Star. — London, England, 1821-02-22 00:00:00

~~.-~ . • •- .. t.r NU ISE' MOS.. LAW INTELLIGENCE. .. • - COURT OF ZING'S BENCH, FEBRUARY 11. THE KING V. HUNT. was an indictment against the defendant,' as twitter of a Newspaper, called The Examiner, for sma inserted in that Paper, on the 24th of July, lea reflecting on the House of Commons. The pi was written in strong language; and, after com seadag on the manner in which the House was con good, described it as rather meriting the character kody of criminals, than as guardians of the Public. The ATTORNIT-GINERAL opened the case to the j ury , and commented on the character and evil ten amcy of such a publication as that now under the c imideration -of the Jury. The Learned Counsel, deer erging all the usual topics, proceeded to call d►e mall evidence, to prove the publication, and that t he defendant was the Proprietor of the Paper in ck it appeared. Ibei-tendant read a long written paper as his de fuse ill which he contended, that his motive in this pa bli ca tiou was pure, and dictated by a wish to pro mote the, pabbe good. He denied that he had any ma sciots intention in this publication, or that he ia mbi& tc, lid or bring the House of Commons into contempt. He only spoke of them as they bad been spoken of before, by Burke, For, and other great met ; and be adverted to the avowed practicre of buy ing tad Jahns seats in Parliament, and to the con that 61 j.erd Castlereagh .an¢ others, as a proof of die truth of the assertions contained in the alleged lib& He concluded by declaring, he should confi de* trust himself in the bands of his Jurors for do* justice to his motives, and for an acquittal. The Cat JUSTICa summed up, and commented a the publication and its probable ettect ; and de tined himself decidedly of opiniowthat it was a libel. • The Jury retkcd, and lazier oemg out some time, Maude and put a question to his Lordship, as to the niteisitY of malice existing to constitute the offence. The Goias JINITICI said, absolute malice need not ivjegadi a man's motive for an act must be infer theeffectlikely to be produced by it. lbe Jury 'again retired, and in a few minutes re- Voiolwith a verdict of-Guilty. FLEICHIIR alias 'FRANKLIN, AND DLIMIS la *at ansindimment against the defendants for bag ptamodo with intent to render the people di:- agitated with the Government, and inciting them to Aim and revok, the paiticulars of which have been groxily detailed in our Police proceedings. Fletcher init. _absconded, did not plead ; O'Brien pleaded Not iftiftr. Mr. Piga/M stalcd theca* to the Jury. • Fmk, the printer, had known Fletcher some tithe, its ander the name of Oliver, and afterwards of ilstchim fa 1818 and. 181.9, he printed for him a umber of seditious some of which were tend, among them was the celebrated one issued at ; the period of the Smithfield Meeting, that to the un- Electors of Westminster, and a number Others equally inflammatory. Fletcher brought fat the manttscripts,pnd took away the printed bills. hcallects a person coming with Fletcher in 4 hack aptheach. Witness did not then know him, but now bows him to be Mr. O'Brien. Among the-hand ills printed by him for Fletcher, were the Letter to kr Francis Bnrdett's Jury, the Addressof the Queen's %a Committee, &c. The manuscripts of all the with osensception, were taken away by Fletcher. -Witness communicated the circumstances to Mr. --- ilosua, who came to his house, and - he poluted out Artdier to him Cross-examined.—Did not know Mr. Fletcher by iit name till after Mr. Pearson had him in custody ; blue that time he supposed his name was Oliver. riusess would not have printed these bills had he lot supposed himself secure, for Fletcher told him ie was safe, as he was employed by Lord Bathurst ad Mr. Canning. Witness was imprisoned for pub hhing a libel in 1809.; he was not at that time able re up his employer. Witness had reason to be kve the Gentleman who was with Mr. Fletcher, in Isly hist, was Mr. O'Brien, because he went to w here Kr. O'Brien resided. In conversation with Mr. Pear oo, he said, as he had not seen Mr. O'Brien since he w him in the carriage, it would be right that he Id see him again before he spoke positively, and had not seen him since till Monday last. Several other witnesses were examined, but they hied to prove Mr. O'Brien's identity; and alter an piress from Mr. ScAsurra., and a summing tip has the CHIEF Justice, thelury found the defend its—Not Guilty. The cause did not conclude till early ten o'clock at night. COURT OF 'COMMON PLEAS, FEBRUARY a LITCHFIELD V. LITCHFIELD. This was an issue out of the Conn of Chancery, td the question to be tried substantially was, whether *certain written paper, executed by the late William rtchfield, on the 18th of May, 1813, which pur. , lined to be his last will, was in the whole and every Pt the last will of the said deceased W. Litchfield ? The plaintiff is brother to the testator, who was armerly an eminent upholsterer in St. Mania's-lane. ?he defendant, who is a minor, is the testator's as loal son; the property in dispute amounts to up wards of £60,000. Serjeant LENS stated the plaintiff's case, win l iceght to establish the disputed will made in Ma's 1 131 3, in proof of which he called several wiliness. 