The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-25 00:00:00

FORGED NOTES.

Bow-STREET..-.Yesterday a young man, dressed in a
sailor's habit, and who gave his name as James Etches, was ex-
amine(' before T. HALT.s, Esq. the sitting Magistrate, charged
with uttering a forged 51. Bank of England note to Mr. William
Harris, of 53, Great Russel-street, Bloomsbury, optician.
It Etpf tared from' Mr. Harris's statement that about three
weeks or a month ago a young man very much resembling the
prisoner, and in a similar dress, came to his shop and asked to
look at a sextant ; several were shewn to him, but he objected
to them as being of inferior make, and said that he wished to
purchase. one of the first workmanship, as he had lately come
from a long yoyage, and had experienced the want of an accu-
rate one`;- several others of a much higher price were shewn
to him, and he selected one which he desired to be sent to
Captain' Ward, 47, Burton-crescent, who he said was his
uncle, for him to approve of it before the money was paid.
Mr. Harris took down the direction, and the young man was
leaving the shop, when he turned back, and asked to look at
some mathematical instruments, and finally agreed to pur-
chase a case for sixteen shillings, and then threw down on the
counter a five pound note, asking Mr. Harris to give him the
difference, which Mr. Harris did, and the young man then went
away. In the course of the day Mr. Harris .went himself with
the sextant to No. 47, Burton-crescent, and was surprised to
find no person of the name of Ward, was resident there ;
and on his return home the note was discovered to be bad.
There being no trace of the young man, the affair rested until
yesterday ; when Mr. Harris met the prisoner in Fleet-market,
and was so struck with the resemblance he bore to the person
who had paid him the note, that he determined to watch him,
and walked close behind him to Warwick-lane, Newgate-street,
where the prisoner went into a tobacconist's shop ; Mr. Harris
had then a Tull view of his face, and felt so satisfied as to his
identity that lie went into the shop and seized the prisoner by
the collar, and gave him into the charge of a constable who was
passing at the time.
_Mr. HALLS asked if Mr. Harris would swear positively to
the prisoner being the man who had paid him the 5/. note ?
Mr. Harris said that he could not swear directly to him, but
he had no doubt that he was the man.
Several tradesmen appeared who had notes passed upon them
under similar circumstances, but none of them could swear to
the prisoner. It is however supposed, from the informations
which have been received, that the prisoner is the person who
has lately been passing forged notes in London under a variety
of circumstances.

He was remanded until Friday next, when it is expected
that other charges will be brought against him.

ADDITIONAL RECENT INSTANCES OF DEDUC-
TIONS OF TITHE AND RENT.—The Rev. C.
Davey, Combs, Suffolk, 55 per cent. on tithe.---
The Rev. F. 11. Williams, Rector of Fordham,
All Saints, and Westley, Essex, 25 per cent. on
tithe; and a new engagement entered into ac-
cording with the times.—The Rev. Edward
Paske, Rector of West Creeting and Battisford,
Suffolk, 20 per cent. on tithe.—William Smith,
Gent. of Helmingham, Suffolk, 25 per cent. off
the tithes of the parishes of Tannington and
Brandish.—The Hon. F. West, of Colham Court,
Berks, from 15 to 20 per cent. on rents in Berks
and Wales : this was unsolicited, and on rents
comparatively low.—Lord Churchill, 20 per
cent. on his rents in 'Wilts.

The inhabitants of Mil'port, in the Island of
Cumbrae, in addition to their former liberality,
have lately contributed a handsome sum of money,
which they, by the hands of the eldest member
of the Session, presented to their former Assis-
tant, the Rev. John Vicar, A.M. as a small token
of their gratitude and esteem, for the faithful and
conscientious discharge of his duty towards them
both in public and private.
SUlClDE.—Yesterday morning, on the family
of Mr. SCOTT, the acting Overseer of St. James,
Clerken well, residing in Coppice-row, rising
from their beds, they were surprised at not
seeing the servant maid about the house. Upon
some of the family going to call her, they were
horror-struck at finding the unfortunate young
woman hanging to the tester of the bedstead by
her garters, and quite dead.
GYSARTS.—We understand (says an Edin-
burgh Paper) that some suspicious characters
are at present going about the city as gysarts
(maskers), dressed in the Highland costume,
armed with daggers and pistols—not boys, but
strong men ; and when they obtain an entrance
into a house, they say they will act Rob Roy.—
It may be a frolic ; but it will be well that ser-
vants be on their guard against admitting such
visitors, lest they act. Rob Roy indeed, and lay
•
the family under contribution.

