The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-04-20 00:00:00

INTELLIGENCE. Gmur OF KING S BENCH, Gemou Amt. V. naps/ Irfort LorclELLEtranworoitend a Stecial jury. MARMME INSURANCF. 1 1 4 4 AIIAM, V. MILVOY. Mr. Gataow said this was an a,linn to recover the sum of '2OOl which had been paid by the Plain tiff to the Defendant under circumstances which he would state with as much brevity as possible. Mr. M'Adam was an Underwriter, and the De fendant, Mr. M.Evoy, was now concerned in mer cantile transallions, and ocaasionally procurad shins to he underwmte, and underwrote them him se lf. hind he been always an Underweiter, tha Jury would not this day have had the tried& of de ciding upon his cause ; hot when men came into r.ew situations, they did not always bring with them that knowledge which was possessed by those who had been in them all their lives. Mr. M , Evoy having, in the former part of his life, been a sur geon, could not be eepetled to understand the laws by which Insurance Brokers were regulated. Ile might, perhaps, have known something about the warrantry of a man's life, if an insurance was to be effcQed upon it; or he might be able to give a very erood opinion upon those suhjeis which he prac o used formerly at the west tell of the town. lie had not learnt that when men made contra&s with one another, it was their duty to state all they knew re lative to those contrids. This gentleman, tired with the praftice of surgery, found his way to Lloyd's, and on the t:c . l of January, i ao.t, h e was desirous of insuring a brig called the Naufifer for four thousand pounds on the freight and ship. He proposed diis insurance to a Gentleman who fortu nately o ul.l he called as a witne s s ; he said fortu nately, bottle in general most of the Under • ricers wrote on their own account, and theretOre being the persons who received the money for the in surance, thee could not come forward to state any thing respeeking the contra& which might require explanation. Unluckily for Mr. M.Evoy he had stumbled upon one who did not write on his own account, and who therefore could •ell the Jury all that passed between him and this most respectable Surgeon and Broker. To tl,is Gentleman the De fendant aprited, and desired he would sign a slip or memarandum of a policy on the Nautiimr, from Demerara to England, warranted to sail with con voy ; he stated, that when last he heard of her it was by letter from the Captain, and she was then safe ihr Demerara. The Learned Counsel desired the Jury particularly to take notice of this : eprt sen tation ; for he charged that the Deferidant had not made it in consequence of accidental slip of the me mory, but that he had fraudieently, know ingly, and wilfully concealed a fa which he knew to have been of the last importance. To prove this to the Jury, it was necessary to observe, that this wet thy Gentle man, on the 30th day f December, or the last day of the year, had met a Mr. Dunbar, and they were talking of various mercantile concerns ; and among o:hers Mr. MiEvoy observed that he was Arent for the Captain of the Naut:hia, and he was about to make insurances upon that ship. Why, said Mr. Dunbar, there is a letter in town about the Neter/fa which has been received by a Mr. Blackburn, and is at Mr. Mompson's ; the De.en Lint wela to Mr. 'llompson's, and r.:ceired that itrormation which the letter conveyed. Per haps his Learned Friend could state the contents of that letter better than himself, because his client had a second time called at Mr. Thompson's, in or der to peruse it, and having got it into his possession, had t 7 ought proper to put it into his pocket, and walk off with it. The letter was front a Mr. Sandi ford, and was dated Martinique, Nov. 5, I r•O I . It stated that the Demerara ships had arrived, and that the brig called the Aasiiil,a, had sailed the day after the fleet left Demerara. intending; to join con voy, but had not yet amved at that nlace. The letter proceeded to int;:r the pn'bability that some sugars expe:ted by Mr. Sandiford were on board this vessel, and he therefore wished Mr. Blackburn to get her insured. if it could be done not at too high a rate. It added, that the brig having missed con voy, she sided from Demerara with the lord soPs, on Sunday morning, the 94th (Moho-, and kept her ccmpany t•Il the afternoon, when she dropped a-stern. That