The Statesman. — London, England, 1814-05-05 00:00:00

11 PM HOME. A"*General Court of Proprietors was yesterday held at the Jodie Rouse. Mr. ELPHINSTONE, the Chairman, laid before the Court a Resolution of the Court of Directors of the sth of February, 1814, by which it was determined, • on account of the long and meritorious services of ?Ir. W. M'Culloch, Secretary for the. Examining of . Winn Correspondence, to increase that Gentleman's Salary to 12001. a-year. This Resolution was sub ,: milted to the Proprietors for their approbation., Mr. R. JACKSON observed, that it was impossible to deny the distinguished merit of the Gentleman who was the object of the proposition of the Direc tors. Nor was it possible that those Gentlemen should be expected efficiently to administer the Com- Atlaiis, without the power of rewarding its distinguished servants. lie, however, wished it not to be draan into a precedent, that any person who had not regularly advanced in the service of the Company, should be put into one of its high offices, he should therefore move, that a Resolution of the Court of Directors, of 1809,, he read, by which it would appear, that it was only on account of the (Laically of finding a servant of the Company equal to the race to which Mr. M'Culloch had been tip ' pointed,-and his own merits, that he had been intro duced into that situation. The Resolution of the Court of the Directors, and the Resolution of the Committee of Correspondence, *highly approving of the conduct of Mr. M'Culloch, were rend. Mr. Dix.om observed, that it would have been pro per that the length and nature of Mr. *Culleelt's services should bare been more pahicularly stated than ill she Resolution of the Directors. Mr. Pootticits stroke vehemently on the propriety of rrw_tirding merit and the danger of patronage. Mr. ficatte observed (in allusion to what had fall . en from Mr. Dixon), that the Directors were 'the best judgessof the merits of the CoMpany's servants, as th.y had daily opportunities of observiug s theta. The motion was carried unanimously. A Resolution of the Court of Directors, allowing Mr. R. Owen, Chief Clerk in the Secretary's Office, to retire on a minion of 8001. a-year, after forty -fee years' service, was unanimously confirmed, •after a few words from Mr. • Lowndes and Mr. If ume. EXPIRED PE/MONIS. The Cu UIKMAN said, that the Court of Directors had come to itiniointions on the subject of the Ex pired Pensions, and for the convenience of the Pro prietors they, had considEred and resolved on each pension separately, and in that ontotter they would be submitted to the Court for their consideration on feta.. day ; at that time all that could be done Was to give notice of the flture discussion. Mr. R. J Acasost proposed that the proceedings.of the Court of Directors should be then read, that the Proprietors mrilit be prepared for the future dis- The Clerk atcordiugly read a Resolution of the Court of Directors, that they deemed it proper to .continue the pension which had been granted to , Wc-rren [lasting, Esq. for 28f years, and which had terminated on die sth of December last, for the term of his natural life."--[Great applauses.] Some conversation took place on this Resolution, 1 ! in the course of which Mr. LOWNDES observed, that It would be proper to increase Mr, Hastings' Pension #O6OOOl. or 80001. per annum, as a Mark of the sense which the Company had of great services. The next Resolution read, was one for the conti nuance for the term of his natural life, of a pension granted to Sir J. Kenaway, for 'the term of 1.71, years, from the 13th of Octooer, 1796. Mr. ELPHIN6TONE state', in explanation of this Resolution, that it was at the time intended to grant this pension for the term of Sir J. Kenaway's life, had such been within the power of the Company, conAsten.ly with their Charter. The nest Resolution, for continuing to Marquis Wellesley, during his life, a pension which had been granted to him for 171 years, of which term 4f ..ears were unexpired, was received with great ap- --ono-- " Admualty Office, 30th April, 1811. gg The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty I cannot announce to the Fleet the termination of hos- tilities with France, without expressing to the Petty ' Officers, the Seamen, and Royal Marines of his Ma jesty's ships, the high sense which their Lordships entertain of their gallant and glorious services dur ing thelate war. 1' ' 44 The patience, perseverance, and discipline ; manse. . 1 the skill, courage, and devotion, with which the Mr. R. JAcEsoN thought 'it was scarcely sufficient; Retiree!' and Marines have upheld the best iuterests, rtwrt , ll.- to continue the present pension to the Mar. and achieeed . the noblest triumphs of the Country, gas i'.. •tlesley, though he should not himself move entitle them to the gratitude, not only of their na te ittc..