Court Of King's Bench, We...
The Times, 1824-12-01T00:00:00

LAW REPORT. TIhe LORD CJRuEF JUSTICE sat at NW PTius,and tried causes | with common juries. I Thnis act'sl was brought by the widow aind personal representative of Vliajor George Spyring , atn officer in the artillery, against Mes:,rs. GreenwvoodI and Ccox, tie paymasiters of Iiis regiment, to recover a balanca of1601. 5s. d. du~to his estate- The-rewasno fact disputed beteentheparie, ad te cse astried on admisisions. From thee i atpeaed.hat cetai alowaces fomery ernlitted by the Boar ofOrdnnce wer in1816witheld an noice given to the defndatstha tey uS nolonerexpceo rceve thiem on be- hal oftheoffcer. Mssr. Geenoadand Cox, however, neglect. ed to communicate this determination toAMajor Spyring; and in 1820, furnished kilos with ani account, in which they gave lhim credit for the aRi%wancesc, nearly, if not quite, to that period. The question wais, wrhether, having given this account, they could now dtispute its cor- reetneas, by showing that in 1816 the allowances were actually withi- drawn?P It having been agreed thjat the point should be reserved for the opinion of the Court in the forlm Ofaspclcse The LORtD Cua' iiseo od the jury7'dial, in his p)resent vievw of the case, the defendlants were not no%ratliberty todispute the correctness of the accoun"t which they had chosen to Tender. It was very gimpotant to aill men, and certainly not less importanit to mili- taymnthan to otners, accurately to know thec extent of their in-. come, that thecy might accommTodate their expenses to tLeir mneans. As the derendants had allowed Mlajor Spyring to go on in the supo sition that his income remained unchangedl, and hiad supplied him with an account on that Supposition, lie thoou,ht they were not now entitled to show that they had been in error. The jury, then, by his lordship'r directions, returned a verdict for the plaintifF-Damnages 1601. Ss. 9d. THE: KING,. OX TH9E PROSECUTION OF THOM1AS PALMERI, V. C LIFFORlD. Mr. ChrrTrYstated that this was an indictment charging the defen- dant with fratidulently obtainingr from Thomnas Palmer two bill of exchange for 1001. each, by falsely pretendinI that lie could proturt, the bills to be discounted, and that he woul~ obtain and pay a sumi of money on their security to the prosecutor on the following day The aURI CrriEF JUSTICE suggested a doubt whether thecase~, as laid in the indictment, was within the statute 62 Geo. III., which extended the provisionis of 24 Geo I 1. to bills of cxchar.ge. The douxbt was, whiether the pretence contemplated by thie act must not hav.e reference to the past or the present, and siot inereiy to the fuature; or whethier a mete pratence of ability to pTocure money would suibject the party to an indictment, If, hiowever, bie counsel for the pr'osecution thought the indictment would lie, lie would not stop the cause. Mr. GuRwEY said, he would not assert that the point wvas free from doubt, but he really thought the case withfin the statuite. The learned counsel thepl proceeded to state the circuimstance.-, on which the prosecution depended. The prosecutor, Sir. Palmer, was a tradesman, residing in r4sckney-road, who, in SlNay last, fotund oc- casion to borrow money. In conseq~uence of an advertisement in- sertd totha purose n Te Ties,he received a letter from SIr. Cliford,whic proucedan itervew. r. Palmer accordingly wentto 5, ly-lace frm wichtheletter was dated, and found a handomeestblihmet, nd lers aparendy doinig extensive bu- sines, ad thre mt Mr Cliford Thi genlema stted that he- had no doubt he could procure th moe,ifb a Satisfied of the goodness of the security, and wnwih r.Palmer to view the premises. The prosecutor proposed to raise the moe- ney on mortgage; but Mr. Clifford said lie had a much bet- ter way, and prevailed on hiim to place two bills of exchange for 1001. each, accepted by his mother, in his hainds, with assur- ance that lie would procure the money for themi by one o'clock on the same dav. As a security till that time, Clifford gave Air. Palmer two bills of his own for similr sums, which lhe wvas to returni as soon as he received the monby ; but he procuredl Palmer to signi a paper in svliicl, the transaction was represented as an exchange of bills. On the following day Palmer, accompanied by Mlr. Dennis, an attorney, r iTdto Ely -place, and waited for five hours in ex- petton of Mir. Clifford ; btit no Slir. Clifford came, though the prtnedto receive several messages f,romhilm. It was after- wards ~discovered, that this Sir. Clifford, though a certificated con- veyancer, was ait uncertificated bankirupt ; that whiile he was making this shiow of business in Ely-place, fie was really a prisoner in the King's Bench, whience lie came to visit