consignees, arrived at the counting-house, and making known his
character, and demanding the gold-dust upon the authority of vouchers
which he produced, the fraud was discovered. The contents of the boxes
were valued at 4600_l._, and as this loss would fall upon the Dublin
Steam-packet Co., the consternation which was created among their
servants at this event may be well imagined. Instant steps were taken to
secure the individual by whom the robbery had been so ingeniously
effected, and Lea, and Roe, police-officers, were engaged to pursue the
necessary investigation. In the course of the same day the cab which had
conveyed the thief to Messrs. Hartley's wharf was discovered, and the
driver questioned, but the only information which he could afford was,
that the individual who had employed him had hired him in Cheapside, and
he had driven him back to Wood-street, where he had quitted his vehicle
and had entered another cab, which proceeded in a direction towards
Holborn. A clue so vague was not easily to be followed; but the officers
pursued their investigation with unabated vigour and determination, and
at length after infinite difficulty they traced the thief to No. 12
New-street, London Hospital; from whence, however, they found he had now
removed to a house in Mansell-street, Goodman's-fields, with all his
furniture, but from which again he had absconded no one knew whither.
From the inquiries made by the officers they ascertained that the name
of this person was Moss; and that he was foreman to Mr. Hyams, a
watchmaker in Goodman's-fields; that before the robbery, as well as on
the day of its commission, he had been observed to be in frequent and
earnest conversation with Ellis Caspar, whose son, Lewin Caspar, as we
have already stated, held the situation of confidential clerk to Messrs.
Hartley and Co. No time was lost in taking these persons into custody,
and then it was elicited from the servant of Moss, that both those
individuals had occasionally visited her master;--that on the day of the
robbery, Moss, contrary to custom, went out in his best clothes, and
that in the evening he came home in a cab with two boxes corresponding
in appearance with those which had contained the gold-dust, and the
half-burned fragments of which she subsequently saw under the grate of
the sitting-room. Some mysterious whisperings after this took place
between Moss, and his wife, and her sister; and on the next morning they
quitted New-street for Mansell-street. The description which was given
of Moss exactly corresponded with that of the thief; and the exertions
of the officers were now applied to secure his apprehension.
In the course of the inquiries which were now made, the circumstance of
the purchase of a large quantity of bar gold by Messrs. Bull and Co.,
bullion-dealers in Cheapside, from Mr. Henry Solomons, a gold refiner at
No. 58, Strand, was elicited, and Messrs. Bull and Co. instantly
afforded every assistance to the police. On Saturday, the 6th of April,
Mr. Solomons was examined at Lambeth-street police-office, when he
admitted having sold 1200_l._ worth of bar-gold to Messrs. Bull; but he
stated, that that gold was the produce of a large quantity of
snuff-boxes and other articles which he had melted, the precise nature
of which he could not describe; that he had received the 1200_l._ and
had paid a great portion of it away; but finally, he protested against
being further questioned, and refused to give any more information upon
the subject.
At a subsequent examination Mr. Solomons was placed at the bar with the
two Caspars as a principal in the robbery; and then Moss, who upon an
understanding that he should be admitted in evidence against the
prisoners, had surrendered himself into custody, appeared as a witness.
The effect produced upon the prisoners, by his presenting himself in
this capacity, was remarkable; and it was observed that Solomons, no
longer confident, appeared to be applying himself to devise means to be
placed in the position of his late coadjutor. The evidence of Moss
explained the whole transaction, and showed the extraordinary workings
of the system of villany which was carried on. For the present his
statement was not published, as there were yet other persons to be
secured; but it was understood that it amounted to a complete revelation
of the whole of the circumstances attending the robbery.
On Tuesday May the 7th, two new prisoners were placed at the bar, named
Emanuel Moses, or "Money Moses," as he was familiarly called, and Alice
Abrahams, his daughter, who was a widow; but as there were still other
parties not in custody, who had been participators in the transaction,
it was deemed advisable that secrecy should still be observed upon the
subject of the evidence which had been obtained. From other witnesses,
however, the fact of the sale of a large quantity of gold-dust by Moses
and his daughter to Solomons directly after the robbery was elicited;
and it was also shown that the latter in melting it down, had thrown
copper and silver into it, in order to change its exact character, and
thereby prevent its identification.
