Star. — London, England, 1816-07-12 00:00:00

• r." 7 `r .- ~' _-• . . • OR OD C ZREMON "i tat Louie MAYOR , Aldermen, and c oco a with a great number of Nobility _ a d nisiScrn eknt e r , met at Guildhall to witness the Presen m' " e e teedom of the City to the Dukes of log otlie lk l 3l Ex a nd Geoticteree, and the Prince of o. ibe is i llig iy e ets ?leading to Guildhall, especially Cheap. Kiete.street, were crowded at an early - hour 113 ,1 4u " . ges and pedestrians, ever to ire the Royal es well as the Prince of Count : so, and the Dd e , eg ee emoyota, whO was also expected. This Luke w• ion however, was not gratified. Each of Mgt ° Rffil l Personages experienced, as he passed, the testi monies of popular respect and reteard ; but ~lestimonies Were, we observed, peculiarly loud gad Went towards the Duke of SUSSEX and -the H o e of Cosovere In those testimonies, indeed the iiat e esew ho occupied the carriages and the windows if t h e several houses, joined with great apparent A b ea r three o'clock Guildhall was thrown open, t o a l t hough none were admitted. without cards, s te ed by authority of the Lout Meyon, it was very 0 0 filled, for the most part with Ladies. The Ladies w ee d principally occupied a great proportion of the . ge r which was set apart for the accommodation of d, common Council. The hustings were also in a r oneesere filled by Leslie', among whom were re al of high rank. 4 etrandovhsch was placed in the gallery, played, the entrance of each of the Royal Personages, who e el conducted to the Council Chamber, where they r em re ceived by the LORD MAYOR and Aldermen. Abut half after lour o'clock, the Lottu IsleS4on, pea led by the City Officers, and followed by the lakes of KENT, SUSSEX, and GLouctsran, and the Mae of CWIOURG, accompanied by their respective eidele•Camps, or attendants, and followed by the M i kftlrft and Common Council, proceeded from the N it wit Chamber to the Hustings, where each of the loyal Personages was received by the company with i ppropriate demonstrations of respect and esteem. Upon the application of the proper Officer, the pokes of Kese, Sussex, and GLoucasean, approached stable placed in the centre of the hustings, and the et t onberlain having read to their Royal Highnesses the Resolutions of the Corporation, conferring upon them the Freedom of the City, that Freedom was presented to each in a gold box, after each bad taken the oath of a Freeman. The Dee of Kur expressed his warmest acknow. leigemente fur the high honour which the justly re. stetted Corporation of London had thought proper weeder upon him, adding, that he felt this honour' the more highly, as it was his lot to receive iedoring thellayeraLy of it Magistrate whom lie personally melded iu conseeptence, not merely of the kindness 41 courtesy watch he had experienced from his Lordship, but from the known indepetuleace of his Lordship's principles, and the active benevele ,ce of his dispositien. Those principles, and that disposi. ties, he had had repeated opportunities of witnessing, but especially in the course of his humble eeertions to promote the interest of certain charitable institutions in chi City, to aid which the person and purse of the Lord Mayor had 'never been found %venting.— (eiet- Awes). —Several distinguished individuals had, his Ifroyal Highness - Observed, been recommended to the `Freedom of this great City, by signal services ten heed to the country, and it was impossible for any Englishman to envy the honours which such services nteined. But all he could say, destitute as he was If similar pretensions, that he would endeavour to deserve the eminent distinction which he had just re. (cited, by doing all in his power for the benefit of the City of London, and performing the duties which became a Freeman. The Duke of Sussex followed, and said, that he highly appreciated the honour which he had just re ceived. It was always his ambition to deserve the at tention of the City of London, and he was very na turally proud of this distinguished testimony of its ap probation. Such a testimony must indeed be an emi nent object in the estimation of any man, but it was peculiarry gratifying to his feelings to have his name enrolled with that justly respected personage, Prince Frederick, the Father of out present Illustrious Sove reign, who was truly denominated by one of our most theinguished poets as 46 The friend of merit and mankind."—(efmkearer.)— He could nut, he said, beast of any distinguished services to his country that could entitle him to the honour with which be had been favoured ; but he wee always happy to co-operate with his fellow Citizens in pro moting the interests of the several Charitable In stitutions of this City, which were an ornament to the country, because they contributed to the relief of the poor ; and this signal mark of the City's VW bition would form an additional stimulus to his cur-, lions. His Royal Highness assured the Lord Mayor, + Ire whom he expressed the highest regard, that no. Miag should ewer be warning in zeal or exertion on' his parr to repay the very high obligation which the City had conferred upon him, oe to chew himselt not beworthy of its regard, by an ardent adherence to its interests, and an active support of the principles of the British Constitution. The Duke of GLO::CESTER, in expressing his grati