hiis establishment by day rules in term; that his acceptances were worth nothing; and that heanovert had the mneans of raising, nor could have expected to raise, money on the billsi, and pay it acecording to promise. After nmuchi entreaty, and the payment of oart of a considerable clharge for ex- penses, one of the bills was obfiained back, but Mr. Clifford refused to return the other without receiving a imusi larger surm thtan the tnan he liad dluped was able to raise. If this cwe was made out, thejury would, by convicting the defendant, put a stop to most pernicious ractices, by Whichl the nieedy and tdie ilacautious were too often de. l'uded to their ruin). Si[r. TVhomnas P-almer, the prosecutor, told his4 story as follows: I riNide at No. 11, Kittisford-.place, Hacknley-road,' where I carry on the business of a pliimber and glazier. Being engaged iii build-. ing, I was in want of 3001., on the securitv of two small leasehold estates, and insierted sit advertisement in The Times of the 4thi of Sla y, off'ering, in return for the loan, to takesa respectable youth a-.P prenicewitout prmiu, an reuirng the nmoney for thiree yea"s. I reeive a ette, whch fterardsMr.Cliffosrd obtained from- me., Notcetoprouc tis cterwasprve; when Mr. ADOLPTSses, for he efedan, sad h wold rodce it, and hatideil in a letter irPatewaaseiftat wste letter; and having looked atit cursorily, saiti he believed it was. The letter thus producedl was then read, It bore date thep 5thi of Mlay; referred to the advertisemient as of yesterday ; and expryessed the readiness ofASlr.Chifford to adivance thiemoney, " provided it could be etrne i thecandsi moth."As soon as the witness heard this proviso read, he stopped the officer, and declared this was not the righitletter; for the letterbhereceived contained nothing about repaymenit in three osr six months. lie then proceeded-The next morning I went to MIr. Clifford's, Ely-place, Holbor;), where thecre was an office. On being introduced to Air. Cliffordby one of the clers, tol hi I wite upo hi inconsequence o0. a letter I re- ceied n te recdin da, ffeingtoprocure me 3001l. I-fe biegged me t had th leter o hm, a hehada great dleal of business ofr tha sot t do an itwoud srvetorefresh his memiory. I gave him heltte, an heconvyedit aay,lie then again asked what wised? toldhim waned t rie 3001., and ivould giv,e a mortgage and personal security for it ethen dlesired mne to sign ~a paper as his authority, and ilsigned it. Hei asked me if I had the leages with me? I said Ihad; and gave thetis to him for his perusal. fle lookedi at them, andt then said, "1 I have a better way of raising mloney than by mortgaging; but have you not a document to prove ,our title ? i hould wish to see Your father's will, and th,e ori. Final lease." I toldI himn I had both, and would bring them to Mim. He asked for a reference as to miy respectability. I gave him references. lIIe siaid-.` We will settle thie business to-dlay;- I have no dleubt I can get the inoney imnmediately ; I have raised a vast deal of money for many men, inod have no doubt I cani for You." At his desire, I called again at five o'clock, and brought the ilocumenta which lie wished to peruse. He then requestetl niei to call again in an hour, and lie would then go with ine atnd view the estates; I.e had received letters fro'ti my ref'erees, and they were quite satisfactory. I went with him to view ithe estates, and left, all my dlocumnents at his office. After he had Seen it, he expressd his sautisaction, anid said, Now if yo please, we will go to y-our mother, and get th e bus.iness settled." We wenit to mty mnother's house, 82, Bethnal-green-road, and there he- produced the diraught of' a bill, andJ saitd, " I wish votn to draw a bill for 1001. at tliree inouths." I objected, and saiJd "AIr. ClIfford, my advertisement Pays I want the mqoney for tlirce years-not three months. "1 Oh," sad lie "1never mrind ; I will give you an undertaking to renew the bills when they heroine due." I did so; antI then he produced another Stanip, and requestedi ine to draw another bill for 1001., at six miouthts. " Now," suid he, "'your mo- ther will accept both bills, ?and to-morrow I Shall have thle mionecy ready for you." He did not sas low he should get the money; onlytha itshold e rady 1~ aded,"Put the bills carefully in ourpocet an tae creyoudo otblot them." MlY mother accetedboth an we efther ous toethter, and went to niine. far wa ver aniousto how min tha (lid not wanit to talce himn in. A lugim) "Now" sad h, "we will go and settle the bu- sinss " ad w wet~ito hordith,where he proposed to go into a ublie-houne. We went, into a pirivae roomi. "1Now." said Sir. Cior," I weant you to give me tip the two hills your mnother has accete,for the