The Sun.
London, England, 1819-01-18 00:00:00

GRAND JURY OF MIDDLESEX.

The following Address of the Grand Jury of
Middlesex was presented to the Court on Satur-
day, Jan. 16,1819, at the Sessions-House, Clerk-
eutvcll:

" The Grand Jury of the county of Middlesex cannot se-
parate without stating to the Court, that the painful duty de-
volving on them liaA been rendered more acute by the hills_
brought before them, on the part of the Bank of England,
against individuals charged with possessing oruttering forged
notes, purporting to be the notes of that establishment.
" The Grand .1 ary are aware that a strong prejudice is
abroad against the Bank on this subject, and it is not their
wish to increase it : it is, however, well known, that the
notes of the Bank of England are much too easily imitated,
and they eanwit forbear exp,resin;r, their decided opinion
that such easy imitation might be prevented, and the fre•
quency of the crime he consequently diminished.
"The Grand Jury beg also to express their lio!)e, that a re-
vision of the Criminal Code is in contemplation, and more par.
ticularly the law respecting the forgery of Bank Notes; and,
if they may with propriety, they would suggest some other
mode of punishment than that at present adopted, such as
perpetual hard labour and solitary imprisonment, which
would be more dreadful in the eye of the offender than the
chance of escaping capital punishment by the eominutation,
of death for transportation.
" Signed, on behalf of the Grand Jury, hy their Foreman,
" CHARLES DERRICK."

The Revenue Cruizers nutter the orders of the
Admiralty Board amount to 64, of which 37 are.
commanded by Lieutenants. The number of
vessels on the !Hill and Leith stations are Abe
VMS;

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

-COVET OF KING'S BENCH, JAN. lg.

LIBEL-WARD V. CLEMBNT.

This was an action for a Libel. The damagel
'were laid at 5,000/.
Mr. SCARLETT stated the case to the Jury. The
present was a case .of no common interest in a
pVitical point of view. The Plaintiff had raised
himself from a lower situation to that of a master
•lace-tmannfacturer at Nottingham. • Fie took part
with the journeymen who stood ostt tor the in-
Crease of ..vages, and gave them that increase him-
pelf. When the disturbances broke out in' that
part of the country, tVardbecame the treasurer;
and when the Habeas Corpus was suspended in
June, 1817, he was taken from his family by ten
or twelve constables, 'and,• after ineffectmil appli-
cations to the Magistrates at Nottingham, he was
Concerti to Cold Bath-fields prison, and from
'Fence, to Oxford, where he'reMained till the 13th
of November followina, when-he was released„:.-.
lint When beat rived at Nottingham, he discovered,
tochis ast'OnishMent, that the Editoi of a News-
paper, called The- Obserrer, held sent jut() the
wor:d, off tbe 10th of November, 1817,. a paper
published different to the usual form, partly
blank, and n ithOut a stamp, ditf•ring mate-
rially from the paper of the
.preceding day,
(Sunday) the 9th 'of Nriyember, of which is
purported to lie a Second Edition. In this Paper,
iintler the head of:" Derbyshire Insurrection and
Lxeetttion of the Convicted," a trill detail of
All the .enctstust'atices connected tai h those utitor•
Innate proceedings is prole'ssed to be given ; in
Ole coutse•of-•which. Ward, the plaintiff, who
litiew nothing of you tics orof Oliver. except what
he might eftswdlyr-gain from reading n newspa-
per, is licensed. " being one of the individuals
who formed the Secret Conon itt ee a! Nottingham,
to whom c.Thver,-was introduced, and by whntu
was illifrllle#l 014! all was ready; and farther,
that some of the Lnddites who were convicted
and executed at Leicester,, just previous to their.
execution, declared that the plaintiff, Frank
Ward, Was one-Of tire old Ned Liquids who were
appointed tri-;connitand the rebel forces; that be
bad proceeded 40 his appointed post, from whence
be was, with others, to march for the purpose of
atormiik'g he barracks at an appointed time."—
This waii;the libel. •

- Ann Wird, dangliter of ,the plaintiff, deposed,
that her father lived in Nottingham, and was
known by the name of Frank Ward. He was a
lace.manufaeturer ; empfoyed ten or eleven hands,
rout eniiiineted his own business ; recollected the
coostablea coining to her father's house on the
15th 1817 ; they searched the house, and
having done so, left the house before her father
did ; he anerwauls went out ;. this was about
tour &Clock in the afternoon of the Tuesday ;
after he went out be did not return, and on the
.t..itiittlay morning atter witness saw bin' in cus-
tody ; lie returned home soon alter the 13th of
November, 1817.
J. Holmes kuew Oliver ; was confined ip Cold-
bath-fields in the mouth of June ; was taken up
at Nottfugham ; Ward was in custody at the
same time, so was Haines ; they were brought up
to Coldhath-fields at the saute time,

