The Sun.
London, England, 1802-11-02 00:00:00

FORGERY.

Mr. ICNA.rr, who was on behalf of the Prosecu.
tion, said, that considering the great number of
off'ericts.with, which the Prisoner was- charged, it
was of importance
.to; the cause 'of public justice
that no impediment should be thrown in the way of
any defence which he might be- enabled to offer.
—Yielding therefore to the matter contained in
the affidavit, and having nOthing more than public
justice in view, he was willing, on the part of the
'Prosecutrix,
,and with his Lordship's approbation,
.to defer the trial of the Prisoner at the Bar, till the
next Sessions.
The trial was'deferred accordingly.

James White was charged with a capita! .of-
fence ; for that he on' the loth day of September,
did wilfully, felo'niously, and knowingly personate,
and falsely assume the name and chara'ter of lames.
Bannon, a Seaman on board His Majesty's ship Le
Pompee, and presented• a false.counterfeit Certifi-
cate, in order to receive certain prize-tnoney, then
due to the said James Bannon for his services
on board the said Ship, 'against the form of the Sta-
tute, &c.
A second Count in the Incikiment laid the ch-arge
for feloniously endeavouring, &C. to receive certain
prize-money, supposed to be due . to the said James
Bannon. .

Mr. KNOWLYS,. as leading Counsel for the pro-
secution, stated the circumstances of the Case to
the Jury, and in the course of his 'observations.
thereon said, that the Prisoner was indided for an
AO which was wisely and humanely framed nit-
,the
proteetion of one of the most meritorious classes of,
His Majesty's subjeds, though, at the same time,
perhaps the 'most unthinking, namely, those mati.
ners who fight our battles on the Ocean. There
were a number of unworthy people on shore, *whci
take every advantage of the circumstances under
which His Majesty's. Seamen are placed, and ply
about different Offices, frequently personating, and
sometimes succeeding in , obtaining monies due
to therm' In order to represi this evil, the Act which
Ile alluded to was framed,: namely, that- of the'
31 GEO. 11. Cap. to. Sec. .2q.. The merits of the
case, he said, lay in a nut-shell, and he had such a-body.
of proof to adduce against the Prisoner, as founded
him in saying, no Jury could doubt of the truth of
the charge against hiM. He Understood' that the
Prisoner was one of those persons who link about
the Navy and other Offices from the motives he had
alluded to, and that he was persoo entirely un-
acquainted with maritime affairs, The Counsel
thentroceeded to call the following Witnesses •
Mr. Inman, of the Navy Office, produced the
books of Le Pompee; He stated, that the name of
James Bannon appeared"as one of that Ship's crew,,
on board which, in flit months of July and -August
18cit, he was mustered as a landsman. •
Mr. W.'Hillier stated, that -he was Purser of Le.
POmpee; that. vessel, he said,, was not, as had been
stated, present at the .capitire of 'the Sc.. Anthony,
but her crew was bragreement to share the pro-
ceedS of that priie'with the other ships. Le Pam-
pee had been disabled in the atlion off AlgesiraS,
and was at the Mole of 'Gibraltar; when Sir James
Sautna'rez's 'squadron sailed h qUest of the Spa-
nish fleet. 'An agreement however was preViously
made, that Le -PompEe should -share With the other
ships. - 'James Bannon' was therefore entitled Co a
share of the prize-rnoney arising from the capture
of the-St. Anthony. Bannon had come on board
Le POmpee from the Cambridge,' as a rated lantiman
on the 16Th of June, which was nearly a month pre-
vious to the capiure--4he. St. Anthony was taken
on the I zth or 13th of July. Hefshould know the
-person of James Bannon, whom he was sure was not'
the Prisoner.

Mr. Alderman Le Mesurier stated, that the
house in, which he wAs a partner, P. and H. Le
Messurier, were
,the Prize Agents of His. Majesty's
ship Le Pompee for the proceeds Of the capture :of
the,St. Anthony. He recolleaee. that on the toth'.
of September.; the Prisoner 'came to their Count--
ing • House, and represented himself to . Mr.,
Lander, one of the clerks, to be James
.Bannon,
of Le Pompee, and demajided the pr.ize-mOney,due
to that seaman. He. preSented a Orr, which
.Was afterwards' handed to the Witness, pUrporting
to be a certificate signed' by. Mr, Eastwood of Le.
POMpee, and' signifying That the Bearer- was James.
Bannon, that he was nn board •Le Pompee at the
capture of the St.,Anthony, and. that he-Nyas;eniitled
to a share of the .prize-money. On lOolOng at the.
genuine signature of Lietitenant Eastwood, in the
pay-list in their pOssesSiOn, the Witness said. he.
perceived the writings did not correspond, be there-
fore told the Prisoner that it was impOssible he.
could be the man. He, however, persisted that he..
was, and the Witness recolleaed, that in the course •
of what passed upon, that point, the Prisoner,at'one,
time said he had it from Mr. East Wood, and at
another time, that it was sent to him
,trom Torts-.
mouth.: He still however insisted he was the per
son.