The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-07-15 00:00:00

Dears.

The LORD CitaNcELLoa—" As we are on the
subject of luttatics, I take dots opportunity of in-
forming the bar, that the Legt.liture has 'hissed an
Act making the copyhold estates of luustics liable
fur their debts."
IN THE MATT= OF THU LATE DUCHESS OF
CHANDOS, A LUNATIC.
Mr. SPHANCHFR moved that the root• of the
parties should he referred to the Master to be tatted,
mud that the costs of Lord Grenville and Lord
Teini.le should be paid to them. the Master haring
reported that her Grace was dead.
Motion granted.
THE BURLINGTON ARCADE.

ODELL AND OTHERS V. LORD GEORGE CAVENDISH

AND OTHERS.

The SoLtctroa:Gmsaaa 1„ Counsel for the
Plaintiffs, stated, that his clients had waited to see
whether the Defendants would abate the nuisance
complained of. He was sorry to say that instead of
having done so, that they had opened a larger pas-
sage from the Western Exchange into the Arcade,
by taking down the partition. ft was not his in-
tention to go over the grounds for the application
*Oa, but he had to a►k for his Lordship's judg-
meat. s-i'.; •

.1110r,Loss iadarilittee" Mn 4VhMerell is
Ceesiti for the Defendants ; w.iss4"better wait
omit he comes into Court. to Iseerirket he has to
sey.7

There being no other business- before the Court
ready to go ou with, his Lordship rose at two o'clock.

VICE.CHANCCLLOWS COURT, I.tmeoLE's-tan,
WitnnitsmaT, JULY 14.
DEIPRZY V. MITCHELL. •
Mr. stated,. this was a bill filed by the
Plaintiff against the Defendant, the surviving part.
tier of the bauking-house of The'lnstant and Co:
under the following .c.iscontstancea :—lts the year
1804, the Plaintiff, who is a native of France, and
then resided at Parisi, employed Messrs. Thellusson
and Co. to dispose of a quantity of dollars for
him, fur whielt they were to receive a commission
of one-half per cent. The Plaintiff accordingly
transmitted 1,010,000 dollars to the Defendant..
which they disposed of, and at the end of the
year they furnished him with an account which
he did not object to, believing that he was dealing
with honourable men, and in the beginning of the
year 1805, the Plaintiff wrote to them that he had
a quantity of dollars, and could procure more to
any amount, if the Defendants could find a market
for them iu this country ; they answered in the
affirmative, and that they had actually on his repre-
sentation coutraLted with the Government or this
country to furnish them with three millions of
dollars at sixty-five pence per ounce. The Plain-
tiff accordingly tranianiued the dollars. and the
Defendants performed their contract with thee Go-
vernment. The Plaintiff also passed this account of
the Defendants', for the same reason that he (the
Learned Counsel) had before stated. Since the
peace circumstances had come to the knowledge of
the Plaintiff, that caused I • to believe thatjthe
Defendants had uot acted fairly in these transactions.
The Defendants were to pay the Plaintiff interest
for the dollars while they remained its their bank-
ing-house. The Defendants, however. in the first
account furnished to the Plaintiff, charged their
receipt of the dollars at a much later period than
they actually received them ; and in another in.
stance they sold the dollars at sixty-live pence an
ounce, and only gave the Plaintiff credit for sixty.
four pence an ounce. Its the second transaction
there was clearly a fraud ; for the Defendants sold
the three millions of dollar* to Government at
sixty-five pence an ounce, and received one per
cent. premium from Government for negocialing
the business. which they had not mentioned in the
second account furnished by them to the Plaintiff.
The bill therefore prayed that the Defendants
might be decreed by the Court to account.
Mr. Bard., Counsel fur the Defendant's. con-
tended that this suit could not be sustained, inas-
much as the original transaction between the par-
ties was illegal. The Plaintiff, when it took place,
was an alien enemy residing in France. and this
country and that was at actual war. The dollars
were transmitted from France to this country, with.
out this Government having granted a license fur
that purpose; he, therefore, had no doubt his Ho-
nour mould dismiss the bull.

The Vtce•CHANCELLOR observed, that it was
the national policy of this Government not to allow
the subjects of this country to enter into commerce
with the subjects of an enemy, for by mutual coat-
meter the subjects of both countries were benefited.
In the easel, of a scarcity of corn in the country, or
specie, Government was in the habit of granting
licenses, fur the purpose of obtaining them from the
enemy's country. Hut iu the transactions specified
in the first account the Government did not grant
any license, or hail any knowledge of what was
going forward. Then if a subject. at the time of
war could nut trade with an alien enemy direct, his
doing so indirectly would not make it a legal -
Ile therefore was of opinion, that he must
charge so much of the hill as related to the I
account, it not being a legal transaction, and,
course, not cognizable by a Court of Equity.
In his opinion, however, the circumstances of the
second account stood quite on a ditbreot basis.—
There the dollars were brought to this country fob
the uses of Government, and it was to be supposed
they had full knowledge from whence they came
and how they were obtained, which made a license
unnecessary ; although it was an unlawful act for a
subject, it was the reverse when Government was
concerned. - This objection then being removed,ine
I had no hesitation in declaring, that the Phuoldr-

•• •• • : • 4'7;4 ire,`..11144.";L: .14,114' 1114 1) '14,4 •

entitieirtethiOne per Ishfc ilie'Defend.sids
recti.ed 31 it comoosisiion 114io GulieriihveA in the
thre'e mill of dolleri. Thal prittiipiil was clear
411.1 e the Defendants 'received s' cOnsosionina
.of •
hitlf per cent. tip' use their hist endeisvoiri 'to dis-
pose of !lir ilitllari.lhat their printipal wai'entitled
to whatever suns they might bring, ind ill`r Dr.
frosalittsis Ilia nu right to apply the our per rent. to
their own use. He would; theirfure. refer it to the
Master to take Nil account between the purists 'eh.-
live to the transactions of 1805 ; and this, lie
thought, was the justice of the case.
Prayer of the bill granted in parts

COURT OP KING'S BENCH, WINTRIIINSTER,
WEDmrstmic, hum 14.

