The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 1, 1855.

remarks that the late Government now only held office
until their successors were appointed. (Hear, hear.)
The Duke of NEWCASTLE said he only wished he
could on that occasion follow the usual course of Ministers
who had tendered their resignation, and content himself
with the explanation now given by his noble friend lately
at the head of the Government. There were two
reasons why he wished for a short time to trouble
their lordships whilst ho diverged from the usual
course. In the first place, it would have been his duty,
under any circumstances, whatever may have been the re.
suit of Monday night's debate, to have made a statement
on his ownbehalf to their lordships. lint there wasanother
reason why he wished to make a personal statement, and
that was in consequence of a statement made is the other
House of Parliament by the noble lord the late President
of the Council, which he felt had so materially affected
his position as a public man, that he thought it was in-
cumbent on him to make such an explanation. No man
could feel more than he did the inconvenience of thrusting
on Parliament and the public what he might call domestic
differences between colleagues in a Cabinet at the mo-
ment of their separation ; but in the speech to which he
had referred, the noble lord placed the cause of the course
he had taken almost exclusively upon my acceptance of
and subsequent continuance in the War Department.
The noble duke then proceeded to combat the impres-
sion which he stated the noble lord's (Lord J. Russell's)
speech had created, namely, that he had been opposed
to his accepting the office of the War Department,
and he denied that such was the case. (Hear, hear.)
Lord John Russell, writing from the country in the
autumn, declared that he (the Duke of Newcastle) " bad
done all that could bo done, and he was sanguine of suc-
cess ;" while on a subsequent occasion it was put to the
whole Cabinet whether he should resign the office of
Minister at War or not, and it was unanimously rejected.
Then came the December sittings, and the debates in
both houses on the conduct of the war, which were held
to be satisfactory to the Cabinet. Immediate;y
after that sitting a Cabinet Council was held at
which the noble lord gave the various members of the
Government to understand that his objections to him
(the Duke of Newcastle) and the separation of
the two offices of Minister and Secretary at War, and it
was not until a few hours before the published annonnce-
ment of the noble lord's resignation, that he and the
other members of the Cabinet knew his objections still
remained in force. He denied that any of the noble
lord's proposals in connecti MI with the war had been in.-
fairly set aside—on the contrary the nobe lord's propof als
that a war board should be °A %blished, to superintend
the army expenditure, consisting of the Minister of War,
the Secretary at War, the Commander-in-Chief, and the
Master-General of the Ordnance, was generally agreed
to ; but lie afterwards substituted a new proposal fcr the
consolidation of all the military departmentt, though
only differing with the former in two points; but,
ina;much a; he thought (improperly) that his
new proposal would not meet with approval, lie
thought proper to resign. If, however, he had remained
in office until the next meeting of the Cabinet, which
tock place en the day the noble lord resigned, he would
have found that there were no objections to his new pro-
posa'. Well, then, although there might have been dif-
ferences of opinion on matters of detail between
him and the noble lord, yet on the subject of the
general policy and the whole conduct of the war there
never bad been any difference at all, and if he had re-
ceived support more from one member of the Cabinet
than from another, it was from the noble lord himself.
(Heer, hear.) Nevertheless, looking at the feeling oet
of doors, he had made up his mind to resign the office of
Minister ; but, unlike the noble lord, he determined, in
the first instance, to meet the jadgment of Parliament
first, and he awaited the decision of a Parliamentary
ordeal. If that decision had been favourable
to the Government, he should still have

cently appeared in the Dublin Evening Post, that five
out of the sixteen poor-law inspectors, being about to be
removed, the five gentlemen selected for removal were
all Roman Catholics, so as to leave one Roman Catholic
inspector, the remaining ten uttremeved being Pro-
testants.

Sir J. YOUNG said that the question of religion had
not been considered in making the reductions in the
staff of poor law inspectors, the simple fact being that
those last appointed were those who had been selected
for removal, without regard whatever to their religious
opinions. (Hear.)]
ADJOURNMENT OF THE 710 USE.

