security of an estate the sum of 180_l._, of a Friendly Benefit Society,
called the Clothiers' Society, sent the title deeds of his estate to the
office of the prisoner, who as you will have already collected is an
attorney; to enable him to make out the necessary security, and who
accordingly prepared a mortgage deed. This deed bears date the 13th of
September 1812; but whether it was executed at that time we do not know,
but it was executed some time before February in the ensuing year,
because we find that on the 12th February it was registered at the
proper office at Wakefield. At what period the stamp upon this deed,
which we allege to be a forged one, was affixed to this deed we have no
means of proving, but it must have been previous to its passing into the
hands of Thompson the steward, who deposited it in the box of the
society, where it remained until it was taken out for the purpose of
this inquiry. That this is the deed delivered by the prisoner to
Thompson, I shall prove beyond all doubt. Gentlemen, I shall prove to
your entire satisfaction, that the stamp affixed to this deed is a
forged one, and we shall also offer the strongest evidence to convince
you it was forged by the prisoner, and uttered by him, knowing it to be
forged. But before I enter directly upon this proof, it may be proper to
state to you something of the manner in which the business of the
Stamp-office is managed, particularly with respect to the state and
manner in which stamps are issued from it, but which statement I shall
prove by evidence. It will be clearly proved to you, that stamps are not
issued from the office in detached labels, to be afterwards affixed to
the different instruments, but are stamped upon the paper or parchment
on which the instrument or deed is to be prepared, and the impression is
made with an engine of such power, that the impression made by it is
visible on the back of the parchment. This is a circumstance of some
importance to be attended to in this inquiry. I would also observe to
you that on all the stamped parchments, issued by the Stamp-office in
London, the words "This Indenture," are printed from an engraved plate
in large characters. These circumstances will be fully proved by the
evidence of the gentlemen from the Stamp-office, whom I shall call
before you. The prisoner did not choose to have his skins from the
Stamp-office, but provided them himself, and employed an engraver in
Leeds, to engrave him a plate, or rather two plates with the words "This
Indenture," in characters resembling those issued by the Stamp-office,
and from these plates he had impressions taken upon skins at various
times. I do not mention this with a view to prejudice the prisoner, or
to insinuate anything to his disadvantage, because he had a right to
prepare his own skins, and send them to be stamped, if he chose it; but
I mention it because it will be necessary to explain part of the
evidence which I shall lay before you, and to show the manner in which
(as we allege) the offence imputed to the prisoner has been committed.
Gentlemen, the whole of the stamp affixed to this deed is not false and
counterfeited; the impression of the king's arms and the "device," are
part of the genuine stamp, but the words, "Two Pounds," which denote the
value of it, are forged, and the way in which we account for it is this;
we say that the stamp affixed to this deed has been taken from some
other deed, and affixed by some cement to this, and that the former
denominating words have been obliterated, and the words "Two Pounds,"
impressed by some die or stamp, resembling that used for denoting the
duty of two pounds by the commissioners of stamps. Gentlemen, I state it
without hesitation, as the law, and I am sure his lordship concurs with
me, that the forgery of any material part of any stamp or die, or other
instrument, is as much a forgery, as if the whole of it was actually
forged: and the words which denote the value of the stamp, must
unquestionably be considered as a most material part of it, and the
person who has done this, or aided the doing of it, or caused it to be
done, is guilty of forgery. That this stamp was not affixed to the deed
at the Stamp-office, and in the usual manner may be made evident to an
inexperienced eye; for it will be proved to you, that those parchments
which have passed through the stamping engine have a visible impression
of the stamp on the back of the skin, which is not the case in this
deed; the stamp of which has been transferred from some other
instrument. These circumstances would alone form a strong presumption
against the prisoner: but the next branch of evidence I shall adduce,
will convert this presumption into certainty; for I shall prove to you,
that he employed an engraver at Leeds to make him thirteen or fourteen
dies, suitable for the purpose of making any impression, resembling the
words which denote the value that are upon the stamps used by the
commissioners. I have the impression from those dies now in my hand, and
it will be proved to you that the numerals and words "II Pounds,"
impressed upon the stamp of the deed, which I will lay before the court,
is an impression from one of those dies. These dies, gentlemen, were
found in the possession of the prisoner, under the circumstances I shall
shortly state to you. When the rumour of these transactions first came
out, the house of the prisoner was searched by the officers of justice;
the prisoner was not at home, but in a room which was locked and broken
open by the officers, was found upon a table a box containing these
dies; and on a further search, a number of old deeds were found, from
which the stamps had been cut off, and also a number of articles
material for throwing light on this subject, which will be produced to
you. Perhaps it may not be necessary to point out to you the manner in
which the prisoner would be benefited by this transfer, and forgery of
stamps. But as it will complete the statement, I will just add that by
taking the stamps from old instruments, and affixing them upon new ones,
he was enabled to put into his pocket the whole amount of the duty, as
he would of course charge the nominal value of the stamps to his
clients, and where the denominating value was not for the sum he wished,
we presume that it might be changed by the use of these dies. I think I
have before stated, that we shall prove the uttering of this deed to Mr.
