Star. — London, England, 1809-03-02 00:00:00

p3Se for this wits, that the sureties might prove their debts under the communion, provided they paid them at any t i me before the final dividend. The effect of this would be, that the bankrupt would be exempt ; torn a ny liability for these debts upon obtaining his certificate. The second defect under the existing bankrupt los was , that the assignees were in the habit of using the bankrupts effects for their own advantage, and of speculeing with the property before the dividends, as if i t were theii own. The consequences, as he himself had witnessed, often were,' that the assignee became bankrupt, and the creditors had, in the end, on ly the remainder, after a bankruptcy upon a bank optcy. A remedy for this had been proposed some tame ago. in the House of Lords, and a bill brou g ht l i n to affix certain heavy penalties to the offence.— The object might be attained without so severe and troublesome an operation. Though the creditors had t h e power of appointing a bank where the property shou ld be placed, yet at present it often happened that they neglected to do this, and that the property rrnained under the controul of the assignees. The reme dy which he intended to propose.was, that if the cre ditors did not appoint a bank to receive the pro- Frtv, at an early period, the Commissioners • should be bound to do it—and that, if after that the assig ves should retain any part ofthe piopoty, it should be imperious upon.the CO wintissicmers to charge 20 per cen t. on the money so retained. He itnagined that this would be sufficient to prevent the abuse, or atleast that it would go a much greater way towards that desirable object thin any severe penalties that /n i g h t be enacted, The third defect in the system was, the expence eednreertaino of proceedings under commissions of bi n l c ruptee. In actions by the assignees to recover ifebts due to the estate, it was incumbent on them to prove an act of bankruptcy, and. a petitioning credi tor's debt, and in many instances the debtors of bank rupts were induced to withhold the payment of their debts, in the hope that the assignees might find it impossible to establish them. The remedy . which he would propose was, that in actions by the assignees, they should not he obliged toil provel the proceed lugs as above stated; unless the defendant gave no die some time before'that he meant to contest any of these points. And he Would also propose that the mode of recovering from the assignees should not be by action as at present—but by petition to the Chan cellor. The fourth Amendment which he would submit to the House, was, of all the other points, that of the greatest importance. This was, to take from the creditors the power which they possessed, without any controul, and without the obligation to assign a rea sm of refusing a certificate to the Bankrupt when they chose. He requested of the House to consider the situation of an uncertificated Bankrupt—he could squire no property, for whatever he-gained - might be instantly seized upon by the assignees—his indus try was lost to himself and to his country, and he was liable to be imprisoned for life for debts contract ed before the bankruptcy, which he . was unable to pay. By a statute in the early part ,of the reign of George the Second, this power was given to the Chancellor, but by a subsequent statute of the nine reign, it was enacted, that a bankrupt could not receivehis certificate without the consent of 4-sths in number and value of lioditors; so that how ever fair, honodrable, and b lameless, in a moral point of view, the conduct of a bankrupt might be, he was to labour under all the evils of the condition just mentioned, unless his creditors chose to relieve him. This choice often rested with a small number of the creditors, and sometimes the whole depended on a single creditor, whose debt bore a large proportion to that of the rest. But this was not the only hard ship to which the bankrupt Was exposed by the statute just.aUuded to. Any creditor who could - not prove under the commission, nor receive a dividend; Was yet admitted to refuse the certificate,: in order to give tact to his action. This involved the very serious msideration of imprisonment: for life for debt. On that point generally he would it this time say no more than this, that in his opinion a min could not do a greater service.,to his country, than to procure the abolition of imprisonment for debt altogether. 