tude for the hor.our he had received, declared nothing mold have afforded him more sificere. gratification. Re highly appreciated 'the value of the Freedom of the City, and knew not by what act of his life he could here deserved so magnificent a present—but if the most perfect devotion to that Constitution which bad made this country the envy and admiration of all surrounding nations—if attachment to those prim &plea which had placed his family on the throne of theme realms—if sincere anxiety for the prospetity of , eleeity of London, a n d a fervent desire that all their privileges might be transmitted unimpaired to their Posterity, could entitle him to their notice, then he might have some little claim to the honours berowed ° MI, him this day. No man could be more anxious matt himself for the welfare of that great Corpora ; and no man could feel more gratified than be 4 1 0 00 the present occasion. j i lt Prince of SAYE CODOURO was then invested "Ith the Freedom of the City, and went through the listed forms as the preceding speakers had done, the Duke of KENT acting as interpreter between his 4 21 8 1 Highness and the CIIMOZBLAIN. After taking the oath and receiving the box, be addressed the 441 W pi/Alton, and produced a paper, which he - read tide a good accent, in whith be returned thanks for o r,. . . the honour he had received, *Mtn must beie bet% grateful to any man, but whiih, from the situation its which he stood. was peculiarly so t o hi m. He finished by expressing an ardent wish for the continuance of the prosperity of the City. The business of the meeting here closed, and the PRINCES, the Lonn MAYOR, and Aldermen, left the . HAll in state. at they had entered. They pmeeeded to the Mansion Tiouse„tehere an elegant dinner was provided by the Loan Nlavon for the Royal Doh; and a select party of about fifty. Every species of elegance and splendour were displayed on the elm• ,ion, and the Royal Guests appeared much gratified with the reception they experienced. Alter dinner the LADY MAYORVA had a numerous everiin'. patty, consisting of not less than 2110 XI per sons, arn-ng whom were many distinguished fo• reigners, but we did not observe any of the Ministers. The Royal Guests did honour to their host by their hearty and friendly enjoyment of his fete; but the Duke of Sussks was the only one of the Royal Party who danced. The Prince of Saxe-Comeau retired about half-past eleven, and was soma followed by his illustrious relatives. •frdic'. LAW ISTELLIMNCE. ADMIRALTY COURT, JULY 11. THE KING V. T. HARRIcONb This was a criminal prosecution invitated by his Majesty against the defendant, on a charge of wilful disobedience of the orders of convoy. Capt. Harrison was Master of the merchant vessel Harmony, destined from Guernsey to Dublin ; and on the 21st Novem ber last, she, with other merchant ships, under the convoy of one of his Majesty's cutters, sailed from Guernsey, on which day, in the evening, the offence charged was stated to have been committed by the defendant ; the consequence Was. the capture of his vessel on the next rooming by a Frenchichooner, but which was afterwards recaptured by the convoying ship. The Court had the assistance of a Trinity Master ih this case; who, in conjunction with the Court, stere of opinion that the signal of the convoy. ing ship Could not be seen by the Harmony at half past five o'clock in the evening of the 21st of Novem ber last. the Court accordingly dismissed the delen darn, from the suit. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, JULY 11. ADAM AND ANOTHER V. LEIGH AND ANC/IHBR. This was an action against the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex for a raise return to a writ of 5. fa issued against the goods of Lord Alvanley, for a debt of 56857, due by his Lordship to the piaintiff.— The defendants had returned nalits Lora, and it was alleged on the part of the plaintiffs; utat the defen dants had seized goods enough to satisfy the de mand, but that they had released the property taken in execution. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL having stated the CM to the Jury, and produced admissions, which proved' the liability of the defendants, , Mr. Scant.yrr, on their behalf. stated that their defence was, that the goods on Lord Alvanley's prr. mists were exhausted by previous executions, before the execution in question was put in ; but he had no objection to refer the cause to some Gentleman of `the Bar, to we what was the justice of the cave. • It .teas accordingly agreed, that the cause should be referred. - - Lord Alvanley was upon the Bench, by the side of the Chief Justice, during great part of the morning. HODOKISSON AND ANOTHeIt V. 11A0OIRTY. This was an action brought by Messrs. Hodgkisson and Winton. haberdashers, of 13ond•srreet, against Mrs. Haggerty, a milliner and dress-maker, residing in Bulstrode•street, to recover the balance of a long. standing account for go•Id•; s.ld and delivered, amounting to £152, for £lOO of which the defen dant bad accepted a Bill. Mr. Scatu.l;•rr stated the case on the part of the plaintiff. It appeared that the defendant had a running ac count With the plaint:4*s from the year 1810, which she occasionally reduced by acceptances, as the con. venience of the parties suited•. Two young men in, the service of the plaintiffs proved the sale and delis