The Sun. — London, England, 1802-11-02 00:00:00

In LAW PEPoRP, JURIES, IN GUILDHALL, LONDON.• CC ~e r e w:4 COURT OF KING's BENCH,--OcToszt 30. SITTINGS BEFORE LORD ELLENBOBOOCH AND SPECIA.S. ALLERS AND OTHERS V. TOBIN AND OTHERS Mr. GI e us said,, this was an AC - tion by the Vain. tiffs, owners of goods shippidlon .board.a vessel called the.Youpg. William, which was , the property. of the Defendants,- and .which i came on her voyage from Jainaica to.--the port of London, to recover , c0Tpe340.,0,3,,f0r-the loss which was occasioned to th 1591. 1 226-44iik of the goods. they had on board• thabhhip scxtvrrolter she sailed, she became ex. tryisjeilt Isaky k.lhe was therefore under the neces. sit!--sf ,- aig pan,- back, and the Captain found it necei , sary„to. : Sell part of her cargo to defray the expellee of repairing her ; in which the Captain was not only justified, but it was his duty . so to do, for this was money laid out for the general benefit of the Owners of the Vessel, and of the whole of the Cargo, without which the whole, mos t pro b a bl y would have pe r i s h e d ; i t was therefore the duty • of the Captain to sell part of the cargo, when he had no other ,means of raising-, money to defray the expellees of repairing the ship, so . as to render her fit to peaform her voyage, and he did so ; but they were sold at Jamaica for less than they would have sold in,. London,! and this Action was brought to' recover that difference. -t. The ship and the rest of the cargo reached Eng land, and the goods Wereiold here. All! that the Plaintiffs wanted was, to be put in the same situa Lion as they would have been in, if their goods had also arrived, only contributing their share to 'the expence occasioned by thui providing for the gene.' - nal safety of the ship and cargo. Lord ELL tiesortoUGH-.-M.And the law puts you -in that situation." Grass said, * i t did so , b ut the Defendants disputed it, and therefOre- the Plaintiffs were'ob liged to come to the - Court; It was.adthitted' that th e good , -would hive sold -for 3831. 4s. id. if they had reached 'England; at Jamaica they produced f1Y:7401. :Now the quest i on b etween t h e par ti es, w b cotitd,. be called a question, was,. whether the la i.ntjfalattre.;to have the valu e o f w h at t h e god & would. have produced, if they had reached England, 4:4 to be contented with what-they did prod u c e at bine / :-; vi b - . j, — yro,...A.t.x.vpaCotratt ,said, that if the- go o d. ; 'ad been thrown overboard •in a storm, for the s a fety of the s hi p , t h e Plaintiffs would have be en ntitled to call on the Owners of the rest of the Property to make good the lois, according. to. their r esPeetive proportions. Goods:on board tvefe the taitirnon property, to be diapOsed of as the common tafetv might require. Mr. ERsKINE and Mr. PARK on behalf of the Defendant,, submitted whether, if they shewed, as 'ltty could shell:, tjtat ti ese goods were sold at Ja.' ni'llea with the consent, and at the desire of the Con. Si toot, !le agent of the Plaintiff's, they' who- di rected the sale, could recover more than they adually prod'aced at Jaina ? • -' v -14)r4 ELLI..ntsoltOt101.1 said, that this:might. hatte L ' e F" ,! -lie to obviate , doubts which might have been "tetained .a s to th e propriety of the sale ; but if the agent hate really con , ented that the goods of his 13 tvilers should be sacrificed for the, general benefit sbf th e rest 'of the property, without any -claim of testitution, he shOuld consider that in the light of a e 'nsent by an insane agent, which Could' hardly be t ll / 4 ;id to hind his pr i nc i pal. But here the consent of agent was nothing, because tire. thing could have beti done Without it. . - • r , Mr. Ea. , Etris said, it w as adriii - ated- by Mr. taBS that the Captain, who was the Defendants' r4getit, had a 'right sell these god:h. , and there. Lute Ow first taunt in the Declaration, which corn. Plaited a in the Defendants f or not delivering i'`r good s as common carriers, was at an end. The tl ext count was; for 'money h a d an d rece i ve d b y. the Defendants` for the Plaintiffs' use. Money • had 4„odreceived fOr the u s e of t h e Plaintiffs,- the. De. fe n antics . had none,,for they had paid i nto C ourt a ll e ( I , ' had received. The Declaration the tight u td'lla`ve' i sAittined a Speci a l C ount ,, stat i n g neEtiii4rlh4e was of selling the goods:at Ja... 