The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-05 00:00:00

LAW 1N TELLICrEN CE.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Feb. 4.
(By a Common Jury.)
WALL V. WOLFF.
- Mr. MARTIN appeared for the plaintiff in this case,
which was an action brought to recover 711. 17s. 6d., the
amount of loss or " difference" incurred on the purchase
and sale of 10,0001. Mexican bonds for the defendant by
the plaintiff, a member of the Stock Exchange.
From the evidence of the plaintiff's clerk it appeared
that the defendant, who is a dealer in Mock, instructed
the plaintiff to buy the bonds in question in July last,
and that the transaction had been " carried over" from
one settling-day to another till October, when the ac-
count was finally presented to the defendant, and he
directed the plaintiff to sell them at the market price of
the day. During this interval and at the sale the plain-
tiff had quite enough of these bonds in his possession to
have delivered them to the defendant, but he did not do
so. In October, when the transaction was closed, as
above stated, the defendant admitted that there was a
balance of 711. 173. 6d. against him on the account, and
for that sum this action was brought.
Mr. COCKBURN, for the defendant, at the close of the
plaintirs case, contended that the plaintiff was not en-
titled to recover by virtue of the Stock-jobbing Act, as
this was a stz.tcment of account arising out a time

bargain, and, therefore, en illegal contract.
The CHIEF BARON was of opinion that the Act in
que.tion did not apply to transactions in anything but
the English funds, and did not extend to such opera-
tions as the present. It might be true that there was as
much evil in th 3 one species of gambling as in the other,
but whatever his (the Chief Baron's) private feeling
might be, ho could not give any weight to the objection.
The plaintiff must, therefore, havo the verdict for the full
amount.
Verdict for the plaintiff-711. 173. Bd.
His LORDSHIP, however, in answer t) the application
for speedy judgment on the part of the plaintiff, refused
to interfere on his behalf, thinking that he ought not to
.
facilitate the plaintiff the recovery of his demand,
which he must leave him to get from the defendant
" when he could," and according to the ordinary course
of things.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
OLD COURT.
Frederick James Darner Cape, 22, and Robert Pole,
20, were indicted for a misdemeanour in unlawfully
conspiring together to obtain money and goods by false
pretences.
Mr. Ba.llantine', prosecuted, and Mr. Parry appeared
for the defendants.
Mr. BALLXNTINE, in opening the case, said that the
prosecution against the defendants was instituted by the
executive committee of the aascciation for the projected
exhibition of the works of art and industry of all
nations in 1851, of which his Royal Highness Prince
Albert was the preside.% and the offence imputed to the
defendants was that they had made the intended exhi-
bition, by an ingenious device, the means of obtaining a
large quantity of postage stamps from persons residing
in all parts of the country. The Learned Counsel then
proceeded to detail the facts of the case, and the follow-
ing evidence was adduced.%
Mr. W. Matchwick ,deposed, that on the 26th of
December last ho saw an advertisement in a country
newspaper, which was to the effect that if six postage
stamps were seat to Trestor-chambers, South Lambeth,
a copy of a report presented to his Roy al Highness
Prince Albert, detailing the particulars of the proposed
exhibition of the works of art and industry of all nations,
and also a description of the works and articles that
had already been supplied, would he sent on return for
the stampe. The advertisement was signed Frederick
Darner and Robert Bolingbroke, as honorary secrete-
riee, and by the direction of the executive committee
of the intended exhibition, he exclosed six postage
stamps in a letter addressed according to the adver-
tisement.
Mr. Lund, an inspector cf police, proved that on the
27th of December he went to the prisoners' residence at
South Lambeth, accompanied by another officer, and
took them both into customs;. Upon searching the place
he found a great number cf country newspapers, all of
which contained the advertisement above referred to.
He told the defendants that he should take them into
custody upon a charge of defrauding different persons
of postage-stamps by false pretences, and Pole then
said that the letters which had come were not for them,
but for a man named Miller, and he added that they had
received 90 letters since the previous Monday, and that
Miller had called the night before, and lie then gave
him ten or a dozen letters. Witness told him that he
had received some letters that morning, and he said he
had done so, but they were all f)r himself, and he had
opened and read and then burnt them. The witness
added that he also found a number of postage-stamps,
and likewise a letter in which an offer was made to h t
the persons to whom it was addressed have 3s. worth
of postage-stamps for 2s. 61.
Mr. Kemshead, a print .3r in Kennington-lane, proved
that on the 17th of November a mar, whom he believed
to be the prisoner Pole, but who he could not positively
identify as thet person, brought him the manuscript copy
of the advertisement in questior, and requested him to
print 500 copies of it, which he said were for a person
named Miller, who lived at 1,1‘.7'. 9, Montrose-place, South
Lambeth. The prisoner Cape afterwards brought him
a corrected proof of the aivertiscsment, and he supplied
500 copies. In addition to the advertisement, upon the
same she tof paper, there was a printed request to the
editors of the different provincial journals to insert it in
ttieir papers, with eh intimation that the price of the
insertion would be remitted by Post-:)ffice order.
John East, a postman, proved that after the appear-
ance of the advertisements he delivered a great number
of letters—upon some eccasioas so many as thirty in
the day—at the defendants' residence. Some of the
letters he gave to Pule, and others were received by a
woman.

