The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-12-21 00:00:00

——- - competent authority that the (*Milts could take, in any thing during this voyage to Wild to, any 1 more than to break the bulk of, the cargo ; and therefore ho into; contend that this policy was tvoided by the event which had happeued. Upon '. Istirti Et.i.rpraottounn observed, VI a this i'as a question of great public importance, and ought to bilictlereely decided, to set the matter at rest upon theiaw and, therefnrii, he though t it would be tOe WWI. way to turn into a special case for the eonrt of King's. Beach •to determine, which was done ac CQ4rElt. V. GREENWOOD AND ANOTIIER. The Aorronvitv-Gcmcaar. stated this to be an aktion against Messrs. areewwood and Co. hop. fist,irs,• for the rec Livery of a sum of money list by lie Plaintiff, its CODSNIONICE of the bulk of a certain , quaimity of hops, which the Plaintiff bought of tit Defendants, nut being equal to the sample. The Plaintiff did not complain, per- Banally, of the Defendants, for they were nut to Maine in this business, they had bought the hops of Mr. ‘Vilable, and had sold them to the Plaintiff as they hail bought and received than of that planter. But the Plaintiff could nut bring his action against Mr.Wituble, there being nu privity contract between them ; and therefore the Plaintiff was driven to this action against the Ik. fondants, but they would have their reinedl over against the planter. It appeared, however, upon the evidence of a . . , rrry triteljsgent gentleman, Mr. Collett, called on the part uf the Plaintiff, that there was no fraud whatever in the manner of packing the bt:lk of these hops, and that they were not, generally speak. ing, inferior to the sample, but that the sample was unfairly taken, upint which Lord IKLlANDuitounn was about to recommend to the Jury to bud • verdict fur thu Defendants, he:i, t h e ATTOSINEy-GvissAt preferred a nunsuit.— I'lliatilf nonsuited accordingly. ILI.LIOT V. The Arrott.4sT-GtNER 4 L stated this to he an action to recover the , sum of 1t 001. which the . _ Plaintiff hat' lost by the detention of the ship teal, at Ft:. nil, by reason date Deleuilaist,who was' a r, not having insured the vessel as directed, generally fui six months, in stead of insuring as be had said he did, I r against vats risk ; the consequence was, that for any loss which the Plaii—ff mieht sustain by the &len -111.1 of the 'hip, The could not recover upon this policy ; of tho-n with whom the pokey was gr. nerd, the Plaintiff had recovered, but her, he conid not, because the poll:). was confined to sea risk, detention was not a sea risk ; the (rut!. was, that the Defrivelant hal new in. .r.al the vessel at all ; he Its and be had sent up the party here a copy of the policy which was suppose i to have been effected by him ; it was not caitasined hers by the party be.' cause there *as no aespieion that ail was well rtiOt, since the ilirestion _which was given to sure against ri-k, generally, and the party had stied and recos,zed, upon Willr policies, which; had been clewed through the uiedisins of the Defundantil brother (nid he was also euiptur as this cats), bat ,when ti Is party came to sue e:von this Iliac'', it wa, discoverei, that the p lacy purported to be wil) against sea risk : this levy tia,an inquiry, and the Defendaut was asked how this happened ? Ile said, that true it was, the pOlicy was only against sea risk ; lie was asked to show the pokey ; he then said he had lost it, and that ho had effected others, himself, 3001. of others, 3001. 2‘.101. and 2001. whom he named ; upon examining them , some of them ap peared to have been issued out of the stamp.ulfiee after the time they bore date, and therefore it was impossible that they could toasts been effected at all ; in short, the Atturney-General contended, that this • was blunder upon blunder; he knew nothing of Ibis Defendant out of this cause ; he dared to say lie was correct enough in his gene ral transactions, but in the present case his con duct was certainly must irregular; awl that he must pay this money was • matter beyond all question. It then appeared, by the evidence of gar. nerd Smith, the ikicudant's brother, who lives at York, WO miles from Leith, where the Defen dant, a policy-broker, lives, that tho instruc tions he received and transmitted to his brother, were to insure this ship against risk, generally, aril not against sea risk only. That when the copy of the policy was sent to Won by his brother, by sent it ti l t to the party iu town, with this ob. Dery ition Y %till observe this 10001. is not warranted free of war risk." It then appeared, Chet nobody ever saw the original policy, nor did it isdpear, is evidence, that there ever was any suit. Mr. PA as: said, that the truth wa4, this Defan. dant s house had been broken open, and the ori. 0 6 4 "pniicits atoloa, and eyssi . paper . itt his estuntiuvitouse taken away. Awl the Defendant had issued out others, to