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t. • LAIP' INTELI,IGE-VCE. counT ow CHANCERY, TritonsT, Fes. 1. to teßvence to the mere of " llnsband r. Braekenbnen," argued an a previous defy, the LORD CHANCELLOR, after taking his seat, ..tronted, that he bait made up his mind, but subsequent to the de cisioo he bad been so much ocespied with other things, that h• soaldnot paw enter fully and clearly into the grounds of that de sision; ha had therefore determined to postpone the remarks he ' intended to' male upon the case, until the sitting of the Court on Friday. lathe ease of " Watson v. 31**," argued on a former day, the Loin CHANCELLOR slid, the juilgoicut must be altered in seve ral important particulars. .HART applied to the Court for an injunction to stay pro seed it, In an action brought by Mr. Exton, jun. and others, aptabitt lYafter Scott and Richard Jones, administrators of Leo nard Hanson, deceased. The cue was brought before hie honour *e Vice-Chancellor. who refused the injunction, in deference to a Ratner decision of his Lordship, which, lie. hart contended. RSA not it. point. The plaintiffs at law were bond creditors of Hanson; the bill was filed for general administration, and it was necessary Me defendants at law should plead something. They had put in several pleas, which were afterwards expunged, and were therefore immaterial, but the plea standing on the record was Flew sdoiiiis sravif. The action was brought in Michaeln.se Term 1824, and fa. bill was filed on the 9th November. The defendants were ander the necessity of pleading on the 16th November, and the de arse was made on the 20th of the same month. The Loan CHANCELLOR—Was any thing done between the lißh hid 20th November ? hie HART—Nothing, my Lord; and on the 22d November re. stater notice was served on the plaintiff's that the decree had been .Dmtneed, but plaintiffs did not stay proceedings. A rule had MO laid down, that when executors applied to obtrin a decree, to collusion to the damage of creditors, the person making =ita n tlon should put in an affidavit stating the amount of assets. Tlmsdefandants, in order to enable the Court to act upon the assets, had put in an affidavit, admitting that they had property belonging xi the testator to the amount of 1,681!. Upon these farts, the ines-Chaneellor refused the injunction, holding, that as the plea of phase administriroit was false, as proved by the affidavit of defend. ants, stating that some assets remained in their hands, the defend sets were liable de bank propriis. This decision his Honour the inee-Chanrellor conceived to be founded on the case of " Terse- MST v. Fetherhy (2 Mere. p. 48(v), in 'which he understood his idtesiship to decide, that if the plea could be falsified, the Court wooed not restrain the plaintiffs from seeking their remedy at law. Mr. Hart contended that this decision of his Lordship could not ship to the present case. The defendants had only pleaded WS* administravit pro tempore, and to prevent the plaintiff!' from wanting in as judgment creditors. They were obliged to make this Fres, to prevent the plaintiffs from obtaining judgment. The Midavit was considered as evidence to falsify the plea de facto bat though the falsity of the plea should be proved, it gave no right to the plaintiffi, except de bonis tettatto es for the debt, and dahlmis propriis for the costs or damages. Mr. Hart quoted Term Reports, vel. 3, p. 685, and concluded by submitting, that as the athninistrators come forward bona fide, ready to pay in the assets, and without an intention of keeping back any part of the effects, the Court was bound to grant them protection by an injunction. Mr. Rosa followed Mr. HART on the same side. 'Mr. &rant N contended, that as the administrators had pursued tomato tine of conduct, they were bound to meet the consequences. Tarte were several other pleas besides that which now appeared on silt Veered; roe rst fortem wrs pleaded ; it was also pleaded that the bond held by the plaintiffs was executed on a Sunday by the airator, as a banker, m the way of his business. A third plea wts that another action was pending. The defendants went to the Ridge of a Court of Law to have these pleas expunged, and now ttiey came into Court and modestly desired his lordship to over ten the authorities which were against them, and to stop the pro otrodirrgs in a Court of Law, which would decide whether the judg- Mai% should be de bottis lestatoris or de Janis propriir. • Tice LORD CHANCELLOR—The difficulty is, that the Court • Taw will not like to notice our proceedings here; they do Oat observe the same courtesy towards us that we do towards them. S CCDEN resumed—Formerly, if an executor pleaded piece oinctlatrarit, and the smallest amount of assets was proved to re nnin! in his possession, the creditor got judgment against the exe cutor for the full amount of his debt. Such was the law until the tithe of Lord Mansfield, and his Lordship, in a way which he (Mr. Ougden) could not approve, after consulting with the other Judges', determined that die law should not s:and es it had done before, but that the executor, after pleading pierce administravit, should only be liable fur the amount of assets in his possession. Without bit poaching the wisdom of this decision, which was afterwards rung ailed by Lord Kenyon, he thought Lord Mansfield, by . exercising this jurisdiction, had gone beyond the spirit of the Constttution. It laos legislating rather than expounding the laws, and if a Judge mold thus alter or amend established laws, no man could be sure *am one day to another what were the laws of England. In the ease now before the Court, the plain tiffs adopted the decision of Lord Mansfield, and admitted, that although the defendants had pleaded Mleely, they were only liable to the extent of the assets. The de fendants had placed themselves in difficulties; they conducted themselves improperly in the Courts of Law, and now came into a Coon of Equity to protect themselves against the consequences of their own acts. Mr. Hart had stated that the defendants pleaded One edniinistravit, only to prevent the plaintiffs from claiming as judgment creditors. Could not the defendants have suffered judg- Mint to go by default, and have confided in the justice of a Court sof Equity ? The LORD CHANCELLOR said, this was not a question be nee* the executors and particular creditors, but between the ese anon and all the creditors. Ile was by no means satisfied, that if the assets were lodged in Court he could admit those assets to be qpiled to satisfy any particular creditors. In justice to the Vice- Chancellor he would say, that if he (the Vice-Chancellor) had done Gnaw, upon which he did not now mean to pronounce, the Vice +Chance:los had been led astray by him. Ik. Snow:is—Yes, my Lord, he has exactly followed your .11Pwdship's judgment. • HART—No. BIT. SUODEN-1 am obliged to my Learned Friend; he says :His Vice-Chancellor did not follow your Lordship's judgment, then Ili must have added the weight of his judgment to that of your has mistaken his Lord• lordship. Mr. HART—I say the Ilitp's opinion. r. I quoted a variety of cases, which he considered in point against the opplication. ?he LORD CHANCELLOR Said, the Court cannot take it for granted that the judgment will be de bolas