The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-24 00:00:00

SOUTH LANCASHIRE ASSIZES

On Saturday afternoon, the Hon. Baron Martin, and the
Hon. Mr. Justice Willes, arrived in town by the four o'clock
train, at the Lime- street station, and were conducted to their
lodgings i❑ St. Ann's-street. Shortly after, Mr. Justice
Willes, accompanied by the high sheriff of the county, R. N.
Phillips, Esq., of the Park, near Manchester, proceeded to
the Assize Courtt. in St. George's Hall, where the commission
was formally opened, and the courts were adjourned until this
day, when the business of the assizes will be proceeded with
at eleven o'olock.
Yesterday, the two judges attended divine service at St.
George's Church. The high sheriff of the county, the mayor
of Liverpool, and several members of the corporation were
also present.
Special Juries to try the following cases have already been
summoned :—Firth v. The North of England. Cradock v.
The City of Dublin Co. Gie v. Ward and others. 'White-
head v. Sparkes. Taylor v. Wakefield. Alexander v. The
Asiatic Marine Insurance Co, Mat tin v. Frangspulo. Oxley
v. Murtong. Hall v. Moore. Edmundson v. East of England
Mutual Life Assurance Company. Baruis v. Gabbs. Ferney
'v. Tonge, (new trial). Petrie v. Nuttall. Hart v. Batchelor.
Leon v. 'Wilkinson. Flower v. Eliza. Haley v. The
London and North "Western Railway Co. Ireland v. Anchor
Life Assurance Co. Hooper v. Howard. Smyth v. Schillizzi.
Hill v. Marriott. PI itchard v. Wright. Bird v. Holder.
Reed v. Farnworth. Lewis v. Brownlow. Lister v.
Newto❑ v. Broughton.
There is also an important case between the Corporation of
Liverpool and a contractor, as to some metal dock gates, in
which the quality of the metal forms an important question.
Several scientific witnesses, from London, are expected
to arrive, and the case promises to be :one of general import.
ance. Mr. Sergeant Wilkins will attend the assizes,
although his health is in a feeble state.
We understand that, during their stay on circuit at York,
the members of the bar repealed the old conventional law
which required all barristers to take lodgings in private houses
The bar mess is held at the Adelphi, where it is expected
many of the juniors will take up their quarters on this
occasion. Next year barristers may, perhaps, be permitted to
accept the hospitalities of solicitors during the assizes. Nora
verrons.

ADMIRALTY COURT, DUBLIN.-THURSDAY.