•.ts6- it. lie skould,_ on a future day, move tive land, which they have preserved inviolate, but ilia: ;tit Resolution -of the Directors be confirmed ; of the other Nations of Europe, of whose ultimate and on that proposition any other Gentleman might deliverance their successe4 maintained the hope, and graft an Amendment, proposing an increase of the accelerated the accomplishment. pension. i " Their Lordships regret that the unjust and un - Mr. IMPEY niiics he should, op the day when the provoked aggression of the American Gevernineut, discuision of the Directors' Reenlations came on, in declaring war upon this Country, after all the move for the continuance •of the pension to Mr. causes of its original complaint hadbeen removed, does Postings, of whose public and private character he net permit them to reduce the Fleet at once to a was a warm admirer. • . pestle establishment 4 but es the question now at Mr. W. KEENE complimented tiusatarguis Wel.' issue in this war is the maintenance of those Mari , . I lesley as inferior only to his brother. time Rights, which are the sure foundations of our Alderman knurls thouget the liberality of the' naval gory, their Lordships look with confidence to Company would be properly exerted in a continuance' thet.part of the Fleet, which it may be still neces or increase of the pension to Marquis'Wellesley. i sack to keep In ermintission, for a continuance of Mr. Hesse moved, that the resolution of 1800,' that spirit of discipline .and gallantry, which has granting the pension to Lord Wellesley, shoutd;he i raised the British navy to Its present pre-ereinence. read. The resolution was read accordingly, stating l' '‘ In reducing the Fleet to the establishment ne tse great services of the Noble Lord, and that in a cessary for the American War, the St' , ,atnett and Ma d'spatch from the' Court of Directors, that Court had vines will find their Lordships attentive to the claims acknoeledged that the salvation of India was to be of their respective set-vices. o-cribed to his efforts. The Resolution also stated, ; "" The rAuctiots will be first madeie the crews or 1 that the Noble Marquis had anticipated the recom-; those ships whic h it may be f o und ex p edient to p a y mendation of the Court of Directors on the subject , off, and from them-the Petty Officers and Seamen of emitting the French iadueoce. in India ; and by' will he successively discharged, according to the his influence, a body of 14,000 men, among whom I length of their services, beginning, in the first in were 25 French officers, had been disbanded, and! sttece, with all those who were in his Majesty's ser thus. the Subah of the Dekkao brut been left at liber- 'viee, previous is the 7th of March, 1803, and have •tv to unite- his forces with )B ose of the Company.-- since (-entailed in it. The lion. Proprietoe'vr' ".on to observe, that the i " I Wheir the reduction shall have been thus made, , , Noble Lnrd had eiiule A prodigious addition to our . as to the *lshii pail' off, their loriiihips will direct territories in India ; stud that it might well be made theirettention to• them which it may be found !weeps. a luectian, if the proposed grant were adequate.—asaary to keep in commission, and, as 'soon as the cir An offer had beef matte to the Noble Lord by the . Ocentances of. the war will admit, will bring horn* Court of I:Erecters, with the sanction of ltis Ma- : and discharge all persons heaving the same standitsk jeity's Government, of the sum of 100,0001. from ontl,periods of service, as those before discharged the booty taken at Serittgapatam ; but this he had de- fr:nu the ships paid off: so that, in a few months-, etined, because, as lie said, it was the due of the the situatiots of individuals will be equalined ; all conquerors of the Mysore. Something more should be i titan of a certain period a service will be at liberty done than the bare continuance of a [musli) foe !A./ to ietura bow their families ; hod the number --The cenduct of the Noble Lord had heentried,t Olds it .may will neces,:ary to retain, will ha t io and he had come out clear from . the trial ; and he composed of the whp have been the shortest time is trusted that the Court would think that none of, the/0174 .• P. • ~ ~-.- '' , their servants had, in ability awl zeal for the in, ~ ,‘. An Aura isiitiklf so lust, cannot, iu 4 • •b , . 4; • THE STATESMAN ,terest of. the_CotnPany, exceeded Lord Wellesley.— lie could wish to see a statue erected to the Noble Lord within the walls of that Court, and he should make a motion to that effect on a future day. The Criatest.te expresiett his opinion that any motion of that nature would he well received ; hut the present was not the proper day to bring it for ward. lie then • proceeded to state,,that the Earl of Buckinghamshire (whose pension was the neat in the list) had requested that the subject might not be brought forward. The last pension that had been granted was to the late Lord Melvilleewho at his death had left his affairs in a very embarrassed state ; and whose son, having taken upon him the payment of his father's debts, had been much distressed then, in consequence of, an action that did so much honour to his filial piety. Considering the eminent services' rendered to the Company by Mr. Dundas, it might be thought a well judged act of liberality to assist his family ; and, perhaps, on a future . day, some Gentleman might make a motion on the subject.