'n, 4 ica, th ere b y occasioning a loss to the Plaintiff's, Wei* scaly' kit.o s , tJrct Etztrltootzovoll inclined to think th at i t : ( ) tliti have 'be en so , b ut raking advantage of that rin t. would only t ur n the parties round for the t and dtive tliein to another . a6tiOn. Wa ve ; - Rsittlea and Mr. P ARK sa id , the i r C l i ents a re t hat' objediiin', and as all the farts were L g aw eci u Pon and admitted, they abide by the as m I'l. ' ti laid down by his Lordship.VerdiCt for •ft. dlni Damages 1631. Ir.' CLERK. v. COCK. l e was an ~.Etion up on Bill s o f E xc h ange to amoun t of = too.. accepted by the Defendant, which the Plaintiff was holder, for a va -1111441e co ns id erat i on. The acceptance was tot con themselves, batty letter ; a correspond dnee took . place between the Defendant in LOU 'ir°`l3 and.a Mr. Richard Woodwg. whic .1 in Liverpool, s ome h Mr. Wpodward, af ter , re f err i ng to 15-dealings . he had 'with the' African Com informed the Defendant he had drawn Bills 4' 'I"; and specifying them; and the Defend.. bc:t.4eknowledging the receipt of his letter, taking assi:ce,"l the adds, " and which you may be caa lf . r"t :' wilt meet with due honour." -.- These Bills it ;.Into „ hands of the Plaintiff at Liverpool. aft ert 4 S ;a -' 111 ) . }tied that they were not sent up by . him ten tl.he ..,accepted in due form, hut were •paym"rec,iffir4.p4Afen,r . When they became due, and td . — t e i, ll Vo 4 s, • Rfused z , Woodward himself .conceiv afte.-""atoM4 ye.3iipi;i,a proper, acceptance, for he 49,e pt ah e m, ..the Defendant,- desiring him - t ip consequence of some other theln the !ands of the Defendant being attached, th e T here had been, some proceedings between par r i es i n Chancery. • til,4! w as contended that under all circurnStances of biLa,c.ase, this W as not an acceptance of these Bills "tung in L aw. Po t J-44(1 Ei..t.iiißoßovo ll observed,. th a t i n i nt a n 4, l aw he w as b oti i )k t to 5.. ) ;, he thoughtthis was . NalelePtance. Wherliet done by two instruments, 3 tape Bills and the Defetidates letter, or by matte ne ctiiter6iCei If it was the iceeptane I of the Defendant, nothing done afterwards by the party in whose favour the acceptance was given, could deliver the Acceptor ; and he was as nint h con cluded by oper a ti on of Law, as if he had wr i tten an acceptance in w or d s at length, upon the Bills themselves ; nor would it, in - point of Law, as he 'held it, make any difference whether the holder of the Bill knew it or not, provided the Bills .were in .existence at the time when the Defendant wrote the letter referring to these specific Bitis i end saying, " which you may_be_ assured will,ginet:Wioi;due honour;" and that, the party fairlApaiugtyre Bills, - had a right to avail himself of theit . 6vo instruments, namely, the Bills and, thi's - a s Ceeptart e . It would have been otherwise if the Bills had not been in existence, or being in existence, had not been specified at the time of writing the letter, for that would have been only a promise to accept, and there was a distinClion. between a promise to ac cept, which- was not binding, and an . aanal accept ance, which was binding. He kne-tVit had been often lamented that any thing should ever have been held to be a t l acceptance of a Bill of Exchange but that which was written on:the -Bin itself, but it was too late to aCt upon that dO6trine now, for it had been held ling ago, that there may be an accept ance by other means, as well as by writing on the Bill itself; such his Lordship held the case to be here. He was bound in Law to say so, -for it, Would be infinitely dangerous that a doubt should go forth for an hour, upon the question, Which cu.' tainly,in these cases, wits invaluable. •If it. was pro per that the Law should be confined to acceptatfces upon the Bill itself, Parliament was only competent to mllce it so. However, this matter Was so ;im portant, - and the circumstances of it, in many, re—', speCis singular,: that he wished is to be• turned into a. case to be argued before the Court of King'S: cnch, in 'order that.his judgment might, be cot— reetkii if it was erroneous. - - Verdi& for the Plaintiff.