The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-10 00:00:00

only person who has visited him since his conviction is hopeless to expect that we shall ever be otherwise
his solicitor; no member of his family has made an iv- than embarrassed for means of advantageously dis-
plication. A rumour was circulated to=day that Bush's posing of the human refuse that we so create.
eldest daughter was dying in consequence of the shock. I conclude, theta, Sir, as in my former letter. If
Inquiry was made by cur reporters amongst those we want to vend our article we must begin by im-
farmers and others who had come from Wymondham to proving its value. We can no more force a market
the market, and they fully confirmed the statement.
woman for convicts than for anything else; and the more
attentively we consider the subject in all •
His daughter is represented to be a fine young
its bearings,
more impressed shall we otherwise
to doubt the truth of the statement. The mur- the become with
about twenty years of age. There appears to be no
reasonderer employs
m
ploys himself by walking up and down a small the conviction, that it is the first interest of society,
yard attached to his cell, and when he does speak, he as well as its duty, to endeavour to reform its crimi-
makes some jocular remark about his wish to get out of nals not less than to punish them—to improve their
the world, and that he would not be the only one who capacities not less than to gain their wills; to make
had to complain of the troubles of this world. At in every sense men of them, and not merely to keep
times he whistles, and at others remarks upon the them obedient well-conditioned slaves for a temporary
discordant noises proceeding from the fair outside. Purpose.— I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
One of the county magistrates made the following re-
mark to oar reporter this morning:—" Rush says he A. MACONOCHIE
has bilked Sir George Grey, the Commissioners of Bank-
ruptcy, the judges in civil actions in which he was con-
cerned, and everybody else with whom he has had com-
munication; whether he will bilk Mr. Caleraft, the
executioner, remains to be seen." It is an undeniable
fact that he has squandered away the whole of his chil-
dren's property which was left to them by their mother.
He was left one of the trustees in the mother's will, but
finding that he had not sufficient command of the money,
forged a codicil, in which unlimited powers were given
him to employ the money as he pleased, and containing
this singular provision, that no questions as to the rea-
sons of this codicil being executed should be asked. All
the money has been spent, and the future condition of
the family must be truly lamentable, an ejectment
frem the farms having been served. Yesterday he
attended the chapel, and conducted himself decently
during the performance of Divine service. Indeed he
always observed the outward characteristics of a reli-
gious man. When Lerner and Jermy attended his house
at Felmingham, all joined in family devotion, even at the
time he was making his arrangements for the perpetra-
tion of a series of the most revolting crimes, and for fix-
ing them upon the men who were kneeling with him in
united devotion. In his house was a box designed for
the collection of money for a society in London, called
" The Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the
Jews," and to this he invariably called upon his friends
to contribute. Notwithstanding the remark of the
Learned Judge, that "neither morbid sensibility, nor
the idle curiosity of the world will be allowed to pry
into the secrets of the murderer's cell," hundreds of per-
sons unconnected with the culprit are stated to have
made application to have but a moment's view of him, so
much interest does the murderer excite. This applica-
tion has been in all cases very properly refused, and the
prison regulations have been carried out to the fullest
extent. Every precaution is taken to prevent him making
an attempt on his life.

TILE CHURCII MOUSE'S PETITION.
(From Punch.)
Oh! hear a reverend captive's prayer,
In durance vile that lies,
Nor let a Bishop's heart be shut
Against a Debtor's cries.
For here, my Lord, immured I sit,
Behind this prison grate,
Cast at thy suit in costs, whose sum
Exceeds my small estate,

If o'er thy breast has horror felt
Of bigot's stake cr chain,
Let not thy persecuting ire
See( Sil. %RE detain.

Oh! do not yet more deeply stain
Thy somewhat dingy lawn,
Nor triumph that so poor a prize
Within thy toils is drawn.

The free donations of my flock
My scanty means supply,
And why should thine intolerant heart
My pulpit's use deny?

The cushioned desk and sounding board
Were made for all and each;
Let every.clergyman enjoy
The common right to preach,
The well-taught theologian's mind
Man's conscience will respect;
Regard all creeds with liberal eye;
Ar.d hope for every sect.

