The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-04-18 00:00:00

488th INTZLIJORNOR .____. CROWN COURT-FRIDAI CRARTER CASES. OpeneWilliam Williams, 35, was indicted for having, at Oldham, 24th August last, attended an illegal meeting in the air, and there used seditious, wicked, and inflamma!ory c lang ua g e, tendin g to bring her Majesty's government into ontempt, a n d to lead to sudden changes and sedition. There were three counts in the indictment. The first charged him, along with others, in excg to riot —the second charged him, with others, in attempti ago o force her Majesty's sub_ leers from their lawful occupns—and the third charged him with attempting to force the people to give up work ti the charter became the law of the land. The last part of the indictment was, however, abandoned. The prisoner defended himself, and, after the witnesses for the prosecution had tendered their evidence, addressed the jury in his own behalf. His Lordship summed up. Re explained the three counts in the indictment, but stated that the crown had abandoned the third It • would, therefore, be for the jury to say whe ther the first and second were borne out by the evidence. If they were satisfied that the prisoners had excited others to a riot, by inducing them to go and intimidate peaceful peo ple, so as to force them to quit their employment ; and, in order to accomplish that, he and others, in a large body, overawed them and put the threat into execution, the n they Weilmust find him guilty ; but if thq were not satisfied that such leiisuintntions, they would acquit him. fter a few minutes' consultation, VerdietjofrgYu' illty returned to a his lord'h• uPon the first count, but recommended c i o n n p s r l is e o r n a . t to , bee to take into 'd • ' • oner had already been five month s a that the prisoner His Lordsh tion ip said he would tt d the recommenda , and then ordered h • aen to t e prisoner down. George So th uan stood h dwith having attended an unlawful 'whoineeir in f, c arge the caPacitY of chairman, at Ashton, in the month of August last, pleadedguilty.M Murphy hoped his to h' , r. , slight, %,, • s IP, as the charge against the prisoner was ould discharge him on his entering into a recogni zance for his future good conduct. Mr. Wortley, o n the part of the crown, agreed in the recommendation of the learned Sergeant (Nlurphy.) His Lordship then told the Prisoner he would be discharged on giving a recognizance for .t2OO to keep the peace for two years. The Court rose at a quarter past eight o'clock. __ _. NISI PRIUS COURT.—FainAv. Mr. Justice Coltman took his seat on the bench at two O'clock, when the Commercial Bank of England case was re sumed. The first witness called was Alexander Graham, the manager of the Birmingham branch, whose direct examination had not been closed at the rising of the court last evening. He gave additional evidence as to '741 the. manner in which business had been transacted at his 11, ane, said that a sum of £lO,OOO had been set aside Y s he Purchase of shares, in the beginning of March, 1840, Y uoard Minute. The resignation of Mr. Turner, she a director, was ordered at the same time to be inserted in Minutes. When the account of Mr. Nlacardy was investi e.ted, there appeared to be a sum of £10,816 due to the bank. vs ituess furnished a report to the directors. ivCross-examined by the SOLICITOR•GENERAL.—Was ori g,inaitY an accountant at the Birmingham branch. Had pre :,'°llB,lY been an accountant in Scotland. His knowledge of 'ranking business in his having wound up bankrupts' estates. t he tlr r A e i r ' Bower, and Ashton examined particular acconts at rtningbain branch toward s the latter end of 1835. Four or live of the directors went regularly through the accounts of the branch in 1839, The inspector of the branches went over the accounts about once a year. Alexander Davidson, the present manager of the winding ull of the Commercial Bank, said he first became connected With it in 1834. He was accountant in the Rochdale, Lud ',°,v, Ashbourne, and Manchester branches. Weekly, quar terly, and half- yearly statements were sent from the branches to the head bank. Was chiefly accountant at Manchester up ;'altO the stoppage of the bank, and in that capacity his duty was to make out the statements for the directors and gene board. He only conducted one half -yearly balance prior o the stoppage. The bank stopped in June, 1840. Some of the branches stopped the day before. The book s and pa pers remained at their respective branches until they were el°B ed. and then they were transmitted to 'Manchester. Since then Li me y the have been under witness's management. About tjethe of the stoppage witness was desired to make out an aecount of the state of the bank. The amount of the liabili _s of the bank at the time of the stoppage was about '4,300,000. Witness assisted a committee of inspectors, 19- Pointed at a general meetin g of the shareholders, in forming ,aji estimate of bad and doubtful debts owing to the bank. In'Ye'there were old balances on the books. Does not know the ttehts which have since been paid. The creditors of the bank generally been paid. The shareholders have never been "id. Money has been borrowed of the shareholders for the Purpose of paying off the creditors. That was borrowed at the time of the stoppage. The bank still owea £50,000 to ;le shareholders on account of the money borrowed. The Dank owes to the creditors generall • including the £50,000, about £72.000. The liabilities of the'bank on the 31st of De eernber, 1839 were £658,759 ss. 9d. Bills current at that t ittle are not included in the sum now mentioned. The en tire of the liabilities in December, 1839, :100,000 than they were in June, 1840. The amount of were less by (,)yerclue bills to the bank on the last day of 1840 was upwards en s to the bank on the last day of 1840 was upwards of 80000. No bad debt account had been opened at that 3,0 time. The amount of overdue bills crn the 31st December, Rw_as .C 81,914 ; and on the3lst December, 183, £38,553 12s 6d. general bad debt account was kept at the bank prior to e stoppage, but some debts were marked off as bad. Others Were retained tot he close, and never marked off as bad. The l a ssets of the bank if they o . Id be g t in after paying the liabilities, would leave a u could be got in, after paying the iShilitie would leave a Surplu s of betw o eon '£Booo and £9OOO ijl° Pay back the shareholdsersr their capital. This- was estimated a cotntrittee. Witness believed the bank to be a very 'unriahing concern in 1836. He was then at Rochdale, and not at head quarters. In. December, 1841, witness sent a Printed circular to the plaintiff. a„ulo Cross-ex amined by the SOLICITOR -GENERAL, --The unt of overdue bills on the 31st December, 1837, was ''''4o,lls. The book containing the liabilities and assets was tilt before the directors at the time they made their reports, rhat book the d the amount of the overdue bills. Se curities, in the shape of life policies and guarantees, ,73°,„wiere held for the - overdue bills. Securities were held for the current accounts. Witness pre `,:ilirr,„ed Part of the report which was first laid before the Mr -et Pra and then) efore the general meeting of shareholders. Sewell, the ' d another report. The only tePort witness manager' prepared altered, but most of th.. , an ess sent before the directors was th e ..' e ' guage of it was retained. The currtnt accounts, riaiolnecroourenttshoef profit and loss, and other documents were. directors when they met to prepare the annual teP,°,rts• Mr. Ashton arid Mr. Turner both advanced money ,ph'eoe b ank, to the amount of £5OOO each, since the stoppage. o ~20Y0,1,1,,50 discounted bills and gave cash to the amount l _ s f wi l i e r t one time. The bills they discounted wt emrearbkielt. Wheo rh o not be discounted in the cliscoun r o i,,,_ e bank first stopped, witness considered, after ffi exa pa'_°S the accounts, that the assets would be sufficient to th a ?, l , l the liabilities and leave a surplus. It was then thought eare. ther"une a.ssets, would be much more than , it nownsPaP d triao:h 'it& They were calculated at £212,000, ount bgreat Of ae l "ad. debts were afterwards discovered. The t a m ii 4 'lai liabilities in October, 1840 were £231,106. They st.loo,boeon. reduced from th preceding June by about Ites ela oft, sin pined by Mr. KNOWLES.—Witnes did not strike r ePort g e bad debt when he furnished the directors 1ir:81.,r,: Mthough the over -due bills, in December, 1839, were ~,1 1 He treated those over -due bills . as assets, not tl ' ti saes power to do otherwise. Witness s opini t on T he I:t it ery fallacious to treat over-due bills as assehsr. sv ais 4.:021unt of vitalca paid up by the shareholders altoet e is iridepe,'o"). h£50,000 borrowed from the shareholders ela udiu sie , t of the original capital.. th at ae s a aytin, cashier at the Liverpool branch, stated b ell. , , counts were constantly sent from that branch to the the'',l°.ann.k at 'Manchester. A letter, containing the report of was tr',!ar tors to the general meeting of the shareholders, ,am'otna:nn ted in February, 1836, from the head bank to the e ;:r ,of the Liverpool branch. It was signed by the Da v i s % t ile head bank. for the"on was here recalled, and said that lie had searched h e had ;;ePort, forwarded to the Liverpool branch, and that bank,been uuable to find it. He searched for it at the head hj,,,,l7sor.rerrolt-G, • . biasitted that the search should was'iueen made at LivN e g r il po A o r l, stl and not at the head bank. It lettelnlportaut that the report should be produced,_ as sharouoirected the manager at Liverpool to lay it beforethe iii.ll.lders there. Is, !.1,-.oanslllP took a note of the objection. tift4nr!a thso proved the purchase of the shares by the plain_ Pn his cross-examination, by the SOLICITOR -GENE. Of c ,Qe Said the plaintiff was a surgeon and buyer and sel er IS74B°Ltnn, and that he did business with the bank in bills. gasedt't°t Present in December, 1835, when the plaintiff en l'ot reatake between 200 and 300 shares in the ba.nk. OeS ltejthe -,tect be ing be present when any such conversation pa s se d; i1,11°,8 recollect that a factory was sold by . the plain in. 0 , "e Plaintiff was remonstrated with respecting . the na h,d-n t the bills lie was paying in. The manager at Liverpool Power° "„wer to allot shares. The directors only had that the nal 'ternonstrances were made with the plaintiff about thar_!llre of his bills both before and after he purchased the T res ' q c015a.,1e I) aZ : T hplaintiff was frequently in the habit , Ge4,,, n g ia to the banke ',.'"ic in'eu"is examined by Mr. KNOWLES : Was junior ''''as r , -- 11 1 , 1 e Livepool branch in 1 . 836 and entered the pur- Sthetl,-4..,Gne,,,_shares in the book.—Cros's-examined by the So 1111Qemaint..;:siss ever recollects being present when td '" Proposed to take share s in the bank. Ilaillo'iti'lff:rajlor examined by Mr.. IN . ..Lutist:l.—l s cousin to ttxte: kept and was a merchant in Liverpool in 1834 and „ „ a . la account with the Commercial Bank at that m t 4- " 4 XI 1-14 "nsequence of some conversation between 11 . 1 11-"'elae priairiatnittgtotn,.the Liverpool manager, the latter applied agaililgree to buy! Dr shares in the bank. The plaintiff did 4abil'• aPPlied the n the .following December Mr. Langton i.. ity thereto plaintiff to buy, and said tl at in all pro " which,would b e an excellent dividend after Christmas plaintiff plyect;,_ lst would participate it he bought. The ..„_ a4eatie'en& In January, 1 836, Nit.. Langton renewerint.unins e haid.,„ nd, said that the bank had made 10 per i e e Le the r ,4P ' t 'll• The plaintiff still refused until_h t e e . Z',,n_nth iq1 . ".,,t. of the directors. the latter part of I , 'ut e said hie rLoangton renewed hisapplication, when the Plain" should am e they Litre offered'. Id Purchase shares at the price at which t er 44 , d , Ili the preceding month by Mr. Langton. The I‘. 