Star.
London, England, 1812-01-16 00:00:00

OLD BAILE2'.

Yesterday these Sessions commenced before the
LORD MAYOR, Baron MACDONALD, Justices LE BLANC
and CH/WIWI the RECORDED, &C. &C.
G. Sittig, late Cliier Clerk at the Police Office,
Queen-square, was indicted for uttering forged re-
ceipts for money, with intent to defraud his Majesty.
Messrs. ABBOT, KNAPP, and GUENEY were em-
Ooxed for the prosecution—and Serjeant Brag, and
Messri. ALLEY, GLEED, and ADOLPHUS, for the pri.

sorer.
The prisoner had presented receipts from four se-
veral persons, purporting to have come from them,
One of which was for £36 Bs. the bill for which WAS
for £l7 9s. ; another for sel 1 10s. paid to Mr.
Downis, for printing, whose demand was £t4. 11s. ;
the two others purported to be the band-writing of
Mr. Stanton, a stationer, and of Mr. Ryder, for rent,
frith considerable additir nal charges.
Mr. Baldwin, Receiver General to the Police-
offices, stated, that be received the Police-office ac-
nounts quarterly, with a statement from the Chief-
Clerk at each, of the fines, fees, &c. received by the
office. They furnish him with vouchers regarding
the police altogether, with the exception of Magis-
trates' salaries. He believed the forged receipts in
question to be the prisoner's hand-writing. The fees
and fines are given in to witness, in part of payment
of the establishment, as the same is inadequate to pay
tbe;r expences. Witness stated that the prisoner's sa-
lary had recently been increased to two hundred
pounds a year.
The forgeries were severally proved, by the trades..
men negativing the hand-writing on the receipts • and
•t was already proved, that the receipts were of the
• • d-wri&ios of die primmer.

Mr. Scrjeant Ban took an objection in point ofl4w,
which was over-ruled.

The prisoner, being called oa for his deice, de.
livered in a written document, which Mr. Serjeant
Best first read, and observed to the prisoner, he had
better state what he had to say, keeping the written
defence. The prisoner then stated,. that embarras-
ment prevented him from addressing the Bench, but
he declared to Goo and his co,iscience he had no in-
tention.to commit any kind of fraud, but his accounts
were in error, he having been 300 miles iu the coun-
try on professional bus:nes, •
Tim following witnesses were then called to his
character:

The Marquis of Huntley, who knew him for many
years—he had the highest opinion of his honour and
integrity, and thought he was the last man in the'
world who would do an act of injustice to any man.
Mr. Nares, one of the Magistrates of Bow-street,
knew the prisoner when he was second deth of the
Shadwell Police Office—he always entertained the
highest opinion of his honesty.
William Fielding, Esq. (evidently much affected)
bore testimony, in terms of great warmth, to the ge.
neral character and conduct of the prisoner. When
he first heard of his delinquency, he at once emula-
ted it to sone confusion in his accounts, owing to
the
absence in Scotland for some time, as he had not tbe
slightest conception he could be guilty of an act of
injustice.
George Storey, Esq. another Magistrate, deposed to
the same effect, as did Mr. Garner, Mr. Carrick, btr.
Roope, and Capt. Duff, of the Royal Navy.
The CHIEF BARON then having stated to the istrY
the nature of the offence, and summed up the 'vi.
dence, observed, that the character given of the pri-
soner had been seldom equalled in any Court of Jas.
tice ; but in a case where the proof of the fact was so
demonstrative as in this, the only effect such evidence
of character could produce was, to excite a regret,
that a mar. who had borne such a character could be
guilty of such a crime.
The Jury then, after a short deliberation, found the
prisoner Guilty ; but recommended him strongly to
mercy, on account of character.
The prisoner was a genteel looking man, abc.a. 35
years of age, and during the whole of the trial ap-
peared extremely agitated.
The next prisoner tried WAS

Thomas CoMesa, who stood indicted for forging and
uttering certain stamps, purporting to be the legal
stamps issued under the authority of his Majesty's
Commissioners of the Stamps, with intent to defrjsudi
his Majesty.
The prisoner, it appeared, was a vender of quack
medicines in Oxford road, and some suspicions of his
di.honest practices having arisen, two police officers
were sent to apprehend him. On their arrival at.his
house, however, he was absent from home. The offi-
cers then declared the object of their visit, and
pressed an intention to search the premises, sztlich ,
they proceeded to do without obtaining any confino
'nation to their suspicions. They then asked for a
light, for searching below stairs, and a gill who was
in the shop, went to procure one for them, but shortly
afterwards returned without one. The officers, on
her return, observed that she had taken off her apron,
and, surprised at this circumstance, they it • --dattely
went down stairs, and having procum a candle,
found in a coal vault a vast nianbern“orLed sumo,
tied up in the girl's apron, which- they iMmetiiatly
secured. The girl was then examined, and she con-
fessed the fact of her having been Lmph.yed tb paste
th se forgeries on the packages, or bottles of quack
medicines, and that she did this wilt the knowhoige
of their being spurious, as the priso er had told -lcr
so. It further appeared that a large box, containing
a considerable quantity of articles on which those
stamps had been pasted, were sent to the house of
Messrs. Wood and Cunningham, at Bath. Thither
the °Seers were dispatched, and the box, with its
contents, were brought to roan.
Upon examination of the forged stamps, they did
not appear to be precise•ly similar to the stamps ut-
tmd by the Stamp• Office, as in the place where the
Crown, on the genuine stamps, was placed, were the
words, " Jones of Bristol." This, however, was cut
out when used ; and the hole generally covered with a
seal or a label.

