The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-04 00:00:00

THE LATE WILL FORGERY
CASES.

It is well known that the convicts Barber and Fletcher
have, been some time on board the ccnvict-ship Agincourt,
lying off Woolwich, under orders to sail for the penal settle-
ments on Thursday, the 4th instant (this day). Yesterday
morning Barber's attorney., Mr. Peckham' received the docu•
ment of which the following is a copy from the officer in
charge of the convicts, and instantly hastened to the Home-
office in order to submit it to Sir J. Graham.
Up to a late hour last evening no answer had been re-
ceived :
" FURTHER. DECLARATION OF JOSHUA FLETCIIER.

"It may be proper that I should add, in furtherance of
the _declaration I made on the 28th day of June last, that to
the best of my knowledge and belief, William Henry Barber
bad no knowledge of Mrs. Richards other than as Miss
Stewart, of Mrs. Dorcy than as Miss Burchard, of William
Saunders than as Thomas Hunt, or of Lydia Saunders than
as Emma Slack, they having respectively represented Ahem-
selves to him in Iny presence as Elizabeth Stewart, Eliza
Burchard Thomas Hunt, and Emma Slaok.

" With reference to the will of Ann Slack, he could have no
knowledge'whatever of it until Mrs. Saunders, personating
Emma Slack, produced such will to him in my presence ;
and from the manner in which the several matters-were in-
troduced to him, and appearances preserved, there was
nothing to excite the suspicion of a prudent solicitor.
" I •was a client of Barber's of some years' standing, and of
independent property; as such he had known me since he
first became my solicitor. Ile read the will with attention,
and asked several questions, which Mrs. Saunders answered
without any apparent embarrassment, and to satisfy his in-
quiries she produced to him a certificate ()laic registry of her
aunt's death at Pimlico; and I feel further bound to state,
that Mrs. Saunders presented herself to Mr.-Barber disguised,
wearing light hair, and affecting to have the gout in her
hands and feet, which seemed to support. her alleged relation-
ship with the assumed testatrix, who appeared from the cer-
tificate produced to have died of gout. And to the best of my
knowledge and belief, Mr. Barber had no share of, or other
participation in, the proceeds of the above' transactibns, or
either of them, beyond the proper and usual professional re-
muneration.

" I shoul4 also state, that he has been concerned for me as
my solicitor generally, and that I had employed him to nego-
tiate terms with several parties whom I had traced out as the
true owners of unclaimed dividends, and who were put into
possession of such property ; so that he had no reason to sus-
pect any of the cases for which he has been prosecuted to be
in the slightest degree irregular or improper.
" It was under my instructions that he wrote to Captain
Foskett, and the object of which was to ascertain if his sister-
in-law was the owner of the stock. I reported to Mr. Barber
that she was not the owner of such stock, as her handwrit-
ing-was totally dissimilar, and as the owner of it had executed
a power of attorney upwards of ten years before, which Capt.
Foskett's sister-in-law was then incompetent to have done,
she being at that time, from Captain Foskett's own statement,
a minor. The report Iso made was grounded upon informa-
tion which I received from Christmas, the Bank clerk.

" If the application made by Mr. Barber, to be tried sepa-
rately, so that he might have elicited the whole truth by call-
ing myself and the other parties accused, had not been re-
sisted by the prosecution, he must have been not only ac-
quitted, but completely exonerated from the slightest cul-
pability.
" As I understandit has been stated that I have refused to
admit Mr. Barber's innocence, I feel called upon to contradict
this, and to state, that I had only objected to sign or declare
that which might have a tendency to prejudice myself.
" JOSHUA FLETCHER."

" The above statement was committed to writing by me
from the instructions of Joshua Fletcher,

" WILLIAM M'CALLUM."
" Signed by Joshua Fletcher, in presence of
" CHARLES HENRY FULLER, Surgeon, R.N.,
Superintendent Agincourt convict-ship.
" On board the Agincourt, 2d day of July, 1844."

LIVERPOOL •DOCKS.—The. annual return of Mr.
Withers, the excellent treasurer to the Dock Committee,
has just been published. The following is &compara-
tive statement of the rates and duties received in the
years ending on the 24th June, 1843 and 1844 :—ln
1844, the duties on tonnage were 99,0441. 13s. 7d., and
the duties on goods 86,1191.'85. 4d. In 1843, the duties
.on tonnage were 96,4451. I Is. 7d. and the duties.on goods
91,8401. 10s. 6d. Increase of ditties on tonnage 2,5991.25.
Decrease of duties on goods 5,721/. 2s. 2d. The light-
house duty this year produced 7,357/. 2s. Bd. ; floating-
light, 3,367/. 45.-11 d. ; graving dock, 9,4991. 10s. ; graving
block, 1,671/. ls. ; extra dock rent, 2,132/. 6s. 7d. ; being
rather less than last year, except as to light-house and
floating-light duties, which produced a larger amount.
The total income this year is 208,191/. 7s. Id., and last
year 212,4021.35. 7d. ; the decrease on the whole being
4,210/. les. 6d. The following is a comparative state-
ment of the shipping, -Sze.:-18`44, number of vessels,
18,411 ; tonnage, 2,632,712. 1843, number of vessels,
16,606 ; tonnage, 2,445,278. Increased number of
vessels, 1,805 ; tonnage, 187,434.—Liverpool Journal.
PRESERVED FISII.—Many of the names of persons
and places in the United States 'are very curious and
not 'seldom absurd and ridiculous. It is the same in
England. One of the principal merchants in the city of
New York is a Mr. Preserved Fish. Although now the
principal of an extensive mercantile house, he was
formerly the humble owner and skipper of a small
trading schooner, respecting which the following anec-
, dete is told I—Mr.i Preserved Fish was carrying a cargo
of pickled psh to Baltimore, when he Was hailed by a
large ship, and the following dialogue ensued :—" What
ship ?"- " The Preserved Fish."—" What captain ?"
" Preserved "Fish."—" What owner ?" "
Fish."—" What cargo ?" " Preserved fish."—Aye, aye,
we know the cargo ; but what's your captain's name ?"
" PresOved .-Fish, bound- to- Baltimore."—tfackenzie's
Sketthe& • - • • - -