4l e s ! cl' tnaeacitAild not do th . at. In ten days or a fortnight, itti wither' t" "4ultimately again applied, and the plaintiff t° s, h e'l firs t Ou_take 200 share s at £6 each. Mr. Langton de t() e the r he w ner, and desired him to make up . his mind declined Pureh lid buy or not. The plaintiff aga'n lair. s-ankto,, -;,-, unt,l be had seen the directors' report. days tiad , i , " tlie lid that ti k r ,, : .u , at snow null . le report would be b e i'l!srl it. l n write to Manchesterfor told witness f a 40 re a d " o days after, Mr. Lang th ou o t n t e n , a a f n e d w then s re ct to the ..ia:e r,ePort, .and asked him to . . tit t o „ i' intiff. Witness and the communicateplaintiff i t w . ne h„„,_ It was ~._, r itte a d '"K I when Langton handed the report.. tiff and wit / e_ ocument I ' Th e plain 200 ~. Lss raid ~, and yin g on the counter. t he ti. each., itthen the former agreeuLtoitP subsequently nure q,reeto Mn.ai Langton the offer to promised to s fi r° ur d ay r a l ' ,alld to get the scrip down accepted. for £1,400 urch in as t e h 1. -) : 200 shereallter, Mr. Langton handed a chenn Mr. tha't'gton Enid at ' C7 , each, which the plaintiffsigned., and ti' t he pl a s..„ e Price hi the market was £7 Pe b e t w een the and .t 7 i"fr W ould be allowed the difference se nt • does -te,latnined .1 ) ,,,. •i A L —W itn e s s tic, '',l ktlo,v of th, lin? ;()LICTTOR- GENERAL. — Witness appliea,- , tiv+eriloothe direetorsef aintiff hav i ng. maste_...'" i ryh a i, ° I last Nlay, r share s in Feb., 183 n on the business of l t ''th e `,,er 4t Gl,s,__,v. anNot.ansotwwiocearartets,al-Ikrupt best i o , 6 ° Witness left 'claequence of having been a shar eholder it'll CROWN COURT.--SATURDAY. NIGHT POACHING. Richard Johnson, alias Willis, 34, and John Culshaw, 27, were charged with having, on the 29th of September, in the neighbourhood of Ormskirk, been out armed in pursuit of game, in a field the property of Lord Skelinersdale. Mr. Paget conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Wilkins the de fence. The case was gone through nearly, but one of the principal witnesses was himself one of the party of poachers that night, and admitted that he expected £2O for his evi dence, if the prisoners were convicted. One witness said that there were three poachers, another that there were four, and another that there were five. Mr. Wilkins ably ad dressed the jury on behalf of the prisoners, and the jury acquitted them both. It was stated that there was another indictment against Culshaw. Johnson was dicharged. OBTAINING MONEY UNDER FALSE PRETENCES. Thomas Butler, aged 41, a well-dressed, respectable-look ing man, was charged with having, at Liverpool, put off a forged indorsement upon an order for the payment of money, with intent to defraud M`Calmont and Co.—Mr. Paget ap peared for the prosecution and Mr. Wilkie for the defence. —Thene former, in s t at i ng the case, explained the nature of seam's monthly advance notes, given them before they went to sea, and payable a few days after the ship which they had engaged to go with had sailed, with the party, in whose favour it was given, on board. —James Wilcock, a boy, ap plied at the s hipping -office of Mr. Trevaskis, in order that he might be shipped as an ordinary seaman. This was on the Bth of April last year. He there saw the prisoner, who carried on business as shipping agent at the same place, and addressed him on the subject. He promised to procure the boy a berth, and did so, on board the barque Glenco, bound to Halifax, at the rate of £2 a month. The boy joined the vessel in the river on the 14th of April, and she sailed on the same day, He saw the prisoner on board, with a monthly note in his (prosecutor's) behalf, and told him to give it to his the fath er. There was no i n d orsement on i t then, nor did boy authorize the prisoner to indorse it in his name, or write the name upon it himself, and he could write. He went to sea, and on his return, on the 3rd of February last, he first saw the note again, and it was then indorsed in his name, with " his mark." The boy's father fitted him out with clothes, not the prisoner ; and it was stated that the prisoner, in place of giving the note, as directed, to the father,aepr, thepro priated it to himself and obtained the money. After sailing of the ship, th e f a th er sa w the prisoner, and asked him if he would deliver up the note, and his reply was, that he knew n ot hi ng at all about it. Heafterwards the prisone r to the Court of Requests summoned for thehe prisoner amount of the note, but th e summons was dismissed. T afterwards b rought before Mr. Rushton, and wasp was committed. The boy, on cross-examination, ad stolen his mot h er ' s gown, and pawned it. that he had . That , he occasion ally took a sup of drink, and was in liquor wren he knew shipping -note to the prosecutor, though he 7he gave th e what he was a b out. The father, on his cross-examination, said the boy w as a good lad, and he neve r thing knew any , Ito Contriii bcwhk: WA) orily IILI4 ti 2 m IRa. 0 , 1 4r+iibt Dist • L.- . tqV 'ha Pl4lht4 tIM , 4 inld him that ha ,had spplled huh 'ly . SOUTH LANCASHIRE SPRING ASSIZE 6 shares in December, ISM, (Iderititled Jotters wiitten by the plaintiff to the bank in 1835.) Witness always went with —FRI , Mr. Langton to the plaintiff at the time the negotiation about the purchase of the shares was going forward. The .t B ridget hie CASES OF FELONY, reas on the cheque was signed for the ti , and not for the O, nu m was placed at the bar. She stood charged was because Mr. Langton said it would have a bad effect or, vweirtehighnaving assaulted and robbed Catharine Shaw, of ten so- the Manchester market, if it were signed for anything less Crosbie-ssto re n the 30th of August last, at the bottom of than £7. Mr. Langton died in eighteen months alter. The months' . et, in this town. She was sentenced to four plaintiff never told witness that the bills lie was sending into aulmprisonment Edward Peet 2' . with having, at ' Li ) ; the bank had been remonstrated against, and that he thought and Edward liughes, 24, were charged he would get money more easily front the concern if lie saulted and stole -erpool, on the 14th of August last, as- became a shareholder. was discharged, n a watch from William Robson. Hughes Three certificates for the 600 shares, which had been pur yeanrs' transporti. tn,!llleet was sentenced was sentenced to ten chased by the plaintiff, were then put in and read. They x_vv:ilsicant Caldwell, Al, were signed by INlessrs. Slater and Turner, as directors. was charged with having, at The SOLICITOR-GENERAL asked upon which of the counts N ovember upon entered upon certain enclosed land, on the 14th his learned friends were proceeding ? armed with Ist' in was found the occupation of William Howard, Mr. KNOWLES said he proceeded on all the counts, be- Meat vvith hgani g it un, for the purpose of destroying game. lie cause lie submitted that there had been a general conspiracy a. r d labour . sentenced to nine months' imprison- to delude the public. He thought, under such circumstances that he should not be called upon to select. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL asked, whether it was compe tent for his learned friend to go upon all the counts, seeing that no conspiracy had been charged ? Mr. KNOWLES said the defendants were present at all the meetings, and that, therefore, all the counts could be re tained. His LORDSHIP said he should tell the Jury that they could only find upon those counts which affected all the parties, as the counsel for the plaintiff relied upon all. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL moved for a nonsuit, upon the ground that the writing containing the alleged misrepresenta tion had not been produced, and referred, in support of his argument, to the case of Lord Edwd. Thvnne. He also referred to the case of Vokes v. Sleinkeller in the Common Pleas. His LORDSHIP said that leave to enter a nonsuit might be reserved. The case for the plaintiff having closed, The SOLICITOR-GENERAL addressed the jury for the de fendants. He was apprehensive, after all the evidence which had been given, that he should be unable to bring the precise question before them. It was one of very consider able importance. In a pecuniary point of view it was of the utmost importance to the defendants. If the plaintiff was entitled to the amount of his shares, when would there be an end to the actions which would be commenced against Messrs. Turner and Ashton, who stood 'among the first of the merchants at Manchester, but who could never stand against the multiplicity of actions that would be brought against them if the present succeeded. They had been char ged with swindling, falsehood and, mendacity ; but it should be proved that they had been guilty of this fraud and falsehood for the purpose of injuring others for the benefit of themselves, in order to sustain the action. He complai ned of the manner in which the case had been conducted, because evidence applying only to some part of the transac tion had been given. He complained that Mr. Edge had not been examined, and that the letters written by the plaintiff to the bank, and produced by the witness, Davidson, had not been read. The defendants had, unfortunately, become connected in '36 with the Commercial Bank ; and, having men tioned the name of the Commercial Bank, the failure of which had caused misfortune to many, he trusted the jury would dis miss all prejudice on the subject from their minds. The defen dants had been directors ; but they were charged , on the present occasion, with not having inspected the books, or being ne gligent in the discharge of their duties. They were charged however, with having made false and fraudulent representa tions, knowing them to be false, and with intent to injure the plaintiff; and the question was, whether the plaintiff had made out his case. The case differed from every former case, and also from all joint-stock bubbles. What was the profit and motive charged against the defendants here ? Mr. Knowles, in his opening, had said that Mr. Ashton had sold shares and pocketed £2OOO by the transaction ; but there was not a shadow of truth in that statement; it had not been es tablished In evidence, and was wholly and entirely without foundation. The whole charge made resolved itself into re presentations made by the General Board of Directors. The first was said to be made in February, 1836, and the others at annual and half-yearly meetings. There was no represen tation made by the defendants severally, but all the represen bons were made by the General Board; and, if this action were sustainable against the defendants, every member of the board was equally responsible. H e submitted, however, that it was utterly impossible to sustain the charge of fraud and falsehood upon the evidence which bad been tendered. There were seventeen local branches, and the head bank at Manchester. There was a local director, a manager, and an accountant, at each branch, and there was an inspector of branches besides. The practice was, not for the directors to overlook the books, but for the paid officers so to do. By the 56th clause of the deed, the General Board of Directors were to make known to the shareholders only so much as they deemed right to make public. There was no conceal ment made use of when the bad debts were not mentioned, for there was a reserved fund for the purpose of covering the bad debts. Every shareholder was aware of the existence of the reserved fund ; and, when a question was asked at one of the meetings as to whether the reserved fund was sufficient to cover the bad debts, the manager answered in the affirma tive. And what would have become of the plaintiff and the other shareholders if no dividend was recommended ? 