The Sun.
London, England, 1828-11-18 00:00:00

and that names the most illustrious for rani, 'iii
this empire will, ere long, appiar, upon the ho-
noured list of their benefaetors-,,-ibid.
The case of Joseph Hunton, the Quaker, is a
peculiar one. Putting aside.the general ques-
tion of the expediency or inexpediency of in-
flicting capital punishment the the crime of
forgery, there are circumstances in
:his case
'which, in our opinion, make it well worthy the
merciful consideration of the Crown. It was
admitted, on the part of the prosecution-, that
there was, at the time when the House of Sir
William Curtis akrd Ct. 'discounted the forged
bills, a deed of assignment placed there by the
firm of Dixon and Hunton, and' held by the
prosecutors as a collateral security for any bills
that might be discounted, or tiny advances Made
to the house of Dixon and Co. The prisoder
on his trial made some remarks to the 0111-y on
the hardship of his hiving 'been previously de-
nied the use of his books and papers, which, he
said, would have enabled him to make an " avail-
able defence." What he meant by an available
defence, under such eireumstan&.t, life 'cannot
tell, unless he meant that he would have had
it in his power to show that the 'Collateral
security deposited in the house or sir William
Curtis and . CO. *as sufficient to cover the da-
mage done by the forgeries, and consequently.
that the prosecutors had not been defrauded. If
the production of the papers that were withheld
could have shown this, it was a very hard case
indeed; and, we think, a gross act of injustice
towards the prisoner that he was denied the use
of them, the more so, inasmuch as Mr. Justice
Park laid great stress upon the fact that .no evi-
dence had been giien by the prisoner to prove
the tad dity of the assignment, and he toh.l, the
Jury, therefore, to lay it out of their considera-
tion altogether. Now we are of opinion that, in
the absence of positive proof, it Was as reason-
able for the Jury to presume the instrument in
question Was a valid and good security, as that
it Was not; indeed, this presinriptiOn Seems more
reasonable than the other : for it is not likely
a house 'of business like that Curtis, Robarts,
and Co. would have taken an assignment as a
collateral security for money to be advanced to
another firm; without previously submitting it
to their legal advisers, and ascertaining that it
was a valid instrument. The Jury was certainly
of this opinion when they returned the verdict,
in the first instante, as follows :—" We find the
prisoner guilty of uttering the bill in question
with the knowledge sit' its being forged, but that
lie had no intention to defraud tize prosecutors.'
This was -equivalent to a verdict of acquittal;
but it did not seem "to please the Learned Judge,
who sent them back to reconsider their verdict,
and a second time they returned a verdict equi-
valent to " Not Guilty," by negativing the in-
tention to -defraud. They were, told by the
Court they must give a Verdict in the terms,
" Guilty or Not Guilty ;" when the Foreman
pronounced the word " Guilty ;" but several of
the Jury cried out, " No ! No I we are not
satisfied.. It was after this that Mr. Justice
Park, we presume tinder a fbrgetfulitess of
the maxim of law which says that where
the prisoner has no legal adviser " the Judge
is of Counsel for the prisoner," informed
the Jury that as there was no evidence
to show the security in question was worth
a farthing, they ought to disregard it totally.!'
Then, and nut till then, came the verdict:Of
" Guilty," accompanied by a`rccommendation
to mercy ; and when the Court, inquired of the
Jury on w.hat ground that recommendation was
founded, they said, "in the first place, because
the prisoner had given a 'security 16 the pro-
sectitor; whit held it at the time the forgery was.
Committed; and, secondly, on account of his
large family." Thus it is evident the Jury were
by no means even then convinced that the se

curity Was not a good one ; and it is not unlikely
that, had there been Counsel to urge them as
strongly in favour of' the assignment as the
Court did against it, they might have adhered
to their original intention of negativing the in-
tention to &fraud, without which' there could
not hate been any crime. At all events, there
is surely Inure in this- case to entitle the prisoner
to the merciful consideration of the Crown than
in'that of Savary, tried at Bristol, who is now a
living instance of the mercy that blesses the pre-
rogative.—Morning Herald.
We understand that the extent of the failures
in Glasgow is very greatly exaggerated, As far
as we can learn from well inferred persons eon.,
fleeted with that part of' the country, the different
houses which have either gone, or arc supposed
from connection to be unable to stand, are not
implicated for more than 500,000/. at the utmost.
It is understood, too, that the South American
returns have been for some time sufficiently pro-
ductive, and that the immediate cause of the
suspension has been the East India Trade.—
The first experiments which were made in the
way of exportation of yarn to India were so
successful, that fresh exportations to a consider-
able amount took place, which also yielded a
large profit, we believe as much as 50 per cent.
The consequence was, what always happens in
such cases, great overtrading. The market of ,1
India was glutted with yarn, and the. anticipated
profit turned. out in many cases a loss. The
weakest no to the wall, and the richer weather the
storm. 'here is nothing wonderful in this,
nothing which is not to be expected in a trad-
ing community like Ours. We know of no
secret by which :overtrading can be prevented,
or its effects guarded against. Profits cannot,
in a country where men are at liberty in their
operations; be permanently higher in one branch
of trade than others ; and when the temptation
of more than ordinary gain induces men to rush
into
a fresh channel, the first effect is an over-
flow. Things) however, soon find their level
again.
The effect is unavoidable ; for it is im-
possible that a number of individuals, each
scheming for hiniseli;
and concealing his Opera-
tions as much as possible from _others, should
be able exactly to what the demand
produce only
requires. Where
many run, many must'be dis-
tanced. It is not supposed that the failuresin
to Lancashire, though
Glasgow will extend Lan.
cashire houses have been engaged in the same
trade, and of course have had their share of loss.
But Manchetiter is an older place than Gias_
gow, and its established houses
richer and better
able to support occasional reverses. We
have often been astonished at the loose way
in which people talk of the mischief of
•
credit. Why do men toil in business but
to make a Ibrtune ; and when they
,have
made a fortune, they naturally wish to retire, and
to live on their capital. There are constutly found
.
numbers, possessed of activity and talents for
business, who, if limited to their own capital,
would be exceedingly hampered in their opera-
tions, and who, in order to extend their opera-
tions, avail themselves of the aid of the capi7
talist, allowing him' such a share 'of the protit
as capital yields in the market. Were the capi-
talist limited to the State Aanuitios, and the