211. JAMES LESLIE proceedingsdefend was indicted for that he, being one of the officers of the excise of our Lord the King, after the 29th of September, 1783; to wit, on the 2d of March last, with force and arms, being such officer of the excise as aforesaid, unlawfully, knowingly, and feloniously did give and grant a certain false and untrue permit, for removal of seventy-five gallons of foreign brandy, being an excisable commodity, from the stock of one Catherine Bolton proceedingsvictim , widow , a dealer in such commodity; and to be received and had into the stock of one Thomas Hardy < no role > ; against the statute.

He was also charged in three other counts for the like offence.

(The indictment opened by Mr. Silvester, and the case opened by Mr. Solicitor General.)

Counsel for the Crown.

Mr. SOLICITOR GENERAL, Mr. SERJEANT WALKER, and Mr. SILVESTER.

Counsel for the Prisoner.

Mr. PLOMER and Mr. GARROW.

JOSEPH NORRIS < no role > sworn.

I am the permitter of the excise; I know the prisoner; he was a brandy officer of the excise; in March last I was in the same division; in the eleventh division, in the permit office, in Lancaster-court, in the Strand ; on the first of March last, the prisoner came to me with a request note; this is the note which he brought in his hand to me.

(Produced and read.)

"Permit Thomas Hardy < no role > , Cullum-street;

"one cask F. Brandy 75 gall, part stock

"of Cath. Bolton, Golden-cross, Charing-cross;

" William Claridge < no role > , cellar-man,

"March 1st, 1786; go by cart."

In consequence of that request note; did you give that permit? - I did.

Who did you deliver the permit to? - To the prisoner, who is the officer, who brought the request note.

When did you see the prisoner again? - Not that night; I saw him again the next morning; he came between seven and eight the next morning into the office; he then took the permit out of his waistcoat pocket, and said, he had carried that permit to Bolton's last night, but they had altered their minds, and would not send out the goods till the next morning; he then said, I wish you would write another and I will take it down to Bolton's, and give it to Claridge; I then took the note, and told him there was some before, they must stay till their turn; the prisoner said, then give me your foreign book, and I will write it; in the hurry of business any officer makes out permits; he sat down and wrote, but before that, he says, which is the file where the note is? I said, this is the file; because says he, I shall alter the day of the month, from the 1st to the 2d; this is the request note, it stood the 1st when I wrote it, and now there is the number 2 over the No. 1; when he had done that, he sat down and wrote, and cut the permit out of the book, and I saw the permit in his hand; this is the permit book in which it is wrote; he then said he would return the permit which I had granted the day before, and write another; when it is wrote it is cut out of the permit book; he returned my permit and signed it.

Where is that? - When he signed it, I had nothing more to do with it.

Look at that book? - Here is the word return in this permit book, which the prisoner wrote himself, upon the checque that I granted at first, the prisoner in his own hand writing has written returned; the prisoner himself kept that permit; it was his business to keep it after he had wrote returned upon it; he said he was going to Bolton's, and he would take the permit with him, and give it to Claridge; he cut out the permit after he had filled it up, and I saw the permit in his hand; I saw him write in my book; this is the permit; this is the prisoner's hand writing.

Is that agreeable to that checque of the 2d of March? - It is; both the counter part and the permit are of the prisoner's hand writing; I know the prisoner very well, he has been in the office seven or eight years.

How long have you been in the same place? - Three years.

It is not usual for the stocking officer to assist in granting permits? - Very often in the hurry of business.

I believe it is often usual for the trader to apply to the stocking officer to get a permit for him? - Very often.

A trader some times sends his porter or any body to the office, with a request note for a permit? - Yes.

There is a railing that divides you from the person that comes to apply? - Yes.

He delivers in his request note? - Yes.

Sometimes he is seen through the rail, sometimes he sticks it on the rails, and asks how long will it be? - Yes.

The permit writer is governed by the request note, and then looks at the credit book? - Yes.

I would ask you, if it does not frequently happen, that persons who are unknown to the permit writers, bring these request notes? - They say they come from such a trader and this is the note, and how long will it be before it is done.

