The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-27 00:00:00

THE WILL FORGERS.

We copied from the Observer of last Sunday, into our co-
lumns, the circular which had been issued by Barber's soli-.
citor, inviting the signatures of parties to a petition to the
Crown, praying for a commutation of the sentence of that
convict: We have since heard that, notwithstanding the ac-
tive exertions of Barber's legal advisers, and the high opinion
which one of them frequently expressed of his client, not
more than six signatures have been procured to the instru-
ment. Barber, however, is a man of such sanguine tempe-
rament, that there is reason to believe that he is still not
without hopes that something to soften the horrors of his
sentence may still be effected. tip to the moment at which
the verdict of the jury was, pronounced lie "fully anticipated
acquittal;an and even after the whole.CoUrt heard it dis-
tinctly issue from the nionth of the forenari, le' could scarcely
consider the fact a realit. lid. lias been" tilreadrelothod in
'
convict's dress, a degradationfletcheib* Neel -al, lie
appeared to feel most severely. 'ln
;re and !td respite of
Barber's sentence, we haves heard any rumours of 'alte-
ration on which the sliest 'dependence is to be placed,
and the month, to the conclusion of which we mentioned,
in a former article, his actual embarcation was to be de-
layed, must by this time nearly have expired. An applica-
tion was made to the jury to sign a recommendation in
Barber's favour, but it was declined. The greater number
of the jury, we have been informed, were fully prepared
to give their verdict at. onee; but there were two or three
jurors upon • whom the
.address of Barber's Counsel had
made an impression. The jury, in consequence of this dis-
agreement; retired, and they all,
with the exception of a
solitary juryman, 'were very soon ready to return to the
Court to utter their decision. The eleven assentients being
firmly convinced of the guilt of all the prisoners, placed the
letters and other documents in the hands of their fellow-
juryman, stating that they were anxious he should consider
them by himself, and he accordingly adjourned to a separat
Dart of the room, from which he afterwards returned in tears,
and declared that he felt it impossible to withstand the con-
viction of guilt which the papers forced upon his mind, and
a verdict of guilty was accordingly, as is well known to the
world, pronounced against the individual for whom such a
struggle had been made. In adverting to these trials again
we cannot help contrasting the efficiency of the old police, as

exemplied in the persons of the two Forresters, with the eV.- 1
tective portion of the new police. It is believed by those
who are well qualified to judge, that if the new force had been
employed in the investigation of these nefarious frauds the re-
sult might have been very different; and there can he little
doubt that many of the curious intricacies which tended so
much to the establishment of the guilt of the parties involved
in the conspiracy could never have been brought to light.
In illustration of this remark, it is asked by those who have
taken a deep interest in the investigation, what probability
there would have been, after the apprehension of Barber and
Fletcher, that the new force would carry the facts, as re-
garded the other offenders any further. The fictitious
Emma Slack had been for three weeks in a lodging in
London, and on inquiry- it was found that the occupiers of
the house were unable to say who she wk." what place she
came from, or whither she had gone ; and, in fact, all the
information they could give was, that she was evidently dis-
guised, which made the mystery more impenetrable. The
course, it is believed, which would have been adopted by the new
police, judging from their practice under similar circumstances,
would have been to send a circular, giving the best descrip-
tion they could of the party, to the different station-houses,
and that they might have done to eternity ; the matter
would have remained is statu quo. It could only have been
by the tact of individuals who have been educated from
early life in ctxtraor Hoary investigations, and who are pos-
sessed of singular perseverance, steadiness, and skill, that
any discovery could have been "reasonably expected. The
course which these intelligent officers pursued is worthy of
remark. The inquiries concerning Barber's connexions ap-
pear to have been first undertaken ; no facts transpiring,
the way was paved to the connexions of Fletcher. No pre-
sent apparent connexions of the latter could be found an-
swering the descriptions of the parties. The Forresters,
therefore, had to look to associates of a former day, and here
was found one in the person of a Miss Richards, of Bath,
who, although apparently having discontinued any ac-
quaintanceship for many years, did not escape the vigilance
of these able men. The judgment here shown has been fully
established by the facts as they were afterwards brought to
light. But even very little was known as to who this Miss
Richards, of Bath, precisely was, and no little exertion must
have been used in.ulthuately finding her as Mrs. Dorey, of
Oxford-street, London. So again in the apprehension of Mr.
and Mrs. Saunders, whose family even, as there is good
reason to believe, did not know where they were ; and lastly,
in the discovery of the dress, and those unanswerable minor
facts tending so materially to the proof of the identity of
Mrs Richards as the fictitious Mrs. Stewart. Amongst the
strongest evidences of the correctness of these observations,
as to the conduct of these officers, is the frequent allusions
made to their exertions by Mr. Charles Freshfield and Mr.
Weir, who so ably managed the whole of the prosecutions,
and who repeatedly declared, that if it had not been for the
extraordinary efforts of the Forresters, the mysteries of the
will forgeries would, in all human probability, have remained
undeveloped.— Times.