1 Mr. William Toone, the attorney who dryer ep and %Messed the but will, stated that he lived at Went 6111•L_ead was Cle r k to the Commissioners for re "ommg the Lead Tax, in the years 1812 and 18131 Ilatakent nine months befece the testator's death be transactions with limits his elkial 'opacity, at which time the testate? told hies he would get Met hati b draw his will bet- did not Ammar& ippli to 'lima. on the 17th of May, 180, bit% Dawson awl tr. Muchett, two friends of the lb leitabil' called at and told hin t th e testator wished = alts wit% p ... „ !;3' § a ....- 4 11) 1 '-' t f(S 4 / 1 11P4840, FEBRUARY 22, 1821: and that the witness Should draw it, and it waithen agreed that he should write a !mkr to the testator, saying he was going to Hanwell, about a mile from Brentford, where the testator lived, and would call on him for the purpose. The testator sent him a verbal message to come ; he accordingly went, ac companied by his son, and saw the testator lying•on a couch and very weak. The testator asked him whether he had brought three witnesse-? and on being answered that he had only brought one, with himself, testator sent for another. Testator then said he wished to leave £BOO to his servant, Mary Hughes, and £lOO a-year to his brother, to be paid by short instalments. Testator did not seem inclined to give any further instructions. Witness asked who he would have for executors ? he said,' Mr. Muchett only. Wit-. ness asked, would he have theremainder of the pro perty go as if he had Made no will ? To which he answered, Yes. The witness then drew the will ac cording to the instruction, and read it to the testator, who appeared to understand and approve of it. The will was then duly executed. On his cross•examination, he said he bad not be fore been the testator's attorney, and had some tea son to believe that he'llad before made a will ; he thought the testator in a dying-state ; he was lethar gic and in pain. Witness could not say that he fully comprehended the effect of the will he executed. He had not given any instructions about the clause for retoking all former wills. Several ns who had conversed with the te•ta ler about tre rsd time of his executing the will, gave evidence as to his soundness of mind, and capacity to execute the instrument in question, which closed the plaintiff's case. Mr. Serjeant VAUGHAN, for the defendant, con tended that it was impossible that the testator could have intended to set aside * will which had been drawn for him by his confidential Attorney, Mr. Rich, the only person in the world to whom he had con fided the secret of the defendant, whom he called in that will his adopted son, being his own child ; and in which will he had left him his whole fortune, with the exception of a life annuity to his brother of £lOO. And that he should leave that brother, whorp he de scribed as a profligate, and not fit to be entrusted with the unrestrained receipt of £lOO a-year, a free hold property of £350 a-year, and one-fourth share of £60,000, which would be to.the effect of leaving the property indisposed of by the List writing to be dis posed of as if he had made no will. Nothing, the' Learned Serjeant contended, could be more den from the whole of the testator's conduct, than that he only intended the last writing as a codicil to the former will, and that, from has feeble state, he had not at tended to the revoking clause, respecting which he bad not given any instructions. The former will, made in 1807, two years after the defendant was born, was put in and proved. The defendant's mother proved the great weakness of the testator at the time of his executing the last will • his constant affection for the defendant, whom be o ften said to her should be a Gentleman; his hav ing brought the defendant from the witness's aunt, at a distance in the country, to live with her father and mother, near his own residence in the country; his having been at the house about the time of making the last will, and treating. him with the greatest affection, but still keeping it a secret that the child was his own. Several of the List witness's relatives corroborated ber testimony. Serjeant LENs spoke to evidence, contending, that if a will duly executed by a person of sound mind, as the testator was, could be set aside, it would be new to the law, and would shake the security that every man should have of the disposal of his property being carried into effect. The emu JUIITICZ recapitulated the evidence to the Jury, who had, his Lordship said, a most momen tous question to decide. The magnitude of the pro perty made it highly important to the parties, and it was still more so to the Public, that the last act of a man's life, which he could not himself be called on to explain, should