A person of the name of Taylor, being desirous of borrowing upon the security of an estate the sum of 180l., 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 2l. 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.