— A letter was thee ;cad from the Earl of Bucking hamshire, expressing_his warm approbation of the contiuuance of the pension of Lord Wellesley, and staling, that 20,0001. of the late Lord Melville's debts remain'ed as yet unpaid ; and that, perhaps, the Court of Proprietors might think proper to con ' time the pension granted to the . late Lord, till that sum should be discharged. For himself, he should accept of no pension, while he was in office; and wished that question to be discussed, only when he should leave tha Board of Controul. '1 Mr. K. JACKSON was of opinion, That the de -1 scemlauts of Lord Melville had a claim on the li berality of the Court, as it was in a great mea t . . sure by means of Lord Melville that the Company Inow existed. . Mr. Lowenes had two years ago proposed an ed . , &lob' •to Marquis Weltesley's pension. Ile, asked, ' if Us brother (formerly - Sir Arthur Wellesley) had ' a pension ? - and beinransw!red in the negative, sig f niged his intention to fill up that gap ill the pension [ list. He thought, the pension should be continued I to the present fiord Melville till his father's debt were paid; and he also proposed to Misite- an I crease to .Mr. Ilastings awl Marquis . We i lletley, an ' hoped no Gentleman would take the .nteksure out si f his hands. _ . General HUMS could sty nothing ton strong on the subject of Lord Wellesley. The Noble Lord had given him almost unlimited powers when he went to besiege Seihripatam ; and had he not been in vested with such powers, Seringapatam could not haie been taken. Alderman A rntNs Paid, the question at present was as to be letter of Lord Buckinghamshire ; and moved, t!ertt the Court of Directors should take into eonsiderniton thy part of the letter regarding the ,date Lori Melville, and report upon the same to the Court of Proprietors. • The motions after some observations on the part of Me. fietaa; -- "Mr. Twtss, and the •Depety.(litels.. man (Mr. J. latitas), was seconded by Mr. JACK SON. Mr. LOWNDEII, Mr. R.. THORNTON / Mr. WHlT gimp Ke.rmv:, and Mr. Irsarscrotry.airurged the propriety et doing something do the timidly of a man who had been so great a benefactor • *the Cimpany as Lord Melville had been. ft was then agreed tos that the motion on this subject should originate withthe- Directors. It was then resolved, that tilt letter of Lord Buck inghamshire should be printed. The discussion of these resolutions was fixed for this day three weeks. THE NAVY. their Lordships' opinloo l Ail -to give universal- sa•- tisfaction ; •and they are induced to Make this: mom. munication to the fleet, because .they think that the . exemplary good conduct .of. all the Petty .04cers, Seamen, and Marines, entitle them to every con fidence, and to this full and candid explanation of their Lordships' intentions. " Their Lordships cannot conclude, without ex pressing their hope, that the valour of his Majesty's fleets and armies will speedily bring the American contest to a conclusion honourable to the British name, safe for British interests, and conducive to the lasting repose of the civilised world. " By command of their Lordships, " J. W. UtOKER." LAIW INTELLIGENCE. • • . • • COURT 'OF CjiI4NCERY, MAT 4. Before hts Bionoui riex-eit . .ezecELLOa , There were two pletti . arigued, of ao Interest, 4ta.' cept to the parties concerted. The Lord Chancellor heard Appeal Causes la'the House of Lords. . • • • t • • I MAY S. EXJPARTE WATSON THE MATTER OF WATSON: NELSON, AND co. This was an application on the part of the children of the deceased Thomas Wright Watson, for liberty to prove a debt of 47,0001. under a commission awarded against their mother and two Gentlemen of the name of Nelson, the quondam partners of their father, with whom the mother entered into partner ship after the father's death, embarking as her share in that concern not only her own four-ninths of her hisbancl's capital, but the five-ninths belonging to the children also. _ _ Mr. HART and Mr. Stmowetr. being heard for the Petitioners, and Sir S. ROMILLY and Mr. CULLEN on the part 'sir the Assignees, ... The Lotto CHANCELLOR was of opinion that here there was a clear misapplication of a trust fund. e Administratris in applying •the money belougin g the children in the way she had done, had commi tte a breach of trust, and, the other persons, her partne received it with full knowledge of the fact. That the money:had previously been embarked in the concern made no difference. If there was so covenant that it should remain in it was as much a breach of duty and a breach of trust as if she had placed it there ; and the other partners had equally knowledge of the! fact. • His Lordship had no doubt at all, if it would I have been more for the benefit of the children, to have gone against the separate estate of the mother, that the circumstances of the case would have entitled them to do so., But it did not follow, because