The Press. — London, England, 1853-12-03 00:00:00

THE Catholic papers deny the statement that Car dinal Wiseman is expected to remain at Home. It is said that he will return to England about Christ mas, when he will resume the active duties of his archbishopric. Tux Ray. MR. 11iIT.1.AR has received a munificent donation from the Weal of 250 guineas tor the Edinburgh Blind School. PAIU.IAMENT TM flintier prorogued, with the CllF tatoary formalities, on Tuesday last. The date at which the period o f prorogation now closes is .lan. 3, IMM, but the house will not meet until about its usual time—the beginning of February. Tnn MORTALITY OF THE METRoPOLITAN 11.10,4TRICTS rose considerably during the last week. In the pre ceding se'nnight the deaths registered were 1,162; in the week that ended on Saturday last they were 1,389. The mean weekly temperature has suffered a great fall during the same period. In the 10 (ir responding weeks of the years 1543-51 the average number of deaths was 1,093, which, raised in pro retion to increase of population, becomes 1401. There in, therefore, an excess in last week's return amounting to 137. Diseases of the respiratory or gans have suddenly become more fatal. They rose from ltat in the preceding to 197 in the last week. In this class bronchitis rose from 004 to 134; pneu monia from 92 to 111. Cholera subsides, and last week was fatal to only 46 persons. In the first 11 weeks of the epidemic of 15404-49 (reckoning from Ist of October' it destroyed 529 persons ; in the same number of weeks of the prel:ent attack, com mencing 21st of August, it has carried off i4l, or 115 persons more than in the former. ltut the epidemic beginning at an earlier season in 1m53, the mean temperature has been on an average 5 (leg. higher, and, making allowance for this circumstance, there does not appear any sufficient ground to conclude that the distemper now prevailing is of a more viru lent character than that of 15404. THIC NEw AcT to; Br:rrtxo-trot•sas CAMP into force on Thursday last. 1' swards of 1110 betting houses had been opened in the metropolis, and the mania had extended to the principal towns. Num bers have been lately closed, and all must forthwith relinquish the exhibition of their lists. It had been anticipated that. some plan would be adopted to carry on the game, such as selling pictures or forming clubs, but the thivernment will enforce the law, and, as half of the penalties will go to informers, the schetners will find themselves mistaken if they attempt to evade the new enactment. Scotland is exempted from the act, but, if necessary, it will be included in the next session of Parliament. The object. of the act is not to interfere with horse-racing, but solely to put down the system of betting which, in betting offices, has been so productive of crime. THE Mitunnus OF THF. INDIAN LAW COMMISSION are nominated in Tuesday's (hurtle. They Maude the Master of the Molls, the Chief Justice of Common Pleas, Sir Edward Ryan (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Calcutta from Im:ltt to 154:3), Mr. Charles Hay Cameron (who succeeded Mr. Macaulay and Mr. Amos as fourth or legal member of the Supreme Council of India, and AM President of the LAW Commission at Calcutta), Mr. John APPherson M'Leod (Who PUMA as secretary to the tiovern ment of Madras under Sir Thomas Munro, and as a member of the Law Commission at. Caleutta ), Mr. John Abraham Francis Hawkins (who was ten yeah: Registrar, and two years a Judge, of the Stidder Court of Bengal), Mr. T. Flower Ellis, and Mr. R. Lowe. The commissioners are instrueted "to consider _ and report upon the reform of the judicial establish ments, judicial procedure, and laws of India," under the lsth section of the 6m - eminent of India Aet. Mr. Frederic Millen, who was employed in Its:l3 to revise the Civil liertulations of the le•ngal lode, an a l afterwards filled the offices of secretary to the Law Commission at l'aientta and member of the Supreme Council of India, has been appointed secretary to the commissioners; and Mr. Ne►l H. E. %Lillie, who has practised for many years in the Stabler Court at Calcutta, and is well known as the author of some valuable treatises tan Mahomethin law, assistant secretary to the commissioners. Xatu and Volitt. THE CELEIIII%TI'It nANKRUPTCV CAME of the Messrs. Chamber+, formerly bankers in Bond street, has at length terminated. The whole estate has be e n realised, the last dividend is now ready for ilistribu tion among the creditors or their representatives, and the course of litigation is at length concluded, after enduring over a period of thirty years. In dismiss ing this memorable cause from the tribunal in lln• ainghall-street, a brief narrative of its origin an d incidents was given by Mr. Espin, the so li c itor t o the assignees : _ _ . • The bankruptcy dotes s far hawk a% lt42N, and some cif the pro. creviitirit item eiviitorocivi titstiy year,' pre% tooo.ly the White of the Mraiirs. eIIatIIIN'iM The eno milt 41 doist N pp.