On the motion for adjournment,
Lord EBRINGTON said—Sir, I regret that no state-
ment whatever has been made to this house as to the
prospects we have of any Government replacing the
one which has so recently resigned. In the present
crisis of political affairs, with the troops in the Crimea
in so lamentable a condition as they had heard not only
from eye-witnesses, but from so high an authority as a
Cabinet Minister who had lately retired from office, he
trusted it would be borne in mind that in the reconstruc-
tion of a new Cabinet days and almost hours were of
importance. He thought that, at the present crisis, the
best and most efficient Ministry for carrying cn the war
in a vigorous manner ought to be chosen. (Hear, hear.)
The house then adjourned at a quarter to 5 o'clock.

RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF STEAM Colt-
MUNICATION. WITH THE MAURITIUS.

General Post-office, January, 1855.
The Government of the Mauritius having established
a steam packet to convey the mail■ once a month be-
tween that island and Ceylon, is connection with the
overland India mail despatched from London via South-
ampton on the 20th, and via Marseilles on the 25th of
each month, all letter■ and newspapers for Mauritius,
not specially addressed to be seat by any other route,
will in future be forwarded to Ceylon for conveyance
thence by the colonial mail packet.
Letters for Mauritius sent via Ceylon are liable to the
following rates of postage, which may be paid Da advance
or net, at the option of tits sender :

resigned, and this intention he communicated
to the rest of the Cabinet as early as the begin-
ning of January. In fact, he announced his de-
termination to resign office in Coto that
was that he would accept office neither under Loral J.
Russell, or Lord Palmer,ton, or Lord Aberdeen, but

that he should retire to the cross-benches, and there

be prepared, when the occasion should iris., to de-
fend the policy which he had attempted to carry out,
in office. (Hear, hear) One word more and he had
done. He had been charged with indifference
to the snfferings and interest of the united service
of the army and navy ; that he had been
feeble and unwilling in office, but so far from that heir g
the caie, while he had directed every hour of his time
to the service of the public when in office, he should
feel himself unworthy of the name of Malt if
he despised the sufferings or neglected the interest of
the united service, particularly the navy, in which be
had two sons bound up in its succes. (Hear, hear.)

THE REChNT MURDER AT CHATHAM.

TIIE ADMINISTRATION OF THE
ADMIRALTY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

SlR,—Among the many important papers of the
late distinguished Admiral of the Fleet, Sir George
Cockburn, G.C.8., that have come under my no-
tice, previous to their appearance hi his Memoirs,
which are about to be published, none of them ap-
pear to me more likely to attract the attention of
the public at the present crisis of affairs than the
accompanying document, written by the gallant chief
the year after his retirement from the Admiralty
in 1846, and which I now beg to submit to your
consideration, should you be inclined to favour
your readers with his ideas on a subject of such
vital importance to the general, as well as more
immediately to the naval interests of this great
country, as that commented upon in the document
in question.
It was found in his secret drawer, under his will,
and from this I infer it was intended as a bequest
to the country he had so long and so faithfully
served on his own element, in the field, and the
Council chamber.

I may as well state, that it is evident Sir George
had not exhausted his theme at the point where
the document ends ; although up to that point it
is clear it had been deliberately and thoroughly re-
vised, the whole having been fairly transcribed as
a complete copy in his own handwriting.--I re-
main, Sir, your obedient humble servant,
JAMES SCOTT, Rear-Admiral.
London, Jan. 30.