propriis, therefore the argument on this presumption is beside the case. Mr. SCGDE N—We take that at our peril. LORD CHANCELLOR—I shall meet the Judges in the Ex chequer Chamber by and by, and see what they think of the point. After this argument shall have concluded, I hope we shall hear no more in the Court of King's Bench of their bow pleat. Mr. lIART briefly replied to the arguments of Messrs. SUODEN and BARBER. The lon u CHANCELLOR Slid, that though the Courts of Law rald not take the same notice of the judgments in equity, which the Quarts of Equity took of the judgments in law, yet the Court was ►sand to protect its own judgments. The Court had no difficulty is deciding, that if the creditor in law had got judgment prior to a decree in equity, and thought proper to struggle with the difficul ties, the Court ought not to prevent him from so doing. lie had Ito disposition to quarrel with former decisions; at the same time, Ala felt no hesitation in admitting that, in the case which had been .i*sled, where while adminisfraeit was falsely pleaded, and tile temreel for the defendants fell in with the views of the opposite Counsel, he bad been induced to agree with what he conceived the fishes of both parties, without sufficieet consideration. Baring said so much, in reference to the case at present before the Court, he wished it to be naderstood that he was fully competent in equity to decide upon points of law. It was quite within his authority to decide questions of law; and, if three Justices ea: in the Court to waist the Chancellor, the judgment would be that of the Chancel abr. Be thought it right to make those remarks, as it appeared that, in Court. of Law, the decisione on law made in this Court were accounted as nothing. In his opinion, this was a gross mis- Wu: of the constitution of the Court of Chancery. Something had hese said of those g►eat and illustrious men, Lord Mansfield and Lord Kenyon, and, as he was much older than those gentlemen . be had the honour of addressing, he might be allowed to repeat to them an anecdote of what bad occurred many years ago. Lord Mansfield had said, that he never liked equity so well as when it was like law. Mr. Justice De Grey shortly after took occasion to say, that he never liked law so well as when it was like equity.— These two strong expressions were mentioned- to Lord Titurlow, „sad his Lordship, when co:nmenting upon them, observed, that law and equity were never no good as when they were not confounded the one with the other. To return to the case, he would only ob serve, that at present he saw no reason why it should go to a trial, When the fact might be ascertained without burthening the parties with so heavy an expense. Judgment deferred. VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, Fs.. 1. H$ Hattons was occupied the whole of the day in hearing srgumenu on causes of no public importance. COURT OF RING'S BENCH, WZSTKOISTSII. TUESDAY, 71111. 1. DIONTAOUE v. ZXPINAISE. This was an action tried before the Lord Chief Justice at the Middlesex Sittings after last Trinity Term. It was Droned by --its* plaintiff, who Is a working jeweller, to recover tl:e awn of - 3a., being the balance of a sum of 83!. 35., the amount of 7 .4eweltery furnished by him to the wife of the defendant, who is an j oins:it special pleader in the Temple. The defence at the trial yrs, that the credit had not been given to the defendant, ror any 'wothority granted by hint for the purchase of the goode, which not ...being articles necessary to the wife, he was therefore not liable fey ypeir amount. On the part of the plaintiff it was contended, that • se the goods had been fnrnished to the defendant's wife, and which , wets not unbecoming, or in any manner unsuitable to a ivir fn her altitetion is life; and as thee were moreover delivered.. yrred at the defend t shouts: openly, ant without any secret or clandestine means deg wad, the plaintiff was clearly entitled to recover. The Lord Lc NMI tlatief staid he should not comsat/ the plaintiff, but leave it So the Jury to say, first, whether the goods had been supplied to lbe wife of the defendant ; secondly, whether 'they were suitable W lee creditlon and rank; and thirdly, whether so or not they Wes Aunishad with t h e expressed or implied assent of the defend- , rt-a.-•-~-~ ant. The Jury, after au hour and a half's consideration, returned a verdict for the plaintiff—damages 4W. Ss. On the first day of last Term Mr. fluency obtained a rule, calling on the plaintiff to show cause why the verdict should not be set aside, and a non-suit en tered, or a rcw trial granted. Mr. PLATT now showed cause against the rule. In doing so, he shout I, with all humility, cunterd that the question involved in this MSC was a proper one for a Jury. The question was, whether the goods were supplied to Mrs. Repinasste, and whether they had been supplied to her with the defendant's knowledge ? That the goods had been supplied "tit this lady had been clearly proved ; no doubt, he thought, could row be entertained upon that point ; but it had been said that they woe furnished to her without her hue band's knowledge, that they were unnecessary articles, and not suited to the rank and station of the defendant's wife, and that there fore he wee not liable for their value to the plaintiff: But the hus band wee surely answerable for the appearances which he held out to the world, either in his own person or in those of his family. He , lived in a respectable part of the town, kept his house at Twicken ham, kept three or four servants ; he was known to be a ver y emi -1 nent man in his profession, and his lady war related to persons of rank and station in society ; all then things brepoke a respectabi lity by no means inadequate to the rapport of these appendages of personal on:einem for which the present action was brought. 11, then. the defendant was answerable for these appearances, the ver dict [ that bad been given by the Jury was right, and ought not to be disturbed. Much had been said anent the absence of proof that the defendant had assented to these purchases being made, but he would contend that no assent onthe part of the husband wasneceseary in this case ; that the Jury had ascertained and determined by their verdict that the articles were proper for a person filling that station in lies which the defendant did, and that therefore the defendant washable, whether he assented or not. Great stress was laid at thetrial swe the circumstanee that the plaintiff had not proved that thus goods were worn in the prennee of the husband, or that he in any way knew of their having been had by his lady : on the contrary, at was said, that every effort was made by the lady her self to secrete the articles she had obtained front his client, le keep the fact cf her possessing them altogether unknown frees husband, aril the Learned Judge gave the defendant all the of that objection ; his Lordship told the Jury that unless the articles furnished were necessary to the wife of the defendant, ha was not liable without an expressed or implied patent ; but that the husband was bound fir goods supplied to the wife where the, appeared proper for her to have, without any consent on his pant being proved. It was quite plain, then, from these cireeesseeedos that the question of