The Sun. — London, England, 1832-06-01 00:00:00

e---occf t -: ' .. .. rt. .-,- ~.1,?..".. ~ , ...,t ; ~- , i , st.':':- `+~- ~~ -would not become me so to state, after what my Learned Friend, Mr. Cowbell, has said. I on'y state that, in rn, humble opinion, when you come to know all the facts of the case, you will think that Mr. Alderman Winchester and Mr. Briggs have performed conscientiously and honor aldy their duty, for doing which this person (Mr. Grant) Las got together all the materials for a gross libel, ailed by Mr. Bell, who writes for him and other pipets likewis for the purpose of stigmat'zing these respectable gen'lemen. and holding them up to the world as unworthy of cre!it and trust. Now, my Lords, I wl.l state to your Lordships in detail what Mr. Brigg's and Mr. Winchester's affid wits are ; and I think, after the reading of them, any candid man mut be of opinion that th•v were performing moo correctly that duty which had devolved upon them. Before, however, I re .d the affidavits on the other side, the Picts of which my Learned Fi lends so much exaggerat. d, I should state, that I apprehend the defendants themselves, from a misapprehension of their own interest: and fame—a mis apprehension of the interests of Mr. Young in his property, have been led into a mistake. But I cannot now hind any excuse for them in that, as they seem deter mined to prosecute their objects to !he death, and will not be sAti,fied unless your Lordships pass a final sen tence of condemnation upon Mr. Briggs and Mr. Alder man Winchester, But your Lordships will not do th t till you hare heard fully what their Counsel have to say, oapeciall.y kVhen such persons as Mr. Grant affect to put A!rSail Ants on their trial. Now I shall read to your k-m , i-ftships the affidavits, ant! point out as I v;) along 'P4.e facts as they are not stated. Mr. Winchester says— " That Psttivk Grant, late of The Sun newspaper- cffice, in the Strand aforesaid, and formerly part proprie tor tst th'e samc newspaper, In•ing justly and truly indehte I to hie\ (.i'lmnent) and his partner, Arthur Varnham, in the .t'on of 1,228/. 103. for goods sold and delivered to it was before he was joined with Mr. Young— " and being unable to obtain payment of the same, and the said Patrick Grant having absented himself from England frt w eon.ideralik period, in order to avoid pay ment of his debts"—Mr. Grant does not deny that—he '1401! it.—Deponent applied " for a Commission of Illakruptcy against the said Patrick Grant." I wish, my Lords, I could have put Mr. Thornton's letter before you ; I could then have shewn that it was at his instance that Mr. Alderman Winchester sued out the commission.— " And the same was accordingly issued against him, bear ;ng date at Westminster, the 4th day of November, 1830, under which commission the said Patrick Grant was duly found and declared a bankrupt accordingly, and at the second meeting, un.!er the said commission, deponent together with Henry Sykes Thornton, were duly chosen assignees of his estate and effects, and the usual assignment thereof made to them accordingly." Now, my Lords, comes a second fact not denied,—that from ‘• an account in the handwriting of the said bankrupt, and delivered by him to deponent, it appears that the debts due and, owing by the said bankrupt, amounted to the sum of 15,000/. or thereabouts." Mr. Grant, in his affidavit, states that the debts proved amounted to little more than 6 000 1 . ; that was true; but the present was a statement in his own handwriting, delivered to Mr. Winchester, sting in that gentleman's affidavit, and Mr. Grant did not venture to deny it, " that his estate and eff cgs con sisted of a life interest, under the settlement male on his marriage, of about 1601 per annum, together with some plate, stated to be of the value of 230/., and three• fourth sharrs in The Sun Newspaper, which the said bankrupt estimated to be worth 9,000/., but which was subject to a demand on the part of his copartner, Mr. Young, to the amount of 4,0001. or thereabouts." That, my Lords, is a statement made by Mr. Grant himself, set forth in Mr. Alderman Winchester's affidavit, and Ali-. Grant does not venture to deny it—" That having reason to feel dissatisfied with the explanations given by the said bankrupt in respect to his property, and the deficiency of the same to meet his debts, he directed his solicitor, the said '1 homas Briggs, to communicate the same to the said bankrupt." " Deponent, Thomas Briggs, saith that he accordingly required from the said bankrupt information as to the property which was possessed by the bankrupt, and not stated or set forth in his last examination under his com- mission, and which consisted of wine, and other articles of plate and furniture, stated to be at the residence of the bankrupt, at Boulogne, as also of his commission . . and arrears of half-pay as a retired officer in the army ; and deponent nut doubting but that such omissions were the effect of inattention, caused the said bankrupt to be made acquainted therewith, which produced from him a letter in reply, which bore date the 3d of January, 1831. Now, I will leave your Lordships toiudee, after reading that letter, whether Mr. Grant was dissatisfied with either the conduct of Mr. Briggs or of Mr. Alderman Winches ter. He says— " Mv DEAR SlR,—Though this morning's post has brought the intelligence from Boulogne that two of my children are extremely ill (one despaired of) I was re ally 30 much distressed by the communication made to me through Mr. Bell, that I cannot even delay till our meet ing in the evening, the offering a flat and positive contra diction to the rumours which have reached you. " You know the haste un 'er which I prepared the he lance sheet on the 21st ult.. but the person must be very little acquainted with me, who can doubt that on which I have perilled soul and body, I mean its accu racy in essentials; and it is indeed distressing to think that any one should for a moment entertain suspicions to the contrary. " I have, however, applied to my brother-in law, Mr. Charles Grant, for the means of confuting the calumny, and though the hurry of business may prevent his doing sr• folly as to details, I feel satisfied that as one of Mrs. Grant's trustees, he will confirm the fact that her income attachable by creditors does not exceed 2001. per annum, as stated by me. As to my having a house and furniture at Bou logne, it is too ridiculous to confute, unless a few sheets and table-linen, with a dram of spoons and forks, can be called such, and over these I have no control, seeing that I owe sundry tradesmen's bills, without the settling of which they could not be removed. " I am fully aware that having heard such reports, you could not neglect sif'ing their accuracy, and I beg to thank you for the handsome and liberal manner in which you have acted towards me, though a sense of duty to your clients may have rendered our intercourse less agree able than it might have been under other circumstances." Here your Lordships see the good terms on which these parties were ; no complaint whatever is made of the com mission being improperly issued, nor is there ever a sug gestion that he considered it a swindling commission. Now Mr. Briggs says " that the assignees being desirous of proceeding to a sale of the share and interest of the bankrupt in The Sun newspaper"— Mr. CA3IEBELL—Mr. Giant had returned from Bou logne before the commission issued. Sir J. SCARLETT—That does not appear, and my friend, Mr. Campbell, knows very well, if I could read the letter of Mr. Thornton, 1 could show most vir tually that the commission was sued out at the suggestion of Mr. Thornton, the friend of Mr. Grant. Mr. Caarrnar.l.