they would have had, a right to go against her separate estate, that they had not a right to come in as credi- , tors under this joint coMmission. Ms Lordship was •vtalienoticaLopiniou they were so entitled: and 1i ;ow: 'that the proof should be in:t& by the eldest SOD, who was of age, on Account of the children, in proportion to their respective ititerests. COURT OF KiNCEs BENCH, 1114 y 1. liali:Aaaorr applied for a Rule to show cause why a writ,lin the nature of a vim warranto, should not issue, calling on George Pouson to show cause by what right he had exercised the office of Mayor of Aberistwith. He made this application in order to obtain a good Mayor for Aberistwith, and he did it under the following circumstances :—lry the Charter of Aberistwith, it was regulated that . no person • under the age of 21 .should be qiialified serve the office of Mayor ; Ail also, that the elec tion should take place within less than one month after Michaelmas-day. His affidavit state, that at the time Mr. Pouson Was elected, he was not 21 years of age ; and also, that the election did not takeplace till the 28th of October,and therefore was not in time. —Rule granted. REX V. STANDON. Thls was a case reserved for the opinion of the Court by the Sessions; who confirmed an order of removal of the mother of Joseph Farmer, who, having agreed for the purchase of a piece of land for 651. applied to his father for an advance of 201. which he made upon conditions not reduced to wri• tang, that the son should build a house thine, and out of love and affection, permit the father and mo ther to reside in it for their lives, and the life of the survivor, provided they should not dispose of it, or admit any other persons to live with them. The land was conveyed to the son ; and when the house was built, the father and mother entered upon it : the fa. (her died, and the mother lived there till she was re moved. The question was, whether she had gained a settlement? I Mr. l'Evatv and Mr. supported the order of! Sessions; and Mr. PULLER, and Mr. PE.tat opposed it. On the 4th section of the Stat. of Frauds, 29 C. 2. c. 3, the cases in 8 T. R. 3. 1 Vern, 368, and 2 Verns ) 455, were. cited ; and on the other points, 2 Ath. 14. 2T. R. 577, 16 East, 127 Patten v. Cook, 1 Sch. and Lef. Bur. S. C. 386. Cold. 416, Bott. 493 pl. 511. S. C. 3 T. B. 231. Bur: S. C. 785, 6 T. R. 554, and 4 Ares. jun. 491. , Lord ELLENBOROUGII said, it was perfectly clear , that the pauper had no estate either at law or - in i equity ; but merely a license to reside for life, .irre vocable on the performance of certain conditions : and the question had been rightly stated by the Learned Counsel who supported the order of Sessions, . as, whether a right to go into equity to compel a spe cific performance could confer a settlement, and whether the Court of King's Bench would impose on Courts of Quarter Sessions the consideration of the nicest questions of equity. In this case, all a Court of Equity would probably do, would be to grant an injunction against the son's ejecting, the mother, as long as she complied with the condations of the li cense tq reside. 'lute Learned Counsel, on the other 'side, had likened this parole agreement to the grantor an estate fur life, with a proviso for avoiding it upon assigning over or letting in others ; but was there ever an estate for life without power to admit in. mates? Here there was no covenant or written agree ment : in a deed, the conditions of an estate for life might be declared ; but the question .was, whether the Court would construe • a proio agreement to be such a deed ? Was there ever a grant so cut down and weakened as tids • grant enjoi4sig the Holies of solitude ? . ' ' • . ‘•. ••• . Ira r. - vtaciti.c XIIII [Plana 4 11111,111 be lured Filed that the cases hutifgal bolding weans itatuovab 11 4 whir' bac,. of the, ?alai! required the A 4 iftellihmtant. At any rate; the :court must see that the line to th' tt equitable eitate k clear.—Order of Sessious gelid! • *lms" . d' • rer ffs. fit in tthi l lihigth of ' atiohable tistmes AAA • • RBI V. INHABITANTS or stAtnorr. This was the case of a waiter at the hotel at Leeds, who paid COI. a.year.for the privilege of keepi l ig t h e tap at that house; and the question was, wl4jj this tap was a tenement which gained him a lent o ment ? Mr. SC4RLtTT contended, that he was entitled to this privilege as long as he conducted himself Pro: party as a waiter, sad that the contract of holding was prima facie for a yeor, and must be so presumed to be. Lord Er.r.smoottouou held, that he had no greater estate in this tapihip than in his faitership, and that *sit estate could not confer aloettl*ment. Mr. SCARLET? put the coo sir •• — tonchman, who paid his master for the rooms which he occupied* coachman over the coach-house; but ELLENBORQVGII should hoW theso lamed to his office, and of equally precarious tenure. ~ The Court rose at half-pact twelve, sifter Lord Ellenborough sat at Nisi; hi Guildhall, L on . don.