The Express.
London, England, 1846-11-16 00:00:00

umstances, which were deposed to on aßklovika The de-
endant Webb is a railway contractor ;
hired a horse and gig of the
.other de.".mdime (Kemp). who
so'Ate time since he
is an ostler, sal on. procecding t Banbury tardier
they observed, within five. us
lying upset the m
"%die of the road,
ts •l at which
their (the defendants' of that town, another o'4.- •
horse skied and would not
Preeleed• The ch.f•-"..tants, on examiindion, discovered a
fas"lying On te.e road apparently deed; they after-
-1"; ',ear own hone by the chaise which was
'facet peace id_ed as fast so possible to the next village, to
V" 'ea aocourt of what they had seen, and procure &nist-
a, ce. These were the strict facts of the case ; it was ascer-
tained there had been a fearful accident. A coroner's jury
was held, a verdict of " Manslaughter " returned, and the
ts
defendan committed to Warwick gaol to take their trial.
They both meet positively swore that they had not the least
idea of their gig even touching that of the deceased s. As no
cause was shown against the rule, he trusted the court would
make it absolute.
Mr. Justice Patten" having perused the depositions
taken before the coroner, said the only evidence against the
defendants was that they gave an alarm of the accident, and
were supposed to be the last persons who saw the deceased
alive. There was no direct evidence against them. His
lordship
then directed the defendants to be admitted to bail,
themselves in 401., and two sureties of 201. each.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
SINIOR AND JUNIOR COVNBEL.—On the first day of the
present term the Lord Chief Justice announced that it was
the intention of the Court to allow the bar to move at the
opening of the Court according to their standing at the bar,
giving, however, setjeanu-etelaw having patents
acted
a prece-
dence over Queen's counsel. This rule has been upon
throughout the term, but it is looked upon by the bar to be
not only an inconvenient, but an invidious distinction. Ac-
cordingly, this morning, Mr. Serjeant Channell applied to
the Comet to have the rule abrogated and the custom of
"an through " the bar in rotation adopted in its stead.—
The Lord Chief Justice said the Court would consider the
matter.

Sittings in Banco.
GILES V. TOOTIL—RIOHT OF • RAILWAY SURVEYOR
TO SUE SEVERAL PROVISIONAL DIRECTORS FOR THE RE-
COVERY or OHS noir. This is one of eleven actions
brought by the plaintiff against the provisional committee-
men of the Tunbridge and Rye Harbour Railway, and the
legal point raised and discussed to-day was, whether the
court, by the exercise of its summary jurisdiction, would
compel the plaintiff to bring only one action, each of the
defendants being held liable to the amount proved to be due
' (coin him individually upon the trial of that one action.—
Mr. Bramwell, on behalf of the various defendants, imp-
ported the application. He said that the recent statute re-
lating to joint-stock companies had deprived defendants,
against whom several actions were brought by one plaintiff,
upon one contract, from pleading in abatement, unless they
could undertake to state that all, their co-contractors were
within the jurisdiction of the court. Now, the present
defendants could not undertake to make that assertion; and,
unless the court interfered by its equitable jurisdiction,
great hardship and oppression would be inflicted upon the
defendants. He could not, on their behalf, consent merely to
consolidate the actions, making each defendant liable, accord-
ing to the result of the action, to the whole amount claimed
against any other, but be begged the court to compel the
plaintiff to bring only one action, and allow each defeudant
to be held liable to the amount proved against him, apart from
the others.—Mr. Serjeant Channell opposed the application.
—The Court said that they must discharge the rule in thiacase.
It vru true that the recent statute put some difficulties in the
way of defendant pleading in abatement; but because the
law put a hardship upon one of the parties, that was no rea-
son why the court should take it off his shoulders and put it
upon the shoulders of the other party. If the present appli-
cation were granted, a great hardship would be inflicted upon
the plaintiff ; fur he would be deprived of a remedy which
the law gave him. Such a remedy the court would not take
from him, unless he were shown to be guilty of some oppression
against the other parties. This was not proved in the pre-
sent case, and there would be endless practical difficulties if
the court attempted to tamper with the record, which would
be necessary if the present application were granted.—Rule
discharged.—The court rose at two o'clock to sit in the
Luer Chamber.