"Having filled the station of confidential, or
principal Sea Lord of the Admiralty for more than
17 years, I feel that my opinion regarding the con-
stitution of that body may, sooner or later, be
deemed worthy of consideration and attention ; I
therefore am induced to place in writing the deci-
lion to which my experience has brought me on
this point.
" I have, then, no hesitation in stating, that I
consider the present establishment of that Board
to be the most unsatisfactory and least efficient for
its purpose that could have been devised.
"Iu the first place, it is most inconsistent and
inconvenient that one member of the board should,
without any communication with his colleagues,
issue orders at Somerset-house, in the name of the
board, for the governance of the whole fleet, dock-
yards, Asc., provided it relates to the branch of the
Admiralty business he is selected to superintend,
such orders being issued in the name and under the
authority of the board, without any other member
thereof being aware of such order, and often only
learning its promulgation from the newspapers, or
from questions asked about it in Parliament.
"It is true the ' principal officer' (as he is
termed) of that department is, or ought to be, able
to give all requisite information or advice to such
Lord of the Admiralty ; but such principalofficer'
hasdio responsibility ; yet sush course naturally
places the greater portion of the real management
in his hands as relates to such department ; the
board—the really responsible parties—remaining
wholly ignorant (with the exception of the single
member of it before alluded to) of such general
orders, or of the grounds thereof, unless the par-
ticulsr Lord of the department mentions the mat-
ter to his colleagues, which, in the latter part of
my being at the board, was very rarely done, espe-
cially by one of my colleagues ; and consequently
the business could not but be carried forward in
an unconnected and disjointed manner, the fault
being with a system admitting of, and, indeed,
leading to, such evil results.
" Secondly, as regards the proceedings of the
board when united for general business, I must
premise that nothing can well be more contrary to
reason, and, I may say, common sense, than for a
person to be selected to preside at such professional
board, who is totally unable and admits his inability
to understand three-fourths of the professional state-
ments or even expressions contained in the various
documents read on such occasions to the board, and
which, therefore, the professional members of the
Board become obliged to occupy time in explain-
ing and endeavouring to make him comprehend,
wriich, nevertheless, cannot be always sufficiently
effected. _

There can be little doubt, from what has been dis-
covered since the horrid murder in this town, that the
girl Laws, the servant, is the murderer of the old lady,
Mrs. Bacon. When the body was found in the bed-
room, it was surprising to every one present,- including
the high constable of the town and Major Boys, one
of the county magistrates, that no marks of blood
were seen on any part of her dress or on her person
except, the crown of the head, whieh had been
beaten in by the hatchet which AM found in the coal-
cellar with blood and hair on it ; neither were there
any rrisrks of blood in the room or approaching to it, li
which is considered remarkable and mysterious. It was
evident that the body ha l. been placed there by some
one, and carried up, and not dragged up, as was first
considered. The body was partly dressed, having only
the under-clothing on, with a coloured petticoat and
stays, all perfectly clean. The stockings had not a soil
on them, and the shoes were off the feet. It now turns
out, from what is disclosed, that, as some suspicion
arose from the appearance of the dress, that that dress
Was not the one she was murdered in, a strict search
was made by Thomas Everest, the county superin- '
tendent constable, and in the water closet at the back
of the dwelling he drew out with a stick the whole
of the apparel the poor old creature was murdered in.
There was also a shawl, and Irons its being pinned it is
clear that after the murder had been committed the shawl
was tightly put over the head, and firmly fixed, for the
purpose of preventing the flow of hemorrhage from the
crown of the head, as the false hair belonging to the
deceased, with a cap, was inside of it aid clotted
with blood. The gown which the deceased wore that
mornittghad been torn off her back, and that appeared
also saturated with blood, as well as other articles of
dress. The murderer, therefore, must have taken the
trouble of washing the deceased and puttingonfresh cloth-
ing after life had ceased to exist. It is said that
the girl is not quite 10 years old, and that, although
co young, she is well known to some of the police at
' Rochester, as keeping bad company and associating with
the worst of characters. In consequence of the gold
ring and the gold brooch which dropped from the bosom
of her dress, on her being put to bed in the hospital at
Fort Pitt, pro•ing to be those of her late mistress' in-
quiry has been made, and a silk dregs belonging to Mrs.
Bacon Lae been found at Mr. Week's, pawnbroker, at
Chatham, which was pawned by the girl about 6 weeks
back. There has not been a murder in Chatham for
nearly .10 years, T:p to yesterday afternoon the girl
remained in the hospital in a very low condition, and
refuses to make any statement.