'lt was mischievous to - the individual--it"- was perniCious to the page a and the worst of it was, thit it made the creditof the judge in his own cause, and though the imprisonment might in many cases be just, yet It was certain, that in. many cases also it was most un jest. But with respect to an uncertificated bankrupt it was always unjust . ; for the only object of the pu nishment was to compel him to do that which the law rapposed impossible for hint to do, and what indeed it rendered it impossible fer him to do, unless be those to be guilty of a capital felony. The puuish rient therefore in this case must be unjust. Consider scat were the consequences—an irritated creditor, to ~ .1:orn the bankrupt might have given • some previous offence, and whom he must have offended, in de priving him of his legal claim, however innocent the bankrupt might be. When the consequences that might result from such a relative situation were con: silered—a man exposed without defence to the mercy 0. an enraged enemy—it would hardly be possible to appreciate the extent of mischief which such a state of things was calculated to produce. The certificates were often withheld from the innocent, and given to the fraudulent bankrupt; for in fraudulent commis sions it seldom happened tharthe certificate was re f-lied. These certificates were often withheld for the purpose of extorting an advantage over the other cre &tors, as facts constantly recurring sufficientlT prov e). The law, it was true, gave several securities to tie great body of creditors, against such practices, bit still they prevailed to a considerable extent. This held out a temptation to fraud to which no bankrupt ought to yield, certainly, but of which it . was tremely impolitic to permit the existence. The temp-_ ration was too often indeed sufficient.to overcome the moral principle. The parent was often tempted to assist the child, and the child the parent, in an im proper way ; and it was notorious that cases of this kind were constantly occurring. But there was ano ther temptation to which the defect.in question ex posed the bankrupt, and that was to avoid making a fill disclosure of his effects. When the creditors came `award to prove their debts, the bankrupt was sensi - Me how m uc h h e was i n their power, and •did not •,;.ve that assistance in examining the debts, which ruder other circumstances he mgi ht: be inclined to do. And a case had occurre d the other day in tle court t ncery, where it - i a rpred tli d t a creditor hq h r td s s e u ci gg t e o st sign* ed 6 :d at i e et e o ca be sa the th f e ac B t noakartu head Was endeavouring to prove a larger debt than was due to him. There also existed another motive to withhold the certificate. The bankrupt, until he ob tained the certificate, could not be • a witness in any thing that related t o the estate —and the creditors who had any contest with respect to it, often refused to sign, in order to prevent the testimony upon which the verdict, and the justice of the case might depend. Within a period of three or four years, there were more cases where certificates had been withheld than where they were granted. In the year 1605, there were 940 commissions taken out, and of these 489 were uncertificated. In• 1806, there were 1084 com missions taken out, and of these 601 were uncertifi cated.—ln the last twenty years, there were 16,202 commissions taken out, and of these 6597 remained without certificate. The evil had been found to be of such magnitude, that a temporary re l ief had some times been given. In 1772, and afterwards in 1778, Bills were passed to compel creditors • to give certifi cates, unless they could shew that there was some thing fraudulent in the conduct of the bankrupts ; but this relief was confined to cases that had occur. red ions to these periods. This plan of temporary relief, was certainly not one that ought to be resorted to, if it was possible to discover a remedy of another description. If the thing was unjust at all, it was always unjusi, and therefore the remedy ought not to be temporary, but permanent. In Ireland these temporary measures had been adopted more frequently than in this coun try. Bills of this kind were Passed in 1786, in 1797, and then in 1799, being an interval of only two years. A Bill, was next passed 1800, being only an interval of one year • so that, in Ireland, had it sot been for the Upion , t he plan was in a fair way of be coming the subject of- an annual law. But, since the Uruan,no such temporary Act had been passed, and the distress that must have been produced by this sus pensiOn of a remedy, the nature of which proved the necessity of some remedy, might be easily imagined. The remedy he would suggest was not to take the power out of the hands of the creditors ; but that, if the certificate was withheld for two years, the bank rupt might petition the Chancellor to allow the certi ficate, while the creditors might shew cause why the certificate should not be granted. The Chancellor would decide upon the merits and allow the certifi cate, provided there appeared no good reason to the contrary. The only objection to this remedy, as far as he could judge, was the additional expense which it would occasion in these proceedings ; and in order to obviate this, he would propoLt that the additional process should be exempt from taxes. Of all taxes, those which were imposed on law proceedings were the worst, with the exception of lotteries. Such taxes were perhaps popular, however, and therefore they had been but little considered. But, a very little consideration would shew how excessively hard it was to subject to heavy taxation, without distinction of fortune, those who only incurred these taxes in the struggle to do themselves justice. It was his inten tion to make this part of the Bill, not only prospec tive but retrospective. It might be asked, however, why, when a law was proposed for