Thompson. This, gentlemen, is a short detail of the circumstances, from
which we contend, that you must come to the conclusion, that the
prisoner forged, or procured to be forged, this stamp, and that it was
uttered by him, or with his privity, he knowing it to be forged. It is
for you, gentlemen, after hearing the evidence which shall be laid
before you, on the part of the prosecution, and for the prisoner, with
the observations and recapitulation of the learned judge, to decide upon
his guilt or innocence, and with your decision the prosecutors will be
satisfied. If, having heard the whole of the case, any reasonable doubt
remains upon your minds, the prisoner ought to have the benefit of that
doubt, and in that case you ought to acquit him; but if you find the
circumstances which go to prove the guilt of the prisoner so strong and
well connected, as fully to satisfy you upon the subject, it will then
be a duty you owe to your oaths, to God, and your country, to find the
prisoner guilty. The prisoner, to use the impressive language of the
law, has put himself upon God and his country--which country you are;
and I feel convinced that your verdict will be such as will be just to
the prisoner, and to the public justice of the country.
Witnesses were then called, who proved the material circumstances
related by the learned counsel in his opening speech, as to the drawing
the deed, and depositing it with the steward of the society. The
evidence as to the practice of the Stamp-office, and the forgery of the
stamp in question, was as follows:--
Mr. Abraham Smith stated, that he was one of the stampers at the
Stamp-office, in London, and had been in that situation sixteen or
seventeen years. Being requested to state the manner in which the
operation of stamping was performed, he said, that when the stamping for
the day was concluded, the dies were put into strong-boxes, placed in
the strong-room and locked up. They were taken into the room and
delivered out to the stampers by one of the clerks of the office, who
kept the key of the room. No labels were ever on any occasion stamped
without being attached to the parchment, and of course no stamps could
ever be issued detached from the parchment or paper on which the
instrument was intended to be executed. The die for the two-pound stamps
had not been varied; the die was fixed in an engine, which struck the
impression with great force. On looking at the deed, witness stated that
he had no hesitation in saying, that the numeral "II" and the word
"Pounds" were false and counterfeit, and were not a genuine impression
from the die used by the commissioners; but that the device of the
King's arms and the rest of the stamps were genuine. Witness then
proceeded to point out the difference between the impression of the
genuine stamp, and that affixed to the die in question, which partly
consisted in a variation of the semicircle, and in a further difference
of the depth and entire appearance of the denominating part of the stamp
in question. This difference, he said, arose from the circumstance that
in the genuine stamp the whole impression was struck at once, both the
King's arms and the letters, but that in that on the deed now in his
hands, it was evident that the numeral letters "II" had been impressed
by one instrument, and the word "Pounds" by another; and from which the
original words denoting the value had been by some means erased. Witness
then examined the back of the deed, and said, it was clear that the
stamp had not been impressed upon it at the office, because if it had,
the impression would have penetrated the parchment, and made an
indention on the back. Upon the whole, witness stated it as his decided
opinion that the stamp shown him was false and counterfeit. The witness
was cross-examined by Mr. Scarlett, and admitted that the impression of
the King's arms, and all parts of it, with the exception of the words
denoting the value, were genuine; and that the stamp had undoubtedly at
some time or other been issued from the office.