-1 know nothing about it. - The Loan CHIEF JUSTICE—I cannot hear any thing but what is in the affidavit. Sir J. S.CARLETT-.4. was proceeding to state that Mr. Briggs says, " the assignees being desirous of pro ceeding to a sale of the said share and interest of the said bankrupt in the said Sun newspaper and to investigate the partnership accounts between the said bankrupt and his late partner, Murdo Young, relative to the said news paper, they employed an accountant to investigate the same, and during such investigation made known as much as possible that the same shares would be brought to sale as soon as arrangements could be made for that purpose ; but in the mean time deponent received from the said Murdo Young, and one Frederick Charles Westley the following proposals"__ Now, my Lords, Mr. Briggs has this advantage, that every fact stated is verified by writing, and not contradicted; and I only wish he had brought more of the letters which he possessed. This bankrupt had no other property but his life interest in 1601., and this plate, which is very doubtful, and his 9,oool.—his own estimated value of his three-fourths in this paper. In consequence of that the assignees, and every creditor, must have been anxious to let the property come to sale, and Mr. Young writes this letter : San Newspaper-office, Jan. 26, 1631. " The accountant sent by the assignees of Mr. Patrick Grant to examine the account of the copartnership of The Sun newspaper having now male his report• I beg leave, through you, to mike an offer to the assignees for purchasing the whole of the shares and interest of Mr. Grant in the late copartnership, now vested in the assignees for the be nefit of his creditors. " The sum I offer is 7,500/., subject to my account against the concern, and the liabilities to which it is re sponsible up to the day of assignment. " I propose to pay one-fourth of the amount down, upon an assignment of the property being made over to me at once. One-fourth more by bill at two months ; anether fourth by bill at four months ; and the remaining one fourth by bill at six months—the last portion to he sub• ject to any actions of libel that may be brought against the paper for any articles that have appeared prior to the gate of rt.signinent. " l'to re is one action for libel now pending against the paper. " Mr. Grant purchased The Sun newspaper for 51J01., :~ ~~ Ind the property has been trollied up to its present vain mainly by my exertions. " The circulation having been forced up by enterprize, - t will necessarily require its continuance to maintain sucl circulation ; for even now the number so'd is near y 200 papers !ess ;lady than at the date of Mr. Grant's bank ruptcy. which circumstance has not only affected the cha racter of the paper, but its credit also. " Shou'd my present offer not be accepted, I brg to 1w understood is lotving made it entirely without prejudice to my right of pre-emption, as set forth in the deed of co oartner.hip, and my right of having the value of Mr. Grant's shares in the property ascertained by arbitration, as provided for in the deed of copartnership." Now, my Lord, here you have brought becore you, for the first time, the situation in which Mr. Young stood. It appears, from Mr. Grant's affidavit, th it he had sold one fourth of his paper for 2,0001. and by the clause in the pat tnership articles, Mr. Young is placed in such a situa tion, as, that he can say, if you don't agree about the terms of the sale of the paper, I shall appoint an arbitrator, you, on the other side, must appoint another, and if they can not agree, they must appoint an umpire to decide how that sale shall take place. Mr. Young had ch-arly a right to In that, and, I am sure that no I.wyer would advise the 354- •ig nees to say, " we will get the greatest price for the paper, even if we should be involved in a whole series of litigation." Mr. Grant has already involved them in two suits in Chancel y, whether they will be successful or not 1 will ra , ,t say, but hitherto they have not been Inconse quence of Mr. Grant considering th it these gentlemen were fivauring th- views of Mr. Young, and considering that they would not enter into the views of Mr. Grant, he had set up another paper, the very way, in my opinion, most likeiy to destroy the value of that property which be had already. Now, my Lords, on the same day that this letter came from Mr. Young, another was received from Mr. Westley, which was as follows: " I beg to offer the sum of 9,0001. sterling for three fourth shares of The Sun Newspaper, now vested in you for behoof of Mr. Grant's creditors, with immediate possession. " I propose to pay the above sums by hills of 2,0001. etch, at two, five, and eight months, the remaining 3,0001. by bills of eighteen months. " Until the whole of which he paid, I have no objec tion to a control on the receipts of the paper. " Mr. Westley says he was prevented paying in con sequence of difficulties, hut what those difficulties were he did not say; such, however, was his proposal. Mr. Briggs says that he made known those proposals to the assignees, and by their direction a meeting of the credit , rs was convened by advertisement in the London Gazette, to take into consideration the several proposals, and that at such meeting the following resolution was agreed to, authorising the assignees to sell and dispose of the share and interest of the said bankrupt in the newspaper, by pri vate contract, to such persons and at such place as they should think fit ; but that price was not to be less than the sum offered by Mr. Young or Mr. Westley. Mr. Briggs says, that in pursuance of such resolution of the creditors, he applied to Mr. Young and requested him to increase his offer. This was alleged Against Mr. Briggs, as acting improperly; however, Mr. Young refused to comply. Mr. Briggs then made repeated applications to Mr. Westley, but he objected, alleging for the first time that he was only acting as the agent fur the bankrupt, and not for him self; that the bankrupt had represented to him that his fr ends would assist him in such purchase, but they had not yet done so, and he therefore craved time for that pur pose. That is not denied by Mr. Westley.---(The op posing Counsel here said "It was.") I shall state the affi davits correctly. Mr. Briggs states positively that Mr. Westley then stated for the first time that he was only act ing fur the bankrupt and not for himself, and Mr. Briggs finding that he could not bring Mr. Westley to any decision on the subject of such proposal, wrote a letter and sent it to him in •the words following. If Mr. Westley denies it, and does not set Furth the letters, his denial must go for nothing. The letter is as follows: "RE GRANT, A BANKRUFT. " Lincoln's Inn-Fields, March S, 1831. " wiited at home yesterd iy morning above two hours, according to appointment, to receive your proposal and enter into some agreement as to the purchase of the bankrupt's interest in The Sun newspaper, made above a week previous, but up to this period have not received any communication from you." " 1 cannot allow my clients, the assignees, to remain any longer in this state of uncertainty, and whereby they may lose the opportuni , y of dispo.ing of it to the advantage of the esta`e elsewhere, and shall therefore advise them to conclude with Mr. Young upon his