Very often they are porters, or persons that you do not personally know? - Yes.

Then you or any body may be deceived in that way? - They may.

Suppose any body should send a porter to the permit office, whom you do not know, but with a request note, you look at the credit book, and you grant the permit, though you do not know the person that brought the request note? - I do.

On the 1st of March you had granted a permit of this very quantity of liquor from Bolton's? - I had, which Leslie came back and said it had never been out of his possession; there was an entry made of returned, and it could not be made out after that.

Is not the permit which you have produced upon the proper excise paper? - Yes.

If the request note was a good one, and had been really Mrs. Bolton's request note, then this permit was perfectly regular, was it not? - It was.

It was properly filled up, and properly signed, and perfectly regular, the only doubt was about the request note? - Yes.

I believe it sometimes happens that a porter or trader, delivers to the stocking officer the request note; and then the stocking officer having communication with the office, he delivers it to the office and gets the permit? - He does sometimes.

Who keeps the credit book? - It is in the permit book as a guide to the permit writer.

Have you got the credit book here? - No, I have not.

Does your permit differ from the permit in question, in any other respect than the day of the month? - No, it is exactly the same; he said he should only alter the day of the month from the 1st to the 2d.

Do you remember a former instance of a request note, signed by this Bolton to Hardy, No. 66; see if that is your hand writing? - (Looks at it.) - It is my hand writing; I cannot say who brought this; this is a request note of Thomas Hardy < no role > , of Cullum-street, to Catherine Bolton < no role > of Charing-cross; that is January 1786; sixty-four gallons; that was granted by me upon some request note.

Mr. Walker. Who was the stocking officer at Mrs. Bolton's? - Mr. Leslie, the prisoner at the bar, called upon me the 1st of March, and he brought the request note and gave it to me.

Who keeps the credit in the books of stock? - The stocking officer; he puts in the credit; what credit they have.

What means has the stocking officer to know whether the request note be right or no? - He can tell by this book; on the 2d of March, between seven and eight he came again.

JACOB HARPUR < no role > sworn.

I am a surveyor of the excise; the prisoner was an officer under me.

Was it his duty to stock Mrs. Bolton? - It was, he was the stocking officer of that division.

Tell the Court what you know of this transaction? - I went up into the permit office, some time from the 2d of March to the 13th of April, I cannot pretend to say what day, to examine the notes; when I went up, Leslie the prisoner followed me up; I asked for the file where the notes were filed on; it was given to me, and I found a request note, dated the 1st of March originally, and a figure of 2 was made over it; the 1 was not put out; I made a query on it; the prisoner acknowledged that he altered it; I told him it might be attended with bad consequences; I rebuked him; he said he could not think there could be much harm in altering the note; I told him it would be well for him if it did not; then I left the permit office, and went about my usual business; on the 13th of April, I compared Leslie's permits which he had taken up at different houses.

Mr. Garrow. Have you got them here? - No.

Then we must not hear of them as they are not evidence.

Mr. Silvester. What is become of the permits? - They are lost.

Mr. Garrow. If they were here, I should submit they are no evidence in this case? - In examining these permits, Leslie read in to me 129 gallons to Mrs. Bolton.

Court. Give us some more account about reading in? - He compared the books; I had the stock book in my hand; and he had the permits; and he read to me 129 gallons into Mrs. Bolton's stock; I do not know whether he particularly mentioned Dunnage's stock then; we were examining every body's stock, and this was in the course of the reading.

What did you suppose him reading from? - I supposed him reading from a permit; I remarked the quantity; says I, let me look at that permit; says he, it is no matter, it is no permit at all; then he said, hehad lost the permit; I told him if he had lost it, I suspected it was no permit at all; he shewed me the paper; this is the paper; I was going to make a memorandum of it; he said he would save me that trouble, for there was no such permit ever came, and that nobody knew any thing about the matter but himself.