the protection of the honest bankrupt, something was not done to protect the creditor against the dishonest bankrupt, and to prevent the frequency of fraudulent bankruptcies ? To this he could only ansWer, that at present he had no remedy to pro pose but one, which he rather thought the House would not adopt. The only remedy he could con ceive was; to render the law more efficacious, by making it less severe- The cause of the frequency of fraudulent bankruptcies he believed was, that the fraudulent bankrupt was, upon proof of the fact, liable to lose his life. He had already stated that there had been up wards of 16,000 commissions taken out in 20 years ; and though instances were every year occurring of bankrupts withholding their property, there had been, in the space of 80 years, only three prosecutions, and only one executed—he believed about the year 1759. Another had-been convicted, from a mistake as to the facts o( the case ; but these being represented in in their proper light to his Majesty, he had extended his mercy to the bankrupt in question. There never perhaps existed a stronger instance of the inefficacy of laws owing to their severity. Was it surprising thatlew persons were found to prosecute, when for an offence of this nature the punishment was death ? Under such circumstances bankrupts were under the strongest temptations to withhold their property. — This was bad ; but at the same time in point of moral guilt, veis it worse than the case of a man who in a higher station withheld - his property from his creditors, and spent it in personal gratifications ? If the law had been less severe, it would have been more enforced, and the end would have been attained in a much greater degree. The objects which Le had in view would make a very material alteration in the Bankrupt Laws. The best method of proceeding, he imagined, would be to bring in the Bill, to have it read a first time, and to get it printed, and then to put off the second read. ing to a distant day. But he hoped that no one would require that the postponement should be beyond a month. He should be very sorry if the bill did not pass with every possible speed. Every day's delay was the cause of imprisonment and misery to a great number of individuals. If such. a Bill had been passed at the beginning of the present reign, what misery might it not have prevented ? What an increase of industry might it not have vroduced ? What wealth might it not have raised ? How many persons who had passed their lives in poverty and distress might have been in a respectable situation! How many might have recovered their rank in life, and paid all the just demands upon them ? There were some other objects of minor importance which he had in view, such as to prevent the vexatious con sequences that often arose from secret acts of bank ruptcy. He, meant also to provide that bankrupts might be competent witnesses without releasing the sums to which they might be entitled in case their property came to a certain amount. He also in tended to propose an alteration in legal executions in cases of bankruptcy , He concluded .brinoving .for leave to bring in a Bill to alter and amend t &c., The mo tion was agreed to, :fowl Sir Samuel -An ! rainy and, Mr.. H ti lkilattin were inn • ted to brining . feat. THE EVENING STAR. LONDON. THURSDAY, MARCH 2. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK : s per Cent. Consols, money, 671 f—for acc. 67; 68. 3 per Cent. Red. 641 68-4 per Cents. 83H Bank Stock, 2 7 51 7 246 0 F STOCKS YESTERDAY. Imperial Ann. 7 9-16ths per Cent. Red. 68ft Omnium 1 prem. S per Cent. Cons. 671i{ India Stock 1841 4 per Cent. 841 831 S per An Cent. I NyY India Bonds, I is. 12s. pre. 13- 99 1 h 9 5 91 Ex. Bills 9s. 12a. pre. Long Lottery Tickets 211. 19s. Imperial 3 per Cent. 67 Cons. for acc. 6811 Accounts were yesterday received at the Admiralty of the Brest Fleet having put into Rochelle. The dispatches were brought to England by the NAIAD, Captain DtiDAs. The first port made by the NAIAD was Falmouth, where the Captain was landed, when he immediately set off for London. The NAIAD proceeded for Plymouth where she has since arrived. The CALEDONIA, of 110 guns, Admiral Lord GAM I BIER'S ship, had also arrived at Plymouth before the . Mail of Wednesday left that place ; but as no salute was fired on her arrival, it is probable the Admiral was not on board, and that he may have shifted his flag to some other ship. The intelligence brought by these ships is briefly this :—The Brest Fleet, consisting of eight sail of the line and two frigates, having put to sea, appears to have been joined, as it passed L'Orient, by four sail of the line and six frigates from that port, and then to have proceeded for Rochefort, whence they were to be joined by three sail of the line, one ship of 50 guns, and two frigates.