" Then, again, the Board, consisting of six per-
sons, and the professional members, or a portion of
them, being selected with reference to political con-
siderations and their having seats in Parliament,
and without any regard to their knowledge of each
other or how far they might be likely to act cor-
dially together, much valuable time becomes con-
sumed in fruitless and sometimes irritable and un-
satisfactory
discussions, interfering greatly with the
necessary advancement of the numerous profes-
sional and other matters almost daily brought for
decision before the Admiralty ; and the evil of
such check to business may be well conceived when
it is considered that matters of almost every pos-
sible description, from the building of ships of war
and ordering the moTements and discipline of our
fleets down to the deciding on the details and eligi-
bility of railroads, are now brought, either for de-
cision or opinion, before the Board of Admiralty.
"It will not, then, be deemed surprising that,
with the want of concert and the difficulties above
alluded to, I experienced frequent annoying checks
and obstructions in carrying forward those objects
which appeared to me essentially required and
called for, and some of which I was obliged to
abandon from the opposition of one or other of such
disjointed ruling body, and such opposition, in some
instances, springing from parties having no real
knowledge on the professional matters under con-
sideration, but objecting to them in consequence of
something that may have been said to thorn by some
irresponsible person out of doors.
" Indeed, during my last scat at the Admiralty
Board the annoyances I was subjected to from the
last-mentioned causes kept me in a continual state
of anxiety and difficulty, and required from me
the strongest exertion or forbearance to enable me
to remain in a situation so truly unsatisfactory to
my view of efficient management of so important
and multifarious a department, to advance which
cordial union of decision must be urgently neces-
sary, rather than the existing cause of impediments
from unworthy jealousies and debates.
" The remedies I would recommend are _

"1. That the Admiralty Board should be abo-
lished, and that the management of the navy should
be transferred to a flag officer, as Naval Comman-
der-in-Chief, to be assisted by two naval officers,
either as Vico and Rear Admirals of England, or
as Council. That a leading member of Parliament
be. appointed by the Government (to be in the Ca-
binet or not, as may be deemed best), to be styled
Controller of Naval Expenditure,' to be in con-
stant and cordial 00-operation with the Naval
Commander-in-Chief, to arrange with him the pro-
posed expenditure for each year, to be submitted
to the Treasury for approval, the said civilian Con-
troller to be charged with submitting the yearly
estimates to the House of Commons, and answering
there all financial questions relating to the navy ;
the said officer to have the patronage and control
of all the clerks and others in the accountant and
in the store departments ; all other appointments,
as well is the dockyards as at Somerset house and
elsewhere attaching to the naval administration,
to rest with the Naval Commander-in-Chief, whose
directions, relative to the number of ships to bo
built, or repaired, or fitted for service, and the
quantity of stores required, should be deemed
sufficient for the Controller of Naval Expendi-
ture to provide for the payment thereof, though
he is to be at liberty to make any observation
he may deem necessary thereon to thn Com-
mander-in-Chief ; and, in the event of any
irreooncileable difference of opinion upon any
such or other points between the said two high
officers, the matter or matters at issue between them
to be referred to the First Lord of the Treasury for
his decision, which must, of course, be adopted.
"So much of the accountant detail being re-
moved from the Admiralty branch, the Naval
Commander-in• Chief and his two councillors, or
assistants, will be more at liberty to give full at-
tention to the more professional objects of main-
taining and improving the efficiency and discipline
of our fleets, as also the efficiency and works of the
dockyards ; though, as regards the latter, I would
recommend the appointment of a flag officer under
the Admiralty, to bo continually visiting the yards
in succession, to insure uniformity of practice and
working in all, with such a general superintending
officer under the Admiralty, and a scientific board
of construction, as lately established, to advise and
offer suggestions on all points relating to shipbuild-
ing. This would, in my opinion, form a most effi-
cient and satisfactory working system ; and of
course the appointment of Surveyor of the Navy'
(the objections to such an officer, whether himself
a shipbuilder or not, have been often experienced)
would be entirely abolished.
" The Naval Commander-in-Chief and his two
councillors may or may not he in Parliament, as
deemed best by the Government; but lam of opinion
they (especially the former) should not be in Par-
liament, to render it unnecessary to change the
governing system of our navy with every
change of
Ministers, r; hick keeps the naval service in a con-
stant state of unsteadiness and uncertainty, very
detrimental to its complete and unvarying effi-
ciency—an evil which would be remedied by the
Commander-in-Chief and his colleagues being re-
lieved from all political character.
"In the foregoing observations I have mentioned
the two assistants to the proposed Naval Coin-
mander-in-Chief in union with him, but, although
hee °illc e on the various
l havethebenefit
pointsoftheir advice and ex_
p
under his control and
management, it is to be clearly understood that
he alone will be responsible for whatever is done
by his authority, dad all orders and directions

LAW L.V TELLIG tram. 31.

