The Sun. — London, England, 1812-05-29 00:00:00

LAW REPORT. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, M LARMAN V. yLoTtR. This':Was an action brought to recover the sum of six, guineas, .the price , of a, load of clover, sold by plaintiff to defendant,' The plaintiff is a farmer, residing . at Enfield 'Highway; and, on the (ith of February las . X., had two loads of clover in Whitechapel Market, one of which` he sold to de'c'endant for 61. 6s. On its being sent to delendant's yard, in Smithfield, he objected to eight trusses, as damaged, and desired plaintiff',S.carter to take them baCk to Jail master. nis he refused-to. do ; bat advised defendant to the matter personally,with his employer. — The defendant accoedingdy waited on Mr. Lar man-, whom he wished to receive the unsound trus ses. Plaintiff wotild. not 4ree to that, but offered toAttake him a fair compensation for them. This offer, however; Mr. Flower would not accept; and he observed to plaintiff, if he did not choose to take -the damaged clover back, -he would not pay him .for any of it. oi.. the 11th of February he procured a summons from the Lambeth-street Office, for a person of the name of Brown, as the alleged sales man of the hay, and= he was fined by the Magis trates 2s. Gd. for each of the damaged trusses, and 9s. Gd. costs—part of which was. .put into the pocket of Floirrer, who had never offered to pay for any part of the property dins obtained. — The. fine and costs Larman had repaid. to Mr. Bros n ; and the plaintiff's Counsel argued; that the money' thus ,obtained by Flower might fie considered as an allowance for the . damaged clover. Mr. GAERO'V, for the defendant, said, that a gross fraud was sought to be exercised against his . client, and the person practising it ought not to be allowed to profit by his unfair dealing. He contended, that the defendant had a right, even at the latest moment, when the transaction appeared manifestly unfair, to . renounce the contract altb gether. Lord ELLANababvbx-a--" Ifyou require justice, .you must also do justice. It was in the power of the defendant, when the cloVer was sent to him, to have returned both the good and the bad, and to have avoided the `contract —but as he has made his election, and kept the property, he is answerable for it." Verdict for the plaintiff—Damages 61. 6s. READ V. HUTCHINGS. Thi n s was an action of slander between parties, who called themselves hair-merchants and whole- Sale perfumers. The plaintiff belonged to the house of West and Read, in Bishopsgate-street, and , the defenda nt had been their servant ; but upon their refusal to take him in as partner, he had set up for himself in, the same street. The words were spoken to the defendant's shopman, and were. as follow : " impossible for the house of West and Read to stand. It must go. It must become Insolvent. They must break, for Read is robbing it daily by taking out tortoise-shell combo, silk purses, and other articles. This he does without the know ledge of Mr. West, and sells them on his journies, and pockets the money for his. own private use. He's. a fool amidst it all ; for he was fool enough to acknowledge before me, and-others, that he had exchanged the articles for a shawl for Mrs. Read, and that he did without the knowledge of Mr. West. I have known him to rob the house of three guineas a day, by taking the money from the till which I kept, and not accounting for it in the cash-hook." . Upon the defendant's repeating these words a second time to the witness in. his wife's presence,,she reproved him ' • Upon which' he replied, r" he would be d---d if he eared-who beard. them.; for they were true, and he could • , prove them. - The defendant, however, did not now justify, but denied the words. Lord ELLENBOROUGH rested the case - upon the Jury's belief of the witness, who bad been dis missed the defendant's service, and who, .when called upon /by his Lordship to repeat the long slander, gave it again nearly word for word, al though he had- never written it - down. 'His Lord - ship commented upon the improbability of the de fendant's asserting the insecurity of the plaintiff's house in so many forms of words ; and thought the presumption was, that the witness had aggre gated,into one speech all that he had' ever heard his master say. Some observations also arose up- on the manner of the witness, which was con temptuous towardabis master ; and the Jury, / not believing him,: found their verdict fOr the defen dant. • ~ COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, MAY 27. LEVI V. BARNES. This was an' action brought to recover a sum of money amounting to 461. represented to be the total' value of household goods furnished, and money lent to the defendant. - Mr. Levi was a jeweller, and Mr. Barnes butcher. They had formed an acquaintanceship at Woolwich, which was continued on their ar rival in London. During the month' of. Septem her last year, the latter called upon Mr. Levi, and, in the presence of a person•called Harp, requested de loan of 201. which was immediately complied with. It also appeared, that Mr. Barnes, at a period immediately following, procured a sum of 101. from a sister of Mr:Levi, agreeable to in.