What was to be the effect of your memorandum? - In order to go and search if such a permit was ever granted from Dunnage or not; from his stock; in consequence of this after he declared that to me; I told him I should go and take Mrs. Bolton's stock; it was read into me as so much stock posted to her credit from Dunnage; he begged I would not go and take Mrs. Bolton's stock; he said if I did go, that it was all over with him, or words to that effect; and he threw down the book on the desk; he requested me to let him go to Claridge to get the increase out of the way, for I should find about 20 gallons increase; Claridge is the cellarman to Mrs. Bolton.

Mr. Garrow. I desire the Court will give me leave to ask a question, to see whether any part of this history that we have had applies; when was the whole of this written? Was it produced to you in that state at the time that he produced it to you? - It was.

What is meant by the words 16th of March? - I do not know.

Does that appear to be the date of the permit upon which the quantity had been removed? - I do not know.

Does not that paper import that the removal was on the 16th of March? - I do not know what that was for at all; his books were lost, so that I cannot charge my memory.

Mr. Silvester. He told you there was no such permit? - He did; I told him I never should agree to any such thing; and he run away to Mrs. Bolton's; he was rather in the house before me; he had got down into the cellar; I went down after him, and went into the cellar, and took the stock; he desired me to make it as easy as I could; when I got there, the prisoner was much confused, and so was the cellarman indeed, who said he did not know the consequence of it; I took the stock in a very circumspect manner, and upon balancing the same afterwards at the office, I found fourteen gallons increase of foreign brandy.

Had you any conversation with him before you left the office, at any time about this transaction with Hardy? - Yes, but I do not know that Hardy's name was particularly mentioned; it was concerning the matter in the books.

Was there any thing concerning this permit now in question? - I told him on the 13th of April, that I should not only go and take Mrs. Bolton's stock, but I should likewise ask her whether she ever dealt with such a person as Hardy, or whether she ever sent any such quantities; he replied as I had no occasion, for it was all his own doing entirely; for Mrs. Bolton nor Claridge, nor Dunnage, knew nothing about it; and he would clear them of every thing; when we were at the house, I told Claridge what had passed between us, and the cause of my coming; he declared in the prisoner's presence, that he knew nothing at all of it, nor had he sent any such quantities; I told him I thought it was right for me to acquaint Mrs. Bolton of it; I went up stairs, and told her the whole circumstance.

Was the prisoner present? - I believe he was, but I am not positive.

Explain to us the consequence of conveying this idea of stock from Dunnage to Mrs. Bolton?

Mr. Garrow. That is mere matter of opinion, and I object to it being put in that way.

Court. To be sure that is only matter of opinion, that the Jury will form as well as he.

Mr. Garrow. How long have you served in the district where the prisoners has been the stocking officer? - Three years or thereabouts.

He has been under your immediate controul and direction? - He has.

How often is it usual for you to examine the state of the permits? - At all opportunities that I thought proper; but once in a month that is the usual way.

After you have examined them, there is another examination at the excise office? - I apprehend so; I suppose the permits are sent there as a checque upon my examination; I have been three years in that division; I have officiated before; I have been about twenty-seven years in the employ.

Does it frequently happen that a permit is mislaid? - Often times.

When that is the case, how is that quantity which would appear to be an illegal increase accounted for? - If these permits that are missing cannot be found, they are reported by the surveyor to the board, lost or mislaid.

That is a subject of considerable blame in the officer? - Yes.

Then he is bound to give you some account? - To be sure.

As in the present instance, the prisoner gave you an account from Dunnage? - Yes.

Take this paper? - He read this to me for 129 gallons of brandy, consigned to Mrs. Bolton from Dunnage's stock.

What is the meaning of the word Thompson? - I imagine it to be the permit writer; there is a permit writer of that name; I have known him many years; he is not here.

Is he in Dunnage's division? - I do not know.

Does it not appear to you, that it meant to convey this information to you, that upon the 16th of March such a permit had been passed? - I cannot give any explanation about it; this is a memorandum of the prisoner's in order to deceive me in reading in; or it is a paper of his own.

Did not you understand that memorandum to import, that on the 16th of March such a permit had been wrote? - I cannot say what it was for.