--Damages 261 . .. v, id, subject to the opinion of the Court upon the Case, &c. NOVEMBER I. ,:,I),T;Quo 'OLD • AND . OTailo aAtibUl• ) • , e fl • TH Is was an Aaio'n to recov Damages of the D'efendant, for imit,leg e kag Tvaity,4o put Goods on board the Plaint itl's'Ailitimitt6tfijt.ol, pursuant to an engagement enteredVi!i;t4.: , t)tke,por pose, by the. Defendant's Clerk, on. bolutlf. of the . Defendant, in a Letter written by him to .the'Plain.. tiff's in . .. London, and which wa s stainped,, a s t h e 'Ad of Parliame nt direets, for the pu r p ose o f bei ng given in evidence. The fads being proved, it was attempted, by means of the evidence of the. Defendant's Clerk, who had written this Letter, to explain, the meaning of the Letter, and to prove that it was not intended to be conclusively binding . on the. Defendant, and that all that was qnders.tood by the Parties was, that the Delendant-wa s - to secure a preferenc'e forr-täo Tons of Good s , to-be put 6n board 'the Plaintiffs' Vessel, at Surinam, if they could get . them; and that. this Clerk of . the Defendant, bad no power from him to enter into any agreement beyond that ; , but Lord ELLENBOROUGH observed; it would be infinitely dangerous to allow Written rnstrumenti to be qualified or explained away by Parul Testimo- TT. Every Writing produced in a Court of Justice as a piece of evidence must speak for itself, and the meaning of it was to be taken from the Words of it, and not from any thing any of the parties might un derstand to have b e e n inten d e d, or might, loossibly, chuse to represent ; if it were otherwise, all the . Written Instruments, containing Con tratis aril En. gagetnents in Trade, might be made void. A:Clerk• who was known to ad in business for another, must be considered as the Agent of that dther in treating upon his customary business, land binds his princi pal by his ads. Verdict for the Plaintiffs—Damages 6031. • HEATH AND OTHERS V. • This was an 44ion of Trover, fot Ima,chird part of a ihip, o f which t h e Pl' ir c.if,§,Nrtiok owners, and which the Defendint atOraiz;fe i rrsd withouttany tight to do so. 1 , 1 :‘,v . :•Jz c. 21 This Case depended e nt i re l y on t E 59 P A VV. I on to . be put upon an Aft . of Parliament made t9:Tegu. late the Transfer of Shipping, commonly c4lleki Lord Hawkesbury's it was agreed to turn the question into a case for the opiniort of the Court of, King's Bench. Verdiet for the Plaintiffs, damages incl. sub jed to the opinion of the Court upon a case to be stated. • REYNOLDS'S. Com e dy was repeated last night at Covent Garden Theatre, to a very numerous' Au. dience, a d was received with general approbation. There have been some considerable and.very jUdi , cious•curtailments ; and if it is not now an- ele gant and regular Comedy, it is at least lively and pleasant Entertain Merit. MUNDEN altered his dress, and we think- for the worse; his fattier dress was,more absurd, and consequently made him hear a greater resemblance to the Loungers of. Bnncl- Street. Of the general merits of the Piece, and of :the - exertions of the Performers, we have already - given our opinion at length. While Mrs. MATTOCKS, with her usual spirit and ability,. was 'delivering the Epilogue, some -person made such a noise, by way of groan, as dis concerted- her so much that She was obliged to re - tire from the Stage, without being able to finish it. The ill-manners that prevail in our Theatres now, will very soon, we conceive, drive all decent Com , - Tarty from them, rinlesS some effeaual, rerne:dy,is -applied. - • On Monday . morn i ng l ast , as Me.c.A.gus, his:Wife and child, were goingWir r isitla friend . at Winchester, in a gig, when therchine :to tilt.. turnpike just out of kareharn, Mr. our, his wife. $6 ing on.the mean while; and the'harse mend ing his pace, alarmed Mrs. A. so much that she screamed out, upon which a waggoner, who was a little on the. road before, cracked his whip; 'and the Animal suddenly turning out the road into a ditch, threw ,Mrs. A. and the-child out, by which accident her neck was dislocated; and the child's thigh broken. Mrs. A. - died iihnost immediately, - but the child- is in a fair way of recovery. JViTzlkL ATb. TKg following Extracts from a Pamphlet juSs. published by Sir FRANCIS intituled, " Les Ging Promesses---=Talea u de la Conduite du Gouveruemeut Cousulaire, envers La France, L' An gleferre, L' L' Allemagne, e 2 surtout envers La Suisse," will not, we trust, be unacceptable to our Readers. With respOt to Switzerland, Sir FRANC Is D'IVORNOIS professes peculiar sources of information, which_enable him to give a detailed and corral account of the situation of that Country, and to display,•Wits-true•Colours, the condua of France towards thieunfortunate Swiss. We shall, therefore, ivithout,i,.futther preface, commence our from this nteresting Pamphlet, with that portion Of it which relates to Stvit'herland': FOURTH PaomisE-7Resoltition not to inter_ meddle in the Domestic Affairs of other Countries, and to respel the Faith of T reat i es . 