The Sun. — London, England, 1802-02-05 00:00:00

LAW REPORT: COURT OF KING's BENCH, Fzi. 4i CITY OF LITCHFIELD. A Rule had been obtained for an information in .1 1 ` e nature of Quo (warrant°, calling o n t he R e v eren d ..Itoinas Harwood to shew cause why he claimed to ° e a Freeman of the City of Litchfield, upon Several affidavits stating that this Gentleman, with about seventy others, - were very irregularly and c (l4 .rruptly admitted and enrolled as Freemen of this. (. I t3r. Cause w as s h ewn aga i nst t h e rule b y Mr. "'Bus, Mr. ADAM, Mr. CLARKE, Mr. DANCEY 44 1 Mr. JARv is, chiefly on the ground, that •the. 'ale, as . di sc lOS e d b y the affidavits on the p a r t - o f the application, would not, if proved before a Jury, Put these Gentlemen on their 'defence, it being an matter of hearsay and belief, &c. But the Court held, that as one of the persons. who joined in the affidavits was an Alderman of thii City, and who must be taken to understand the. ..constitution of it, had stated fads which, if true, proved these admissions to be irregular, and a' he had sworn in a manner that subjeaed him to the penalties of perjury, if he had sworn what was and as there Was no answer whatever made, . I ,"Y affidavit, t o an y part o f t hi s application, :the Party chewing cause only on the affidavits of the Pro secutors, this matter, loose as the affidavits were,- t2rld they certainly were very l oose, should. be put i nto a course of investigation before a Jury, and grunting this information .was no more; and for reas on the Court made the rule `absolute. Mr. ERSKINE made an application for leave to file a Cri m i na l Inform4ion ag a i ns t M ag i strates 'whose names he suppressed, with a view of avoid; log the inconveniences that might result from. their publication before they had an opportunity of shew. ing cause, or for the purpose of avoiding the in jury they rnight possibly sustain by their names being published, although the application might be being . He -moved this upon an affidavit which t:tated; that a Publican had a certain quantity of ! Ho!lands geneva Which he desired to be taken an account of in the usual way by an hydrometer by an Officer of Excise, fke. which was done according ly. These spirits were after war d s :,eizure, and they were the objeft of brought before Ma strates ; th e rule upon these occasions these was not gi to Condemn, unless the spirits were of. Here, he five de grees be low p ro degr ee said, the sp i r i ts were one above proof. The Officers of E xc i se were stared t o have induc e d t h e t hese goods, Magi strates to condemn thews ; that by saying, th at no favour ought to be the they should lose t h e i r off i ces, &c. if goods were not condemned, &c. and had im- Pri?perly interfered, &c. The Court, upon th e ground that these spirits `sere a. degree abo ve proof, had ordered a rule to Thew cause, but not upon the ground of the OiLef4 bf the Revenue insisting that no favour shOuici be . Ihewn, They had a ,rioht so to insist, in every rase ; but MI:. ERSKINE il afterwards, upon looking . further into the affidavit, thought it would not ventually support Qiould not draw the rule, and. therefore said,' he it : up ; for he should b e sorry , h e said' ro input these Magistrates to the trouble of arto defend themselves against an accusation *bleb could not be supported. didt, justice CLOS E ' said that this was very can. • d rut_ 1 :HI *Tire ERSKINE should take nothing for his emotion, . PRArTz CE. Upon a question of Praftice .a Rule ha 4 I?C.Cn 7. tamed and Mr. MARrtyArr shelved. Cause against the Rule. . e- Mr. Esr INASSE objeded to sh e Wi ng Cauge, b cause the Affidavi t on Which CauSe was s h eW n , did tot set forth the Christianc names of the Parties, it thting such .a one and another, without naming that, other ; for Which reason he insisted that the -Affidavit could not be'read.. . , Mr:MARKYATI: said, he waS obliged to Mr. totzutssE fort aking, this objeaion, because it ay- Plied equallY to. the. Affi - clavit upon which Was obtained. _ ' the tule , . This being .so, - - Mr. Justice- GRost said, to IVIr. Esi I NAssi—, 4‘g The Court allows your objeflion to be right, and