Star.
London, England, 1816-08-17 00:00:00

• ':•4SAWIS4

DEVON. AUGUST le.
Ards.* nee was indicted for' having felOhiottay
bad in his possession, at the parish of Charles, in the
borough of Plymouth, on the 7th, day of June last,
and in his lodgings situate within the said parish,
certain forged and counterfeited notes for dl each,
purporting to be notes of the Governor and Com-
pany of the hank of England, payable to Mr, Henry
Base, or bearer, on demand, he. the said Abraham
Elias well knowing the same to .be forged. to this
indictment the prisoner pleaded guilty.
l'he said Abraham .Elias was then indicted for
havink, on the 7th day of June last, forged and ut-
tered a certain note, porporting to be a note of the
Governor end Company of the Bank of Englands
for AI, with intent to defraud the said Governor and
Company:. To this indictment the prisoner pleaded
not guilty.
Mr. Serjeant Lawn, on the part of the Bank, in-
formed the Jury, that as the prisoner had pleaded
guilty to the minor offence, he was instructed to sig.
afy thAt all the purposes of justice would be answered,
as the prisoner must incur the penalty of the law,
'and the Bank never wisheds under similar circus*
stances, to prosecute for the capital offence. He
should not. therefore, adduce any evidence to con•
vict the prisoner, and. consequently. under the di:
rection of the Learned Judge, they would acquit him
of the charge.—Mr. Justice lini.n.sis instructed the
Jury accordingly, who immediately returned a err-
diet—Not Guilty.
Simon Lear was next indicted for having feloniously'
had in his possession, at the parish of Charles. in the
borough of Plymouth, on tile 7th day of June last,
tenant forged and counterfeited notes of the Bank of
England, he, the said Simon Lear well knowing the
same to be forged.
Mr. Serjeant Lens stated the case on the part of the
prosecution, and called two witnesses, who proved
that they found the notes on the prisoner.
Mr. Glover, one of the Inspectors of the Bank, de-
posed. that the signatures of Stock and Lambert were
counterfeited, and that all the notes were forgeries.
On the part of the prisoner, Mr. A. Moonsendea-
enured to extract from the last Witness, how he knew
the notes to be forgeries ? This question was objected
to on the other side, on the ground that the witness
was not at liberty to disclose that fact.
Mr. Moons-66 Am I to understand, then, that
there are certain Keret differences which you, in your
situation of inspector, are acquainted with, but which
an oreilnary person could not discover ?" A. " Yes."
Q. " The prisoner is a foreigner ; but might not
any ordinary Englishman have taken those notes with-
out knowing them to be forged ?" A. "He might."
The prisoner called some witnesses to character,
when the Learned Judge told the Jury, that this was
an indictment for a transportable felony, founded on
the 45th of the King, which makes it a felony for
any person to have forged notes of the Bank of Eng-
land in his custody, without lawful excuse, the proof
whereof lies on the person accused. He then recapi-
tulated the evidence, and the Jury returned a ver-
dict—Guilty.
His Lordship immediately sentenced them to be
transported for the term of 14 years.