Mr. NiaHinson, hunt the Stamp Office, pro-
duced copies of The Observer newspaper, of ale
dates of November 9th and November 10th, 1817.
Mr. Bitrke, also from the Stamp Office, pro-
duced the affidavit of the defendant, stating him-
self ►o be sole proprietor of the Observer news-
paper.
.0 r. Goodyer, the publisher of The Observer,
e'tated, on Sunday, November 9th, there were
10,850 of the Paper sold. On Monday, the 101),
2,000 were published with stamps. It was im-
possiblefor him to say how many were pulled
without stamps and givenaway ; thinks it intpos•
sible there should be so many as 20,000 'given
could not say there was not 10,000, but
thinks there was not ; Mr. Clement himself pack-
ed them up and sent them away ; witness was
pot present when he sent them away; does not
know that Mr. Clement sent them by hundreds
to the different postmasters and prisons in the
country, but knows that it was customary with
Mr. Clement to give away a number of blank
papets whenever __any thing occurred Li.) excite
public interest.
Cross-eitrmined—The Monday parer was a
nc•w paper. On the 10th of November there was
an account of ►the death of the Princess Charlotte;
that article was that which most excited public
curiosity•, The unstamped papers contained no
advertisements.

Nelson, a letter-carrier at Derby, recollected
receiving a, large,gnantity of Observers one day
its November 1817, front Mrs. Eaton, the gaoler's
wife, to distribute about the town gratis.
*The libel was Wen read.

Mr. GURNEY, 011 the part of the defendant, ad-
drebsed the Jury., and contended that Mr. Ward
ought to have tried this cause in his own neigh-
bout hood, if he felt that, his chgracter had sof-
fcred by any thing Mr. Clement had, inserted in
his paper, which could not have been maliciously
done, as it arose from an account be bad received
Of,the disinrbed counties.

The Cum.- JUSTICE summed up, and observed,
that many topics had been noted on-this occa-
sion, which had nothing to do with the question
the Jury had at present to consider ; which was,
whether the defendant was, publisher of the al-
leged libel, and if so, what injury,the plaintiff
had sustained by the -publication. The Learned
Judge then went through a. review of Ole libel,
which' he said contained circumstances of grave
charge against the plaintiff; and the defendant
having-been proved the publisher, the plaintiff
was entitled to a verdict ; the question of damages
'vas one peculiatly for the consideration of the
Jury. He would on this occasion, as he did op-
en others, recommend them to consider that
question dispassitioately, and to be guided in the
sum they awarded by modetation, blended with-
justice, a., course which he had no doubt they
would pursue on the present occasion.
The Jury retired. for near half an hoar, when
they retnrned,roul by the mouth of Mr. Kithy,
their Foreman, the late Sheriff of London, de.
Ilverrd a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages 600 t.
C45t5 40s.—(.ilorning Chronicle.)

I\i![ stssiONS.

ARTICLES OF THR PEACE EXHIBITED BY THE

COUNTRSS or MORTON.

Saturday the Countess of Morton appeared, at-
tended by her solicitor, and exhibited articles qt
the peace against Mr. Robert Greersotr, surgeon,
who appeared at the table, acconipanial by
Vickery, the Bow-street officer.
_ _

Mr. Stidirig, the Clerk of the Peace for the
County of Middlesex, then read the articles exhi-
bited by the Countess Morton against Mr. Greer-
son. They were of considerable length, and
puted to the gentlemen the commisaion of various
incoherent and inconsiderate acts add threats to
her Ladyship, noless she complied with his de-
mand for money. The sums were variously named,
hot •the general average claim appeared to be a
cheque Isom her l'adyship's man of business for
1001: It appeared that Mr. Greet-ton had sent,
through the twopenny post, to. her . Ladyship a
number of letters, in which he threatened, unless he
received an adeciteate pecuniary Tecompenee, to
publish and expose the whole particulars of an
attelnpr which ne alleged had been made noon his
life by Sir Francis Buller, her Ladyship's father.
The exhihitant stated, That she returned no an-
swer to these repeated applications, and that on
the 11th inst. she received another ktter through
the post from Mr. Greerson, in which lie peremp-
torilydemanded 1001 as the condition of his sty-
pre)xing a work, of which he inclosed her the an-
nouncing posting-bill, which lie said should be
stuck itp in every corner of the metropolis. In
the letter containing this incl‘,stire were tlieseex-
traordinary words—" I don't wish to hold out
threatening language, but he it known to your
Ladyship that theFe was a Bellingham, and that
there is a Gteerson."

The txhibitant tnither stated, that the repeti-
tion of these lett( rs, and the tone and tenor of
their contents, many" of which charged Sir F.
Buller with having conspired to assassinate Mr..
Greerson, who said he had balls in his body to
shoe the-effect and perseverance of those who
conspired ag,inst hint, induced her Ladyship to
appiy for the protection of the law against this
individual. She swore that she was in great bo-
dily fear front hint, and therefore played +he Courl
chat he shOldil he bound over in sufficient sureties
to keep the peace towards her.

