The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-10 00:00:00

NEW COURT.

:Trial of William Henry Bradbury and John Clark,
for forgery, in continuation from our Afternoon Edi-

tion of Saturday.)
Joseph Thornet, a servant out of place, said he put
an advertisement in the Times, and in consequence of it
a person called upon him in York- street, Westminster-
road, and, after some conversation, told witness to call
upon him in the evening of the next day at the East
India Chambers. He accordingly called upon him, and
afterwards went with him to the Commercial Rooms in
Mincing-lane, where witness received a cheque upon
Messrs. Lubbock, and was instructed to take it
to the bank and get it cashed. On his way
ho was accosted by the prisoner Clark, who
asked him where he was going. Witness told
him to Lubbock's bank, and Clark said he would
show him the way. When witness came out with the
money Clark met him again, and asked him if he had
(lone his business all right. Witness said yes, and
Clark said so have I. He then left witness, and went in
the direction of Mincing-lane. Witness delivered
the money to the person who sent him. After-
wards he met witness by appointment at other
places, and told him that his brother, with whom he in-
tended to engage him, had not yet come to town, and
that he was to call upon him on the following Monday.
Witness, however, never saw him again, and at length
went to the banking-house, and gave an account of the
whole circumstance.

Mr. Hillingburg, from Brussels, proved having taken
the prisoners into custody, in consequence of their not '
having regular passports.
John Newborn, a young man, said he had been out
of a situation, and put an advertisement in the news-
paper. He received an answer to it; and, in conse-
quence of that he went to the East India Chambers,
where he met the prisoner Bradbury, who engaged him
as a servant to a gentleman. He met him again by ap
pointment again on the 22d of April, and Bradbury
asked him to go and get a cheque cashed at
Messrs. Lubbock and Co.'s for 3711. 7s. 4d. If the
cashier asked who it was for, he was to say,
for Hunt and Company, and if further inquiries
were made, to say, Mr. Thompson. Witness brought
back the money to Bradbury, at the Custom House,
where he had been waiting, and appointed to meet him
at four o'clock at Hatcliard9s Hotel, Piccadilly. The
prisoner Caine there at the appointed time in a cab, and
told witness that the gentleman who had engaged him
would not be in town till Wednesday. He gave him
10s. and then left. He (witness) took the number of the
cab, and, afterwards seeing an advertisement in the
papers, he called upon Messrs. Bushe and Mullins, and
told them the whole particulars.
The cashier of the bank proved the notes, and Mr.
Hawes the forgery.
Robert Neech, cabman, said he recollected being called
off the stand in Leadenhall-street by two persons on the
day in question. He believed the prisoners to be the
persons, but could not positively swear to their identity.
One got out near the Golden-cross, Charing-cross, and
he drove the other to Hatcbard's Hotel, and there he saw
him meet with the last witness.

Mr. Hangburg recalled—Proved that the two pri-
soners were taken into custody at Brussels, not having
proper passports.
Mr. Mullins, of the firm of Bushe and Mullins, proved
having been present at the examination of the prisoners
at Brussels, and also the numbers of the notes found
upon them, which correspond with those received from
the bank.

John Forrester proved taking the prisoners into
custody.
• '
_ _

This being the case for the prosecution,
Mr. BALLANTINE addressed the jury on the part of
the prisoners.
Mr. Baron PARKE having summed up,
The jury found a verdict of Guilty, and the prisoners
were sentenced to twenty years' transportation.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.

Mr. Steers, of the Treasurer's-office of the Custom-
house, was summoned before the Lord Mayor by Mr.
Ed ward Keymer, for that he " on the 11th of June, did
unlawfully cut three pieces of the Queen's current gold
coin called sovereigns, and one piece of the Queen's
current gold coin called a half-sovereign, the same being
of due weight and lawful coins, and then being the
moneys of the said Edward Keymer, against the sta-
tute, &c."
Mr. Potbury appeared from the office of the Solicitor
of Customs for the defendant.

The gold was produced and examined by the Lord
Mayor. It was weighed in the revenue scales, which
were stated to be accurately correct, and it was evidently
much deficient in weight, although it had not in the case
of any one piece of money the appearance of having had
more than reasonable wear. The summons had been
granted upon the 2d of William IV. cap. 34. That
statute said, " Where any gold or silver shall be
tendered to any person, who shall suspect any
piece or pieces thereof to be diminished other-
wise than by reasonable wearing, or to be coun-
terfeit, it shall be lawful for such person to cut, break, or
destroy such piece or pieces ; and if any piece so cut, &c.,
shall appear to be diminished otherwise than by reason-
able wearing, or to be counterfeit, the person tendering
the same shall bear the loss thereof ; but if the same
shall be of due weight, and appear to be lawful coin, the
person cutting, breaking, or defacing the same is hereby
required to receive the same at the rate it was coined for;
and if any dispute shall arise the same shall be decided
before a justice of the peace." The palpable fact that all
the pieces produced were light prevented the calling of
witnesses, but a conversation took place between the
Lord Mayor and Mr. Potbury on a subject which has
caused a great deal of discussion.

