The Sun.
London, England, 1828-12-09 00:00:00

FORGERIES OF I-lUNTON.

Whenever 'Lipton's name has been mentioned, it
has been accompanied by tie word " securities,"
and assertions that those " securities" were at least
sufficient to indemnify the holder for the heavy
losses which they have sustained.- The secaritie4
have, however, been put to the tut in the presence
of our Reporter, at Garrawne's Sale-rooms, and a
paragraph appeared in the jiturning Cironkle, of
the following day, stating the particulars of the sale,
in the following terms:—
" HuNToN's PROPERfiy.—Yesterday linuton's
property at Layton was sold at Garraway's, by Mr.
Parebrother. The room was crowded. The pro-
perty was bought in for 3,4504, being the amount
for which it was mortgaged prior to Messrs. Curtis
having any right in it. The highest bidder went to
3,100/. The lease of the house in Bishopsgute-
street was sold for 400/."

This paragraph was in direct opposition to the
accounts which were supplied to the Evening Papers
of the day, and were copied into several of the
Morning Papers of the following day. In these ac-
counts it was made to appear that the "securities"
were sold for thousands more than the forgeries com-
mitted by Humeri amounted to, and additional food
was supplied for the pity of the community by au►
appeal upon the strength of that pretended fact.—
For the accuracy of our statement we refer to Alder-
man Farebrother's books. With respect to the
extent of the forgeries of Ilunton upon the house of
Curtis and Company, they amounted, by the ac-
knowledgment of Minton himself, to nearly 5,0001.
Of this the bankers are now the best judges; and as
they have neither admitted nor denied the truth of
the acknowledgmeut, we may very fairly infer that
it is entitled to credit, particularly the admission
was contained in the letter which Manton wrote to
the Editor of the Times, requesting that an error
exaggerating his offence might be corrected. What,
then, became of the "securities ?"