On Saturday, May the 25th, another examination took place of the
prisoners, when Solomons was also admitted in evidence; and at length,
on Friday the 21st of June, the prisoners, Lewin and Ellis Caspar, Money
Moses, and Alice Abrahams, were committed for trial.
On Monday, June the 24th, the trial commenced at the Central Criminal
Court, before Mr. Justice Littledale, but it occupied a period of no
less than eight days, only terminating on Tuesday the 2nd of July.
The prisoners were indicted together with one Isaac Isaacs, _alias_
Davis, not in custody. The indictment alleged the robbery to have been
committed by some evil-disposed person, and then stated that before the
said felony was committed, the prisoners, Lewin and Ellis Caspar, did
feloniously incite and encourage the said evil-disposed person to commit
the felony; it then alleged that Ellis Caspar, Emanuel Moses, and Alice
Abrahams, had received the stolen property, well knowing it to have been
stolen.
Mr. Clarkson stated the facts of the case to the jury, and then
proceeded to the examination of the witnesses.
The arrival of the gold-dust at Falmouth by the Seagull was proved, as
well as its subsequent transmission to London by the City of Limerick,
and its arrival at St. Katherine's on the morning of the 25th of March.
It was then shown that on the 23rd of March, Messrs. Carne and Co. of
Falmouth, despatched a letter to Messrs. Hartley, informing them of the
valuable commodities which would be delivered to their keeping; and it
was also proved, that on the arrival of the City of Limerick in London,
the boxes were delivered into the custody of the younger Caspar, the
clerk at the wharf, who promised to take care of them. It was shown that
young Caspar exhibited great anxiety about the boxes, and that on the
messenger coming for them, he at once delivered them over to him,
although he had previously expressed some fears lest the papers which he
brought should not be genuine documents. Caspar on that morning had gone
unusually early to his office; and upon the letter arriving from Messrs.
Carne, he opened it, and subsequently went out. He came back, however,
before any application was made for the gold-dust, and remained until it
was handed over to the messenger who went to fetch it. When the robbery
was discovered, he affected great consternation and alacrity, and
proceeded at once to give a description of the person by whom the boxes
had been obtained; but he so falsified the account which he delivered,
that but for the fact of his having been seen and observed by other
servants in the warehouse, who correctly described his person, all clue
to his identity must have been lost.
Henry Moss, the approver, was then called, and his evidence showed that
a design, such as that which was at length completed, had long been in
contemplation by the two Caspars, but that a favourable opportunity for
putting it into execution did not occur until the month of March 1839.
He stated that he had been acquainted with the elder Caspar, who was a
watchmaker living on Finsbury Pavement, for about sixteen years, having
for some time acted as his foreman. Young Caspar learned the business of
a watchmaker from him; but subsequently he ascertained that he had
procured employment as a clerk in the service of the Irish Steam Packet
Company. He had been frequently in the habit of seeing the two prisoners
during the last sixteen or eighteen months before the robbery; and in
October 1838, at the invitation of Ellis Caspar, he called upon them at
their house. He was subsequently frequently requested to visit them, but
he did not avail himself of the invitations; and at length the cause of
their apparent friendly disposition was exhibited by old Caspar saying
that he wanted him "to do him a favour." He said that he was willing to
do what he could for him; and then he desired him to meet him at
Williams' Coffee-house, St. Martin's-le-grand, where a person would join
them, who would explain the business to him. He went there and met old
Caspar, but he took him away from the house; and having entered a cab
with him, they drove to Charing-cross, where he said they should meet
the person he had spoken of. They went into a coffee-house, and there
they saw Lewin Caspar; but as the room was crowded the subject was not
then broached, and they all walked out into the park. Here old Caspar
desired his son to explain what he wanted done, and after some
preliminary observations he began. He said that he wanted the witness to
carry a letter for him to Crutched-friars, and to take away some boxes,
which he was to deliver to his father. Old Caspar would give him the
letter on the day when he was to carry it; and he (young Caspar) would
give him the boxes. He added that if he would do them this service, they