SUSSEX WINTER ASSIZES.

LEWES, DEC. 23.

The Winter Assizes commenced here this morning, before
the Hon. Baron GRAHAM and the Hon. Mr. Justice BAYLEY.
At ten o'clock the Commissions were opened ; after which the
Learned Judges attended divine service.
Mr. Justice BAYLEY addressed the Grand Jury to the fol-
lowing effect :

" Gentlemen of the Grand Jury,—lt cannot but be highly
satisfactory to find that in the various towns through which the
Judges pass, the Gentlemen summoned upon the Grand Juries
attend invariably with the greatest alacrity, at this, which may
be called .an experimental Assize.
"Gentlemen,—The calendar which is now laid before you,
at about one-half the period since the last Assizes that might
naturally be expected, shows that, in this county, there may be
great propriety in the measure. When you look at the charac-
ter of the different crimes which the calendar contains, for your
consideration, I hope you will make all the endeavours in your
power for the purpose of preventing the recurrence of similar
crimes, before the next Assizes. On looking at the calendar, I
perceive that the crimes there are, with a very few exceptions,
offences committed in the night. For the prevention of these
crimes, great watchfulness is necessary ; and perhaps nothing
would be better calculated for that purpose than to take care that
individuals are well employed throughout the day. There is one
thing, however, which has a greater tendency than any other to
the commission of nightly crime : I mean that, in some in-
stances, parochial relief has been afforded to different persons,
without requiring a proportionate degree of labour from them.
Now, if a person capable of labour, is supported without work-
ing, by parish relief, he certainly will not be idle throughout
the whole 24 hours.

" With regard to the cases which are mentioned in the calen-
dar, there do not appear to be any which require any particular
observations from me. There are two offences of the same de-
scription, of the highest order—namely, of arson. In these
cases, a principal point for your attention is, that the evidence
produced before you amounts to something beyond mere suspi-
cion. You will not find the bills, unless the evidence proceeds
beyond that length. If the bill is found, and the prisoner should
be tried on insufficient evidence, and thus acquitted, he is at
liberty, and can never be tried for that crime again. But if the
bill be thrown out, in the course of time additional proof may
be obtained, and that which at one time was merely a matter
of suspicion, may, at a subsequent Assizes become a matter of
certainty.

" Before I finish, there is one point which seems a necessary
object for your anxious attention. It is that, at these Assizes,
as well as every other, there must necessarily be a great num-
ber of persons discharged from confinement, and set at large on
the world, whose only means of subsistence is by their industry
and bodily labour. Gentlemen, at this season of the year it
may be difficult for persons to obtain employment ; and if they
are to be discharged, without some little means of subsistence
to enable them to reach their respective homes, to have an op-
portunity of returning to their honest pursuits, what is to be
expected ? In the county we have just left, there have been 40
individuals discharged, and of course it is to be hoped that a
great number of them will return to habits of industry; but I
cannot forbear remarking, that on looking at the different ca-
lendars, and attending to the history of the different gaols, I
find that the faces of the same persons who were discharged at
the Summer Assizes, frequently appear in the following winter.
In many instances, at the time of their being discharged, they
would be willing to maintain themselves honestly ; but by their
extreme poverty, they are again driven upon the commission
of crime. I have no doubt, Gentlemen, that when you take
these circumstances into consideration, you will be able to de-
vise some means by which this evil may, to some extent, be
remedied.

" If in the course of the discharge of your duty, any difficul.
ties should arise, I shall be very happy to render you any assist-
ance in my power."
The calendar contains fifty commitments, several of which
are for capital offences.