offer." Now, my Lords, in this transaction, is there any reason whatever to accuse Mr. Briggs of a conspiracy or swind ling, in advising.his clients to coneude with the offer of Mr. Young ? Or that he had come forward for the purpose of assisting Mr. Young in the purchase? Mr. Westley, in making his proposal, stated, that on that day, or the day following, that was upon the Sth of March, he should be ready to complete his offer. On that day he called on Mr. Briggs, and stated that he was waiting for a friend of Mr. Grant's to come forward ; and because Mr. Briggs would not wait till it suited Mr. Wes:ley to complete that purchase, that is to be considered as a crime of the greatest magnitude on his part. Then there is the letter of Mr. Kinnear, as follows : " London, March 9, 1831. " Sta,—l understand you are appointed agent for the sale of three•fourth shares of The Sun newspaper, lately the property of Mr. Patrick Grant. " If these shares can be had on re:isonab'e terms, I think it probable that I can make an offer for them %% hich will meet the approbation of the assignees, and with that view I shall do myself the honour of waiting upon you at one o'clock to-morrow." Now there is a small part of this affidavit which I think upon reading Mr. Kinnear's affidavit (though he runs into a long rigm►role of transactions) he does not attempt to deny. This is the passage— " That at his interview with said Mr. Kinnear, it was then stated that no objection would be made to sell the share and interest of the said bankrupt to any person who would give the highest value, and proper security for the payment, as it was the anxious desire of the assignees to s,ll it for the most that could be got for the creditors, and every reasonable time would be granted to the said bank rupt to obtain the assistance of his friends for that pur pose ; but that upwards of a fortnight had elapsed since said F. C. Westley bad made his proposal for the said purchase, and the said William Kinnear thereupon declined entering into any agreement himself for such purchase. And deponent saith, that shortly after he received the following letter from Mr. Bell, another friend of the said bankrupt." Now all that Mr. Kinnear states in his affidavit is, that he was a young man desirous of investing his capital ; that Mr. Briggs stated that the money must be paid down immediately, and dissuaded him from having any thing to do with the transaction ; but he does not deny that ►Mr. Briggs was anxious on the part of the assigness to sell the property to the best bidder. Then, my Lords, we get the fetter-of DEAR have just 'seen Mr. Winchester, and I have the pleasure of stating to you that he is very willing to allow Mr. Grant a week's delay. In that time the money will be ready. Mr. Westley will lose not a mo ment." . _ _ Yet Mr. Alderman Winchester is charged as being a party in assisting Mr. Young to purchase the paper. " That he communicated to the assignees of the said bankrupt the result of the said interviews be had with the said bankrupt, and the several other persons relative to the said proposed purchase, and the little progress made towards the same being carried into effect, and deponent received directions and accordingly did write to the said F. C. Westley a letter in the words and figures following.' This is not denied by Westley or Thornton:— " I have communicated to the assignees the result of the several interviews that I bave had with yo❑ and Mr. Grant and the other parties relative to the pro posed purchase of the interest of the bankrupt in three fourths of The Sun paper, and they are not disposeii to continue any longer in a state of uncertainty respecting the same, and have therefore required me to inform you that they expect you will attend at my office to-morrow, at twelve, to enter into a contract with them for the purchase or de cline the same in writing, in order that they may conclude with some other purchaser." Then Mr. Westley, to that letter, writes the following, which Mr. Briggs recites in his affidavit : " I have iviseten a letter relative to the purchase of The Sun ; hut beg to delay to send it until four o'clock, as since I received yours I have not seen any party concerned, although I have been to every possible place in order first to communicate my determination to withdraw. I trust you will excuse me in this until four. Then on the 1I th March the following letter is written : " I am most pressingly requested to delay my final withdrawal until to-morrow at twelve o'clock ; I beg, therefore, until that time, when, if the money be not de posited, I withdraw my proposals." Mr. Westley does not deny any of these letters, they are all set forth in the affidavits. No doubt can be entertained of his being clearly one of Mr. Grant's friends, and that lor him he was making the proposal which he ultimately withdraws. Now, my Lords, we come to the 116 of March. Mr. Briggs says, " That upon receiving such last mentioned letter from Paid depou.nt F. C. Weetley, he communicated the Basle to the ~.. .~' ~ ~t assignees, who were of opinion that it would be for the bk. nefit of said bankrupt's estate to renew the negotiation fot the s tie ,s ith said Nfurdo Young, and instructed depnnen. to do accordingly. And deponent saith that he there. fore aventled said Murdo Young with a view to negotiate alien he received the following letter from Mr. Thornton. one of the said assignees." Now Mr. Thornton here is the friend of Mr. Grant, I don't ',Lime him for that, but I think it is to be lamented that he has lent himself so far to his view , . " I hwe nail a comtnunica - ion from Mr. M.Queen on the sn'ject of The Sun new,paper. I shall be glad, luw fore any further steps are taken, to have a riveting either with you nr Mr. Alderman Winchester." "Saith that he communicated such letter to Mr. Al derman Winchester, who deponent b.lieves called on said Murdo Young to induce him to increase his sail offer, and deponent afterwards received the following letter from Mr. Thornton :" Now, my Lords, here is Mr. Thornton's letter, which is not denied. " Since I wrote to you yesterday I have seen Mr. Al derman Winchester, who tells me that Mr. Young has amended his offer, and will he reit!) , with 9,000/. in a short time, if, as Mr. Winchester a pprehends, the other parties who have been making offers would give no more. I am quite of opinion that we should accept Mr. Young's proposal, and I have told Mr. W. so. I should wish, however, before we close ‘, ith him, to have this point made quite clear. As far as my recollection serves ale, 9,000/. was the utmost that we have been led to expect, but it would be well to ascertain this before a final settlement." Now 9,0001- was the sum stated by Mr. Grant, that is stated in Mr. Alderman Winchester's affidavit, and Mr. Grant does not deny it. Then Mr. Blips says— Stith that upon the receipt of such last mentioned letter he a4ain had an interview with said Murdo Young, who consented to give 9,000/. for the share and interest of said bankrupt in said newspaper subject to the claims and liabilities he had and was under respeetiog same, and which proposal he also made known to said Mr. Thorn ton, and received from him anott.cr letter, in the words and figures following "I have r. ceived a letter from Mr. B. Grant in reply to one from you about Mr. P. Grant's plate. Mr. R. Grant seems to think there may be some question whether he cannot hold this plate against his debt. lie is, however, wiling to wave this point, but wishes us to deduct the value