would amply recompense him, and that they employed him in preference to
a ticket-porter, who could do the business as well as he, because the
matter required secrecy, as his father must not be seen in it. The
letter which he referred to was to be carried on the next morning; and
he was to meet old Caspar at a coffee-house near Monument-yard. He went
to the specified spot, and presently saw old Caspar; but he said that he
had not yet seen his son, from whom he was to obtain the letter. He went
out, but returned in about a quarter of an hour, accompanied by his son,
who had in his hand what appeared to be a letter. Lewin Caspar then said
that the box which he was to fetch was to come by a ship which had not
yet arrived, and that they must all meet again in the afternoon; but on
their second assemblage at the same place, he declared that an accident
had occurred in two ships having run foul of each other, in consequence
of which the delivery of the box, which was at the bottom of the cargo,
would be delayed until the next day. On that day they met again; but
then Lewin Caspar said that the box would be too heavy for him to carry,
and having given him ten shillings, they dismissed him with an
intimation that they should require his aid on some other occasion, and
that they would write to him. He subsequently received several notes
from them, and met them according to appointment, and he was then
employed in copying various letters, which from his description of them,
appeared to have had the same object of plunder, as that on which, in
the present instance, the gold-dust had been delivered. At length, on
the 24th of March, he met the two Caspars in Turner-street,
Commercial-road. They went with him to his house in New-street, and then
they told him that they should want him on the next morning, and they
desired him to meet them at the corner of Mark-lane. He went there at
half-past ten o'clock, and saw them together; but Lewin quitted his
father, and the latter then came up to him, and said that he had
something to give to him, but did not like to do so in the street. They,
in consequence, went to a Coffee-house in Mark-lane, and there old
Caspar handed a letter and a blue bag to him. He was desired to take a
cab and go to Lewin Caspar, at his office, and he was told that he would
there receive something which he was to carry to Wood-street, Cheapside.
He accordingly proceeded to the office of Messrs. Hartley, in
John-street, Crutched-friars, and having sent in the letter Lewin Caspar
came to him. He compared the letter which he (Moss) had delivered, with
another which he held in his hand, and then he said that he must go into
the office. In a few minutes he gave him an order on the back of the
letter, with instructions that he should present it at the Dublin
Steam-wharf, Iron-gate Stairs, adding that he should be there as soon as
he. The witness, before he proceeded to the wharf, delivered some
articles for his master, and he also took a fresh cab in Cheapside,
having left that in which he had before ridden in King William-street.
On his reaching the wharf he presented the order, and two boxes were
delivered to him by Mr. Bristoll, the foreman, which he put into the
cab. He gave a receipt for them, signed in the name of Dunn; and he
ordered the cabman to drive him to the Cross Keys, Wood-street. Ellis
Caspar was not there, and the boxes were carried into the office, but in
a few minutes he got another cab, and drove to the London Hospital. He
took one of the boxes and carried it to his own house, where he
deposited it in a cupboard, in his bed-room, and he was returning for
the other, when he met Ellis Caspar. He told him that he had acted
imprudently, in going so near home with the cab, and desired him to
drive about for an hour before he took away the other box, and then to
take it out at a distance from New-street, and carry it home. He
accordingly did so, and having at length quitted the cab at the Iron
Bridge, Commercial-road, he entered an omnibus with the box, from which
he took it to his own house. There he found Caspar waiting for him,
apparently in a great state of trepidation. He told him to send his
servant out of the way, and that he must get rid of the boxes as soon as
possible; but he (Moss) declared, that having received an assurance that
he should suffer no harm from what he had done, he was not afraid.
Caspar said that the officers were already on the look out, and that he
must quit his house immediately; but he answered that he could not do
so, as he had not given notice to his landlord. To this Caspar replied
that he must sacrifice every thing, and directed him to meet him on the
next evening, when he would pay him whatever he required. At eleven
o'clock the boxes were taken into the back parlour, Ellis Caspar, Mrs.
