Star.
London, England, 1808-01-18 00:00:00

The folicseetng were convicted or felony, viz.
Sarah Atitins, for stealing a cotton gown, the pro-
perty of W. Ward • and A. Dunstan, for stealing a
carpenter's plough plane, the pioperty of T. Garness.
And six were acquitted, viz.
John Gard, Eleanor M'Creaf Mary Wood, Mary
Jennings, Thomas Morgan ; and
John Charles Forger Roper, a very young man, and
an officer in the royal navy, who was capitally indicted
for feloniously stealing, on the sth of December, in the
dwelling house of Robert Dunbar, a certain note or
order for the payment of money, of the value of 331.
19d. the property of the said Robert Dunbar.
After the case had been stated by the Counsel for
the prosecutiOn, the following witnesses were' brought
forward in support of the same, who stated. to the
following effect : •
Alexander Allen, a Clerk to Mr. Dunbar, who is an
Insurance Broker, and resides at No. 16, Old London-
street, Fenchurch-street, stated, that on the sth of laia
month, he received an order which came from Mr.
Johnson for 331. 9d. He put tlk! order into a tin box,
which lay on the desk. He locked the box, but the
key was left in it. On his cross-examination by the
prisoner's Counsel, he said he left a young man of the
name of Osborne in the office when he quitted it.—
Mr. Osborne is a Clerk in the house.
John Bakeway, another of Mr. Dunbar's clerks,
said he received the draft in question from a Clerk of
Mr. Johnson, and gave itto Mr. Allen, the lastwitness.
Charles Neal, a Clerk of Mr. Johnson, received a
draft from that Gentleman for 831. 9d. for Mr. Dun-
bar, which he gave to Mr. Bakeway, the last witness.
- Samuel Suett, a Clerk of Mr. Dunbar's, saw the
prisoner come to their office about half past four
o'clock, or later, on the evening of the .sth of Decem-
ber, in company with Mr. Thomas Osborne, the bro-
ther of Mr. Osborne, one of the prosecutor's Clerks.
Mr. Thomas Osborne went up stairs to see his father
(who it would appear was also in the house), and
begged to leave the prisoner" in the office the while.
He saw. the tin box standing on the desk ; he put it
into an iron chest. When he left the office the pri-
-Isoocd..ankeerv,s there alone ; the iron chest was not then
"Thomas Osborne, an officer in the royal marines,
stated, that when he went up stairs at Mr. Dunbar's,
he left the prisoner in the counting-house ; when he
came down-• he found him there alone • they then
went together towards the theatre. When in the
Strand, they stopd at the Shop of Mr. Stunt, a
shoemaker, where Mr. Roper, the prisoner, bought a
pair of boots, and paid for them by means of a draft
fin- 3:51. 9d. which he said he had from his guardian,
Admiral Savage : he had the boots and some money
as part of the account of the draft. They went after-
wards to another r.hop : The prisoner said, as they
were coming along Fenchurch-street, that he had got
a draft for 331.
William Marshall,- foreman to Mr. Stunt, shoe-
maker in the Strand, said the prisoner came to their
shop on the .sth of last month ; the last witness was in
company with him • he purchased a pair of boots,
and presented a draft for 331. 9d. After consulting
with Mr. Stunt, he gave him 31. ls. in parr of the C.: •
der, and the remainder of the amount he was to call
for on the Monday, which he did.
Peter Crump, a servant of Mr. Stunt's, received the
amount of the order at Messrs. Lee and Co. Bankers,
71, Lombard-street.
One of Messrs. Lee's Clerks stated his having paid
the amount of the order to the last witness.
Mr. John Lomas Johnson, on the drafuteing shewn
to him, said it was the same which he had sent to Mr.
Dunbar's on the day mentioned.
Mr. Robert Dunbar said, that Mr. Johnson was.not
directly indebted to him, but from the moment the
order in question came into his possession, he conceived
it to be his property.
An objection was here taken, as to the strict legal
validity of the order in question, and on account of
its consequent inadmissibility as evidence—the sum of
this appeared to he, that by the provisions of the Act
which exempted from the Stamp-duty of Two Shilling
drafts upon persons acting as bankers (to a certain
amount), drawn within ten miles of the place where
payment is made—it was necessary that the name of
the place where the order was drawn, should be men-
tioned and engrossed in the draft ; this he contended
was not the case with the draft in question, as the
word. London, mentioned therein, referred merely to
the local residence of the bankers.
The Counsel for the prosecution contended, that
the place and date appeared adequately on the face
of the instrument, which was purported to have been
drawn in London, and therefore within the meaning
of the Act.
This fact was afterwards acknowledged by Mr.
Johnson.
The opinion of the RECORDER was rather against
the objection, it appearing on the face of the tnstru-
' went that it was drawn in London.
' The prisoner being called upon for his defence,
stated in a faint and tremulous voice a circumstantial
detail with respect to his going to the prosecutor's
house with Thomas Osborne, &c. He acknowledged
he saw the tin box lying on the desk with-the key in
it, but protested that he never touched it; neither
did he see any thing of an iron chest. The two Mr.
()storms came out with him from the prosecutor's ;
one of them parted company at the corner of Grace-
chuah-street. In that street Mr. Osborne told him
he had got a check, and asked him where he could
get it discounted. He then mentioned Mr. Stunt's
shop, where they went ; and concluded by relating
what had passed at the shoe-maker's.
No witnesses appeared in his behalf.
Mr. Rh:CORDER then summed up the evidence, and
delivered a very impartial and appropiate charge
thereon. He noticed the objection of the prisoner's
Counsel, which, as combining a consideration of fact
as well as of law, they would have, on view of the
instrument, in some measure to decide.
The Jury retired to consider of their verdict, and
after three quarters of an hour's deliberation, they re-
turned into Court (at half past nine o'clock,) and pro-
nounced the prisoner—Not Guilty.
had

Last night. between 10 and 11 o'clock, Lord TRA.
VALCIAR, the only son of Earl/sTELsox, died of a typhous
fever. He was an amiable and promising. youth.
A meeting took place on Sunday se'nnight, in the
pheenii' Park, Dublin, between Mr. T. of the War-
Office, and Mr. C. of the Treasury. The High Sheriff
was on the ground at the time the parties arrived, and
held than to bail in the sum of 10001.