signed by him alone are to be deemed complete,
and to be obeyed as such by all subject to his con-
trol. But he may, if he think proper, authorise
the members of his council to sign conjointly such
documents as he may not deem necessary to be
signed by himself ; and, after he shall have offi-
cially notified his authority to such effect, all such
directions, signed by the members of his council,
to the extent so authorised, are to be deemed of
full force, and to be obeyed accordingly.
" The principal objection I have heard advanced
to placing a naval officer at the head of the naval
service, is that lie would be likely to show undue
favour to those of the profession who had served
with him ; but I see no reason why this should be
the case more with the navy than with the army,
and such has not been found a sufficient objection
as regards the Commander-in-Chief of the army.
And even supposing, for the sake of argument, such
favourable feelings towards any particular officers
to be entertained by a Commander-in-Chief, it can
only be supposed to arise from such favoured offi-
cers having given him full proof of their zeal and
abilities while serving with him ; and, admitting
such an impression to have, therefore, any reason-
able foundation, it would have a tendency to render
officers in general when on active service anxious
to secure by their attention and zealous conduct
the good opinion and future protective friendship
of their superior officers, and might, therefore, have
a generally beneficial result rather than otherwise.
My conviction, however, is, that a naval officer,
placed in the high and honourable post of Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Navy, wouldevinee as much
real impartiality as any other individual of any
other class or rank whatever.

CHANCERY COURTS.
(Before Vice-Chancellor Sir John Stuart.)

SCIIWINGE V. TRH LONDON AND BLACKWALL RAILWAY

COMPANY.

The plaintiff in this suit is the occupier of warehouses,
a boiling-house, a yard, and premises, constituting to-
gether his manufactory, at No. 1, Christian-street, on
the line of the above railway, over which one of the
arches of the railway passes. The plaintiff by his bill
sought to restrain the company from summoning a jury
to ascertain the amount of the purchase-money of his
premises, proposed to b© taken by the railway company,
or the damages to be occasioned thereby ; and also from
issuing their warrant to the sheriff to summon such jury,
and from taking any proceedings at law in respect of the
premises ; and also from entering into or taking posses-
sion of, or from constructing any covering over his manu-
factory. It appeared that the railway company, being de-
sirous to widen their railway, obtained powers to do so
by a special act some years since, and by subsequent acts
their powers to take lands, compulsorily, for the pur-
pose' were extended until the 27th of July, 1853, after
which time they were not to be exercised. On the 30th of
June, 1853, the defendants served ea the plaintiff the
usual notice to take a small part of the yard, part of the
manufactory, and, as an easement, to widen their arch
across the yard of the manufactory. The plaintiff, on
the 11th of July, 1853, under a provision in the Lands
Clauses Consolidation Act, gave notice to the defendants
that he declined to let them take the part they wished,
but offered to sell them the whole of the, premises con-
stituting his manufactory. Although the compulsory
powers of the company cowed on the 27th of that
month, the company did nothing on this notice until -the
9th of Sept. 1854, when they proposed to go to a jury
to assess the value of the plaintiff's premises ; upon
which the plaintiff insisted that the compulsory powers
of the company were gone. On the 2d of Nov., 1854,
the company gave the plaintiff notice of their intention
to proceed to procure a jury to be summoned to assess
the value of the plaintiff's premises. This bill was
filed on the 7th of that month to restrain such proceed-
ing. An undertaking was shortly afterwards given by
the defendants to do nothing until the motion for an in-
junction, which stood over, should be decided.

"The only other objection that has been advanced
against placing a naval officer at the head of the
navy is, that a naval officer is Rot likely, from his
earlier habits and education, to be efficient for the
many other than naval matters continually under
consideration of the Cabinet ; my answer to which
is, that ho need not be in the Cabinet any more
than the Commander-in-Chief of the army, though
I firmly believe very many. superior naval officers
would prove as efficient Cabinet Ministers as many
of those gentlemen I have known there during my
connection with government business."