therefore orders y - our Rule to be discharged." --- _ Mr, DALLAS moved the Judgment of the court On P4ekt Holding, who stood.convided at the zes for the county of Dorset, for obstruEting an Officer of the _Revenue in the due execution of his duty. • The ATTORNEY GENERAL said, he understood the Defendant had no Counsel.: he was, a t t h e re quest of seine Magistrates o f the county where this ConviClion took place ; and some of the most- re speetable person s in this Kingdom, to state on be half of this man such cirCumstances.as had induced them to desire, and him to support that desire, that *tot.withstanding' this was an aggravated offence, a lenient Judgment might be pronounced on the. De fendant in this . Case. service o f hi s He h a d l ost an arm. i n the Countrv---=he was in extremely indi:- g en t ci rcumstances, and previous to his being mis led to the commission of this ad, his Character was PerrealY a good one. It was therefore the wish of the most g ood men_ in the county, antl•the ATTORNEY GtNgRAL s a i i i i t h at he supported that wish, that the Court would pronounce on this person le " i ent a Judgment as they could think consistent :with the demand s of in custody ever si ce the I it h of April last ; but, n public Justic e . He had bee n ion of Tu' as it would be dangerous fo r t h e f uture Administra tst that a m i ld punishment should ap pear on. 'Record to have been inflicted. for 90 great an Offence, he took the liberty of submitng tat e better way would b e to let the Prisoner now go th at larg e upon his own recogniza nce ,- to appear when called upon. Mr. Justice GROSE said, that . would certainly be the better way, for the reason assigned by the AT TORNEY GENERAL. In-the mean time the Decend_ ant wculd do well to remember how much he owed to the mildness of His Maesty's ATTORNEY GE F v - RAL, and h.: hoped a du j e sense of it woulct have an . ea& on the Prisoner's future life. He should leme m b e r aho, that he_ would continue to be liable to punishment, whenever the ATTORNEY GENERAL Should CliiiSe to- call him into Court. ~~~_ The Prisonei then entered into his own recog_ nuance to appear in Court whey tailed upon:-- But before he went out of Court Mr. - Justice GRosE said to hini, he hoped he would not let any of his neighbours tempt him to go into this way of life again.. The Defendant promised to take care they should not. ARTIFICE FOR DELAY. A Case occurred 'in which the Defendant was stated to have pleaded a sham plea, and afterwitrds moved fora Special jury, to carry the matter over the Term, which was merely for delay : .' Mr. Justice .GaosE.—" A pradite has much too long prevailed, and is growing upon.us, and I wish to see it correded as much as possible. The delay it occasions is grievous to those who come for . Justice into a Court of Law. Special luries are moved for in Cases which by no means demand =them. I-*wish Gentlemen at the Bar would use their discretion ,a little more than is usual, before they sign Briefs of Motion for Special Juries, and inquire into-the circumstances of the Case." Mr.,,GAR,RoiA.—“ It is impossible for us to use any discretion in the matter." - Mr. Justice Gtt osE.—" Ido not know that." The ATTORNEy GENERAL said, that there might be Cases in which - Defendants would be compelled to make use of a. dilatory plea, for the purpose of obtaining time, which they could not otherwise trave,,and,without which, their interests could not lie fairly protetted, and he saidihe' remembered my. Lord,MANsFIELD saying " that the. Law allowed a, man to plead a sham plea, and. afterwards to with drawit ;" he did not mean to say the prafi'tice•was a good one in general, but there might be circum stances under which it might he excusable. Mr. Justice LAWRENCE said it appeared to him to be a thing worth considering, whether, in all Cases where a Special Jury was moved for, the Party should not be compelled to give Judgment of the Term. The ATTORNEY GENERAL, said, there was no such Rule of the Court at present ; it would be the duty of Parties to conform to it, when 'made ; but until then, the Parties were entitled to avail them, selves of the wadice as it- stood. Mr. Justice