They were, according to this most sure way of
proving their value, very disproportionate to the
sum which Ilunton obtained upon Lis fictitious pa,
per; and Minton, as he paid no more than 3,000!. ,
for the premises at Layton, must have known that,
although the " Securities" were calculated to blind
his prosecutors, they were not sufficient to realize
the amount of the incumbrances. The whole pro-
perty of the convict, then, which made its way into
the hands of thq hankers, was the sum paid for
the lease of the House in Bishopsgate-street, so
that before the argutnent of securities be considered
of any validity, it must he proved that 400/. is a
reasonable substitute for 5,000!.
The public sympathy has been greatly excited by .
the wonderful accounts of the virtue and sufferings of
nuntou; but the quality of his tirtue may be esti-
mated from the fact, that w hen it was known-that
forgeries had been committed- upon the house of
Curtis and Co. by him, one of the partners in the
house of I'rys and Chapman immediately disclosed a
secret, which had to that moment been kept with
the most culpable inviolability. " God bless me!"
said he, " why Joseph Minton some years ago
served us a similar trick." It was soon ascertained
from this authority that the convict was experienced
in the offence for which he was at length executed,
sad this fact reached the ear of the Secretary of
State, who, upon reeeiving a petition in his favour,
asked significantly whether those who banded it to
him were aware that the prisoner had " ever done
any thing of the kind before ?" If Hunton had
been " blown up" when his former forgeries were
discovered, there would have been no occasion
within these few days for exciting in the public
mind a sympathy which, .so long us forgery
continues to he punished with death, should
not be provoked in favour of a man who
has ruined several by the heinous dishonesty of which
he has been repeatedly guilty. It is now well known
in the city that there • are iu the banking-house of
Curtis tied Co. several genuine bills for which Min-
ton obtained cash, but which have been returned
unpaid, the parties having been induced by him to
accommodate him with their names, upon his assur-
ance that the utmost regularity should be observed
when the bills should become due. It was also
stated yesterday by several commercial men, in the
presence of our Reporter, that the bunkers had de-
termined not to enforce the payment of such of those
bills as had been obtained under promises of punc-
tual provision for them—in other words, where the
parties bad-Leen imposed upon by the representations
of Huutow, that he would bear them harmless. If
such be the case, the charge of " persecution even
unto death," brought against the firm, is not likely
to operate very injuriously against those who brought
the offender to justice. There is one circumstance
to which it is impossible not to advert with satis-
faction. Notwithstanding the numerous misrepre-
sentations made by 'the friends of the convict, and
the repeated charge cf inexorable severity against
the bankers, there never has appeared one word,
from them, questioning the fidelity of a single
accusation against themselves, or a single ap-
probation of him, whom some have called their
victim. It was even stated in several of the news-
papers that one of the partners in the firm concealed,
before the Grand Jury, the fact of his having had
the " securitiea," on which so much stress was laid,
deposited in his hands by the prisoner. Of the
gross falsehood of this assertion, which was evidently
made to scree the prisoner, by calumniating the
bankers, the Grand Jury itre ready to give their
most unqualified testimony. Mr. Gibbs, of White
Hart-court, was the Foreman of that Jury, and he
has repeatedly declared that the information was
volunteered, and given as unequivocally, and with us
little hesitation, in the presence of the Grand Jury,
as Mr. Roberts gave it on the trial at the Old
Bailey. Of this injurious falsehood, however, no
notice was taken. The case of the prisoner passed
up to the Throne, with all the advantages to which
we have alluded, and with- the cry of the public in
its favour; and not a little appears to have been ad-
vanced in aggravation of the offence for which he
was, from the first, doomed to suffer death. Indeed,
the case of Burgess, a boy of 16, who was con-
victed of having induced another bey to obtain the
amount of a forged cheque, was one upon which the
Privy Council for a considerable time hesitated in con-
sequence of the great prevalence of u crime which
the Legislature seems to think is to be checked by
the hand of the executioner alone. It' then the life
of a boy, who had never before committed a forgery,
narrowly escaped, what hope could bo entertained
that a man who had made forgery a trade would,
epee being detected in one of his numerous delin-
quericies, receive a proof of the efficacy of Royal
mediation ? Minton was a strange compound.—
Upon entering Newgate he disengaged himself for a
time altogether from his own affairs, and entered
with a great deal of apparent interest into the his-
tories of innocence which his fellow-prisoners com-
municated to him, and be was very desirous that the
public should be made acquainted with his occupa-
tion, no doubt in the
.belief that die humanity of the
task would be rewarded in him. Those who saw
him constantly, believed him to be-a man not pos-
, sensed of the slightest feeling—the ignorant set him
down as u person of the greatest fortitude. All com-
mercial men who consider that fiirgery should be ex-
piated by the surrender of life, are of opinion that
Joseph Minton could not be consistently spared,
while those who made all the hubbub about the
availability of the securities, admit that he could not
make a stand on that foundatioe.--11.1ore.

For some tune past this town and neighbour-
hood has been infested by a gang of thieves, young in years
but old in erimie, being a party of boys, already known to
the public authorities as old offenders, having liee-n pre-
viously convicted of various acts of theft. On Saturday
last, in consequence of some informatien, the thieves were
traced to a house near the Bridge of Dee, which bad been
their place of resort for a considerable time previogs, and
the depository of the fruits of their nefarious I:mace..
In this house a great deal of stolen property wm f°"Pdi
and the parties, three in number, implicated
'charges of theft, and the resettets, the tenant of this de a
of thieves, with his wife, were all taken into tu't°l).'""
Aberdeen Chronicle. in nu.n.ertu•

SOCIETY FOR SUPERSEDING THE
EMPLOYMENT OF CLIMBING-BOYS.

Of the com
are given,
eitill;e i,lr recommendedvariety
I,l.btoyyr talcto,
r
Plete efficac
eanhispa)prncociotaearlfss-1
n
twin nl,kh it
that the Machine has been adopted with the
greatest success at the Losdou University, at
the Excise Office, at most of the Fire and Life
Offices, at Ironmonger's Hall, and at many other
public establishments in London. The extensive
experiments conducted at the Excise Office,under
the liberal pattottage of Sir Francis Hastings
Doyle, are peculiarly conclusive, and are de-
scribed ia the following letter, which, we have no
doubt, will be perused with considerable interest
by our readers:—
" Honourable Sirs,—Your Honours Laving di-
rected that Glass's Machine for Sweeping Chimneys
without the aid of Climbing-boys should be tried at
this office, I beg leave to state that the whole dale
flues throughout the building (amounting to about
120) have been constantly swept by him since No-
vember last.
" I have paid considerable attention to this sub-
ject, and several times witnessed the process of
sweeping by the Machine, and have no hesitation iu
stating, that Glass's mode of performing the duty by
Machinery, is decidedly superior to the former
method of Climbing-boys; the flues are fur more
effectually cleansed, and much less dirt is caused by
the opeeation.