satisfy the parties, and had, for that purpose; paid for - fresh statups out -of his ow■ pocket ; and that was tho reason why they were of a stamp subsequent to flick date. Lord Et.t.cesoauuott said, this would never . . . do ; the Defendant had no right to take the dif. feront policies in this manner, bet should have pursued his instructions. Mr. PARK said, the Defendant was unable to accomplish the insurance aU under one policy, and he did that which was very common ; he got it dune by a number of policits some at Leith, and some at 111111. Lord Et.s.reagnoucto said, he should thee. have represented !tatters according to the verity of the farts, ism .ad of sending up a fake representation of thiogs, by statinxibat the policy, was for 10001. Mils Lordship doubted whether it was competent to hies to receive evideoce that the Defendant had anne one thing. when he admitted thai'lus instruc. As wore to du another Coerteen, the Plaintiff's ettOrney, then the instrortions sent to the Defendant to iossoraitco were as stated by the Attor. metal, that a copy of a pislicy"was scut to 14 of tpor suistraocc, for IOW.; hut that riled§ copies -were bent t• him from the De- ) 6 1 . r fendant, in the manner opened by the Attorney- General ; and that they were stamped ate time 'subsequent to their dates. This was in the year 1800. Mr. PA RR snbmitted, that here was an acqui escence of the party fur near four years, and that it ought to bar the claim now. Lord ELLEN uottentat held, that an acquiescence obtainettlsy means of a . false representation of facts, was' the same thing as if there were nu ac. quiescence at all. Mr. Courtetn said, he eits'er understood, fro• the Defendant, that tho policy was lust, until he remonstrated with him on the irregularity of the stamps. And when he saw the Defendant in town, he never suggested that he had lust the policy, or been put to the expence of a bauble stamp. Lord Et.t.csaottotion thought it became ;teem sary, perhapl„ .tu call on the Legislature to pro. I hibit l►olicy_brdkers from underwriting policies on their o:cn account, that was, becoming their own auderwriters.—The public safety appeared to require something of this sort. Mr. Courtoen farther proved, that the Do.. Pendant wrote up to him for the premium, agree able to his former note, saying, that until the premium was paid, no action could be brought ; and he would deliver up the policy to any person he should direct. , vaunt i.i.t.cultettOUGit-.- 14 This is very bad.— There is something more than damages at stake here." Mr. PAR[ observed, that as his Lordship had decided that the acyttiercence of four years, in this me, ou the part uf the Plaintiff, was in answer to the faction, he submitted at once to it • Tetidiet. But he endeavoured, at some length,' 1/0 proical his client's character, against whicksinge prejsitOet might, perhaps, be entertained on sthele pets.. , • Lord ELLEOIIOIIOUGH said, that if there we* any evidence of the first poliry being lost, or any other evidence to support the character of the Da_' Pendant, he would sit to hear it patiently ; for the only issue now to be trial was, an issue upon character; the other question upon the verdict was gone by lung ago. It was said, that the De— fendant's house had been robbed, and his papers stolen. Let evidence he given of that fact, and, although it could nut affect the verdict, he would sit to hear it. It was very painful to make obser. tatioas upon the characters of parties, when they were suitors in a Court of Justice ; but if the facts which were proved its a Court of Justice Called for such observations, they must be made, however inconvenient they might be to any parties. Here was nothing in a plain strait_ forward way in the conduct of this Defendant. Way he had not told the truth, the Defendant best knew. " There is," said iris Lordship, 66 some r.ason or other which does nut occur to me fur there being such a multiplicity of false aoods on Its part of the Defendant iu this case. As to the stamps, if he reolla /art the policy, he h.:II nothing to de but to m•ke, and transmit ts, tue Stamp Office, an affidavit of the fact, and he would have been allowed the stamps, which would hast: been less ezpencc to kin, than pay. , ing for new woes." Verdict for the Plaintiff— Damages, 10001. COURT OF CIIANCEFLY.—Kiev. IS anD V. • tX•PARTE riftNM. (The following very intereititag Cave baying been imper fectly reportvid in all the Newspapers, we apprebetwl that a fall and accurate Iteport of what !auk place before the Lord titmice Slur may not be deemed uninteresting.] 'this was an application on the part of Mr. Fir_ min, to have a Commission of Bankriopt, which had been taken out against him, superseded, at the expence of Messrs. Evans and Cu. the petitioning creditors, Harcourt Master, Evq. one of the As signees, anti Mr. Robert Woodgate, of Golden. square, the Solicitor ender the Conimission, and to pay all the costs of issuing the said cummiuiun, and of the pruceediugs under the same, and of that applicatinit. The circumstances of the case are u eztraordi. 