be carried into effect in the manner he intended. It appeared by the evidence, diat but for the well-meant interference of the testator's friends to provide for an old servant, he would have died, leaving a will made many years before, by which he gave the whole of his fortune, except a trifling annuity to his brother, to his son, the de fendant; and the Jury were now to consider, whe ther, by making the last will, he intended to strip that child and leave him a beggar ? He had given him life, and was bound by every moral and reli gious obligation to provide for him ; he was bone of his bone, and blood of his blood, and it was clearly proved that for many years, and down to a very short time before his death, he had intended to leave him the inheritance of his fortune. U, however, the Jury believed that when he made the last will, he intended, according to the declaration contained in it, to re voke the former will; however they might deplore' such conduct- .however unreasonable or unaccount able it might appear to theni-.-however capricious or unjust they might deeni it, still it would be their duty to give it effect by their verdict. The Jury, aftcr an hour's deliberation, found a ver dict for the defendant, finding that the last writing was only a codicil of the former will. The Duke of RICHMOND met with a serious dent a few days since, :Willis seat, Malcolm, Sussex, in colisequrnte of a fall from his horse. His Grace riot feeling much hurt at the time, did not pay any attention to himself, until last Saturday be was seized with a violent vomiting of blood. Medical assistance was procured, who pronounced that be had burs a blood-vessel. A messenger was sent off immediately to town with the melancholy news to his mother, the Dowager Duchess. Qn Monday he was h better, but yesterday intelligence was received t that ,bieGrace was worse. - PAItLIAMENTARi PROCBED:i46I: . OF LORDS, FEBRUARY It. Mr. BROCOrt hiought up the Longitude ERMow du Com mons, announcing the coaeurrence of that Moue is Se amend menu made in it by their Lordships. The Farl of TUA NET presented a Petition from Kendal. 'in Westmoreland, praying For the restoration of the Owen to ail her rights. Me Malt , Dnty Bill, and dis Post Trawler Bill, went through a Committee, and were ordered to be repoited. Lord REDISDA LE presented it Petition front Montreal. in Canada, praying their Lordships to take the state of the trade with this country into eonsideradon: His Lordship she pre sented reddens from the Owners of Saw Mills in New Bruns wick end Nova Scotia, praying that no measures might be adocd in the Timber Trade, hostile to their Diterests. Earl of BLESS! NTON moved for a Ream of the Dudes ea Malt and Spirits In behind; and also for a Coy of the Order lent to the Out-ports relative to the Dudes bnposed upon Spirits imported from Ireland—Ordered. COMMAR AND AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTRY. The Marquis of LANSDOWN rose to make his promised llDOtiOil for the appointment of a Commit tee ifs consider the state of our Foreign Trade. It wet not his intention to carry their Lordships through all the circumstances connected with this subject ; but still it would be proper to advert to the several Petitions that had been laid on their table, praying for an alteration in our Foreign Trade. He felt him self called on to pursue this course, because no other duty at this moment devolved on . their Lordships inn that of appointing the Committee he proposed to move for; because, if such Committee could throw any new light on the subject, a great and important object would thereby be gained. He should, how ever, endeavour briefly to point out to their Lord ships what he conceived to be the nature and causes of the distress which prevailed throughout the coun try at this time. For a long period of years a large portion of the capital of the country had been drawn away from the subjects, and made to form a part of its annual expenditure. The effect of this was, to cause a great demand for goods of various kinds on the part of Government ; but, at the same time, there was a collateral demand made by those who lived on I the expenditure. In consequence of all this a very great demand for the supply of manufactures was created in the country. That capital was afterwards ' extended without. any fixed standard ; so that a pe-, riod must at last have arrived when the expendi ture of capital must cease. Nothing, however, could i sustain it but a permarent taxation, and the super ebundant supply which taxation necessarily called for. Unless this statement was contradicted, he could I hardly conceive it was necessary to look further for the causes of public distress; and it was a delusion to suppose that any relief could be afforded to thecountry except by the removal of the causes of distress. He should now come to that part of the public distress which fell more heavily than any other on the coun try—he meant that which affected its Agriculture. Whether this distress was