of it from his first dividend. He says if this cannot be done, he would rather give up the plate. I should like to know what you think of his proposal. lam also desirous of examining Mr. Young's accounts. I think this ought to be done before a settlement as to the purchase, as till this is done we are in the dark as to the sum which we are to receive from him." Now, my Lords, see what passes. Mr. Briggs says— " That accordingly on the same day th it he received said last mentioned letter, he attended said Mr. Thornton with the accounts made out by said Murdo Young of the debts and liabilities of said newspaper, which amounted to about 4,0001., bt•sides a private debt claimed to be due to said Murdo Young from said bankrupt, which he re quired to be deducted from his said purchase money, and deponent left such:accounts, together with the accountant's report thereon, with said Mr. Thornton for his perusal until the following Thursday, Use 17th March, when he appointed a meeting to take place at his counting-house in Birchin-lane aforesaid, in order finally to settle the terms and conditions of such purchase." This, my Lords, is on the 11th of March. Now Mr. Thornton, in his affidavit, says, that it is true that Mr. Briggs did leave the accounts, but that he only casually looked at them. Now Mr. Briggs says— " That on Thursday, said 17th March aforesaid, he attended with the said Alderman Winchester at the count ing-house of said Mr. Thornton, in Birchin-lane afore said, and said Murdo Young also attended, when said Mr. Thornton returned to deponent said accounts and report, stating that they appeared correct, but could at a future time be further investigated when necessary, arid expressed his opinion to said Alderman Winchester ti.at it would be for the benefit of the estate of said bankrupt to conclude with said Murdo Young, upon his proposal to purchase, in the best manner possible; and after much dis cussion with said Murdo Young, it was agreed that the share and interest of said bankrupt in said Sun news paper should be sold to him for the sum of 9,000/., sub ject to the before mentioned claims and deductions if sub stantiated ; but if such claims upon investigation should exceed 4,000/., then in any event the said Murdo Young was to pay 5,000/. as the balance of his purchase money, to be divided among tie creditors ; that he thereupon made a minute of the heads of such agreement in writ ing in the presence of the said parties, and deponent re ceived instructions to prepare a proper agreement for signature, and to attend again at the said co unting-house of the said Mr. Thornton on the Saturday following, the 19 h of March." Now Mr. Thornton says, that he did not give any in structions for an assignment. That, my Lord, is perfectly true, and no assignment was prepared ; but an agree ment was. And Mr. Briggs goes nn to state That at an interview he had with said Mr. Bell at his office, in the presence of one of his clerks after his return from the said meeting on Thursday, the said 17th of March, he informed said Mr. Bell of what had trap spited, and did not allege that nothing had been done, but on the contrary thereof, stated to said Mr. Bell, that unless some better offer was made to the said assignees on or before the said intended meeting on the 19th of March, the same would be sold to the said Murdo Young." Now, my Lords, up to the period of the 17th of March, all other contracts were off the stage. You will see that it appeared mo,t distinctly that the assignees had made the best bargain they could with Mr. Young; that he was to give them 5,000/. at all events, in case even if there should appear to be more due to Mr. Young than the 4,0001. ; if there was less than 4,0001 due to Alt.. Young, he was to pay the residue to make up the 9,000/., the accounts of the paper were to be made up and settled up to the 28th of Feb., on which dty Mr. Young was to ply and to receive every thing, and he was to give the as signees an indemnity against all claims of actions for libel. Mr. Briggs says that he sent a proper agreement to he pre pared by a gent'etnan at the Chancery bar, with directions to prepare an assignment, and the instructions were, that no assignment should be made until the money was paid. Now, my Lords, we shall see whether the state ment by Mr. Bell, that one of Mr. Briggs's clerks was not present, is the fact or not. Mr. Briggs says, that a pro per agreement was prepared by the said Mr. Coventry. " That a proper agreement was prepared by the s id Mr. Coventry, and the same was submitted to Mr. Bar trum, the solicitor of said Murdo Young for his perusal, who having returned the s tine to deponent approved, the same was engrossed on stamps, and deponent on the follow ing Saturday, the said 19th March, attended at the said counting-house of the said Mr. Thornton, in Birchin la ne aforesaid, in order to get the same executed, and carried into effect, where he met several persons assembled, who stated that they were friends of the said bankrupt, and attended for the purpose of making proposals for the pur chase of the share and interest of the said bankrupt in the said newspaper. That he did not at such meeting de clare that the property was sold to Mr. Young, but on the contrary thereof, stated, to the best of his belief, and as the fact was, that the agreement to sell the same to Mr. Young was conditional only, in the event of no other or better offer being made by any other person, or words to that effect." This, myLord•, is the great point in contention, the parties on the other side all hold that he did make such statement, and upon this they make a charge against Mr. Briggs of having been guilty of a deliberate falsehoo I.— Mr. Briggs says that the declaration he then made was so made in the presence of the said assignees, and all the other parties, and would have been immediately contradicted if untrue. Mr. Briggs further says, that he believes Mr. Thornton was present during the whole time of the meeting, except leaving the room for a few minutes, as occasion might require, to go into his counting-house. Now your Lordships will see in which way the other side put it. The sum and substance of the whole is, that the fide was a conditional one ; the other side in every instance stated that in their offers they were met by Mr. Briggs, stating, " you are too late, the business is concluded ;" Mr. Briggs thought so, but upon going into the room to the assignees, and finding that it was not so, he came Lick and said, " No, 1 am mistaken, you are at liberty to bid; " the libel, however, stated, without any qualification whatever, that all the offers were re fused. Now Mr. Winchester says that he did not deliberately repeat, nor in any manner repeat, the false hoods which Mr. Briggs is alleged to have uttered, nor did Mr. Briggs utter any falsehoods to deponent's knowledge or belief, on that or any other occasion, in re lation to the proposed purchase by the said Mr. Young, but, on the contrary, he always asserted that such sale to the said Air. Young was conditional only, and that his understanding was, that unless the offer made by Mr. Young was increased, the agreement was to be signed. Mr. B r iggi states that at the meeting a paper was put into the hands of Mr. Thornton, on the part of Messrs. Bell and Lomax, offering for Mr. Grant's three-fourtha of The Sun Newspaper, and the copyright thereof, presses, type, together with the interest of the assignees in the lease of the premises in the Strand, the sum of 11,0001. sterling. Now, what