suitability of the articles supplied by the plaintiff to toe degree of the person to whom they were furnished Was pointed nut to the Jury fur their consideration ; then, If it were so, could the plaintiff be called upon to prove that she woes them ? a fact which could only be known to the inmates of the defendant's house, and which the plaintiff under no cirossestaftwe could hardly be presumed to have a knowledge of. Beddow, then were articles that even 00 servants of the house might pot have seen worn by the lady, being attired only for occasions "No such individuals were not often required to present. l int su pP eee Mrs. I Espinasse never did wear them, suppose she had them new in her possession in the same virgin state in which they had been deli vered to her, without having once been exhibited to the gaze of the fashionable rout, or the gay circle of a tea party, surely the circum stance of the husband being responsible were the same ; this fact could not alter the grounds of bin liability . . Ile was a member of a respectable profession, of extensive practice, lived in a :.boat re spectable house, and maintained an appearance of opulence ; the plaintiff toms in the course of his business to dispose of his goods In open day, he enters at the front of the house, not clandestinely at the back ; be is not called into a back room, and cautioned by the lady to he secret, and careful rot to suffer her husband to know of the purchase she is making ; he sells his goods openly, every thing appears about her to bear the stamp of respectability, and he goes away under the impression that he has been giving the defendant himself credit for the goods he has thus sold to his lady; and although he might afterwards, upon learning . that this was not the case, that the husbund did not know of the circumstance, con sent to accept of a lens sum for the articles than originally agreed upon, still that did not alter the original liability of the defendant. He would now call their Lordships' attention to a case which appeared to him to bear a strict analogy to the present. It was the case of Morton and Withens, Skinner's Reports, p. 348. The defendant, in that case, was Sir Francis Withens, Sergeant at Law, and had lately been Justice of the King's Bench. The action was brought for silver fr inges and lace for a petticoat and side saddle , purchased within a period of four morahs.amounting to 93/., by the wife of Sir Francis. It was insisted on behalf of the defendant, shat long before the delivery of the goods he and his wife had not lived together, and that the wife had declared to him that she would charge him with 5001. in one term, and have him in a gaol in the next. That for many years she had had as allowance of fifty pounds per annum, and that no evidence had been given to show that these things were necessary; and on the sante day another action was tried against the defendant for velvet and tissues at M. ;per yard, to the value of 801. The Judge who tried the cause directed, that, if the Jury found the plaintiff innocent of the design of the wife to ruin her husband, and delivered the laces, de. as goods fit for the wife and upon the credit of the husband. without notice of the difference between them, that the husband should be obliged to pay the plaintiff, for it was part of his promise of marriage to feed and clothe her, and notwithstanding she had an allowance, the plaintiff win entitled to a verdict, for that allowance was secret, and not known to the plaintiff; but if the plaintiff knew of the differences between the husband and wife, and sold his goods only to enable the wire to ruin the husband, then the de fendant would not be chargeable ; nor would he be, if the things were not suitable to the quality of the wife. Upon this direction, the Jury being of e tallow», Wad a verdict for the plaintiff. In the present, said Mr. Platt, the Jury, also being of gentlemen, found that Mrs. Espinasse was of a suitable degree to have these things supplied to her, and the verdict of the Jury was so strongly supported by the ease he had cited, that it was impossible to con ceive in what manner it could be impugned. It often happened that in cases where parties applied for a new trial, the merits of their case had either not been fully entered into, owing to tome omission on their parts, or else new evidence, which was not at the time of the trial known to them, had since transpired ; but would it appear that there was any thing here that would alter the case of the defendant? had any new facts been discovered that could favour hint or be prejudicial to the plaintiff ?— nothing of the sort had been attempted to be shown ; and he therefore hoped, as the Jury had had all the facts fully left to them by the Learned Judge, and they had, upon due deliberation, decided that the defendant ought to pay for the goods supplied by the plaintiff to Mrs. Espinasse, that their Lordships would not now disturb that verdict, but dis charge the rule with costs. Mr. SCantl TT appeared to support the rule, and said he had not been engaged at the trial, but Iroun what he had learned of the case from the papers before him, and from his Learned Friend Mr. Platt's speech, lie was certainly of opinion that the verdict ought to be set aside and a nonsuit entered. A case had been quoted from Skinner, where a Sergeant-at-Law had been made to pay for a vel vet petticoat and a aide-saddle which had been furnished to his wife, upon the ground that they were suitable to her rank and dignity, and this verdict Navin; been given by a Jury, being. of gentlemen, the present Jury thought that the defendant in this action, being an eminent special pleader, could also maintain his wife in equal dig. nity with a Sergeant-at-Law. But their Lordships were much better able to judge what was the difference between a sergeant-at law and a special pleader under the bar. His Learned Friend had said a great deal about 31r: Espinasse's rank and family connec. tiara, but the question was, what was Mr. Espinasse's rank ? Was it of that description which could afford to support a wife in displaying such a-ticles of value so those for which this action had been brought ? Certainly not ; for it appeared that the defendant's practice was not of a very extensive nature ; and even if it were, the pay was but very trifling and uncertain. As to the country house, which it was said he kept, it was trite he had rented a small house for two or three months at Twickenham ; but in general his mode of living was not ostentatious, orealculated in any way to hold out inducements to tradesmen to believe him responsible for debts contracted for so large an amount as the present, for such 'descrip tion of goods as those furnished by the plaintiff: There was one circumstance in this case which made it very peculiar, which was, that Mrs. Espinasse's maid never saw the jewels ; this was cer tainly rather extraordinary, foe one would naturally suppose that a person who was always necessarily about the house in which the lady lived would have seen these articles if they had ever been worn ; there must then have been some motive for not wearing them, and what other motive could be assigned but that of wishing to conceal the fact of her possessing these jewels from her husband ? His Learned Friend had said mach