occasioned by an increased supply, as the Noble Earl had asserted on a former occasion, or by a diminution of consumption, as he himself had maintained, was not the question for their Lordships' consideration at present. But one thing was certain, that the distress could not be removed by any new restrictive laws on the importation cif corn; for it was impossible that any laws for regu lating this trade could afford relief. He should, therefore, mislead the House, and the Public, if he held out any expectation that relief could be afforded by any measures short of those which he was about to recommend. Some remedy might certainly be found in the gradual progress of economy and re trenchment; tint the most prompt remedy that could I be adopted would be to bring about a free and more equal distribution of trade; and, without that, an abundance . of capital and product would be an evil instead of a benefit. The object of their Lordships ' then should be to give a greater scope to that free distribution. It must be their object to adopt such measures as should enable great masses and smaller portions of capital to pass into a state of activity.— The great mass of taxation, which operated as a re straint on trade, might at the same time be reduced by a diminution of expenditure. A mistaken policy, on the part of our Government, bad long ago led to impolitic restrictions on Commerce, winch caused it to flow into channels that were at once unnatural and injurious to our interests. It was to this view of the subject he wished to direct . the attention of their Lordships. If he were to judge from what had been stated in that House last year, and the impression on the House at the time, the difficulty in this respect arose chiefly front a want of the means of providing for the application of the general principles on which pur Commerce should be founded ; fOr from the mo ment they an ived at a particular application, a new species of facility.would exist. Indeed, it was not likely that any old exploded practices in Commerce would now be revived. It was not to the particular minor interests of traders, but, to the general interests of the unfortunate consumers, which had been too Ineglected, that the House was bound to attend eir consideration of the state of our Commerce. k was upon these grounds he submitted the proposi tion for reviving the Committee of last year. His Lordship then concluded with moving to that effect. Lord ELLENBOROUGII regretted that he was I obliged to differ with the Noble Marquis in some of the statements which he had made. He conceived that it would be very difficult to effect any of those reductions in our establishments which the Noble Marquis had recommended. It was not by such impracticable measures, but by causing alterations in the distribution of our branches of trade, that relief could be afforded to agriculture. In the timber trade, for instance, there were great inequalities which ought to be removed, as would appear from the Report of the Committee of last year. The duties on the rough material were; in some cases, greater than on the timber when iminned• in a manufac tured state; and there were similar inequalities in , the duties on the timber brought from different coun tries to diffeseut parts of the kin;dom. On deals 4 .; r •-•Fr- , , • w ..1 1 r,c"/, .''.. . , 4,1 - ... . . . -m t ~ • • • 1... ...,?, ... ::: . ....r . .. • • , cc —. ' 4 . ..... 1 / 4 ' : ',c • 1 :-.: / il 20, €• r ", v . , ~1, --............ .. . - . . . ,-..: .of da • • • 415.'1° Z/ilk: . _ ._..... .... ..... ... ~ .. r . ~..~• Piticx SEVEN-PRP.t R. brought from Norwaythere was a higher dntYthati on deals brought . from Russia, and - On these the du:ics were greater in Engiand. than in Ireland. He h )peJ, therefore, that upon an investigation into the state of the internal taxes, their Loldskips would consider the propriety of making such salutary altera tions as would afford Mid to the Manuficttires of the country., The motion was theri agreed to; and tile Coinniittee appointed; among the names were those of the Mar qui: of LANADOWN,Eati Gakir, Lord EtLENBOROVGA, Err' of LIVARPOOL, Duke of Wit.t.ircoiott, Earl of WLNCHILSCA, EarrGAOSIIRMO6, Lord Ktsto, ice. Scc: The Earl of LIVERPOOL now rose to move fur. those accoants to which he had alluiled do a former day. It was not his intention to met. into Any detail respecting the internal sate of the country ;* but with* respect to the, Agricultural branch of its trade, hi was anxious iliac the House should hive .before it the Means of. forming as correct a lodgment as poi: Bible as to the causes of the distress which prevaileit in that brineh. This could only be done by having certain facts laid before their Lordshiys. It was his day, therefore, to direct their attention - to those pints which embraced all the information that could be had on the subject ; and if, after the papers he in tended to move for; were laid before the llotise,fur- ther information was required, he Should be ready to give