Apr.] 



CHRONICLE. 



57 



on Passing Sentence of Death 

 upon the Prisoners Capitally 

 Convicted of Forgery, and of 

 Uttering Forged Bank of Eng- 

 land Notes. 



William Oxenham, convicted 

 of uttering a forged bill of ex- 

 change, was first placed at the 

 bar. 



Chief Baron.—" William Ox- 

 enham, you have been convicted 

 of uttering a forged bill of ex- 

 change, well knowing at the time 

 you uttered it that it was forged. 

 The crime of which you have 

 been convicted, on the most 

 satisfactory evidence, by a most 

 intelligent jury, is a crime the most 

 dangerous to society, and which 

 loudly calls for the highest pu- 

 nishment that the law can inflict; 

 for no man, in a commercial 

 country like this, can, by any 

 care, effectually protect himself 

 from such attempts. If there 

 should be any disposition at the 

 foot of the Throne to extend its 

 mercy towards you, I shall re- 

 joice ; but of this I can offer you 

 no assurance, and if there should 

 be any mitigation of your sen- 

 tence, it will only be on condition 

 of your being for ever removed 

 from this country." His Lordship 

 then passed upon him the Ir.st 

 sentence of the law in the usual 

 terms. 



The following prisoners were 

 then placed at the bar: — Wm. 

 Steward, Thomas Curry, Mar- 

 garet M'Dowd, Robert Wardlaw, 

 Redmond Moss, Hannah Mavor, 

 and John Vaughan, convicted of 

 uttering forged Bank of England 

 notes ; and George Heskitt, con- 

 victed of burglary and horse- 

 stealing. 

 The Chief Baron, addressing 



by name the first 7 prisoners, 

 thus proceeded, — "You have 

 been severally convicted of utter- 

 ing forged Bank of England notes, 

 knowing them to be forged; the 

 law has affixed to this crime the 

 punishment of death, and it is an 

 offence which, on account of its 

 injurious consequences to society, 

 requires the infliction of the 

 highest punishment. It is a 

 practice which must be repress- 

 ed ; and if this carmot be effected 

 by other means, it must be done 

 by visiting it with the utmost 

 severity of the law, for the nego- 

 tiation of forged notes is the 

 strongest and most extensive 

 mode of plundering the public 

 which can be resorted to, and it 

 is one against which no care or 

 prudence can be an effectual 

 protection. I had the last assizes 

 the very melancholy duty, in this 

 place, of passing the sentence I 

 am now about to pass upon you, 

 upon a number of persons con- 

 victed of this offence, and which 

 sentence was carried into effect 

 with respect to most of them; 

 but I do not perceive that this sad 

 example has been attended with 

 any advantage, or that it has 

 produced any diminution in the 

 number of offenders of this de- 

 scription ; you have not taken 

 warning from it; for I observe 

 that your offences are all subse- 

 quent to the last assizes. It is, 

 therefore, necessary that exam- 

 ples should still continue to be 

 made ; and it is my duty to tell 

 you that some of you, nay, that 

 most of you, beyond all question, 

 must suffer the full sentence of 

 the law." 



It will be seen by the following 



document that the port of Dun- 



§ kirk 