" There are six flees iu the low buildings situated
on the west side the court-yard, the rooms of which
are occupied by the printing department, &e. which
in their present state cannot be swept by the Ma-
chine. These flues are of considerable length (about
ISO feet) and the greater part running horizontally,
and having also several turnings at right ungles,which
render them not only difficult but dangerous to
sweep by Climbing-buys.
" Mr. Glass states, that if proper Registers, with
double doors, were fixed in the flues in such situa-
tions as he has pointed out, and which be would
undertake to do in the best manner fur ten pounds,
he could sweep the whole by his Machines without
the least difficulty.
" Should your Honours think fit to ullow Regis-
ters to be so fixed*, I have no doubt of their an-
swering the purpose, and rendering unnecessary the
aid of Climbing-boys to sweep any of the chimneys
in this office. " I am,
" Your Honours' most obedient servant,
(Signed) " WILLIAM HERBERT,
" Surveyor of Buildings.
" Excise Office, Oct. 21, 1928."

Among the communications received by• the
Committee from dfferent parts of the country, is
one from G. F. Stratton, Esq., describing as
experimmt performed at Banbury with a tnachice
forwarded to that place ; the result of which was
of so decisive a nature as to carry conviction to
the minds of many persons who had previously
doubted the efficacy of mechanical chimney-
sweeping. We are aware that one reason why
the machine is not more generally adopted, is
the belief which prevails, even among those
whose best feelings ate awakened on behalf of the
wretched asildren they employ, that chimneys
cannot be so thoroughly cleansed by machinery
as by climbing-boys. To the attention of such
persons we particularly recommend the subjoined
extract from Mr. Stratton's letter :
" In the trial in question we first had a Chimney
swept by a Boy and then by the Machine, and
another swept first by the Machine cad then by a
Boy. The quantity of soot. brought down by the
Mechine after the Boy, was more than double that
which was brought doWn by the Boy after the Ma-
chine. We fully expect that the Machine will be
universally adopted in Banbury."
The general introduction of the Machine has
been greatly impeded by the contumacy of .the
Master Chimney-sweepers; for even of those
who profess to use it, the majority have en-
deavoured to excite a prejudice against its em•
ployment. This fact has been abundantly ex-
emplified by the experience of the Committee
in London and its vicinity, and is adverted to in
almost all the communications they have re-
ceived from the country. They have therefore
been compelled, in order to counteract this hos-
tility, to set up a number of individuals en-
tirely unconnected with the Chimney-sweeps ;
and whenever this plan has been carried into
effect, the success of the Machine has been
complete. The Report concludes in.the Ibllov-
ing terms, and we sincerely hope that the ap-
peat which it contains will nut be disregarded by
the friends of humanity :
" It is very encouraging to the promoters of me-
chanical chimney-sweeping to observe the marked
and inc reused interest in the introduction of the
machines spreading so widely and rapidly over. the
country. In addition to the places from which the
preceding interesting accounts have been received,
and to those alluded to in the last Report of the
Society, active exertions for the abolition of the
climbing-boy system are now being rendered in
Fareham, Chichester, Exeter, Leamington, Strat-
ford-on-Avon, Ensham, Blackheath, Hackney, &c.;
so that at the present time the Committee are iu
frequent correspondence with upwards of thirty
towns and villages in Et:gland, where considerable
progress is making In the introduction of the ma-
chine. The only obstacle to the furtherance of the
plans upon which the Committee are now acting, and
which have hitherto proved so successful, is the want
of funtis; and is it not singular, that in a country where
so much is done for the relief and benefit of our fel-
low-creatures, the cause of the poor little Climbing-
boy, subject to every species of ill-treatment and degra-
dation—a cause which is so near at hand, and calls
regarded
eeglaoruLilyi
tf,yoraredre nationss—fias
mtehdu sfosrligl
baetritdptluiptryarpo:siaaelrloydf
consequently that a Parent Society is.forced to aban-
don or postpone the most
tsurejf,e)ir;
.....im3rueaiunidttisnrugopromotingwhich
the cause which they advocate? The priecipul ne-
r
cessity for pecuniary assistance is fur the
Establishing- Mechanical Chimney-sweepers iu vu-
the
proved one of the chief means of promoting the for-
mationri°lsp parts
s collateralo f town;Socie
intend( d appliea ion to Perlitanent."

