove that the
Defendant was the Acceptor of this Bill, the Plain;
tiffs, although Holders of it for a valuable consider.,
ation, had no.case ;• but , if he should prove it, as
most unquestionably he should, he Would advise the
Defendant, if he was within hearing, to beware
how he attempted to set up this defence he meditated,
Mr. Browser was in the course of drawing Bills on
the Defendant. He drew a Bill of the same deno.
urination as this Bill, which was cancelled, and
this given in. its stead, and the Defendant might
say, that, Bowser had aled very improperly to.
wards him in their transa&ions—as between Bow-
ser and the Defendant that either might be true, or
false, but what was that to the Plaintiffs, who were
Holders for a valuable Consideration,'without notice
of Fraud, of the Bill accepted by the Defendant ?
AS, to his surprise, the Defendant was 'now to
say, 'this acceptance was a forgery, ' he should not
content himself with prOving the hand,writing'of
the. Defendant, by a Witness or two, in the usual
Manner, but he should call a number of Witnesses,
most respedahlepersons, who would all swear to the
hand-writing of the Defendant, in the only way in
which the -hand,Writing o 1 any person could be
proved Persons who had long been acquainted
with the Defendant in the way of trade. The course
which the Defendant was to take in this' cause, the
• .
Jury'wduld observe, ':was that of imputing a capital
Felony to a person 'in whose faVour the Bill was
accepted, than which, if false, nothing could be'
more itifamou, th‘an'which, if true, nothing more,
dreadful to Bow.ser, .for, it must be followedL. by•-•
the logs of his
•
• Now this case- came flefore the Jury in an.-.awful.
shape, 'both to BOWSer and the Defendant ;•'to'one-!
the loss of lin', if the 'acceptance was. a forgery,
to the other, the loss of reputation, without which
life was not worth preserving, if ihe'aeCeptance.
really his. It .would` be Most decisively', in evi,
&nee, before the Jnry, that, this kceeptance was
the hand-writing• of the Defendant. If any cir;
cumstances-occurreOrra case where, although wit-
nesses sWorel.6:a'lland- writing," yet the thing itself
was highlyimprobaSle, .then, the jury would sup_

was a forgery in the case : for instance, ifa bill put-1.
ported to he drawn on him, by a Grocer at Wake-
field or at York, or any other part of England, by
a man he never saw or corresponded with, it would
then be considered by the Jury that it was highly
improbable he was the acceptor ; but there was no-
thing of that kind, here, all probabilities were with
the acceptance : for the parties had had large-deal-
ings together, and the Defendand had, over and
over _ again, accepted bills ,for BowSer. Whether
all this proof would be necessary, he could not tell,
for the defence might still be abandoned ; bat con-
ceiving by the silence of his. Learned Friend, who
was of Counsel for the Defendant, that this de-
fence was to be set up; he should proceed to the
proof ,he had opened to, the jury.
Mr. PARK said, he 'did not chuse to. into:rupt
Mr. ERSKINE in his opening to the jury, but the
defence was, that this acceptance was a forgery.
Mr.'ERSKINE then proceeded to call ,witnesses in
.Apport of the Plaintiffs' case.
Thomas Hatt said, I am acquainted with the
11%nd-writing of the Defendant.---Looking at the
1011 and the acceptance to it, he said, I have no
doubt of its being the hand-writing of the De-
fendant. I have kid an opportunity of seeing. his
hand-writing- I was his Clerk for near two years ;
during these two years I had-very frequent oppor_.
tunities of 'seeing him write ; and having had these
opportunities,
.and having inspeeted this acceptance;
I have no doubt that it is his hand-writing. I
know Mr. Bowser the drawer. I know there was-
a connection between him and the Defendant in the
way of bills. Bower was in the. habit of draw-
ing bills on the Defendant, and .he of accepting

On his crossexamination by Mr. PARK, the
_Witness said--It is about five years since I lived
with the Defendant; I have not been much in the
• habit of visiting the Defendant since. I have called
there, but not to have seen much of his hand-:
writing since that 'time. I am now 2I years of
age. I was between 15' and 16 left the-
service of the Defendant. I have,. 'no-doubt this
)
acceptance is the.hand7writing of the4fendant.
- Thomas Hill.• I know the Defendant, and have
known him for—twelve years. I ihave often had:
-transaelions With hbn in business, in cOns-eqUence
of-which I have 1,,,a opportunities, frequently, of,
sTeing him write. -I understand he has been, fre_
quently, in the habit of -putting his name to bills.
From the knowledge I have, of the handwriting of-
the' Defendant, I _believe this acceptance is his
handwriting. The /signature =pcissesses all that
identity which' clistinguiShes one rnan'S writing
from another. Supposing I had not heard any thing-;
of this bill, and it was presented to me, I should
havehad no difficulty in discounting this bill. I
have discounted bills drswn by the Defendant on
'Bowser.