LAWREN.C . F. said, he considered the Case now under discussion, fit for . mAing ,that Order, and therefore the Party had his Special jury on condition only of giving Judgment of 'the Tcrm. THE RING V. M'tEOD. Mr. SCOTT adverted to a motion he had formerly made upon the subjects of two infrfrmations which were filed against this Defendanr,now in custody, and the hardships of the Defendant's case, which state ment of hardships, he said, - henWould not go over again, observing only, that it had never been contradicted. The obied of .his niotion was. then, what it was still, that there might be no further delay in the progress of these causes, but Oar the Defendant might be tried upon them as soon as possible. Upon that occasion, the Court had hinted to him the propriety of considering, whether he might not move for leave to carry down the rewords .by pro-- vise on behalf of the Defendant, in case the Crown did not bring the Defendant to trial, ob serving also, that there was a case in the 7th Term R e p. which had some resemblance to this. He had looked into that, and all the authorities he could find to have any bearing upon the subject, and cer tainly the case in the Term Rep: was against him as•far it went, but in that case there was no state ment of any hardship, such as had been stated and 'not denied in this, and therefore he might, with out disrespect -to the Court, move for a rule to -shew cause why the Defendant, in these informa rionS;should not be at liberty to carry down the records by proviso. But he should move in ano_ fi l er form; and follow the wends of the Court in the case' of the Queen and Sir Joseph Banks. His motion was this ; for a_rule to shew cause " why the ATTORNEY GENERAL should not give to this Court a reason for the postponement of the trials of these informations, and why a day should not 'be peremptorily fixed for the said trials." Mr. Justice Gloss said, there was no instance of any such motion ever beinggrantect Mr. SCOTT said, he believed there was not, but. he _was applying to the Court, in its discretion, in a case of great hardship, and he had 'followed the Words_made use of by the Court in a case *here hardship was complained of. Mr. Justice LAWRENCE said, it Was hripOSSible for the Court to fix a day for the trial o y f . o cause before a Judge at Nisi Priusi Mr. Justice GROSE Said the tank thing, and aided, that it was undoubtedly clear the thing was never done. He might move for a Trial at Bar, and if the Court ranted the Trial at Bar, the Court would also direct at what time the Trial should rake place: 'rhe Court, therefore, refused this Motion, as wholly without precedent. Mr. SCOTT then moved fora Rule to she* Cause why the Defendant should not be at liberty to carry the Records, in these Causes, down to be tried by Protiso. Rule to shew Cause granted. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Fts.4. The business - of this day afforded nothing the detail of - which would be interesting: It. may be useful to a certain portion of our readers to state, that in consequence of a motion in the Court of King's Bench, in which it was decid ett an Attorney might become bail in an anion, for the purpose of surrendering . the principal; that Lord, AtArAritzir, after observing the praEtice in the two Courts had been.dissinii/ary stated, that in future the Common Pleas would adopt thcsame ittle upon the subject} as the Kings Bench. By the; prattice now recognized in both• Courts; an Attoinck may lie. come bail for the mere purpose of a surrender: Wednesday afternoon r bricklayer's labourer ern, ploked in pulling down- an 60 house in Goswell.. street, fell from the top_into the street,. by ‘;:hich bath his legs were broken. 