upon theliability of a husband to pay for goods furnished to the wife, and urged this as a law which would pr erne facie charge the husband in thus case ; but the law was quite the other way. This kind of action, which was brought against the husband, was an exception to the general rule, for the general rule was, that the wife could not bind her husband ; and it was only in the particular case where the law was anxious to pro tect the wife from any undue or severe exercise of his rights, on the part of the husband, that it gave the wife a right to contract debit so as to render the husband liable. But if this power were not confined, as it very wisely was, to the contracting of debts fur things that were necessary . for the comfort and convenience of the wife, suitable to her station in life, there would be a most dangerous means allowed to be within the reach of any woman who regarded her own fancies in preference to the welfare and happiness of her husband, to bring down ruin upon him, without any redress whatever tieing left to the husband against those who conspired with his wite to effect it. It was very true that gentlemen of the profession had their time much occupied, and Mr. Espinasse's pur *llia were such as called him much from borne, so that it might be said by the plaintiff that in dealing with the wife he was only dealing 'with her because the husband was necessarily absent on the duties of his profession ; but the plaintiff ought to have known something icif the defendant and Ids circumstances ; he was a gentleman very well known to others, and a small degree of caution on the part of On plaintiff' wouhl have sufficiently convinced hint that the tuns. actinss which he was carrying on with his lady were not warranted by the defendant's cirrionstences. One fact was clear, that he had not received any money from the defendant on account of these or any other things furnished by him to Mrs. Eminent. The Lotto Camp JvsTICIC—It appears by his own proof that he received some of the money from Mrs. Espinarse hiniself. Mr. PLaTT—That was after the supply of the goods. Mr. ScARLETW— SO much the worse for him ; for it appeared by that fact, that he had been supplying goods to the wife upon Per own credit, unknown to the husband: but no person would sup• ply any articles of value to a lady front whom he knew he could MI legally reeoverpheir amount, without first obtaining the assent of the husband, unless be knew that the things he was supplying were such as no husband in the defendant's circumstances would sane bun his wife to have. This was, in fact, the precise ease of tbS plaintiff in the present action s he knew that it was wrong to furnish these jewels, and therefore he did not apply to the defend ant himself; but relied upon the lady to pay him ; sod if not, then , THE BRITISH PRESS. he considered the law would make the husband responsible. But he (Mr. Scarlett) trusted that would not be the case; for if the plaintiff succeeded in this action, it was to be apprehended that it would produce the ruin of Mr. Espinasse; for there was great reason to believe that these things were not boueht by Mrs. Espi nasse fur the purpose of being woei by herself, out to accommodate a friend ; and that many other actiods of a s:inilar nature would, if this should be euceeesful, immediately follow. He should there fore hope that their Lordships woOf direct a nonsuit, or, at all entente; make the rule absolute for sneer trial. Their LON mu es conferred together a short time, and then Air. Justice BAY I.EY said, it seems to me that in this pa. ticular case these was no evidence to go to a Jury to entitle the plat:tiff to a verdict, and the general rule of law is this, that whe•.: the wile lives separate front the husband, but by no fault of her , then the husband is bound to supply her with necessaries, but not be yond that; and if the husband will not supply the wife with ne cessaries, then she may go to the Spiritual Court, where her proper remedy is, and that C will compel him to do so. But where the husband and wife living together, then the husband is not bound by any contract elsactedly the wife, except it appeared that the wife was authorised arid entitled to act as an agent to bind her husband ; and this authority, in order to sustain the validity of that contract, must be clearly shown. But was it in evidence le re that the wife had had the authority of the husband ? I certainly think not: on the contrary, there was every chill to show that time defendant was wholly ignorant of the transaction be tween his wife and the plaintiff. Now look at the facts as they ap pear in evidence. It had been said that the lady had a fortune of d,OOO/. when she married; that is about 2091. a-year ; but this fact has not been proved by the plaintiff; granting, however, that it was, is it to he supposed that a man who could scarcely furnish a house, and who could not afford to keep a man servant—is it to be conceived that such a person, so circumstanced, would entitle his wife to spend in less than four months more than 901. upon things that were not necessary Can it be for a moment imagined that any man would empower his wife to expend in so short a time nearly ooe-half of her whole income? It appears that this lady had a very liberal auto allowed her, and that the plaintiff did not look be yond this property for the payment of his goods ; but if he bad acted with that common caution which all tradesmen ought to ob serve, he would have ascertained whether this lady really had the means of paving him, and that not in a clandestine and secret man ner, but openly and fairly, like an honest dealer. What was it, in common prudence, in the fair exercise of that discretion which every max of business is expected to be capable of, that he ought to have done, when asked by this lady to credit her for articles to so large an amount ? Would lie not have gone and asked the husband whether she was entitled to make these purchases? But if he had even used his own faculties while in the house, he must have perceived that this was a most improvident transaction on the part of the defendant's wife: if he had opened his eyes he would me that a house, which was scarcely supplied with the necessary furniture to make it even reipectable, was not such as required the costly trinkets in which the lady of that house was trafficking. He would have said to himself—" Instead of laying out 1101. or M. upon gold watches, and crosses, and brooches, it appears to me the money would be better applied in the purchasing of furniture." He, therefore, ought to have said to the lady—" Madam, it is a rule with me never to deal with the lady . of the house without ascertaining whether she Is properly &who:need to contract debts on the part of her husband. I do not wish jo offend you, Madam— but as it is my rule to require this information, I must inquire of Mr. Eseinasee whether these things are to be au? plied to you, be. fore I can undertake to deliver them over to you. ' And if he had gone to Mr. Eepinasee, and put the euestion, lie might have been answered by that gentleman—" Why, this is a question which no less .:can six other jewellers have asked me; and I. tell you, you must not trust her." How should the defendant know but that this person had been serving other