The Sun.
London, England, 1828-10-14 00:00:00

IMPUDENT ATTEMPT AT FRAUD ON

THE EARL OF DERBY.

A. few clays ago the following, impudent a'

daring attempt at fraud was made upon the
Right Honourable the Earl of Derby, which
was fortunately discovered in time to prevent the
desired object of the impostor, and to check
the nefarious practices of a notorious gang of
swindlers. His Lordship received a letter at his
town residence, written in a manner calculated
to excite the deepest sympathy, and begging the
most trifling aid from his Lordship ; and in it
was enclosed a certificate, purporting to be signed
by several respectable individuals, and corrobo-
rating the statements made in the letter. His
Lordship immediately forwarded the letter to
the Mendicity Society's office, Red Lion-square,
for investigation, enclosing 101., vith directions
for that sum to be handed over to the party ap-
plying, if found to be deserving. The following
is a copy of the letter :
" No. 6, Corntvall.road, opposite the Universal Dis-
pensary, New-cut, Lambeth, Surrey, Sept. 21.
"My Lord—lt is with poignant grief I presume
to address your Lordship with these lines, the sub-
ject of which will, however, I hope, plead in exte-
nuation of the liberty I take in thus obtruding my-
self on your Lordship's invaluable time and goodness.
" Allow me to inform your Lordship, that I am a
native of *Warrington, Lancashire, a clergyman of
the Established Church, unbeneficed, in the 81st
year of my age, confined to my room by a long and
serious affliction, and from which I expect never to
go out alive (being perfectly reconciled to the wise
dispensation of God, whose will be done—on earth
as it is Heaven). It is now a great many years, my
Lord, since I had the pleasure of visiting my native
town or county. I had the honour of being per-
sonally known to your Lordship's uncle, the late
Earl of Derby, and with whom I had the honour of
two interviews in the year 1771, in reference to a
preferment in the church. Since that period, my
Lord, I have served a Cure, in the county of Nor-
folk, upwards of twenty-seven years, and one in the
county of Essex upwards of eighteen years; and
have performed divine service in London and its
vicinity upwards of ten years; but I am now, my
Lord, rendered wholly incapable of attending to my
clerical duties, as the enclosed certificate will fully
confirm; and unhappily, my Lord, by various mis-
fortunes, I am reduced to a state of almost unpa-
ralleled distress.
" In the month of March last, I had the misfor-
tune to be one of the sufferers in the late fire in High-
street, Shad well. In that dreadful conflagration,
my Lord, which has already been several times an-
nounced, and which burned three houses to the
ground in a very short time, I unfortunately, not be-
ing insured, sustained the loss of every thing I pos-
sessed, oven my wearing apparel ; and it was with
the greatest difficulty imaginable, and at the risk of
some of the poor firemen's lives, that I was saved in
my infirm state from falling a victim to the devouring
element—an event that I shall never forget, or, I
think, recover from; and I deeply regret that it has
never been, nor, I am fearful, never will be in my
power to reward those poor men, whoso daringly ran
through the flames to save my life; but that God, with
his infinite goodness and met cy, may reward them here
and hereafter, will be a part of my daily prayers the
short time I have to live in this world.
" A very little time before the dreadful event, my
Lord, it pleased the Almighty to take from me my
wife, and in her decease I sustained a loss of an an-
nuity of 801. per annum, leaving me without any
means of support ; and that having sustained these
and a number of other misfortunes, I am now driven
to the dire necessity of appealing to a few known
benevolent characters for a small pecuniary assist-
ance; aad I do assure your Lordshp, in truth,
that I have suffered more distress and privations
than the human mind can imagine, before I could sub-
due my mind to make an application of this nature;
and, as yet, I have not received the least pecuniary
aid, and my immediate sufferings, my Lord, nre more
.than I can describe, and more than I should wish to
wound your Lords!:ip's honourable feelings with.
I don't recollect having had the honour of seeing your
Lordship since you was a very young man—that was
at Preston, a short time after your uncle's decease;
and little did I think then, my Lord, that I should
ever be under the necessity of trespassing upon your
Lordship's beneficence with an epistle of this descrip-
tion ; but alas! I have no other alternative. Were I not
so very infirm,l would endeavour to find my way down
to Warrington, where, perhaps, I might meet with a
few old friends or acquaintances, that might avail me
some little benefit; and I think I could find an old