was stated against that? Why, that Mr. Briggs had deliberately y. ‘. sworn a falsehood, b,'cause they stated that they ha offered 10,000/. before they offered 11,000/. ; that sum was to be paid by a deposit of 3,000/. down, 3,0001. in 14 days, ,nd the rest by their acceptances within s . x months, or a hurter period if required. Now it is a most singular •lung, that Mr. Thornton j dns these gentlemen in imputing to Mr. Winchester and to Mr. Brigg., he cause of the non-acceptance of their bills; whereas \lr. Thornton himself was the person who prevented either bills being taken at long dates, or a sum of 10,000/. being taken as a discount for cash. My Lords, Mr. Briggs states " that at the meeting in the count ing-house of the said Mr. Thornton, which was held in Birchin-lane, the said Mr. Young insisted on his right of pre-ernp•ion, as to such purchase, according to the proviso conta;md in his partnership deed." I beg your Lordships' particular attention to this, for it is not denied, and that he therefore offered a like sum of 11,000/. for such share and interest, and en the said Samuel Lomax offering to advance an additional sum of 1,000/. for the purchase thereof, the said Mr. Young and the said Samuel Lomax, continued to bid several large additional sums for the said share and interest, until the sum finally offered by Lomax amounted to 13,000/., by which time, Mr. Ramon), solicitor of Mr. Young, had arrived, and immediately protested against what bad been done in his absence, and insisted upon the said Mr. Young withdrawing from such meeting, having first offered to execute the said agreement, which had been prepared and approved of by him. Now the affi lavits on the other side stated that a long transaction took place, that Briggs came into the room and said Mr. Young would give 500/. more; that might be true, but they go through all the details of that which appears to me to t e totally unnecessary ; they do not, however, deny that Bartrum came, and that Mr. Young offered the sum of nine thousand pounds ; they do not deny th,t Mr. Bartrum imme diately came and protested against Mr. Young's being treated in this way, that he admitted that he was bound to give a reasonable price for the paper, but that he sliculd rive no more ; and that he should advise him to file a bill in equity to compel the assignees specifically to per form the agreement ; they stated that Mr. Young had tiled a bill in equity, but they do not say that Mr. Briggs advised him, as his solicitor, to go no farther, and they do not deny that it was under Mr. Bartrum's dvice that he so acted. Well. my Lords, what happened ? Why, Mr. Young not going further, the as signees made a contract with Bell and Lomax, not a final one, but subject to their right to do so, Mr- Young having threatened to file a bill in equity. Now, my Lords, Mr. Briggs was obliged to go to York. Mr. Briggs said he should be absent for a week, but that of course the contract would be sent by his clerk. I hope your Lordships have looked at the contract, and that you have remarked the observations which Mr. Briggs makes on the contract. \Vhe❑ he came to town, my Lords, he found this contract, and he was going with the most perfect bona fide intention to have it executed, but objec tions occured to him, which he stated not in a spirit of un f►irnese. Mr. CAMPBELL—These objections were never commu nicated to the other side. Sir J. SCARLETT—h does not appearon the affidavit— Mr. CAMPBELL—The objections were shown only to Mr. Briggs's clerk, but to none else. Sir J. SCARLETT—My affidavit does not state that they were communicated to the other side, but I shall show your Lordshii.s sufficient reason why they were not com municated to the other side. There were legal objections, the existence of which rendered tire execution 01 that con tract impossible. " There are several objections," as Mr. Briggs states in his affidavit, '6 to the form of this agree ment—first, the assignees can only agree to sell the share and interest of the bankrupt of and in the newspaper ; 2oly, they cannot receive hills of exchange for the pur chase without the sanction of the creditors; 3rly, they cannot give the actual possession of the property, it being in Mr. Young, the resident partner, and so declared in the partnership-deed ; and lastly, the assignees must not agree to assign until the bills are paid." We cannot do it; we cannot do as Mr. Grant's friends want us to do, in consequence of the position which Mr. Young holds under the terms of the partnership deed : and was that not right, my Lards ? Was it not the duty of Mr. Briggs to act as he had done ? What happened then, my Lords? Why, Mr. Briggs was served wish notice of a bill in equity, filed by Mr. Young, in order to insist on his rights under the partnership de,d. N. , tv they say, on the other side, by their affidavits, that Mr. Young filed his bill or, the ground of the contract that - bad been made; *hut this, my Lords, is most absurd on the face of it, because the contract, my Lords, as admitted on both sides, never was signed. The minutes had un doubtedly been prepared by Mr. Briggs on a stamp, but the agreement had not been signed by the assignees or any patty. It was natural enough, indeed, for Mr. Young to say he was willing to give a certain sum, but the founda tion of his bill in Chancery was his own undoubted right of pre-emption, contained in the deed of partnership. He set forth his right to have the matter determined by arbi tration, and applied to the Court for a reference to the Master, in order to ascertain a just and fair price. Mr. Briggs says, that such being the case, and having made inquiries into the respectability of Messrs. Lomax and Bell, he advised the assignees net to sign the agreement, and to make no sale until the right of pre-emption was de termined. He also explained the nature of his objec tions to the agreement, and assured them of the great difficulty and litigation that would be occasioned if they entered into it, because they would be unable to to carry it into effect. Thereupon he advised them to convene the creditors, in order to make known all that had transpired, and accordingly a meeting was held on April t 3, 1831. Now, my Lords, was there anything blameable in this ? Could any man say that Mr. Briggs had done anything but what his strict duty had imposed upon him? Because, independently of the objections which he had urged, he told the assignees, you cannot bind yourselves while the bill in equity is not disposed of? Was that a sufficient ground for charging a gentleman with fraud arid swindling ? It would surely be a most unheard of privileged claim of the editor of a newspaper ! We come now, my Lords, to the following resolution, which was passed at the meeting of creditors to which I have just referred : " W e , the undersigned creditors of the estate and effects of the said bankrupt, and who have roved our debts under the said commission, and being the major part in value who have so proved our debts under the said commission, having taken into consideration the resolution entered into by us on the 25th day of February last, and of all the cir cumstances attendant upon the negotiation for sale of the share and interest of the said bankrupt to Mr. Murdo Young, and of the bill in Chancery subsequently tiled by him against the said assignees touching the same, and a Mr. Hickman having offered to give 13,0001. for the bank rupt's share and interest in The Sun newspaper, to be paid down ; it was resolved that the