% pgatio.t the pint ealete 11f the limikriiptri iv 2211,1;41. NI., and the filer of ..reilitore 175. 144 the weparitte ...date of A. 11. rlotto • beta, the elttee, the itehte proved amount to 11,30. be. 1041., gut THE PRESS. the number of creditors proving is .le. The amount of assets realised on the joint and separate estates, applicable for division among the creditors, is nearly 200,000/. ; out of which a dividend of 13a. 4.1. in the pound had already been paid to the joint cre ditors, and a further dividend of nut less than 2s. *I. wax now &Isom to be declared, making together a total dividend of about les. in the pound, or probably a fraction Inure. On the separate ~tat • of Abraham lit-airy t hambers, the elder, there had been or would be paid a dividend of 17'.. Gd. in the pound. Oti Use sepa. tato estate of Mr. Chambers. the younger, a dividend of 20s. in the pound has been paid. The above buns of 200,0014. is the os 1111 l uut dnisible amongst the creditors, after making provision boar payinent out of the assets of the estate of wane very consider able ammuits. The legal expenses of the bankrupt*, and the toroceedinka arising tout of it, have been, especially in the early stage% of the affairs, extremely heavy. At an audit meeting held is Isti it appeared that they had amounted up to the year Is4o to 51,704., and since that period they would amount to 5,0001. or s:,ossii. more. The suns of 25,0101. was paid to Mr. Chamber% and his family by way of coinprounote, to end the litigation as to the eel of bankruptey, which Mr. chambers disputed. The sum of 1,2 0 1, him also been paid to the yrsara. Chambers as the allow. sure to whieh they are entitled in consequence of their estates having reshot's' a dividend olitod to the full amount prescribed by th e act of Parliament fur mit allowance. The stun of 7,00101. wool upward's has been paid lac the official assignee for t•ommile shoo, and various other expenseos and payment's have had to he provided for. This unfortunate bankruptcy, so notorious for the litigation to which it gave rise, took place in November, 1525. 'I'M bank, however, had amplest payment a year previously, and ti., estate wan being d up by trustees nominated by the cre ditor's, when a docket was ittruck, and the Sinn ohs-tared bank ' ulna. Tim validity of the fiat wax olimputesi by Mr. Chambers on the ground that lie had not ems tttt itted any act of bankruptcy, and it series of trials took place, In which all the first legal talent of the day was engaged, to den. ' • this apparently simple ;mint. These contests occupied die different court* for a period of ten years. On the lent trial, in the co ourtof Queens Bench at West• ttt ill %ter, in 11435, after a hearing of two daps, a compromise was effected, by which, in cointidenttioon of 2b,totit, Mr. Chattiberw admitted the Set of bankrupts.) ; but the validitf of the banks ruptcy was still liable to be disputed by other pastiest, and indeed our person 'lid coin/title to contest it for 114/111.• years afterwards. The various Chancery suite in which the different estates hail Immo involved, and the judgments which had been obtained at:anion Mr. chambers, had then to be cleared off. Indeed, the property load, to Inman expression of the late N'ice•Chouteellor of floglatid in reference to it, got into such a elate of " brangle. :Actor that it seemed ittopoesible to extricate it. The most int portion. suit was that which involved the question whether Mr. I 'lmilibers was the purchaser or only mortgages. in possession of the operwhouse, now t•alleol her Majesty's Theatre. This wits tilt linately decided in favour of the assignees on an appeal to the I lone of Lords, in 104.0. Itefoore this took place, however (viz., m is:go), three of the original tiro useigni•ea having died, the creditors determined on apis tinting three essimices in their place, in the hope that this might have sonic effect in bringing tut tiers to a ..4.llellanion. The estates, however, hail got into studs bad odour from the litigation that had taken pliwo, and that wioleli watt still pending. that great difficulty was experienced In getting any one to undertake the task. Three gentlemen, how ever, at length consented to he named, and they were chosen by the creditors. Throat were the late Mr. Renew, Mr. Leigh, and Mr. Artis. The late Mr. ll'unilusti was then appointed solicitor is. the estate. Every effort was made by him too bring the mass of litigation In which it was involved to a 'Nomination; and he suceeedrit in etleeting a aide of the Opera-hound, after the de. vision of the !louse of IMNIN in favour of the sossigneets. In de. 1i4.15, Mr. Iliuniltion died, suit the assignees then appointed iise their solicitor. Since that time I have spared no pains in carrying ont that wind* lied been s' `IICI