The Sun.
London, England, 1818-12-15 00:00:00

OLD BA 1 LEY.

[We yesterday stated the proceedings tvhicl► had
taken place on the Trials of the Ptisouers charged
with ihe crime of having forged Bank Notes, but
Were oblig-ed to go to press before we coulc► know
the result, We now state the proceedings and
result altogether]
At 10 o'clock, Mr. Baron WooD, Mr. Justice
HOLROTD, and tl►e 11Ecoapert, took their seats on
the Bench.

The following prisoners, on Bank prosecutions,
were then brontiht into the DL),-Ic, viz —Brode-
rick, Jones, Davies, Clarker, ileffert, Kingston,
king, Townsend, O'Hara, nod three others.

The following Jur:, were then sworn :
Messrs. Edward Wilkinson -(Foreman), Geo.
Gould, Robert Newman, Wm. Abbotr, ,James
Windt's, James Alderman,' Bent Bright, Jere-
miah Bimini, Ruhr. Ilanghton, John Lynch, Jo-
seph E. :Miller, and Jobb Williams.
Richard Broderick was then put to the Bar.

Scijeant BosANQUET rose, 1:1111) addre3sed
the Court 85 flinows

My Lord,—Before the prisoner is put to the
bar to take his trial on this indictment, 1 think it
necessary to address an observatiOn or two to
your Lordship. It has been for a long course of
years the practice of the prosecutors, in cases of
this kind, to prefer two indictments against per-
sons charged with the offence of forgery against
the Bank—one of . them for uttering the note
knowing it to be forged ; and five other for what
is called the minor offence, namely, having in the
prisoner's possession without lawful excuse, and
.knowing it to be forged. This has been the uni-
form course during all my experienCe ;,and
.where,
ever the parties have been permitted to plead to
the minor offtocc, the op/Molitor) has uniformly
come from the prisoner to the prosectitor ; and
without the slightest intimation lrom thebllter aq
to the particular election Ulrich -may be made by
the accused. I find that the prisontr at the bar
was one of those who, early in the present Sea-
.sions, applied to the prosecutors to be Permitted
to plead to the minor offence, and that they ac•
ceded to his application by the permission of the
Court. Now while this plea stands,. We, on the,
part of the prosecution, have no wish ui proceed
against the prisoner on the capital charge ; 'on.
the contrary, it is our earliest wish not to he called
upon to carry the prosecution still further, with
such a plea'opon record. It is therefore my hurtiliTe
prayer, in this stage of the proceeding, tit be per-
,mitted to withdraw the prosecution against the
prisoner for the capital charge.
Mr. Baron Woopz—" But I understand there is
some petition front certain prisoners respecting
the withdrawal of the plea out record."
Mr. SHELTON—" The prisoner, my Lord, is
-not one of the petitioners "
Mr. Baron ‘V000—" Prisoner, you have al-
rtatly pleaded guilty to the minor offence ; do you
wish to withdraw your plea 1"
Prisoner—" I signed some paper on Friday,
but I did not know it contents."

Mr. Baron Woon—" Then do you, or do you
not, abide by your former plea ?"
Prisoner—" I don't want to withdraw my
plea."
Mr. Baron Wouo—" Then do you persevere
in pleading guilty to 'be charge of having in'your
possession a forged-Bank Note, knowing it to be
forged ? Because, if you do, the prosecutors say
they will not proceed against you on the capital
charge ; but it you withdraw your plea, it will hr
at their option to proceed on whichever indict-
ment they 'please. Yon had better let the know
what it is you say you have signed."

Prisoner*" I signed a paper Nronght to me by
a fellow-pristmir on Friday, but I don't know
what it was.•

„Mr.. Raton Woon—“ Where is this paper ?”
111 r. REYNOLDS (who was one of the Counsel
for tbe Batik) said, that the petition presented by.
some of the prisoners wits handed into Court an-
tecedent to Friday, so that whatever paper was
signed by the prisoner must have been a distinct
document from-that alluded to.

