FORGERY. 
574 
He ran on embattled armies clad in iron, 
And weaponlefs himfelf. 
Made arms ridiculous, ulelefs the forgery 
Of brazen ffiield and fpear, the hammer’d iCuirafs, 
Chalybean temper’d fteel, and frock of mail 
Adamantean proof. Milton. 
FOR'GERY, /. in law, the fraudulent making or al¬ 
teration of any deed, writing, inftrument, regifter, ftamp, 
See. to the prejudice of another man’s tight. An offence 
punifltable, according to its circumftances, by fine, im- 
prifonment, pillory, tranfportation, and death. By 5 Eliz. 
c. 14, to forge or make, or knowingly to publish or give 
in evidence, any forged deed, court-roll, or will, with 
intent to afleft the right of real property, either freehold 
or copyhold, is punifhed by a forfeiture to the party 
grieved, of double cods and damages; by the offender’s 
Handing in the pillory, and having both his ears cut off, 
and liis nofti ils flit and feared; by forfeiture to the crown 
of the profits of his lands, and by perpetual imprifon- 
ruent. For any forgery relating to a term of years, or 
annuity, bond, obligation, acquittance, releafe or dif- 
charge of any debt or demand of any perfonal chattels, 
the fame forfeiture is given to the party grieved, and on 
the offender is inflifted the pillory, lofsof one ear, and a 
year’s imprifonment. The fecond offence, in both cafes, 
is felony without benefit of clergy. 
Betides this general aft, a multitude of others, fince the 
revolution, when paper credit was firfi eftablifhed, have 
inflifted capital punifliment on the following fpecies of 
forgery, viz.—The forging, altering, or uttering, as true 
when forged, any Bank-notes, bills, or other fecurities; 
by 8 & 9 Will. III. c. 20. nGeo. I.c. 9. 12 Geo. I. c. 32. 
15 Geo. II.-c. 13. 13 Geo. III. c. 79. See the article 
Bill of Exchange, vol. iii. p. 29-37.—Exchequer- 
bills; by the feveral afts for ifilling them.—South-lea 
bonds ; by 9 Anne, c. 21. 6 Geo. I. cc. 4, 11. 12 Geo. R 
c. 32.—Lottery tickets or orders : by the feveral lottery- 
afts.—Army or navy debentures, by .? Geo. I. c. 14. 
9 Geo. I.c. 5.—Eaft India bonds, by 12 Geo. I. c. 32.— 
Writings under the feal of the London or R.oyal Exchange 
Affuranc'e, by 6Geo. I.c. 18; and of other corporations 
by the fiatutes eflablifhing them.—Of the hand-writing 
of the receiver of tile pras-fines, by 32 Geo. II. c. 14; or 
of the accountant-general and other officers of the court 
of chancery.—Of a letter of attorney or other power to 
receive or transfer flock or annuities ; or transfers and di¬ 
vidend-warrants ; and on the perfonating a proprietor 
thereof to receive or transfer fuch funds or dividends. 
$ Geo. I.c-22. ()Geo. I. 12. 31 Geo. 11 . c. 22. 3 3 Gi-o- III. 
c. 30.—Alfo on the perfonating or procuring to be per- 
fonated any feaman or perfon entitled to wages, prize- 
money, &c. for perjury in obtaining probate or adminif- 
tration to receive fuch wages, &c. and the forging, pro¬ 
curing to be forged, or publilhing, a forged feaman’s will 
and power. 31 Geo. II. c. 10. 9 Geo. III. c. 30. 326^0. III. 
c. 34.—To which may be added counterfeiting Mediter¬ 
ranean paffes from the admiralty. 4 Geo. II.c. ■ 8 . —The 
forging or imitating damps, to defraud the public reve¬ 
nue ; by the feveral ftamp afts; [the re-ufing them is 
made fingle felony by 12 Geo. III. c.48, puniffiable with 
leven years tranfportation.]—Forging of any marriage re- 
gifler or licence, by 26 Geo. II. c. 33.—Counterfeiting 
or removing ftamp or mark on plate, by 24Geo. Ill.c. 
53. [A fimilar offence is puniffiable with 14 years tranf- 
portation by 13 Geo. III. cc. 52, 59.]—Forging the frank 
on a general poft letter. 24 Geo. III. c. 37. 
Belides thefe there are certain general laws with regard 
to forgery. By 2 Geo. II. c. 25, the firfi: offence in for¬ 
ging or procuring to be forged, afting or affifting therein, 
or uttering or publifhing as true any forged deed, will, 
bond, bill of exchange, promiffory note, and indorfe- 
ment or affignment of fuch bill or note, or any acquit¬ 
tance or receipt for money or goods, with an intention to 
defraud tiny perfon; (or corporation, by 31 Geo. II. c. 
