could be found, for it had either been abstracted, or vanished through some mysterious agency; whereupon a paragraph appeared in the Gazette in reference to the matter, in which insinuations were made the reverse of complimentary to Stephen. In fact, it was broadly hinted that he knew much more about the fate of the lost document than it would be agreeable for him to acknowledge; and this constituted the libel complained of.
In defence it was urged that the alleged libel was nothing more than a newspaper report, and fully warranted by the facts disclosed at the Police Court. Witnesses were also called as to the repute of the plaintiff, and the late Mr. J. T. Smith swore "that he did not know a more worthless character in the Province," but it must be stated that between Stephen and Smith there was always some feud at work, either Masonic, Civic, or otherwise. A verdict for £50 damages was returned.
A "Black" Murder.—14th March, 1845.
Nigolobin, alias "John Bull," an aboriginal native, was indicted for murdering Booby, another aborigine, by spearing him at Keilor on the 12th December, 1844. The prisoner belonged to the Mount Macedon, Booby to the Barrabool, tribe, and the latter was employed on the station of Mr. Leslie Foster. As he was returning home from Melbourne with a couple of white men, the dray in which they travelled, when beyond Flemington, was surrounded by some blackfellows, one of whom threw a spear which perforated the deceased's body, and he died within two days. The question turned upon the identity of the murderer, and one of the white men (named Fitzgerald) swore that he saw the prisoner, spear in hand, approach the dray and cast it. He heard the deceased cry out, and saw the spear sticking in him. On the other hand, Sergeant Bennett, of the Mounted Police, deposed to having arrested, for the same offence, a blackfellow of the Buninyong tribe, named Wundella, who afterwards escaped by cutting his handcuffs, and that Wundella had confessed to the killing of Booby, because the Barrabool blacks had wished him to do so. The jury believed the Sergeant, and the prisoner was acquitted.
A Merchant Tried for Fraud.—17th March, 1845.
In the olden time in Melbourne there was a merchant named W————h. Some called him Patrick and others Paddy, but he ignored such common prænomens, and whether he was in reality a "Pat" or a "Pad," he preferred the Latinised formula of "Patricius," and as such lived and traded during an ephemeral career amongst the very old colonists. He was of an enterprising and speculative disposition, for in an era favourable to an excess of over-trading upon a minimum of capital, he was ever to the fore. His name figures prominently in most of the old dead and buried companies, the rockets that blazed up in our old commercial system, and generally ended as rockets usually do. If Melbourne had not "merchant princes" in those days, it most assuredly had merchants; but the trying times of 1842-3 swept the most of them out of existence. W————h, however, weathered the storm until the early part of 1845, when one morning trouble knocked at his counting-house door, and beckoned him to the Criminal Sessions, where a difficulty that could not be arranged by any civil jurisdiction required his personal attendance. Accordingly on St. Patrick's Day (above all others) "Patricius" William "Paddy" W————h was compelled to put in an appearance to an information charging him with "having, on the 20th January, falsely represented himself to Richard Grice as the owner of a certain quantity of wool, to wit, 3482 lbs., upon which he had obtained an advance of money, with intent to defraud the said Richard Grice," etc. The indictment was subdivided into ten counts, each varying the alleged offence, and the 5th presented it with an intent to defraud John Wright. The plea was "Not Guilty." The prosecution was conducted by the Crown Prosecutor, and the defence by Mr. Williams. The case was a lengthened and complicated one, and entangled in several side-issues with which it was sought to mix it up. Several witnesses were examined, and the jury returned a verdict of "Guilty" on the 5th count, with a recommendation to mercy. The prisoner was remanded until next day for sentence, and allowed bail. On his reappearance, Mr. Williams moved an arrest of judgment on a host of technical points, and after hearing long and learned arguments for and against, Judge Therry took time to consider his decision, the prisoner's bail being enlarged. Finally the Judge held some of the objections to be fatal, and the verdict was set aside, whereupon "Paddy W————h" clapped his hands, and rejoiced, for he had had a precious narrow escape.