on the Monday morning a topsail vessel was seen, but she was soon run out of sight, and had not been se a since. Notwithstanding this letter, the contents of which Mr. MiEvoy had seen and read, he had declared that the last representa tion he had received was from the Captain, v. hide sh: was at Demerara, and that she was there safe. ttpon this statem:nt of the f,'t, he had no doubt but the Jury would coot: el the Defendant .0 a restitu tion of the money he had received under an insur ance so improperly effeded. Mr. M'Adarn. Jun. the son of the Plaintiff, proved his signing a memorandum of a policy for ris father on the brig Nautilus. At the time of ei;oing it the Defendant expressly said, the last time he had heard of the ship was by letter front the cap- Lila from Dena ran. Mr. Dunbar cited that the Defendant called on tins, and said he %frac going to nuke an insu::►ncc on the Nashisil. The witncostold him before he did so, lie had better see a kttcr Cut w;l5 at Mr. Thompson%; it was a letter written to Mr. Blackburn. tie went tu see ; the witness sac• him a few days after wards at Lloyd's. Thr witness asked him whether he had seen the letter, and he answered that he had. Ile then asked h*m wbuther he had communicated the letter to the Underwriters, as he had heard he ! effeßed the insurance at the current premium ; i.e replied, no, he had not. The witness then told Lim his insurance was not worth a farthing. Mr. Thompson proved the other circumstances precisely as stated by the I.e.irned Counsel. He added, that he h.ui attempted to make insuram es on thy Naati:yi at a premium of ten guineas to return tire. if with convoy ; but he was not able to get it done at less than twenty guineas. In fa&, he made no insurance at all. _ Mr. EnsniNn observed, that his Learned Friend (Mr. Garrow) had protessed to the Court and Jury his intention of relieving them from any long consi deration of this case, but, animated by that zeal and ardour fur the exertion of which he was so emi nently conspicuous, he had, instead of the short ad dress he hat poomised, made a very long one, and rather unn:cessarily, in his opinion, at the ezpence vt Mr. M•Evoy, who, in point of fact, was a per son totally disinterested; though, as the stake hohler the Plaintiffs and the Owner, he was the object a the present action to recover hack the rwueY upon t-Le insurance he had made. lis Learn ,s 1 Fried I had deserl'oel him as a snegteet, teat' %Celia nave been better able to hive given hi. npi nion upon subjeCts. of a different description from those of ship insurances, at certain places at the west end of the town. He had attacked him for tearing the trade of a surgeoe to commence that of a broker. Voon the subjeft of taking to new trades his Learned Ft iend was not alt. ether without cen sure, for he seemed to have quitted the profession of the lawyer for that of the butcher, and had most un mercifolly cut up his client. This case was a very important one, and he conceived it his duty to lay down some plain intelligible principles, by the appli cation of which the Jury migat come to a just and legitimate conclusion with regard to the subject. He was ready to make the admissions he was about to state for the benefit of Underwriters, and to induce them not to make any delay in the payment of in surences where there was a claim upon them, which they were b mod in justice to satisfy. He admitted, that whet.. an Underwriter, from ignorance of those circumstances which would have constituted a le gal defenee, signed an adjustment and paid the money, he was entitled to an action similar to the present one, in order to recover it back. He admitted, that if a man had instruaions to make an insurance, and he had received from his principal more letters than one, which had a reference to the suhjea matter of it, and he seleCted parts of those letters to communicate to the Underwriters, with holding the remainder ; if the parts which be with held contained something so material as that in the opinion of a Jury, it woitid have prevent ed any' man from signing a policy of inserance, in such case the pole!, otteht to be void. He con tended, that a person who was making an in surance, was not bound to 1. y before the Under writers every thing he had hears from other quar tets, independent of the communications of his principal, he was hound only to communicate the