'Would not the shares have been utterly unsaleable under such cir cumstances? He would show that the defendants, Messrs. Ashton and Turner, had struggled against the local directors with respect to the amount of the dividends, and that the local directors possessed the power, if they pleased, of sub mitting a motion at the board to have the accounts audited. He would also show that the local directors attended the board constantly—that they were aware of the business at their respective branches arid of the existence of the had debts--that they were always anxious for a declaration of a high dividend, and yet that they never moved for an audit of the accounts. He would further show that when the ac counts were audited in 1810 by hostile auditors, the defend ants, Ashton and Turner, thought the bank in a prosperous state, and that it was fully able to pay a dividend of five per cent ; for they had been told by the auditors that it was able to pay a dividend of £5 per cent, and that they expected it would shortly be able to pay a higher dividend. He con tended that Messrs. Turner and Ashton had no more motive or interest in the bank than would apply equally as well to every other shareholder. Having read several clauses of the deed, the Solicitor-General proceeded to call attention to the representations which had been made to the board, in Feb., 1837, and also to the composition of the hoard itself. He said he believed the members of the board were incapable of committing fraud, falsehood, swindling, and cheating, although every one of them was open to such a charge on the present ' occasion. The only question in the case seemed to be, whether fraud was committed, so far as the shareholders were concerned, in the bad debts not having been mentioned ; and her e he begged it to be recollected that Messrs. Turner and Ashton had never given an order as to the mode in which the accounts were to be furnished, but that order was given by Mr. Macardy and the clerks and managers from Scotland, which that gentleman had appointed ; and he sub mitted that to charge the misconduct of Macardy upon two of the defendants would be exceedingly unjust. He then re ferred to the evidence of the several witnesses at great length, commenting upon it as he proceeded, and all through con tending that the directors had taken the accounts upon the representations of the clerks without examination ; and that, although they might be guilty of negligence in having taken them without examination, they were not guilty of fraud and falsehood. He complained of the defendants not having been afforded an opportunity of preparing their defence. He thought it a hardship that they should have been obliged to come into court totally unprepared, they not having been allowed access to the accounts and books of the bank. He observed that by a clause in the deed the directors were given a reserved fund of a certain number of reserved shares to be disposed of in case of any contingency; that Mr. Edge and Mr. Panton were appointed as auditors in '4O; and that those two gentlemen investigated the whole of the books, and then recommended a dividend of five per cent. to be made, distinctly stating that the assets of the bank were in a posi tion to warrant the making of such a dividend, and that with proper care the bank would be one of the first concerns of the day. The Solicitor-General read the report of Messrs. Edge and Panton to this effect, and in which they further stated that the profits were considerable, and that the bank would pay £5 per cent. for the next four years, and upwards of .t 5 per cent. up to that time. He asked whether the de fendants were to discredit the testimony of experienced men like the auditors in question, who had examined the accounts most fully, and who had placed the result of their examina tion upon paper and presented it to the board? He submit ted that no evidence had been given to show that the plain tiff had become a shareholder in consequence of the alleged false and fraudulent report of February, '39, and that in the absence of proof upon this head there was no ground of ac tion. He guarded himself about being supposed to give any opinion in favour of joint-stock banks ; but he said the bank in this instance bad been formed upon Lord Althorp's pro position of real and not nominal capital, and that there was no one who could imagine for a moment, from the wording and reading of the first report, that the dividend was to he paid out of the profits, the more particularly as the hank had only been one year in existence at the time. The Soli citor-General concluded his address, the delivery of which occupied two hours and a half, at a quarter after ten o'clock, by confidently anticipating a verdict for his clients. Mr. BAINES then briefly addressed the jury on behalf of his clients, Messrs. Palin and Bower, both of whom, he said, had been ruined by their unfortunate connexion with the bank. His LORDSHIP proceeded to charge th e j ury a t t wenty minutes to eleven o'clock, by observing upon the importance of the case, and the necessity of their considering it apart from prejudice, and solely upon the evidence. He then re capitulated the evidence, commenting upon it as he pro ceeded ; after which the jury retired, and at a quarter to one o'clock returned a verdict for the defendants, adding, "at the same time, we beg leave to express our opinion that there has been gross and unpardonable negligence on the part of the defendants." - rtirtit 410 rtAt atiy 40444ii0 of tha won ; an d d fn i e 4 inotnEr evever4i4tisd t) t.lit ha wiieed get tits son to sea for fear he should be traniported, The ea&hier or agent of the ship proved that he paid the prisoner two sovereigns, the amount of the shipping note, and took his receipt for it, which was produeed. Witmess did not consider the endorsement necessary to d a y ment, as he would have paid it without if the man had gone in the ship. The prisoner, on being apprehended, said he had got the money, that he had paid 10s. of it to Mr. Trevaskis, and had kept the 30s. to himself for his own trouble, which had been agreed. Mr. Wilkins said that the indictment was nothing but an attempt of the father of the boy to extort money from the prisoner, who only acted for Mr. Trevaskis. The Judge here stopped the case, on the ground that the indictment could not be sustained. The note itself was ge nuine, it' the endorsement was bad ; but, as M'Calmonts, or their cashkeeper would have paid it, even without the en dorsement, on ascertaining that the boy had gone to sea in the ship, there did not appear to be any fraud, and the par ties might, if they liked, apply to the Court of Requests again. A verdict of not guilty was then taken, and the prisoner was discharged. Mr. Wilkins said Mr. Trevaskis was ready to exonerate the prisoner from all blame. UTTERING A FORGED ORDER. George Anderson, aged 26, was charged with having, at Liverpool, uttered a forged order for the payment of £2. 15s. with intent to defraud Samuel Fishbourne. The note was produced, and his Lordship said the indictment was so laid that it could not be sustained, insomuch as the offence char ged was a felonious forgery, while it was so laid as to be re duced to misdemeanour. Mr. Wilkins said that, if the facts of the case were known it would be seen that the prisoner, who had never been in this country before, had been imposed upon by some of those vagabonds who prowled about the docks for the purpose of victimizing such ignorant persons. A verdict of not guilty was then taken, and the prisoner was discharged. POACHING. John Culshaw, (before tried this day and acqnitted on a charge of poaching) was again placed at the bar, charged with an assault on two gamekeepers of Lord Derby, and also with being armed and in search of game with a net in the night, in a field at Burscough, the property of Squire Scar isbrick, on the 30th of July last. The case rested upon the indentity of the prisoner, and the Jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. The prisoner was discharged. One of the witnesses, a young man, named James Orrid, gave his evidence in a manner quite contradictory to that which he had given before the magistrates. His Lordship frequently cautioned him, but he persisted in his statement that the prisoner had not told him anything relative to the assault in question which tended to implicate himself. At the conclusion of the trial, his Lordship said the witness bad twice that day been guilty of perjury : first, in the previous case, in which his brother was a witness, and now in this. His Lordship then ordered that he should be taken into custody, (which was done,) and that an indictment should be framed against him for wilful and corrupt perjury. RIOT AND CONSPIRACY. John Guest was charged with conspiracy, and with being present at an unlawful as sem bl y at Broughton, near Man chester, on the 11th August last. The case was connected with the riots about that period in the manufacturing dis tricts, and involved no particulars of novelty or peculiar in terest. The prisoner, a dyer, was spoken to as being present in a mob of four hundred persons, who assaulted the gates of a dye-works, and broke some' windoWs. The prisoner used a plank as a battering-ram. .The works belonged to Messrs. Dewhurst and Sugar. It was-found necessary to let the hands out for the day. The cry set up by the mob was, " Turn the hands out !" and it was sworn by one witness, that the prisoner said, with reference to the'works, " It is the worst hole in all England." Thomas Gerard and Joseph Clarke were indicted for a similar offence. One of them, Gerard, pleaded guilty to one of the counts, and was set at liberty nn giving sureties for his future good behaviour, his own in £2OO, and two in £5O each for two years. Clarke was then tried for attending an illegal meeting in Wigan. on the 15th August, and afterwards pro ceeding towards Leigh, on the way to which they stooped some collieries and other works, by showing an overawing force. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of a riot, but there were palliatory circumstances in the prisoner's case. William Guest and Clarke were then brought up for sen tence for rioting, &c. After a suitable admonition, his lord ship sentenced Williams (who had been long imprisoned,) to be further imprisoned for three months, with hard labour, and then to enter into recognizances. Clarke was sentenced to six calendar months, and Guest to three months, with hard labour, and afterwards sureties. Neville Bancroft, an attorney, of Manchester, was charged with perjury, committed on his being examined on au arbi tration. The defendant had been out on bail, and sat within the bar. The case arose out of two cross-actions, Allen, an attorney, against Lowe, and Lowe against Allen, which had been brought before the Court of Common Pleas, and refer red to arbitration, before Mr. Segar, the barri s t er . Th e ac cusation against ie plaintiff was, that, when examined before the arbitrator, three questions were put to him, as follows : First, whether he (defendant) had not, previously, said, with reference to some damage done to Mr. Lowe, through the negligence of Mr. Allen, an attorney employed by him, (and for whom defendant acted) he. Mr. Lowe, had not always said to him (defendant) that he should hold Mr. Allen him self responsible. This the defendant denied, saying that Lowe had not said so from the first, but only at the last. Second, whether he (defendant) had not told him (Lowe) £25 would be paid to him (the latter) iu consideration of the damage done through the negligence of Allen, and that lie (defendant) would procure him the money from Allen; this the defendant had also denied having gild so. Third, whe ther he (defendant) had not been told by Lowe that it was of no use to go on with one of the actions, as the parties sued were not within the jurisdiction of the Court, and whether he (defendant) had not replied, that if he had known that, he would not have proceeded with the action. He also de nied having so replied to that question. These denials, it was contended, amounted to the act of perjury, which it was brought to prove. Several witnesses were called, but the case completely broke down, there being no proof whatever of perjury having been committed in the case. His Lordship said, there was no ground whatever for the charge, and directed the jury to return a verdict of acquittal. William Greenwood was charged with perjury, in some evidence given before the magistrates, on an information laid under the Stage Coach Act ; but as it appeared that no offence under the art had been committed of which the ma. gistrates could take cognizance, the indictment was stated by his Lordship to be grounded in error, and no perjury would, therefore, be committed. The jury were accordingly directed to give a verdict of not guilty. CONSPIRACY, William Hardy was charged with a conspiracy at Roch dale, in order to prefer a charge of larceny against a person named Hopwood, since deceased. The case, however, broke dow❑ on the first witness being called, and a verdict of not guilty was recorded. This closed the criminal business of the Assizes, and the court rose at a quarter to eight o'clock. NISI PRIUS C OURT-SATURDAY DEMURRER : ANDREWS V. OWENS.—This was an action on promises, to the pleas in which, on the part of the de fendant, the plaintiff demurred. The demurrer was argued this morning, by Mr. Crompton and Mr. Ramshay, who ap peared for the respective parties. It was entirely of a techni cal character; and, in the end, the learned Judge took time to consider his decision. BUS/NESS OF THE ASSIZE.