ney into and for the use of the said club or society, that is to say, for the general benefit and advantage of all the members thereof at the said house of the said T. R. for the purpose, amongst other things, mentioned, declared and contained in the said article above-mentioned and set forth. And the jurors, &c. do further present, that on, &c. last aforesaid, at, &c. aforesaid, a large sum of money, to wit, the sum of one hundred pounds, [this need ot be the exact sum, let it be something under the sum contained in the box at this time,] of like lawful money was and remained in the said box, kept for the purpose in that behalf aforesaid, in the said house of the said T. R. there before then deposited therein, by and for, and on the behalf of all the members of the said club or society. And [*1019] the jurors,* &c. do further present, that by the assent and concurrence of all the members of the said club or society, it had been usual and customary during all the time aforesaid, (except the nights on which the said club or society had been there holden,) for the members of the said club or society, having a right or occasion to withdraw, or receive any money to which they had been entitled by the articles, rules and orders of the said club or society, from and out of the said box, to apply to the said T. R. for the payment of the the same, upon condition that he the said T. R. should be repaid the same from and out of such money contained in the said box, for the purpose in that behalf aforesaid, on some subsequent night on which the said club or society should be holden, at the said house of him the said T. R. at K. aforesaid. And the jurors, &c. that the said L. P. well knowing all and singular the premises aforesaid, on, &c. with force and arms, at, &c. aforesaid, unlawfully, knowingly, and designedly, did falsely pretend to the said T. R. that the wife of him the said L. P. was then dead, and that he the said L. P. then wanted thirty shillings to bury his said wife, by means of which said false pretences he the said L. P. then and there unlawfully, knowingly and designedly, did obtain of and from the said T. R. the said sum of thirty shillings, with intent then and there to cheat and defraud A. B., C. D., &c. [the other members of the club,] of the same, whereas in truth and in fact, the wife of him the said L. P. was not dead at the said time he so made the false pretences to the said T. R. as aforesaid, and whereas in truth and in fact, he the said L. P., at the time of the false pretences, did not want the said sum of thirty shillings, or any sum of money whatsoever, for the purpose of burying his wife, or of any person whatsoever, having then lately been the wife of him the said L. P. to the great damage, &c. [as ante 1013]

carriage

[*1020]

That A. B. late of, &c. on, &c. at, &c. having in his cus- On 30 tody and possession a certain parcel to be by him delivered Geo. II. c. 24. for octo Maria, Countess Dowager of Ilchester, upon the delivery taining of which he was authorised and directed to receive and take more than the sum of 6s. and 6d. and no more, for the carriage and the sum porterage of the same; yet, that the* said A. B. produced due for and delivered to T. H. then being servant to the said count- of a paress of I. the said parcel, together with a certain false and cel by counterfeit ticket, made to denote that the sum of nine shil- producing a false lings and ten-pence was charged for the carriage and porter- ticket. (t) age of the said parcel, and unlawfully, knowingly and designedly, did falsely pretend to the said T. H., that the said false and counterfeit ticket was a just and true ticket, and that the said sum of nine shillings and ten-pence had been charged and was due and payable for the carriage and porterage of the said parcel, and that he the said A. B. was authorised and directed to receive and take the said sum of nine shillings for the carriage and porterage of the said parcel, by means of which said false pretences defendant did unlawfully, knowingly and designedly, obtain of and from the said T. H. the sum of three shillings and four-pence, of the monies of the said countess, with intent to cheat and defraud her of the same, whereas in truth and in fact, &c. [negative the pretences and conclude " to the damage, &c." as ante 1013.]

two bills

That before and at the time of the committing of the of- Indictfence hereinafter next mentioned, that is to say, on, &c. at, ment for &c. one C. R. was lawfully possessed of and had in his hands obtaining and possession certain securities for the payment of money, of exthat is to say, two bills of exchange, one of the said bills of change exchange being for the payment of the sum of one hundred under prepounds, and the other of the said bills of exchange being getting for payment of the sum of three hundred and fifty pounds. same disAnd the jurors, &c. do further present, that H. P. late counted of the said, &c. being an evil disposed person, and well for the knowing the premises, on the said, &c. at, &c. aforesaid, prosecufalsely, fraudulently, deceitfully, unlawfully, knowingly and 52 Geo.

(t) This was the indictment against Douglass, 1 Campb. 212. It was there holden, that a basket was sufficiently described as a parcel within the statute. It was also holden, that if money, as in this case, be obtained from the servant who had money of his master in hand at the time it may be well laid to be the property of the latter but if he had not money enough of his employer in his hands at the time, he

tence of

tor. See

designedly, did pretend to the said C. R., that he the said H. P. could immediately get the said bills of exchange discountby a friend of him the said H. P. at the India house, and would pay over the proceeds thereof to him the said C. R. by means of which said false pretences he the said H. P. did then and there unlawfully, knowingly and designedly, obtain of and from the said C. R. the said bills of exchange (the said bills of exchange then and there being the property of the said C. R., and the said sums of money payable and secured by and upon the said bills of exchange then and there being due and unsatisfied to the said C. R. the proprietor thereof with intent to cheat and defraud the said C. R. of the said several bills of exchange. Whereas in truth and in [*1021] fact, he the said H. P.,* at the time of making the said false pretences, well knew that he could not get the said bills of exchange discounted by any friend of him the said H. P. at the India house, and whereas in truth and in fact, at the time of the making the said false pretences as aforesaid, he the said H. P. well knew that he was utterly unable to discount, or get discounted, the said bills of exchange for the said C. R., and whereas in truth and in fact, at the time of making the said false pretences as aforesaid, he the said H. P. did not intend to discount, or to get discounted, the said bills of exchange for the use of the said C. R., or to pay over the proceeds of the said bills of exchange to the said C. R., but on the contrary then and there intended fraudulently to cheat and defraud the said C. R. of the same, to the great damage of the said C. R., to the evil example, &c. and against the peace, &c. and against the form of the statutes (u) in such case made and provided. [Add a second count the same as first only stating the false pretence to be that defendant would get said bills discounted, and immediately pay over the proceeds thereof to the prosecutor.]