4 I !:aye already. cited different Treaties violat ed by C onsu l ar F rance, and his conduit towards Helvetia will complete the catalogue. But to be just towards. the Consul, I must begin by taking notice of the confusion into which his Predecessors had already plUnged that Coun:ry, by confounding in one common mass, 'all: the MeMbers of the Body, as well as its Allies, and imposing.upon them an uniform .I?.!ginte. ~.4,This new . Re'gime drew with it an overthrow of the ancient system, incomparably greater in - the Aristocratic that - Lin the. Democratic Cantons, and the reason may be easily conceived, , Tile ,members of the PatriCian families alone. being educated for the MagiStracy, When those were . dispossessed, the ch.ss which suceeded them had, all on a sudden, to combat with inexperience and incapacity, the jealoUsy of their.equals, and the contempt of their superiors, whom they had replaced. By this means disorganization was. pt shed to its utmost . extent, partictklarty,, at Berme, which 'was Once the_best goi!erned Cou t ry in Sviiit2;erian.O. . ‘‘ . As.:to the, iialler.Canton s , t h e - r i g h t S,. o rTh e r People Wre. v tio , tensiv . e before . the, Directory de. t terinitied . to' - send' , ampngst . them :tlie Preachers. of .quality, that..iovakiroppssikle to offer th,em . any Constitution oiVitu'of Government, which would ~ . , 4.. •••-,.. not diminiShmonqf less the ; rights whicti -they. al.: .ready enjoyed. "gliq it wai,/iot.until after carrY ing amongst them fire and, Myotd . that the Diree tory accomplished its projects.. It is true, that its persecutions,orily served to cement . more .and more the union of all classes ; but that , union did not console them f or t h e l oss o f their Democratic Laws : and what renders the conduet of France doubly, re volting is, that even admitting, it was her interest to establish' a Central Government in Switzerland, in order that she might the more easily hold the clue in her :land, still that interest at least pre scribed to her to leave untouched the particular Constitaiont of thd - Se of the Fed6res . , who did not. wish to'Sacrifiee them. In this manner the ,Le gislatrOrs of the United States of America aeted, where the Provincial Constitutions, very different from each Other, were of a more modern date, and :less rooted than in Switzerland, and where experi ence has proved, that in consequetre of not mak ing avry change; the Congress has been better obey.. ed, and its alliance more sought after. ,The re generators of Switzerland, on the contrary, wished to overthrow every thing, in order that they might establish every thing anew, and they did not stop until they had established in all the Cantons a re gime as uniform as that of the Depattments o France. " Such condua.could` not fail to lead by degrees . the People of B,chwitz, Uri and Un;tirwaldriz, to Wish to detach themselves from a Confederation of which they had been the illiistrious 'binders, and of which they would have Believed theinselves the' Slaves,, ii it had persisted in suppressing their Sovereign Assemblies, or to substit ute Magistrates of its own ch o i ce ; • f or t ho se whom they bad elefled annually for so many ages. What they - detnanded •in concert and with loudiltitieSr: Was . , that they shotild.po- longer .speaelticib •aellidcratie Representa tives,. but that (10414:A21d 11 , 0eft, - like iheir•An - cestors, to, represenrtheinsVl44;i n ' their Liindsge ineiner which -thew hid beeiiirithe habit of . hold ing in the open air, wheraivo !they had Any commOnln_ . terest to discuss. . • -" A similar Rigime would, doubtless, only suit Country. Villages, butt When the InhabitantS of these Villages were miserable under the new System, and sighed only ro recover - their antient Constlintion; a more exec:cable tyranny . was-conceived tin the parr of the Zest of People, that of proclaiming, as a be nefit, in all the - Vallies of the Alps, The Era of I ?epresentafive.Covernmelzt s . Tnis is a Specimen of, that state of confusion into which the French reetory• and its adherents, had succeeded in plung, ing the whole.: Helvetic body, When BONAPARTE proclaimed himself Consul at St. Cloud, 'and becam e 1 the Arbiter of its destinies. 