—The JUDGE asked the gen tlemen of the bar who were present what cases could go over to Mr. Baron Parke, in the other court, who would be able to try them in the course of the day. lie mentioned this so early in order that some arrangement might be made. Mr. KNowLss said he was afraid that no satisfactory ar rangement could be made with respect to the cases remaining to be tried. The JUDGE replied that he must then make arrangement. The fact was that term had begun, and here they were sitting on the first day in Liverpool. It was true that the opening of term had been postponed ; but, at the same time, the paper must be got through as soon as possible. A line would be drawn upon the cause list, all the cases below which would be tried before Mr. Baron Parke. Thr subject then dropped, without any definite arrange ment being either suggested or made. REPLEVIN : WIGAN v. BoNn.--The declaration in this case was in replevin, in which the plaintiff, William Wigan, complained of the defendant, John Bond, for having wrong fully taken certain goods and materials from premises in his occupation. The case for the plaintiff was conducted by Mr. James and Mr. Drinkwater ; Mr. Watson and Mr. Cardwell appeared for the defendant. Owing to the form of the action, the defendant had the right ofcommencing, and it appeared, that the plaintiff is a beerseller, at Wigan, and the defendant a tinplate-worker, in the same place. The defendant caused a distraint to be made upon plaintiff's effects for a year and half's rent, amounting to £2l. The plaintiff denied that he was the defendant's tenant in the manner and form set forth, and a long and uninteresting trial of that question followed. The Jury returned a verdict for the defendant. CROSS ACTIONS ON DISPUTED CLAIMS. KERR v. LAFFER.—The plaintiff in this case is Alexander Kerr, and the defendant Henry Latter. The declaration was for wages for work and labour done, for commission money, and on an account stated. The defendant pleaded that he was never liable to certain payments, and a set off for money alleged to be due to him rrorn the plaintiff. Mr. Baines, with whom was Mr. Cowling, appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. Knowles and Mr. Crompton for the defendant. The plaintiff, it appeared, went out to the coast of Africa in a vessel belonging to the defendant, called the Mary, on board of which he acted as captain and supercargo, to bring back palm oil. He was to receive £5 per month, and £4 per cent. commission on the returns of palm oil which he brought home ; and the action was brought to recover the balance of the account. After the case had been partly opened by Mr. Baines, Mr. KNOWLES, on the part of the defendant, proposed that this and the following case of Laffer v. Kerr should be referred. After some private discussion, it waa agreed that all the matters in difference should be referred. ASSAULT. FROSTE v. CIIALONER.—This was an action to recover damages for an assault. The parties belong to Liverpool, and are well known on 'Change. Mr. Wortley appeared for the plaintiff; and Mr. Knowles for the defendant. After some consultation between the parties, Mr. WORTLEY said he had the honour to appear on behalf of Mr. Froste, the plaintiff, who had brought this action against the defendant for an assault committed upon him by the defendant, an indignity to which Mr. Froste could not submit. His first impulse was to take the course which was very ordinary, but, perhaps, blameable, in the class of society to which he belonged. He was, however, persuaded by his friends to abandon that course, and appeal to the laws of the country. He had brought this action merely for the purpose of vindicating his own character; and he (Mr. Wortley) now understood, from an intimation that he had received, that his learned friend, Mr. Knowles, was willing, on the part of the defendant, to offer an apology for the indignity offered to Mr. Froste. If that apology on the part of his learned friend was satisfactory to him, the learned Judge and the Jury would he sp are d the trouble of proceeding with the case. Mr. KNOWLES said be had the honour to appear for the defendant, Mr. Chaloner, who, like the plaintiff, was a highly respectable gentleman in this town, and who was now ready to do all which a gentleman ought to do who had oflered an insult to another. Mr. Chaloner, therefore, authorised him (Mr. Knowles) to apologise to Mr. Froste for the blow he had struck under circumstances of provocation. li e (Mr. K.) though it right on behalf of Mr. Chaloner to say this, that to the feelings that the very moment after he had given way doneof co course he es and, da tnhoeroebfjo'erce: led to the assault, he sent a friend to the plaintiff to make the most unqualified apology. Having then done what the gentleman no w which he prompted, ha t fe io e n lin to gs do of t hat a he had authorised him (Mr. Knowles) to l apo ogise to Mr. Froste for the injury which he had done to his feel Mr. Wortmey said, that under these could only add that the plaintiff, after the circumstances, he suffered, considered a private apology insumcienindignity he had After the public apology offered by his learned friend, h os 4 v willing to consent to a verdict for the plaintiff for er, he was A verdict was then entered for the plaintiff. Dama g es 40s. BIRD AND OTHERS, ASSIGNEES, V. BASS AND ET HERS. David plaintiffs are the assignees of the estate and effects David Robertson, of this town, and they brought the • of against the defendants to recover the sum of £lBO, the action ceeds of certain property belonging to the bankr upt which they seized in execution on the 26th January last. ALLEGED BREACH OF CONTRACT. ATKINSON AND OTHERS V. BLAKE AND OTHERS.—It was alleged in the declaration of this case, that the defend ants had contracted with the plaintiffs to furnish them, at a certain price, with 12,000 boxes of soap of a quality which should be fit for the Jamaica market; but they had, instead of sending soap of that quality, sent an inferior article, whereby the plaintiffs had been damaged. Mr. Knowles and Mr. Cowling represented the plaintiffs ; Mr. Baines and Mr. Drinkwater the defendants. The plaintiffs were merchants in the island of Jamaica, and and in May, 1840, they made the contract refer' ed to, through their agents in Liverpool, Messrs. Baring Brothers. The defendants are soap manufacturers in this town. The evi dence, which was particularly uninteresting, related to the quality of the soap shipped, from which it appeared that a large portion of the boxes forwarded were unfit for the market. The damage sustained by this part of the shipment was stated to be between £3OO and £4OO. The plaintiffs had cancelled the other part of the contract. For the defendant a number of persons were called, who stated, generally, that they were the parties who had made the soap, and that the samples produced, which were said to have been brought from Jamaica, were not the same which had been sent out. The soap sent was fit for the Jamaica market. Mr. KNOWLES, in his reply, made some strong comments on the effort to prove fraud against the plaintiffs, who, he re peated, were highly respectable men. The trial lasted several hours, and it terminated by the jury returning a verdict for the plaintiffs. Damages £l-100, costs Os. The Court rose at ten o'clock. NISI PRIUS COURT—MoNDAY. COLLISION DAwnEn V. SHAND.—The plaintiff in this case is Mr. James Dawber and the defendant Mr. Wm. Shand. The declaration stated that the plaintiff was possessed of a gig, and the defendant of a coach or carriage; and that the de fendant's servant had driven the carriage so negligently that the plaintiff's gig was thereby injured. The defendant merely pleaded not guilty. Mr. Knowles and Mr. Martin conducted the plaintiff's case; Mr. Baines appeared for the defendant. Mr. KNOWLES, i❑ stating the case to the jury, said the plaintiff was a veterinary surgeon, residing in Liverpool, and the defendant was a merchant in this town, of great respect ability, whose private residence was at Allerton. The action arose out of a collision, on the 27th of June last, between a gig which the plaintiff was driving, and Mr. Shand's carriage, which was proceeding in a contrary direction. The plaintiff was on his way from Liverpool to Allerton, on professional business, and on the road there was a sharp turn which re quired care in passing. The person who was driving was proceeding at an ordinary pace, a trot, and just before he ar rived at the corner he was met by the defendant's carriage, which was going towards Liverpool. At that moment the plaintiff was driving on the left hand side, and almost close to the parapet; the carriage was being driven at a brisk rate, and, instead of being on the other side of the road, as it ought, it was very near the right. The two vehicles, conse quently, were very nearly opposite to each other. The de fendant's coachman, seeing the approaching danger, endea voured, as much as possible, to avoid a collision, and he par tially succeeded, but the hind wheel of the carriage caught the gig, which was thereby upset, the shaft broken, and the plaintiff's servant thrown out. Two ladies were in the de fendant's carriage, who apologised to the plaintiff for the ac cident, hoped he was not hurt, and drove on. As soon as the plaintiff found out to whom the carriage belonged, he wrote the following letter to him : " June 29. " presume you heard of the serious damage done to my gig and harness; through the negligence of your coach man ; and I should feel obliged by your coming to my sta bles in Basnett-street to see the same, when I am sure you will at once give directions to have them repaired." To this letter the defendant sent the following reply : " SIR,—I have received your note of the 29th instant, and am glad to find you consider yourself responsible for the da mage done to my carriage by the frross negligence of the person whom you h ave en t rus t e d. You ' may see the damage by calling at my stables, and you may give the necessary di rections to have them repaired as soon as you please." (Great laughter.) He (Mr. Knowles) did not know whether Mr. Shand was generally in a facetious humour, but he hoped he would pay for the damage, which, by the negligence of his servant, the plaintiff had sustained ; and then he might enjoy his jokes as long as he pleased. The sum claimed for the damage to the gig was £5 19s. 6d. Witnesses, who observed the accident from a field adjoin ing. the road, were th en called, an d their evidence supported the statement of th e l earne d counse l . O n e o f them s t a ted, that the mare in the pl a i nt iff' s gig was as quiet as a lamb, and might have b een h e ld b y a threa d . Mr. BAINE S th en a d dressed the j ury f or th e d e f en d an t, and said he should prove that the mare in the plaintiff's gig was wholly unfit to be driven, she never having been broken and her mouth being unformed ; that shortly before the ac cident he was driving in a furious and careless manner, with a loose rein, and that at the time the vehicles met, the plain tiff, perhaps unwittingly, pulled the wrong rein, and thereby the accident took place. He contended that it had been clearly proved, by the plaintiff's own witnesses, that the horses had passed each other, without coming into contact, and that it was the vehicles which had struck each other ; whereas if the carriage had been on the wrong side, the horses must have first been in collision. Witnesses were then called ; at the end of which the jury said they would n o t t rou b le Mr. Know l es to rep l y, as they were prepared to g i ve th e i r verdict for t h e p l a i nt iff . A ver dict was then ret urne d f or the plaintiff, damages £5 19s 6d. ANSDELL v. IeCORMICK. The plaintiff is an attorney in Liverpool, and the action, which was undefended, was brought to recover £39 14s Ild, the amount of a bill of costs. Verdict for the plaintiff for the amount claimed. ACTION AGAINST A TRUSTEE. OGDEN AND OTHER ASSIGNEES V. STONE. — This was an action brought by Wm. H. Ogden, and Henry Wood, assig nees of William Robinson, an insolvent, against George Stone. The de c l arat i on stated that the defendant was in debted to the plaintiffs for money lent, and upon an account stated. The defendant pleaded that he was not liable. 