1-1. was taken AO St. Bartholomew's .1-i()spital,, withi hopes of-re covery, MEMOIRS Tit 1,./4f't EARL OP CLAREi. THE following authentic Anecdotes respeaing Lire v,tx distinguished Statesman, and resped able Law Officer; who certainly acted a most de cided, andone of the niojt important parts in the later Politics a, his time ; ,and to Whbm, perhaps, tht EMpire it large owes as mucli'as to any other POli tical Chirader, of the present day, will doubtless be gtatif'ing to our Readers. Lord CLARE was born about the year 1749 —and his ancestors, not far back removed, were of the Roman catholic persuasion, his grandfather having been brought up in_those lenets. From a mediocri ty of circumstances, - this perSon,' by.a laudable and, persevering industry.;placed his family.in a situation of respeftable independence. His eldest son,• father of the hte Lord CLARE, was, according to report, originally intended for the Catholic Priesthood : but the fact, ,however, was otherwise, for on his introduOtion• into life, he was well known to have been, not only a decided, but was considered as a staunch and 'zealous Protestant.. He was, at an early age, called to the Irish Bar, from which Ca tholics, at that period, were scrupulously excluded. In that situation the' elder FIT . ZGIBBON ,was a highly esteemed and' successful Pleader. In those days, theforensiC 'Profession, in the Sister Kingdom . , was, in. a great degree, monopolized by a few eminent Barristers. However, the talents, indus try, and perseverance of Mr. F. soon forced him into notice, and, in a few years; his pratlice was nearly as extensive as the most _successful df his competitors, and of that lucrative kind, that he r'e alized a property of Upwards of 60001. per annum. Of this Gentleman, Lord CLARE %Vas the only son, and, was always destined by his father for his own profession. In this view.he wits early entered of the University of Dublin, and in that Seminary, which has had the honaur of educating so many men of distinguished and felicitous talents, he was the contemporary of these celebrated political LbrOC teTS, FLOCD, 'GRATTAN, and FOSTER, Speaker of the Commons in the last Irish Parliament. • After spending The usual time at the Univeriiity, he en tered, and regularly kept 'his . Terths_ at the Temple, from which, being still of an 'early age, he was -called to the Irish Bar.• In this situation he commented his career, with advantages enjoyed by fevi—paternal reputatiOn,' —favourable character, and the possession of an af fluent iralependence, which, in the instance of Lord CLARE, and highly to his honour, did not pro.: duce That .too frequent cfreCt on a youthful mind, .an indolent apathy. 7 —His professional exertions and success were , such as might be expetted from him ; at the General Eletlion of 1776, he 'obtained' a distinguished scat in Parliament, namely, for the University, of Dublin, and in the Irish Senate, by a line of condutt, too generally known to need a particular detail, and a species of eloquence, cer tainly neither btilliant, nor very argtimentative— but, accompanied with a certain air of confident authority, producing a considerable effett, became in a few years one of the leading charatters in And here, without violation of truth, it may be ob served, that his Lordship from his first entrance into political life, in which he. seemed to have engaged, uninvited and unbought, a partisan of ,the Court, to the moment of his- dis. solution, be appeared to have been uniformly actuated by decided and unvarying principles --a leading feature in which seemed to be a professed contempt of the PreyraiiiivnT r uigns, or as Doctor Joifxst)ri forcibly expresses it, in his celebrated Epitaph on his :friend THKALE-- . --" a spirited con temner of the clamorous multitude l"--from the commencement of his political career, his Lordship never deviated from the line of condutt he first marked out for himself ; the effe4 of this was a decided support of the measures of the British 'Cabinet, and a resolute opposition; almost universally speaking, of those proposed by what was called the Popular Party.'—One exception only presents itself to our recolleCtion, at the time when the accumulated distresses of Ireland, towards the close of the Atne, dean contest, induced het Parliament to favour the .popular applications for what Was then termed " A Free Ttade"his Lordship did not resist them.