very of the articles which made up the present ac count. On cr►ss-examination, it appeared that some of the articles consisted of French mechlin lace, and other contraband goods. It was denied that four pieces of twilled silk, comprehended within the ac count, were of French manufacture. The witness, however, admitted that they might have been boo ia by the defendant as French silk, but they were not se'd as such to her. Lord ELLENBOROVOII incidentally observed upon this part of the evidence, that the inference was, that the plaintiffs were either smugglers or cheats. The ATTORNEY-CAMERAL, as Counsel for the De. fendant, said he proposed to reduce the Plaintiffs' demand, by proving that a great part of the goods which they had sold to her were contraband, and had been seized by the RevenurOtllters. He comment ed upon the flippancy of the witness, who stated, that although the defendant might have purchased some part of the goods, as being of French manufacture, yet that they had not been sold as such : and he 'agreed in the propriety of the Noble and Learned Judge's observation, as applied to the case made out for the defendant. A great part of the goods which constituted the balance now demanded, had been seized by the Esc:se Officer upon -the defendant's premises as smuggled property and she had been obliged to pay a commuted penalty under the Excise Laws. It might be very true that the defendant had purchased some of the goods in question under a supposition that they were of French manufacture, yet that they were, in point of fact. manufactured in Spitaltields. It had occurred to him, from his occa sional residence on the coast, to know that marry deluded persons had purchased articles, of supposed foreign manufacture, which were, in truth, the pro duce of their own country. This circumstance, in a great measure, reconciled to his mind the system of apparent smuggling which was carried on upon the shores opposite the french coast; for, little did the purchasers of those articles which passed for French' commodities, dream. that, under the Idea that they were possessing themselves of foreign manufactures. they were, in truth, directly encouraging the arts and manufactures of their own country. '!'hose fisin Bandana handkerehiefs, and Mechlin laces, which they prized so much on account of their foreign origin, were, in truth, tbi genuine anaunlictore of Spitalficlds and Buckiughitmabite. *644 if the +cr;~t s' ' Roddy sold to the defendant by the plaintiff were not really contraband, they were sold pa such.. If, how., ever, it was proven that the goods so, sold were, in fact, contraband, the defendant would be entitled to have the demand against her reduced by the amount I of the articles, which he should prove to have been of that desctiption., Mr. John Haggetii, the son of the defendant, 'Wore positively, that at least three•fourths of the goods which formed the basis of the pres-nt demand were cnntrahsnd, and that a considemblp part of them were seized urn his mo'her's premises, for which she was exchequer . ad, and was compelled to pay 8100, as a mitigated penalty. Mr. Scmiurrr addressed the Jury upon the credi bility of this witness's evidefice, contending that be was not to be believed. LoTd &LC:BOROUGH chanted the Jury. that if the witness called tnt the Defendant was to be credited, the Plaintiffs' demand must be reduced by such por- tion of fle goods as were proved to have been con traband. There were, however, some articles which were not tainted by smuggling, and for the amount of such goods the Plaintiffs would be entitled to their The Jury, under his Lordship's direction, found a •erdict for the Plaintiffs.—Damages 8138. 14,5. CORDON V. LORD KIRKWALL. The plaintiff in this case was a silversmith ; and the present action was brought to recover thv suns of sell°, the amount of a Bill of Exchange, drawn by the plaintiff, and accepted brthe defendant_; and also a further sum of .1E36. ss. fur articles of piste delivered to the defendant's order, 'at his house, since . the time the bill was drawn. The hand-writing of his Lordship as acceptor of the- bill in question, and the delivery of a d. zest silver spoons, and a dozen forks. since that time, to his Lordship's order, were proved ; and the Jury found a verdict for the plain dif—Damages £146. ss. Costs 40s. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, JULY 11. WYATT V. GORE. This was an action brought by Charles Perkitt Wyatt, Esq. against Lieutenant-General Gore, Go vernor of the province of Upper Canada, for the publication of a false and malicious libel, and for having suspended the plaintiff fiom his office as Sur veyor-General of the. Crown Lands in that province, without any sufficient ground, whereby he sustained considerable damage. Mr. Serieant Bear conducted the prosecution. He said there were three grounds of complaint upon the record, first, that the plaintiff being Surveyor-Gene ral of the Crown Lands in the province of Upper Canada, had been suspended by the defendant, who was Governor General of the same province, from his office, without any just cause or reason ; secondly, that atter having so suspended the plaintiff, he wrote letters to the Secretary of State for the Colonial llr a!tment, containing such representations as pre **tee tote plaintiff from being festered! to Lis sittia don ; and thirdly, that the defendant publi.hed against the plaintiff a most false, scandalous, and infamous libel. The last part of the case he said lie should he' able to prove by the most complete and satisfactory evidence, and if he succeeded in substantiating it, Whatever difficulties he might find in getting over the other parts of the case, he should he entitled to claim large damages for his client. With regard to the 'Wand charge.