Star.
London, England, 1819-01-18 00:00:00

selling Idling for Gs. which, if genuine, would be
worth 20s. . ,

wai one of the Inspectors of Bank notes
of England, and had been so for twenty
was well acquainted with the testure of
aper, the water-mark, the engraving,. and
,res. The several notes now produced to
' forgeries. The water-marks, which in
were wove in the paper, were iw the
,sequently impressed—the No. and figures
ia genuine were stereotype, were in the
!ngraved.
:ant BOSANQTYLT-•••••44 Has it ever happened
ak has issued two notes of the same mutt-
it and signature, for 1 find two of these
..be same number and signature ?
has happened."
to COURT—" Is that a usual occurrence r
Certainly not; it is quite unusual, and
only happened through some irregularity
linety of the printing.
piing Clerk, Mr. James liamb*rt, ?rota
tares to be forgeries.
;stice HoLnovn charged the, Jury, whO,.
. moment's hesitation, found the prisoner..—
,--Death.
the .verdict was pronounced, the prisoner,
a tall handsome young man, about 9.5 years
vied very much, and laid himself upon the
the Count. He said he had been led into
ice through the instigation of others, and
s in his eyes he begged for mercy.
trd Dent, 18, was indicted for uttering several
ces.—The trial lasted five hours, but the parti-
are briefly as follows:
sus. Heath and Co. paper-stainers, of Queen-'
, Cheapside, having suspicion that some of the
their employment were engaged iu the cir-
of forged, notes, for the purpose of detecting
icators, and of saving the boys, if possible,
Showell, one of their workmen, to apply to
, which he did, and went with them to the
in fleet-market, where he saw Dent ; but was
Ids introduced to him at the Rose, where
got a forged note from the prisoner through
he lads, named Lucas, and for which he paid
afterwards met Dent at different times, and
several notes of him. At last Showell pur-

Len £1 notes of the prisoner, at ss. 6d. each ;
-gained for five more to be delivered the same,
at the Flying Horse, ia Charter-house-lane.'
s were sent by. the Bank (to whom all the notes
froin Dent were given by Showell) to inter-
lc prisoner. They lid so ; took him into the
1-Firse, where they searched him, and found
a pier with attempts at imitating the hand
of the Signing Clerks In the Bank, and of
'rnents of some of the first Banking-houses in
13esIdes this, they observed, on opening
'trails, a roll of five forged El notes fall to the
on which the prisoner put his foot. 4n ani)-
-.4- the prisoner's pockets they found a roll of ten
notes, and a forged £5 note. The mate-
▪ these facts received corroboration, and
w.loner was found—Guilty--Death.
e foreman of the Jury, said, it was to be wished
rite method was adopted to nave human lives,'
Aling forged notes not SO easily fabricated. •
• Justice Bunnouots said, that what one man
tit: execute, however excellent, might be imitated.
raother ; and alluded to the case of Ryland, the
.aver, who was executed for forging ludia.Bills.
Szrjeant lloaaNstuve said, he was happy to
corat the Jury, that a Committee of the most seen
men were now sitting to devise some mode of.
king notes more difficult of execution.
Ile Foreman of the Jury observed, that he had
r. some notes of the United States, so excellently
;raved, that he believed it impossible to imitate
vm by one 'nand in less than three or four mouths.
MT. Justice Bonaorom repeated, that what was
ttrforrnecl ernild be imitated ; • but these observations
aid have no reference t a case where a man was
ecklng widi by own life, and that of others, by