These facts, as well as the facts of the stamps in
question being forgeries, having being been clearly
substantiated, _

Mr. ALLEY, for the prisoner, made three legal ob-
jections in his favour. In the first instance, he assert-
ed that the indictment was wrong in form, as it al-
ledged the uttering to have taken place in Middlesex,
whereas it was nut the case ; next, that it was not a
felony under the Act en witich the indictment was
framed ; and lastly, that there was no proof of for-
gery. In support of the first objet ti nt, he contended,
that as the package containing the stamps alledged
to have been uttered in Middlesex had been conveyed
to the waggon by the prisoner's servant, and might
have been stopped in Iransitu by the prisoner, the de-
livery could nut be said to have taken place before
the arrival of the waggon at Bath, and consequently
out of she county of Middlesex. With respect to the
-next objection, he argued that the terms of the Act
had not been complied with, as the form of the stamp
alledged to be forged had not been described in
words. And with reference to the last, observed,
that the stamp alledged to be a forgery, was in no
respect similar to the stamp, the resemblance of which
it purported to bear.
After some further remarks on the same ground
from Mr. CURWOOD and Mr. Awl-14ms,
Sir Statox Le BLANC over-ruled the two latter ob-
jections, and observed, the prisoner might have the
benefit of the other, if there was any thing in it in an-
other place.
The Learned Judge then summed up the evidence
with great minuteness, and the prisoner was found—
Guilty—Death.
Mona: Kite was also capitally convicted of stealing
two £2 bank-notes and a al ditto, the property of
H,ugh Jones, in his dwelling-house.
Seven were convicted of felony, viz.—W. Priest-
ley, W. Goulding, T. Price, and J. Robinson, for
stealing 33 bottles of Port wine, the property of C.
Ingoll and H. Mann ; Ann Edwards and Mary Ann
Stanwell, for stealing eight shifts, the property of H.
Hurle, and several articles, the property of Mary
Smith ; and John Jarratt, for stealing five shawls, the ,
property of Messrs. Lawrence, Jollaads, and Law.
react; aud Harriet Dowd= was acquitted.

MIDDLESEX SESSIOA, JAW. 11

B. Palmer, a man of colour, was indicted for an
assault on W. Scargill, a naval Captain, in August,
1810. The prosecutor resided in Church-lane, '
Lime-
house, and the prisoner lodged at the back of the
prosecutor's premises, the windows of which over-
looked his garden. About five weeks before the as-
sault, the defendant's child was flinging stones over
the paling which divided the prosecutor's garden from
the road, at the child of the prosecutor, who fearing
some serious accident might happen, said to her,—
.64 You little black thing, if you don't go away, I'll
play the devil with you." Nothing transpired to in-
duce the prosecutor to,ahink that the defendant bore
any malice until about five weeks afterwards, as he
was entering his garden by the back way, about nine
o'clock in the evening, when the defendant, without
any previous remark, struck him, from behind, a vio-
lent blow on the head with a poker, which he follow-
ed up by several others equally violent. The prose-
cutor, a feeble old man, cried out for assistance, and
made the best of his way, bleeding profusely, into his
garden, where he was met by his housekeeper, who
cried out, Who has wounded you, Sir i" The de-
fendant, mho by this time, had made good his retreat
to his own house, and stood in the balcony of one of
the windows, replied, 6, It was I, Benj4min Palmer,
the black man ; and if I had had a pist,d I would
have blown the b--y b--'s bra;ns out"—
A constable hearing the altrm of murder, repaired
to the spot, and proceeded to search the defendant's
house, to take Mm into custody. The defendant,
however, got out of the balcony, and hung with his
hands from it, so that he could not be seen in the
house ; bnt a waterman passing at the time, seized
him by the legs, and brought him to the ground,
from whence he was taken before the Magistrates,
and ordered to find bail. Before the next Sessions,
however, he forfeited his recognisances, by going to
the West Indies, from whence be had lately returned.
The Jury immediately found the defendant Gu;lty;
and the Court sentenced him to one year's imptison-
ment in the House of Correction, and to find security
for two years, himself in £3O, and two sureties in
020 each.

