Amongst the crimes which existed in the settlement, that of
forgery had recently made its appearance, and bills of a
counterfeit description had been offered in the markets; and, at
length, one of these forged draughts was traced to its source,
and the delinquent was immediately apprehended and brought to
trial for an offence so heinous in its nature, and so fraught
with mischief in its consequences. Sufficient proof being adduced
to place the prisoner's guilt beyond doubt, sentence of death was
passed upon him, and the execution took place on the 3d of July;
it being considered an act of necessary justice to make a severe
example of the offender, in this case, in order to check in its
infancy the growth of a practice, pregnant not only with general
evil, but with individual ruin. Of all the different species of
delinquency which had found their way into the colony, this might
be considered as second to none but murder: the house-breaker and
the midnight robber might be guarded against, and counteracted or
detected immediately, the mischief was at most limited, and might
be calculated; but the introduction of a system of forgery
threatened more widely-wasting injuries: it required more than
common vigilance, more than common perseverance, to discover a
fraud of this description; and it was scarcely possible to
ascertain the precise extent which it embraced, or to mark the
end of its destructive progress. It was therefore, under this
impression, considered expedient to make a severe example of the
first offender who had been brought to trial, in order, if
possible, to deter others from the pursuit of such an iniquitous
career. A solitary sacrifice might prove salutary to future
thousands.