The LOUD Mlyoa said it appeared to him that the
only question as to the defacing of the coin, to justify
such a course upon the part of the revenue authorities, is
whether the weight was diminished by reasonable wear.
The meaning of the Act he considered to be that if un-
due means, such as " sweating," bad been resorted to,
the party to whom the money was offered was justified
in defacing it. He was convinced the spirit of the Act
applied to the diminution of the weight by the unfair
means he had alluded to—the operation of " sweating "
practised by the Jews, and not the deficiency arising in-
evitably from the wearing produced by use.
Mr. Potbury said the defendant, in cutting the coin,
had acted in exact conformity to the proclamation
which appeared in the Gazelle of October 3, 1843,
subsequently to the passing of the Act. That procla-
mation represented that although under the proclama-
tion of the 3d of June, 1842, a large amount of gold
coin of the realm appeared to be deficient in weight,
her Majesty commanded that every subject, particularly
the collectors and receivers of the revenue, should strictly
conform to the orders and regulations in the Act to cut,
break, and deface such pieces of the said gold coin as
were found deficient in weight.

The LORD MAYOR said he could not help thinking
that the cutting and defacing so ordered was vexatious
and unfair, and altogether unnecessary incases like the
present, in which it appeared to him that no unfair
means had been resorted to to diminish the weight.
Mr. Potbury said the orders issued were peremptory.
The following letter had been addressed from the office
of the Receiver-General to the Commissioners of the
Customs :
" Honoured Sirs,—Her Majesty's proclamation, re-.
quiring that from and after the Ist January, all gold
coin, not being of a certain weight, should be clipped,
and doubts having arisen whether the Receiver General
will be justified in clipping, I respectfully request that
the Board may give direction to him.—Yours, &c.,
"J. COT MAN,
For the Receiver-General.

" December 27, 1843."
The answer to that letter was, that the orders and re-
gulations alluded to should be strictly complied with, and
it had been accordingly the practice of the gentlemen
employed in the departments of the revenue in which
money was received, to clip the gold coin which proved
to be deficient, for several years.
The LORD MAYOR said it certainly appeared to him to
be quite enough to refuse the gold coin deficient in
weight, without defacing it.
The complainant begged to be allowed to state that he
had two of the sovereigns weighed by Messrs. Carter, of
Cornhill, who assured him that any deficiency which
might be in them might have been produced by the
heavy shears with which they had been clipped.
Mr. Potbury, in answer to a question from the Lord
Mayor, said the revenue having to take a vast number
of sovereigns and half-sovereigns, did'not weigh those
which were new, but invariably cut all they found to be
deficient. If they did not act upon that regulation, they
would sanction an illegal currency.
It was here observed, that the Commissioners of the
Revenue ought not to sanction a practice which did not
seem to be recognised by the Bank.
Mr. Potbury said it was a mistake to say that the
Bank did not, clip coin deficient in weight. It was true,
that in banking-houses they were not in the habit of
clipping, but at the Bank the order issued in the pro-
clamation was always strictly obeyed.
The LORD MAYOR—WeII, I cannot go further in this.
The summons is dismissed. Even if it were proved that
the gold was not deficient in weight, the Act does not
give me power to inflict a penalty. I cannot, however,
dismiss the case without repeating my obiervation, that
it seems to me to be unfair and vexatious to deface in
this way money, the deficiency of the weight of which
dues not appear to be occasioned by any but reasonable
wear.

Mr. Potbury said the public ought to take the hint
from what had taken place,'not to attempt to pay duties
in gold coin short of weight.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.
Drury 'lake, assuming to be a man of fortune, and
holding a commission in the Honourable East India
Company's service, was brought before Mr. Bingham,
charged with having contemplated a fraud on a largo
scale on Messrs. Hunt and Roskell, silversmiths, B.md-
street, and having committed fraud on other parties.
The prisoner was also charged with having attempted to
utter several forged bills of exchange, purporting to have
been drawn by the mess committee of the 28th Regi-
ment of Bengal Native Infantry. The first charge was
for obtaining from Messrs. Hunt and Co. a set of tur-
voise shirt and waistcoat buttons, value 101., under
false and fraudulent pretences.