The Sun. — London, England, 1819-03-11 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN. INSOLVENT DEBTORS' ACT. Mr. EDlTOR,—Having noticed some able Let• tens on the subject of Abuses vnder the Insolvent Act. and the propriety of its continuance, I take the liberty of offering a few remarks to the com munity, as well as the -mercan►ti}e am! trading world, and to answer some of the 'theoretical re math.; that have been made by the supporters of the Act. The 11.12cirrtoc1TtEs of Society ai•e tech defined by N;tture, Reason,, any! Religion, and hare been settled and determined by necessity. and. expe fience—they ►prescribe a MUTUAL assistance and interchange of good cptii'7es, supplying the wants of another, with that which we are willing to spare fora SOMClbillg WiliCh we 'consider Ns eq ix(' ei; Thtt< the common law of the Imod does not. ac- 'l‹,!rivipti2e nor. Grv ING AWAY PRoPERTY to allot hrr, for NOTHING. It Al. trays implies a recontirenee, and %here none is settled, raises and establishes one equal to the worth of his labour - or merchandi‘e ; arid con tracts are, by the obl;gatious of NATITRAL JUS.. TICP, stiongly in the eye of the law, as they would be by the most express promise. If ow , been ADMV Fn by the Advocates for the Insolvent Act, that it has sumenous defrctg, nod is A great TPNIPTAIIoN for them to FSE:COSIE DIS- 11uNp.sT, anti its supporters betray great incon sistency in cuAuNTING its praises, and .are also lunch at variance in their arguments and posi tions. Some of them direct public attention to certain regulations, and indulge in arguments or recommendations which in effect tend only to excite pul►iic ridicule and contempt, as their opi nions appear to have beau founded non an, ideal stale of iE inks, as also in some instances• upon a perversion of facts, fo►►nded on theories long since invalidated by its practical and baneful effects. The justice of aiding a Creditor to recover a sum (Inc to him, appears to Itave been FE LT from the earliest times. The shifts and evasions of the Debtor under this Act have been productive of fraud to inn incalculable extent, fio:n the easy Fa cility by which the Debtor obtains his discharge, and the Public sustain a sentous loss, as the Act has a direct tendency in inducing men to become voLuNTAR V prisoners in preference to using en deavours to discharge their debts, and . the Debtor thereby DEFRAUDS the COMMUNITY♦ The Act has also a great temptation to the profligate to contract debts beyond their power to discharge, to the auto of industrious Tradesmen, in the hope that in the GLUT of cases which come before ()NE Commissioner, they may be exonerated by a false sind UNDETECTED EXHIBITION Of their circus-) stances ; and it is evident, under this law, that numbers hare thrown themselves into prison by friendly and collusive arrests. The consequences of the Act in its administra t;on exhibit a lamentable picture of the Disso tuTENesS and PIionAGACY practised by Debtors in the prisons, and which it would be most de sirable to correct. Fears and blushes have no place in those receptacles of GUILT. and although I am inclined to admit, thin a merciful leaning in favour of liberty is commendable, that cannot be pronounced a measure of real humanity, which, in HithTENING the discharge of the Debtor, leaves the Creditor totally unprotected. if it is mercy in the former, it is too FRE4URNTLY iniustice in the latter. T o spew the impolicy-of the present law, it iS only necessary to represent, that a person 'pos sessed of ten times the slut) for which he is im prison,d may set his Creditors at DEFIANCE, if he will tno.he up his mind to a confinement of TuREE Motu hs, which lie can, under the Act, render a scene of - EXPENsIVE DEBAUCHE R Y and VOLUP TUOUS EXTRAVAGANCE i it must, therefore, be admitted, that some restrictions are necessary to defeat the marluttations of FRAUDULENT Debtors, and to protect the fair Trader from the growing imposition of the times. It is also observable, that, should the Act continue, it will give addi tional encooragement to artifices heretofore re sorted to by persons discharged under former In solvent Acts, for the purpose of obtaining fresh credit, and imposing on the CREDULITY of KIND. The Legiilature have the