d—vir., the bringing t o a colichigion as speedily as 14414001 e, coo patible with the in• trrests of the creditors, the litigaC then existing, and realising the estates for their benefit. When I lerhask the business, the male of the Otot•ralto wise (the title to which was very c011ipli• cat eil, from the ClistscerV pro WeCtliligH NMI other matters in whirl' it was Involved) 1.0.1 to 110 completed. These difficulties were got over by a new lease toeing granted miller the direction of the I 'nun of ChlUleery, RIO a itoo.l title was thlis Miele to that property. The various julignit•iits against the estates had to be got rid of before they could be sold. some of th em , were Cr. tonged, and against others N perpetual injlitic ' was granted by the Lord Chuncellor after every mesas had been tried to get them bAlligtied in the courts of common law. The other estates acre thus set free; and I , ,nut. Chancery suits, its which they were also involved, having been imeeessfully terminated, the estates were all sold. The question as to the joint and separate property, lo was CklN`l'lell VI give riee to di litigation, was .peedily and satisfactorily settled, and at a small expense. In November, the assignees were enabled to declare a first dividend of as. in the pound, and since then two others have been declared. The last matt s•r—ol Mllil or ('handers and Watera—iti tool%inga gliontion of Nee4eitit between Mr. Chambers and the law Mr. Waters, wlsi.h had belts ll4ll.linp for twenty years, lon ing been rt.reittly tlec!tleol in fen' oottr of the assignee... of Ilp.aends of :14,01001. has is•o•tt recovered for the estate, awl the assignee* arc now eitabbsi to declare the present final dividend, which will, with the prt•vionts dividends, much exceed the amount the estate was ever expected to pay. The CommissioxEit asked if there were any ori ginal creditors to receive the benefit of the final dividend ? Mr. lEsetx was afraid not. Odbooking through the list he could see little but executors and trustees . The original creditors now alive were very few indeed. The CONIMISSIONER said he supposed that a good many of the debts due to the estate had been dis posed of before this time. Mr. ESPIN replied that a great many of them hind hum bought up. One person bought MANI/. worth at in the pound. The debts had been sold at varionv prices—some at so low a rate as half-a-crown in the pound. The CommisstowEn trusted that this might be a solitary case both in the expense of litigation and in its protracted durst• . Mr. ESPIN said that some of the litigation con nected with the ease dated so far as 11407—long be fore the bankniptcy. The t•oitMlsstoNEn said lie attributed no blame whatever to the assignees, or to those who repre sented them. lle only referred to the s t a t e o f th e law ender• which such evils had arisen. " CoNsrinAt - v" /'.we, arising tent of the sliviite concerning witgev between some of th e working printers and Messrs. Tallls, (lune on for trial at the Central Criminal court on IVednesthly SATURDAY, am. The defendants were eight men, named Francis Friend, James Friend, Robert Brend, Joseph Har per, John Robinson, Martin O'Connor, Thomas Clark, and John Cockrell, and they were charged with unlawfully conspiring together to procure the dismissal of a fellow-workman from his employment. - - It appeared that the defendants were employed in the estab lishment of Mr. Jackson, • copper-plate printer in the city or I.melon. and the prosecutor was a pereon named Fredeiick siweice, who is also &journeyman copper-plate printer. Spence had formerly been employed in the establishment of Mr. Tullis, in which there had shortly before been some disagreement be. tween the workmen and their employer, which ended in • strike; and iu consequence of Spence and some tither workmen iu the trade tailing employment at Messrs. Tanis' s, they had becom e obnoxious to the other members of the trade. Spence was after wards engaged et Mr. Jackson's, and after he had been in the service two or three days he observed that the defendants, who were all workmen employed on the establishment, held upon two occatdous what was called iu the trade a " chapel," from which he was excluded, and, when he was paid his wages at the end of the week, Mr. Jones, the foreman, discharged him. lle sus. peeled that the conferences held by the defendants had refer ence to him, and, on asking the foreman for an explanation, was referred to the defendant Francis Friend, who said there were two reasons why he and the other inns declined to work with him, one of which was, that he had worked at Mr. Tanis's, which was a house they disapproved of; and, secondly, that h e b e . longed to a society which they did not acknowledge. lit conse quence of these proceedings, the prosecutor was dischtuved from the service of Mr. Jackson; but it appeared that, in a day or two afterwards, he obtained a situation in