Sittings after Hilary Term, before Chief Justice
Aeaorr, and Special Juries.

CONSPIRACY.—GRAMPOUND AND TREGONY
ELEtaloNs.
TIIII WING V. WATTS and °THAR,.

Mr. AN11416 Ales opened the pleadings. nit w •
utt indictment doing Isaac Waits, John em.l.•,
Joh* Luke, Samuel Crnggua, Hod Nickolas
by which they were charged, ni eeier.l
vomits, that they, at a time when sit election of
Members to serve in Parliament for the bi.
Tregoity was expected, with intent to loterroto tar
free course of that election, did conspire to induce
certain persons, electors of that borough, to give
their votes to two particular individual.. Other
counts charged that they, the said Defendants, dot
come to London, and there conspired to procure
two individuals, who, in consideration of a eerbiu
stun of money, which was to be paid by them to
the said Defendants, were to be elected llembetai
to serve in Pathanient for the said borough. There
were other counts, which imputed to the Defendants
a similar conspiracy with respect to the butough of
Grampound.

Mr. Serjeant_ NW. stated the cue. The Jury
were, by the opening of his Learned Friend, ac-
quainted with the natoreofthechurge brought against
the Defendants. It was. he observed. one of the
most serious character..—and, more especially at the
. .

present moment, called loudly for the visitation of
the law, if it were made out in evidence. The iii-
dictment contained a great many count.—but.
• •I they came to the 16th count, none of them
related :o the borough of Gratnpomitl, but to that
of Tregony. He thought the Jury might, how.
ever, leave out of their consideration altoge-
ther, the transactions that had taken place at
Tregony, since the evidence, he feared, was not
sufficiently strong to bring them home to the De.
fendants. Of the five individuals now indicted,
four Were connected with the borough of Gram.
pound, and one with that of Tregony. Those
places were not far distant from each other—and
the Jury would find, that, with regard to the dis.
graceful act into which they were about to inquire.
they acted in perfect concert, as if there were s de-
cided community of interest between them. In May
last year, when a dissolution of Parliament was ex-
pected, all the boroughs in Cornwall were,. as
might easily he supposed, very actively employed,
but none of theM more so than the borough of
Grampound. He was unwilling to mention the mimes
of those who were particularly conspicuous on that
occasion. especially as the matters connected with
the election had been so much talked of through.
out the country. One Gentleman weal down to
Grampound, at an early period, and made himself
extremely active—but his efforts failed. From
some cause or other the people did not like him.
and they rejected him. There being then no
avowed candidate for Grampound or Tregony,
these five Defendants came to London to look
out for Members to sit in Parliament fur those
places. He hoped he would be able to prove, be..
your, the possibility of contradiction, that such was
the object of their visit to London. A charge of
this nature required little front him, in the way of
comment, because the atteution of the whole king-
dom had fortunately been turned to those trans-
actions, in consequence of the proceedings in Par-
liament. No greater offence could be imagined.
than that imputed to the Defendauts. It was no-
thing less thou *II attempt to corrupt the very foun-
tain of legislation—and, if it were allowed to pass
with impunity, the consequences must he fatal to
the constitution of the country. It was a design,
formed by avaricious men, to put an end to the due
representation of the people in Parliament. Ile
did not wish to enter into idle declamation on
this subject. but he hoped he would be allowed to
say a word or two connected with the question of
Reform. Various were the opinions which different
individuals espoused with respect to that very im-
portant question. Some had adopted wise, and
others had adhered to wild and extravagant theories
—but, he believed it was the opinion of every cool
and dispassionate man, no matter what party he
belonged to, that a stop ought to be put to bribery
and corruption—and, in his judgment, the most
effectual mode of attaining that object, was to
bring cases of this description before a Court of
Justice, whereever they were discovered. In the
month of May, theme individuals came up to Lon-
don, and took up their residence at the Bell and
Crown public-house, in Holborn, with a view to
carry into execution the object of their journey.
namely. thatof procuring persons who would advance
them money for a seat in Parliament. He would cell
witnesses to prove that this was the object of their
journey—and that they all directly assented to what
was proposed to them, for the furtherance of their
views, by the Defendant, Moddlecote. That nub-
vidual stated, that they came up to London to sell
those • Parliament; that they

11

I

his those ',retain Parliament; that they were to receive
I act. a certain sum of money, part of which was to be
dis- distributed amongst the electors—and lie spoke
i first with the utmost confidence of the effect winch the
d, of doceur would have on the return. As far as the
laity. Learned Serjeant understood, no defence would be
f the set up on this occasion, except an attempt to im-
is.— peach the credit of the witnesses whom he otetendr4 •
ry for toad!. But the Jury would bear in mind that in all
posed cases of conspiracy et was almost impossible to bring
came the facts home to the conspirators, except by the
cense evidence of those who had brew in some degree cosi-
for a meted with them. In conclusiou. she Lesioed
td, fie readouts to be peeisbed, if the charge were week
that though he wished Ow Dn.
•
wire: oSeutrje:ati nottmtletrlv:to: still be was desirous that the