The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-06-13 00:00:00

MUSIC AND THE DRAMA

SIIIIMIS ORATORTOS.—At thispoprdar oratorio, which
takes place this evening in the Philharmonic-hall, the
Creation_ end Attwoodi-Coronation Anthem will be per•
formed-

Roysa Aram' TILEATIEE.—The' entertainments' at this
establishment during the past week have not presented
much novelty—in dramaticvepresentation none—and the
exception-has been the introduction of the Aztec Lillipu-
tians on the stage. These singular strangers have been
shown orkthe..' boards,"
and:have gone through most of
the circumscribed performances- they appear capable of
exhibiting; The deseriptiOn: of their original place of resi-
dence, and the assumed circumstances, of their birth and
social position, has been giVen nightly by Mr. Morris in
his usual style of forcibleand suggestive eloquence. The
dramatic pieces have consisted of The English Fleet,"
" Mephistopheles," " and "'La Diable a Quatre." The
attendance, has generally been considerable, and the
audiences have generally expressed in loud terms their
approbation-of the performances.
THEATR3S-1300YAL--FSEIVCIC PLAYS IN LIVERPOOL.—
The marked! success which attended the three perform-
ances of M. Lafont and company last year, has led this
fine actor to return to us, accompanied by faces old and
new. Among: the ladies, Mad'lle St. Georges again ap.
wars, and she is a dashing actress both in style and dress.
For their reception, the Theatre-Royal has undergone
some costly alterations, and looks extremely well. We
hope the- management will be encouraged in this enter-
prise, for • the- gratification afforded by this company and
the risk are both great. The first performance took place
on Wednesday last, when "Le Chevalier de St. Georges,"
and ." La- Conic Sensible," were represented. We saw
the first piece only, and there-was much about it to please
and praise. The-plot keeps up the attention, and is in
itself interesting,. as we follow the fortunes of the lady
and the creole: M. Lafont and Mad'lle St. Georges gave
a very touching interpretation, and displayed highly
finished acting.. They were summoned before the curtain
at the the second act, and again at the fall of the
curtain. Their reception was very cordial, and well
worthy of acting so charming.
The second; of' the series was given on Friday, and in-
cluded " Livre III," "La Deruiere Conquete," and "Le
Philtre Champenois." The first oftheie, which produced
oonsiderable-merrixnent, though it fell rather coldly, was
'characterised by the appearance of Mad'lle Roqueville,
from the. Odeon, who was stated in the bills then to make
her- " first appearance in England." If so, we congratu-
late the lady upon her debut, and shall-be glad to see her
more frequently, for there was cleyerness in the reading,
and great naturalness throughout, albeit the Madame de
-Madly is not a very amiable character. This same lady
' was set down in some of the bills in the next piece, and,
we were somewhat perplexed at first sight, when one
sozneivlait less in stature, and ,absolutely white from:
crown to foot entered as Lauri.. But the mystery was.
solved wLen we found the bills were wrong, and this.
was Mad'lle Blanche ! The play went off admirably_
The house was very fashionably attended, a large • proPer-
tion of those present being foreigners. These excellent
performances will be continued three times a week, and
the repertoire is large enough to give a succession of
pieces: some of them, however, as the first of the series
for example, we would like to see repeated.

ALLEGED THEFT OF A £l,OOO BANK-RILL
BY A LIVERPOOL SHAREBROKER.

COMMITTAL OP-THE PRISONER.

George Forster was again brought up yesterday, on a
charge of having stolen a bank post bill of the value of
£l,OOO from the counter of the Borough Bank, on the
22nd of April last. The-prisoner had been remanded from
yesterday week, and the particulars of the charge were
detailed in last week's Standard. The case for the pro-
secution was again conducted by Mr. Raines, and Mr.
Aspinall attended on behalf of the prisoner. The facts of
the case, as they transpired on the previous examination,
were briefly, that on the day in question a bank post bill
for £l,OOO was abstracted from a desk on the counter of
the Borough Bank, but it was not missed for several days,
the prisoner having been in the bank that day, and near
enough to take the bill; after being missed, payment of
the bill was stopped at the Bank of England, and no more
was heard of the matter till the 28th of May, when the
bill was presented for payment at the Bank of England
and stopped. On inquiry it was found that the note had
been again presented at the Borough Bank, in Liverpool,
taken in that establishment without being detected, and
by them transmitted to Messrs. Glynn, their correspond.
ents in London, who, in the ordinary course of business,
presented it for payment. Inquiry showed that the bill,
in the second instance, had been presented by Mr. Eccles,
of J. Eccles and Co., who had got it from the prisoner.
The prisoner's account of the matter was that he got the
bill from a Mr. Harris, whom he did not know much
about, and it being past bank hours on the 24th of May
he gave it to Mr. Eccles, from whom he got two £5OO
notes in return for it. _ _ _