purpose of carrying into the market ; and to-mor- row it o coaic to rmy office stone o'clock, the money awill be ready for you. As youir security till to-miorrow, you istay dr'aw two bills ont mefbr the same surms, and 1 will accept them ; they are only for your security till to-morrow, and then,ofcourse,wheR I PaY You thieinoney, you will deliver thetn up." I said, "S ir. Clifford, what ain stone- cessary expense yein are going to for stamps !" " Oh ," said Alr. Clifford, " I have only to go to the Stanip-ofhice atid mnake affidlavit that the Stamps are useiless, and tie mioney will be returned.", Air Clifford produced stamnps; I drew hills ; lie accepted thenss,and gave thenm to in c. He then producedi another paper, which he saiid was an authority to raise the money; I signed it, and he gave tne a copy. Wie then piirted. In consequmen of' goine suspicions, I went the next day, at one o'clock, with Air. Dennis, an attorney, to Ely. place. ThterelIinquired forMi'f. Cliff'ord;. I was told he was not aIt home; I expresseei my-surpri~Lc; Mlr. Cliffordl's clerk invited us to walk in, as probably he would soon bo at home. Wie waited nearly five hours, but Sir. Clifford did not comne; he ditd not make his appearance at all; thiough tmany notes castie, stating, as we were infornied, that Sir. Clifford would he at htoise in half an hour. The next day at one, Mlr. Dennis and siiyself went again to Sir. Clifford's, andl after waiting, for some timne, saw himn. I expressed msy stirprise at hiis disappointing mie the! day before and stated hiow loisg I liad waitedi. He apologized, on the grotina that he had a great deal of' business to do, and had to meet a gentlem-an ott very imnportant businteas, svieh ith mst be hiis excutse. Isaidl. " I hope you are now prepared to give me the money." .ie replied, "1 Upon mY word, .Sir. Palmer, I have not been able to see ily elient yet." I said., " From your conduct yr-sterday, I fear your intentions are not honest towards me; my suspicions are ex- citedA." lHe replied, "4 You need be under noG mapprehension ; I shall raise the money for you, though I have not it to-day." I told hiim my miotlier was; in great distress f'roisi accepting the bills,' and beg ged hint to give up the bills anti my leases ; anti I would return his bills, and pay any tdenianti he mighit be willing to make. I imiportu nedi him to accede to my wishei, as Iv,was extremiely anxious on my mothier's; account and mny own. We went on, till at last he said, 1 1I must take time to consider of it, Air. Palmer." Sir. Dennis 8aid, " iMr. Clifford, I conside-r you have- surreptitiously obtained those bills, aLnd unless you surretider them, Mr. Palmer will prosecute you."' " Oh, as to that," said he, " it is mnerely an exchanqe of' bills. I have Sir. Palmer's, he has mine; eo I have nothinget that sort to fear." We then left hin. I then went to Sir. illusgrove at Hackney, having beard he collected the rents in Ely-place. I took a letter fromit him and delivered it at a lotginsg in the Rules of the King's Bench. I afterwards saw SIr. Clifford at his office in Ely-place, who said, " You have made a fine stir about these bills- -you have been to Collins atid luasgrove; how camne you to gete to Mugove ?" I told him, ' I had begged Musgrove to intercede for me." He said, " Sir. Muegrove has written a feelingletter for you, and there it no utan I weruld wish to c-:Uge miorc." Ile begged me to call againt * and perhaps he mnight give up the bills, for he was qidte sick of the business. This was a Fortnight after he obtained the bills, and I had called every day in the interval. At one iitterview he toldi me, " I ought to have been inore carefid and I had learnt a lesson which might be of service to me through life." (A laugh.) The LORD CRIEF JUSTICE.-I hope it will be of use to many others. *Yitnes._.I told him Ihopedit would. He said " You should have had it put on the agreement you signed, that you should have the money next day: theze is no such thing." The agreement was read. It purported to be for an exchange of blls ; and for the deposit of the title.deeds as a necurity, It was aigi)ed by Mr. Cllfford, and hat a meolorandum w sften by Ur. Palmer at the foot, and signed by him, testifying his approbation of its ternafl. The witnes proceeded :-M1r. Clifford at last proposed to give me the bills again, and desired me to call. I did so; le slked for his e=pense; lie made out a bill; I paid 41. lOs. in Dart; the whole was 71. 