The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-12 00:00:00

GUILDHALL.

Two respectable looking young men, named Henry
Butport and Francis Court, clerks in the Money Or-
der-office, at the General Post-office, St. Martin's-le-
Grand, were placed before Sir Geo. Carroll, charged
by Mrs. Matilda Bowley, of No. 31, Draper-place,
Burton-crescent, with having attempted to deprive
her of two pounds under the circumstances detailed
below. Mr. Clarkson attended for the complainant.
' She stated that she was a married woman, but her
husband was at present in the hospital. She had
money in the Savings' Bank, and a few days ago she
drew some of it out. The money she received was
all in sovereigns, and they were all of the present
reign, except one which was a sovereign of the reign
of Wnilliam the Fourth. She went to the General
Post-office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, to obtain a
money order for W. She put down two of the new
govereigns, and a new shilling. The prisoner Bul-
port received the money, and took it •back into the.
office as she supposed to weigh the sovereigns,
In about four or five minutes he returned and said
she had Given him a light soverei and a bad one,
and he laid down a light sovereign'` the reign of
George IV. and a gilt medal. She denied at once
that she had tendered these coins, and both risoners
said then she should be taken efore Mr, J'eacock.
She was conveyed before Mr. Peacock, and he re-
marked to the prisonerßulport, " Why this is not the
first affair of the sort you have had." He would not
entertain the charge, and complainant therefore sum-
moned the defendants to answer the charge.
Tile Magistrate consulted with Mr. Clarkson, and
the case was adjourned for the purpose of having the
attendance of Mr. Peacock and the constable at the
Post-office.

On the arrival of Mr. Peacock the examination was
resumed.

The defendant, in reply to the statement of com-
plainant, said he took the shilling, sovereign, and
counterfeit from the complainant. Without having
first looked at it he weighed the counterfeit, and see-
ing it was very light, he called the attention of Air.
Court, his fellow-clerk, to that fact. lle then looked
at it, and seeing it was counterfeit he took it to the
President, and left it in his hands. He afterwards
not weighed
neces-
sarily to Mr. Peacock's office to state the circumstances.
Sir GEORGE CARROLL asked what paused -him to
leave tte.window after be had taken up the sove-
otevfwereforemegigiegit.inehesgde.
re
withinign s ?s
iEgoHhD Rt
eGe fEoloeefnuefd attAt
hotßnhefßtetosh‘a%Le.iiLdnr
public.dte :0 thought
reach
1 gt sovereignserrohf htthehesi
igosweahpulerer
rrtasheceenmtni
placedoswat'iirtSnildioyi?fwGthe view of the public to weigh the gold was
very unsatisfactory, leaving an opening for suspicion,
if not trickery.

Mr. Peacock said there were two clerks engaged at
the window, and one was a check on the other.
Mrs. Bowley produced the eight new sovereigns,
one 6f them being of the last reign.
Francis Court said he had been in the Post-office
two years. lle was at the window with the defend-
ant. Did not see him take the money from the com-
plainant, but when he was weighing it he called wit-
ness's attention to the lightness of the sovereign. He
was engaged in making an entry. The scales are
placed b2,tween them. 'Was not aware whether any
gold was lying on defendant's desk at the time he re-
ceived complainant's money. It sometimes is not put
in the bowl immediately.
Sir GEORGE asked if the bowl was kept on or in
the desk ? Witless said it was kept in a drawer, like
a banking-house.
By Mr. Peacock—lf defendant had been absent
from the window more than a minute or two witness
would have gone to it to attend on the complainant.
Had never seen a counterfeit in Mr. B.'s possession.
By Sir G. CARROLL—They did not weigh every
sovereign. If they were new it was thought unne-

cessary.
Sir GEORGE inquired the nature, of the case that
had occurred before of uttering a counterfeit? Mr.
Peacock said that was a clear case. It was detected
at once, and the party, an Irishwoman, confessed to
him that she had come to pass it wilfully, and that
somebody was waiting for her in St. Martin's-le-

Grand.
Matthew Peak, the Post-office constable, was exa-
mined as to what each party
said at the time, but it
thatplie ahe t
hoautgitt
h
did not alter the complexion of the
to him
case. In answer to a
question whether it didmot u
to search Mr. Bulpit and ios_c
did not search either party, because he was under the
direction of Mr. Peacock. B
Mr. Peacock said Mr. upi s character stood so
high that he could not suspect him of ringing the
changes. The Alderman would observe that the
female charged him with changing both sovereigns,
one being good, and therefore changed without an
object. He called Mr. Barth, the President of the
Money Order Office, to speak to defendant's character.
Mr. Barth expressed the highest opinion of his in-
tegrity. He was selected as trustworthy from 60
other clerks. He received about 500/. per day. The
counterfeit was brought to him for inspection.
Sir GmaGE CARROLL, after devoting an hour to
the inquiry, said that a young man receiving 5001.
a day would, if badly disposed, have so many oppor-
tunities of fraud, that he would not, like the de-
fendant, have escaped imputation till now. This was
a single case of complaint against him, and, if what
the complainant stated was true, he had committed at
the most only a mistake by placing her money near
other •gold. Y But it was not made out that he had
made such a mistake, and Nr. Buliieo character