EXCHEQUER CHAMBER.
Before the Fifteen Judges.
CROWN CASES RESERVED.—BEOINA V. WELSH.—
GUARDIANS OP POOR.—TREASCRER.—This case came be-
fore their Lordships, on a report of Mr. Justice Coleridge,
before whom the prisoner was tried and convicted at the last
Warwick assizes, on an indictment charging him with em-
bezzling various sums as the servant of the guardians of the
poor of the parish of Birmingham. It appeared during the
trial that the prisoner had been appointed to the office of
treasurer, by writing in a book under the provisions of a
local act; but the counsel for the prisoner objected to the
reception of that book, for want of a stamp, and that ob-
jection being allowed, the learned Judge held, that as the
prisoner had admitted himself to be the treasurer in the
condition of the bond which he had given, there was enough
proof of the fact that he was the treasurer; and he farther
ruled, that the duties of that office might be gathered by him
and the jury from the clauses of the statute, of which he
was bound to take judicial notice. To this an objection was
made, but that also being overruled, the jury found the
prisoner guilty, and the points raised at the trial having
been reserved, Mr. Gale now appeared in support thereof.
Ile contended that the best evidence ought to have been
given of the nature of the prisoner's duty and office, which
could only be done by the inspection of the book ;
and, in the next place, he argued that so much of
the duty as was to be gathered from the statute,
and the course of business, showed that the prisoner
could not be held to have been guilty of tmbesslement,
which was a peculiar kind of larceny, and was limited to the
breach of the duty to pay over to particular parties some par-
ticular sum. On the contrary, the duty of the prisoner here
MY to settle balances with all the unions in England, some-
times paying, and sometimes receiving; and the question
was, whether under such circumstances, with such compli-
cated accounts, a treasurer could be indicted for embeasle-
meat who had omitted to make entries of all the sums re-
ceived by him.—Mr. M. D. Hill, Q.C., for the prosecution,
was stopped by Lord Denman, who said, that if the court
deemed it necessary.to do so, they would call on him for
a reply to these points on a future day. Judgment was
accordingly postponed.
REGINA V. YOUNG. —POST-OFFICE LETTER. —FICTI-
TIOUS ADDRESS. The prisoner in this case was in-
dicted and convicted at the Old Bailey for stealing
a " post-office letter," the property of the Postmas-
ter-General. It appeared that the letter in question
was a fictitious one, addressed to some non-existing party,
and put into the post with the view of detecting the prisoner.
Mr. Ballantine now contended for the prisoner that he could
not be convicted of stealing a " post-office letter " under the
act on which the indictment was framed, unless the letter was
a genuine one, and one which was intended for transmission.
The learned counsel, however, was stopped by the court, all
the members of which intimated that beyond all question
the prisoner was convicted.—Conviction affirmed.

properly

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.
Before Mr. Commissioner lloiroyd.
Srarausiox art CERTIFICATE.—Evan» and Co. auc-
tioneers, applied for certificates a short time since, and this
day was fixed for his Honour to deliver judgment.
Mr. Evans, nen. said that he wished to say a few words.
He was borne down with infirmities and afflictions, being
very advanced in years, and totally blind. With respect to
his son who was dead, against whom serious allegations had
1 been made by the skilful Mr. Duncan, the Lanett r, he de-
clared to his God that a more domestic man never existed.
He never would leave his business even to dine with all the
family on the Christmas. No creditor had obtained any
preference over another. There were no railway transac-
tions • there were no accommodation bills, and the family
had been afflicted.
Mr. Duncan.—On behalf of the noblemen for whom .1
appear, I am instructed to recommend every lenity to the
bankrupts, especially the elder one.
The bankrupt returned thanks, and
His Honour, in delivering judgment, said, the bankrupts
were the well-known book auctioneers, first in Pall Mall,
afterwards in Bond-street. Robert Harding Evans, the
father of the other bankrupt (Charles Evans), previous to
1840, carried on business on his sole account. In that year
he became bankrupt, and having obtained his certificate, he
commenced trade again, and formed a partaership with his
two sons, Thomas -Evans and Charles Evans. It appears
that Thomas Evans managed all the cash transactions, and
made and received all payments; and Charles Evans at-
tended to the lotting and selling department. ' Thomas
Evans died a few months before the issuing of the fiat, and
then, for the first time it would seem, Charles Evans
looked to the state of the concern; and in July last
Robert H. Evans, and his son Charles, issued a fiat
spinet themselves. The bankrupt commenced business in
1840, apparently without any capital, but in 1843 Thomas
Evans borrowed and paid into the concern 2,6001. During
the six years' trading the profits, exclusive of a sum of
1,1151. received from the trustees of the Carlton club, as
compensation for removing from Pall-Mall, amount to
6,7781. During this period the trade expenses are 5,2741. ;
amount drawn out by R, H. Evans, 2,4411. ' • ditto by Charles
' Evans, 2,607/. • ditto by T. Evans, deceased, estimated at
3,1891. ; losses, 6,026/. ; creditors, 3,3111. ; creditors holding
security, 1,5001. ; and assets, about 5501. The objections
urged and substantiated are the excess of expenditure over
profits, and that the bankrupts must have been for a long
time living on the property of their creditors, and in viola-
tion of good faith they appropriated to their own use sums
R money being the proceeds of libraries entrusted to them
for salt. Although Thomas Evans may have been the most
to blame, still the bankrupts having partaken of the pro-
perty of heir employers,. and having the full means of know-
ledge of the state of their affairs, must now answer for their
tom:Pact as traders in having let their business be eo dis-
honestly conducted. With respect to the conduct of the
elder Istakrupt, there are extenuating circumstances. It
was Wiped that his blindness was an excuse for his conduct
—that he ought to have employed some person to look to the
account es between himself and eons. I think, however,
that it would not tend to raise the standard of commercial
morality if ihe court was to yield to this argument, and to
expect that a father, suffering under such a calamity, should
have felt it to be his duty to be inspector between
himself and Doss. The court, therefore, adjudges
that the certificate of Robert H. Evans be allowed. With
respect to Charles Evans, he must be responsible for that
winch he well knew or had full means of knowing. Having
then duly considered all the circumstances of the case, and
thinking that justice will be done by a somewhat less severe
sentence than must have been awarded against Thomas
Evans, the court still feels called upon to mark the conduct
of the bankrupt (Charles Evans) as a trader by a suspension
of his certificate for a considerable time. A violation of
trust and confidence, where confidence was unavoidable,
fraud committed which was easy of perpetration, and the
difficulty and necessity.of preventing a repetition f the like
offence, form the principal grounds of the judgment of the