- he would candidly state that it must fall, as it was not in his power to support it by evi• dente. The letters which the Governor wrote home to the Secretary of State had been applied for, but the Government refused to grant the use of them. They could not therefore be produced. He did nut mean to complain, neither did his client complain, rd that conduct un the part of Government. Nu doubt there were sufficient reasons for withholding them, an I he could indeed conceive many which r ndered it prudent not to have them publicly communicated. He should therefore confine himself to the first and third charges, both of which he had no doubt of being able to prove to the satisfaction of the Court and the Jury. It appeared that the defendant sus. pended the plaintiff from his office, and ut course deprived him of its emoluments, doing that, as he was prepared to contend, maliciously, and without any just cause or.pretence. The law upon that sub ject was clear and explicit. A Governor of a province or colony might, if he pleased, dismiss a person from his situation, or suspend him in the exercise of its duty, even thuugh there should be no adequate ground for it, provided it appeared that he thought there was an adequate ground at the time, and that he did it in the exercise of what he considered to be his duty Ito the Government at Thorne. Unless, therefore, he could prove, in the present case, that General Gore suspended Mr. Wyatt, knowing -that there was no cause for such suspension, but doing it from motives ,of malice and persecution. he should not be entitled Ito ask for damages. He was aware of the difficulty of such a proof, and k was one that could never have beers of over, but for the pamphlet which he held in his hand, which developed at once the reasons of General Gore's extraordinary conduct. In that pam phlet (the publication of which constituted the libel complained of in the last charge); be assigned his reasons for suspending the plaintiff, and it would be proved not only that all those reasons were false, but that General Gore knew them to be so at the time he assigned them. If a man did that which he had no right to do, and it could be shewn that he knew he had no right to do so, at the moment he did it, the plain inference was that he acted from malicious mo. fives. The Learned Selma then read extracts from the pamphlet, which purported to be a letter from General Gore to Lord Castlereagh, complaining of the con.iuct of certain factious and turbulent indivi. duals, whose intentions were to disturb the peace amd tranquillity of the province. Among those individuals the plaintiff was included by name, together with Judge Thorpe, Mr. Wilcox and others. The pam phlet appeared to -be a vindication of the conduct of the Governor, in reply to the complaints made by Mr. Wyatt and the other individuals. Having stated Vl* nature of their proceedings, as disaffected and sealitious persons, it proceeded to animadvert upon their effrontery in bringing their complaints before the public, alluding to their petitions laid before the House of Commons. In another part of the pam phlet it set forth that the plaintifrturned out of his office an oh' man who had been many years in the service, merely because be vowel for the Government, (an allegation completely false, for the individual in question had solicited permission to retire), and it further affirmed that Mlle plaintiff, having obtained a --~' „ 'rant of 1290..aeree of land, • he fixed, his eye upon 20t) acres. near Istiagaea, which. lied been erred ante tultivated, by a man Of .the nerneetif Young; a Ai., banded serjeant belonging to Butler's,. Rangers. Ihe plaintiff, supposing yoUng's title to the land tobe defective,'had set to .work, and in the. most oppres siie and unfair manner, robbed the. aged veteren., Qf Isis hard. earned rewards, and turned him tb brge gary. Ydung anon after•died, and left a large fae may in great distress. The case was mentioned to Governer Gore, who ordered 2n investigation to take place, aed was enabled to defeat the deep laid scheme. 44 Who," continued the Govern•r, in his' pamphlet, 44 after such acts could question thejustice and propriety of &Missing such a person from officer • • --Here then, said the Learned Serjeant, was a proof of the grounds on which the plaintiff had been dis missed ; and yet he would boldly affirm, because he. could support the assertion, that not one word Of the allegation about the lands at Niagara was known to General Gore at the time he sropended Mr. Wyatt. There was, indeed, some inquiry instituted after. wards, but that was when Mr. Wyatt had been sus peeded, had left the Province, and was on his way to England. There must, therefore, have been some . other reason, which the Governor did net dare to avow, as he had assigned a false one in* his own pamphlet. With respect to the case of the land at Niagara, he hid no hesitation in avowing