• • OLD BAILEY, JANUARY 19.
. This morning Thomas .Watson aged 16, was in!.
,!ictecl for having, in the mouth of-December last;
passed a LI forged Note, with intent to defraud the'
t,overnor and Company of the Bank of England.
He was also charged, in other counts, for a similar
offence in the same month.
The case was stated to the Jury by Mr. Serjeam
BOSANQUET.
The first witness that was called on behalf of the
prosecution was John lielph, a grocer, who on being
sworn, stated that he lived at No. 4, Gracechurch-
street ; that at the early part of ' December, or the
latter part of November, the prisoner came to his
shop and purchased grocery amounting to eighteen-
pence, and tendered a 1/. note in payment, for which
he received change. Ile asked him his address,
which he gave as Mr. Merchant, Ingram-court, Fen-
church-sweet. The following day he paid it away,
and about three days afterwards it was returned him
as forged. He then went to Mr. Nlarchanes, Ing-
ram-court, but found no such lad as the prisoner.
The prisoner, about three o'clock on the 12th of
December, came again to his shop, and on entering
it, he instantly recognised him. The prisoner now
asked for some more grocery, which the deponent,
wishing to see in what way he meant to pay for it,
gave him, when he again tendered him another note,
which also proved to be forged. He then took his
pen in his hand, saying, " Now, my lad, what name
shall I put on here ?" The prisoner replied, " Mr.
Watson, Bell-yard, Gracechui ch-strect.' The witness
then seized him, telling him that a few days ago he
had brought him a bad note, with a different ad-
dress, and insisted on his going with him to 13e11-
yard. When they arrived there, he found that no
such person resided there, it being the Excise Permit
Office. The prisoner then took bins into the George
and Vulture Tavern where be said he had got it.—
The witness asked then to see the landlord, who said
he had no knowledge of the prisoner ; he asked him
if he could see the gaiters ?—the waiters then came ;
who also said they had no knowledge of the prisoner.
The landlord reproved the prisoner very severely,
for saying that he got it at his tavern, when the pri-
soner said he had found it. The deponent then gave
him in charge of an kfficer, when the prisoner said
his name was Williams, and he had a brother a sil-
versmith, living in Smithfield : and that he had found
the Note at the top of Lombard-street.
The witness was cross-examined by Mr. WALFORD,
but nothing to the discredit of his testimony was
elicited.
Samuel Shepherd, a constable, stated, that he was
sent for and took the prisoner into custody on the
12th of December last. That on searching him he
found nothing whatever ; that he told him -his name
was Williams; asked him wherehegotthe note? The
prisoner told him he 'found it in Bell-yard ; asked
him where he lived? He answered, he lived with his
brother in Smithfield; took him towards Giltspur-
street Compter, when the prisoner asked him where
he was going to take him ? he replied, " I am going
to
"take you to your brother's," when The risoner said,
it is of no use tot ake me there." witness then
tk him to the Compter, and afterwards went to
Smithfield, but could findno such person as the pri-
soner's brother.
Jones Dallamere swore that he resided .No. 15,
.West-Smithfield, the place where the prisoner had
said his brother lived, and that no such person re-
Tided there.
Mr. Lee, Bank-Inspector, being sworn, stated that
the note in question was a forgery.
Mr Justice.HOLROTD, before whom this trial took
place, at 12 o'clock, detailed to the Jury the whole
of the evidence which had been brought forward.
—At five minutes before one o'clock they retired
out of Court to consider their verdict, and returned
at a quarter before two, finding the prisoner Guilty,
' but recommended him to mercy on account of his youth,
believing that he had been the dupe of some designing
villain !
This young prisoner's case crated a considerable
degree of interest, and whose examination before the 'I
Lord Mayor caused an equal degree of interest. On'
that day being asked where he got the note for
which he stood indicted ? he said he had it from Sho-
wel, (a principal witness in the case of Dent, who
was tried on Saturday for the like offence.). During
the examination before the LORD. MAYOR, every step
was taken by his Lordship to discover his associates,
but he refused to divulge any person's name except
that of Showell.

Saturday, the Grand Jury of Middlesex presented
to the Court, at the Sessions House, Clerkenwell
Green, the following Address:
The Grand Jury of the County of Middlesex cannot separate
without stating to the Court, that the painful duty devolving on
them has been rendered more acute by the bills brought before
them, on the part ef the Bank of England, agalnst individuals
charged with possessing or uttering forged Mei. purporting to
be the notes of that estahlialiment-
" The Grand Jury are aware that a strong prejudioe is abroad.
against the Bank on this subject, and It is not their wish to in-
crease it ; it is, however, well known that the notes of the Rank
of Ensland are much too easily imitated, and they cannot forbear
expressing their decided opinion, that such easy imitations might
be prevented, and the frequency of the crime be consequently,
I diminished.
" The Grand Jury bog also.to exlstess their hope, that a rev'-
sion of the Criminal Code is in contemplation, and more parti-
cularly the law respecting forgery of tik Notes, and if they.
I may with propriety, they would suggest at some other mode
of punisluueut than that at resent adopted, such as perpetual
hard labour, and solitary imprisonment, would be mote dreadful
its the eye offender than the chance of escaping capital
puishment, ofd
(be cununutation of death for transportation..
" Signed on behalf of the Grand Jury, by their .Foretnau.
" CHARLES DERRICK."
Yesterday the Lord Chief Justices of the Court•of
King's Bench and Common fleas, Mr. Justice Rica-
itlsrosoN and Mr. Justice BEST, attended together in
St. Martin's Church to hear Divine Service and re-
ceive the sacrament on their appointments.
On Tuesday last the State Lottery finished Draw-
ing, when.(as usum,) Brut shared Capitals 'greater
in number and amount than any other Office-keeper,
amongst which were No. 5,556 a Prize of. £lOO
Money, and seSO,OOO Consols, (divided into eight
Shares); Nos. 12,816, £1100; 6044 £looo,a.a. 'l4r
rious other Capitals of smaller .arnounts,...4:lW,
Lottery. of only 6.000 Tickets, for which aisigrs the
Contractor, is now en sale at his Offices,, 4,4;trek."
and 9, Chasing-cross; and .4,3! jigs Agent.
• • •
Country.

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