interests of traffic to ptoieet iii a Commercial Country—they have also to guard, ►t hat is still more dear to a Nation, the happiness and SAFETY of a People at large. Com mince is noble and generous in its character, cre• ating a delightful .intercourse between man and man, (or the benefit of each ; that some law equal for the purpose of PROTECTING Trade should be DEVISED, cann►►t he DENIED. A new Law between Debtor and Creditor in favour of commerce is much required. It is a noble - sentiment that grants credit, nor should it checked by any indnlgencies- in favour of the licentious and unptincipled. It should not always be allowed on the part of the Debtor, that un expected loss has occasioned the breach of pro mise. The. grievance is the same, and a part of society, ;thin the reach of its shock, becomes dis turbed or overthrown by its effect ; for such are the MUTUAL DEPENDENCIES, that when broken in upon; the disorder spreads, nor can the symmetry of that part of the Common Wealth be restored until every thing may be rei)laced. JUSTITIA. IR ELAN D. rrrom The (Dubli►►) Correspondent.] 4, TO TfIE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL Or CHARLEMoNT. Lotto, - Among those characters whose names have not derived distinction from the ob trusive glories of s the Field or the Senate, your Lordship ranks deservedly high. The private virtues which 'conduce most to the happiness of society, as well as that of the individual possessed of them, crowd around your hearth, and exem plify themselves in ill the relations of life ; you give to your country he valuable benefits of your constatit residence, and the example of those social dirties, which form the best foundation of public happiness. lam disposed to eulogize you even to the verge of flattery ; bit 'I will go no farther than to say, that, but fur one thing, you would he the perfect repressntative of your illus trions father—and that one thing, my Lord, is, your desertion of the Protestant Cause. " veriest school-boy of our day, at all ac quainted with the best period of Ireland's history, were he who was the truest, the steadiest, and most constant Irish Patrio!, would nut hesi tate to ariswer----the late venerated and illustrious Charlemont If ,!fete ever was a man who, more that, amoher, valued freedom, an d sought it rtiron.ol the pfinciples of the British Constitution, that matt was your excellent and lamented now more than ever to be lamented; nor was there, my Lord, of his own day, or since, a Wan better go.dified to clecide toi the political course which lit adopted, and to give to it the sanction of name ald of character. He seas not only an elegant, but a prOfound scholar ; not only tic qustin►ed with the laNs and institutions of his own country, but those of every o: her which are worthy of being studitd by the philosopher or the legislator—aud, notch mote than all that the closet can give; lie was well read in the living volume of man. If tolerance and liberality 'were to chose a form in which to walk the earth, they would have fixed upon his ; and, my Lord, Ire land, although too forgetful of tier benefactors, cannot but still hold in vivid recollection, that the :Genius of her Liberties chose him for their Cham pion. But, with all this—the czeneral of the Irish Volunteers, the patron of public talents and public principle—this great man, the study of whose whole life was, how best to serve his coun try, had but otie opinion on the Catholic Claims— and that one he held unchanged to his death. His immediate and particular historian, it is true, has asserted that his opinion an this subject un der.went some slight dereliction' in the latter part . of his life ; but in vain we look for the pr oo f s , an d It is, I believe, pretty well known, that the Memoirs' to which I allude, were writ ten under the direction of a character, who, if he could not raise his political consistency to the proud altitude of your father's, would naturally make an el'ort to lower that of his early patron to the. level of his own. In a more universal his• tory Of the wisdom and whine of the Irish" cha racter, the Memory of your illustrious parent will occupy an illuminated page and, if i ts l us t re shall not uniformly descend in his nawe, it will not be