EXEMPTION OF QUEEN'S SHIPS FROM ARREST.
The Resolute, Screw Transport.
The Resolute, the ship in question, had been arrested
under warrant of the court, in a cause of collision, at the
suit of the Dublin Steam Packet Company,. for damage
done by tier to the St. Columba steamer, their property,
in Kingstown harbour, on the .15th inst. ; and an inter-
ventional suit had also been instituted against her by the
owners of the schooner Virtue, the °waters-of the cargo
on board, the Resolute also having at the same time and
place, ran down end sunk that vessel. Immediately
after the arrest of the transport the Lords of the Admi-
ralty alleged her exemption trom arrest of the court, upon
the ground that she was the property of her Majesty, and
upon instructions to that effect the Queen's Proctor
served notice upon the parties that he would move the
judge accordingly, and appeared under protest of the
jurisdiction.
Dr. Gibbon, in the absence of the Queen's Advocate on
circuit, appeared for the crown, and moved on the affidavit
of Nicholas Pentreath, the master commanding the Reso-
lute, stating that the vessel was the property of her
Majesty, and then employed in the public service, and
relied also in further proof upon the official certificate of
the commissioners for executing the office of Lord High
Admiral to the same effect. He then cited the case of the
Athol, 1 Wm. Rob., and the authorities were referred to,
to show that such vessels were exempt from the process
of the court.
Dr. Hayes appeared for the promovents in the matter,
and said that being now satisfied of the fact that the
Resolute was the property of the crown, they would sub-
mit to the law, as the court would lay it down; that at
the time they sued out the warrant, they had no knowledge
of the tact, and regretted that it was at this stage of the
proceedings only they had arrived at it.
The Court: lam bound to say that nothing appeared
in the affidavit which led to the fiat in this case, which
could make me surmise that the promovents had any
knowlege of the vessel, under arrest by means of their
affidavit, being property of the crown. And I may add
that their ready submission now to the law, as it should
be pronounced, leaves to the court the opportunity always
to be desired, of delivering its decision with a conscious-
ness that it will have the more weight, because thus
acquiesced in where it may be the least welcome. With
the merits of the case the motion has nothing to do. It is
a motion, however, not of form, but of substance, and one
of great importance to the suitor, its results being to
deprive him of his most substautial guarantee for his
damages and costs ; a guarantee, moreover, the peculiar
privilege of suitors in this court. By the ancient maritime
law the owners of a vessel doing damage were bound
to make good the loss to the owners of the other vessel,
and for the purposes of enforcing this obligation, the
owners of the damaged vessel might resort either to the
courts of common law or to the court of admiralty ; and
if they preferred the latter, they had their choice of three
modes of proceeding—viz., against the owners or against
the master personally, or by a proceeding in rem against
the ship itself. This proceeding against the ship itself
can be resorted to in the court of admiralty alone, and by
the arrest, under such proceeding, offers the greatest
security for obtaining substantial justice, in furnishing a
security for prompt and immediate payment. These
are the words of Dr. Lushington in his judgment in the
Volant. It is to be borne in mind that the suitor in this
court has his two other modes of proceeding also, and is,
therefore not remediless should he be confined to these two,
and lcise that just now so well and attractively described,
It is of this last remedy alone, broad and secure though it
be, which the present motion seeks as a right to deprive
him of ; because it rests itself upon a principle broader
than any class interest, and involves the security of the
general weal. The able argument in the Prins Frederik,
2 Dod, which bears so fully upon these points is as fol-
lows :—" There are things, a class of things,whieh are not
subject to the ordinary rules applying to property ; which
are not liable to the claims or demands of private persons,
and which are described by the public as, extra commercium
publicis usibus dsstinata—suoh as the forum, the walls and
bulwarks of a city. Ships of war belonging to the state
should be included in this class of things from their very
nature and circumstances. They are destined to the public
use, not only for the convenience of the State, but for its
defence and protection. The very security of the State
depends upon their free use; for, if they could be in'er-
rupted ;and detained from public service to meet any
private exigency or claim, that security might be endan-
gered." In affirmance of principles such as these, it must
have been that, at a very early day, Lord Stowell, in
the case of the Comus, declared that the court
declined to entertain suits against or to detain
ships of war by its process. That declaration,
as well as the decision, have been uniformly acknow-
ledged, and are now recognised as established
law. But, independently of this, there are other and
distinct principles which tend to deprive the suitor of his
remedy in rem, where it is a ship of war, by pointing
out to him the remedy in personam, as his proper and
necessary one. In the case of the Mentor, 1 Rob. Lord
Stowell's words are " The actual wrong-doer is the man
to answer judgment—to him responsibility is attached• in
this court. He may have others responsible to him, and
that responsibility may be enforced, but it is the constant
practice to have the actual wrong-doer before the court,
and every man must see the propriety of that practice."
Dr. Lushington, in the case of the Athol, alluded to at the
bar, commenting upon that decision, in the Mentor, says,
" The result of that decision, and the observations which
fell from the very learned judge, directly affirm the prin-
ciple that in cases of tort or damage committed by
vesse:s belonging to the :crown, the legal responsibility
attaches to the actual wrong-doer, and the injured party
must seek his redress not against the parties who may
be indirectly involved in the transaction, but from the
person who immediately commits the injury. The same
principle is borne out by the decisions of the courts of
common law." Under the circumstances, then, of the
ship under arrest being a ship of war, and in the public
service of the Crown, both upon principle and the author-
ity of decided cases, I must direct her immediate release
from that arrest. With respect to the parties, both in
the original and interventional suit, who are, by this
decision, deprived of the ship, their greatest security for
obtaining substantial justice, I have to remind them, that
their remedy against the master of it is still open to them ;
andj:that in such cases it has been the practice of the
Lords of the Admiralty to direct an appearance to be
given for the defence of the action, in order that
the court might adjudicate upon it; restoring, by this act
of justice, the suitor to as good a positioe as he had ori-
ginally stood in. To use the words of Dr. Lushington, in
the case of the Athol, "I will say that sitting here as a
judge in a court of justice, I am bound to express the
opinion that I cannot apprehend the high personages who
represent her Majesty in her office of Admiralty will avoid
doing justice, or that upon due consideration they will
take upon themselves to say that they will be themselves
the exclusive judges upon the merits of the present case ;
whether they shall appear or not is not a matter for this
court to determine. Let the release of the Resolute
.ssue.