4s. [The bill and receipt were read.] He then said, " You must write me a. letter requesting me to do this for you," and pro. dsAced a paper wbich I copied. The letter was read. It requested iMr. Clifford to give up the bill, as AMr. Palmer had tried in v.ain to get it discounted. llr. Palmer explained, that he copied this letter from one given him by the defendant, and said he remonstrated about the dliscount- ing, never havingir made any attempt of the kind. M r. Clifford said upon this, " That is mwy plan." I said, " Don't you mean to give me up both bills ?" lie said" No." I gave up one of bis bills , he gave me up one of mine. He said, " Nowr we have done half the bills; I will give up thc other bill to Musgrove." I said, " What has Altuegrove to do with my bill ?" He replied, I have a point to carry with Musgrove, and therefore I shall` give the billi uptohim." I nevergot thatbill; but received a letter from Clifford on the 24th of dray. The letter was read. It demanded 21. 14s., the balance due to Mr. Clifford, and threatened an action In case it was not paid. Cross-examined by Alr. AnorH Pus5-My motherand I wee in partnership, though she lived in Bethnal-greeo, and I in Kittis. ford-place. I proposed to raise money vn three smal houses in Webb. place, and on premises of my mother's In Wellingto.squsxe. The nirst were let in separate rooms, and brought in 13s. 6d. a week. The other premises consisted of two small houses, not so good nor 'so pro- fiable as the othere. I have not tried to rise money since. Mr. Clif. ford has some of she deeds. Iamn thirty years old. I can read and write pretty well. I sometimes preach the goapel 4"iosetimes in Webb-square, a very beaighted neighbourlhood, and sometimes in lSquetry-stieee, Bethbal-gceen-road. I preach occasionally wvhen a better preachercannot be provided, Icannot say whetherl readthefirst letteroften; Ireceired it on the evening of 'the day theadvertisement appeared in The Times. I do not recoallect that the latter part of the letter produced was inr the letter I received. When I hd read the two first lines, I thought it was the letter f received on the day my adverti4ement appeared in the paper; but when I heard the conclu- sion, I thought otherwise. I was offered the money for Clifford's remaining bill after it became due, and after Mr.'Clifford was in- dicted. I never presented it for payment; but 1001. 17s. 6d. wa.; tenidered to me. Mdy mother's acceptance was not honoured, and I and ly mother have been arrested upon, it. I have other proprty on which an annuity was secured. MAr. Clifford proposet to pay it otf. Re-examined.-Mr. Vatson's clerk tendered methe 1001. l7a. Gd., and the next day I was arrested in a suit in which be was attorney. Msr. George D>esnis, the attomney whlo accompanied lAlr- Palmer to Clyiford's, said, the house in Ely.place had a verey genteel apbeur. ance, and seemed aa office for business. They waited that day till halfrpast fivet in vain. The next day, they saw jhr. Clifford, when he expressed nts regret that he could not attend the dap berore, from press of business. Palmer asked him for 200t. Ele iaid he as3 not exactly prepared, as hehal not been aBle to seea friend but if Palmer whould give hrm time, he should be able to mhnage the busi- ness. Palmer said, he was determined to have it settled directly one way or the other; and as the money was not ready, he wothh rather have the bills again. Mr. Clifford said, le must consider of that; he could not do it at that moment. Being further pressed, he still refused, and would r,ot givehem upat all. I threatened a pro- secution if thebills were not given up. He repliedf, with ajeer, " Oh, it is only an exchange of paper at last." MGrs. Lydia Palmer, the mother of the prosecutor, proved that she accepted the two bills. She objected and said she thought there was to be a mortgage; but lIr. Cli?lbrd said this was a much cheaper way; it would cost only a few shillings for stamps. He said her son was to have the money the next day, between twelve and one. (On the 26th of Mav, she went herself to Mr. Clifford, and took 131., and offere4, it to him if lie would return the billa, as it was all they could muster. He wanted 201., besides 21. 14s. ; bat would give back the 14s. to buy the child, which her daughter held, a cap. He said her son was tao honest a great deal ; he was only fit for a mat for rogues to tread upon; if he knew more law and less religion, it would be better foritin. (A laugh.) She showed him the sovereigns-not laid them down, as it might be dangerous. (Renew- ed laughter.) He would not take less than the 221. Cross-examined.