Mr.• Baron IVooD-•—" Who 'brought you the
paper tvbieh you signed ?"
isoner—" I don't know."—(A voice in the
Cour: cried It was Miller!')
-Mr. Set-knot BosA:NaurT said, that the Bank
Directors' were only:anxions that the prisoner
.r.btoulci know oleatiy tbe bi:UUtiOD iu 1711411 he

..stnivi, and receive whatever indulgence The Court
thought proper to grant him.
Mr. Baron Weon—" Prisoner, do I still un-
derstand you to persevere in saying that you plead
guilty to the charge of having a forged &auk note
' knowingly in your possession ?"
• Prisoner—" I did not know it to be forged."
111 r. Baron Woub—" Then you should plead
not guilty." - -

Plisourr—" I rather plead guilty, an!) throw
myself on the mercy of the Court."

Mr. Browne, the Keeper of Newgate, said that
he had got a letter from the Bank Solicitor some
da.ys ago, and he immediately apprised the pri-
soners of the situation in which,they stood,

Mr. Serjeant BosaNQuEt here insisted that this
lettershonid be produced and read in open Court.
This wa-saccordingly dime by Mr. Shelton. 'The
letter was from Mr Rooker, the Bank Solicitor,
and merely gave notice to the prisoners that they
won't, be arraigned on the Ft iday following, Ist,
on the capital charge ; and 2dly, on the minor
offence, except with respect to the prisoners
Collyer, and Dye, against ivitom the Bank
meant to proceed on the cap?al clEirge. Mr.
Brown said he had apprised the prisoners of this
notice exactW in the terms it Conveyed.

Mr. 13aron Woof) then repeated to the prisoner
the witure of the two indictments which weie
against bitn; Enid advised him ti; consider what
he, was aboot, adding, "Yon haYe already plea&
ed, guilty to the charge which exposes you to
r •sporration for 14 years ; clo you wish to
withdilw that' vici, and put Yourstit upon your
trial ? if% yciu do not, all tlh.t remains to 'the
Conti is, to pilss the sentence which the Liw
awards for the offence of which you confess your
self guilty. Do yOu now confess that you had
this note in your possession, knowing it to be
forged '?"

Prionur—" I did not know it to he forged."

Mr i"rian Fhe ill you 14ad (WI
guilty ituit be (red ; U:desg yon koeiv it to he
forged, you !lave committed no crime."

l'iison,t—" I (to not want to be tried, or to
withiba,v toy, plea. I throw myself on the ructey
of the Court."

Mr Raton WOOD—" Then you prefer being
transported for 14. years to
.stauding your trials
and making the.pr6seeutor move his case out of
other mouths th your own i"

Pris:►.ter Yes."
Mr Bacon Woon—" Wtll, then, his plea must
stand."

Mt. Seijeant BosANauFIT then said, that the
Bank did not meat) toproceed against the pri-
soner to the capital charge. Ile was accordingly
arraigned on the capital charge, and acquitted,
there being no evidence adduced against him. He,
of course, in consequence of his plea of guilty to
rite minor offence, is liable to fourteen years'
transportation.

William Jones was next put_ to the bar.

On retetence to tlae petition presented to the
Cf)art on a former day it Was found to contain
the signature of the prisoner, who wished to re-
voke his plea of guilty to the minor offence-.
Mr. Baron 'Noon then addpessed him—" Pri-
soner, you have signed thiS petition, I believer
Prisoner—" Yes, toy Lord."

Mr. Balm) Woon—" Then 1 find if is your de-
site to withdraw your plea of guilty to the indict-
ment for the lesser offence, and to eknOse
self to•tt ink both tor- the capital .and the lesser
charge, at the discretion of the prosecutor ?"
Prisoner—" Yes, I am teady to go to trial."
Mr. Serjeifut Bos.stto.o FT said the Batik had no
wish, one way or the other, in these Gases, but
for public juslire; he therefore hoped the pi i-
souer would merely consult his own feelings, and
yeceiVe:froM the Court whatever indulgence he
wag thought entitled to.
Mr. 'Baron 1Voop—" The prisoner is one of
those who have petitioned for permissioo to with-
draw the. plea already recorded. The Court is
ready to grant the prayer of their petition, and the
prisoner,most abide the consetpences."
The Prisoner—" My Lord, I wish to know
irbether, if I am discharged on toy trial for the
Capital' offence, 1 AA be transported afterwards
for the minor offe.ce ?"