Soc e years hire now elapsed since the attention
of the Legislature was directed to this subject ;
and upon that occasion a bill for preventing the.
employment of Climbing-boys, after passing
through the House of Commons
was thrown out
in the Lord •
partly, we believe, because some
.
doubts were entertained of the efficacy of machi-
nery as a substitute for infant slavery ; and partly
Lards ,
because the principle of the bill was supposed to
have originated in a morbid feeling of humanity.
ce that pe-
riod, however, has transpired sin
aided' Chimney-
riod, to prove that neither of these objections is
the. general introduction,of tilwci!
tenable. Tha;taeLer.iyt..•ohbatstaiemlne:vildilesislasinioicu:iliii:OctE
SWeeping may be easily removed,. has been clearly
demonstrated
the ulL;erable children condemned
Lttllllleal yteta4 proved,l
OLiinl. 'ldil)i'itay 1710fulttilltOtiStglewolflolahillitt111(11)IfiteiCettntcettdsoi
Parliament in
to this .!.tlreadful trade, has not been excited
by imaginary C.:MSC.% WC earnestly hope, ta44.,:
ifore,n a:astuctchcesBCf:l7:pttzt‘ri%oili:
troeceiti
pecuniary aid from the public, ko enable

• it will ho highly gratifying to that part of the p4l,ie
interaittil in behalf of the Climbing-boys (;low, it is he.
lieved, a very large portion) to know, that on receiving
this Report from the Surveyor, Sir F. H. Doyle inunecli.
ately affixed to it the following official order.-1' F 4-, the
Registers wordinly,"—F. H. D.

the enF.:l;na Session, for the fiat of the Legisla-
ture wouid at once effect what the mot stre-
nuous PNertions of private benevolence, conti-
nued for many successive years, could, perhaps,
only partly accomplish.

LOVERS OF LAW.

(FROM A COItRSSPONDEAT.)

A few days ago u (Nice, which has been going on
for sortie time against the East London Water Works'
Company, at the suit of Mr, Michael Scales, of Ald-
gate, was finally determined in the Court of Common
Pleas. It strongly and ridiculously enough shuns
the ardent affection which some people entertain for
the law. The Water Works' Company had en-
croached upon Mr. Scales's territory with their pipcg„
and they refused to give him any recompense. The
Lord Chief Justice decided in Easter Term, 1827,
that the Company were trespassers in going into
the plaintiff's field, and allowed the plaintiff to Mkr
a verdict for 1,000/., subject to the opinion of the
Court above. The defendants moved, and had the
opinion of all the Judges of the Court, who con-
firmed 1;10 opinion of the Lord Chief Justice; and
on Friday last the Chief Justice stated the vetdiet
had been confirmed, and the defendants might get
over it as well as they could. He was fully deter-
mined never to try the case again. An estimate
may be formed of the merits of the case, from the
following ludicrous correspondence :
'1 he moment the verdict was given in the first
instance, Mr. Scales wrote the following note, which
was succeeded by the others :---
" GENTLEMEN—An important derision bas taken phi:*
in my favour, I have no reason to use it vindictively.
" I hold out the olive branch to yea. You may treat
with we now if you abuse, I am quite willing.
" I wrote this in plainneei and sincerity, without the
knowledge of any one.--I am, Gentlemen, your most oh,!.
diens humble Serraut, " MICHAEL. SCALES."