William Kappen, Esq. stated that he was secretary to the Stamp-office,
and had in October last been employed twenty-four or twenty-five years
in that office, though not the whole of the time in the situation he
then occupied. He was perfectly acquainted with the various dies used by
the office, and the manner in which the general business of the office
was conducted. The deed being handed to him he examined it with great
attention, and then stated that the "II" and the word "Pounds" were not
impressed by the stamp used by the commissioners, but that the rest of
the stamp was genuine. Witness then produced a paper which contained an
impression from the II Pound stamp used by the commissioners, which he
stated to have been struck in his presence, and pointed out to the court
and jury the respects in which the impression of the forged stamp
differed from that produced by him. Witness having completed his
description, said he had not the least hesitation in stating that that
part of the stamp shown to him which denoted the value, was false and
counterfeit: he also stated, that the back of the deed bore no
resemblance to the impression of the stamps struck at the office, which
made an impression through the parchment perfectly visible on the other
side of the skin, being impressed with great force by the engine, which
completed the whole of the stamp at once. Witness was cross-examined by
Mr. Littledale. He stated that the commissioners continued the use of
the dies in these cases where they were applicable after any
augmentation of the duties, and this they were empowered to do by act of
parliament. After any augmentation of the duties, the commissioners had
impressions taken of all the dies in use, from which they selected such
as were applicable to the new duties, and impressions of these were
struck in the presence of the commissioners, or the major part of them.
These impressions were put into a book, and signed by the officers
employed in that department, and the dies from which these impressions
were taken, continued to be used until some further alteration took
place in the duties. The office never sold stamps to private
individuals, but they were furnished to the public through the medium of
the stamp distributors. He also stated, that no stamp was ever printed
on any separate label, detached from the papers or parchment on which
the instrument was to be executed. But he added, that if any person
should send an unexecuted parchment or instrument to stamp, to the head
office, it would be stamped upon the payment of the proper duty.
Evidence as to the discovery of the forged dies, in the office of the
prisoner, was next adduced; and on the cross-examination of the
witnesses, an effort was made to show that a person named Jacques, who
had been the informant against the prisoner, might have been implicated
in placing the dies in the position in which they were found, and that
he might have been induced to take that course, in consequence of a
threatened prosecution by the prisoner, in whose service he had been as
clerk, for embezzlement. Two witnesses were called, who were engravers,
and who had prepared the copper plates of "This Indenture," printed on
the deeds, and also the dies for counterfeiting the words "II Pounds."
Mr. Topham, the engraver, who was last called, however, failed in
proving very distinctly, that the impressions on the stamp alleged to be
forged were taken from the dies which he had prepared. The officers of
stamps expressed their belief that they were so taken from the dies.
Upon the production of the detached stamps found at the prisoner's
house, it was stated that in their present state they were useless,
because although the Stamp-office returned the value of stamps which
were spoiled, yet they would not do so unless when attached to the
parchment. Those stamps were also proved to have been detached from the
original deeds with some object, as they were found enclosed in parcels
in papers, with indorsements in the prisoner's hand-writing, denoting
their amount and value.
The evidence for the prosecution having been concluded,
Mr. Scarlett rose and said, "My Lord, I have two objections, which I
will submit to the consideration of your lordship, which will, as I
conceive, be fatal to this prosecution. There are two facts which the
prosecutor is bound to make out before he can substantiate the
allegations in this indictment. The first is, that the die or stamp,
respecting which the forgery is alleged to have been committed, was a
die used by the direction and under the authority of the commissioners
of the stamps. Now, my lord, I contend that there is no evidence of
this fact to go to the jury, because I confidently submit to your
lordship, that parole evidence, which is all they have offered, is not
admissible under the circumstances which have been given in evidence,
because it is an axiom in law, that the best evidence must always be
given which the case will admit of; your lordship has heard from Mr.
