one, most certainly, will not hear you.

>

Mr. French.-No, my Lord; what I mean to shew, is, that the duty has been performed by some persons, and therefore, that it is not a case requiring the interference of the Court, as the object of the Legislature has been satisfied.

Justice Osborne.-The Statute does not permit that the duty should be done by proxy.

Mr. French.-My Lord, Dr. Troy threatened to excommunicate him.

Mr. Duffy.-Yes, my Lord, if I would even distribute the bread.

Mr. French.-He would not even allow him to distribute the bread, my Lords. I have the let ter of the Prelate in my hands, in which he threatens him..

Chief Justice.-We must discharge our duty, and therefore dismiss the gentleman. I certainly lament his situation very much, but we have no discretion left to us. All I shall say in addition to what I have already stated is, that if the power of the Legislature of this Court, and of the Grand Jury, to appoint a Roman Catholic Chaplain to Newgate is denied, I certainly will not admit the authority of any other superior.

Trial of Mr. Joseph Blackburn, of Leeds, for Forgery.

York Castle, March 18. It being generally known that the trial of this unfortunate gentleman was to come on this morning, the Court was filled to excess at a very early hour.

Sir Simon Le Blanc entered

Mr. John Atkinson, attorney at law, Leeds, produced a deed, which he stated to have been received from Mr. John Scott, one of the stewards of a benefit society, on the 11th of February, and which had been in his possession ever since.

Mr. J. Scott stated, that he was a steward to a Society, cal led the Clothiers' Benevolent Society. There is a chest, in which are deposited the deeds and securities belonging to the society; the witness took the deed, produced by Mr. Atkinson, out of this box on the first Monday in February, and delivered it to the landlady of the house where the box was kept, and received it back on the Saturday following.

Mrs. Mary Fluker, the landlady, stated, that she received a deed from the last witness on the day he had stated; that she delivered it to him again on the Saturday following, and that in this interval it was never out of her possession.

Mr. J. Scott then proceeded to state, that he delivered the deed so received from Mrs. Fluker, to Mr. Atkinson, at his office, on Sa

turday the 11th of February last, in the same state in which he received it.

Mr. Thomas Taylor stated, that he knew Mr. Blackburn very well; employed him to make a mortgage for him about last November, for the society known by the name of the Clothiers' Friend Society, and took his deeds for that purpose to Mr. Blackburn; the sum to be secured was 1801. Witness afterwards saw the mortgage-deed, which is that now produced, and which was prepared for him by Mr. Blackburn. Witness does

not recollect whether any person but Mr. Blackburn was in the office when he called.

Charles Smith was employed in the office of Mr. Blackburn, to engross deeds. On the deed in question being shewn to the witness, he said it was engrossed by him in November last, and was either delivered by him to Mr. Blackburn, or left in his office.Witness looked at the name of one of the attesting witnesses, signed "Jo. Blackburn," which he said was the hand-writing of Mr. Blackburn.

Mr. Musgrave stated, that he was one of the attesting witnesses to the deed in question, and that Mr. Blackburn was the other. Witness did not go to Wakefield to register the deed, nor did he take any oath on that occasion. The word "sworn," he stated, was written opposite to Mr. Blackburn's name.

Mr. Abraham Smith said, that he is one of the stampers at the Stamp-office, in London, and has been in that situation 16 or 17 years. When the stamping for the day is concluded, the dies are

put into strong boxes, and placed in the strong room, and locked up. They are taken in and delivered out, by one of the clerks in the Stamp-office, who keeps the key of the room. Witness states, that they never, on any occasion, stamp any labels without being attached to the parchment, and, of course, that the stamps are never issued in a separate state. There is a die for 21. Witness then examined the stamp on the deed, and stated that the numerals II and the word Pounds were not a genuine impression from the die used by the Commissioners, but were forged and counterfeit, but that the device on the King's arms and the rest of the stamps, were genuine. Witness proceeded to point out the difference betwixt the impression of the genuine stamp and that affixed to this deed, which consisted in this : In the genuine stamp the whole of the impression was struck at once, both the King's arms and the letters; but in the stamp on the deed now produced it was evident that the numeral letters II had been impressed by one instrument, and the word Pounds by another, and these marks had been made upon a genuine stamp, from which the original letters had been by some means erased. He also looked at the back of the deed, and he said it was clear it had not been stamped at the office, because if it had, the impression would have penetrated the parchment, and made an indentation thereon. Witness stated that the stamps were under the management of the Commissioners. Nothing material occurred on his cross-examination; he repeated that the

King's arms on the blue paper had come from the stamp-office at one time or other, but that both the numerals II, and the word Pounds, were forged.

William Kappen, Esq. Secretary to the Stamp-office, also proved the fact of the stamp being a forged one.

Mr. John Atkinson is an attorney at Leeds; he stated that he received a great number of articles from Farmery, the constable; received the dies on the 13th of February, and the stamps at the same time, which were in a box now on the table; he had kept them in his custody, locked up, ever since the time he received them, and they were now in the same state they were delivered to him. Witness also received from Robert Barr the contents of a parcel, which was sealed up, and which consisted of a great variety of blue stamps for deeds.