On his cross-examination by Mr. COMYNS, he
said, this acceptance posseses that which, in my
opinion, constitutes the charaCter of the Defen_
dent's hand-writing. He added many other par-
ticulars on this subjeet, but this is the substance of
his evidence. There was no doubt of the perfea
resneaability of this Gentleman.
James Ward. I am acquainted with the hand-
writing of the Defendant, Mr. Winder. I have
known him, and have transatied business with him,
thr six years or more, I think ; in that period, I
have had frequent opportunities of seeing him write.
I have looked at" this acceptance, I believe it to
be the hand-writing of the Defendant.
On his cross-examination by Mr. PARK, this
Gentleman said, he had seen the Defendant write
three or four times, and had received letters from
him and transacted business with him afterwinds in
consequence of the correspondence, of such letters.
He added, that he had no doubt in the world, this
accceptance was the hand-writing of the Defen.
dant.

Thomas Hornsey underwent a very long exami-
nation, the substance of which was, that he had
formerly lived clerk with the Defendant ; that
the acceptance in piestion seemed like the hand-
writing of the Defendant ; but it was not, his
.re-
gular mode of acceptance. He could not_ say. it
W a, the hand-writing of the Defendant. That the
NVii:.ess' had seen the Defendant sineefhe was. sub-
p4naed as a WitnesS for the Plaintiff. He had con-
,t4:ith hint; not at hiS house , but at the
,
Cityirti in Bow Lane ; they ate and drank together.
They had a little conversation- on this cause. He
asked the Witness, " who lie,carne for ?" At the
first sight of this bill, he thought. the acceptance
Was the hand-writing of the_ Defendant, but ,when
he went home he thought that
,one pan's hand-
writing ~-Vas like another ; but he could not swear
that this was the hand-writing, of
.the Defendant.
There Were five or six 'people with hiM 'at the
Crown. The Defendant was 'there; y r. Awood,
Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Locket, but he did not know
the names of the others. After some further ac.:
count of this matter- at the tavern, the question
was put to him, " Whether he believed the accep-
tance to be of _the hand-Writihg of the Defendant ?
he said; he could not swear it,was the hand-writing
of the Defendant." This being no 'answer, be-
cause he was asked, as to his belief,' and ,not his
knowledge, the question was repeated to him at
least a duzeu times without effed, he taking time
to answer.- _Mr. ERSKiNE asked him, " Upon
your solemn oath, as you shall answer before God
cm the Day of Judgment, do you believe that' to
be the hand-writing of the Defendant ?"
Mr., Justice LE BLANC desired him to take time
and to answer fairly ; he could not be so stupid as
not to know he was not asked whether it was the
hand-writing of the Defendant, for that nobody.
could tell who did not see him.write it ; but what
he believed—whether it was or was not the hand-
writing of the Defendant. At the same time the
Learned Judge said, that if after this-'he prevaricat-
ed, lie should know how to deal with him. At
last he said he believed it was the Defendant's-
writing.
Henry Stratton. " 1- know. The Defendant
Winder ; I have frequently transaded buiiness
with him, and have frequently seen him write.—
I have had Bills drawn by him, and which I have

band-riti-n-87;
John Preston Neal said, he had paid Bills drawn
on their House by the Defendant, by which he
became acquainted with his hand-writing. He be_
believed this to be ate hand-writing, of the De-
fendant.

Andrew Leith gave evidence to the same effe&
- Mr. ERSKINE said, that the Defendant having
thought fit to say. this 'aCceptance was the 'forgery
of Bowser, he would call Mr. Bowser as a Witness,
that his. Learned Friend Mr. P:.112.K, who was of
Counsel for the Defendant, might cross-examine.him
as much as he pleased.
Bowser." I drew this Bill on the, De-
fendant He accepted it in my preSence, and at the
same time I cancelled another' Bill to the same
amount. I tore it in
-pieces, and. I flung the frag-
ment ofit into the fire-place before he accepted this
Bill. I have got my bill-book here ; I flung the
fragments- of the other Bill into the Defendant's
fire:}slace- before him. I certainly should know
that Bill if the. pieces had been taken up and put
together again. There is a corresponding entry to
these Bills in my book. The Defendant' had ac-
cepted Bills drawn by Me, on him many times be-
fore. It is impossible for me to. say how many
Bills the Defendant has accepted of mine, fifty per-
haps. - Not only is this acceptance the hand-
writing of the Defendant, done in my presence,
but it was a voluntary"aa of his ; I indorsed it for
a full consideration, to Messrs. -Schooling, LaW-
rence, and Company, who are the Plaintiffs in
this Cause.",