men's wives in the same manner ; and might, for aught he could tell, be a person going about to take advantage of the females, and unpose these charges upon their husbands? Coneidering„ then, that those things were not necessary for the wife of the defendant ; considering that the goods had been supplied without his knowledge or consent ; and also considering that such a course as this would operate most in juriously to the interests of the public, if it were to be suffered to continue—l am of opinion that the verdict should be set aeide, and a nonsuit entered. This appears to me to have been the law for a long series of years, and that, according to my Lord Raymond's Reports, the question has been decided upon ova and over again. hit. Justice Ho extort. was of the same opinion. Mr. Justice Ltrrerneez—l sin of opinion that the plaintiff ought to have been nonsuited. The general rule is, that the hus band is not bound by the contract of the wife, but if there be an eapreu or implied assent on his part, then he is chargeable. Now in this case there certainly does not appear to be any express assent : the plaintiff has not shown that lie had at any time applied to the husband, or in any other manner obtained his unction to the trans action. Then as to the implied assent : it don not appear that even this was given ; for by the evidence it would seem that the articles bought were never worn by . the wife in the presence of the husband, nor has the fact of her being in possession of the jewels at any time been proved to have been known to the defendant until a short period before this action was commenced. The Learned Judge then quoted several cases from Comqn's Digest, where the acts of the wife, for which the husband was liable, were stated, but he observed, that none of those cases were in any manner similar to the present. As the authorities, therefore, were all against the liability of the defendant in this case, and as reason and policy both required that he should not be so, I perfectly agree (said his Lordship) in the opinion of my Learned Brothers Bayley and Hol royd, that this should be set aside, and a nonsuit entered for the defendant. The Loan CHIEF JUSTICE—I entirely agree with the opinion of my Learned Brothers, and I think that the rule ought to be made absolute for a nonsuit ; and I hope this decision will tend to the benefit of those who gain their living by selling goods of any description. It will be of considerable benefit to the whole class of his Majesty's subjects, and will be a salutary caution to those who an too ready to avail themselves of the facilities which the system of credit much too frequently affords, in disposing of their commodities to persons having no legal capacity to contract, but which contracts the often (but as this case will teach those who think so, erroneousl y ) . supposed to be under a legal liability to perform. This decision will be occasionally beneficial to infants, to parents, to relations, and to friends, and will always he most peculiarly beneficial to tradesman, and will point out to them those cautions which ought to be adopted by them in all their dealings, and prevent the moat serious looms from accruing by an inadvert ent, or, what is oftentimes less innocent, a speculative and hazard ous course of acting, by inducing persons to incur debts, which Bilpe is no prospect of their ever paying ; this decision therefore, Weft operate most beneficially to such persons, for those who give credit without a fair and seasonable hope of being paid, are often in the end most fatally deceived. The rule for the verdict to be set aside, and a nonsuit entered, was accordingly made absolute. DOE. OJT THE DEM. or v. it. HUNT. After the Bar had been gone through, Mr. Henry Hunt ad. dressed their Lordships, and said, he appjied for a rule - in this action of ejectment, in which he was defendant , calling upon the lessor of the plaintiff to show muse why all proceedings should not be stayed with costs. The Loan CHIEF JUSTICE—What does your affidavit Say P Let the officer of the Court read it. The officer then read Mr. Hunt's affidavit, in which he entered into a long statement respecting his various shops in London; but the ground on which this application was made, was that the de claration bad been served on a person who was not the tenant in possession, and this not from ignorance of the fact ; hut as Mr. Hunt represented, either from negligence or design on the part of the Attorney for the lessor of the plaintiff. The COURT having looked at the affidavit, granted the rule in the terms required:—which were that the proceedings should be stayed with payment of costs to be paid by the lessor of the plaintiff, or his Attorney. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, WESTMINSTER, Fxs. wicks V. CLUTV ?AMUCK. This was an action for false imprisonment, brought by the plain tiff, a retired tradesman, against the defendant, a 'magistrate of the County of Hertford. The cause was tried before Mr. Baron Ora. ham, and the Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff--damages, 351. Mr. Sergeant Teddy had last Term obtained a rule to show cause why a new trial should not be had. On Wednesday last Sir. Sergeant Vaughan showed cause against the rule being made ab solute. Mr. LawEs this day followed on the same side; he con tended, that no more than the justice of the case was met in the verdict of the Jury ; and that it was ridiculous for a magistrate, after having comm it ted an mar is the commitment, to be able to shelter himself by his own conviction. He also contended, that if this rule were made absolute, it would protect the greatest oppres sion, and sanction the greatest violence. Mr. Sergeant Caoss (for the defendant) said, this was an action of the highest importance to that beneficial and important class of his Majesty's subjects--the magistrates. No gentleman would have the Folly to undertake the execution of the office of justice of the peace, if he should be liable to such an action as this. Here was a complaint brought against a justice of the peace for an error in judgment; the fact was, the defendant thought the place in question to be enclosed, whereas it was the opinion of the Justice of Assize that it was not enclosed, and the Jury, for this error in judgment (to which every one was liable) adjudged him to pay da ' mages to seven times the amount of his own penalty. It would he just as reasonable, said the Learned Serjeant, if the defendant was to bring his action against th e Jury. Ile further contended, that the defendant had only done his duty, as he had the solid founds ' don of the conviction to stand upon; and that, if a magistrate did happen to issue an imperfect warrant, he had u right to supply it by evidence in the course of the action. 