4 Mr. Knowles and Mr. Cowling were counsel for the plain tiffs ; Mr. Baines and Mr. Martin for the defendant. Mr. KNOWLE S said the defendant was an attorney in this town, and he had to allege against him that he had received a sum of upwards of £BOO, which under the circumstances he was not entitled to keep. The action was brought by the assignees of the estate of Robinson ; and the sum in question was the whole property of the man, so that if Mr. Stone was entitled to retain it, there would not be a farthing left for the general body of creditors. The question for the jury would be whether the mode in which the £BOO in dispute had been paid to the defendant was not a fraudulent preference. Mr. Robinson was a shipwright, in Norfolk-street, near the Queen's Dock, and, apparently, he did a good business, for he employed, sometimes as many as twenty men and boys. Between March, 1841, when he commenced business, and the time when he ceased, about the end of the year, he got into debt to the amount of £llOO, an amount quite independ ent of the debt, or the pretended debt, which it was said he owed to Mr. Stone. In November he took the benefit of the Insolvent Act ; and it was about then discovered that, on the 25th of October. he had paid a sum of £872 to Mr. Stone. It was said that Mr. Stone had lent him this money, which was settled upon his wife, and he (Robinson) had paid this money back to him ; now he (Mr. Knowles) should be able to establish that this payment was voluntarily paid by Robinson, and under circumstances which rendered it in valid according to the provisions of the Insolvent Act ; in otherwords, that it was a fraudulent preference. The learned counsel then detailed the circumstances which appear in evi dence ; and called the following witnesses : William Eden was the first called. He said lam an an chor-smith, and was formerly in the employ of Robinson, whose works were near the docks. He commenced business in March, 1841. He had a smithy there. I was his manager and bookkeeper. I know the defendant Mr. Stone : lie is a solicitor. In September, 1841, Mr. Furness's clerk called two or three times to demand payment of a bill of from £lOO to £l2O. There were many creditors, Mr. Gregson, Messrs. Ashton and Naylor, and others who called often, some of them two or three times a day. They continued calling till the latter end of October. After the Bth of October Robin son wholly absented himself from the place, and I had to meet him at different public-houses. About that time I went many times to Mr. Stone's office, where I saw Robin son and Mr. Stone's brother. There were messages left there for me where to meet Robin son. I remember a Dutch ve sse l want i ng a chain-cable. I went to Mr. Wood's for it, and Mr. Wood objected to send it u n til they 'sad s een R o bi nson , as the midsummer account was not settled. I went to Robinson about the promised payment on the 9th October; this was on th e 7th. Robin son wished me to ask the captain for the money the day after, but I did not like to ask him for the money so soon, and I raised the money myself. The captain paid me the money the week following. On the evening of the Bth I went to the Earl Grey, public-house, to meet Robinson, to take the money, along with other monies, to him. I had £3O or £4O. The Earl Grey is nearly two miles from the works. Mr. Robins on seeme d muc h plea se d with What I had br oug ht him, and h e t o ld me h e wa nted to realize a sum of money as quickly as po ss ibl e t o pay Mr. Stone, who w as one o f t h e trustees under a de e d of settlement for £BOO, which he had made to his wife; he said the creditors had began to be so infernally bothersome that he should not come much more near the place, for one of them, Mr. Keeler, had waited at his house the night before till eleven o clock to see him, and he would take care not to be so caught again. This was all that men having nothing to do ; he said, passed on this occasion. Previous , to this, about the latter end of September, I asked Robinson to allow the blockma stockn, don' , t want any ; I will give kers to make a little stock for sale, as the foreman had cool 14tia of. October, when he sent for at an eating-house in Cable -street. y, p ,0 1 a Nu il oa i e ;dr reason never nmr for rionfdt that a l t i ht e tehbey a . into a public-house adjoining, kept d bye. ' The next meeting I me e d t w n it d h in h e im w w it a h s on the he said to me there, " I want to have a little serious conversation with byAfter one A dinner idre w w s e , and went _ you ; I wish you to be secret. ' I told him if it was of consequence I would rather not hear it. lie considered a few moments, and. then s a id, " Y ou ma y as well hear it now , as you must ultraaately hear it: I have given a bill for £lOO to Messrs. Mather and Co. which will fall due in a f ew d a y s , but I do not intend to take it up, for it will be as much as I can do to realize the amount wanted for Stone." I then asked him what he intended to do ? I told him there was a large amount owing by Messrs. Grote to accept bills f or t h a t amount, an d they are now I n mY and liatchett, and Hemingway ; he s a id, " I h ave go t them m tkir,,Mottlei sod IV, WAteati iqeohrld for Oa 04 4 0 6 "d Me, C 1 'i ) 01114)14 toi• tilt; doioNtalitz, On the part of the plaintiff's it appeared, that Mr. Lobart.. son had been for some in Insolvent circumstances, and, it being expected that' an execution would issue against his effects at the suit; of the defendants, it was considered pru dent by the plaintiffs and other creditors that a fiat in bank ruptcy should be issued. Mr. Watson, attorney, was in structed to take this step. On Saturday, the 21st January, he proceeded t o L on d on for this purpose, and, on the fol lowing Monday, the 23d, the fiat was struck. The act of bankruptcy was a no ti ce b y R obertson, un d er t h e act of last session, dated on the 21st. On the evening of the 23d Mr. Watson wrote from London to the solicitors of the defend ants, Messrs. Stockley and Thompson, giving them notice that the fiat had been issued, and requiring them not to pro ceed with the execution and levy on the effects in the defend ant's house, No. 3, Northumberland-terrace, Everton. Messrs. Stockley and Thompson have a box in the Postoffice, into which the letter was put at the usual period after the arrival of the London mail. It was fetched from thence, by whom did not appear, and taken to their office, iu Castle street, and it was contended that this was sufficient notice of the existence of the fiat. In the meantime, time having been previously granted to Mr. Robertson, the execution pro ceeded. In support of this part of the case it was shown that Dry, the officer, and an assistant went to the house for the purpose of making the seizure. The assistant remained on the premises, and the servant girl who admitted him said that this took place at twenty minutes past ten. On the morning in question it was shown that Mr. Stockley arrived at the office before his partner ; that he lived at Rock Ferry, which he left by the boat leaving there at half-paSt nine ; and the plaintiffs insisted that the boat wouid arrive at George's Pier at a quarter before ten, and that he would arrive at the office and read the letter before ten o'clock, in time to prevent the execution proceeding. It would take twenty-three minutes to walk from their office to No. 3, Northumberland -terrace. Evidence was produced to this effect. Mr. WORTLEY then replied, contending, from the facts adduced by the plaintiffs themselves, that it was clear the ex ecution was in the house for some period before it was possi ble that Mr. Stockley could have read the letter. The jury, after an hour's consideration, returned a verdict for the defendants. wa; d itat,ii Z Forfiorkei to Ma, that with t 4; p4ro3n4 0+4141* tor he had in Liverpool, it would be u put pity for 1144 to go to the wall without some effort or other 1 it he did not like to do it personally, would be allow me to call on some of the principal creditors, and make them au offer of 10s. or 12s. in the pound. He said " No, for what with the amount owing, and what I can realize, I obeli have very very little more than what will pay the trustees. I have been advised what to do ; I shall pay the trustees and no one else. I shall then keep the shop open till some creditor conies in with an execution, and then I shall get them to sign a release, taking what is left." A day or two after that he asked ine if I could make room for him to lodge with me, and his wife and child would stay with her father, as he was afraid of some of the creditors serving him with a writ and making him a bankrupt, as the creditors' would cause him great annoyance, and it would insure the payment to the trustees. This was on the 18th of October. He said, if Messrs. Mather and Co. came to inquire whether their bill was all right, I was to tell them he was busy collecting money to take it up. He said, that if the creditors would not sign a release, taking what stock was left, he would take the benefit of the insolvent act. On the 21st October 1 saw him again at Guest's public house, near St. Michael's Church. I had no money with me then. About £3OO had then been collected, which I had handed over to him. He remarked that I was low spirited, and he said, " Man, keep your spirits up, it's all right." I told him I was placed in an unpleasant situation, and I was tired of it. He replied, " Oh, it's all right, I have paid the greater part of the money to Stone, and I have ar ranged with Stone to send men note pressing for payment." That note he said, by s h ew i ng it t o th e cre di tors, wou ld set him all right with them if they made any bother. He had been absent from the wor k s a ll th e t i me. I n hi s a b sence either myself or my son received the letters. I met Robin son many times in Mr. Stone's office about this time. On the Ist sr 2d of November, Mr. Robinson desired me to go to Shand's public-house in Wapping, and inquire the price of the good-will and fixtures of it, as he had some inten tion of taking it : he said ho would take the place if we could get it moderate, and put his sister's name over the door. He wished me also to write concerning a smithy and buildings which were to be let in Norfolk-street, and he would commence business in his father-in-law's name, (Win. Henderson,) or in my name, if I thought proper, and give me half the business ; he would get £2OO or £3OO from the trustees to stock the place; and he thought between the two he should make a very comfortable living. On the 19th December Mr. Southern fetched me to meet Robinson at a public-house in Gradwell-street. Mr. Southern was an ac quaintance of both of us. Robinson then told me he wished me to ask advice from some solicitor as to arresting him, for he was afraid of some of the creditors making him bankrupt. He said, I wish to take care of the stock, if possible, and if you think proper you need not be particular about the amount of your debt, for he expected Mr. Furness in with an execution the following week. Mr. Southern remarked that we should want some money, to pay the attorney for the advice. Mr. Robinson then gave me seven shillings in silver. Mr. Southern advised me to go to Mr. Thompson, solicitor, in Newington Bridge, and I went there; when I returned from Mr. Thompson's I told Mr. Robinson that Mr. Thomp son could serve him with a writ by 2 o'clock. but could get jueg nent out the following Thursday week. He remarked that would be too late, for Furness would go in before and seize the stock ; but it would be time enough to save the sheds and bu ldings, which would be a fine start to begin business again. I declined having more to do with it. 1 believe that Mr. Southern is now dead. There was a meeting of credi tors on the 21st December. Before that a great many arti cles had been taken out of the place and sold for less than their value in order to realize money. Very heavy discounts were allowed by Mr. Robinson in order to realize money. Some carronades and their carriages were sent to Messrs. Fawcett and Preston's, with a message saying that the cap tain would call to look at two more to match. This was he said to satisfy a debt due to Messrs. Fawcett, for they were the only creditors he cared about if he commenced business again. He told me to enter them in the day-book as if they had been sent some weeks previous. Those carronades were re turned by Messrs. Fawcett to Mr. Ogden, one of the as signees. A meeting of the creditors was held on the 21st December, at his office ; he came down there, and Mr. Stone's brother with him. Mr. Stone's brother got a sheet of writing-paper, and began making out a stock list. Pre vious to the creditors coming, Mr. Stone had left. I re. marked to him, " Where is your cash-book ? " and he re plied, " D—n it, man ! have you no sense ? It will