'ilary as any in the history of bankruptcy transac. titans. The Petitioner, who it appeared resided at the Rookery, at Dedham, near Colchester, in Essex, was au AttuAtey of most extensive prae. bee, n iti •h brought him a considerable income. He was posse sett of large property in the funds, and derives considerable profits from certain land. ed-estates, which he held in his own right. To these he added' emoluments to a laige . a.nistint, arising from his office of steward to several N. blemett and Gentlemen's estate,. Unfortunately however, at different seasons of the year, lie was afflicted with a lowness of spirits, and a melan choly of mind, which had so powerful an effect upon his imagination, as to lead to an appreheu lion that he should be unable to liquidate his debts. and conseqwently that his exti.msive credit would be ruined. In 1803, under the influence of his ntataille totaginesire, lie'cutsferred with Mr. IVoodgate, his old and intimate friend, and who also had a summer residence at Dedham; Mr. IVoodgate, upon that uee.tsion, suggested the expediency of a bankruptcy, but through the interposition of a Mr. Strutt, a particular friend of the Petitioner, who well knew the nature of his malady, and the extent of his property, Mr. %Vuodgic.: was prevented from carrying into exe cution a measurtgso monstrous and absurd. Its 1808, the Petitioner was again attacked with this indisposition, and Mr. Wuculgate, fur the pur. pose of relieviiig his mind, drew up a statement of his ciresestances, from which it appeared that be was pnssessed of a large stagily', after paying all his debts, and upwards of 17001. a year, exclu. live of the profits of his besiness, which were esti mated to produce a very considerable annual sum. He shortly afterwards recovered' from the effects of his. disorder, and resumed his business with his ac. custumed activity. lit the beginning of the pre. sent year, his spirits again became depressed more severely thee Nisei, and he went up to toun again t9l' seek the advice . of his (fiend Mr. Wood. g.ste, vein) strongly resuiDasstilvsl hie) .IV rseern Moue, and amuse himself with his busbies., and quiet his delusive alarms "tad apprehensions, and that all his casts would faililh. On the very THY, STATESMAN. neat day, however, Mr. Woodgate wrote to Cul. Harcutirt Master, the Petitioner's brother-in. law, then residing near Norwich, and urged the expediency of a contwassion of bankrupt issuing against the Petitioner, and intimated that it Would be necessary to employ a friendly lawyer, and of fered himself to undertake the business, and in the postscript of the letter were these words : No one knows of my writing this, I can manage as to the act of bankruptcy." A series of letters after. wards passed between them upon the subject, wherein they digested the plan of making the Pe. (Wolter a bankrupt, without apprizing him of their intentions, and they arranged that Messrs. Evans and Co. who were the stationers of Mr. Woodgate, u well as of the Petitioner, should be the petitioning creditors, and that Colonel Master should be one of the assignees, and Mr. Seale, of Colchester, the Petitioner's uncle, another assig nee; it being their wish to have him as a sanctioner to their measures, which, as the Petitioner's relit- Live, they stated to be extremely desirable, and Mr. W. undertook to he the solicitor under the cununis. lion. Accordingly the affair was negociated betweeo them so successfully, that in the course of a very short ti a, a docket was actually struck against Mr. Fir by Mr. Woudgate, acting as the soli_ for for Messrs. Evans and Co. the petitioning cre ditors; and the act of bankruptcy relied on was, that the Petitioner had quitted his house to avoid his creditors, he having been persuaded to accom pany Mr. Scale to his house. The Petitioner was a man of very considerable property, after pay ment of all his debts, at the time the commission was taken out, and this fact was fully known to Colonel Master and Mr. Woodgate. Various at tempts were made to prevent them from having rec.iurse to guch an imprudent step, but Mr. W . oodgate absolutely insisted upon issuing nut a commission, and t tie-Petitioner thought it his duty, after it was taken out, and in truth 11411 no other course left, than to give every assistance to the assignees, the sooner to bring his all:sirs to a speedy 'adjustments and his misfortunes to an end. Upon discovery, however, of the secret correspondence between Mr. IVooutgate and Colonel Master, and the fe.enent of his mind being dissipat!, Mr. Fir. niiii conceived that the measures adopted against him were extremely cruel and harsh, and that he had been made the dupe by Mr. Woudgate and Colonel Master, while labouring under the bane. ful effects of his mental disorder ; and this opinion wilt strengthened by the commissioners on the Petitiouer's third