Mr. Raffles said he had only one other witness to call,
and he only did so as it was wished on the part of the
prisoner. He then called
Josiah Pemberton Williams, second cashier at the
Borough Bank.—On Saturday, 22nd of April, was short
of cast► in the middle of the day, and applied to Mr.
Kershaw for a supply. He, in the absence of Mr. Finney,
sub-manager, gave me some £lOOO notes, but I do not
know the exact amount; while he was getting this, a sum
came in which was sufficient for my purpose. I was very
busy that morning, and do not remember whether the
one in question was there or not.
. By Mr. Aspinall.-1 have no recollection of what I did
with the notes, but I recollect seeing them. I cannot say
whether I received this bank bill or not; or how many
notes were given me by Mr. Kershaw. A thousand pound
bill may be received by a clerk or cashier, and lost, and
the loss not found out for a week. The same thing may
happen with a £lOOO note. If Mr. Kershaw had not re-
membered better than I do as to this note, I do not
know whether it could have been traced or not. It was
discovered that the £lOOO was short, but some days elapsed
before it was ascertained that the missing bill had been in
my possession. No other person was charged with having
stolen it, as it was conjectured to have been mislaid in the
bank. I have no recollection that it was put on my desk,
but the cashier told me it had been. The desk was not a
proper place to put it, but in the hurry of business I
might have put it there. It could have been reached from
the swing door, but not without leaning over it. I had
received money from the prisoner that day (the 22d April).
We close early on Saturday, and there is generally a crowd
up to the moment of closing. There are not generally
many people near the swing door. I did not know that
the bill in question had been given me till a few days after
it was first missed. Several days had elapsed before any
due had been found of how it got out of the bill case.
Bills given in by customers are taken as bills and not as
cash.

Re-examined by Mr. Raffles.—Mr. Kershaw was absent
on leave almost immediately after this bill was lost. These
bills are registered in a book, and it is only after registry
that they could be lost in passing from one clerk in the
bank to another. It is usual in banks to balance such
bills once a week. I received money from the prisoner
that day (a book produced), that is the prisoner's pass
bank-book. It contains an entry of £9O paid on that day.
Joseph Bates, detective inspector, searched prisoner's
offices, and found a letter book (now produced). It pur-
ports to be letters signed by the prisoner. Six pages are
missing from it. The date immediately preceding the
blank is 13th May.

Mr. Raffles produced a note, and had it entered on the
depositions. Concerning it he examined Mr. Williams.—
It is in the prisoner's hand-writing, and purports that
he paid the money. I received the money, and my
initials are on the note.
Bates cross-examined.—l have found that the £BOO
found in the prisoner's possession belongs to the Stock
Exchange. I have not been able to trace anything as to
the £5OO notes, got by the prisoner from Mr. Eccles.
The Royal Bank keeps a note of the large notes they re-
ceive, but not of those they pay away.
Re-examined.—l think I may be able to trace these
notes.

This was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. Aspinall said would be unfair to commit the
prisoner fully for trial while evidence is still in the course
of being traced. He contended the only thing bearing
against his client was the fact of recent possession. He
did not wish to say anything which would be in any way
painful to the highlyrespectable officers of the bank ; but
he could not avoid remarking on the very careless way
in which this valuable property had been placed in the
way of almost any one who chose to take it. He then
alluded to the intelligence and respectability of his client,
and contended that a person whose credit was so good on
the stock exchange, as to be entrusted with a large sum
by its secretary, was not likely to steal any sum of money,
and no person of the least intelligence was likely to
act in so insane a manner as his client did, if he had
any guilty knowledge that the bill was a stolen ono.
Should his worship deem the case one fit to be sent for
the consideration of a jury, he trusted that his client
would be admitted to bail. _ _

Mr. Mansfield said lie thought the case was one which
could not be well disposed of in any other way than by
the decision of a jury. He could not help referring to the
singularity of a person of the prisoner's intelligence con-
senting to act in the way he did for a person whom he
knew as little of as the prisoner said he did of Mr. Harris.
In the circumstances he should not object to admit the
prisoner to bail, himself in £l,OOO, and two sureties of
£5OO each. He was committed for trial at the Borough
Sessions.