'rho learned Sergeant then alluded to Brace's cue, in which it was determined, in the Court of King's Bench, that such verbal slips should not be brought against a magistrate. Their Lordships could have no doubt that such cause of action occurred every day, yet there was not one inatauce of an action succeeding against a meg:strata; he (51r. Sergeant Cross) therefore hoped their Lordships would make the rule absolute. The Cut EV JUST f CE said It had been truly observed, that this was a care of the utmost importance. He was satisfied that the Magistracy would not feel that degree of alarm mentioned by his Learned Brother, for those who had the knowledge to act would have enough love of their country boldly to perform their duty. Though the Magistnttes must be respected, yet the liberty of the subject must be preserved. If they (the Magistrates) made a mistake, they must make reparation to the party injured; and although he might not have been imured in person, yet he couldimagine that a man, after having been kept In confinement foe seven days in a pri son, might feel lkaself aggrieved to salt fur dunagell at the hands of a Jury of his country. This had been put as a technical objection, but he (the Chief Justice) did not see it in that light. Magistrates must not protect themselves from an error of their own by an act of their own. His opinion was founded in this case upon a defect in the warrant of commitment. In this very country there hed lately occurred an instance in which such an irre• gularity had led to the loss of the life of an innocent man. The question here was not one of error, but that a subject had lost his l'berty for seven days. His Lordship concluded by raying, that he thought the verdict ought not to be disturbed.' The rest of the Ber.ch concurred in opinion with his Lordship. Rule discharged. POLICE. BOW-STREET. Yesterday James Mallard, a horse-dealer, was brought before Mr. HALLO, charged with melding a pony, the property of Mr. Laban, a livery-stable-keeper, at Chelsea. The prisoner was remanded for further examination. Information was given at this office of a daring burglary, corn. mined between three and five o'clock on Monday morning, at the house of a gentleman of the name of (farrow. 102, Piccadill►. The thieves effected an entrance by cutting, with a centre-bit, a square piece out of the shutter or the butler's pantry window, and loosen. ing the bolts. They doubtless expected to find the plate there, but it was fortunately in a place of greater security. They broke into the wine-cellar, where they regaled themselves with wine, and took a silver strainer. They next proceeded to ransack the offices cn the ground-floor, breaking open every cupboard and other place of de. posit, but they found nothing of value. They were more success ful in the drawing-room, where they broke open an escritoire, and took a ruby ring, valued at 80 guineas, a pair of gold-mounted spectacles, and a quantity of jewellery and trinkets. They at length found their way to Mr. °arrow's bed-room, who, awakened by the MAIM of the door cpening, called out, " Who's there ?" and leaped out of bed. The fellows, at the sound of his voice, scam pered down stairs, and he followed as quickly as he could, deter mined to seize one of them at least, but they made their escape by the street-door, leaving a crow-bar and other implements used by housebreakers, in the passage. Mr. Darrow thinks there were three persons at least. WORSHIP-STREET. Yesterday Clarks Barron, Wm. Sinficld, Charles Cannery, and Maria Sheldrake, were brought before Mr. OsnottstE, from the Spitalfields watchhouse, on the following charge:— The watchhouse-keeper stated, that about ten o'clock he wu called to a house in Bird-street, to assist in taking the prisoners into custody, who were suspected of haying stolen some fowls. On his arrival he found the four prisoners together, in the only room that was occupied, and in a box he found the four fowls now produced, coveted over with logwood shavings. The room, in which there was neither bed, chair, nor table, was tenanted by the female prisoner, the gentlemen being only her friends and visitors. A person living In Hare-street, Bethnal-green, claimed one of the fowls as her property, saying, that on Sunday morning she discovered four of her fowls had been stolen; and the heads of two others ' which had been twisted off, were left in the yard. The robbery, she said, was supposed to have been effected about one o'clock, as the fowls were heard making a noise at that time. A female, occupying the next house to the last witness, identi fied a hammer, found in the room with the prisoners, as having been stolen from a shed at the back of her house. The shed was not fastened, the door being generally left open. An apron belonging to one of the prisoners was also produced, with several marks of blood upon it. The prisoners did not attempt to account for their possession of the fowls, and were remanded for further examination on a future day. As the parties were leaving the office, a female entered in breath less haste, she having just learned that the prisoners were in custody for fowl-stealing. She instantly recognised two old ac quaintances in two of the fowls, which she said wore stolen from her premises on Sunday night, about nine o'clock. - - - • - - BLUNDER Or A PARISH-0/FICER.—A young man, of the name of Losggate, was brought before 51r. OSBORNE, the Ma. gistrate, by Thomas Court, a headborough, belonging to Bethnal. green, upon a charge of having, under false pretences, obtained from William Heath live sovereigns. It appeared the prisoner had been until September last a writing clerk to one of the Commissioners, and on last Thursday he went to a man of the name of Cooke, in Bethnal-green, at whose house Heath lodges, and he then asked Cooke (who had some previous knowledge of hint) if he wanted any silk, adding, that lie was an agent to a silk-broker, and was enabled thereby to obtain him a good bargain. Cooke declined purchasing of ham , hut called down William Heath. A sample was then produced, the quality of which pleased very well, but the price asked pleased much better. He then stated that the silk had been in pawn for a few pounds, but if they would meet him that evening, at the Goose and Grid iron, St. Paul's, with as much money as they could raise, he would redeem the silk, and allow them in payment the sum they advanced. They accordingly met, and Heath gave him five sore. reigns—the prisoner got the money, and went for the silk, but he forgot to return. Cooke and Heath then discovered where he re sided ; and then left word that if he would call on them the busi ness might be accommodated between them. In • few days after. wards the prisoner called at their residence, when the officer was sent for, and took him into custody. The prisoner having two sovereigns upon him, presented them to Heath, who refused to take them—he then sent to a friend to borrow three more—it was, how ever, so settled, that the officer received the money, aud gave a receipt upon a twopenny stamp as follows : " Received from Longgate, the sum of two pounds. for Wm. Heath, on account Thomas Court." After the receipt of the two pounds, and the balance not being forthcoming, he was then given in charge to the officer. The prisoner maintained that he merely borrowed the money, and theu produced the receipt. Mr. OsaoarE asked who signed the receipt. Officer—l did, in the presence of Mr. Heath. Mr. ()snow N E—That shows your qualifications for the duties of a headborough, in assisting, or being present, at the compromising of a fraud. There is, therefore, an end to this case. Let the pn. soner be discharged. UNION-HALL. Yesterday a man of respectable appearance, named Gladdill, residing in Kent-place, Kent-road, was brought before the Sitting