Moss, and the witness then only being present. The boxes were opened,
as Caspar said, in order that their contents might be divided, to be
carried away; but inside there appeared to be tin cases; and as these
were small, it was decided that they should not be broken, but that they
should be divided among them, and carried off. Caspar then went away;
and after he had retired, the witness and his wife set about burning the
boxes. It was daylight before they went to bed. On the next morning the
witness opened one of the tin cases, and found it to contain gold ore.
He wrapped all the boxes in paper, and put each into a separate trunk,
and they were on that afternoon carried to Mansell-street, in a truck.
On the same evening the witness met Ellis Caspar at the Horse Guards,
and he told him that the boxes must be again removed. The witness wished
him to remove them, but he refused, saying, that his son was already
suspected, and he expected that his house would be searched. He advised
him then to get his sister, Mrs. Levy, to take a lodging, and to carry
away the gold in trunks to her. They were then to be sent down to Bath,
to a direction which he gave, and the two Caspars were afterwards to go
and fetch them. This plan, however, was subsequently abandoned, and by
the desire of Caspar the witness went out of the way, because it was
said that the officers were in search of him. He went to the house of
his father-in-law Davis, in Coventry-court, and the gold was brought
there to him. He kept it for some time in a cupboard, but then Davis
would not let it remain there any longer, saying, that his (witness)
house had been searched, and Davis and Mrs. Abrahams carried it away in
small portions. Mrs. Abrahams subsequently told him that it had been
sold to Solomons, for 2000_l._; but he complained that this was short of
the actual value, and she declared that she had taken all she could get.
She then handed over to him an I O U for 1807_l._, signed "H. S.", and
money and bank-notes, which raised the sum to 2000_l._ The witness
subsequently went out of the way to Peckham, and other places; but at
length disclosed his knowledge of the transaction, and surrendered
himself into custody.
It may be mentioned here as a singular circumstance in the case, that
the witness was induced to give information of what had occurred in
consequence of an apparent disposition on the part of Solomons to
deprive him of the fair price of the gold. So far, too, did all the
parties carry their schemes of mutual plunder, that Mrs. Abrahams
"welled" 13_l._ which she procured for the shakings of her pockets in
which she had carried the gold-dust, of which she gave no account to her
father or any of the other parties to the transaction.
The evidence of Solomons distinctly implicated both Moses and his
daughter. He stated that on Easter Tuesday the former entered his shop
and intimated a desire to speak to him privately. They went to his
sitting-room, and then Moses informed him that he had a quantity of
gold-dust for sale. He agreed to purchase as much as fifty ounces, at
3_l._ per ounce, and Moses went away, saying he would send his daughter
with some of the gold, and adding, "Mind, you don't know me, nor I don't
know you." In a short time Mrs. Abrahams entered the shop and said, that
she had brought what her father had spoken about, and she directly went
with witness to his melting-room, which was on the ground-floor, at the
back of his house. He put a crucible on the furnace, and she produced
from her bosom and other parts of her dress a large quantity of gold.
He melted it and then placed it in skillets, in which he took it into
the shop and weighed it. There were one hundred and two ounces. He was
alarmed and agitated; and Mrs. Abrahams perceiving his terror, took his
hand and swore a Hebrew oath that she would never disclose what she
knew. Before she went away, he gave her a memorandum of the weight of
the gold, and paid her 350_l._ in notes and sovereigns for it. In about
three-quarters of an hour she brought more, and she subsequently went
and came six times, producing gold upon every occasion. The witness had
to send to the city for money, and at the end of the transaction he was
still in her debt to the amount of about 2500_l._ He gave an I O U for
the amount, but that was returned to him, and then he gave her another
for 1807_l._ He also paid her 13_l._ for some gold which she produced,
and which she said were the shakings of the bag. The witness went into
the minutiæ of the transaction between him and Mrs. Abrahams, and
admitted that he for some time refused to pay his I O U, on the ground
that there had been a great stir made about the gold, and that after his
examination at Lambeth-street he had exerted himself to procure the
notes which he had paid to her cashed. He had sold a part of the gold to
Messrs. Bull and Co., and a part to Messrs. Cock and Johnson, and he had
made "good profit" of the transaction. The total amount which he was to
pay Mrs. Abrahams was 3700_l._
Both Moss and Solomons underwent long and searching cross-examinations
by the counsel for the prisoners. Each admitted his knowledge of the
felonious nature of the proceedings in which he was engaged, and neither
attempted to deny the feelings which had actuated them throughout the
transaction. A disposition had been shown to put off Moss with the
paltry amount which he had received beyond the I O U for his share in
the transaction. He sought to appropriate to himself the whole of the
proceeds of the robbery in preference to handing it over to the Caspars:
Mrs. Abrahams and her father, Money Moses, cheated Moss, by declaring
that they were to receive much less for the gold than had been actually
agreed to be paid: Mrs. Abrahams, again, cheated her father, by
appropriating to herself the 13_l._ for the shakings; and Solomons
sought to "Jew" the whole party, by retaining in his possession 1800_l._
worth of gold, for which he gave only his I O U, and for which he
refused to pay, in consequence of the stir which was made about the
robbery.