souther establish. meat, where he was still engaged. Spence was called to prove the above facts, hut was unable to give any evidence as to what took place upon the occasion of the conference between the defendants. Mr. Jones, the foreman, on being examined, assigned as his reason Mr dismissing the prosecutor, that there was a dieineii• nation tot the part of the other workweu tummy:late with him, and that he would consequently have been very uneotnfortable if he hail remained iu the service; and, being also aware that he had another situation to go to, he considered it better Mr his own sake that he should diseharge him. . . Mr. Baron Mao:town expresse* - I an opinion that npun these facts the present indictment could not be sustained. All that appeared to he proved was, that the defendants, tOr come reason or other, declined to associate with the prosecutor. Defendants' connect said they were imitructed to state that this was really all their clients intended to do. The prosecutor was a disagreeable person, and therefore they would nut amidst* with him. A verdict of Not aunty wa,4 then taken, and the defendants were immediately discharged. THE WHEELWIRIOTIT GRENNEY, who was lately committed for an attempt to murder his wife by cut. ting her throat, was tried at the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday. The poor woman has had a narrow escape with her life, having only recently been pronounced out of danger at the hospital, where she had remained for several weeks under treatment through the severe wounds inflicted by the prisoner. His outrageous act was clearly proved, as well as the de liberation with which he had evidently planned it. lle was shown to have threatened to murder his wife some hours before he actually attempted the crime, and also to have selected the knife which he after wards used for that purpose. A verdict of Guilty having been instantly returned by the jury, The learned judge (Baron Alderson), in directing sentence of death to be recorded, said, that although the life of the prisoner was most justly forfeited to the law, it MIN hot his purpose, as far as his humble poser went, that the capital sentence should he carried out, and he should make a representation to that effect in the proper quarter. Tlw jury had performed their duty firmly and most properly, and he sus glad that they had not been induced to refrain from returning the only cenlict which it appeared to I they seer justified in giving upon the facts. There was no doubt that in a 11101110 It of brutal passion cons , oral 11110011 a 40111,1011 Its to his NW'S infidelity, for shish there did not appear !obe the slightest foundation, he hail committed a most cove{ e attack upon her, and it saw a providential vir e 1111 l stanee that her life had been spared. All the facts, how ever, mould he taken into consideration in the proper quarter, anal at present he should merely direct Pcnictire of death to be recorded. AFTER A " SELT.INO RACE " at the last Rochester and Chatham meeting, the winning horse, named Economy, was put up according to the rule and sold for 65/. The horse subsequently won another race, and, being of much higher value than the price given for it, two parties, named Iladlam and Price, have gone to law on the question of ownership. I adl am is a licensed victualler in Fleet-street, and appeared as plaintiff in the action. which was tried on Monday in the Queen's Bench. He said that the animal had been knocked down to him, that he had borrowed TO. from Price to make up the purchase money, and had asked him to enter his name as purchaser, be cause he (Hadlam) did not wish the public to know that he was its owner, and also fearing some unplea santness with his " missus " at home if the transac tion came to her knowledge. Afterwards Price re• fused to give up the horse, and the result of much wrangling between them was the present application to the agencies of the law : The defendant, a fanner mei horae•tlniner in lhlekinghan• shire. plated that the plaintiff and Ititnaelf had bid against radh other for the and that it had been Isioa.k.4l down to hint (defendant) for I;51. Ihe pl 'R's last bidding was, he believed, 011. Not hating enough. 1110IICV in luau pocket, except by a cheque, which was not a legal tender, he applied to the plaintiff for tha loan of Va.. which he obtained, and with it paid Mr the bora.. Ile sold it aaalll the same night for 1111 , more than lie had given. The next morning lie tendered the 451. he had borrowed to the Ile believed the plaintiff had laid SOM. to Wig. again t tilt. horse upon the Weat Kent Stakes, at whirh it rail in the .r. 1.0t.1 411111E1i .in aumming.lip. said the queation no% entirely one for the it eb•pcuded upon the credit they attached to t '0men...m..4 the plaintiff and dch•ttdaut. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for 100 puttees, allowing the defendant a bet off of 2:11.