letters written by the Owner, but not the letters written by a stranger, who had nothing whatever to do with the transaction; he was readyto admit, that if letters written by a stanger had been shewn to a per son making an insurance, and he thought proper not to communicate them to an Underwriter, he must exercise his judgment, at the peril of the ft,lls con tained in them, not turning out to he ; if they were true, and he had not communicated them, Ins policy was void ; but if they were not true, he maintained, his iv lice was not affected by the with holding of them ; the concealment of that which was not true, end which, if it had been stated, would have made no diEreece with regard to the contrast, could have no operation to the prejudice of the person effeCting the insurance. This ar gument he would elucidate, by observing that his Lean eel eiriend (Mr. Darrow) bad a country house, i., t eery pleasant situation, at a short dis tance eiern town, to which he often invited him and men)* of his learned friends, to partake of very good dinners, and most excellent cheer.— His Learned Friend had, during the late dry wea ther' exhibited evident symptons of uneasiness, and hadlooked forward with anxious solicitude to those genial showers, without which his pleasure garden must have lost its vegetation, and his kitchen garden been deprived of those succulent properties by which he had anticipated the means of supplying his hospitable table. In faa, his lawn was so dry, that he might have invited Mons. Vestris to have danced upon it without the least apprehension of his catching cold. Suppose (which tor the rea sons he had stated he hoped would never happen) his Learned Friend should think proper to advertise this delightful mansion for sate, and should employ Mr. Christie, or some other celebrated auctioneer, to dispose of it ; suppose a man, previous to the sale, was go to the broker and say to him, have you ever seen this place, which in your particulars you have described es such splendid terms ? llis answer might be—No. What! hive you never seen it ? You ought to see it before you put it up to auction, or vou will disgrace yourself. I can assure you it is a deep miry clay, you cannot aperoach the house without being up to your knees. Suppose the :rt.:homer afterwards sells me the house, without thinking proper to communicate this conversation, am I, because I may be afterwards displeased with my bargain, at liberty to say, 0! this is an illegal contra& If you had communicated such a conver sation to me, I would net have bought the house. Why the argument is ridiculous, the statement sees untrue, and therefore could have no application whatever to the comma. ! said the Learned Counsel, was it he must undertake to prove ? He was bound to prove that no part of the letter withheld from the Plaintiff contained a particle of truth. Suppose the existence of a case in which the public mind was agitated, and in which the insurance of commerce was conceived to be more than an or di. nary risk, would it he right that a broker, who was in the habit of effeCting insurances should have it in his power to invalidate them, by going round the town, and colleeting a variety of rumours and false reports, which were neither necessary or worthy to be communicated to the Underwriters. The prin ciple tier which he meant to contend was this, that I where there was no intention to defraud, and where the circumstances withheld from an Underwriter were not founded in faa, the policy ought not to be vitiated. The warrantry in this case was, that the vessel sailed with convoy on the 23d of Oelober. Had she sailed on the 23d? Yes. Had she sailed with convoy ? Yes. Had she sailed with the L les i Nelson ? No. Had she fell astern of her ? No. Had she any goods on hoard helongitl to Mr. Sandiford ? No. Was s!:e bound to Martinico ? No. She was under no one of the circumstances stated in the letter which his client was condemned for not having communicated to the Underwriters. It was not, therefore, because a person had wickedly, maliciously, or perhaps mistakenly, thought proper to write a letter, containing no one true assertion, that his client, who had deemed it unnecess:try to take any notice of it, ought to be deprived of the benefit of his inrarance. If the letter contained any one Eta that he should not be enabled to negative, in such case