Should e'er the times, as some forebode,
Of faggot and of flame
Return, and Smithfield, as of yore,
Its mitred victims claim;

EXTRAORDINARY CAREER OF THE
CONVICTED FORGER, W. H. GIBSON.
Perhaps the annals of forgery furnish few such in•
stances of an entire and systematic abandonment to a
life of infamy as that of William Henry Gibson, who
created such a sensation in Scarborough last season
as Captain Gordon, and was sentenced by Mr. Baron
Alderson, at the late Durham assizes, to be transported
for ten years, on his own confession, for having
forged a cheque for 301., on Messrs. Kirkland and Co.,
London. The prisoner, whose real name is William
Henry Gibson, is thirty-five years of age, and was
born in Essex. He was most respectably connected.
His maternal grandfather was rector of Cricksey and
Athorn, and at his death left property to the amount
of above 8,5001. to his daughter, the prisoner's mother.
The subject of our sketch was apprenticed to Mr.
Byles, surgeon, Spitalfields. At the early age of eigh-
teen he married the daughter of a respectable stationer
in the City, by whom he had five children. His appren-
ticeship finished, Gibson seemed to have abandoned
himself to the most unprincipled and reckless courses.
Forgery and seduction became familiar to his hands
—the latter in its most revolting form, because prac-
tised upon those to whom very tender ties, both by
blood and by marriage, gave peculiar claim to his
protection from anything that could sully their
honour or destroy their peace. Suffice it to say, that
among his victims, subsequent to his marriage, may
be numbered first a very near relative to his wife ;
second, his own cousin, a young girl of eighteen—she
was enceinte when he was apprehended ; besides
a Miss B—, the daughter of a gentleman in
affluent circumstances. In thinking of these astonish •
ment is blended with pity. He forged his father's
name to a large amount. He next introduced himself
as Captain W. H. Gibioa to Mr. Will Boucher,
solicitor, whom he induced to discount a bill to which
he forged the name of his father-in-law. He like-
wise forged a letter showing him to be entitled
to 2,0001. In January, 1847, he was committed
to prison for debt, and after an incarceration of
two or three months he feigned madness, and so
successfully as to obtain his release. In March,
1848, we still find him wearing her Majesty's
uniform, and he was now dashing about in high life
as Colonel St. George. Under this cognomen he en-
gaged apartments in a boarding-house near St.
James's-place, London. He speedily effected an in-
troduction to a lady ; the acquaintance ripened into
a warmer feeling. He at length proposed, and was
accepted ; he paid her the most flattering and assiduous
attentions, and every where accompanied her as her
future husband. She drove her own carriage. On one
occasion, just after he had gallantly handed her to her
seat, and was himself about to follow, a fellow tapped
him on the shoulder, and said, " Colonel St. George
you are my prisoner for 7501. of debt, and 541. costs."
" Indeed," replied the colonel, looking just as little
disconcerted as possible, " that's a bad job, particu-
larly as I have but 4501. in my desk. However, I
suppose I must go to prison, as my pay will not be
due for a fortnight." His betrothed, who had not
been an uninterested listener, now interposed, and
offered to assist him in his difficulty. He expressed
his thanks, and the lady gave him 3751., which was
handed to the officer. The whole transaction was
nothing but a well conducted plan to obtain money.
" The Colonel" shortly afterwards attempted to swindle
1,0001. from his unsuspecting and kind-hearted
inamorata. He: pretended that he had undertaken to
lend 2,0001. to a friend. He actually persuaded her
to give 1,0001., whilst he himself was to furnish the
other 1,0001. This lady repaired to her solicitor, to
instruct him to sell out so much stock for her ; but
he, after conversing with his client, became suspicious
of our gentleman, who made his exit. This is be-
lieved to have been his last adventure previous to his
appearance at Scarborough as the dashing Lieut. W.
H. Gordon. There he embarked on a similar adven-
ture, in which he displayed equal finesse, but which,
fortunately for society, has at last, it is to be hoped,
interposed an effectual check to his unprincipled
career. The sentence of ten years' transportation was
passed upon him.—Lincolnshire Chronicle.