assignees be em powered and required to treat with the said Mr. Hickman upon that basis. " (Signed) " MARTIN FURNISS JOHN PETERKIN. " THOS. MARSH. W.M. NEWMAN. " ROBERT Locarr. T. A. HILL. " HOPPE AND SON. And in the event of the said treaty not being brought to a conclusion, then that the said assignees be empowered to accept the proposal as to Mr. Young, annexed hereto. " (Signed) " (Dissent) " MARTIN FURNISS. ROBERT LOGAN. " T. A. HILL. JOHN PETERKIN. JNO. STEAK. THOS. MARSH." Mr. Young had made a further proposal to pay down at once into the hands of the assignees 5,0001. for the pur pose of immediate distribution, the accounts were to be in aestigatedassigneesaln)yd t t i e 'o o a t c h c e o r un o t f an i‘ t i s r ,. o y ne ou o u n g, t o h r e t b h e e h ir alf oro of pir t e he ; and any excess or difference in favour of the estate was to be paid at once to the assignees for the purpose of a fur ther dividend. Mr. Young was also to withdraw his proceedings in Chancery and pay the costs al ready incurred, and indemnify the assignees against ;ill proceedings at law or in equity. Mr. Briggs -iays that several interviews took place between the said Mr. Hickman and himself and the assignees, with the intention of prevailing upon Mr. Young to wave his claim of pre-emption, and to allow Mr. Hickman to become the purchaser of the shares, but Mr. Hickman said that he only intended to became the purchaser of a small part of such shares on his own account, and the re mainder on account of other persons whom he would not name. I call upon your Lordships to mark that expres sion, and that the right claimed by Mr. Young under the d e ed of copartnership to be editor and manager of the news paper should be relinquished, which the assignees could not induce Mr. Young to do. Mr. Hickman, however, refused to purchase, and sent the following letter to Mr. Thornton : " London, April 27, 1831. 41 sm—Finding so much trouble is likely to arise in the completion of a purchase of two-thirds of the Sun news paper, I feel indisposed to proceed further, and take the earliest moment of informing you that I decline contract ing for it. " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, " WILLIAM HICKNIAN. " To - Thornton, Esq., Birchin-lane." Sow here let us pause a moment ; one cause of the thun der on the other side is, that we did not accept Mr. Hitk man's proposal, while he was ready to pay down 13,0001. Mr. Hickman makes no affidavit, and there is no denial of , .he facts and letters here stated ; but that offer had obvi ou sly been conditional—it was not absolute. One of the conditions was, that Mr. Young should relinquish the ,ditorship and management of the paper, which the as signees could not persuade him to give up. Anoth' r im portant fact is, that a small part only of the shares was on his (Mr. Hickman's) own account, and " the remainder on account of other persons whom he would not name." Mr. Briggs, in consequence of Mr. Hickman's declining to purchase, again applied to Mr. Young, when he ex pressed his willingness to folloiv up his proposal made at a former meeting of the creditors, to purchase the shares at 11,0001., and to pay down 5,0001. for the purpose of immediate distribution. Mr. Winchester was willing to accede to this, hut Mr. Thornton ajected. And here I cannot help speaking of the conduct which Mr. Thornton has pursued. Mr. Thornton seems to me to have been playing a game in the bankruptcy himself, and the affi davit he has made confirms the in that conjecture. And if the law would allow me, if I should advise the estate, I should say that Mr. Thornton ought to bear much of the costs which have been incurred. , Mr. Briggs, on the 6th May, received the following letter, having communicated the circumstances to the creditors who bad applied to him to know the reason of the delay that had taken place in the completion of the purchase. The letter is from the solicitor of a Mr. Hill, who is a principal creditor. " Lincoln's Inn-fields, May 6, 1831, _ . . . DEAR. Ste—Mr. Hickman having, as I understand, declined completing the negotiation enterer' into between the assignees of the bankrupt and himself for the purchase of the bankrupt's share and interest in the Sun newspa per, and my client being extremely anxious that some thing should be done in order to enable the assignees to declare a dividend with as little delay as possible, 1 brg to forward you for your consideration on behalf of the assig nees the accompanying suggestions of some of the bank rupt's creditors. I shou'd esteem it a favour if you would make me acquainted with the decision of the assignee-4 to soon as they shall have form d their determination, in or der that I may in some measure relieve the anxiety of my client, who with many other creditors of the bankrupt, I believe, is naturally desirous to avoid the solicitude and t xpense occasioned by the delay of protracted proceedings. " I remain, dear Sir, yours truly, " WALTER JERRY. " To T. Briggs, Esq. " Your Lordships now see that up to this time no impu tation was cast on Mr. Briggs, and there was the fol lowing resolu'ion, passed by the undersigned creditors, with the amount of debts proved by each. " To Messrs. Henry Sykes Thornton and Henry 'Win chester, Assignees of Patrick Grant, a bankrupt, " We, the undersigned creditors of Patrick Grant, pre sent at the meeting of creditors held on the 23d of April inst., pursuant to notice for that purpose advertised i❑ the London Gazette, having been informed that Mr. Wi liam Hickman has declined contracting for the purchase of the bankrupt's shares, interest, and property in The Sun newspaper, do hereby authorize and request you to accept the offer made by Mr. Murdo Young, and to sell and con vey all the shares, interest, and property of the said bank rupt, or of you, his assignees, therein to birn, for the sum of 11,0001., he paying a deposit of 5,0001., and agreeing to refer his demand on the said newspaper to a reference, pursuant to the resolutions passed at the said meeting Dated this 30th day of April, 1831. NAMES OF CREDITORS. Amount of debts proved by them. T. S. Hill £1,131 5 0 Divie, Robertson, and Son ass 19 0 James Turner lOO 10 0 Martin Furniss Thomas Bar ram Trevv John Sharp Jos. Saunders 4B 7 S Win. and T. Nicholls W. Toomes 65 '2 6 Mr. Briggs presented this request of these creditors, being a majority in number and value, independently of the assignees, to Mr. Thornton, to sell the shares to Mr. Young. But he objected, and insisted on having a suit instituted in the name of the assignees, for the purpose of having a sale under the authority of the Court of Chancery, and in the meantime for the appointment of a manager in the room of Mr. Young, which, when Mr. Briggs obj , cted to as unnecessary, Mr. Thornton threatened to do, by filing a bill in his own name, and the following letter was received from Mr. Thornton's solietor : "DEAR hive seen Mr. Thornton, who is very anxious that a cross-bill should be filed, and an application made to the Court before the holydays, which can only be effected by the bill being filed to-day, that he has in structed us to proceed with a Bill separately on his behalf, fearing that it will be impossible that a joint bill could be adopted in time. I regret that a joint application could not be made. I am, your most obedient servant, " Freeman's -court, May 11, 1831. FRED. LOCK. "T. Briggs, Esq." To which Mr. Briggs returned the following answer, " Sta,—Re-Grant. I cannot but feel surprised at the communication this instant