he admitted this was a void policy, and surely such admission was sufficient for the 'secur;ty of the commercial world. If he went about and heard vague reports prejudicial to his property, he was not bound to slander his own property by re , prating them. At the same time he admitted he anted at the peril of those reports turning out true. He pas persuaded the principle for which he contended was sound, and consistent with law and justice. Capt. High said he had commanded the Nan /As, of which Mr. o , llryen was the owner • she w a s consigned to Mr. M‘livoy. He said he left Denierata on the morning of the aid Oelobor, and iroceeded to the fort,. and from thence to sea, in Order to meet the convoy, hut the convoy never came. This witness did not support any of the farts upon which Mr. Erskine had founded his address to the Jury. The Learned Counsel gave op the cause, humoarously remarking, that he had been in hopes his witness would have taken him under convoy. 1.,0rd Et scsinortotun observed, though it was not material to this cause that he should deliver his opinion, yet as he was anxious there should nut be aily misapprehension upon a subjea so important to commercial men, he would just say a few words. lie took the law to be this : that if what was con tained in a letter from an Owner to his Agent, who was to efeCt an insurance on his behalf, and was ma terial to the risk, the Agent was bound to commu nicate it to the Underwriter. So if particular fads came to the knowledge of the Agent under circum stances which intitied them to credit, he was equally bound to comma nica:e them. With refer ence to .the liras of this case, he thought the De fendant was not justified in saying that the last in formation he had received respecting the ship was by a letter from the Captain. lie conceived that the Defendant ought to have communicated what it was evident lie knew respating the ship in qnestion, and not having done so, he was of opi. nion the policy had been obtained by a misrepre sentation of the fani, and therefore this a&ion was maintainable. The Learned Counsel t;ir the D,•- fendant had :)ut the case in the most forcible man ner possible, but clearly if a man received that in forma:ion which from the circumstances attending it, he could not but consider as having a mate rial c!Fe.t upon the risk he was about to insure, he ought not be permitted to say he had received no such thing but something of a different nature. In order to avoid all mistakes it was necessary that every thing within the knowledge of the assured, should be communicated to the Underwriter, for those principles of justice, common sense, and plain dealing, which ought to pervade all commas be tween man and man, were uniformly applicable to the decision of questions of this kind. He thowsht the letter wilt :en by the Gentleman at Martinico, expressed a doubt as to the insurance be ing effected on the ordinary terms, for he had de sired his Agent to insure, provided he could do so without paying too high a premium. Undoubtedly the Defendant knowing of this letter should have communicated it to the Plaintiff. Verdia for the Plaintiff—Damages 2001. with in terest from the period the insurance had been paid over. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS. HICKS'S HALL, APRIL 19. &fore WILLIAM MAINW•ItING, Esq. ASSAULT. h'icl•c!ai ifrmidel was indicted for assaulting Thomas Ratcliffe, his apprentice. Thomas Ratcliffe was examined; he said that he had been bound apprentice to the prisoner, a chim ney-sweeper, in the parish of St. Leonard, Shore ditch ; had served near two years and a half of his time. He said his master had often put irons on his legs, by which his ancles had been very much bruised. Sometime back he made him jump with both feet confined, for an hour; witness had also worn the same for three weeks together, without taking them off; he used to sleep in them. On being cross-examined by Mr. ALLEY, he said he went to sweep a chimney which was on fire at the house of a Mr. Bell ; on going up the same, he was so confined that he could not get out until his master broke the brick-work and released him. He acknowledged that he had frequently run away, and affirmed that he had done so escape the ill-usage he had met with. He had been without victuals for three days together ; and on asking for some, his master had damned his