Can you find any number upon it? - Here is 119, which is more likely to be the number of the permit than the 28; to my recollection that 129 gallons was entered before the 2d of March; the book is not here; I did not know Dunnage, I believe he is in the second division.

CATHERINE BOLTON < no role > sworn.

I keep the Golden-cross, Charing-cross .

Do you deal with any person of the name of Thomas Hardy < no role > ? - No, I have no dealings with any such person; if any such was had, it was without my consent.

Are you a dealer in foreign spirits? - Yes.

Under whose survey was you? - The prisoner's at that time.

WILLIAM CLARIDGE < no role > sworn.

I lived with Mrs. Bolton last March; I have lived there between six and seven years, cellarman and waiter.

Did your mistress ever deal with Thomas Hardy < no role > ? - Not to my knowledge.

Did she ever desire you to make a request note to carry any goods there? - No.

Look at that, is that your hand writing? - No.

Do you know the prisoner? - Yes.

Who was the stocking officer last March to your mistress? - James Leslie < no role > was there at times, since that and before.

Mr. Plomer. I believe you used sometimes to send the request notes by the porter? - Yes, the first that came; if the porters were not in the way I carried them sometimes myself.

Serjeant Walker. Who wrote these request notes? - I cannot say.

Did the prisoner come to your house on the 2d of March? - I cannot charge my memory with any particular time; he was there with Mr. Hubbard, but what day I cannot tell; they came to take stock; they gauged every cask of wine and spirits.

ISAAC PACKER < no role > sworn.

I am an officer of excise; I survey Mr. Hardy in Cullum-street.

What is he? - A dealer in brandy; I served him as such.

What is that you have in your hand? - A permit for seventy-five gallons of brandy to be received into the stock of Thomas Hardy < no role > .

Did you receive it into the stock? - I did, and gave credit for it accordingly.

Look at that paper, is there any thing in the substance of it? - Yes, the words excise office; Hardy is since dead.

Mr. Garrow. You know nothing how Hardy got that? - No.

Was it filled up as it is now? - It was a regular permit, filled up.

Mr. Silvester. By virtue of that paper you gave him credit for seventy-five gallons of brandy? - Yes; I took it in by virtue of this permit.

(Read.)

"No. 138, Lancaster-court; 3 1/4 86.

"J. Norris, 11th division. Permit Thomas

"Hardy, Cullum-street, to receive

"one cask of foreign brandy, seventy-five

"gallons, No. 100, part of the stock of

" Catherine Bolton < no role > . Witness my hand,

"this 2d day of March, 1786. This permit

"to be in force one hour, for the

"goods to be sent out from Mrs. Boulton's

"stock; and two hours more, for the

"same to be delivered and received into

"Mr. Hardy's stock."

Prisoner. I leave it to my counsel.

Mr. Garrow. If you wish to explain to my Lord and the Jury, how this transaction was, you must do it yourself.

Prisoner. I received a paper from a porter, who came and requested a permit for seventy-five gallons of brandy; I carried it to Mr. Norris, who wrote the same; I carried it to that person, who brought it back and said, he wanted another for the next morning; I wrote the other by Mr. Norris's desire, and delivered it to the person who came for it; now, if this note had been a false note, so long after as a month or six weeks, it might have been destroyed, but I believe it to be a true one; it was fairly wrote and posted as the usual course of business was.

Mr. Garrow, to Norris. Had the prisoner an opportunity to destroy this note if he chose it? - He certainly had; it was upon the file hanging up openly in the office; he had abundant opportunities; he could come at the file if he chose; if the note had been gone, there would have been nothing to have answered to the counter part of the permit.

Mr. Garrow. It would have appeared by your counter part that the first of these permits had been granted at the request of the trader? - Yes, the second would have appeared to have been made on the other, and the request note lost.

Mr. Plomer. Does it not often happen that the request notes are lost? - I do not know of any.

The prisoner called thirteen witnesses, who all gave him a very good character.

GUILTY .

Transported for seven years .

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. Justice ASHURST.