32.) is made felony without benefit of clergy.—And by 
3 
7 Geo. II. c. 22. 18 Geo. III. c. 18, it is equally penal to 
forge or caufe to be forged, or uttered as true, a counter¬ 
feit acceptance of a bill of exchange, or the number or 
principal fum of any accountable receipt, for any note, 
bill, or other fee unity for money, or any warrant or order 
for payment of money, or delivery of goods. By the 
above, and a number of other general and fpecia! provi- 
fions, there is now hardly a cafe poffible to be conceived 
w herein forgery that tends to defraud, whether in the name 
of a real or fictitious perfon, is not made a capital crime. 
A deed forged in the name of a perfon who never had 
exiftencc is within 2 Geo. II.<^35. for the ftatute doth 
not ule the words the deed of any perfon, or the deed of 
another, or any words of like import, but any deed . 
Lord Coke’s deferiptipn of forgery (3 Injl. 169,) ‘‘When 
the aft is done in the name of another perfon ; ” is appa¬ 
rently too narrow, and only takes in that fpecies of for¬ 
gery which is 1110ft commonly praftifed ; but there are 
many other fpecies of forgery which will not come with¬ 
in the letter of that defcription. Fojl. 116. There can 
be no forgery where none can be prejudiced by it but the 
perfon doing it. 1 Salk. 375. 
Forgery by the common law extends to falfe and frau¬ 
dulent making or altering of a deed or writing, whether 
it be a matter of record, in which teems to be included a 
parifh regifter; which is puniffiable by fine, imprifon- 
ment, and corporal punithment, at the diferetion of the 
court; or any other writing, deed, or will. %lnjl. i6g 0 
1 Hawk. P. C. c. 70. Not only where one makes a falfe 
deed ; but where a fraudulent alteration is made of true 
deed in a material part of it, as by making a leafe of the 
manor of Dale, and it appears to be a leafe of the manor 
of Sale, by changing the letter D. into an S. or by alter¬ 
ing a bond, &c. for 500I. exprelfed in figures, to 5000I. 
by adding a new cipher, thefe are forgery : fo it is } if one 
finding another’s name at the bottom of a letter, atacon- 
fiderable diftance from the other writing, caufes the let¬ 
ter to be cut off, and a general releafe to be written above 
the name, &c. 1 Hawk. P C. c. 70. 
Alfo a writing may be faid to be forged, where one be¬ 
ing direfted to draw up a will for a fick perfon, doth in- 
fert fome legacies therein falfely of his own head ; though 
there be no forgery of the hand or feal ; for the crime of 
forgery confifts as well in endeavouring to give an appear¬ 
ance of truth to a mere falfity, as in counterfeiting a man’s 
hand, &c. 1 Hawk. P. C. c. 70. 3 Injl. 170. But a perfon 
cannot regularly be guilty of forgery by an aft of omiffion ; 
as by omitting a legacy out of a will, which he is direfted 
to draw for another: though it has been held, that, if 
the wilful omiffion of a bequeft to one caufe a material 
alteration in the limitation of an eftate to another, as if 
the divifor direfts a gift for life to one man, and the re¬ 
mainder to another in fee, and the writer omit the eftate 
for life, fo that he in remainder hath a prefent eftate upon 
the death of the devifor, not intended to pafs, this is for¬ 
gery. Noy 118. Moor 760. If a feoffment be made of land, 
and livery and feifin is not indorfed when the deed is de¬ 
livered, and afterwards on felling the land for a valuable 
confideration to another, livery is indorfed upon the firfi: 
deed ; this hath been adjudged forgery both in the feoffer 
and feoffee ; becaule it was done to deceive an honeft pur- 
chafer. Moor 66 5. And when a perfon knowingly falfi- 
fies the date of a fecond conveyance, which he had no 
power to make, in order to deceive a purchafer, &c. he is 
laid to be guilty of forgery. 3/72/2.169. 1 Hawk. P. C. c. 70. 
It feems to be no way material, whether a forged in¬ 
ftrument be made in fuch manner, that if it were in truth 
inch as it is counterfeited for, it would be of validity or 
not. 1 Sid. 142. The counterfeiting writings of an infe¬ 
rior nature, as letteis and fuch like, it hath been faid, is 
not properly forgery ; but tlie deceit is puniffiable.—But 
in the cafe of John Ward, of Hackney, it was determined 
that to forge a releafe or acquittance for tlie delivery of 
goods, although not under feal, was forgery at common 
law. Barn.K, B. jo, Ld. Raym, 737 ; Stra. 747. 
Where 