Magistrate. K. J. CHAMBERS, at the instance of the pa ri sh officers of Peckham, for refusing to maintain his wife, an elderly lady, who appeared to substantiate the charge. A Solicitor, who attended on behalf of Mrs. Gladdill, said, that his client had to complain of the most gross ill usage of the de fendant towards her ever since their marriage. It appeared that the complaining lady, who is 55 years of age, was left leasehold property to the amount 0f951. per annum. In the month of March last, then being a widow, she happened to meet Mr. Gladdill, some years younger than herself, rnd they were married. Three days had only elapsed from the performance of the ceremony, when Mr. Gladdill began to exercise his authority with a vengeance, by kicking his spouse for some slight offence ; and his conduct to the poor woman from that period up to the present time, was distin. guished for cruelty and ill treatment. He sold off' the greater part of her goods, and threatened to turn her out into the street. In fact, said the Solicitor, had she not made application to the parish for relief she must have starved, u her husband refused to give her a bit of bread. The Parish Officers of Peckham stated, that they had relieved Mrs. Gladdill since her marriage with the defendant. They added, that she had complained to them of the ill-treatment she was subject to ever since the day she had unfortunately married the defendant. . . . . . . . The defendant interrupted the Magistrate, declaring that she was more to blame than he was; for, added he —" Mrs. Gladdill ought to have made some allowance, when she reflected that she was 85 years of age, and I am only 34." Mr. CIIMHBERS—This is no escuse for your conduct to her ; you married her, became possessed of her property, and instead of treating her with indulgence for the sacrifice she had made, you behaved in a most cruel manner to her. The Magistrate then said, that he should pay her a weekly sum, sufficient to support her, and ordered the Parish Officers to apprehend the defendant immedi. ately on his neglecting to make the payment good. • NEW MODE OP SPLITTING ROCES.--(Communicated by Dr. M'Culloch to the Edinburgh Journal Science.) — Every practical man must he aware of the expense and waste of labour and of tools attending the ordinary mode of blasting rocks and large masses of stone by gunpowder, either for building or for the clearing rough ground. It was this expense, rendering it difficult for him to carry on his work at the contract price, which induced Mr. Mac kenzie, the contractor of a road from Loch Ewe to Gairloch, to abandon the system of blasting, and to adopt, like another Hannibal, that of the simple applica tion of fire. His method was never found to fail, and merely consisted in raising a fire of peat-turf, bushes, or weeds, according to the character of the adjoining ground on the surface of the stone to be split, which being secured at the margin by stones or turf, was kept in activity for five or six hours. At first Mr. Mackenzie was in the habit of throwing water on the stone when the fire was extin guished, but this is not necessary, as he found the mere heating of the mass, in every instance, sufficient for opening and enlarging the fissures, so as to admit of a small wedge. This wedge is easily and expeditiously driven in, and the rock giving way in the direction of some of its natural clevages, large slices are obtained, fit for the erecting of dykes or bridges. Although it was as connected with road-making that Mr. Mack nzie first had recourse to this simple process, it is evident that it can be applied to the removal of those large masses of rock which arc seen disfiguring almost every field in the inclosed parks of the Highlands ; and though hitherto applied to detached fragments of no great magnitude, practice may prove the possibility of employing it in the I fracture of Invern ess rocks.— Courier. A few nights ago, J. Fitzpatrick, who prosecuted the party that cut off his ears some time ago, was waylaid on his return from Moate, in this county, by a numerous party, who beat him very nearly to death, broke his arm In pieces, and left him with little signs of lift. ' his head being dreadfully cut in several places.—Atilunellerald, an , BUSINESS. Yesterday the Los° Alsvoa held a Court of Aldermen at Guildhall, at which sixteen Aldermen, the Recorder, Sheriffs, and City Officers attended. A Petition from a numerous body of the inhabitants of the Ward of Aldeesgate, in opposition to a petition front sundry other in habitants of that 1% srd, against the election of Beadle on St. Thomas's-Day last, was presented and read. The first petition was also read. The several parties having withdrawn, and the Court deliberated on the circumstances, the election was adjudged . and made void, the parry having been elected contrary to the provisions of the Act of Parliament, and the Lord Mayor was requested to issue Las precept for a new election. The Court then considered Mr. Crook's petition against the election of Common Councilmen for Wintry `i‘ aid. The Hon. Mr. Law attending on behalf of the petitioner, shortly ftildmsed the Court, and called several witnesses, who was examined by the Alderman of the 'Ward and one of the Common Council. The Court was then cleared, and after deliberating, adjudged and declared the election to be null and void, and requested the Lord Mayor to issue his precept for a new election. The Court agreed to a Report from a Conimittee, to apply to Parliament for an Act for the further and more effectual regulation of the prices of carriage of goods sent to London from the country, and also from Into _ The Court, on a Report from another Committee, agreed to grant an increase of Livery to the Glass Seller's Company, under certain regulations. Commissioners for the Court of Requests, were appointsd foe next month. sundry Broken were allowed and sworn. Licences were presented from Cool Undertakers. MAnrETS. (From the London New Price Current, Feb. L. COTTON.—There was so little demand for Cotton last week, that not more than 4or 500 bales have been sold, mostly Beoita h, at 6d. for fair Company's quality. and a few Surats; in prices there is no variation, and not much cotton ciFers, previous to the sale. LirEuroos, JAN. 29.-Cotton has continued dull throughout the week, and the prices of the lower descriptions of Boweds and Perna= have declined ad. per lb. sod most other kinds about ad, per lb. There were sold by auction yesterday 460 Demerara and Berbice, chiefly of the new crop, which went off steadily at Ild. a 13ad. for fair to very good. Th e sales by private contra* consist of 2698 Bowed 801. a 91d. ordinary to fair new, 10d. • I lad. middling fair to very good old; 160 Orleans Ild. a Ila 4. fair to very good ; 276 Alabama 104 d. a 101 d. ; 150 Sea Inland 1 18 ad. a 26d, ; 770 Pernambuco 124 d. a 131 d. ; 109 Maranluun 124. a 124 d. ; 40 Bahia 1144. a 124 d. ; 78 Mina Nova 100. a lid.; 100 Mina Gera 111 d. ; 209 Egyptian llid. a 124 d.; 20 Barbadoes 10d. ; 20 Laguira 9d. ; 144 Carthagena 9d.; 13 Surat Bad. ; 40 Bengal lid. Making a total, including those sold by auction, of 5260 bags. The arrivals are only 3539 bags. COFFEE.