14 i'crhaps_this event would have caused more joy in Switzerland than in France, if, by the greatest fatality for both People, BONAPARTE, in doing _ills- - tice to their common Oppressors, had not retained in .his service the Man of all others of the Directorial Ministers, who had counselled, prepared, and di-' retied the subversion of the Thirteen Cantons ; the Man whorri,they constantly regarded as• the In stigator of that atrocious. Crusade. " Long, however,. before the 18th of Brumaire, and in spite of the prolonged malevolence of TAL . LEYRAND, they. had 'already su ccee d e d i n purg i ng their Central Government of some of those men whO were the most devoted to the Revolutionary • Chief, and 'in replaCing them by, paters who were less - odious. .Thit those who:had torn the authority from the DireEtOrs t Ocas and LA HARPE, still persisted in wishing ,to.,teniforiniie all the Cantonal Constitutions, alth9,agh ,the averkidn of the smaller Cantons for the a4o4oeel;,zmitjCibreame every day more strong. As to„ s tliei largri Cantons, I must admit that the 'country pectple : appeared very-in different as to particular specie's of‘ regime,' which was established, and were more attached to their ancient Magistrates than their, ancient Laws. As the inhabitants of the T owns were much attach e d, to Political Equality, and did not wish to be de.. prived of it, a very simple means presented itself of conciliating their new pretensions .with their ancient forms, which was, to substitute the Aris. ' . toeraer . . of Fortune for Of Paiiilly; iri order i•O render the reins of Government; if not the right of Patriciaus,_at least the tight Of Propiiitors; of rrieq Who atone had the habits 'of atithority, and had exercised it in a paternal Manner; All the wise men ck both Parties supported that idea, aril after the grind views of order which BOllitfAßTk had proclaimed immediately after his elevation, they did not doubt that he would embrace it with plea.: sure, as the only, means of i j eading baCk the Arsto cratical Cantons into the 'harbour of Peace. Nu person, above all, doubted that he would make merit of restoring to . the smaller Cantons die tranquillity which they had enjoyed, by inviting them himself to .resume their ancient Corbstitutions: EVery one knows that one of his first care,: was to declare to both that he compassinnated their suffering, that . the evils they endured would be re.. paired, and that their liberties .and' their independ. ance would be more than ever recognized and re speaed. " Recolled,only the courage and the vir tues of your fathers," said he to the Deputation which was sent to him; " have an organization Simple as their mariners : remember those different • religions and languages, which have their marked limits in those vallies and mountains which separate yoni How many remembrances are attached to those natural bounds, and that there arises from these an impression in your organization. Above all, for the ex t ample of the People of Europe, preserve Liberty and Equality in that islation• which first taught theta to be independent and free."- • (To be contbmed.) . • We are happy -to Correa a statement- in sofne - of the Papers;_relative to .the title of AtnoN ßY,..whieh we find to be perfealy!erioneou s . --The honours of. that:Premier Barony Of - Ireland •art,now in abeyance between the two- surviving daughters and co-heiress.es ~of the late Earl , of Loy TH Baron of ATHONRY; On his Lordship's demise, in 17•99 i • without -issue male, the Earldom became extinct— but the Barony being in fer, is iransmitted thrdugh the above.anentioned channel. In such a case, it is in the discretion of the Royal Prerbgative to invest either olthe Co-beiresses'withalie-dortnant Peerage; but no such determination having taken pl ace , i r i s. 