- 7 0n the diScussions, - however, relative to the " Simple Repeal" of the 6 GEORGE I. we believe he recnrreii to his wonted line of conduCl, and since that period, continued the zealous and de termined advocate for a strong and energetic system of Government: This line of condua naturally Metited the warm est approbation of Ministers, and, accordingly, on the opening afforded by the promotion of the respetlable Lawyer who then held the Chicf.Jus ticeship of One of the Courts, his Lordship Was ap_ pointed to.the very important, and in Ireland confi dential Law Situation, of Attorney General ; and in this office) his firtnness, energy . and decisive con ' duet are _well known: A striking instance 'of this, which we derive from a kiogra'phical Compilation s rather of a recent, date, we cannot refrain from re.. Citing. At a time when a popular. ferment, produced by various causes strongly prevailed in the metro polis of Ireland, a General Meeting of the inhabitants was, attire requisition of several respe6able persons, called by the Sheriffs.. His Lordship, then Attorney:. 'General ) and one of the most . unpofular men in the kingdcm, came to the meeting, accompanied ,only by one or twd friends) and forced his way through the mob, who had some time been in the habits of offering personal insults to those whom they stisped ed of being adverse td their measures ; .and getting upon :he Hustings, interrupted a popular. Orator in the midst of his harangue : He .then told the Sheriff, that they I%ati aced illegally in convening the Meeting-i-commanded. them to leave the Chair, and ttreatened them with an information, ox of. • .ficio, i 7 they . presturied to contiatie it. I-le then left the astonished asserni?ly amidst the hissts of the mob, atd thC,ShetiffS instantly dissolved the Meet ing.. • The most ternarkable zra of his Lontship's politica lite, was the period of the very portant ..and novel question, respeaing the Re gericy; in r 789: —it is well known, that ti:e prevailig party in both Houses of the Irish Parliattult had, at that time, contend: -f• doiihif=; {- ire '.;; • • rig o a o appoint ouoßegentoi Tltis tierrquestionable arid alarniing prOposition WLis resisted 'by the British Cabinet, whose adherents in the Irish Parliament insisted, that .bii legal as well as political grounds; the Regent of Great Bri tain should alsci exercise that authority with respe6 to Irelarid ; on thin occasion his Lord "ship took a *most decided part in favour_ of the British Side of the question; and, to the utmost, exerted his fluence and all the'energieS of hi's mind on the be:. casion. The .terrifination of "these DiselissiOns is well ,known, and an opportunity soon 'after offer.: ing, on the demise Of .Lord LtiFoßn; the zeal and.. fidelity of the subj6a of this rrismi , ,. , ir wet; rewarded= as well as a full scope to the exertion of his pro. fessional' talents given him, by hi appointment to the very important Office of Lord Hitt of Ireland ; respeiting which it may not ,be teresting to observe, that he was the first native of that Country who ever 'filled the stario:l. This office'-being generally-accompanied by a Peerage, he was ; on that occasion, namely,. in , June -17894 created Baron FITZGIBBON, of Lower Cora°, in .the County of Linierick. The conduft of the Noble Lord, in this very arduous department, way" such. as .uniformly refleded the greatest honour on himself; and Was equally produdive of benefit to This Country; His .a6tivity and eXpetUtion had Made. Chancery suits almost cease to be an inherit- ance. his. decisions might have - been sometime.% • 'blathed as premature ; but the paucity of Appeals , evince that such objeaions.wereuot very seriously, or extensively founded. • The politiCal cpiiduft of the `Noble Lord:since the period last . referred to, is of too . gt ea t public no.. toriety, to need recapitulating here. : ---A great di:: versity of _opinion obvionsly exists as to its merits, but the effect speaks most clearly or that bead—a and in the opinion of a .decined, impartial, en. lightened and . disinterested individual, we are founded in hazarding ours; that in a great. degree to the boldness, wisdom and etergy of the mea,ures strenuonsly,siipported by Ins Lordship ; the preset.; nation of Ireland, ;AS a iVictuer of the empire, is to be attribured His Lordship's services and unshaken were further ,rewarded prntrintiOn in the Peerage to the title Of, Viscount ViTzotißoi; in . 