He underwent a long cross-examination by Mr.
PARK, in, the course of which he said, that he. be,
lieved the Defendant's acceptance for him, and in
advance, amounted to between i'sOol. and
,zoool.
probably i 6001..: That he never• was a bankrupt,
but that a Deed of-CoMposition from him to his
Creditors had been dra‘vn ,so long ago as August
last, but not yet executed. He believed, however,
even now, it will -be executed by the Creditors at
large. He believed' the ,time the Defendant ac-
•cepted • the Bill was ,the latter end of May or, the
beginning of June. He knew a person of the name
ofAwagd. He admitted he had received notice to
produce a letter, said to have been sent to him from
the Defendant' by the hand of Mr. AWoOd, .who
was the Defendant's Clerk about the latter end of
April, last, but he had never received any such
letter. \:Then'-the Bill in question was accepted
by the Defendant, the Witness indorsed it over,to
the Plaintiffs in this Aaion for ,a valuable consider-
ation : copper to the amount of about 451. or 461.
had been delivered to the Plaintiffs by him, but
not under,any engagement whatever to pay this Bill
instead of the Defendant. He added Other ciicum
stances, but this is the substance 'of ,his evidence.
Thomas Tate, Clerk to a l•lotary, proved that
he presented the Bill in question to the Defendant
for payment. His answer was, " that he would
not pay it."

William Bannister had often seen the Defendant
write. He believed the acceptance to ire of the
Defendant's hand-writing.
, Richard Herringshaw gavesevidcnce to the like
effea.

There was no attack whatever made upon the
eharaeter of either of the Witnesses for the Plaintiffs,
except that of Bowser ; they were all admitted to
be respeaable persons.
Here the Bill of Exchange was read "It is
dated 18th May, 18ot. Signed. P. J. Bowser, at
three months after date payable to the order of, the
drawer 3661. 17s. 4d. value delivered in pig iron,
diretted to Mr. Thomas Winder, Iron-founder,
Lambeth, accepted by T. Winder, and indOrsed by
Bowser.''—Here the Case for the Plaintiffs ended.

Mr. PARK, on behalf of the Defendant, admitted
the great importance of this' Case. to the
_Defend_
ant, as it involved his cha,ratler in the deepest
manner, to Bnwser, as it must affect his life if the
defence was made out; and_to the Public also who
had an interest in the deteaion of guilt, as well
.as the exposure of iniquity. If Bowser was
believed, . the Defendant could have no. Case,
and ,he must be one of the greatest scoundrels
upon earth, ,becausey in. that' Case he must be guil-
ty of .the inflatious.:ininiorality of charging a fel-
low creature fidsely With an offence that might take
away hislife; for the base purpose-of shunning .the
performance of his own engagement; but he trusted,'
that heavy'as the ,Case appeared bear upon him
at
,present, the Jury would-be 'of Opinion, when
they had heard the whole of the evidence,
_that. this
acceptance was not the Defendant's hand-writing,-
but was tie wicked a& of Bowser, on whOse credit
the Learned Gentleman, made some observations, to
shew . why the *Jury should .not believe him. As
to the other Witnesses for the Plaintiffs; the an_.
swer to ,their testimony was, that they must be
mistaken,. for that it would appear by the evidence
of those 'who saw the Defendant write every day,
that they verily believed this acceptance.was not of
the hand-writing of the Defendant.
Richard, Jackson, Clerk to the Defendant, said,
he had seen the Defendant write a thousand ,times.
He was 'present when there was a conversation be-
tween Mr. Schooling one of the Plaintiffs, and the
Defendant on' the subjeel of this Bill., He went
there for the express purpose of seeing whether the
acceptance of the Bill in queition was the hand-
writing of the Defendant. It was in the Counting-
house of Mr. Schooling. On that Occasion Mr.
Winder stated that it was not his hand-writing.
The Witness also expressed the same sentiment.—
Mr. Schooling pressed very hard that Mr. Winder
would say positively whether it was or .not, but
Mr. Winder did not give an immediate answer.—
There wits a great deal of conversation afterwards
about Mr. RiwSer, but Mr. Winder did not give
any furtlititv-finSWei- about the acceptance. Mr.
Schoolinkrffitide observations upon the Bill :
he said.he thought it was not like Mr. Winder's
acceptance--:thafhe hattl apprehensions of that kind
before. He said it was unlike Mr. Winder's ac-
ceptance, and he pointed out where it was unlike.
—The Witness afterwards called on Mr. Schooling,
to see the Bill again, but it was gone into the hands
of the Attorney, to bring an Adion upon it against
Mr. Winder. The Witness looked at the Bill, he

SIR,