- ' structions which she had received from her brb ther. Afterwards a pair of pocket pistols, a few spoons, any imitation marble time-piece, and a bedstead, the whole valued at'l6l. in the presence of Mr_ Barnes, were pi•ovided.at his request. The 'delivery of - these several parcels of money and goods were proved; hut no receipts on either side were produced. . 'The defendant had acknow ledged the receipt of the goods only,. which he va lued at 131. and paid the money into Court. Re resisted payment of loan on the simple ground that he had never received it. Mr. Serjeant BEST, who was Counsel for the defehdant, maintained, that the' whole of the pre tended.-loan was a misconception, and that very little faith could be attached to the veracity of the witnesses; . Besides, the plaintiff and his sister were Israelites., a nation no wise prone td part with their money, without having a very good receipt for the same. The money tad been proved as paid at several and distinct times) whereas, in 'their bill Of particulars, it was desciibed to have been furnished all at one :time, and interest charged upon it accordingly, a,circuinstance that smacked strongly of usury. He asserted, that the, godds were not more than the half of their represented value, and he produced a merchant, who said they were worth about 91. The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, ad4essing himself to the Jury, raid, that the whole was of so intri-: cate and perplex,ed a description, that to refer it to the arbitration of some sagacious person would be a very desirable thing ; before him the parties could confront each other, and he would have some hopes of reaching the truth ; at present it seemed impossible. To him it appeared a very 'curious and strange - circumstance, that so much money should be lent by Levi without taking any receipt for the same, permitting the whole chance of finding it again to rest upon one witness, who might ,happen to die, when the money would be lost, save - for the honesty of the defendant. It was somewhat singular too that Levi's sister; who was commissioned by him to, furnish the 'defendant - with 101. did not take a receipt for giving the same 'away, for how could she hope to convince her'bro ther had he questioned her vera-zity but by pro ducing the receipt. Interest, too, appeared charged upon the money as if the whole had been lent at 'one time ; whereas-, by the evidence, the tithes of lending' were divided. That contradictory :-evi dence created'doubt and hesitation upon the mind, and one was almost prepared to question the au thenticity of a transaction for which there were neither note nor memorandum. The Jury retired for half an hour, and returned a verdict of 301. to the plaintiff. The LORD_CIIIEF JUSTICE said, that his private opinion of the plaintiff's witnesses was, that he did not believe on§ word they said. The Jury mentioned that they had valued the goods at 101. a circumstance which lessened the verdict of 301. to 271. which was accordingly re turned. A - requisition having been • presented to the. Mayor of Maidstone, from a considerable number of the most respectable of the inhabitants, to call a meeting for the purpose of resolving upon an Address . of. Condolence to the.. Prince Regent, on the horrid assassination of the rate Right lion. Spencer Perceval, the meeting took place, ac- corclingly, on Tuesday last ; whenthe Address was read- and unanimously agreed upon. It is to be presented to the Prince Regent by the Recorder of Maidstone, and the two Members for the Borough.. On Tuesday last .there was a very numerous and highly respectable Meeting of the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, and Freeholders of the County, at Northampton, when it was unanimously re solved to present a dutiful and loyal Address to the - Prince Regent expressive of their horror and 'de tcztation. at the unexampled and atrocious act of assassination on the person of the late Right Ho nourable Spencer Perceval, by which, his Royal Highness was deprived of a feiti:ful servant, and the public of a wise and upright I\lin - 4 . r. A tempest of thunder, lightning, and ruin, was felt through an extensive distiiet, eastward from Bedford, as far as Wisbech and some parts of Norfolk, on Thursday se'nnight. Two horses were killed by the lightning, near Wisbech; and at.Witcham (in. the Isle) a barn cull of wheat and a bean-stack Were set fire to and consumed. The same day, about noon, a tremendous storm of rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning , came on at Shepton Mallet, .Somersetshire; and continued falling in torrents fOr about an hour.. In about a quarter of an hour afterwards, either from the water running from the hills, or, as is: conjectured, from the bursting of a thunder cloud or water-spout upon , a hill a little to the eastward of the town, from which the water descended in torrents, the lower part ,of the town. was coin pletely inundated. Very serious losses have been sustained ; and the pobr people whose houses lay, nearthe Liver are almost ruined, the greatest part of 'their goods being carried away. A liberal subscription for their relief has been raised amongst the principal inhabitants. • Some weeks ago, • as four men were crossing the water 'of Girvan,' near Killochan, in a very small beat, steered by means of a long pole,• e they were upset and precipitated to the bottom of a pool. ten feet deep. Not being used to swim, three of them would infallibly have been drowned (for they rose repeatedly to the surface of the water and again sunk), had not the steersman, who reached the shore by means of the role, devised means of pre serving theUe. He put the end of the pole into the pool, which was seized by one of those in jeopardy, who held fast,. a second seized him by the leg; and the third caught him by the foot. Thus they were dragged ashore in a very exhaußed state, and con veyed to a farm bOuse, where every cordial suited to their respective cases was administered, with success. Pedestrianism.—Wednesday. afternoon a yoUng man, of the name of Whitehouse, a hair-dresser, undertook, for a wager of ten pOunds, to go on foot from St. John-street, West Smithfield, to Barnet, in HertS, and back again, in two hours and a half, the distance of ground being 22 miles ; he started at five o'clock, when the odds were against him 5 to 3 ; he reached Highgate at 25 Minutes past five, takit/3. a glass of rum,—pursued his journey, and aniveg at Barnet 12 minutes past six ; took .some small refi , ranent, started, after stopping a few Mir. utes,, afresh on his return, stopped to rest at Ifollowa . :, being very much tigtied, but per ,tvering in his undettaking, he completed his m ager, within half a minute of the time allowed : a great man'; bets were depending upon the issue. A walking ni2xch, for fift y _guineas, will take' place to-morrow morning, at seven o'clock, be twixt Golding, a -Lancashire pedestrian, and one ,from, the-neighbourhood of Uxbridge. The men will start three ttiles from Tyburn-turnpike, and walk one hour towards Southall. The winner is backed to do six miles and a half. to assist the poor of their workmen ?--Thq could. Are they in the same circumstances at present ?. —Many of them' are, and many of them are not. Is the same relief afforded in point of fact ? From the master-Manufacturers, I shall" conceive at present, ^a very, 'considerable portion of relief has hitherto been-afforded. Have the master-manufacturers now turned many their . hands out 'of employ There are many of them turned outer employ.certainly, ba the number that are turned out is nothing like 's'o great as, will be in a short time, unless the trade opens. Of those-men th)at are retained in employment, do you know whether the wages haVe been diMi- . nished.?- 2 :The nominal wages I consider have nut been diminished." , In reality have the hands' earned as itruch . V6os per week as usual ?—Certainly not, because tue work is done by piecework in general, and by daywork ; not the nominal price, but the ac tual price. - Then . is the Committee to understand that thi result is a workman, receives less in a week than he formerly did ?—Certainly so. In what proportion ?—I should conceive as 20 is to 35. The witness then corroborates the evidence of the preceding witnesses, as to the accumulation in the hands of the manufacturers, and as to the difficulties incurred by. them in 'consequence. He also confirms the opinion. given by the former witnesses, that in the event of things not taking a favourable turn, the master Manufacturers must discharge their workmen. He afterwards goes on to state the temporary improvement of the trade in the fall' of 1800, and the fall of 1810. The chief emigration Of hands . took place in 1811, •as he kneW of Init 'one in stance before.: the emigration, as he understood; was to America. With respect to the trade to thd" Continent, the examination is— Do you happen to' know in what state the Con.; tinental market is, as it respects the .I.:irmingilain • manufacturers ?—We have had a very trifling tratif 'to the Continent lately. 'Has it decreased ?—Yes, most rapidly have very little left ;it used - to be .ourgreat frade. 'B , ‘Then do you mean it was• your great trade ?-- Previous 'to the War in which iv'e are engaged. • There has been substituted in the place of that allude to . the United States of America ?