Mr. Butterworth was examined by Mr. Park; he stated that he was an engraver at Leeds, that he was employed by a person whom he afterwards knew to be Jaques, to engrave for him on a copperplate the words, This Indenture, in German text characters; he did not give his name, or say on whose account he came. The engraving was executed according to his order, and Jaques came from time to time for impressions from the plate, which were taken upon parchment. Witness afterwards made another plate for Jaques, with the same words, but in less characters, and from this plate impressions were from time to time taken, by order of Jaques. The first plate was engraved about June, 1810; witness kept the

plates in his possession. Jaques did not mention to him that the plates were for Mr. Blackburn: and the witness was paid for the plates, and the working of them, by Jaques. Witness did not know that Jaques was clerk to Mr. Blackburn. On his cross-examination, he said that he never saw Mr. Blackburn upon the subject; and that his name was never men. tioned to him by Jaques on any occasion. Jaques represented him self as a writer for attornies. He never gave his own name, nor did the witness ask him, as he paid him for the work he had done.Witness did not know his name until December last.

Mr. Samuel Topham is an engraver at Leeds; has been in that business about six years; knows Mr. Blackburn, and was employed by him in the way of his business, in October, 1812, in making for himanumber of pieces, resembling wafer seals; they were made of brass, and consisted partly of numerals and partly of words; the whole number he made was 14. Mr. Topham was then shewn a number of dies, produced by Mr. Atkinson, which were only 13 in number. After looking at them for some time, he said they were the same he had made for Mr. Blackburn; they were made un. der his direction, and witness employed a person to fix the handles tothem. Witness does not recollect to whom they vere delivered, but they were paid for by Mr. B; the sum he received for them was 1. 12. Witness said he could not undertake to swear positively that the dies were the same he had made for Mr. Blackburn; but he believed they were. In answer to a question from the Judge, he said

he did not keep impressions from the dies he had made for him.Witness was now desired to examine the stamp affixed to the deed, and to state whether the impression "II Pounds" was, in his opinion, an impression from the dies made by him. After comparing the impression with the dies, he said he could not state positively whether it was or not; he could not speak to it, and being further pressed, whether he could not form an opinion upon it, he replied that he could not form any idea upon the subject.

Mr. Abraham Smith, the stamper from London, being asked the same question that was proposed to Mr. Topham, stated, after comparing the die with the im pression on the stamp, that he had no doubt but that it had been made from the die; they corresponded so exactly, that the one must be an impression from the other; he also stated that the impression "II Pounds," must have been made by two dies, and not by a single instrument.

William Kappen, Esq. examined the dies with great attention, and after fixing them with great care upon the impression of " II Pounds" in the stamp, gave it as his opinion, that it was made by the dies he held in his hand. Mr. Butterworth having examined the engraving, This Indenture, at the head of the decd, said he had no doubt but it was an impression from the plate he engraved for Jaques, and which he had before produced in Court.

William Kappen, esq. then proceeded to describe the different articles, in a box produced by Mr. Atkinson, and which contained a great variety of articles found on

searching Mr. Blackburn's house. These consisted of a number of stamps, which had apparently been cut off from deeds, and other instruments of different denominations, from the value of 50l. to 18d. There was also a small paper of gum found. Some of these were contained in envelopes, with an indorsement describing their contents, in Mr. Blackburn's handwriting. All those with the indorsement were described as spoiled stamps. There was also a kind of sketch or design of the words, denominating the value of different stamps, similar to the dies engraved by Mr. Topham, and which had figures and writing. Mr. Atkinson said, he believed the writing part was in the handwriting of Mr. Blackburn, but could not speak to the figures, or the words resembling printing; but Musgrave, who had formerly been Mr. Blackburn's clerk, said he believed the whole was the writing of Mr. Blackburn.

The prisoner, after a pathetic address, called upward of twenty witnesses to character, who stated, that they had known him a very considerable time, and that they always considered him as a man of the greatest honour in his profession, and of the strictest integrity. Mr. Justice Le Blanc then charged the jury.

The jury retired about half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, and in about a quarter of an hour returned into Court, and pronounced the fatal verdict of guilty. William Bagnall, the elder, William Bagnall, the younger, and Thomas Bagnall, a father and his two sons, were placed at the bar, and tried under the act of the 42nd of the King, for coining and coun

terfeiting certain silver pieces, resembling the dollars issued by the Governor and Company of the Bank of England.

Mr. Serjeant Bosanquet stated the case to the Court. By the Act of Parliament upon which the present indictment was framed, the offence with which the prisoners were charged was punishable with fourteen years transportation.

John Foy, a police officer, deposed, that the prisoners lived at No. 9, Seward-street, Clerkenwell, and that he having received information from some of the neighbours whose houses overlooked Bagnall's workshop, repaired there, accompanied by his brother and two others. They waited till they heard the machine at work, and then two of them knocked at the front door, whilst two entered from behind. The elder Bagnall opened the door, and on securing him they found four dollars apparently new, and resembling those issued by the Bank, in his hand. The eldest son was observed to drop six similar pieces on the approach of the officers. The machine, or press, was so heavy that to work it with ease and expedition, he believed would require the exertions of three persons. Besides the pieces found on the two elder prisoners, there was an iron tray containing one Spanish dollar, several with the impression hammered out, and a paper parcel containing thirty fit for currency. To the identity of these, as well as of the dies for making the impression, he could speak positively, having made his marks upon them at the time. On taking the prisoners into custody, the elder