'presumed : th a t thc. honour; of , that, ancient' House - `are reserved for THOMAS 13NtMINGHAM'SICW'ElA i Esq. the natural claimant of t he se distinaitii4i,•:. , art: being the only Son and Heir Apparent of the t:4et ELIZ AB ETH,' eldest daughter and to-heiress of the' - late Earl of LOUTR, Paron of ATHUNRY i whoie other . daughters Move .no male issue. We are the more foUnded: in ~this supposition; as'. it 'appears that all the regular forms of authentication have been pass ed•through by that Gentle Man since the death of his grandfather (in consequence _of an order of reference% froff>His Majesty), .to the entire satisla&ion of the -Crow n Liwyeis--and their:o other claim had suf. ficient'v-eight to be brought forward to the notice and decision of those' learned CACerS. The occa.; sional assumption of the title by the lately deceased • JOHN BERMINGHAM, Esq. of Dalgin in the county of Galway, -who pretended to a distant HatiOnship to the late Lord by the male .line, proves to have been wholly unwarranted, as the creation dates from a period long antecedent to the institution of titles by patent, and the descent by heirs general is incontestably proved, 9n record, to exist in the co- - heiresses above,mentioned- MANsioNt-Hou r sE,—Yesterday a decent. young woman charged mistress, a very handsome Lady, and the wife of a Sugar Refiner in the City, with having committed .a most , violent 'assault on 'her, person. The young•• woman stated, that she had lived about three' years' with this Lady, and that during that time she had • often beat her that some since time, she was obliged to quit her service on this account. The Lady ; however, had' sent _ her -sister, and made her presentS to in duce her to return. She at length consented, On her promise to fOrbear using her so ill. Site had not returned anany_ days before the Lady • had recourse to the same convincing arguments, and at lenvh, en Wednesday morning, . log use of her tongue, she uplifted her haods,:and gave her a severe - beating. The young wO, man's lace-- sheaved eViderit. marks - :of the goad Lady's science in the: art ofpugilism ; she ha d put in her blows well,. and nearly closed one. of her peepers. The assault': was 'corroborated by an old woman, who happened to be present, ancl•who, seeing het Mistress so engaged ; roared but liiStily; del I-" and. called out for help.-•--The Lady did - not attempt -to deny- theassattiz, but pleaded in extenu ation, that-the girl: Was : very insOlent,•.which in; siuced her; to -strike-her: - She said-she -had been first assaulted, ; _but Of,this= assertion-she no proof;', - • His Lor4iip- he was. extremely' s",orry that this business. hati•come before him; 'Att as it was, he • Must disposepf it in -the- best Inannerlie.C•atTd: 1-1 t s shmild theref(arg vhe the-Lady tts nialz:e•tbc:' woman some !: . , , tisfael.ion rot. ttgfeat injury -,she had - receiied. - 0:e rliciughtthis wou!d. be the better plan than going before a j . tiry, The young wom a n d einan d.. ed bait; after some con vepation i .agr ee d to,take smaller sum, which was p'aid to her. Hii'Lordship observed, that he would advise the Lady t&give the - young woman a goad charaEter, as she bad admitted that she'svas perfealy honest -nod' a goood serVant. This the Lady proMised to do, and the parties were • • dismissed. . • . THAMES POLICE,OFFICE.—On Saturday JoHN HAR,M OTT and VCTILLIALI ERAGGE, Esqrs. ha& several cases laid before them, but t h e ' most striking of was, a groupe of blacks, whites, and mulattoes, to the number of npv:-aids of forty, were put to the _tar, on a charge of being found lying about the New Dock at Poplar, in -a vagabond `way, withotit shoes, or hardly any covering upon them, and stispeeted to have committed various:de predations in that quarter, ,which aptly people. Being questioned how they came intwthat deplorable situation, and as to their lying about lime-kilns in the night, they in general said that they had been at sea, and, spent their money, and, havino; no refuge, they went under the , warmth of the kilns for want of better habitation. Being called upon I to know whit country they. respeftively be. longed to, they turned out to be chiefly Americans. However, the Magistrates consulted how todis. pose of them., , being chiefly foreigners, until the , Consuls of their ..reopeaivc CQuarrns will receive them, - ;ire ne e :tf s , the urc iOll ttIC t tit ab- the it: Y.to of ced. Hs ng, teir est sr I not hey lOC •an rley the reet .t he for ay ; ded tz,t vho rie J ,eat xerl