Mr. M. D. Wyatt deposed that he was the secretary
to the executive committee appointed to carry out the
intended exhibition. Ile itue Ar nothing of the defend-
ant!, and they were not in any way conne'.lted with the
committee.

By Mr. PARRY—When his attention Wai first called
to the advE...rtisemont, he knew at once that it was all a
sham. In December last an association of gentlemen
had merely been formed for the purpose specified, but
siace that period they had received the royal commis-
sion to carry out the objects of the association.
Mr. BALLANTINE having intima'el that this closed
the case for the prosecution,
The RECORDER said it appeared to him that the prin-
cipal count of the indictment was not supported by the
evidence. The defendants were charged with having,
by means of an advcr-C.sement which they caused to be
inserted in certain newspapers, fraudently obtained a
number of postage stamps from different persons; but
he could not see that there was any evidence to con
nect them with the insertion of any one of the adver-
tisements.

Mr. BALLANTINE submitted that it would be fJr the
jury to draw their own inference from the circumstances,
whether the defendants had not caused the advertise-
ments to be inserted.

The RECQRDER said, that in a criminal prosecution
nothing ought to be left to inference where the fact, one
way or the other, might be proved by evidence. In the
present case nothing could have been more easy than to
procure the attendance of the clerk, or other person, from
any one of the newspapers to show that ho received the
paper printed by Mr. Kemshead with a request for itsin-
sertion.

A lengthened technical discussion then took place with
regard to the other counts of the indictment, but even-
tually

Tlie RECORDER ruled that the case should go to the

jury.
Mr. PARRY accordingly addressed the jury for the de-
fendants. He said be did not at all complain of the pre-
sent prosecution having been instituted; on the contrary,
he considerrd it a very proper one. The question,
however, which the jury were called upon to decide
was whether the evidence established the charge
that was made againt the defendants, and it was
unnecessary for him to remind them that, not-
withstanding the high auspices under which this as-
sociation existed, yet in that court it was equally
bound with them all to cor,f)rm to the rules of law, and
when it preferred a charge against any individual
it was bound to support that charge by the best and
clearest evidence that the case would admit of—and this,
he submitted, had not been done in the present instanee.
The Learned Counsel then proceeded to comment upon
the facts of the case, and contende 1 that the absence of
any evidence to show that either of the defendants had
caused the insertion of the advertisements, was fatal to
the indictment, and that whatever suspicion the jury
might have with regard to the conduct of the rersons
accused, yet, as the specific charge made against them
was not supported by the evidence, they were entitled to
an acquittal.
The RECORDER, in his summing up, also commented
upon the absence of any proof that the defendants, or
either of them, had caused the insertion of the advertise-
ments which were alleged to be the foundation of the
fraud, and he said that, in a criminal ease, a jury had no
right to inf.;: a fact unfavourable to a party accused,
when it was quite in the power of the prosecutors to
have proved A by direct testimony, and, on failure of
their doing so, a jury ought rather to come to the con-
clusion that the prisoners had not acted in the manner
suggested.
The jury, after a short deliberation, returned
a verdict of Not Guilty, adding that, in their opinion,
the charge, as laid in the indictment, was not supported
by the evidence.

NEW COURT.
(Before Mr. BULLOCK.)
James Frewin, 24, plumber, and Edward Crewe, 20,
bricklayer, were indicted fur burglary in the dwelling-
house of Colonel Anstruther, and stealing therein a
quantity of plate and other articles, his property.
Mr. R. Kettle prosecuted and Mr. O'Brien defended
the prisoners.
The fact; of the case were these: —The prosecutor
lived in the Monmouth-road, and en the morning of
the 7th of last December, when the cook came down
from her bedroom, she found that some one had entered
the house and broken open the bureau in the dining-
room, ransacked it of all the valuables it possessed, and
strewed the others about the place. She then proceeded
to the kitchen, where she flund the thieves had
also beer, and takes all the plate they could find
there. Information was then given to the police,
and shortly afterwards they apprehended the
two prisoners, whom they had seen in company
the night before near the prosecutor's premises, and
were also together when taken. Whilst they were beinc,
-COavejed to the Paddington police station Crewe called'
out to Vrewin, " Ding it," and he at the same moment
threw soinething from him, which the police picked up,
and found to he a knif2 and snuff box, part of the pro-
Ferty stolen, the ,-only portion found, excepting some
seals and other trivial articliss, which had been dropp:d
in a field that the thieves had traversed in their flight.
'Ms prisoner 'rewin then said he had found the things.