never do to let them see that book, for poor Stone and me have been hard at work all Sunday and Sunday night, making up another for them." I then remarked about Mr. Stone making out a stock list. Mr. Robinson said that I (witness) had had enough of annoyance with the creditors, and it was better for Stone to make it out. When the creditors came, and found what little was left, they refused to have anything to do with him. On the Friday before, namely the 17th of December, Robinson came down, unlocked his drawers in the office, took down the files of invoices, examined them, and, as he did so, kept tearing them up till the floor was completely strewed with papers, and then he directed them to be taken into the smithy and burnt. They were burnt. On the Thursday following Mr. Furness put in an execution and sold the whole of the stock; and Mr. Robinson gave instructions to the auctioneer, in my presence, to sell the furniture and hand the balance over to him. The whole sale produced from £l5O to£l6o, of which Robinson got a balance of £3B. The furniture was not sold there, but sent to the auction rooms. Messrs. Trotter and Hodgkins were the auctioneers. In the beginning of January, 1842, I had ano ther interview with Robinson at M'Kenzie's, in Duke-street. He desired me to go to Mr. Stone's, and I did so the next day. I saw the defendant, who said to me, "We want to make a confidant of you ; but it will not do for me to be seen in this matter, for Robinson wishes you to arrest him, that he may take the benefit of the Insolvent Act ;" and if I thought proper he would send me to an attorney. I then left him, saying that I would ; and I advised with Mr. Ogden, one of the assignees. Mr. Stone said all the expenses would be paid. I was at this time a creditor for £2G wages, and £5 more for commission and money lent. I entered Robinson's service in the beginning of August, and from that time up to the Bth December he had paid none of his creditors except small ones for £l, or so : sometimes he paid them £l, or so, in order to keep them quiet. His debts at this time were about £l,lOO. I went to Mr. Yates, solicitor, and gave him instructions to proceed against Robinson, who was ultimately arrested, and sent to Lancaster in May, 1842. He was 're manded for nine months. I was present at Lancaster when Mr. Stone, the defendant, was examined before Mr. Commissioner Bowen. This was in July. Mr. Stone then stated he had received the money on the 21st and on the 25th October, 1841z'-in the whole, £872 ; that he had received it in two payments from Robinson. He said he had received it in money and bills. I do not recollect any thing further that he said on that occasion. Cross-examined by Mr. BAINES.—The defendant said to the Insolvent Commissioner he was a trustee under Robin son's marriage settlement, and he produced the deed. He mentioned that Mr. Henderson, and his late partner, Mr. Kenyon, were the trustees. He stated that the trustees had lent £BOO to Robinson on his warrant of attorney ; and that he found that that warrant hind not been duly filed. I will not swear that he said he considered that if he did not obtain the money the trustees would be liable. He said he had sent one or two notes to Robin son pressing for payment of the money, but I do not recol lect whether he said it was for the security of himself and his brother trustees. I recollect him saying he had incurred some responsibility, but 1 do not know why. I considered Robinson's proposals in the last three months of 1841 very dishonest; and I communicated them to Mr. Ogden in January or February following. I was not examined upon them at Lancaster ; I was examined there only about the sale and its proceeds. I cannot swear whether I stated to the commissioner that the insolvent had told me he wanted to realize a sum of money as quickly as possible, in order to pay it to the trustees. I cannot swear whether I told the commissioner what he said about the stock, or Mather's bill. Was not asked the question. To the best of my re collection I told the commissioner that he said he would pay trustees and no one else; but I cannot positively swear whe ther I did or did not, I believe, but am not positive. I told the commissioner that he said he was afraid of the creditors making him a bankrupt. I did not tell the commissioner that he had said if the creditors would not give him a release he would take the benefit of the act ; nor did I tell him about the note from Mr. Stone, which the insolvent said would set him all right with his creditors. I did not tell the commis sioner that he said Mr. Stone would advance him £2OO or £3OO to set up business again. I did not tell the commis sioner that the insolvent told me I need not be particular about the amount of my debts ; or that I was to blind the men. I did not tell the commissioner that the insolvent said to me that lie and Stone had been up all Sunday night making another cash-book, or that the defendant said, " we want to make a confidant of you." I have never sent to borrow from Mr. Henderson, the insolvent's father-in-law. I sent for it in the light of borrowing, as I was advised to do. I did not get the money, nor did I expect to get it. The witness was then cross-examined with the view of testing the accuracy of his recollection of the dates to which he had spoken. No one was present with witness at those conversations with the insolvent, except Mr. Southeran, who is dead. e.examined.--Mr. Robinson is present in court now was examined at Lancaster by Mr. Venables, the barrister, and I answered every question which he put to me. The book produced is that which was made up by Mr. Robinson. About £l6 or £l7 have been realized for the estate of Mr. Robinson, and probably there will be 30s. more. I question whether it will make so much as £lB 10s. Edwin Eden, son of the last witness, and also a clerk in Mr. Robinson's service, proved that a great number of cre ditors were in the habit of calling there for money, but they did not get it. Recollected the defendant's brother being there. In October, witness took up some carronades to Messrs. Fawcett with a message, that some captain would call in a day or two to look out some more to match. Mr. Robinson tore up the invoices, and told witness to burn them, which he did. Letters used to be brought by the defendant's clerk, witness's father, but witness did not know of any from him to Robinson. William Manifold, foreman of the blockmakers in Mr. Robinson's service, also proved that creditors frequently called ; and that he had prevented witness from adding to the stock. This was in October. After that all their men were turned away, except three. Mr. Robinson came to the works very seldom afterwards. Several witnesses who had called for debts, proved that after the Bth of October, Robinson was not to be found at the place ; and that they had never been able to obtain their money. A clerk to the auctioneers proved that after selling under the execution which had been put in upon the stock, the household furniture of Robinson was sold by his directions for £lO, which was paid over to him. Cross -examined.—The furniture was not sold under the execution. The sale took place on the 23d December, and the money was paid over a few days afterwards. A clerk to Mr. Furniss proved that his claim on Robinson was for £l2O, for which the execution referred to was issued. Mr. Thompson, the solicitor, was called, but he did not answer. This was the case for the plaintiffs. Mr. B AINES then addre sse d t h e j ury f or the defendant. The act i on, he said, had been brought against a respectable attorney in this in his to recover a l arge amount o f money re ceived by him his character of trustee; and an attempt had, in the progress of the case, been made to mix him up with Mr. Robinson, upon whom also it had been sought to throw all kinds of obloquy. This was a very serious question to . Mr. Stone, an d one at wh i ch i t behoved the jury to look with calmness, e s p ec i a ll y as b y means of that unprincipled witness Eden they were asked to believe that Mr. Stone had acted improperly. He (Mr. Baines) hoped, however, before the case closed, to show the jury that Mr. Stone had done just as any other man would in the same situation. The jury had not, as yet, by any means heard all the matters which it was necessary for them to know in order to make the case intelligible ; and, therefore, it would be his duty to fill up the meagre outline which the learned counsel and the witnesses for the plaintiff had sketched. Mr. Joseph Wilfred Robinson, it seemed, was about to be married in the year 1840. Before the marriage took place a settlement was ex pected, of which three persons were appointed trustees—viz. his father-in-law, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Kenyon, an attorney, now deceased, and Mr. Stone, the defendant, who was Mr. Kenyon's partner. Mr. Stone was in no way connected with Mr. Robinson, and he accepted the office of trustee merely as an act of friendship, having been recommended to it by his partner, Mr. Kenyon. According to the trust of the settlement a sum of £BOO, then lying in the Royal Bank of Liverpool, was to be paid to trustees for the benefit, in the first instan ce , o f hi s w if e; — s h e wa s to receive the in terest to her sole and separate use ; in case of her death it was to be received by Mr. Robinson, and if Mr. Robinson became bankrupt or insolvent, the interest was to accumulate, and in case both parents were dead, the childre n were to have both the pri nc i pa l an d t h e accumu l a tions of i nterest. The £BOO, then, was paid to the account of the trustees. There mliir he ought to mention, a proviso in the marriage settle- t ant Mt 14 00 OA Wild adult% 'iv. • Talon ita3tity to the truetece, they should be at liberty the Burn wi 040, or any part of it, to the husban3, be giving etioh acourity as they should think right to take, The marriage took place on the 30th of November, 1840. On the 27th of March, 1841, the trustees were applied to by Mrs. Robinson to ad vance £BOO to her husband, partly for the purpose of his buying the goodwill of a public-house, which it was intended that Mrs. Robinson should manage, and partly for the pur pose of helping Robinson in his own business of a shipwright. The learned counsel here read the letter of Mrs. Robin son, and contended that it was an authority to them to ad vance the money strictly within the provisions of the trust. The security, which it occurred to Mr. Stone to take, was a warrant of attorney, which was executed by Robinson in March, 1841. A warrant of attorney no doubt would have been sufficient if a most inadvertent omission had not oc curred. 'Where a warrant of attorney was given as against a person who was a trader, and he became bankrupt or in solvent, it was unavailing, and mere waste paper, unless it was filed within a certain time, and in a particular manner. About six or seven months after this instrument had been taken, it was discovered that, by the merest inadvertence, it had not been filed in the regular manner; and when Mr. Stone found out that, it occurred to him that he was placed in a situation of the greatest possible danger, having in fact been advancing trust money upon security which was perfectly valueless in case of insolvency or bankruptcy. As soon as he made this discovery, he applied to Mr. Robinson, first by word of mouth and afterwards by letter, in the most ur gent terms, to pay the money with the least possible delay. What, indeed, could have been more natural than to apply to the husband, seeing that the security which he thought good turned out invalid ? Mr. Stone wrote two letters to Mr. Robinson. The first was dated on the 16th October, [the learned counsel read the letter,] in which Mr. Stone informed him that the trustees considered the security in sufficient. Mr. Robinson promised to make a payment upon the following Monday, but he failed, and the defendant's anxiety, therefore, became very great. On the 19th Mr. Stone again wrote to Robinson as follows : " 58, Castle-street, 1841. " DEAR SIR,—As you have broken your promise by not making any payment upon account of the £BOO and interest secured by the warrant of attorney, we are under the neces sity of informing you, that unless we receive payment of the whole or greater part in the course of to-morrow, we shall be compelled to proceed, under the warrant of attorney, to a sale. This we trust you will see the necessity of preventing.