that the Government at home, after having examined into ell the circumstances of it, completely exonerated Mr. Wyatt from every imputation upon his honour and integrity in the transaction. As to the charge against Mr. Wyatt, that he was a seditious arid dis affected person, and employed in disturbing the pith lie tranquillity, he would call persons of high rank, Mr. Thorpe, the Judge of the Province, and the At' torney-General of the Province, to prove that his conduct WAS most exemplary. it was insinuated, also, that the plaintiff had beer. intriguing with the Indians; but he should be able to call before the Jury the Chief of one of those tribes, a British sub. ject, who would prove there was no good ground fop that accusation. With respect to the last charge, the libel complained of, and parts of which he had just been.reeding, no justification could be set up. In a common man it would be held a high offence, to circulate a false and scandelees libel, and how much more ought it. to be so considered in the Governor of a Province, whose first duty it was to maintain the laws and to put down libellers. Yet General Gore ventured to circulate as foul a libel as ever was pub. lished. It c!largei the plaintiff with gross abuse in his office, with •being a traitor to the Government( and leaguing with disaffected persons. That the libel was false, he was entitled to assume, because no justilicatien was attempted by the defendant, which he might have done it he could have proved the truth of his assertions. ee.nd when was it that General Gore condescended to become this libeller Alter the plaintiff had been dismissed, after he was ruined, after lie had (pitted the Province ; then it was that the defendant played his ignoble pert, that he caused his libel to be rehired arid circulated, that he attempted to hunt down the character of a man whom he had already ruined by his wanton and in , . proper =duct. The office of which the plaintiff had been deprived was worth aheut £lOOO aotear ; and until he had vindicated his lame from she aim 'aspersions cart teem it by the defendant, he enield never hold any other office under Government.-- Those were the facts of the case, which be scald . now proceed to substanti •by evidence. Mr. William Friri was c General of the Pehvinee nt Upper Wi assee . fr. 7 n 7 rele :**- *.? a He l via' . .'' Fear 1807 t.. 1811. The peentiff had left the Pro vince betere he arrived there in 1807. The o ffi ce of Serveyor-General was one of great trust and goofie dence. Its duties consisted in regulating the location of lands, surveying them, and passing grants through the office. Toe fixed sal try was £3 Oa-year: The I perquisites made it much more. He remembered a conversation with the Governor-General, .soon after his (Mr. Frith's) arrival, respecting the conduct of Mr. Wyatt. Here the Court interfered, and observed that Mr, Frith was not to communicate any part of that cone vers dive which might be considered as growing outi of the official station he held in the Province. The witness continued, and deposed, that having called upon the Governor one day towards the latter end or the year 1809 4 he was shewn into the Govere • nor's library. That while there, General Gore took the pamphlet in question out of a box, which seemed to contain , a great many more, and gave it to the witless to real. He did not recollect whether any conversation toiik place on the occasion. He had seen other copies of the pamphlet in the hands of di& fer•nt Officers of Government. Cross.examined by Mr. Serjeant Leese--The wit ness had never seen the substance of the pamphlet in any of the public papers, and certainly nor in the paper called Ile Guardian. The Editor of that paper wee favourable to Mre Wyatt.. 1)r. Thorpe was next examined.—He held the si. tuation of dodge of the Province of Upper Canada. The plaintiff was there durinit some of the time that the witness was in Canada. He remembered the time of his suspension ; but did not remember any official inquiry taking place respecting the location of land at Niagara. The Gneedian newspaper was first pub lished alter Mr. Wyatt had left :he Province. There was no other press before that paper was set up, ex cept the Government press. Mr. Serjeant BEST was about to call Colonel Nor ton, the Indian Chief, to prove that there existed no underasinding between the Indian nations and the plaintiff ; but Mr. Seijeetit Less objected to his evi dence, in which objection Sir V. GIBBS concimed. Here the case closed for the prosecution. Mr. Serjeant LENS then rose on behalf of the de fendant, and contended that no case had been made out which proved the malicious or unjust motives of Geneva Gore, in suspending the plaintiff from his office. There was, in fact, no attempt to skew that any previous quarrel or hostility existed between the plaintiff and defendant, or that the former had, at 'any time, expressed a determination, under all cir cumstances, to remove the latter. In the absence of all such presumptive evidence, what possible cause • would be assigned for suspending Mr. Viper, but the existence to he considerationwhichofceittaiacausesof the we Governmentreultimately to be referred at home ? That course had been taken, and up to the to pre the e t d a y, the ths the j p u l r iu y nt w iff had oiiid noten es deternune r wh t a o t red. porting