J. Mill:, a publican, keeping the sign of the Angel*
in Gee-street, Goswell-street, was convicted of a vio-
lent assault, with a pint pot, upon Mary, the wife of
W. Brant, on the 21st of August last. The Court
sentenced him to pay a fine of £2O, with liberty to
speak with the prosecutrix.
Thomas Jones, a hackney•coachman, was indicted
,for wilfully and maliciously driving his coach aga;nst
the carriage of Nicholas Kirwan, Esq. of Brunswick-
square, on the 28th of October last, in Oxtord-m ids 11
and knocking off the box, to the danger of his life,
Peter Morant, the driver c f the same.

The pross.cutor was sitting on the coach box, wait-
ing with the carriage, opposite a linen-draper's shop,
in Oxford•soad, in which his mistress was purchasing
some goods, when the defendant drove his coach with
the utmost fury against the carriage, nearly overtur-
ned it, and in the confusion threw him off the seat
under the horses' feet, where he was preserVed from
destruction by the assistance of the foot passengers.
He did not escape, however, without some severe
wounds aid contusions from the horses' heels.

The defendant was tound Guilty, and sentenced to
11 days impi:sonment in the House of Correction.

CifIVTERBURT SESSIONS, JAN. 14.

The General Sessions of the Peace for this city-and
county were held yesterday at the Guildhall, when
the only prisoner for trial was AndrenoTeesdale, a sol-
d+;•r of the 91st regiment, charged on two separate
inkiictm-nts with assaults on Henry Grey and Jona-
than Robinson, both of which the Grand Jury found
. not True Bills.

At the same Sessions an appeal was made by Lieu-
tenant Colonel Dixon, rf the Royal Artillery, by di.
rection of the Bo.trd of Ordnance, against the Poor's
Rate made on a house occupied by him and his fa-1
mily, in the parish of St. George, on the ground that
it was occupied for his use in the execution of his of-1
fice as Commanding Officer of the Artillery in the
Kent District. Au objection was urged on the part
of the Guardians of the Poor, as to the informality of
the notice of the appeal, on the ground that it did
not state a sufficient cause, not with a view to take
advantage of its informality, but because in the de-
tqmination of the question, every part of the pro-
ceedings should be correct; this notice, however, the
Recorder considered as sufficient, stating at the same
t:tne, that he was perfectly clear that the appeal
could not be maintained, and quoting-the decision of
the Court of King's Bench in the case of the King
v. 'ferritt, in support of the opinion. The Court ac-
cordingly confirmed the rate.

LATE IffiRILERS iF SIMDIf7ILL.

Pot ICS Orndia Saarowtu.—A most illl . •
discovery has been made within these two 41
which completely removes every shadow of drat
respecting thetlt of the late suicide, Williams.was proved bethe Magiatratbs of 'lladwell-cirkei
that three weeks befog • the Murde•
son and his family, Wih.;;lmi hs hat'
a long French knife withNsan • • Nit
knife could never be found tiiants's rr
amongst any of the clothe t behind
Pear-tree public-houseu -Nile [lt
find that deadly instru er
.::4
success. On Tuesday, L 1 nln
at the Pear-tree public-houie, - ..11011,
some old clothes, found a blue jacket, wi.,
diately recognized as part of Williams's aft..
He proceeded to examine it closely, and upeo lssi
ing at the inside pocket he found it quite stif
coagulated blood, as if a Wood-stained hand Ind
thrust into it. He brought it down to Mri. Venal,*
who immediately sent tor Hope, and another dry
Shadwell Police Officers, to nuke further *smog
the house. Every apartment then underwent the**
rigid examination, and af, er a search of about ashy
and a half, the officers came at last to a an ill 414
the one in which they discovered the objet of
pursuit. In one corner of it there was a hearreva
stockings and other clothes, wh;ch being
they observed a bit of wood protrudiugfrom a ate*
hole in the wall, which they immediately drew clic
and at the same instant they discovered the hat*
of a clasp knife, apparently dyed with blood, vrhich
upon being brupght forth proved D be the idenzget
French knife seen in Wllliams's possession Weis the
murders. The handle ar.d blade of it were messy
all over with blood. This important fact comphsai
the chain of strong circumstantial evidence
adduced against the suicide. The bloody jade,
also a new and not less powerful circumstance Sew
firm tile guilt, and it is pretty clear, that that p.dur
his appArel must have been stained with the Wised('
the unfirtumite Mrs. Williamson, when the sac*
was trinsfirring the money with his bloody 1144 le
his pocket.
•