1 793 , and• Earl of CLARE 10 1795: . in 1787, to I MiSS WHALE)", Oaughter ok tt,e-140, RICH. CHAPEL `WHAL:iY, Of 'NW - 1 4 , 'Esq. with whom he obtained a eonsiderable - rfortunt.; and by whoni he .has left twh Sons and:a Datighter: The eldest son, now Earl of Ct..,Oti, was born in 1792. His Lordship vas at his death in the 5 2.d year -oe his age; • ; . CORN EXCILI2,GE. Fe 5. ~ ' Tins day the Market . was well supplied ; s'ales . , . . thin, but few buyers; in general but little fluetua tion i a few-samples of fine Cats .90tainetl.i.smdit advance: Flow continues steady • - Wheat - 6os 68s a Ros od I Old Beans ~..- _ .44s 6d Fine do.. - : lips a 82s od j 'fir;: do -- ' '3 l s a . 34s 64 Malt -42 s 445 a 47s 6d. l Oats ,- .. - ;Ss a zas oil •Fint do. - • 48s a 49s 6d 1 Polatid db. .255 a 2.6 s 6;1 Burley - . - 3.65 a 4os o d I P.ape Seed. 341 a 371 per last Rye oe. - '— 375 a .05 , 6 d , Fine Flour 6os a 65s per sack White Pease 325 a 47.,s od Secorid . do. 55s a bos per do. Beans . , 325 a 36s od . The' Prince de CoNDE has been tome tittle in treaty for Wanstead. House,.. in Essex, - during the minority of Sir jAmEs.TIL-D?hy •Loicc, Bart; and . is said to have finally ag,reed..upon terms, and will take possession of this superb mansion, and demesne; at Lady-day. A new Cont . -sing Club has recently been' esta blished at Newmarket, by several. Spotting Gem, tlemen of r4otfolk, Essex, S,tiffolk, and Cambridge.. shire : their first Meeting * was held~ thiS, weeki.; which has -already afforded ttiiiclt fine running, A singular.tobbery was yesterd a y n oo n atte mp te d in the City, near London Wall.:—A fellow- ob serving . a poor and very aged_woman ha . ving two . pairs of boots to clean; contrived i 6 seize three of them, and . ran *off; but finding himself pursued, he dropped • them in a passage at a. considerable tance. Unfortunately the perscin . who ptirstied him-, • took a wrong direelinti; - and the pitiful thief eseip ed.--A person who. observed the boots dropped' crave such information to the poor creature (-whom, he afterwards accidentally saw lamenting her loss), that she recovered them again,' • MA NS I 0 H 6 tis *E. Yeiteiday the Driver of Pickford's waggon was charged before the LOitti; MA - toit., with carelessly letting a bpi fall•from his waggon, by -Which a boy had his arni broken; and was otherwise much hurt. came eidt in evidence that this - man had unloadid part Of his watrgon, and had drove away to unload the - retuainder, - without having fastened the goods to preveAt their falling; from which this accident happened. The. Lord Mayor relfrobated the,careless agle& of the gober; and fined him one guinea; .which, tie saidi he hoped Would be a .watning,tO.others: MARLtiottotiori - STREET, --_On Tuesday last Grassetti the Proprierorand Manager of a Theatre in Dorset Mewsi St: klltry-le.botie, and 'several .of the rertertriers; Were firelight to this Office; having been apprehended by thiOfficets the preceding evening, while perforining Phantasma., goria, Feudal Times, &c.:-;--It appeared by the evi.: dente of one of the - Officers, that hi had gone thi ther; and that :ts. 6th was demanded for admission by Mrs'. Grossett, which he paid ; that the princi., pal part of the audience were young, boys, girlsk and women ; that , great complaints had been made at the Office by ihe parents of such children fre quenting this place; as well as tht neighbourhood in generzl;' sorrie . Orthe children having march deted them of the money to gain.admission ; and, as this performance began as late,as . iiihe o'clock in the evening; it was frequently one in thi,Morninglbe., fore they got to their houses; and sometimes not at all: Tht:- Officer furthec stated, that one young girl Was in Custody who hae,''zebbed a Gentleman's house of place, w:iich she had iialk-ssd to the amount IVJagitra td m of Pli. all of which she har paid . tor t - ;,. ; f4r Children present.--The admission ;...and . that there were on 71 otilay ni g h t near too e o , ; ;;;bird, anti the, rest of the Perf;iniers wer e comp.;mitted surctF,F . ...! their good b e h t iviotit‘ committed Manager to Bridewell a toile. and