Before the Hon. Mr. Baron GRAHAM.
David Eagles was indicted for having feloniously uttered a
forged Bank of England note, for the value of Si. en the 27th of
July, he knowing it to be forged.
It appeared that on the day ip question, the prisoner had
gone to the shop of the prosecutor, a shoemaker, at Mayfield,
and purchased a pair of boots. In payment he tendered a Si.
note. As the prosecutor had not sufficient money in his own
possession to change it, he went to the house of one of his re-
latives in the town to ask him. The latter thinking that there
could be no cause of suspicion, as it was offered him by a re-
lation, immediately complied with his request. Before the pro-
secutor gave the change to the prisoner, he asked where he had
got it ? He said he had received it from his master. Soon after
the note was discovered to be forged, and the prisoner was ap-
prehended at some distance from the house of the prosecutor.__
`I the constable who took him into custody told him the
reason for that proceeding, he immediately said he had received
the note from a person to whom he had sold a horse at East
Grinstead fair. Witnesses were also called, who proved that
on the Ist of June preceding the last transaction, the prisoner
had called at a chandler's shop, at Erridge-green, near Tun-
bridge Wells, and asked the shop-keeper for change of a Si.
note, saying at the same time that he wanted it for the purpose
of paying a number of labourers in his employment, then wait-
ing at a public-house called the Green Man, in the neighbour-
hood. This assertion was accompaniedd by a promise to deal
with her for any commodities, such as bacon, bread, or cheese,
that he or the persons in his employment might want. In-
duced by this promise, the change was given, and the pri-
soner said his name was Russell, and bred at Yalding. One
of the Inspectors of notes of the Bank of England proved that
the two notes, the subject of the indictment, were forged in all
respects. The confession of the prisoner, stating that he had
bought the note, knowing it to be forged, was now put in and
read.

The Learned Judge having summed upthe evidence remarked
that the Jury were to consider whether, on the present occasion,
the prisoner could be considered as having a guilty knowledge
of the nature of the note. Upon that point they were to consider
whether a person who was ignorant of its being forged, would
have given the different accounts of himself which the prisoner
had done. If they were of opinion, upon a due consideration
of all the circumstances of the case, that the prisoner knew the
note was forged, it was their duty to convict him.—The Jury
found the prisoner Guilty—Death.

( Before the Hon. Mr. Justice BAYLEY.)
William Lenby was indicted for stealing a bay mare, and a
black gelding, the property of Thomas Hewitt, at Henfield.
On the evening of the 25th of October, the servant of the
prosecutor left the two animals mentioned in the indictment
safe in a close near the house. The next morning the prisoner
was seen riding the gelding, and leading the mare, at the dis_
tance of 18 miles from the place where they were missed. The
person who saw him not having heard of the robbery, allowed
him to pass. When Mr. Hewitt's servant perceived that the
animals were stolen, he went according to the direction of the
person who had seen the prisoner with the horses, along that
road about four miles. There they suddenly lost all trace of
the prisoner. As the place at which they had then arrived was
by the side of a wood, they supposed it very probable that their
search in that place might be successful. They accordingly
entered one of the paths, and when they had proceeded a short
distance they saw the prisoner start from the ground, where he
had been lying, and run away. He was pursued and taken.
When asked how he had obtained possession of the horses, he
said they had been intrusted to his care by a person whom he
did not know, and that, not liking the job, he had left them
and gone into the wood.—The Jury found the prisoner Guilty._
Death.

FIRE.—The neighbourhood of Wapping was
thrown into considerable alarm on Monday night
about six o'clock, by a fire breaking out on the
extensive premises of Mr. Dent, ship-chandler,
in Hermitage-street, which at first threatened
great destruction : it broke out in the warehouse,
but by what means cannot be ascertained : it soon
spread to a quantity of oakum, which took fire,
and burnt with great rapidity : the dexterity and
exertion of the neighbours, who soon threw the
whole property into the street, saved the premises
from being burnt to the ground by the raging
element : five minutes more, and it would have
gone beyond their power. The Aldgate parish
engine, the Imperial, Royal Exchange, and
Phoenix, soon arrived ; but we are happy to say,
their aid was dispensed with, and that, the injury
was confined to the property only ; except that
of Mr. Mills, a publican in the same street, who
fell over one of the fiery bundles of oakum and
hurt his head severely.
The hot-houses in the botanic garden at Glas-
gow have recently been heated from the intro-
duction of steam, by a method equally simple,
novel, and ingenious, and which not only proves
more beneficial to the health of the plants, but is
calculated to afford a most material saving in the
article of fuel.