appetite, and said he was always eating. James Stowe, another apprentice bound to the prisoner, stated, that he had often seen the irons put on the boy. Witness, eighteen months since, ran away, in consequence of the ill-usage he had re ceived ; he had been nearly starved by his mas ter, and was kept without food for a considerable time. John Gray, an Officer of the Police, said he saw the bzw at the time the prisoner was brought before the Magistrate, his legs were then very much bruised, and marked with the irons; the skin was torn off, and he appeared to be in much pain. Mr. A Li. Ev, in behalf of the prisoner, contended that no inhumanity had been used towards the boy, and that the irons, which were hand-cuffs had only been applied to prevent his vanning away. William Ratcliffe, the boy's father, was then ex amined ; he said that his son had been placed with his master from his own inclination, and had eloped several times without occasion. Witness had often asked him if he was well fed He always said yes. Several persons gave the prisoner a good cha racter. M. SYLVE;TLR, in reply, lamented the situation of the bo* in having no mother, as his father did not apgear to interest himself in his behalf. He expressed his indignation at the boy's being suffered to go up the chimney when it was en fire ; and observed that his only friends were the overseers °laic parish who had brought the prisoner to justice to answer for his condat. Mr. MANWARINn summed up the evidence, and the Jury found the prisoner guilty, and the Court sentenced him to pay a fine of 51. By letters brought by the Dutch mail, we learn, that a few days ago a Dutch frigate cam? out, and falling in with Rear Admiral TuoNno ROUGH'S squa dron off Goree, saluted his flag in the good old fashioncd way, which was of course properly- re turned, and sent a boat on board to know if the cap- Lin of her should personally wait upon the British admiral. I his cevmony was dispensed with, and the Dutchman pursued his course. The following, genlemen have been eleaed Go vernor, Depot: -,..overi or, and Direeffors of the Bank s ' of Ireland, for the ensuing year. Geonne P4r.m e it, Esq. Governor. PA Etiq. De l ,uty-Governor. LIR rctotts. John Allen, Erg. ' Alex. Kirkpatrick, Esq. VI, in. Co vi Emil George Lend', Esq. 1.41. Ciostioraite. I I. George Maquay, Esq. .Ter. D'Olier, Fsq ; Wm. Rawlins, Eiq. ii.teph Goff, Loi. Artli. Stanley, Esq, Geo. G Hoffman F q, Nath. Sneyd, Jkowlph 14 vs:, Es.:. Charles Ward, Fig. W HATKIAC.I4 IVAPAL INTELLIGENCE. 44 PLVMOVTIIi Al RIZ. 17. Friday last tfu Prince Frederick, of 64 gt ns, titer having been hauled down the harbour for cutnmis- Sian these three weeks, was put into commission as a receiving and convalescent ship, for recovering con valescent seamen and marines sent from the Royal Naval Hospital, previous to their being sent on board their respective ships. Mr. Stuart, her stir- germ, in the late war, is appointed surgeon of her at this period. Yc;tcrday at 4 P. M. the Romney, of 50 guns ; Daedalus, of 3 guns ; and the five East Indiamen, had made a large offing in the S. E. quarter ; and the wind having sprung up at W.S.W. the whole fleet stood to the eastward, and by sunset were out of sight of the port, and no doubt this evening will he safely moored in the Dawns. It wits not the Doris, of 36 guns, which arrived yesterday with nearly 3 ,. )0 men for the fleet, but the Al'nzo, of 3ti guns. The Sound has lost much of its gaiety since the departure of the East Indiamen. Last evening sailed for Torbay, to join the fleet of observation, the Albion, of 74 guns, Capt. Ferrier. A few days since the Rang er, of 74 guns, Capr. Frazer, under the order of the Admiral, fell in with as American ship from Ch trleston, to Fal mouth ; of course she was boarded by a Midship man and some seamen, to search for English seamen on board the Ame: the crew were all mustered, and proved to he natural born Americans, of course they passed free; but the words, " Are there any Englishmen on board ?" Having gone aft, the Cap• tail's Steward ran on deck, not knowing the cir cumstance of the inquiry, said he was as English man, on which the Midshipman said, he was the very man they wanted, produced their warrant an.l proclamations, and claimed the steward as a British born snbjea, and fit to serve his Majesty. He was taken on board the Ranger. PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 1 8. The different men of war, Fast Indiamcn, undet sailing orders, have attempted to proceed on their voyages, but have been forced to put back bf contrary strong winds, and remain with the follow: ing of 74 guns ; Tongan:, of 74 guns ; Grampus, of 50 guns ; Calcut:a, of 56 guns ; Arasta, of 4Ltguns; L'll isle, of 36 guns; Aurora, of Qg guns; Camilla, of 20 guns; and ilrrow, of 30 guns; with several excise and revenue vessels employed on the impress service.