—The combined squadrons then consisted of fifteen sail of the line, one 50 gun ship, and ten frigates—a respectable force, and with which they no doubt expected to accomplish some brilliant Their first intention seems to have been to surprise Admiral STOPFORD, to whom the blockade of Roche fort had been entrusted, and whose force consisted of only four sail of the line ; but in this as well as in whatever might have been their ulterior destination, they have been completely foiled. It is probable that the orders by which the co operation of their different squadrons was to have been secured, were transmitted along the coast by the Telegraphs ; and, to a certain extent their efforts were well combined : but the NAIAD, which was the look-out frigate to the Northward of the Bay, ob served the Brest Fleet, and having communicated by signal the approach and force of the enemy, Admiral STOPFORD made sail to another part of the Bay; so that when the enemy reached his former station they found the hoped for prizes were gone ! In the mean time intelligence of the movement of the enemy had been communicated, by our cruizers, to our different Commanders, and Admiral BERES- FoRD joined Admiral STOPFORD with three sail of the line. The ships that had been blockading Brest and L'Orient soon joined,'and the enemy found themselves pursued by 15 sail of the line and some frigates. These movements were so quick that the enemy could hardly be considered as having actually effected the complete junction of their squadrons. The C/RSAR, of 80 guns, and the AMELIA, of 36 guns, succeeded in cutting off three of the L'Orient frigates, and had driven them into Basque Roads, where they had en gaged them. One of our letters states, that before the accounts' came away, they had captured one of them, and driven the other two on shore; but this we rather doubt, as we think that such a circumstance, if known at the Admiralty, could not have been omitted to be mentioned in the subjoined Note, which was sent to Lloyd's yesterday evening : FALMOUTH, FEB. 27. Sailed his Majesty's ships h Sam a and the N•NPAREIL on a cruise. Arrived a French shooner from Rochelle, for Martinique, with provisions, prize to his Majesty's ship 'hew's ; a French brig (prize) is now making tor, theharbour, she is supposcd armed from her appearance.—Wind E. PLYMOUTH, FEBRUARY tt B.* Came in the. Goode Werwagting, BRNTR, from London ; Nord Star, QUDZRDEY E, from London ; Famera, GARBUTT, from Fal mouth for Corunna, but now bound to London; Wilberforce, DRISCOLL, from Dublin, with provisions for this port ; Good Statesman, GuiLLE a, from Exeter and this part, bound to &Lica and Gibraltar, laden with sugar and other goods. In going front Plymouth Pool last evening, to proceed on her voyage, she struck against an anchor, or some other hard substance, and immt.diately filled with water, by which accident, great part of the sugar will be lost, and the other goods damaged —The San Josef Spanish brig, from South America, with sugar and cocoa, met with a simi lar accident, and her cargo is much dasuagrd,in the Ground Tier. MI om Brest, of eight sail of the line Rear-Admiral Ds COIXCET'S flag . has ise;iii7i;itTecifi;n the TONNANT, of 84 guns, to the Dtm.fa, of 38 gm - s. in which ship . le Rochefort, of three sail of the kb said he is going to the Brazils. Caine in the QUEBEC, of 36 ins, and two frigates ; and the guns. from Portsmouth. ail of the line and six frigates, are Sail ed the o Intelligent and , Encounter gun brigs, on a cruize ; and the Dolphin , 44, Capt. Watson, with n e with neat® 5 marlin's on e British squadron from off Brest board, for our fleet in the lArest Indies. PORTSMOUTH, FEB. 28. listing of 15 sail of the line, are in s ailed his Majesty's sloop Go 'AA ws, . u ith a convoy for NAAR, of 80 guns, and the AMELIA, Guernsey. t 4 MAaCH I.—Atrived the *Milani Dent, Muss osr ; and the t off three frigates of the L'Oriettt Vicissitude, Gociosta, for Jamaica, both from the Do wng riven them into Bas Roads, .where Sailed his Majesty ' s ship Racoon, on A cruize ; Tatl.LONAa . nd .l $ t} em, wit 4 the hope of capturts ' g Trtmcd"cotri-vioory the Downs„. s Hi...M,.:.l . estr_s•brig Limner. - is ap- . r 1 I fo r the D o rms.—V ! y a S. W . • (COPY.) " Admiralty-Office, March 1, 1809. 44 Information has been received of the squadron gg which lately sailed from Brest having entered 66 Basque Roads on the morning of the 24th ult." " PLYMOUTH-DOCK, FEB. 28. gg The CALEDONIA, 112, Admiral Lord GAMBIER, arrived in Cawsand Bay this day, at noon ; as there was no salute fired, I presume Lord GAIIIIIIIII has shifted his flag. " The Brest Fleet has escaped into Rochefort.— The NAIAD frigate, which arrived here this day, states, however, that they had a hard run for it ; and that three of their stoutest frigates were cut off by two of our headmost ships—two were driven on shore—and the third taken.—A sufficient force has been left to blockade them. 44 5 P. M.