ARGUED AND DETERMINED IN THE Courts of Common Pleas AND Exchequer Chamber, IN EASTER TERM, IN THE THIRD YEAR OF THE REIGN OF GEO. IV. MEMORANDUM. In the last Vacation, Robert Henry Blosset, Esquire, one of his Majesty's Serjeants at Law, was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Bengal, and received the honour of Knighthood accordingly. IN THE EXCHEQUER CHAMBER. THE KING v. MANASSEH GOLDSTEIN. 3. THE prisoner was indicted under the statute 43 Geo. (a) By which it is enacted, that "if any person, from and after the passing of that act, shall, within any part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, falsely make, forge, or counterfeit, or cause or procure to be falsely made, forged, or counterfeited, or knowingly aid or assist in the false making, forging, or counterfeiting any bill of exchange or any promissory note, undertaking, or order for the payment of money, purporting to be the bill of exchange, promissory note, undertaking, or order for the payment of money of any foreign Prince, state, or country whatsoever, or of any minister or officer, entrusted by or employed in the service of any foreign Prince, state, or country, or of any person or company of persons, resident in any foreign state or country, or of any body corporate and politic, and body in the nature of a body corporate and The statute 43 Geo. 3. c. 139. s. 1. makes it felony to forge or utter any bill of exchange, promissory note, undertaking, or order for the payment of money, purporting to be the bill, note, undertaking, or order of any foreign Prince, state, or country, whether in 1822. THE KING บ. GOLDSTEIN. the English or any foreign language, or partly in one and partly in the other; terfciting, and causing and procuring to be falsely made, forged and counterfeited, and for knowingly aiding and assisting in the false making, forging and counterfeiting a certain promissory note, undertaking, or order for the payment of money, and which was charged in the indictment as purporting to be the promissory note, undertaking, or order, for the payment Held, that the of money of Frederic William, King of Prussia, and of forging a Prus- Altenstein, known by the name and description of sian treasury note for the Baron d'Altenstein, he the said Altenstein being dollar, is an of- a minister entrusted by and employed in the service of the said Frederic William; and also of a certain person, to wit, the said Altenstein, he being a person resident in a certain foreign state or country, called Prussia. payment of one fence within that statute : And where the prisoner was convicted of forging such an instrument, on an indictment charging him The indictment contained seventy-two counts; the with forging a first of which charged the prisoner with falsely makpromissory note, undertaking, forging, and counterfeiting, and causing and ing, or order procuring to be falsely made, forged, and counterfeited, a certain promissory note, in the German language, guage, for the payment of money, purporting to be the for the payment of money, purporting to be a Prussian treasury note, but no count con tained an English translation, Held, that such translation was necessary; strument was only set out in the language in which it was alleged to be forged, the judgment was arrested. politic, created or constituted by any foreign Prince or state, with intent to deceive or defraud his Majesty, his heirs and successors, or any such foreign Prince, state, or country, or with intent to deceive or defraud any person or company of persons whomsoever, or any body corporate and and as the in politic, or body in the nature of a body corporate and politic whatsoever, whether the same be respectively resident, carrying on business, constituted, or being in any part of the United Kingdom, or in any foreign state or country, and whether such bill of exchange, promissory note, or order, be in the English language, or in any foreign language or languages, or partly in one and partly in the other; or if any person, from and after the passing of that act, shall, within any part of the said United Kingdom, tender in payment or in exchange, or otherwise utter or publish as true, any such false, forged, or counterfeited bill of exchange, promissory note, undertaking, or order, knowing the same to be false, forged, or counterfeited, with intent to deceive or defraud his Majesty, his heirs and successors, or any foreign Prince, state, or country, or any person or company of persons, or any body corporate and politic, or body in the nature of a body politic and corporate as aforesaid, then every person so offending, shall be deemed and taken to be guilty of felony, and on being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be transported for any term of years not exceeding fourteen years." 1822. GOLDSTEIN. promissory note for the payment of money of a certain foreign Prince, that is to say, Frederic William, THE KING King of a certain foreign country, called Prussia, the tenor of which was as follows, that is to say, (here the note was set out in the German language,) with intent to deceive and defraud the said Frederic William, against the form of the statute. The second count was similar in form to the first, but stated the instrument to be the promissory note for the payment of money of Altenstein, known by the name and description of Baron d' Altenstein, he the said Altenstein being a minister entrusted by and employed in the service of the said Frederic William, so being such foreign Prince as aforesaid, with intent to deceive and defraud the said Frederic William. The third count was precisely similar to the second, but charged the forgery to have been committed with intent to deceive and defraud the said - Altenstein. The fourth count charged the prisoner with knowingly aiding and assisting in the false making, forging, and counterfeiting a promissory note in the German language (setting it out as in the first count), with intent to deceive and defraud the said Frederic William: and the fifth and sixth counts varied the charge as in the second and third. The next six counts, viz. from the seventh to the twelfth, varied in form from the first six, by describing the instrument as "an undertaking in the German language, for the payment of money;" and the thirteenth to the eighteenth stated it to be "an order for the payment of money." The nineteenth count charged the prisoner with falsely making, forging, and counterfeiting, and causing and procuring to be falsely made, forged, and counterfeited, a certain other promissory note, in the German language, purporting to be the promissory note of a certain person for the payment of money, that is to say, Altenstein, known by the name of Baron d'Altenstein, he being a person resident in a certain foreign country called Prussia, with intent to deceive and defraud the said Altenstein. The twentieth count charged the prisoner with knowingly aiding and assisting in the false making, forging, and counterfeiting the note, (describing it as in the nineteenth count) with intent to deceive and defraud the said Altenstein. The twenty-first and twenty-second counts were similar to the nineteenth and twentieth, with the exception of describing the instrument as an undertaking for the payment of money: and the twenty-third and twentyfourth counts stated it as "an order for the payment of money;" and in all the above counts it was set out as being in the German language. There was a second set of counts, viz. 'from the twenty-fourth to the fortyeighth, which were similar in form to those above mentioned, with the exception that the instrument was therein stated to be partly in the German and partly in the French language: and in the third and last set, viz. from the forty-eighth to the seventy-second, the instrument was stated generally, without mentioning any particular language. At the trial of the prisoner before Mr. Justice Richardson, at the Old Bailey Sessions, in September 1821, it appeared that he was a Prussian Jew, residing in High-street, Shadwell; and that having obtained a genuine Treasury note of the Prussian government for the payment of one dollar, he had caused paper, with a particular water-mark, to be manufactured, and plates engraved to resemble the original; and that ten thousand of the false notes had been struck off in the city of London, and forwarded by him to persons residing in Berlin, who, after circulating some of them there, were taken into custody, and afterwards led to the apprehension of the prisoner in this country. The following is a copy of the instrument, which was embellished with a number of ornamental engravings. Realisations Comptoirzu Konigsberg. It was Translated by a Witness who acted as an Interpreter as follows. Viz; on the FrontSide. N Treasury Note of One Dollar Currency according to the Standard of 1764. available in all Payments in full. Altenstain. Reverse Side. Value in English Money Three Shillings. This line was printed with Red Ink |