examination, who, insisting on an accentit of the Petitioner's affairs being refl. dereil, Mr. Woodgate et the moment made out a statement, by which it appeared that there would be a surplus of 29,0001. besides a considerabl: come arising from funded property, sunder his marriage settlement ; upon this they declared it to be their opinion, that the taking out of the commission was the most unaccountable, harsh, awl nimecessary step they had ever wittiesud ; under each cireumstanses, the Petitioner felt it ale incumbent duty on him, in vindication of his else, racier and reputation, to prefer the present appli cation. A itemiser of allidavits were read by the Learned Counsel, detailing and substaistiatiug the facts of the ease, and many others tending to prove the peculiar hardships of the Petitioner's si tuation. These Affidavits were answered by Mr. Woodgate amid Colonel Master, who excused themselves principally on the ground, that a Commission had been taken out with the concur. rence ut the Petitioner and his friends. Sir Saline'. limmitee, Mr. WETHERELL, Mr. Mome.tee, and Mr. Peactime, severally appear. ed in support of the Petition, and commented at great length upon the transaction. They con. tended, that this act of bankruptcy was the act of Mr. Woodgate and Colonel Master, and not of Mr. Finnin, who, at the time of the commis. lion issuing, wes unable to judge of the prudence or imprudence of such a measure. It was con. jure(' of his Lordship to consider the distressing situation of Mr. Firmin, who, with a family of six children, found himself all at once bereft of his extensive aid lucrative business, and of the power of disposing of his own estates and pro. piety to an advantage and profit, more than cum. petted to clover double the amount of his debts, and the painful reflection of leaving his children, inheritor* of the disgrace whieh is almost always unfortunately attached to bankrupts. They at tributes! ties misfortune entirely to the mistaken friendship, to way the least of it, of Mr. IVood. gate atel Colonel Master, whose conduct might be frith treat propriety compared with the fable' of tee Lhwr and the Gardener of iDiup. The bear and the-gar& ncr having become sworn friends to each Haw, time gardener fell asleep ; whilst thus overpowered, a fly settled on his body, and the bear made several attempts to drive him away, at last the fly took post on the gardener's nuse, and the bear, purely from soothes of friendships, raised his paw, and drove away the fly, but, iu so doing, he tore off his friend's fare ; so, by the inistekee friendship of these south:lnca, the racter and property of the Petitioner had sus. tabled an almost irreparable injury. They rid's. culed the idea of the commission being taken omit with the concurrence of the Petitioner and his friends ; no particular friends had been named, but Mr. Cock, a distant relation of the Petitioner, and Mr. Scale, who each expressly denied suck concurrence, The Learned Counsel did nut nosh i to ascribe improper motives to them, bust it mu impossible nut is see, that many presented theme. selves, which might be ascribed to such conduct ; they pointedly observed upon Mr. Woodgate's bill of coats, for suing out the commission, which containctLa charge of 13 guineas and 6J. for at. l tending at Dedham, 58 nules from town, five ' days, endeavouring to procure nets of bank. ruptcy, as an evidence that he did not act sodisin. terestcdly as he would wish it to appear. Under all these circumstances, it was hoped his Lordship would supersede a commission which was takes out in• triolatiou both of public and private justice. Mr. II s eT and Mr. Cei.eum were heard on the part of Mr. iVuodiate and Colonel Master, the) dot not appear confident that the cononsosioo o ookt be to pported, tot relied panticel4dy upon the Ortendly *wires of *btu cheats.. and aUcred. .. - - that Mr. Fermin himself had assented to the measure. Mr. itienattos and Mr. Cooza appeared fur tie petitioning creditors, and saidolut their clients only *isbed to elplaia to this Court, that they had thought that a real act of bankruptcy been committed, and hart petitioned only upon that presumption, but they had nu nisli to make themsdlvcs Instruments its the hands of f',•rsons concerting a bankruptcy in this way, and these. fore dirt nut at all come forward to sniqpirt the corninission. Lonu CHANCELLOR 34 . H1, he would not trouble Sir Ssinu:l Roniilly in reply, Itc took detailed vies of the matters stated in the petition, and the affidavits on each vide. He observed, it was quite evident, from tha state of this Gentleman's property, th it he had snuck inure than sufficient to pay his debts, ie. deed to the amount of many thousand riunds. It had been said, indeed, on the behalf of Ai r . Wow}gate-and Mr. Master, that by making Lim a bankrupt, they thought they would r. here his mind from the anxiety under which it laboured, fr o m a supposition that his credituis were press. ing him. On this head, the