—Wind W. N. W. blows hard. DOVER, APRIL 18. Arrived last night the Po'sson Volant and Perfait Union French passage ve\sels, with Gen M'Ken zie and flintily, Gerald Fitzgerald, Esq. Thomas Row, Esq. Mr. Keating, AIL Chambers, Mr. Di - sat, and a number of other Passengers. The Qu:en Charlotte packet will sail to-morrow morning with passengers. Several East India ships have passed yesterday and to -day into the Downs. LLOYD'S LIST. ARKIVED. Off Dover—the Alnwick Castle, Prescott, from China ; and Lady Ne'son, Rowen,fmni St. Kitt's At Cowe4—the Pegasus, Butler, from Charleston. At Breitol—the Harni,ny, Warmington ; and the Mary, Withery, from Oporto. At Dublin—the Mary, Embrown, from Philadelphia. At Galway—the lie lova, Moat 5, from New York. At Cork—the Paolina, Borroda' from Virg.nia. In the Texel—the Young George, Boiler, from the Cape of Good Hope. At Oporto—tile EsdaPz,Biiclian. from Landon. At Philadelphia—the Eliza, W..de, and Osirk, Coke, from Liverpool. At Boston—the Fox, Bunker, from Brigid. At New York—the ,tici;.io, C iupland, from Rristol. At China—the Ostergothland, Rouipke., from Gottenburg. At Jamaica—the Trelawnq Planter, --, from Nev Brunswick ; Lady Shore, Ross; and the Alfred, Parish, front London. At St. Helena—the Lady Jane Dundas, and Wal thatnitOw, —, from London. The Ohl Bailey Sessions commence this dar. Upon enquiry, we find that our report on Friday. of the case of HINTON, a bankrupt, in the Court of Chancery, was not accurate with respell to Mr. Maw Lrv, the Solicitor. The observations that fell from the Chancellor were addressed to Solicitors in general. On Saturday, as Lord CASTLEREAOII was return ing to town from the Marquis of A DER COHN'S, on this side of Stanmore, his curricle got entangled between two waggons (which had been entrusted to the care of boys.) His Lordship jumped out, and very providentially escaped unhurt, but di. curricle was broke to pieces. An old maiden lady, who lived in Cleveland-row (a Miss RF.VNOL Ds), who died lately, has bequeath ed the sum of 50,0001. to Government, towards the redudion of the National Debt ! The will was proved on Saturday last. The Elder Brethren and Wardens of the Trinity- I louse at have offered a bounty of two guineas to every able seaman who shall enter with the regu lating Captain at that port, within the space of one month, as a volunteer for the Royal Navy; inaiepen dent of the Government bounty of three pounds, and that of the Corporation of the town of one guinea and a half to seamen of the above description. Berwick is again keenly canvassed, for a seat in Parliament, by three candidates, viz. Sir JOHN CA L- L ANDER, who stands upon his own interest; SIT. WELL SiTWELL, Esq. and Major ALLEN, who starts ' upon the interest of Colonel HALL and JOHN Fon - D VCI., Esq. the rejeded members. It is cape fled to be a very close pull t. but every degree of caution is used by each candidate ; not a drop of beer is given to any of the voters, owing to the others losing their seats principally to tickets given for entertainment before the eledion. A fatal occurrence took place on Monday last at Gravesend. As a press-gang, headed by a naval officer, was attempting to press some men, an obsti nate conllia took place, by which two men were killed. On the same day another press-gang entered the house of Mr. Phillips, of the Plough and Har row, at Gravel-hill, Greenhithe, when,. with the most horrid imprecations, they insisted on searching every room in the house. On his resisting their attempts, a scuffle ensued. Phillips knocked three of the men down, hangers were drawn, the landlord was over powered ; two of his maid servants being greatly alarmed about the safety of their master, going out of the house to call for assistance, were knocked down by two of the press-gang, who at length de camped, but left Air. Phillips in a doubtful state. - Rnmegge MI