A great impression prevails in Paris that Prussia is
desirous of recovering the good graces of England.
The Vienna Gazette announces the appointment of Count'
Appony to be Austrian Minister at the court of St. James.
LIMITED LIABILITY.—At a meeting of the chamber of
commerce on Tuesday, the question of limited liabilit3
in
partnership was discussed, and it was unanimously re-
solved that it is desirable that some legal provision
should be made by which persons employed in a manu-
factory or trading concern, as servants, may be remu-
nerated by salaries or wages dependent in anount upon
the profits of the business ; without being rendered liable
to the responsibility of partners. A. petition to this
effect has been drawn up, and will be transmitted to the
House of Commons.—Greenoek Advertiser. 4 ••,,
CHESS MATCH II Y ELECTRIC TELEGRAPIL—This curious
application of modern science is fixed to take place
between the Manchester and Liverpool Chess Clubs, on
Friday, the 28th inst., at five p.m. It has been arranged
that some of the leading players of each club should meet
at the electric telegraph office of their respective towns,
and play the game on the premises, in order to save time.
The moves on both sides will immediately bo forwarded
to the: Manchester Chess Club, in Ridgefield, which, on
this occasion will be open to the public, and all will be
welcome who take an interest in chess. It is expected
that the game will take about four or five hours, and will
be finished early in the evening. It has also been arranged
that the prize recently won from the Liverpool Club. viz.,
a handsome ivory set of Staunton men and board, shall be
played for at the Club ; odds will be given, in order that
players of every grade may have an equal chance of
success. About thirty names are already entered as
competitors.
SENTENCE OF DEATH YOB. MURDER.—At the Exeter
Assizee, on Thursday, Mary Weeks, aged twenty-eight,
was indicted for the wilful murder of her male child, a
boy between three and four years old, on the 3rd January
last. It appears that the prisoner was to have been
married to a widower named Warren, but she had told
him that she had only one child, whereas she had two, and
upon the discovery -of that fret the marriage was broken
off. The prisoner carried off this child from Warren's
house on the evening of January the 3rd, and it was
afterwards found in the river by a fisherman. A
black apron was tied over its head. On the same
evening a female resembling the prisoner was seen near
the river crying, and she did not return home to her lodgings
till nine o'clock, when she appeared to be very
much distressed. She stated, in answer to enquiries, that
she had sent her little boy home to her mother'e, at South
I Lawton ; but. this was denied by her mother, an aged
woman, who was called, and was much affected in giving
her evidence. Whilst the prisoner was in gaol it was
alleged that she made a confession to another prisoner who
slept in the same cell, and stated that Warren bad hinted to
her that children were often picked up drowned, and nobody
found it out, and she, exclaimed, " Good God ! You don't
mean me to do it r" and it was upon this suggestion that
she was induced to commit the crime. The defence was that
Warren had been actuated by a desire to get the La reward,
which had been ordered for the apprehension of the pri-
soner, and that his testimony was not to be relied upon.
The jury returned a verdict of Guilty, recommending the
prisoner to mercy on account of the treatment she had
received from Warren. Sentence of death was thereupon

passed upon her, the judge siyinc, that the recommenda-
tion of the jury should be forwarded to the proper quarter,
but she must not entertain any hopes of mercy. An
applic ition was then made that the sentence should be
stayed on account of the prisoner being " quick with child."
A jury of matrons was then empannelled, who decided
that such was the case, and his lordship thereupon
ordered sentence to Le deferred until after the prisoner was
' delivered.