-This was two days before the Indictment was preferred. It was then proved, that on the 3d of Nov. 1821, a commission of bankrupt was issued against Clifford, and that he never passed his last examinAtion, or obtained his certificate. Titere was no dividend, but there bad been a compasition received by two assignees. On the 2d of November, 1822, Alr. Clifford came to the King's Bench pri. son, anti had been in custody ever since. There were 14 actions against him, but be had been discharged from eight. The porter of Ely-place proved that Air. Clifford was in arrear for four quarters of the sum dhue far the rates ; and his baker proved that lie could not obtain a small debt for bread. This was the case for the prosecutiotn. AIr. AD OiLPHsUS addressed thejtry for the defendant,and entreat- ed them to decide this important case on the evidence, and not on iny prejudice raised in the cause. Woul(d thtey believe that the pro- secutor hIad put his natne to letters and agreements without knowing their contents, even though he wasa teacler of the word in abenight- ed neighbourhlood ? Those letters anti agreements all proved that the partiescontemplated an exchange ef bills, and nothing more. Mr.AClif- rord never pretended to be able to ad7ance the money biniself, but merely to possesr facilities of obtaining it from others. The prosce cutor affected to denv that the letter dated 5th of Mlay was the same he received, yet he first declared it was, after he saw the date; and its genuiness would be proved by the witness who delivered it at his house. After this, what reliance could be placed ont Iiim Story ? Further to disprove it, he would put in the letters of Mr. Mlusgrove, the collector of Ely-place, on behalf of Palmer to Air. Clifford, which did not suzgest the idea of fraud; and he woula also prove that a proiccutiori lad been threatened by Afr. Harmer, to induce the defentlant to givc up the bdlls; bitt thite he had rejected the pro- position, and thus had challenged inquiry. It was obvious that though he had becn in dlifficulties, he had graduallv been extricating himself from them; and that an arteinpt was made to obtain a con. victinn on prejudices rather than proots. William Owen Hunahprevwas then called to prove the delivery of the letter dated the 6th of May. He described hinself as " a clerk in the law," and stated, that being assistant to Mlr. Clifford, he de- livered the1letter to Atrrt.Palmer, the old lady who gave her evidence, on the day it bore date. On cross-cxamination,the witness said,"'3Mr.Clifford ecnerally read his letters to me. I was in his office to learn what I could. Mr. Cliffoid was in the King's Bench prison, but caine out sometimes in term time on dav rules. He had a cltrk and servant besides me. I used to go to any cofecc-house that p leased my fancy, and extract the advertisemeents from the papers. I somnetiies went to the King's Bench to comnmunicate the fiuits of mv researches. r will not swear thit in the upper part of thc house in Elyvplace is 01. worth of furni- ture. Three letters from lUr. Mtusgrovc to the defendant, entreating the return of the bills and leases, on account of the anxiety and dis- tress of his family, were then rend. Two letters from Mir. Harmer and his clerk, threatening a Prosecution, if the documents were not given up, were then rcad. A paper, " I 0 U 21. 142." from Palmner to Cliff rd, of the 12th of Alay, was also read. Ar. (iaN Es replied.-Lie argued, that it was plain the letter put in was a fabriutlion, intended to deceive the Court; because it purported to bear date the 5th of Mlav, and yet on that (lav oc- curred the visit to Ely-place, and the whole transaction. From fience, the jury might judge of the whole cause and of the arts by which Palmer had been prevailed on to sign tie documents now used by way of defence, but the purpose of which could not be mistaken. Trlie LonD CaIItE JUSTICE laid out of the consideration of the jury, the first count of the indictnent, which stated the false pretence to be that the defiendant would get the bills discounted, as there was no proof to support it. On the other counts, the question of fact was, did the defendant obtain the bills on a pretence that he could procure money upon themn and would piy that money the next day, knowing auch pretence to he false? H is Lordship proceeled tread toverb y evidence; but had scarcely begun wlhen he was in- The Foreman, who said the jury were satisfied. The LoRD CusF ii, JUSTICE begged them, before they came to a conclusion against the defendant, to weigh the evidence applicable to the exact pretence charged, and alto to the case of the defendant. Having read this evidence, he left the jury to say whether the agree- ment for an exchange of bills wak a mere contrivance to be used by way of defence, or a bone ide contract: if it was the former, they would probably think the prisoner guilty of the facts charged: whe. thler they amouiited to the offence-in point of law, would be a ques- tion on the record. The Jury almost immcdiately returiied a verdictofgiilfly. C(URT OF RING'S BENCH. WESTIMINSTER, NOV. 30. SPYRING V. GREENWOOD AND COX.