it. He admitted that there was a great diffi culty in ascertaining the real cause of the distresses of the Agricultural Interests. On the first day of the Session he had stated, and he still teas of opinion, that they arose in a great measure from an excess of production; but the Noble Marquis, entertaining a different opinion, stated that they rose more from a diminished consumption. Now, he (Lord Liverpool) had since then endeavoured to procure the best ia• formation that could be obtained respecting the state of general consumption throughout the country. On one great point there were no means of gaining cor rect information ; that was the consumption of bread —because, although there were returns of corn im ported, there could be none with regard to the quan tity of bread consumed. But with regard to all ar ticles of consumption out of which the Revenue was produced, there was the most accurate information. These came under the returns of the Excise; and upon these he should shew that the duties had, during the last three years, been accumulating.. Therefore, if it appeared that there had been an increased con- sumption in those articles of common use and neces sity, on which duties were paid, it was-fair to con clude that there was a proportionate increa,e in the consumption of other articles which paid no Excise duties. The information was subject to one qualifi cation—that of an increase of importation by means of smuggling, of tha amount of which no precise knowledge conld be obtained. But if any acccunt could be taken of contraband articles, the conclu sion must be, that they caused an increased con sumption. He was, therefore, anxious to have laid before the House such statements as should shew the increa.e during the last year in all arti cles that paid Excise duties; together with set e ral others coming under the head of Customs.— The first article then to whiCh he would direct the attention,of the House was that of Strong Beer. The average number of barrels on which duties were paid in the three years, 1818, 1819. and 1820, was 5,356,000. In the last sear the number was 5,590,0e0 barrels, making an increase of 213.000. 01 Table Beer, the average number of barrels in the three years was 1,447,000; in the last year 1,519,465, making an increase of 72,000. The next article was that of Candles. The average of the three yeas was 79,810,409 cwt. Last year the amount was 83,356,000, making an increase of above three millions. Coffee, for the three years, averaged 7,569,000; last year there was a diminution in this article to the amount of 55,000 cwt. Hides and Skins, average of the 3 years, 46,219,0(0 cwt. lest year, 44,702,000, making a diminution of 1.517,000. Malt, average for the three years, 23,289,0)0 quar ters ; last year, 24,511,000, making an increase of 1,222,000. Salt, and Rock Salt, for internal con sumption, average of three years, 1,936,090 cwt. last year, 1,981,000, making an increase of 45,000. Rock Salt, fer exportation, average of the three years, 861,000 cwt. last year, 1,199,000. Snap, average for the 3 years; 69,174,000 cwt. last year, 76,765,0(0, making au increase of 4,291,000. Soft Soap, the average of the three years, 4,569,000; last year, 5,187,000, making an increase of 618,000. B r iti s h Spirits, average of the 3 years, 5,047,03 gal s. last year, 6,575,000, leaking ad increase of 1,525,000. Rum, average of the three years, 2,790,000 gallons ; last year, 2,757,000, Making a decrease of 93,000. Brandy, average of the three years, 866,000 gallons; last year, 1,143,000, making an increase of 277,C00. Tea, average of the three years, 22,186,000 cwt. la't year, 22,542,000; increase, 356,000. Tobacco, average of the three years, 11,847,000 cwt. last year, 11,680,000. On this article there was a decrease; and there was also one on Snuff, to the amount of 167,000. On all Foreign Wines there was a diminu tion this year. The average of Fr ench Wines, for the three years, was 977,000 gallons; last year 916,G00; diminution, 61,000. Wines not lirolight from France, average of three years, 18,446,000 gallons; last year, 16,300,000; diminution, 2,146,000. On Cape Wine there was a diminution of 2,146,000 gallons. Sugar, consumed in England alone, average of the 3 years, 3,117,000 t wt. last year, 9,413,000; Increase, 296,000. From all these statements it would appear, that, with the exception of Wine and some few other articles, so far from ant - diminution having taken place, there was a considerable increase; and after this, he would ask their Lordships what ground was there for sup posing that there was a diminution in the consamp- . tion of bread, which constituted tits food of the great mass of the people? Therefore, be still persisted in maintaining, that the Agricultural distresses did nok arise from a decrease of consumption, but from an increase of production. He knew very well that dis tress existed in many parts of the country; and he - _ . r . - Es . E f - c r t i Fj- * 111 • 44 , 1 4 0 111 \ .0 • 7 , 1 111 F r.