—Yours, respectfully,—KF:NYON and STONE:" A letter more distinctly pressing for payment than this could not have been written. Before he (Mr. Baines) proceeded further, he would observe, that the money paid to Mr. Stone was a boncijide payment, and in order to make it invalid, the jury must be satisfied that the payment by Robinson was a voluntary payment, and no t th e resu lt o f pressure by Mr. r Stone. If it was the result of pressure, there could not be the least question that Mr. Stone was entitled to re tain this money for the purposes of the trust. After these letters Several interviews took place between Mr. Stone and Robinson, and £672 were paid in cash and bills in consequence of these letters. At that time Robinson was indebted to the firm of Messrs. Kenyon and Stone between £4O and £5O for law business, which they had done for him; and, when this money was brought to them, Mr. Stone reminded him of it, and it was agreed that £44 should be appropriated in its liquidation. In reality £629 were paid on account of the loan of £BOO and interest. Still there were £2OO not forthcoming. Mr. Stone and his co trustee were liable for that; and it would be found that Robinson raised this £2OO by a sale of the stock and good will of the public-house. It was at length agreed that Mr. Henderson, the co-trustee of Mr. Stone, who had sold it to Robinson for £3OO, of which £2OO had been paid and -ZlOO had been secured by a promissory note, should buy the public-house from him again. This was done ; Mr. Hen derson paid the £2OO, which went to make up the trust money of £BOO, and gave up the note for the £lOO which had not been paid to him in the first instance. In that way the whole sum was accounted for ; and be contended that, if this account was true, and he should be able to prove it, there could not be a doubt of the defendant being entitled to a ver dict. After this statement the learned gentleman examined at considerable length the evidence aiven for the plaintiffs, contending that the testimony of Eden was altogether impro bable. Joseph Wilfred Robinson was then sworn, and he said, I commenced business as a shipwright in Liverpool, in March, 1841. I married on the 30th of November before, on which occasion there was a marriage settlement, dated the 28th of November, 1840. [The marriage settlement was here put in, and the power read to lend the money.] On the 27th March, 1841, my wife applied to the trustees to lend me the money. [The application was here read.] About that time I took the Cumberland House Tavern, in Norfolk -street, from Mr. Henderson, my father-in-law, and one of the trustees of the marriage settlement. I paid him £2OO in cash, and gave him a promissory note for £lOO. My place of business as a shipwright was in the same street. I took the house on the 6th April. £2OO of the £BOO was invested in the public-house, and the remainder was used to carry on my business of a ship wright. My wife was to carry on the public-house. I gave the warrant of attorney produced as security for the £BOO. [Produced and read.] Mr. Stone applied to me about the be ginning of September, for the £BOO ; he had previously applied for his own bill, which was £44. He said he was not satis fied with the security for the £BOO, and he should be obliged to call it in immediately. The application was made to me by Mr. Stone in his own office. He made several applica tions for it subsequently, and I told him that, as soon as I could get money in, I perhaps should be able to pay him a part. The witness here produced the defendant's letter to him of the 16th October : it stated that the trustees had determined to place the money on mortgage, and not on a warrant of attorney, and requested him to pay the whole, or a part, in the course of a few days. On the 19th of October he received another letter, in consequence of which witness called on the defendant on the 23d October and paid him £672, composed of two bills, one of Mr. Grote's for £l4O 145., and the other of Mr. Hemingway for £258, and the rest in cash. The defendant, when witness took him this money, asked for his own debt. I paid this money in this way, £6OO towards the principal, and the rest went for in terest upon the £BOO. Mr. Stone wished the remaining £2OO to be paid immediately. I told him I could not give it him there an d t h en, b ut if I sold the public-house I might manage it. An agreement was entered into in a few days, between Mr. Henderson and myself, that Mr. Hender son should take the house for £2OO, and return the promis sory note which I had given him for £lOO, which made up the terms upon which I had taken it. I had been carrying on a good business in 1841, and at the time when this trans action took place 1 was not insolvent, nor had I ever thought of applying to the Court. I called a meeting of my creditors in December, 1841, and exhibited to them a statement of affairs, which was prepared by Mr. Robert Stone, with my assistance. I put down the stock at the cost price. The plaintiffs were present at that meeting. I requested that the statement might not be taken away, but it was, and produced at Lancaster. [The statement was here produced.] The value of the stock therein described was £9OO. The stock was put down at its cost price, and it shewed 20s. in the pound, but the creditors declined to come in. Two execu tions were issued out ; I apprehended one from Mr. Furness, and under that the stock was sold. Messrs. Mather had a writ out at the same time. I was not arrested till May fol lowing. I went to live at Woolton because my wife had bad health, but I came frequently to Liverpool, and was openly to be seen. The witness Eden came into my employment about August.—The witness then contradicted, seriatim, all the statements which Eden had given in his evidence as to the topics of their conversation at the various times and places which will be found in his testimony. - Nothing, in deed, could be more distinct and positive than his contradic tions. There was no arrangement, continued the witness, between myself and Mr. Stone to pay the money ; and it was very inconvenient for me to pay it. Ido not think that the man Southern is dead. I never in Southern's presence asked Eden to enquire the price of the fixtures and good-will of the public-house. I never mentioned my sister's name at all to them. I never gave 7s. to pay an attorney. I never came to an arrangement with Messrs. Fawcett and Preston to give them a preference, nor did I ever destroy any letters or invoices. It was at my request that Mr. Stone's brother made out an account of the stock. My property sold under the execution was sold at a very great sacrifice. I never sent Eden to Mr. Stone to ask him to arrest me. Eden appeared at Lancaster, and he did not mention there a single word of what he has said here to-day. I was remanded for nine months unless the £2OO paid by my father-in-law was given up to the assignee. I remained in prison nine months. On the enquiry there, Mr. Stone said the reason why he pressed for payment was, that he had neglected filing the warrant of attorney. I never said to Eden, that if I could only get the trustees paid I did not care a d—n for the rest of the creditors. Cross-examined by Mr. KNOWLES.s--.1 came out of prison on the 13th March last; and I have not begun business again. I never gave any mortgage of my furniture and good-will of the public-house. My debts in six months after I com menced bueiness were £1,059. There is no book to show how that amount was contracted ; nor can I tell what amount I paid to all my creditors together in that time. I paid Furness himself between £4O and £5O, besides what he get by the execution. I do not recollect whether Eden used to meet me at different public-houses for the purpose of giving me the money which he had collected. I never took Ma ther's bill up, but I intended to do so, no doubt.—The wit ness was further cross-examined at great length. William Henderson, father-in-law of the last witness, and co-trustee of the defendant, said, he concurred with the defendant in his pressure upon Robinson for payment of the money lent him. This witness went on to describe the ar rangement with regard to the public-house, as already stated. In cross-examination the witness stated, that whilst Ro binson was in Lancaster Castle, his wife lived in witness's house. Witness is now carrying on the public-house for his own benefit. Lawrence Driscoll proved the signature of the parties to the marriage settlement. Robert Stone, Superintendent of the Liverpool Corpora tion Schools, and brother of the defendant, said that up to March, 1842, from the March preceding, he was assisting his brother. Saw Mrs. Robinson sign the authority to the trus tees to advance the £BOO. The witness also proved several personal applications from the defendant to Robinson for the £lOO. Referring to the evidence of Eden, he said that the insolvent had asked him to assist him in making out a state ment of his affairs; and witness suggested what he should enter in it from the receipts and memoranda which he pro duced. Robinson entered them himself in the book from the rough vouchers that he produced. 'Witness did not do this on a Sunday as represented ; and he had formerly been with Mr. Crook, the accountant, 41 years. Mr. Blackett, clerk to Mr. Rogerson, attorney, at Lan caster, proved that at the hearing of the insolvent the defen dant stated to the court his position with regard to the war rant of attorney. Cross -examined.—Could not tell whether the insolvent was remanded for diminishing his property, or for fraudu lently making away with it. This was the defendant's case; and on Mr. KNOWLES rising to reply, The FOREMAN of the JURY said they were prepared to give their opinion without troubling the learned counsel, if that course were not irregular. The JUDGE told the jury they must be perfectly satisfied that they understood the real question. The question was whether Robinson had been pressed for payment ; if they believed that Stone had pressed and urged him, then Mr. Stone had made out a sufficient case. Mr. KNOWLES.—My lord, and would not the question also be whether he had paid in consequence of that pressure ? The JUDGE.—Yes, certainly. Mr. KNOWLES said so great was und of a jury that, if he distinctly p t e i c ) e t yf hadfor th e in o a p d i opinion u o p n understood o r o e (I s what their opinion was , h e wou ld go th roug h th e ev their minds, he w ou ld no t t rou bl e th em ; b u t, no t knowing idce to show them, from it, th a t th e p aymen t h a d no t b een made from pressure. The l earne d counse l then contested t his point at considerable length, and with great ingenuity, con tending that Eden's testimony was perfectly credible, and that the marriage settlement was drawn up so as to enable the insolvent to cheat his creditors. The JUDGE, in summing up, told the jury there were three questions for their consideration—whether Robinson had made the payment, and if he had, whether he had made it with the intent of taking the benefit of the insolvent act, and next, whether it was a voluntary payment. The jury immediately returned a verdict for the plaintiff for £782 ; damages 40s. MOTION FOR A NEW . DOE DEM. T IDDETS AND OTHERSTRI V. AL Low.—This is an action in ejectment, in the first or Salford list. It was tried early in the assizes, and a verdict returned for the plaintiff. Mr. MARTIN now moved fora new trial, on the ground that the verdict was against evidence. The JUDGE, on bearing an affidavit, granted a rule nisi. RECORD WITHDRAWN'. JonxsTomz V MEYER.