made to me on the part of Mr. Thornton, and must protest, on the part of Mr. Win chester, against any such separate proceeding. The bill I herewith send has been drawn by counsel, with more than usual despatch, and I was engaged in reading it over when your note reached me. "I now send it to you fur the same purpose, and shall be prepared to file it as soon as it can be engrossed. " I am, Dear Sir, your most obedient servant, " F. K. Lock, Esq. T. BRIGGS. " May 11, 1831, half-past two." Here, then, the creditors had actually desired the as aigßees to conclude the contract with Mr. Young, if Mr. Hickman did not persevere in his bargain. And in the meantime a motion was made to the Lord Chancellor to appoint a fit person to manage the newspaper in place of Mr. Young, in which Mr. Briggs hid acted entirely under the direction of Mr. Thornton and his solicitor, Mr. Lock, who perused and approved all the pleadings, sup plied the necessary affidavits to be made in support of the motion, and had the nomination and approval of some of the counsel who were engaged in the same ; but after an argument which occupied the whole day, his Lordship was pleased to dismiss the said motion. Now is Mr. Briggs to blame in this ? Why, Mr. Thorn ton's indiscretion, or ignorance, or good nature, call it what you please, has involved this estate in an inextricable labyrinth of litigation and expense. In April an opportu nity was offered for selling the shares for 11,000/. to Mr. Young, deducting, of course, what was found justly due to him. Mr. Thornton takes on himself to reject the offer, and files a cross-bill in Chancery—an absurd, a pre posterous bill ! But what did Mr. Thornton do? He thought, of cour,e, the best way would be to procure the concurrence of the creditors to his Bill, and accordingly, in the month of December, 1831, there was a meeting called, of which the following is the mi nute :—" We, the undersigned creditors of the estate and effects of the bankrupt, and who have proved our debts under the commission, and being the major part in value, of one-third in value." Air. Campbell calls it the major part in value—it happened not to be so— " We, the undersigned creditors of the estate and effects of the said bankrupt, and who have proved our debts under the said commission, and being the major part in in value, of one-third in value, who have so proved our debts under the said commission, having taken into our consideration the resolution passed by us at the respec tive meetings of the 25th day of February and the 23d day of April last, and the state of the proceedings in the suit in equity therein mentioned, instituted by one hlurd. Young against the assignees of the said bankrupt's estate and effects relative to the share and interest of the said bankrupt in The Sun newspaper, and also the proceed ings in a suit instituted by the said assignees against the said Alurdo Young, in relation to the said newspaper, do resolve that the defence of the said assignees to the said first-mentioned suit was properly made by the said as signees, for the benefit of the said bankrupt's estate, pursuant to our former resolution to that effect. And further, that it was necessary and expedient that the second-mentioned suit should have been commenced by the said assignees against the said Alurdo Young, and that the same should be prosecuted for the benefit of the creditors seeking relief under this Commission." Now it may be said that the creditors had approved of this proceeding ; for Mr. Tlaor n ton' s (nri eg s be a ,ir k i e thhl te l oen ardti.Anegiphrgrt.il deprive e d f op t hu h rin e emg ): claimeded n d p s t o jo ; n t: i u nt t hta s e v tr aitnshseiyt of s a l ,t n ho expedient euafir tl file e aanother oh tti partnership ld of the management of which under the deed he could not be deprived? Yet, my Lords, that was the course which they adopted ; thus the newspaper would have been de prived of that credit which is necessary to its successful management, and which ;c_ i o n uivr t e l t i , e h s ba e uvi t te i misteeewsnalisn theathy eolifieprea:tcaqtiiunmi recent eeedc that ebnyt writing the ffe c o t on ofa certain „ s p i d a e p . e r being cannot e r tell t h ew surveillance l i a g n h e t e h o t; tttihree;CshmaudratnhaogefaeCdrdhia)oynfet;:aY.tnewspaper being actually put under the superintendenee,of, the Lord Chancellor. At all events, the Lord Chancellor: refused to take ,it upon him, and dismissed the motion. Mr. Briggs goes on to state dila having submitted a case to Counsel for his opinion as to the rights and interests of the said bankrupt under his mar riage settlement, he, deponent did, with the sanction of the said assignees of the said bankrupt, convene a meeting of the creditors by advertisement in the London Gazette, to be held on the 7th day of April last, for the i ,~~ purpose of taking into consideration the life interest of the said bankrupt under that settlement, and to authorise the said assignees to file a bill in equity against the trustees of that settlement to secure the funds therei.i mentioned, and to ascertain the share and interest of the said btok rnpt under the same ; at which meeting the said bankrupt attended and charged the said Aiderman Winchester and Mr. Briggs with having. fraudulently attempted to sell the said share and interest in the said Newspaper to the s iid Murdo Young with a corrupt motive, and much noise and tumult arose in consequence of such accusation ; and it was suggested by some of the creditors present, that it would be adviseahle to our to sell the same life interest under the settlement of the said bankrupt at a valuation ; but at let glt the following resolution was , entered into by the creditors then present, viz. " At the Court of Commissioners of Bankrupt, Basing hall-street, London, 7th April, 1832. . - '' Be it remembered, that pursu tnt to notice in the London Gazette of the 16 th March last, for the credi tors who have proved their debts under a commission of 'bankrupt awarded and issued forth against Pattick Grant, late of The Sun Office, Strand, newsvender, dealer, and chapman, were requested to meet the assignees of the said bankrupt's estate and effects, on this day, at this place, for the purpose of taking into consideration the life inte rest of the bankrupt under the settlement made upon his marriage, and to authorize the assignees to file a bill in equity against the trustees of that settlement, to secure the funds therein mentioned, and to ascertain the share and interest of the said bankrupt under the same. We, the undersigned creditors of the estate and effects of the said bankrupt, and who have proved our debts under the said commission, having taken into consideration the life interest of the said bankrupt under the settlement made upon his marriage, and the steps that have been taken by the assignees to secure such life interest for the benefit of the creditors seeking relief under the said commission, do, acting under the resolution passed at certain meetings held on the 15th December and 27th December, 1831, decline taking into consideration the question of the bank rupt's marriage settlement, and do therefore adjourn this meeting sine die, not, however, wishing to charge the as signees with any lathes i❑ consequence of such adjourn ment." This is the resolution which had been passed after the period when Mr. Grant had established the True Sun, and commenced these libels. Now Mr. Briggs states that this resolution was passed, not at a meting of creditors advertised in