JOSEPH BLACKBURN.
EXECUTED FOR FORGERY.
THE particulars of the melancholy case of this unfortunate gentleman, will be best described by the report of his trial which has reached us, which took place at York on the 18th March 1815, before Sir Simon Le Blanc. He was then placed at the bar and arraigned on two indictments, charging him with forging and counterfeiting the impression of a certain stamp or die, used under the direction of the Commissioners of Stamps, to denote the payment of certain duties imposed on various deeds and other securities, on vellum, parchment, or paper, and also with uttering the same, knowing it to be forged, with an intent to defraud the revenue of the duties imposed on such stamped vellum, parchment, or paper. To these indictments he pleaded—Not guilty. Mr. Blackburn was then arraigned on two other indictments, charging him with feloniously removing stamps from executed deeds, and affixing them upon others, with an intent to defraud the revenue; to these indictments he also pleaded—Not guilty. He was then charged in another indictment with the same offence, jointly with Mr. Thomas Wainewright, who was charged with feloniously aiding and assisting in this illegal removal of stamps. To this indictment both the prisoners severally pleaded—Not guilty.
As soon as the jury were sworn, Mr. Wainewright, at the suggestion of the counsel for the prosecution, retired from the bar, and the court proceeded to the trial of Mr. Blackburn, on one of the capital indictments for forgery. The clerk of the arraigns read the indictment. It charged the prisoner with feloniously forging, and counterfeiting the resemblance of a certain stamp or die, used by the Commissioners of Stamps, to denote the payment of duties imposed on vellum, parchment, and paper, viz. for the payment of two pounds, imposed by the 48th of George III. on mortgage deeds, with intent to defraud his Majesty, his heirs, or successors. Another count in the indictment charged him with uttering the said forged stamps, knowing the same to be false, forged, and counterfeited, with the like intent to defraud his Majesty, his heirs, or successors.
The counsel for the crown were, Mr. Park, Mr. Topping, Mr. Wailes, and Mr. Richardson.
The counsel for the prisoner—Mr. Scarlett, Mr. Littledale, and Mr. Williams.
Mr. Park opened the case to the jury, and said,—I am counsel against the unfortunate gentleman now at the bar. This is a prosecution by the Commissioners of Stamps, who in the discharge of their professional duty have thought it incumbent upon them to institute this inquiry, and which indeed they could not have omitted to do without a gross dereliction of the duty they owed to the public. They have no interest in this prosecution, and whatever be the result of this day’s inquiry, they will be satisfied with your decision. The crime imputed to the prisoner by this indictment, is not merely calculated to defraud the public revenue, but tends to affect the security of the property of individuals, and that in the most serious manner, for if deeds, or other written instruments for the transfer of property, have affixed to them forged or improper stamps, they have no validity, and convey no rights to the parties in whose favour they are executed. This consideration must at once impress you with a conviction of the great importance of the present case; as the conveyance of property by instruments the most solemn known to the law, is thereby defeated, the contract becomes invalid, and the deed by which it was intended to be effected, of no possible use. Nor is it too much to say, that the rights of future generations may be affected by the consequences of the crime imputed to the prisoner.
It is, gentlemen, with the most unfeigned concern, that I have risen to address you on the present occasion. This is the first time, during a practice of thirty years at the bar, that it has fallen to my lot to be concerned in a prosecution for felony against any person with whom I have had any personal acquaintance. Mr. Blackburn (the prisoner) I have long known; he has conducted actions in which I have been engaged for him, and others in which I have been retained by the adverse party: and though when I first heard the name I did not know how to affix it to the person, yet now, when (for the first time since this prosecution has been depending) I see him, I find that I know the gentleman perfectly well. We at the bar are, however, bound to aid the administration of the public justice of the country, and must do justice to the country, and to the crown, on whose behalf we are engaged, and cannot shrink from the performance of our professional duty, however painful to our feelings the exercise of it may occasionally be. But the Government, the Commissioners of Stamps, and those who on their account conduct this prosecution, are very far from having any wish to oppress these individuals; their only desire is, that justice should be done between them and the country, and this justice I have no doubt will be done by you.
If the prisoner is guilty of the offence imputed to him by this indictment, his crime is greater than that of any other individual, because there is no one who is so much obliged by his profession to understand the principles of morality. The very first rudiments of his profession must have rendered familiar to him those principles of justice on which the law is founded; and in his long attendance at these courts, he must (in addition to sound lessons of law) have heard the principles of moral obligation enforced by the learned judges who have from time to time presided here, and which ought to have had the effect of rooting them in his mind.
Having made these few preliminary observations, I shall proceed to state the nature of the charge against the prisoner, and the evidence by which that charge is meant to be substantiated. The charge against the prisoner is that of having forged, or caused to be forged, or counterfeited, the impression of a certain stamp or die, used by the commissioners (appointed by his Majesty, to manage the duties on stamped vellum, parchment, or paper) to denote the payment of a certain duty, imposed by the 48th of the King, on mortgage deeds, which are laid ad valorem, that is, in a ratio proportioned to the money secured by such deeds. The amount of the money secured by the deed which is the subject of this inquiry, is 180l. and the stamp required for this sum, must be of the value of 2l.; for in the schedule affixed to the act, it states, that from 150l. to a sum not exceeding 200l. the duty shall be 2l. The subject-matter of this prosecution is, that in order to evade the duty imposed by this act, the prisoner affixed a forged and counterfeit stamp to an instrument, purporting to be a mortgage deed; and also that he uttered or published the same, well knowing it to be false, forged, or counterfeited. The penal act on which this prosecution is founded, is an act of the 52nd year of the king, intituled, “An act for amending and reducing into one act, the provisions contained in any laws now in force, imposing the penalty of death, for any act done in breach of or in resistance to any part of the laws, for collecting His Majesty’s revenue in Great Britain.” In this statute, cap. 143, section 7, it is enacted, “that if any person shall, after the passing of this act, forge or counterfeit, or cause to be forged or counterfeited, any mark, stamp, die, or plate, which in pursuance of any act or acts of parliament, shall have been provided, made or used, by or under the direction of the commissioners, appointed to manage the duties on stamped vellum, parchments, or paper, or by or under the direction of any other person or persons, legally authorised in that behalf, for expressing or denoting any duty or duties, or any part thereof, which shall be under the care and management of the said commissioners, or if any person shall utter, or sell, or expose to sale, any vellum, parchment, or paper, &c. having thereupon the impression of any such forged or counterfeited mark, every person so offending, and being thereof convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall suffer as a felon, without benefit of clergy.” I will now lay before you the evidence by which we propose to establish this charge against the prisoner.