•Mr. 13ron Woon—" That most entirely depend
on the result of your trials, should the prosecutors
go upon both." -
'The Prisoner then said, that he had keen pre-
vailed'upon to plead godly to - the minor offence.
On being asked by the Court by whom he had
been so persuaded, the Prisoner replied, by Mr.
Browne and Mr. Bisiospp.

Mr. Browne declared to the Court that ;his as-
sertion was totally take. Ile had never
iuter-
fered`to direct the prisoners as to any paricular
course ; nor hid he ever-spoken to them but in
the presence of witnesses, who.could prove the
falsehood of the assertion now wade by the pri-
soner at the bar.

I'l►e CounT said they were falifconvinced he
had acted as he °sight ro'have itane.

The_prisoner was then about to be arraigned
on the capital,Charge, when Mr. Setieaut BosAN-
aus:T stated, that in this case he ruetely wished to
try the prisoner on the minor indictmemt, the
saute to which he had already pleaded guilty, but
whiCh plea lie had now recalitd.
The indictment was for passing two forged 1/.
Notes, on the 19th olNovember ldst.

Mr. Sedum! B9SANGWET, iu stating this case to
the Jury, thought it necessary to make several
explanatory observations respecting the condtiet
of the Bank. The course of iiroceeding in Bank.
proSecutious had been, he said,.for nearly a cen-
tury, that of instituting two indictments, such as
had been already described ; and they had adopt-
ed this course upt;n motives which they at least
thought were' beneficial to the party accused, anti
such as reconciled mercy with the ends of pnblic
justice. The Learned Serjeant then reviewed the
diffeient eegrees of criminality in forgeries of this
nature, f he original fabricator to the lure' er,
and pointed out that the Magistrate always made
nut the cow wittal according as be viewed the
complexion of the offence, and then bound over
the prosecufor so as to render his appearance itn-
perative on the trial. lf, in applying to the C ourt
to grant prisoners permission to plead guilty to
the minor offence, the Bank had erred, the error
was at the side of mercy Co the prisoner, for the
proof ortmthe minor indictment Was tile tam:. t. Lich

woula couplet on tii ririet crime. He crinienliel
t.
that the certainty of the punithinent for the
' nor offence was no ineffectual way to repress.'"
criminality to Which it was applied. He uheri
begged to correct several erroneous statements.
Nviiich had gone throw, anionk rhe public. 1t
had been asserted that the Bank, in consequenceol
the acquittal- of certain prisoners on a totmer day.
had acknowledged itself to be in error respecting
the law as it related to prosecutions of this kind,
and had abandoned certain other prosecution's."'"
This was not the fact : they had abandoned nei
prosecutions in the manner stated. They had
given op two pio3ecutions merely because the
evidence they had in support of thern,had beet
discredited by a former Jury, and they would .
not, therefore, press a second time upon 801
Jury evidence which had been deemed instifii.'
ctent by the Jury that preceded them. He alsti
thought it important to correct another mistake.
It had been siated„ that certain unfortunate net*"
sons, who dow lays Under capital convictions,
had an opportunity from the Bank ofplearling gatY
to the minor offence. There was Hot a word of truilt
in this : the Bank, on the former, as well as oil •
all other occasions, han'given the usual ontice
the prisoners respecting their'trials, and whether
for the capital or the minor offence.
The Learned Serjeant then stated the pailicu.",.
tars of the evidence against the prisoner At the
bar.