friend or two living at the villages of Woolston and
Thelwall, by the Mersey, near Warrington, but I am
fearild of making the attempt ; and, indeed, in my
present distressed circumstances I cannot. I am
now, my Lord, in arrears of my rent upwards of 6/.,
for which my landlord, although he is a very humane
and good man, I believe has of late become very
pressing, so much so, my Lord, that his very foot-
steps agonize my feelings, and I fully expect, this
day or to-morrow, a notice to quit at the end of a
week, to be obliged to do which I should be ex-
tremely sorry; for I should then sustain the loss of
the services of a good neighbour, an inmate who
attends me in the capacity of nurse, and without
whom, and whose care, I know not what would be-
come of me.

. _ .
" I will uot trouble your Lordship with a further
detail of my misfortunes and sufferings, for they are
manifold, but conclude in appealing to your Lard-
ship's humanity for a small pecuniary assistance, to
help to save me from falling a victim to want in tisy
reduced and distressed circumstances, and at my ad-
vanced age, and in my infirmities; and I trust that
the bumble supplications of a poor clergyman, un-
beneficed, thus unhappily situated, will not by your
Lordship be suffered to be made in vain. Whatever
pecuniary assistance that your Lordship may in hu-
manity be pleased to render me, will make me com-
paratively happy and comfortable, and impress
sense of gratitude on my mind that nothing but my
death will ever obliterate.

" My Lord, with every apology, the greatest de-
ference, and profound respect, I beg to subscribe
myself, my Lord, your Lordship's humble servant,
" EDWARD WATKINS."
The certificate was written in a different hand,
and was signed by forged signatures. It cor-
roborated the statements made in the letter. The
names with which it was signed were,
RICHARD JOHNSON, A.M.,
Rector of St. Antbolin, Watling-street ; and
WILLIAM CHAMBERS,
ROBERT SpEN,ER, Churchwardens. The usual visiter was accordingly despatched
in order to make proper inquiries as to the
situation and character of the unfortunate clergy-
man, and on his arrival at No. 6, Cornwall-road,
as was expected, it was discovered to be a coffee-
shop. On the proprietor being questioned re-
lative to Mr. Edward Watkins, he stated that he
knew no such person ; he never had lodged in
his house, but he had heard of the name from a
tall stout man, who had been to his shop once
or twice to take a cup of coffee, who had re-
quested him to take in any letter or parcel which
miht arrive there addressed to Mr. Edward
Watkins, and left Is. 6d. to cover the expense
of postage or carriage. He stated his name to
be Beresford, and that Mr. Watkins, who was
his brother-in-law, had advertised for a situation,
and they expected an answer. He had since
called, and on one occasion sent a boy, to know
if any thing had been received. One letter, a
franked one, from a well-known humane noble-
man, had been received, and handed over to the
party applying for it, and no doubt contained a
handsome sum of money.
. The description given of Beresford answers in
every respect to a notorious impostor, named

1 Underwood, who has been connected for a con-
siderable time with a gang of swindlers, and who
is well known to the police, who are at present
in active pursuit of him.
The visiter also made inquiry in the city, and
it has been ascertained that the late Rector of
the parish of St. Antholin (the Rev. Richard
Johnson) died about 12 months ago, and the
names of Chambers and Spenser were wholly
unknown ; the present Rector's name being
Gordon, and the churchwardens are Messrs.
Croucher and Hall.

A gang of these miscreants are in the constant
habit of pursuing their avocations in the neigh-
bourhood of the city, and have made a plentiful
harvest of the nobility and gentry, who have
relieved them without previous investigation.