Kappen that the stamps authorised to be used by the commissioners, were
in their presence impressed in a book. This book has not been produced,
and as no evidence has been given to show that it was lost or destroyed,
parole evidence was not admissible to show the nature of its contents.
That it is an essential part of the case, that the die should have been
directed or authorised to be used by the commissioners of the stamps, is
evident from a reference to the 52 of the King, section 7, which states,
that if any person after the passing of that act, shall forge or
counterfeit, or cause to be forged or counterfeited, any mark, stamp,
die, or plate, which in pursuance of any act of parliament shall have
been provided, made, or used, by or under the direction of the
commissioners appointed to manage the duties on stamped paper, and so
on. Now, my lord, what I contend for is this, that the entry in that
book is the only proof that this die of £2 was used by or under the
direction and authority of the commissioners, and that this entry can
only be proved by the production of the book itself. Supposing, my lord,
that the book had been produced, and that upon inspection it should turn
out that there was no stamp of 2_l._ inserted there, in this case your
lordship must allow that the prosecution would fail; but as the best
evidence that it does contain this entry has not been given, it must be
presumed in favour of the prisoner, that the book does not contain this
entry. Had there been a written order in the usual acceptation of the
term by the commissioners for the use of such and such stamps, your
lordship would not have admitted parole evidence to be given of the
contents of this order, unless satisfactory proof was given that it was
destroyed, or could not be produced; and I humbly submit to your
lordship, that the entry of the impressions of the dies in this book
renders it completely of the nature of a written document, and places it
within the same rules of law. I therefore humbly submit to your
lordship, that there is no legal evidence to go before the jury, on this
material allegation in the indictment, and that the prisoner is entitled
to be acquitted."
Mr. Justice Le Blanc.--I think there is evidence to go to the jury. The
commissioners gave their order by parole, they did not give a written
order.
Mr. Scarlett.--The directions to the officers to impress the stamps in
the book was certainly by parole, but I humbly submit to your lordship,
that when the impressions were made in a book, that book must be
considered in the light of a written order.
Mr. Justice Le Blanc.--I cannot take it to be an appointment in writing;
and I consider the evidence which has been given as to the use of stamps
as perfectly admissible, and as proof to go to the jury.
His lordship having overruled this objection,
Mr. Scarlett said, I will now trouble your lordship with respect to my
second objection, which I consider as the most material and as decisive
of the fate of the prosecution. The prisoner is substantially charged
with forging a die or stamp used by the commissioners, with an intent to
defraud the revenue. Now in the first place it is clearly proved by the
gentlemen from the Stamp-office, that the whole of the stamp, except the
words "two pounds," is genuine, and also that the stamp has been issued
from the office. I need not insist before your lordship that to
constitute a forgery there must be an alteration or imitation of some
material part of a die, stamp, or instrument. In the present case it is
alleged, that the "II Pounds" in the stamp which has been produced in
court is not an impression from the genuine stamp. But in order to
substantiate this charge, the prosecutors ought to have gone much
further, and have proved that there had been an alteration in the value
of the stamp. When the stamp was issued from the office it must have
borne some value, and for aught that appears in evidence, it might have
been of the value of 2_l._, and therefore I have a right to presume that
it was of that value, and that whatever alteration may have taken place
in it, has only been a re-impression of the original words denoting the
value of it. Now, my lord, I contend, that if this was the only
alteration made in this stamp, the charge against the prisoner cannot be
sustained. I will put a case, Suppose a man erase from a Bank-of-England
note, a five-pound note for instance; he obliterates, suppose, by some
chemical process, _Five Pounds_, and then impresses upon it the same
value. This clearly would not be a forgery, nor could he be convicted,
unless it could be proved that this note had previously been of a lower
value, and this would be a case exactly resembling the present
prosecution. There are two circumstances necessary to constitute a
forgery, the counterfeiting or altering the material part of an
instrument, that which affects its value, and the doing it with an
intent to defraud. I contend therefore, with great confidence, that
neither of these has been proved in the present case, because no
alteration affecting the value of the stamp has been even attempted to
be proved; and that unless it can be proved that the alteration was of
such a nature as to alter its value, and make it pass for a different
sum to what it originally bore, the case on the part of the prosecution
cannot be sustained, and the prisoner must be discharged from this
prosecution. Mr. Scarlett dwelt on this point a considerable time,
placing it in various points of view, and illustrating it by reference
to similar cases.