Beware, my Bishop, lest, in turn,
Thou feel the zealot's rage;
And, being roasted, call to mind
SHORE in his dungeon-cage!
Or, though thou too the martyr's fate
May'st not be doom'd to share
For once let pity bid thy heart
'A prostrate victim spare.
So, in thine ever stormy See,
May peace at length bo found;
And harmony and concord dwell
'Where strife and wrath abound.
So may'st thou never go to law,
Thyself the cost to bear;
Thus in thine own hot water boiled,
And caught in thine own snare.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT
OLD COURT.
_

James Ward surrendered to take his trial upon an in-
dictment charging him with misdemeanour.
The first two counts imputed to the defendant thai he
had obtained certain sums of money by falsely repre-
senting himself to be a certificated attorney, and in a
third count he was charged with unlawfully obtaining
11. 3s. 6d., by falsely representing that he had paid that
amount to the clerk of Mr. Petersdorff, the barrister, on
behalf of that gentleman' for a conference fee.
Mr. Wilde prosecuted, and Mr. Iforry was for the
defendant.
The circumstances under which this charge was pre-
ferred lay in a very narrow compass. It appeared that
the prosecutor was a person named Robert Jones, and
during the year 1848 he was involved in some legal
proceedings, with a person named Alexander, and ho
employed the defendant to act on his behalf. It ap-
peared that Ward was upon the list of attorneys, but in
this year he had not taken out his certificate, and the
prosecutor swore that he advanced him certain sums of
money to carry on the proceedings, upon the under-
standing that ho was certificated at the time. With
regard to the charge contained in the third count, it was
alleged on the 27th of November the defendant had
obtained 11.33. 6d. from the prosecutor, upon his repre-
sentation that he had paid that sum to Mr. Petersdorff,
as a conference fee, and which representation turned out
to be incorrect.
Tho RECORDER, at the close of the case for the pro-
secution, said that the two first counts of the indictment
must fall to the ground, as there had been no evidence
produced to show that the defendant had not really taken
out his certificate.
Mr. WILDE urged that it was for the defendant to
show that he had done so.
The RECORDER said that on a criminal charge a
defendant was not required to prove his innocence of
the fact alleged against him; but it was the duty of the
prosecutor to make out the case by the best evidence.
Mr. WILDE said it was certainly his opinion that they
ought to hare shown that the defendant was not certifi-
cated ; but he bad deferred to the opinion of those who
instructed him.
Mr. HORRY then addressed the jury upon the third
count ; and after the Learned Recorder had briefly
summed up, they returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
Robert Nott, Elizabeth Nott, his sister, James
Sparhes, Robert Crump, and Charles £erregan, sur-
rendered to answer an indictment for keeping a dis-
orderly house in the City of London.
Mr. Ryland and Mr. Laurie appeared for the prose-
cution, which was instituted by the corporation of
London.
The defendants Robert and Elizabeth Nott pleaded
guilty. The others at first pleaded not guilty, but sub-
sequently retracted that plea and also pleaded guilty.
After some proceedings,
Mr. RYLAND said that, under the circumstances of the
case, ho was instructed to state that the corporation of
London considered the justice of the case would be satis-
fied by the defendants entering into their own recogni-
zances to appear on a future occasion and receive the
judgment of the Court, if they should be called upon to
do so.
The RECORDER asked if the defendants were not in a
position to give bail, as well as to enter into their own

recognis inces.

An attorney, who was instructed to defend the two
Notts, said he believed not. He at the same time begged
to be allowed to remind the Court that the result of
these proJeedingi had been the entire destruction of the

property.
The RECORDER said he could not look upon this case
as an ordinary prosecution for a parish nuisance, but
regarded it in a much more serious light. He felt
called upon to require the defendants, Robert and
Elizabeth Nott, to enter into their own recognizances in
the sum of 5001, and the others in a recognizance of
1001. each, to appear and receive judgment upon this in-
dictment if they should be required to do so, and they
must understand that it they repeated the offence in any
manner, the condition of their recognizances would be
enforced, and a punishment would be inflicted upon them
commensurate with the offence which they appeared to
have committed.