-The report in the market that the home consume.. non duty on Coffee would be immediately reduced, had (with the previous demand) a great effect on the market : during the lan week, Jamaica Coffee again advanced 2s. a4s. per cwt. ; Demerara and Berbice Se. a Bs. ; this improvement in the qualities foe the home consumption has been followed by a general and extensive demand for every description of Coffee, and Foreign has now caw. taken both in the demand and in the prices ; St. Domingo waa is great request yesterday at Ns. and 665. The three public sales de. dared for this forenoon, checked the demand for Coffee, and pro. duced great interest, establishing a market currency; they con. stated of 580 casks, 230 bags British Plantation, and 814 bags Foreign ; good ordinary St. Domingo sold in large parcels at 475. and 675. 6a. damaged 625.; fine ordinary Brazil 675. a 69e. ordinary 61s. ; low middling Dutch 945. a 945. fid. middling 965.; Jamaica, good ordinary, 735. a 745. fine ordinary 74e. all,. fine fine ordinary 83s. a 861. middling 90s. a 98a. good middling 100 a 110 s. The sales were continued up till a late hour, and higher prices were then realised than at the commencement of the ale; the advance from the lowest point six weeks ago is in Demerara and Berbiee 204. a Ws.; Jamaica and other British Plantation 12s. a 15a and Foreign 10s. a 125. per cwt. SUGAR.-The deinsid for 31 useovades during the last week was steady, but the purchases were not on an extensive scale, on account of the few parcels of good quality which are on shoe ; the late prices were fully supported. The weekly deliveries of Aluscovades from the warehouses continue extensive, compared with the previous year. The Sugar market this morning is Iffy firm, at the late advance ; the show of good quality Is inconsida. able ; the salts to-day are, in consequence, limited in extent, but at very full prices. In Refined goods there was little alteration to notice; the quantity of low ;pods at market was inconsiderable, yet sufficient for the languid demand ; there was no alteration in prices. -Molasses were 265. 6d. There was rather more demind for Refined goods this foreroon, but there is' no alteration what. ever in prices.-Molasses still 26s 6d. In Foreign Sugars very few purchases are lately reported ; for yellow Havannah 301. has been paid, and the holders are asking higher rates, which prevents In. sings, as the busers will not submit to the advanced prices, RU3I, BRANDY., and HOLLANDS.-The Rum market continues rather heavy ; proof Leewatds and fine Jamaica' fully maintain the late prices ; all other descriptions are duU, and may be purchased on lower terms.-The accounts from France state the Brandy market firm, at ISO frs. per 27 vette ; there has, in come. quence, been wins improvement here, and more business doing; the best marks cannot be purchased under is. Id.-The arrivals at Geneva occasion a small decline in the prices; Is. 11d. is now the quotation for the beat quality. SILK.-The Silk market continues particularly brisk, std higher prices are still anticipated. OILS.-Fish Oils are firm at the late advance; Sperm has been bought in cargoes extensively at 441. and there are now no sellers at that price ; other qualities are also on the advance, on account of the decreasing stock. The demand for Seed Oils at the ie. serted prioes is general. SALTPETRE.-The demand for Saltpetre has greatly revived lately, and the prices must be quoted 235. 6d. a 255.; the lute has been paid for fine quality. SPICES.--There has been a good demand for Nutmegs, pad. elderly yesterday, when 3s. 7d. was realised for the best quality. Pepper is also in more demand, and for middling light 64d. paid. In other Spica there is little business doing, and no alteration is the prices. DYE WOODS.-There is much interest excited as to Dye. woods, the prices are nearly nominal ; for Jamaica Logwood 81. Os. is asked, and generally the holders are firm at that price, but though there are apparently extensive buyers, few purchases an yet reported; for good Cuba Fustic very high prices are asked. as high as 141. 14s. tut no sales yet reported near that rare-ths greater proportion of the Brazil Wood at market has been du. posed of, but the prices have not transpired. HEMP, FLAX, and TALLOW.-The Tallow market bee become heavy, the nearest quotation of the new is to-day 395.... Hemp is also 10s. lower-In Flax there is very little busing"' doing, the prices are not varied. PROVISIONS-Beef and Pork are steady-Bacon goes of freely.-Butters are stationary ; some more failures make the market dull. INDIGO.-There is no alteration in the prices since the India House sale : the quantity taken in has been all sold, at the prices at which they were withdrawn at the sale. The market looks firm. GLASGOW COT CON M•RIET, JAN. 29.-Our market has been uncommonly flat this week ; the &des amount to only 439 bales. In some instances a reduction of id. a lb. from the ex. treme prices of last week has been submitted to. The greater part of the operative spinners having agreed to return to their week. le is probable that all the mills will be set to work next week. The following are the prices :-39 Sea Islands, 2ld. good. 220. to fa. fine-4 do. Stained Ibid. fine-2/2 Boweds IUI. ordinary, 11d. good fair-58 new Orleans Md. middling fair, to 120. good -38 Egyptians 13d. fair, to 130. good-10 Barbadoes 11d. good.-. 68 Surats Bid. to eta. good. BIRTHS. On Thursday, at Beach Cottage, Southampten,the lady oigans. Graatheed, jun. Esq. of a son, In Conduit-street, the lady of William Gilpin, Esq. of soon. On Monday, at Ilampstesd, the lady of }Award Taller, jun. Esq. of a son. On Sunday last, at the Grange, Gloucestershire, the lady of Major• Genera l Guise, of a daughter. LIED. At Cummertrees, near Annan, a few days ago, sllssestie Shearer, at the extraordinary age of one hundred and twa : yease. She was a servant, and had lived in the same family during thus generations. At Truro, on the 9th of January, In the ilith year of Mears. John Thomas, Esq. of Chiverton, Devon ; and on the 13th of January, Mary. his widow. Lately, at Cross Arthurlee, N. 8., Annabelle, daughter at the late Lieutenant and Adjutant George Crawford, R.A. Woolwich. On the 30th ult. in Sloane.street, aged eighty years, Mrs. Say mour, relict of the late Henry Seymour, Esq. of Northbrook, Devon. On the 29th ult. Robert Markland, jun. Esq. of Withingtoth Lancashire. On the 29th ult. at Cornwall-terrace, Regent's Park, Kenneth Mackenzie, Esq. On the 24th ult. at Welwonli, Phoebe, wife of Mr. William Dodds Clarke, and eldest daughter of Mr. William PhWips, of Dorking, Surrey. 111014 WATER THIS DAY AT LONDON WIWU Morning 8 min. after 1. I Afternoon 38 min. after 1. Printed et TAN BRUTISH PRESS Office. by J.W.O 101, Strand, and published by R. Cannon, sieiV li MARRIED. On Monday, at St. Bride's Church, Mr. Thomas Chaska. of Holborn, to blim Elizabeth Amelia Fitch, daughter of the lam Mr. Daniel Fitch, of Parson's Green, Middlesex. On the 31st ult. at St. Mary-la-bonne Church, Capt. the Hon. Walter Forbes, Coldstream Guards, second son of the Right Hon. Lord Forbes, to Iloratia, daughter of Sir John Gregory Shaw, Bart. of Kenward, in the county of Kent. On the 28th ult. at St. Dunstan's in the West, Mr. Thomas Brown, jun. of Bell.yard, in the Liberty of the Rolls, to Mary. youngest daughter of the late Thorns. Charles Hudson, Esq. of the Stamp Office. ~,.,.'