• The Chait•to>in then addressed the defendant—
Mr. Greerson, you must give the Court sufficient
sureties to krep the peace against the Countess
-Morton., consequence of the articles or the
peace exhibited'hy her Ladyship against you.

Mr. Gieerson—Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen
on the Bench, will you hear tue patiently while
I State
the reasons wiirch induced me to send
these letters to Lady Morton I I admit I sent
them. 1 cle+►y nothing of the charge.
The CHAIRMAN-Sir, we .can only call upon
you for securities-. We cannot enter into irreve-
lant matter.

Mr. Greerson again attempted to go into justi-
ficatory reasons for sending the letters, but was
stopped by the Chairman, whin said, " Were we
here trying tire cause, we should willingly and pa-
tiently hear every thing you might wish to urge
in your defence ; at present our course is restrict-
ed to tie 'simple necessity of taking sureties for
you to keep the peace towards Lady Morton ;
your giving these sureties ;(which roust be done)
does not at ail touch upon or • compromise your
claims or grievances, be they great or small, or
any body else." _ _

-Foao, on the part of Lady Morton,
moved the Court that the exhi!►itant should re-
ceive 24 hours' notice of bail, its the complaint
MIS of so serious a nature.

The Court granted this motion, and Mr. Greer-
arm was removed from Court, alter declaring that
he would get hail in the manner required.
D. Donovan was found giiilry of biting off the
nose of M Donovan in Et fight which they had,
and which we stated in our - police report for-
tie was sentenced to two months' impri-
sonment, the first fortnight in solitary confine-
nient.

J. J. Wakeman was sentenced to six months'
imprisonment, having been found guilty of seiz-
ing It. Cotton by the throat, and foreing out his
tongue, half of which he bit off, and next day
bragged of having eaten.

OLD BAILEY SESSIONS, JAN. 16.

BANK FORGERIES.

John Adams was indicted for uttering a forged 51. note,
with intent to defraud the Governor and Company of the
Bank of England, on the 14th of November. There were
several other indictments against hint for the same offence.
Mr. Serjeant BosevgoE•r stated that this prosecution was
carried sill at the suit of the Bank, by desire of several trai:es-
men, who bad been defrauded by persons passing had notes.
The several notes passed by the prisoner were produced
and identified by the shopkeepers who had taken them.
Mr. Lees said, he had been one of the Dank ins!), et ors for
20 years. He was perfectly well acquainted with the texture
of the Bank paper, the water mark, the engraving, and the
signatures. The several notes now produced to him were
all forgeries. The water marks, which in the original were
ware in the paper, were in the forgeries subsequently ins-
pressed—the No. and figures, which in the genuine were
stereotype, were in the bad notes engraved.
Mr. Serjeant Bosastaurr—" Has it ever happened' that
the Bankluts issued two notes of the same numhei, amount,
and signature, for I find two of these notes are of the same
number and signature ?"
A.—" it has happened •
From the Couwr—" Is that a usual occurrence ?" •

A.—" Certainly not ; it is quite unusual, and could have
only happened through some irregularity in the machinery of
the printing."
The Signing Clerks of the sank proved the forgery of the
signatitres of the several notes now in Court.
The case for the prosecution being closed, the prisoner was
called upon for his defence. Ile merely said that be was
ignorant of the notes hying forgeries. -The reason he gave a
false address was, because he was out of employment and not
a housekeeper, and had often been refused change of notes
for not giving a reference to his address.
Mr. Justice 1-lonacivn, in summing up the evidence to the
Jury, remarked on the circumstance of the prisoner having
given,when hr passed each particular note, a false 'address.
The Jury instantly returned a verdict of Guilty.
'Edward Dent, aged is, was next indicted for passing, in
the Month .4f November last, sundry forged Bank of Eng-
land notes. This case excited considerable interest, and oc-
cupied the attention of the Court for several bouts. The
Jury, on their return, gave a verdict Ottilig—Death.

. ,
. .
The Foreman observed to Mr. Justice Burtßounti, before
whom this prisoner took his trial, that he ;still 'his brother
jurymen were extremely sorry to see with what facility the
present notes now issued from the Bank could he imitated.

Mr. St►jeant liosANquer said, he was happy to inform the
Jury, that a Courcuittee of the must scieutitie Luca Isere now

iiiting to a'ciise one shoat or LaAitig aitteult „f
execution.

The Foreman of the Jury observeff, that he had seen some
notes of the United States, so excellently un4rared, that he
believed it impossible to imitate them by one hand in less
than three or four Months,

Mr. Justice au ItKOUGH repeated, that what was performed
could he imitattd; hut these observations could have no re-
ference to a case *here a man was trafficking with his own
life, and that of others, by selling a thing for 6s. which, if
genuine, would be worth 20s.