—Tbis case was called on at aquar ,er.past Seven ; when it appea r i ng th a t th e pr i nc i pa l witness tlat 411911:14uos, Ciupt,A, At; - ) tkow tholoord, 139 ea. W FOR WtiltiX AND ttn u,~ri RAS4PLIN AND ANOTHER. v. CA&L AN, was an action for work and labour done, in which Al Knowles and Mr. Crompton appeared for the plaintiffs, Mr. Baines, with whom was Mr. Martin, for the defene The plaintiffs are architects in this town, and the de-1 , are Mr. John Deane Case and Mr. William Prit Birkenhead. hard, of It appeared, from the opening of Mr. Knowles, that the defendants, with several other gentleme n , f ormed themselves into a committee in the year 1837—8, f or t h e purpose of erecting a new church at Woodside, where there great want of church accommodation. Plans tised for, and the plaintiffs among other coin petitt, theirs, which, as they alleged, were accepted ; but, at sequent period, the design was altogether changed, the re sult of which was the present handsome structure of the Holy Trinity Church at Woodside, by Messrs. Cunningha m and Holme. The plaintiffs, not being able to obtain any satisfaction, were compelled to bring the present action. They claimed to recover £73 3s. Three witnesses were called, at the end of whose t es ti mony Mr. Knowles said he could not carry tile case any f urt h er, and he would consent to a nonsuit. The Court rose at half-past eight o'clock. Seven cases remained to be disposed of, several of which are expected to be of considerable length ; and as th e l earne d Judge must leave Liverpool to-night (Tuesday), fo r th e opening of the Term to-morrow, it is not unlikely that there will be several renianets. existed At the Warwick assizes, last week, a Captain Lampet re covered a verdict, with £5O damages, from a Captain Sea raucke, for an assault in the public parade at Leamington Spa. The £5O has been handed over to a public charity. The trial of Montague Clarke, for shooting at his stepfather, the Rev. H. P. Bennett, took place at the Gloucester assizes on Thursday, when the Jury returned a verdict of "Not guilty." A BLACKING MAKER'S WILL.—On Tuesday week Lord ' Langdale gave judgment in the great will cause of Day v. Croft. It referred to the extensive estate devised by Mr. Day, late of the opulent firm of Messrs. Day and Martin, the well-known blacking manufacturers. There are 75 parties to the suit, and about 30 counsel have been engaged in it. It has been frequently before the Court. His lordship. after recapitulating the facts of the case, stated that the parties having agreed, he had confirmed the decision of the parties, and the numerous annuitants under the will of the testator might now come in and claim the beneficial interest created for them, whilst at the same time the interest of Mrs. Day, the testator's widow, of his daughter, Mrs. C. Claggett, and of the Blind Men's Charity Fund, to which the testator be queathed the sum of £lOO,OOO, were all efficiently provided for and protected. The question of costs was deferred. THE SPECIAL Commissios.—From a parliamentary re turn just published, we learn, that the total sum already expended during the late special commission amounts to —At Li verpool, ehalet2tesvre.a.ariOendohd.u:Lsofriwz.h,ifh7,pliOac3elsBtsi,eldj.uadtgeCshseastteforuarndd,iy%-; anda #30,519 14s. Bd. at Stafford, where the judges sat 13 i i v te e m rp s oo o l f , this judg e es x' exp enditure w ere x er 3 e 7 : 2 is O f s o . l judges officers, £l6O 17s. ; fees to counsel and clerks, Lan cashire, £2,747 18 s . 3d. ; di tto, Ch eshire, £1,733 2s. 9d. ; fees to solicitors and expenses of witnesses, £2,000. At Stafford, the judges' expenses were £329 10s. ; judges' offi cers, £786 2s. ; fees to counsel and clerks, £4,091 14s. ; fees to solicitors, £2,718 12s. Od. ; expenses of witnesses, £1,979 17s. 9d. ; travelling and hotel expe nses o f counsel, solicitors, &c., previously to and at the late special commission, £l3B Is. 2d.; sheriff. under-sheriff, and gaoler, £475 17s. THE COMET, rait appear parabolic frora a elements statement a c idn orbit one of ff the the comet Paris Langie r , alculations jou l r t nals o , a t ici that the io ux c e h n ic ibf,oubrygm'Nli,servatory, are 1 1 i o t w h c perfectly t k p n r o e w c i n s i , o t c h . e calculations e t h e aa o i l - 5 n been vt i 0 made cs, u s e c e d m e r s , th h e av d e ire b e e t e io n c m cf ad i s ts a il t lu t s h tr e L us Mauvais, Eugene Bouvard , and others. The • have been executed by the two fir s t name d young astronomers, on the one hand , and by M. Bouvard arid a bl e and on of his colleagues on the other. We sub j oin the e the former, which are those carried to the highest results of degree of perfection : i ' Period at which the comet was nearest the sun, or passage at the perihelium (which takes p lace when the comet ha s at the reached the summit of the parabo la) ; 27th Februar y , 4-10ths of the astronomical da y , which is reckoned from noon. Distance of the comet from the sun, at its re .. proximity or perihelium distance, with reference to the mean t n radius of the terrestrial orbit , taken as unit, or which is tae s same thing, to the mean distance of the earth to the u 0,00548, or about the 5 - 1000dths, rather more than the racrn : us of the sun ; which, therefore , cannot have been touched ih the comet's passage. Long itude p erihelium : 273 h. -13 m. 5 8 - Y . sec. Inclination of the orbit of the comet, or measure of the angle which the plane of its orbit f orms with that of the ecliptic, or of the terrestrial orbit : 33de g . 31min. 30sec. Longitude f . the ascending node : 2 deg. 13min. By the ascending node is meant the point of interse ction of the ecliptic, and of t he orbit of the comet when it goes from the south to the north of the ecliptic. Movement: retrograde, or in a direction contrary to the movement of the planets, that is to say, f rom east to west. The astronomical pupils of the observatory have drawn up a detailed t a ble of the very remarkable circumstances of the movement of the comet in the vicinity of the perihelium. It is seen by this table, firstly, that from the 2ith to the 28th of February, the comet, supposed to be seen from the centre of the sun, went over the enormous distance of 292 deg, i n twenty-four hours ; secondly, that from twenty-four minutes after nine to thirty-five minutes after eleven, it passed from its ascending node to its descending node (the two opp os i te points of tersection of ecliptic and of the cometary or bi t.) thus going 180 deg. in the interval of two Hours; thirdly, that in twenty-four hours, its latitude heliocentric or relative to the sun's centre varied It alsois s very con lisikewise, that derably. Theth differenvector ce was of above 90 deg. een, e radii, or distances of the comet, also changed much in the same interval of time. M. Arago concludes the narrative of this pas accelere peregrination of our comet by stat i ng _ a fact more curious than all the prece ding ones ; it is that from a comparison of the heliogeocentric latitudies, the comet must have found itself twice in conjunction with the sun ; that is to say, produced two successive inverse eclipses, the first at the moment of the passage by the ascending node, at twenty four minutes past nine in the evening, the moment at which the comet was, with regard to us, behind the sun's disc ; the second at about fifteen minutes past twelve at night. The comet was then between the earth and the sun. But, con sidering the hour, it may be conceived that ad d at it c o uld sure the onl b seen in the other hemisphere. M. Ars,at face of our globe was rather near being swept would by t inevitably have taken place if the tail had been long er ptic andTh thinnser, or fit had moved in the plane of the ecli. e learn e d s e regrets much, as a scientific ma n, that it ha s been otherwise. of ascertaining the amount CUSTOM House FRAUDS. —On Wednesday last an in_ quisition was held before two commissioners at the Sheriff's , es the and sh ' 111 Court, London, for the purpose of money owing from Edward Videl and Charles Hurel to Her Majesty's duties on gloves imported by them from abroad. It appears, that in this instance, which is but one out of many, a conspiracy has for some time existed between the defendants and a Custom -house officer named Tye t o defraud the revenue. How successful this has been will be best gathered from the evidence of Mr. Bullock, a gentlern a in the office of the Solicitor of the Customs, who deposed" that of three cases of goods brought by the Harlequin • ' 07n011ydopzaeidn pair o 7 f s. g 6 lo d v . arnoui rld lhaveB4o , paidon e £ w which dhuetlyd, which, have paid i the e X2 C 3 r lu Crown t lost a , t i n upwardsreril itv of x paidi duty on 185 dozed pairs, thus causing a loss to the Crownt of m O ou n n t t h e o f ll d t e h b o t f due Januarysb, thepayablethe dea. 13s. th W e d a . December, 1841, £5,238. for the Crown, finding 3lst of REBECCA AND HER DAUGHTERS.—We regret to state that Rebecca and her daughters are still at their old work ate the lower part of this county, notwithstandin I, g t..e utino i s n t exertions of the authorities to discover the parties implicated in these outrageous proceedings. About twelve o'clock on the night of Friday last, Rebecca and a numerous party her daughters proceeded to Pwlltrap, near St. Clears • of after arriving at the gate, the following colloquy took ' land between the old lady and her youthful progeny. RebeccaPace leaning on her staff, hobbled up to the gate, and , greatly surprised that her progress along the ro . d h seemed iterrupted. „Children, a s see b (said she, feeling the gate ' e ; staff,) there is soroething put u here, I can't oon with her , Daughters—" What is it, mother? nothing should stop your way• Rebecca.—" I do not know, children • I , am old, and not see well." can- Daughters.—" Shall we come on, mother,,,, and remove it 1 Out of your way . Rebecca.—" Stop, let me see, (feeling the staff;) it s eems like a great gate put across the gate roa with stop her you r old mot her." d to Daughters.—" We will break it, hinder yo u on your journey: , mother, nothing shall —" No, let us see Rebecca. , perha i th e lock.) No, children, it is bolted Ps t will op andg no t go on. What is to be done?" and locked, I Gan g It must be taken d you and you r children must pass." owns mother, because Rebecca.—',Off with it then business here. ' r my dear children, it has no With that the whole of the children than ten minutes there w as h set to, and in less posts remaining- Rebecca and her not a vestige of the gate nor and immediately disappeared, ha children then passed by, yin destruction. The London police g completed the work of the time, hut we are not aware that were at the Blue Boar at mation of what was going that they had the least inti be of no avail. — Cartnarthe forward, until their services could n Journal. ATROCIOUS OUTRAGE.—The neighbourhood of Bober on buoy was greatly excited on M of a boy having been found day evening by the report c ut from ear to ear, in a almost lifeless, with his throat the new barracks. O _ lonesome piece of ground adjoining Oninquiry it w• as ascertained that the foul deed was perpetrated by a young soldier of the 36 th re giment, named Thomas Rafferty, a native of Galway, who privately induced the little fellow to sell a pair of boots and a regimental trousers for him, and at d u sk had thrown fro his window the boots, and subseque ntl y the trousers ; but it appears the boots were taken off b y some person who heard them fall, and the young accomplice, not being un to time, found only the trousers. The soldier, exasperated by the loss, knocked the boy d own, and with a knife, which he drew from his pocket, cut his helpless victim's throat across in a shocking manner. The poor creature was bleeding to death, and was removed to his father's house, where he was promptly attended by the surgeon of b , t e 36th and Surgeon Wilkinson, who entertain hopes of recovery. Immediately on hearing of the outrage. Colonel Maxell, on the same evening, issued a regimental order expressive of the horror he felt at a soldier of the 36th being charged with such atro city, and calling upon every soldier in the regiment to endea vour to discover the lawless wretch who had disgraced Ills uniform, by so inhuman a deed. The commanding officer a l so directed every ma n to be confined to barracks till the assass i n was found out. This prompt and well-advised order was read in every soldier's room that warning,eve and had the desired effect, for the suspected party n discovered, ' and lodged in the military prison ; and the Colonel issued a second regimental order yesterday morning, conveying the great pleasure he had in rescinding the previous order confi ning the men to barracks, and that it was a consolation to him to know that the prisoner was none of his old and va lued soldiers, but a young recruit, undisciplined and unprin who, during his brief military career, had been re peated,peatedly a delinquent. The accused was yesterday escort dhandcuffed, by a serjeant's guard, to the police-office e ' banded over to the civil authorities by the adjutant of and corps, and remanded for fnrther examination. li the booted out of barracks by the soldiers of his ow e was so indignant were they at this disgraceful d n regiment, con uct.—L . ei,k Chronicle. znie- York Times says :—" The idea of a merma i d standing o e :r p er a kettleBf boiling water, cooking her own tail, is rather incopsTlloll3.