—The causes there tried were principally unde. fended. . PRPROGATIVE COUR r, ,DOCTORS COMMONS MAY 4. TAPTENTIEN a. WALSH. This. was a suit as to the validity of the sill of Ann, wife of the Rev. Henry Thomson, late of Pet. ham, in Kent. deceased, which was propounded an the part of James Tappenden, Esq. the surviving emit. for therein named ; and opposed by Mr: Jelin Welsh, asserted second cousin of the deceased. It appeared that Mrs. Thomson enjoyed a coast. derable property, bequeathed for her separate use* Mrs. Ann Wilson, her deceased daughter, with a '- power to her to dispose of it by will. She accord ingly made her will, dated the 15th of September, I 1799, in which she bequeathed this property to her husband, with the_exc.eption of some legacies to ser rants and others. Having shortly afterwards derived a farther accession of separate - property by the death of Thomas Martin, Esq. her cousin, she made a co -1 dicil, dated the 2d of October, 1801, disposing of it to the same effect, as in her former will. These two pipers were opposed by Mr. Walsh, on the ground of the deceased's mental incapacity at the time of executing them, occasioned by a paralytic attack, which she had met with in the year 1796, and from which she never recovered until her death laths year i SO9. • No witnesses, however, being produced in supped of plea of the peat of kin Ake case came on fer a tearing, upon the evidence achineed in support of the Mill;-astid - The -execution ef . the will, in the office of Mr. Tappendue„ . • was detailed in the evidence of one of the &Ailing Onesses .le eery . minute terms, he having . (as he 'expressed himself) taken particular notice ofkit in cOnsequeuelvitf4ts-being the first act of the laud • we/filch he had - craft been present, and of his having -observed the testatrix to:be a very shrewd, - sensible, woman. The other subscribing witness was ' dead,' butlialsend-writing and good character eters fully. proved. The ezecutien of the codicil was proved by the evidence of, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, is whose house the deceasedoecopied lodgings, at Can terbury. -.lt was duly attested, bet signed by a ;nark only, •with an observatiiini expressive of its being so done in consequence of the deceased's in ability tooNvrite as usual, occasioned by the paralytic affection. The witnesses described its being read over to her, and her expressing her assent in the matinee most usual with her, by an inclination of the head, • her complete capacity at the time, and her apparent knowledge of its contents. No Counsel being retained to argue the castes the part of the next of kin. Sir Jowl NICHOLL interrupted the Counsel for the Executor, by stating, that it would be better, under these circumstances, that he should-state lilt impression of the case at 'ince, without hearing aik argument merely et--pare. Ile observed that, upon the admission of the pleading in support oldie will and codicil, the question of the deceased's right, as a married woman, to make a will by virtue of the wills under which the derived the property,' had been fully argued ; and the Court was then of lepitliou, that there was prima facie evidence of the deceased's having such a right. The only question, therefore, for the Court now to decide upon was, whether she had executed that right by an act done wider such circumstances as the law requires Ito give it validity, leaving it to another Court to decide - upon what will be the effect of the will upon the deceased's property, the bequest of the residue to her husband having become lapsed by his death in her life-time. He then entered into an exemin ation of the evidence as applied to this question, and was of opinion, that the execution of both papers, and the deceased's capacity at the time, were fully proved, but particularly the first, which was strongly con. firmed by the appearance of the deceased's signature,, which was unusually firm and free for a female hand s ,. and rendered it very evident - that it must have been , I made prior to the paralytic affection. Consitlerin4 'therefore, thak the deceased lived nine years after this, and apparently in a state of sound mind ; that the papers in question were coo(ormable to all former ones, in favour of her husband, for whom she ha& the greatest regard, that the only effect of theta , would be to give the legacies to the servants, kc. the residue being lapsed by his death 4 that both acts were done in the presence of Mr. Tappenden, disinterested person, and a considerable guarantee, in the opiniou of the Court, of the fairness of the• transactions; and that the deceased's mind appeared, by the witnesses's account, fully to hare gone along. with the act of • signature ; under all these circum stances, the Court could have no doubt of the papers containing the real will and intentians of the de ceased, and they were pronounced for accordingly, and probate thereof decreed to the Executor, nn.ier the usual limitations as to the deceased's right to make a will, &c. - LON IiON • kirioted And Pub lol ak 10 1 Ihr Srhst.%hhh w, e,, Wet-11teci. • 3 1 ... Tr:frvn µy l ~LI '~ , d i~:~~