that a onitorm example has not been af forded by his life. He was not only but active in the expression .of 'that will, that real and tangible }grievances should be removed from the Catholic Body of Ireland. lie was willing that they should be relieved from the pressure of penalty; that they should have long leases ex tended to them ; that they should have the amplest means of acquiring property, and of be ing scented in the possession of i! ; that they should not Tabour under the odious restraints and terrors of bills of discovery, &c. ; and that they should be allowed the full and free exercise of their religion ; he was, in the fullest sense of , the term, a Tolerant ; but, my Lord, had he lived to encounter your Lordship's new friends, he, lilee every other man who dares to have an opinion of his own, and to cling to the Constitutiori—h e would he bramkd with the vituperative epithet of an Intolerant ; but, my Lord, from such men, b e would have gloried in the appellation, and his character would have repelled the intended re proach. " So far as toleration could be connected with concession, the late Earl of Charlemont was as ready as any man to concede ; but so well satis fied was he of the danger to which the Constitit- - tion would be exposed by exceeding the boundary which his experience and good sense had pre scribed—so convinced was he of the principles of 1688, and all the glorious results of that period, which find their grace in the measure of unquali fied Emancipation —that he resisted it in limine When the Elective Franchise was proposed to be granted in 1793, he looked upon the boon with a prophetic terror ; he raised his pure and indepen dent voice • against it ; he considered the propos ed concession as th e off,pring of a weak and tem porising policy, and that, instead of satisfying, it would only generate demand, While any thing of the rights and liberties - of a Protestant Govern ment-remained to be demanded. This was the view he took of the question. His honest voice, which almost stood alone, availed not ; an`d he recorded a Protest, which will for ever identify his respected name with the integrity of our Con stitution in Church and State. He knew the principles of the Catholics, arid the operation of Catholic power ; he had resided, not indifferent, nor inobservant, in foreign Catholic!countt ies, and could not but be impressed with the Conviction how Weil religious tyranny prepares the human mind to bow before the rod of the temporal despot. He knew that die Protestant could legislate, advan tageously and liberally, for the Catholic ; brit the Catholic would never do so for the Protestant ; find, therefore, lie was anxious that the Catholic should not be suffered to cross that line which formed the outer gliard of a Protestant Establish- mew. A creed, which assumes to it the power of exclusive salvation, twist inevitably beget the spi rit of proselytism ; he is no Catholic • Who thies not acknowledge its influence ; and, being tinder such influence, he is not . a conscientious mien who would not do all that in him lies to wake converts from heresy, and increase the number of, the saved. Upon the good and pious Catholic it is am imparative duty to make proselytes, and, next . to saving his own soul, to• save the finds of otlicts ; and, if GI pliltc t de ..s!rT,ee H the total ined"with power, how intich stronger, and more to be dreaded, must it prove in a col lective body, combining the means of the Politi cian with the teal of the Christian ? Your Noble Father knew this, my Lord, and be defeinled the first approach of the Constitution. He knew tlett the Reformation was intimately connected with the Revolution ; that its light has uniformly led to liberty; and that, wherever her blessed spirit rose • tinder a catholic Government, it rose against Oppression, but never yet was fostered by encou ragement. " My Lord, the Reformation was to Religion what the Revolution was to Politics, and there is in the creed of the Protestants a sturdy and in herent tone of freedom, which will ever secure it to its professors, and those for whoin - they shall le gislate. If the opinions I offer shall appear im pertinent to your Lordship, and, in troth, I do not intend they shall, recollect