the London Gazrtte, or any other paper, but was called by the bankrupt himself privately, no assignee being present, and only signed by five credi• tors, whose debts proved amounted only to what was due to Alderman Winchester. Mr. CAMPBELL—The resolution was passed at a meet• ing in 1.) eember. Sir JAMES SCARLEIT-Mr. Briggs says in his affida vit that the meeting was called together by the bankrupt, who communicated the intention of meeting by letters in the most insulting language, but that meeting being held wishout the assent of the assignees, Mr. Briggs did not feel justified in attending it. " The signatures of the creditors who purport to have signed the said resolutions are not the majority in number, and much less the majority in value of the creditors who have so proved their debts under the said commission, and deponent has been informed, and believes, that some of the signatures of the said creditors were obtained to the said resolutions after said meeting had been held, and who were not present at such meeting, and in particular the signature of a Mr. Hilt, whose d.bt in amount is nearly equal to all the other creditors who purport to have signed the same." On the 6th of November last, Mr, Alderman Winchester was persuaded by Mr. Briggs to sign the bankrupt's cer tificate, when the following, I must say insulting, letter was received by Mr. Briggs from Mr. Grant : " 25, Parliament -street, Dec. 14, Wednesday Evening. " Sic,---A private meeting of my creditors called by one of the number, is to be held to-morrow at twelve o'clock, at the ' George and Vulture,' St. 'Michael's-alley, Cornhill. " I have b en requ,sted to furnish to the meeting my explanations of some of the occurrences under the com mission. As these explanations may involve an impeach ment of your conduct, I think it fair to apprise you of the fact. If you shall feel disposed to confront me there, I take it for granted that the meeting will he glad to hear your statements. I am, Sir, yours, &c. " T. Briggs, Esq. P. GRANT " You see, then, my Lords, in what situation these gentle men stood. Mr. Grant calls together a number of private gentlemen, whom he himself selected, for the purpose of casting a stigma on those who conducted his affairs.— Now, Mr. Briggs says that meeting was not attended by the major part in number, much less the majority in amount of those who had proved their debts, and in parti cular the signature of sir. Hill, a principal creditor, was subsequently obtained. The other side, indeed, do not deny that other creditors signed it afterwards, they went to private houses—they represented a strong case, and it was thus that they got these signatures. " The bankrupt represented that if he had his certificate granted to him, his friends would then come forward and citable him to make some proposal to the assignees for the purchase of the said share and interest in the said news paper, and deponent said), that the said Alderman Win chester, acting under such advice, did sign the certificate of the said bankrupt accordingly, and deponent has been informed, by the said Murdo Young, and which he be lieves to be true, that some proposals in writing were made by the said bankrupt to the said Murdo Young, but which the said Murcia Young declined." The fact is not denied by Mr. Grant that after he had got his certificate he had made a proposal to Mr. Young. Mr. Briggs rays—and this, my Lords, is the statement which all these affidavits are intended to belie—that " he hod not any knowledge of, or ever saw, the said Murdo Young until after the said commission of bankruptcy is sued against the said Patrick Grant, that be has not now or ever had any sort of intimacy or friendship with him, sad that he never had any collusion with him to defeat the interests of the said creditors, but, on the contrary thereof, this deponent on Isis oath with, that from the issuing of the said commission to the present time his utmost exer tion, advice, and abilities having been solely directed to increase the value of the share and interest of the said bankrupt of and in the said Sun newspaper, that it might sell fur the largest possible price for the benefit of the said bankrupt's estate, and to enable thereby the said Alder man Winchester, and the other creditors, to get paid their debts, and that he was solely actuated in advising the said assignees to conclude with the proposal of the: said Murdo Young to purchase the same, from a firm belief that the same was the only real and bona _fide offer to purchase, and that the several offers made by the other persons before stated were not so, but only intended to mislead and im pose on the said assignees. " Saith that he, this deponent, bath never betrayed the interests of said creditors, but, on the contrary, done his utmost to uphold and protect the same to the utmost of his ability ; and lastly, upon his oath eaith, that he is not directly or indirectly interested in any manner what ever, in the share of the said P. Grant in the said news paper being sold to the said Murdo Young, but that be advised the sale to the said Murdo Young as above stated, because he believed it to be to the benefit of the estates and would put an end to litigation if he became such pur chaser thereof. ‘ Sea afterwards w e o d i n i d i t not at any uhg t said statement h o newspaper, be tal a false hood l ege n t h o t d h s t Athe h 1 r u t r d a a o t r d h Y g hand y e s wum ; and that he bath no t at any t i me i n t h e course o f these proceedings been guilty of a deliberate falsehood, said and that he never did submit .any falsehood or false state ment to Counsel touching these proceedings. " Deponent Henry Winchester said), that he bath read over all that part of this affidavit, in which the other deponent,Tl,omas Briggs, mentions acts dune by or in the presence of him this deponent, and that the same and every part thereof is true in substance and in fact, and that he bath not at any time, in the exercise of his func tions as assignee of The Sun newspaper, been guilty Of fraud or falsehood ; that he bath not at any time, or in any way, betrayed the interests of the creditors of the said P. Grant ; that he bath never in any instance, or on any occasion, endeavoured to defraud the said creditors, or to enable the said Murdo Young to secure The Sun on his own terms ; and that he hath not at any time in the course of these proceedings asserted any falsehood whatever in reference thereto ; that he hath in all respecter as far as his judgment and ability allowed, discharged his duty as assignee to the estate of the said P. Grant, from the issuing of this commission to the present time, with out favour or affection to any one, and with the sole vied of promoting the general interests of the creditors under the same; that he never colluded with the said Murd° Young to de'eat the interests of the said creditors' but, on the contrary thereof, used his utmost exer tions to promote the same ; that he has no 0 4 of intimacy or connexion with the said Murd o Young in business or otherwise; and that since th e contracting of the said debt of 12281. lO with this deponent he has not had any dealings or transaction ° whatever with the proprit tors of the said Sun NewspaPe r ", or the said Murdo Young, individully, save and excep t that he has purchased of this deponent and his sa id partner, stationery goods to a trifling amount; that 1 . 1 e: deponent, is not interested therein, or expects to be O r terested therein, directly or indirectly, in any waggle i ;. t ~.