—A large French privateer brig is just coming into the Sound but . I cannot learn 'the par ticulars of her capture iriiiitte for this night's post." " PLYMOUTH, FEB. 28. " Arrived the CALEIVIIIA t of 110 guns, Admiral Lord GAMBIER, from off L'Orient; also the NAIAD, of 36 guns, from the Channel fleet, with dispatches, which have been forwarded from Falmouth. The reports said to be brought by the NAIAD are, that the French squadron from Brest, 1* and two frigates; the IL line, one of 50 guns, L'Orient, of four sail of at sea, and that the B 6 and L'Orient„ consistin; pursuit : that the CMAAR, of 36 guns, had cut off division, and had driven , they Were engaging them, • or destroying them. Tt is alto repqrtid, tha t t whole of the CoMbined Squadron vre since got into Rochefort : they sailed the £Sd, fkori.the difretent ports." To the above we have not yet the irteans'of adding any other particulars. The Intention of the' enemy most probably was, first to join the .Brest, L'Orieni, and Rochefort squadrons, as we have already stated.; with this force to capture Admiral STOPFOAD'S ships ; and then to proceed together to Ferrol, and having joined the Spanish ships there, to direct their course to Cadiz, there to join'the Toulon fleet. But their object, whatever it was, has been completely frustrated; anti the only effect their movement has produced, 1:i only to change the place of blockade from Brest to Rochefort. In the preceding columns our Readers will and ex tracts from French papers to the 15th, and Dutch to the 19th ult. From the 32d Bulletin, given in these papers, it appears that on the 27th of January, eleven days af ter the battle of Corunna, the French entered Ferrol. The shipping in the harbour was found such as we recently stated.it to be ; and the most effectual mea swrgs.have, as we learn from a Madrid letter, been sine taken to render its equipments complete, and tbe•whole of it ready for service, by the mission of the traitor MAZAREDO, with a special commission to that port and that of Corunna. Any resistance given to the French at Ferrol was by the people only. The civil, naval and military au thorities are described as having taken the oath of allegiance to King JOSEP/I with enthusiasm ? What a picture of the profligacy of those who have hitherto tyrannised over the peasantry of Spain I The people to the number of eight thousand, collecting from the vicinity, or rising in the streets of Ferrol, were anxi ous to repel their invaders, but were first betrayed by I a double summons secretly sent from their Governor to the enemy across the mountains, and were after wards surrendered by a perfidious capitulation signed on the 26th. In one part of the Bulletin, the people are slandered as having inflicted the greatest sufferings on their superiors, while in another, although popular vengeance is generally very decisive, they are al lowed to have been content with the arrest of Admiral OBREGON, a creature who is now acting under the French at the head of the Arsenal. This is not the first time we have had to remark the perfidy of the higher ranks in Spain.—Can the people ever be cursed with masters more regardless of their safety than many of those who have been entrusted with their affair ? The entrance of King JOSEPH into Madrid is de scribed in such terms as might be expected, and the addresses presented to him only tend to confirm the opinion we have formed of the Spanish character. Yesterday, about two o'clock, his MAJESTY held a private Levee at the Queen's Palace. His MAJESTY also held a Privy Council, at which Lord BROWNLOW was introduced, and sworn in Lc rd- Lieutenant of the County of Lincoln. His MAJESTY gave audiences to the Duke of PORTLAND, and the rest of the Cabinet Ministers ii•re.ent. Yesterday being the anniversary of the Titular Saint of Wales, the Honourable Society of Ancient Bri tons, attended by their President, the Right Hon. Lord KIRKWALL, the Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and Stewards, preceded by a band of music, went in pro cession to-St. Ann's Church, Soho, where an excellent sermon, appropriate to the occasion, was delivered by the Rev. Mr. BUSHFIELD, Chaplain to the Right Hon. Lord MULGRAVE. During Divine Service, the following select pieces of music were performed, viz. Piercy's Te Deum and Jubilate Anthem, composed by Dr. BOYCE for the Sons of the Clergy, in which the Solo, 4 I did weep,' was sung . by Mr. Er.worr, principal singer at the Foundling, in the most chaste and correct style. After the sermon, HAIDECS Zadock the Priest,' concluded the performance.— ' PIRACY was at the organ, aad conducted the whole I with his usual attentior. We are happy tot t ite, that an exprecs has been re ceived 'from Admiral WHITSHED, at Cork, with the news of the safe arrival of the John transport, with several officers and men on board. The John was one of the transports in General SHERBROOKE'S Expe dition ; she was the only one missing, and great ap prehensions were entertained for her safety, as she parted in a very violent gale of wind. Among the officers on board was the Honourable Captain HooD, son of Lord HOOD. This morning, at three o'clock, a fire broke out -in the premises of Messrs. Rurr, drug-merchants, on Addle hill, Thames-street, which consumed partof the tenement in which the fire commenced, but did no other damage, in consequence of the timely arrival of fire-engines from all quarters. CORK, FEB. 2t. .... . . The expedition to sail from this port, will be under the emu, mand of Major General BERISFORD. It will consist of six re giments ; their destination is not mentioned. The transports have not yet arrived for their embarkation. The troops under Major General SitERSILOOKI still remain at Cove, waiting for in structions to proceed on their destination. The wind Is now fa vourable. V 1.1