those of your ft ther ; if these are not remembered, for it is even possible that the opinions of such a. man may be forgotten, refer to History; consult her most faith foil records, anti mark the ;Instruction she affords you. You will there see, that, front the days of Ethelwolf, when the Church took Tythe front the profits of incontinency, down to the re i gn at Henry VIII.; the Papal influence Was directed against the liberties of nation's . , 1 7 infi" that the sla very imposed upon religious opinions WaS direct ed against every attempt to, ameliorate or improve the civil condition rot mail.. Wi l ier! Henry Vlll.broke and c as t f ront hi m the trammels of Papacy, and made ambition virtue,' lie lett to his sne• censor, Elizabeth, (I would fain forget the five years reign of the infernal Mary,) an inhet it ance of reli g i ous lib er ty which she improved, and nou rished with ptver priociples : ; her reign is reserved. among the boasts and blessings of B r ick!, history, and all ackinneledged its glories. hut—the mO- . dent Cwholic. Another reign followed, and ari• other, and still the principles of poblie liberty were strengthening. and extending, hilt they could neither inform nor correct the ovens of arbitrary power, and that power could find no tutsociate but Catholicity. The half Protestant and half Catho lic Charles H. was the pensionary and slave .of a Popish Prince, because he had not virtue to de pend upon a free people, and his cirions spirit was at war with their liberties. His wretched brother, of despised memory, James 11., was. of more decided character, and for that decision we have to thank him, inasmuch as it has been the involuntary source of our liberties. This wretched Vrince drew his love of arbitrary rule either froth the principles of the Catholir Religion, or af fected those principles, as most friendly to his de signs against the rights and 'independence of his people. I care not, my Lord, how the ease is 1/ 41 i - direct, inverted, or transposed—cast it about as you may, still it will rest on a base of tyranny and intoletance, and show, beyond dispute, that Catt!olic Government is hostile to the priociples of liberty, and the permanent greatness aud,hap pittess of a nation. I wish, my Lord, I could en force those troths on your conviction, as strongly as they 'were 'felt, and powerfully as they could have been advocated, by'•your venerated tattier ; I should then find no difficulty nt fanning into life and vigour the heritable spark of virtue in youl breast, and makiog you, nut almost, but alto gether' such as be was. r grant, my" Lord, that much has been done of late years to deceiie.the wary anti 4+, 11 the un• suspecting. Bigotry has assumed the garb of li berality, and fixed and irrevocable principles have, affected to deny their spirit. It has become , ' te .- fashion to mike a distin c ti on between the term , CATHOLIC and PAPIST, but, believe me, it it 4 • distinctiott without a digerence . ; and, a!thoug)l many indivichiall of thekomish Church may make that distinction sincerely and liberally, the•spirit of the sect, and the act of the body at large, would refute anal deny it. This is proved by the occasional forgetfulness of the policy that would deceive ; and, as the moments Of exiAtation are those which most expose the butnipt heart, we accordingly find, since the unfortunate and ill orner►ed Meeting at the li.ntnoda, Catholics in this city openly avowing the connection of their poli tical hopes with the restoration of the power of the Pope. • Yes, my Lord, anal they would refer to that power, until Peter's pence should be sub stituted for the Window Ta.r, and bete.ey made a • disqualification to the Throne. " I assure your Lordship that it pains me to dwell upon this ungracious subject ; but the rash, unnecessary, and impolitic Meeting at the IttP tmola has forced me, and all taco of my senti ments, to the manly avowal of our principles, aod the maintenance of our rights ; and, take any word for it, that the time is gone by when the voice of the friends of the Constitution could be deterred by fear, or drowned in the uproar of popular clamour. " '[here are in this country men possessed of alents deserving of a better use, who litivy made a property of the