Uhricks smote that the pritioner
tcreii h.a shop, in tiolhora, at about six or,seveti
o'clock of the
_evening lair! in the indictment,
and cifeled a pound note in payment of a hat
lie
.9 uspected the mire to be a forge; y, and
,a,uked rue pilsoner for his Dante and' address,
whiLdi he g ec as William Joy, Eagle-street.
Witness scot ills SO; ascertain whether this vca3,
correct, and detained the prisoner 'until re'
tuco, whet) leernitig that the address So given waa
irucoruect, the priJoeer was taken into custo4. -
lie then ackno.wledgen his name to be Joneuz.
was searched, and another note, included in the
indictment, as found trim •
This evidence wasconrirmed by Joseph Ilancks
John Lt es, a Bank Inspector, deputed, that the
notes now before the Court were forgeries. fie
knew.them to be•-fOrgelies by many irctimsranco•
The date and number of Bank-notes e;•ere all Lute.
reutyped, but nor so in the forgeries. lii the
paper matte for the Bank the water-mark was.
formed at the tlme of making it, but in the forge*
ties-it 'was pencilled. He had no doribt that the
:note now- exhibited was a forgery.
la answer to nuestons from Jurors, he stated.
'that there was no Other tne.ans of detecting a for!.
gery that 112 .00111(1 satisfactorily explaiii. Ha
chiefly relied on his exiierietice; the paper wits
different from that used by the Bank. The 13,14
, bad, :in one instance, laden a fu,rged note, mis,B!("
ing it for genuine; but the note was old, Mutt.",
defaced, and had paper pasted on the back.
Charles Tabor, a signing Cletk, nettle
affixed to the present note was not his writing'
He ctiukf not be Mistaken.
The prisoner made no defence, but left hiinileir
to the mercy of ,the Court. •
Mr. Baron Woon charged flue J.ary.—ln b •
charge, the Learners Baron particularly coinineov
,
ed on the evidence sopport of the forgery, HO"
added, that if that evidence which bad been
doced Was not sufficient to prove forgery, theArl
there was no such thing as forgery, and it w"41!"
be for ever imposSible to convict any multi in fu''
tore of such- a•crime. Whatever the public opi-
nion might be• relative to the law, the Court ati"
Jury were bound to abide by it its it stood et pre"•
scot.
The Jury conaulred for fire minutes, and frond
the piisoi:t-r—Guilty.
trni:Davies was then pot to the bar, and err
raigued upon the capital offence of oretiog forge
note!., hutowing them to !lase been forged. t
Mt. Setjeant BoSANQuaT said, he 'hoof(' °-
call witnesses upon that plea. The prisoner vri"s,r
of course aequi!ted.
Mr. Justice HoLanYD then told rite prisoner."
stood indicted for the minor offence of iwvini
forged.notes in his posgession, to which he lik:1
pleaded guilty. The Judge ohaerved that he 0.11
not see the prisoner's name in the petition", 91',,
r.sked whe;her it was his wish to withdraw
plea of guilty.
Prisoner.-1 do not, my Lottl; I confess air
sell grail, y.
Clarker was brought op next, anti
asked by Mr. Baron WOoD whet her it was hie
wish_ to withdraw his plea of guilty to the
offence, and he answered in the affirmative. bif
trial had nothing peculiar in it ; the witnesses •
were three different tradesmen, to whom -he "A
passed forged notes, and in every case he h""
given a' d7fferent name and address.
The Jury, without hesitation, ptonounced
Guilty oi. the transportable felony. • • oti
He was then indicted on the capital cbarP
but no evidence 'being adduced, he was acqui"el
upon +hi% indictment.
• ~stoftt . •
John Morris, Jeremiah Hefted, John Kolb .
David O'Hara, and King, were alterf
ward severally brought up, when John MOl
declined withdrawing his plea of guilty tc) 01.i6
minor charge. The other tour signified their,it
_,
,
tention of withdrawing it ; and after softie eolll,e
sution betwt•n Mr. Sergeant BosallonaT and. the'
Judges, they were told their trial woold
ta
place on Wednesday morning, except thaiti
of
O'Hara, in whose case affidavits Were ,
the illness of a material wictiess; 'and his
tut
was, in consequence putt of next SesSio_ls_•
0„,
se"
The Judges then left the Couit, and %-
the
MoN SetuJEANT proceeded with the ordinary
-/

B Hutis.
On the tc2th inst. Mrs. Vesin, of Hie:l:bury-park, of
a su. and dm :Kilter. tke
On the 13tii. inst. at his hone in Nottinghamn"Ptaect
Lady of Hog!: Ruse, Esq. of a son.

DIED. Sto
Ou the Bth inst. after a short illness, John Courtof,
Martin's-street, LficrStyr-square.

44* Provincial Dirt &c. To-tnorrovp

t
e
UM:DON: Printed 1173. B. cAngrAnts, Of No. r' W. A•
n Onood ee -strt, Queen-square; and published 15 !ie.)
•
SCRIPPS, of • No. 7,• South • Moltort-strert, at ilotders,
Ottico, No. 11!.. Strmod ; where Advettisenierlt*l
Letters/ Ssc. (post-lot,id) must 1;e-mialres5cd.

• /

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