—Yes, -Has that b`;-' , :en -a - regular and increasing trade regular and increasing trade. Have the paymenti J)een good ? . —Eicceedinglir regular and good. . Have they been improving in regularity?- ; !, They have alWayS heen'regular ever since I knew there.. . , • Have they sed in promptness ?—Certairt.; ly they have increase;: , ;U promptness sirme knew them. - 1-• Is there any part of the worts in w hich the 1 4 tirns are made more promptly ti ln from All l4 '-' ?--None more regularly, certacni;r• • • Then thiS market having increased, the rental market, for the last twenty years o;• thcfe - , about' has been falling off ?-1t has been gr": dually falling_ off,_ and is now almost extinct i;-` the town of Birmingham. Since the year 1808, has the declension of the Continental market gone on, or been put a sty? to ?—Certainly it has not increased ; it has rather declined. • The Continental market -has in no wise itri proved since 1808 ?—ln no wise improved, eel' tainly. (To be continued.) - On Wednesday an inquest was held at a pub house in Pall-Mall, on the body of a new-bol infant: The child was found in the coal hole ° a Gentleman's house, in Pall-Mail, ,stiff aline' but so much bruised, that it died in the course 9/ a few hours. The Jury returned a verdict ° killing and slaying against the Unnatural"moth e t ' e , who was eODk in the Gentleman's family , and sy` was conveyed to St. James's Work-house. • A Scotch-bred fell ewec.the property of gr• l4 .;; Noble; of Langdale, Westmorland, produced s o ' lambs within the last twelve months, which is. instance of fecundity perhaps never before kal i , to have occurred amongst that species .in tll country. - Last Week was slaughtered at Market Ita r i si i n i \f ' by Messrs. Thornton and Wright , a .wondellu'n'r handsOme heifer (n&ver having had a. coif , 11 :4-. eaten-mire than 14 tons of oil cake) bred and by Mr. Thomas Lambert, of Osgodby, w ilic Ti e weighed 106 stone (1416. to the stone), 1 6 s to ea 13 pounds looSe fat : she very much re seal/1 pay's Durham ox, being ofthe same breed BIRTH, On Friday evening last, tire Lady of John' Little , 94. Cripplegate-House, - Worcester, of a Daughter. . , . MARRIED. osile lds' On the Ilst inst. at Camberwell, Mr. John R. 1 3 °,.. - ,, 00 1 of St. Mary Axe, to Sarah, fifth da'hghter of the late . I .' ° Snfith, .r.siril. of Haile-place, Maidstone, Kent. at VI - Yesterday, at St. - George's;Blocanshttry, of Chancery-lane, to iVlis4 Parke, daughter of the late Sal'' Parke, Esq. of GrzOnby Lodge. eicestershire. e 1 1°° ,i The sarint day, by . special license , at Chelsea , til v r , Thomas Cranley Onslow, second son of the'Rigal-leiii titte. J. P. VinCe- ', L it Viscount Cranley,to Miss Hillier, second and.younge' t I c a- stuV ter and co-heiress of the late Nathaniel Hillier, Est' `)" * ; Park, .near Guildford, in Surrey. . - s - Aroe l3 ' I. Lately,• Charles Wynne Griffith ,Wrnne, Esq. 0 . . ~.I , I,° . i Hall, Denbighshire, eldest son of the lion. Charles.roitoliejf Sarah, the daughter. of the RtiV.lienry Hillard, of S t Yorkshire. , __.---------'-;/ • DIED. ht On the 6th inst. at Tei mouth, Devon , 'M R An 'M rs. of Captain Wight, .N. d daughter of A d m iral Sch 3 :l o oY On Saturday last, at Dawlish, Anne, the w ife of 1 Tindal,-Esq. of Aylesbury; in the 27th year of 'ner Yesterday morning, at Croydon, John the 89th year of his age. • PRICE OF - STOCKS YESTERDAY. Bank Stock, 2.23-1 224 -India Stock, 1751 , par, Is. P" . do 9 Navy 5 per Cent. 92iii - India Bond s, t i P t . e ' r i 4 per Cent. 75it 75 x.c 3 per'Cent. Iced. 601 ii ' . pahreg,is.iii)irs.,-31d: P 44' 3 per Cent.. Cons. 610 ali 4s. ss. pr. . „ I l l i Bank L. Ann. 151 7-16ths - Cons. for Opeang, " HIGH WATER AT LONDON-BRIDGE TO-MOllO °- 5. Morning, 45 mitt. after 4. j Evening, 1 2 min.. 0 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE, take? Lbefore the. Committee of ' the whole House, . •,to - whOnt it was AferrM, to . consider of the several _'Eetitions, which have ' been presented to the House of Commons, in this' Session of Parliament, against the erders in Council.' 30 ° die : 4firilis, THOMAS BABINGTON, P.N. in the Chait. Mr..SHAW ccalM in and examined. [Continued from our Paper of Yesterday.] How do vou account for the want of workmen tO•execute the orders you received ?—Because the demand generally waS very great; and all the workmen that were employed in that trade had .employment at that time, - therefre, while they were employed for other manufacturers, we could not expect to get them to work.for us -orders were to that extent, that if we Could have found hands to execute them, the amount would have heen a great deal more than it ,was. Then all the stock in hand at that time was 'disposed of ?