passions of the people, apd traded on their hopes ; • but this is a traffic un- worthy of your Lordship—le a v e it to those who are fitter for it. You do not stand pledged to the errors of inheritance, nor does filial duty demand from you the adoption of a viscious consistency. Your no-ide and revered Father h a d, throu.,4l) long and honoured life, set you the example . of a constitutional and independent member of the Aristocracy—he was a chaste ornament of this pillar of the temple of our liberties, and never suffered the beatities of his character to be de based, by betiding his integrity to the objects of a vulgar and mistaken popularity. Ills example, my Lord, will do more than instruct you in what you should do—it will spare you the mortification of defeat and disappointment. It is difficult to believe that your Lordship could suppose the Pro testant mind of (treat Britain and Ireland so re triograde from the principles of the Revolution, and so insensible to its blessings, as to justify the hopes, or endure the objects of the Rotunda Meet- . • in t :. No, my Lord, the alarm which that As sembly has sounded rings- through the etnpiretlie children of the Constitution will rdllv around the parent of their liberties ; and though still willing, to give to the Catholic what may be given with safety, there is a point at which they !MI6( and will make a stand ; :and they never will consent that a PROTESTANTMRONE shall be divested of the• safegltalds of • ritOTiSTANT PARLIANIiiSt '"d a CovNc:c. T;;;,, mV D' ret ' WaS die priocipie of your licatified Father' and is that. of evuy . " GENUINE WHIG?' LAW INTELLIGENCE. VICF-CILINCELLOR'S COURT, NlAncxi 10. BRADSHAW V. BR,ADSHAW. Mr. AGAR said, this VI7A3 a motion to have the report confirmed which the Master had made ill this case. By the will of the testator, the plain tiff*, Who are his children, were made wards of th e Court, arid the guardians he had appointefl wire subject to the approb a ti on o f t h e Court. He ha d PeVI al large estates, and an application Ws s formerly made by the plaintiffs and their nearest of kin, that it might be referred to the Master , f ° ' inquire and rep ,, rt what umnber of trees was fit t° be cut do wn an d so ld. Th e ease accor dingly wen t to 'he Master, before whom it appeared that ant i ' wards o f 400 trees were fi t to b e cut doom sold, without delay,-as they were beginning i % decay. The Masttr reported th a t such was t ", c opinion ; ary th e applieation now made was ta- • the Report should he confirmed. rt i n The Vics-CHANceLLoa ordered the be cotlfirmed ; that the sale should td!ce„ with the approbati on o f t h e nearest o f 1 3 1 : save.expences ; and t h at t h e procee d s should -- paid into Court, to await the final result. • • -81',1111t1 NG, NEroks tits HIG/ENTE . ; 111E" . AIICII6UISe -14 His IlighbeSs having expressed an anxtpiß wish to witness some of the national fl " sports so peculiar to 14te character of Englis bi d ue id._ a distinguished Nobleman, high in 'the Fo c i', I ' tiieheighbouthooci of Grosvenur-sqUare,.requesii7i some of the first-rate pugilists to attend a l inarisiOn yesterday, and-Mr. Jackson superin t ;r. ed order of the con d uits . C r ib a nd ° "b first . made their bow; and thi s se t_tp Was udniired for its spirit and science. Oit Crib's. r o c. tag ityro,luc e d to his flightless, . as the Cbs a P;je: of England, he appeared, much pleased 1 . 011) manly and fine athletic appear a nce of th: s ligtie hero ; the muscidar arm's cif Oliver nls claimed his attention. • ` Turner, ‘vitO • returned from a s p arr i ng tour, in hue colv 111 ' i `;1:: hid a turn with the scientific Hales. sanding the superior tactics of the latter, has made such rapid improvement from 101 T ria l practice, that he appeared to stand upon e q, e , ground with his opponent, mid once or like the acknowledgment of Laertes to ji ' " palpable hits" were admitted. It ", „ Pr t flounced by all as an admirable display of ""„ea o . f self defence ; and thunders of applausecros', fittri t3:ir exertions. The Finale was 'etpon'Y Owe. Richmond and the prime lrisbL i ", a played their various traits-of milling, ' 4 -- t ool satisfaction of the amateurs. His High nes ,,:ed• struck with the decided mode of hir‘ting, Pr" - ;a ns by Randall, and also expressed himself coo se ' tor y of the Advantages that must result toward s.c. r i c i g h" in actual combat from its velocity. , 11 - 15 '; u'-ss was much pleased wiih the politeness with attetdion shown to ; and he ,b re l ' g r i - Li, c wt.. givin K praise to tire manliness of ib e "- ratter. BOXING.