Mr. Littledale and Mr. Williams followed on the same side.
Mr. Park on the other side, urged that the objections could not prevail;
and that the stamp having been altered in its essential part--that which
gave it operation, the forgery was clearly made out.
Sir Simon Le Blanc gave his decision in the following terms: "I have
been anxious to hear and to attend to all that has been offered in
support of the objections taken by the counsel for the prisoner. The
charge against the prisoner is substantially this, that by a false die
or mark he impressed or caused to be impressed the resemblance of a die
used by the commissioners on a parchment-deed, with an intent to defraud
the revenue. To this, two objections have been urged; the first
objection is, that evidence has not been given, that the die of which
this impression is alleged to be the resemblance, was a die used by the
direction and authority of the commissioners of the stamps; and the
second objection denies that any forgery has been committed. With
respect to the first objection the court has already expressed its
opinion, that there is evidence to go to the jury of the use of the die
by the commissioners, and this is all that is necessary to be given in
evidence. The Act of the 48 George III., which imposes this duty, and
the 52 George III., which unites in one act all the laws inflicting the
punishment of death for offences against the revenue laws, both agree
in this. The 48 of George III. in reference to this point enacts, "That
if any person shall forge or counterfeit, or cause to be forged or
counterfeited, any stamp or die, which shall be provided, made, or used,
in pursuance of this Act, or of any former Act," shall be adjudged
guilty of felony, &c. The 52 George III. after stating "that if any
person shall after the passing of this Act, forge, &c. any mark, stamp
or die, used by or under the direction of the commissioners," &c. goes
on to add, "or by or under the direction of any person or persons
legally authorised on that behalf." The court therefore holds, that the
use by the commissioners is all that is requisite, and that of this use
there is evidence to submit to the consideration of the jury. The court
therefore does not consider this objection as valid. The other objection
proceeds on the ground, that no forgery has been committed, inasmuch as
it has not been proved, that any alteration has been made in the value
of the stamp. It is contended, that as a considerable part of the stamp
has been proved to be genuine, and must have been issued from the
Stamp-office, with words denoting its value, this value, for aught that
appears to the contrary, may have been the same that is now impressed
upon it, and that in fact there has only been a re-impression of the
same words which were upon the stamp when it was first issued. And upon
this assumption it is contended, that as no material part of the
instrument has been altered, there has been no legal forgery. But it is
unnecessary to give any opinion on the validity of this inference,
because the foundation has not been laid, on which alone there could be
a reason for examining it, there having been no evidence given to prove
that this stamp was originally of the value of two pounds, and it
undoubtedly lay upon the prisoner to prove this. For the case stands
thus: There is a forged impression of a die upon an instrument, proved
to have been in the possession of the prisoner, under circumstances
which certainly call for explanation, and also in whose possession a
number of dies are found, made too by his own order, and two of which
appear to have been used to make an impression, an impression proved to
be false and counterfeit upon this instrument. If these facts are not
accounted for by evidence, or explained somehow or other, the
presumption in law is, that this false impression was forged for the
purpose of increasing or altering its value, and for the purpose of
defrauding the revenue. This presumption thus raised it is for the
prisoner to repel by evidence, but there is certainly _prima facie_
evidence to go to a jury. That the alteration of a material part of an
instrument is a forgery has been solemnly determined, by all the Judges,
in a modern case, so that it cannot now be called in question. I cannot
therefore, on these grounds, stop the cause from going on." The learned
Judge concluded by calling on the prisoner for his defence.
Mr. Blackburn, who laboured under great and evident emotion, addressed
the Court and Jury in the following terms:--