On Monday, the first of July, a variety of legal objections were taken
by Mr. Serjeant Bompas and Mr. C. Phillips on the part of the prisoners
to the indictment, the most prominent of which was, that until, by the
conviction of the thief, the robbery had been proved, the receivers
could not be found guilty. On the part of Lewin Caspar, however, it was
also urged, that the indictment was bad, as alleging him to be an
accessory before the robbery, which was stated to have been committed by
an evil-disposed person, whose name was not mentioned.
These objections were overruled by the learned judge as being unfounded;
but, upon the application of counsel, they were reserved for discussion
in the Court of Error, and on Tuesday, 2nd July, the case was left to
the jury. His lordship's charge occupied a period of eight hours, and at
its conclusion the jury retired.
In about an hour, however, they again came into court, and delivered a
verdict, declaring Lewin Caspar "Guilty of inciting Moss to commit the
felony, and the whole of the other prisoners guilty of the offence of
receiving the gold-dust, knowing it to have been stolen." Ellis Caspar
was declared to have been an accessory both before and after the
robbery, and Alice Abrahams was recommended to mercy, on the ground that
she had acted under the advice and influence of her father.
On the 10th of November in the same year, the objections which had been
raised on the trial were argued before the judges in the Exchequer
Chamber. Their decision was not immediately made known, but on the 6th
February 1840, the prisoners were ordered to be placed at the bar.
Mr. Justice Williams then addressed them, and said that, after a full
inquiry into the objections raised in their behalf, the judges had come
to the conclusion that the judgment upon Lewin Caspar must be arrested,
and that with regard to the other prisoners, they had been properly
convicted. The learned judge then sentenced Ellis Caspar, and Emanuel
Moses to be transported for fourteen years, and Alice Abrahams to four
months' imprisonment.
Upon the application of Mr. Clarkson, Lewin Caspar was ordered to be
detained.
On the 6th of March 1840, Lewin Caspar was again placed at the bar, to
plead to another indictment which had been preferred against him, in
which the error which had been discovered in that on which he had been
already tried was corrected by the "evil-disposed person" by whom the
robbery was committed being stated to be Henry Moss. The indictment
alleged that he had incited and moved Moss to commit the felony, and
Moss was also charged as the principal. Caspar pleaded "Not guilty," but
Moss, on being brought up, confessed himself "Guilty."
Mr. Clarkson intimated, that the prosecutors were not desirous of
proceeding against Moss, in consequence of his having assisted the due
administration of justice, by disclosing all he knew in reference to the
transaction, and he was sentenced to twenty-four hours' imprisonment in
Newgate.
On the following day Caspar was arraigned upon the indictment against
him, which still remained to be tried.
The same evidence which had been before detailed was now again produced,
Moss being the principal witness in the case, and the prisoner was found
"Guilty."
The learned Judge, in sentencing him to be transported for seven years,
expressed his sincere regret that he had not the power to inflict upon
him a more severe punishment. The prisoner was then removed from the
bar, and was sent abroad, in obedience to the judgment pronounced upon
him.