—All the stock in hand, previous to ' •the fall of 1810, was disposed of. • Was not the extraordinary trade in . That year . likely to diminish the trade in the next year 1-- I do not know that it_ was, most probably 'it was to supply the deficiency of the preceding years. . What preceding years do you speak of, besides the year 1807 ?-1808, and a great part of 1809 ; when I say years, I do not speak to a month or a -week, or a day, the whole of 1808, and the greater part of 1809:. What numberof workmen did you employ in 1808 ?---About 150. ll,ow many. in 1810, at the time of this great demand ?--About the same number, thereabouts. - . The same number in 1809 ?--Thereabouts. Were they fully employed in 1809 ?—More fully . than they are at present, because at that, time we did expect the market- might be opened, and there fore we worked at thOse articles which were likely . to be demanded for that market. - In that expectation the workmen were employed - fully-?=L-Not fully, but more than they are at pre sent . Was there anv considerable stock left in hand at the . end of 1808 ?—Yes, 'at the end of 'lBOB there was :there .was, what was manufactured during the whole of 1808, at the end of 1808, of course in stock-, •because we had sent none of it out - the market was shut against,us during. the whole of that year. Was -that remaining stock•in trade taken off in 1809 ?- - No, it-Nias not. , Did any of the goods manufactured in'. Iso9, remain on hand at the end of that year?—Yes. " Then - the detnand of 1810 was great,enough to take off the stock remaining on hand of the two former years, - and at -the same time the- workmen could not execute half the orders ?--Yes. To what'eause do you attribute the rise of trade .in 1810, after the falling off, in 1.808 ?—To the suspension of the Noia-,importation Act in Arne • • Is the species of manufacture in which you are engaged; one in which workmen employed in other branches of the plating manufacture can be employed, withoutbeing acquainted with this par ticular manufacture ?--S.YeS, one particular branch of the plating manufacture that is not exactly sad lery, coach-work, they can be ; in other braiiches - ' of our business they cannot. The witness dim proceeded to state, that there were many considerable manufa.ctories in the plating 12usir.ess established in America, though he did not exacjy know when they were Act up; where they were situated, nor at what price the article was sold. He does not know how many' houses in his line there are at;lirmingham, and hethinks that no part of the Continent could rival Birming ham and Sheffield. His evidence, concludes witn: the following question and.auswer You have stated, . that . your trade_ to America depended upon the opening or closing of. the in tercourse with the United States of America ; do you not. know that the opening or closing of that intercourse depends upon the acts of the Govern ment of the United States. of America, and not upoii the acts' of the Government of this Country ? —That- is a matter of opinion,:whether theakts •of the United Statei have not Originated in the acts of this country : I come here more to state facts, than to state my opinions upon these par - ;- ticular points. [The. Witness was directed to withdraw.] Mr. RICHARD SPOONFR, called in, and examined. In what line of trade are you employed I—As a banker, in Birmingham. Are you connected with other lines of business ? —I am: What trade ?—The nail trade. Any other branch of the iron trade ?—No. Have you,as a banker, any means of knowing the general state of trade in Birmingham ?—As well as any, I conceive. • - In what state is that trade at present ?—ln most deplorable state. t. How long have you resided and traded In Bir mingham have been attending to the trade of Birmingham about.twelVe years, In the course of that experience you have had there, do you ever recollect a similar period of distress ?—Never. Do you recollect the scarcity of 1800 and 1801 ?—Perfectly well. . Did considerable distress at that time prevail, particularly among the lower classes?—Very con siderable dist:Jess. Was that distress greater, or"' less, than the pregent i—Considerably less. Was that scarcity greater, or less,- than the present ?- 7 -As far as I recollect, the prices were about the same as they are now, the prices of every article. You speak from a general ,recollection ?—Yes, I do ; from a general recollection. To what do you ascribe the difference between the pressure of the distress of 1800, and.the dis tress of the present year ?—ln 1800 the manufac turers 'were hi very-full employ, now they are not halt employed. • Could the master-manufacturers in 1800, aford LONDON : Printed by THOMAS WOOD; of Caverat-gardea; and Published by _WILLIAM AMMER SCRIPPS, South Mclton-street, Grosvenor-square, A.. 1, C„,r iivrre,s Vt) 112. Strand. where Adoertisements. Orders for the Paper, Letts for the Editor, etc. (post paid), aitast be addressed.