449

*

FORGERY. (a)

PRELIMINARY NOTES.

Forgery may be defined to be the false making, or altera- [*1022] tion of such writings, as either at common law or by statute are its objects, with intent to defraud another; each part of which definition we shall respectively examine, though not exactly in its order. First we will enquire in respect of what things the offence may be committed. Secondly what acts are necessary to complete it, and thirdly, with what intent the party must be actuated, to render him thus highly criminal.

things

common

law.

I. In respect of what things may forgery be committed. In respect Forgery, at common law, seems only to have been a species of what of fraud, and is, therefore, often intermingled with false forgery personating and other means of defrauding; like them it may be was a mere misdemeanour, punishable as other offences of committhat degree, at the discretion of the court in which the of- ted at fender was convicted. This circumstance may account for the doubts entertained by Hawkins, whether, at common law, forgery could be committed of any documents but such as were of a public kind; for in the infancy of commerce, when no peculiar severity distinguished this offence from common frauds, an accurate discrimination on the subject was of comparatively small importance, Hawk. b. 1. c. 70. s. 11. These doubts were, however, entirely removed by the decision in Ward's case, who was prosecuted by information filed by the attorney general for forging a release of acquittance on a sum of money, and it was objected on his behalf, that the matter was not public in its nature nor under seal. These objections were, however, over-ruled, and was held, that forgery at common law might be committed in respect of any writing whatever, by which another might be defrauded. A distinction, at the same time, was marked out between [*1023] forgery and fraud; that the last must actually take effect, while the first was complete, though no one was actually injured, if the tendency and intent to defraud were manifest. The sentence of the defendant in this case was to pay a fine of 500/. stand in the pillory, and be committed till payment of the sum imposed on him, see this case at large, 2 Ld. Raym. 1461. The counterfeiting of the privy-seal of a cer

(a) As to the offence, &c. in general, see Hawk. b. 1. c. 51. and 70. Com. Dig. Forgery, 4 Bla Com. 247. to 250. 2 East. P. C. 840. to

1003. Bac. Abr. Forgery. Burn, J.
Forgery. Williams, J. Forgery.
Dick, J. Forgery.

In respect of what things forgery may

be com

mitted by

statutes.

tificate of holy orders, of wills and deeds, of licenses from barons of the exchequer to compound debts, of protections to members of parliament, and of all records, was always considered as forgery, Hawk. b. 1. c. 70. s. 8, 9, 10. And where a person confined under an attachment for a contempt in a civil cause, counterfeited a discharge as from the creditor, in the original action, to the sheriff and gaoler in whose custody he was detained, by which he obtained his discharge, he was holden to be guilty of forgery, though the order was a mere nullity and the discharge under it illegal, 2 East, P. C. 862. As, therefore, every kind of writing seems on the doctrine of these cases, to be a thing in respect of which forgery, at common law, may be committed, we come immediately to the cases in which the legislature has punished it with greater severity, and in far the most numerous of which it has made it capital.

Records. It seems singular that the highest description of documents, the records of courts of justice, should not be protected with laws so severe as the lowest kind of negotiable securities. We have seen in considering larceny of these writings, that by 8 Hen. VI. c. 12. s. 13. it is felony for any clerk or other person not only to steal but to avoid " any record or parcel of a writ, return, panel, process or warrant of attorney" of the courts of common law. This term includes every kind of alteration which affects the validity of the proceedings, whether it actually causes the judgment to be reversed, or only makes it avoidable, 3 Inst. 72. but clergy is not taken away. And we have seen that this act does not extend to judges, who are only liable to be fined under 8 Rich. II. c. 4. "for falsely entering pleas, raising rolls or changing verdicts to the disherison of any one," ante 928. But all offences of this kind, however committed, are high misdemeanours as perversions of public justice.

Writings As soon as the national debt became so extensive, as to relating to have for its sharers the large portion of the monied interest the public funds, and of the kingdom, it was thought necessary to secure the prothe stocks perty of the holders from the depredations to which it was public companies.

[*1024]

liable from its nature, by severe provisions. Accordingly the 8 Geo. I. c. 22. s. 1 makes it felony without benefit of clergy to forge or counterfeit any letter of attorney, or other authority or instrument to transfer, assign, sell or convey* any share in the stocks of public companies then established by act of parliament, or to receive any annuity or dividend from a public company, to forge the name of any proprietor of stock to such an instrument, to endeavour to procure the stock, &c. to be transferred, or the annuity or dividend received by such means, and to personate a proprietor of stock for such purposes. The provisions of this act are by 31 Geo.