ii ind of Mr. min see►aed to have been in a state of morbid sensibi. lily, and if these persons, taking advantage o f this niurbia feeling, fur reasons best known t o themselves, prevailed upon him to commit an act of bankruptcy, lie was bound to say that the commission ought to be superseded. Ilia Load. ship further stated, that Mr. Firtnia was placed undei• circumstances, in which he might represent him as entitled to the protection of the best' ad. vice that could be afforded him, and gave it as his opinion, that the Petitioner had, after a long struggle against the persuasions of Mr. Woodgats and Colonel Master, only yielded at last to intl. midation, and that while his mind was tinder the impression of deep melancholy. His Lord. shit► commented on the strong and peculiar ex. pressiuns used in the letters which had privately passed between Mr. %Voodgate and Cul. Master, . in planning the bankruptcy, and upon the charge of 131. l3s. 6d contained in Mr. Woollgate's bill of costs, before alluded to, and concluded wills remarking, that it was a case where Colonel Master and Mr. Woodgate had been projecting a commission of bankruptcy, and that being taken ont- under seek circumstances, it cJishl nut stand. His Lordship therefore ordered the commission to be superseded altogether, at the eipence and costs of those who bad beets concerned in taking it out, namely, Cu?. Master and Mr. Woodgatc. His Lordship further observed, that this commis sion was taken out under circumstances that ran.' dared it a scandalo►ts abase of the Bankrupt Laws. and av it respected himself and the Great Seal, he .4hould be bound to do as his predecessors had done in similar Cases. Monday the 10th. este !distending the violence of the Isurricam•, tw•u seatneo belougiog t o th e Gibraltar, lying in Cavissad Bay, took the ship'; cutter, with an inte►st to desert; which design it was thought they had elected ; but on Wednesday , the boat wu ((instil stove in, under Plymisatk L1oe•, and tos Friday last the bodies of the two misguided men were picked up, shockingly 'awl. Irtetl, under Mount Batten. The same night Thomas Fitzgerald, quarter-master of the Repulse, 74, and four seamen, deserted from that ship, and are supposed to have met with a similar fate to the above, as they have not since been heard uf. On Saturday, a boat going from the shore to some wreck at Lowestuffe, was upset in the at. tempt to got off; all the men were under it, and, in all probability, would have perished, had nut a wave again raised the boat, and enabled thaw who were beneath it to employ means to assist themselves, and to receive help from others. One of the neon would Inevitably have been lost, bad it not been for a Newfoundland dug, which saw him at a distance from all humus aid, swam to him, wised him by the hair, and never left his hold tilt the malt was safe, though both the dug and MAO were frequently buried under the waves. This is the second instance iu which the sanikdog has preserved the life of a human being.—He belongs to Mr. R&M ) of LOWeStOire. Monday night, or early on Tuesday morning ! , the City of Canterbury public.house, ,in Prim. rose.strect, Bishupsgate.street, was entered by souse thieves, who robbed the bar of Bank notes • and cash to a considerable amount, and turned the cocks of the spirit casks, by which MC4III all the liquor run out. What a lone train of itt colopires- • ,ctiurge our nor !litrotru tievirel. As few only have philosophyisulliciont to attaip to the mastery of their passions, among "the eon)" will be found, those who require a tweets's to warn them of the shwas and viCksands of esti —slid those, who already threatened with ship. wreck, stand in need of a rilot tuntable i theatio. weather the storm. For either description ut pursues, we know of no pittlicatiun at once so edifying and practically useful as " The Guide tw Health." Oar Bookseller assures us that already peacare thousand impressions have been sold qt the above little. Manual of Physic: if this is really the fact (awl we have no reason to doubt it). it is.a fact that supersedes all comment.-71tepiewer. 11IARP LED. On Satur.lay M.t, nt Si. liatolph, Aldetsgat. Mr. Wic ks', of Aldersotetstrmt,tu ilk rWest dasignier of S.. Muir, Era. of mow -sired, Bishopunie. On the I lth instant, Mr. Ir. Lorlirick, of the ,Fist-Imirt Company's Military Service, to Miss daeghicr ut James Jotter. Erg. of Aidborough /lota, ,Vmsex. In 1: . On Tuesday bet, u her Ewx-street, in the Ssp:. sear of her age,. Mrs. 13:arlow..reltet of the Lite Ftaut i• Harlow, Esti.of the Crown °dice. t)ss Sunday last, it Chester-place, Lanit•eth, Larpent, it widow of H. IL. Larpeat, Esq. used annually la mented. Al Seringipatam, on the 'id July la.!, Beilby Ilodrnn. Esq. third Judge iii• the Court of Circuit mad Appeal fur tar Proviares sof Caesura, Malabar, dtc. iyged %elts• lit Monday snorkit*, is Artilikr)-?lati, Sll.. :riallierY, aged till. . 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