-11ANDALI AND matertti. On Tuesday tug it the whole of the stAki motley, 150 guineas to 100, wcre Invie 4()‘ , 1 , E 1e Betting six to four, upon Randall.—The 11 will be fought on the 4th of Alsy- A few nights ago, about nine o'clocl4, 9 9 ,3; George Ethininl;ton, aged 71, of near York, wish his wil e an d grandchil'f , tile s o - of Mr. Efherington, Excise Offi " cer, Skil)'',rag "' sitting round the kitchen fire, , flied at them 'through the tiono‘s looks into the garden ; the ball fro nt passed withi n en i nc h o f t h e c hild's kt~ lieege'i. while sitting on its grandmother's at the same inst an t t h at the pktol was d i9c. ed, a large sharp-edged stone, weig bi ' lg t ' " 1 poard-i and a half, VYZIS - tbrown throug•l I ," „t with such violence as to gtaze z the room. Oil the following wil ril f % gi ' l ha glazi, Cs di amon d was fo un d cont ioon s (- were window through which the pistol and 51°11e t o discharged, whieh'is well knowo to hel uilg t hthe nelson who is i n a state o f h ost ilitY " t I t , re • Ethcrington family. A s th e matter .13 to icgai we shall fur the rr e r s ;' / l ira"* . stain from stati ng f urt h er part i cu l ars . Per.) MARRIED. , e pet'. G . On T e 'Tuesday List, at. St. Mary's, Is:inntl, , bah Clarkson, of Bingley, in Yorkshire, to Miss Wilcocke, of Islington. DIE!). 1 '743" Yesterday mornin7, aged nearly two years, Georg e , as''' . 117a!sh, son of ,11r. J. Walsh, of the' Inner l'c' 1191" Gr ac• stationer. - tier Yesterday, in Hamilton-i.:tee, the infant son of the Ditcliess of nedford. v 4 6. 0 PROVINCIAL lIIIITI IS, NIARRIAGES, A-- ,-. vt:Athe llttalf S. , t r Lately, at the Manor-h ou se, Burnett, Gl o uces•e shire' f La(!y of Colonel Netiham, Of a Gl o ucestershire, d. 1,0 ° Lately, at Bitton Vicara%:e, o the ' the her, 11. T. Ellicombe, of a Oluzliter. g.utict e n.ftec"" Lately, at 'Ntirsli'n.7„ liant:, the Res-, C. Wiliam/Lici t-L) Mar" .of Chilton and Brown CanJ 4 e3lover coin tVo"'ln' ar i c° L:aret datLrliter of the late Rev. '7sr. D' Wetlls, and of the late Iti;:ht lion. Wol: VVPi db r a e l plet t ),l the 2ti inst. William Clo.tv'es, Es of the M,iddie youngest seqt of Charles Clmves, Esq. date of Delaford, 13etlfOil-scluarc to eldest daughter of John 1,e41), Oft Tlmrsda 1 "i"". : t Che,tcrP ylast, at act honve, in Newrate-stree , 1\ 1 ' l 4 .7;it l t i l; " :, el 3 l ; ''' l i l ; S e ll:111 f !iteijStirleiltl‘lled:2l:ll:;'ll", I::e"avr.:ll,ll,ergarerg,L: James Morgan, Esq. only son of the lute James bluff` g ant .'''' of Bristol. At Buchany,mear Dun ne,Scotland, on the 4 7th ttlt. 0 61 1. c . 4 6 3 ,, Balfour, glazier, -de:eft Si. lie was a man of superior 8.1:0 tie;, of a ready country wit, pcs4.3essing. act astonishing' id it of anecdote coneei pins:: the Lt rent. families of Scotland in (trio adherent of the tinfortnnale Prince (.11:trles Edsearo.it., ::. il) , :mory of whom he m eserrcii, with the utmost vire, av per,; ; -h, nut of wh i ch the Prince is .Said to liar:. drank ottu,', way thLongh I)onne, immediately before t h e battle of Cii'd lod en. mm fie reebered t h'e Ifighiutobnan'N 'fear, a nti boast e ., of liiivinc; (race sectithe Prince. He was honest in al l 11 1 dealings, led an active life, enjoyed it to the last, aati PI' S -- woi I the day before lit Med; , . 2.........____....„. .. ~, ~.,—,—.- —....... _—_-_ Gues t r,ONDON: Printed by,.l. 1 4. CARSTAIR.S, at No, 29, ‘ 7, Ormond-street, Qlwea- square; and publiOie'd bv '' ' ,'„' A ,; sciapps, of N. 7, South Moltan-street, at Tt-Ig- ''. Odice, N. Ili!, Strand ; where,dveitisement3, Ottivl', Lvtivta, AL., ( l ays,t-r...44) mast '►!e a hltrzusre.. ' , { ~~~ P r"Pw. 4) , b efc P er,TON 'STER N 11, d qi y i 4114 er j \\ T' ~1l op, leh re 4 474, Ik e le '; to ittrio,t t;, 7, 37 lit, ilt„ 10 't(lit•ei, ?4, 41 Z . el, r t i r , r„,. 1 For , 4 - 1 411 Nu ! _ I) 4 .. try tlt VC)? ea , t'eto *4/ 0 , 4 4 , 00,1 teg e44 tte,44 ~f .lei :Igo kil t ... _ ..Q,