Mr. Malins and Mr. Steere, for the plaintiff, now
brought on the motion, and admitted that the notice of
the 30th of June, 1853, was a good notice; but they
submitted that the plaintiff's notice, requiring the com-
pany to take the whole manufactory, put the company
to the necessity of giving a fresh notice, bin•Jing the
company to take the whole manufactory as a prelimi-
nary to the exercise of any compulsory powers, because
if they did not do so they were not bound to tike the
whale, and the non-existence of such a notice was fatal
to the validity of the subsequent proceedings, which,
according to the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, im-
plied the existence of such a document.
Mr. Rolt and Mr. Green, for the company, submitted
that the plaintiff was entitled to no injunction, on the
ground, mainly, that the company's first notice being
admitted to be good, the plaintiff's counter notice must
be held to be impnrted into that notice, and the two
formed an anialgainaael notice ; and that being so, all
the subsequent proceedings were regular ; and they sub-
mitted that the case was decided in principle by " Pin-
chin v. the London and Blackwell Railway Company,"
reported Ist Kay and Johnson, p. 34.
After a very lengthend argument,
The Vice-Chancellor, a`ter recapitulating the case, said
that upon the whole it appeared to him that there bad
been an assent by the company to take the whole manu-
factory, according to the notice of the plaintiff, and that
all that remained to be done was to take proceedings to
assess the value, which the company were proceeding
to take. He thought the company were not too late in
expressing their assent to take the whole manufactory,
awl he mast refuse the motion.

The court did not rise until after six o'clock, although
this is tho last day of term. His Honour will sit to-mor-
row to dispose of a part-heard cause—Tichner ♦. Smith.

(Before Vice-Chancellor Sir W. P. Wood.)

HILL V. TIM SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY AND

OTHERS.

This was a motion for an injunction to restrain the
railway company, and the other defendants, who were
the owners and crew of a vessel called the Eliza, from
prosecuting certain actions which had been commenced
in the Admiralty Court, and to restrain them from com-
mencing any other actions in that or any other court
against the plaintiff, the owner of the vessel called the
Clara, in respect of any damage or less occasioned by a
collision between the two vessels. The facts as stated
in the bill were that the Clara was a brig of 192 tons,
and loft Woolwich, in ballast, in September last, with a
crew consisting of a master and seven men. In the night
of the 23d of September she came into collision, near the
Gun-fleet Light, with a schooner called the Eliza, which
was laden with iron. The result of the collision was,
that the schooner and her cargo were totally lost, the
wife and two children of the master were drowned, part
of his private effects was lost, some personal injury was
also suffered by himself, and several of the crew were
lost. The value of the brig Clara at the time of the col-
lision was stated at 1,2501. On the 30th of last Septem-
ber the owners of the Eliza commenced an action in
the Admiralty Court, on behalf of themselves and the
rest of the crew, against the plaintiff, in a cause civil
and maritime, for the purpose of recovering front the
plaintiff the value of the Eliza, and of the effects of the
master and crew. The Clara was seized under a war-
' rant from the Admiralty Court in that action, but was
released on bail being put in. The allegation upon which
the action was founded was, that the collision was caused
by the improper navigation of the Clara, but this the
plaintiff did not admit. The bill then alleged that the
plaintiff apprehended that claims would be made seeking
to cast upon him liability in respect of the lives lost, and
the personal injury to the master, and that the railway
company had commenced an action in the Court of Ad-
miralty, in respect of the alleged liability of the plaintiff
in respect of the loss of the iron. These liabilities the
plaintiff expressly stated that he did not admit. The
plaintiff then alleged that he was desirous of having the
amount of his liability, if any, determined by the Court
of Chancery, and to have such amount, if any, distri-
buted rateably among the several claimants who had
made, and should within such reasonable time as the
court should direct, make and establish any claim in re-
spect of such liability.
Mr. Rolt and Mr. Martindale, in support of the mo-
tion, relied upon the 17 and 18 Vic., c. 104 (the Mer-
chant Shipping Act), part 9, sections 504 and 514, by
which (sec. 504) it was enacted that no owner of any
sea-going ship, or of any share therein, should be answer-
able in damages to an extent beyond the value of the
ship and freight due or growing due during the voyage,
in cases where any of the following events occurred
without his actual privity or fault—viz., firstly, where
any loss of life or personal injury was caused to any per-
son carried on such ship ; second!), where any damage
or loss 'was caused to any goods, merchandise, or any
other thing whatsoever on board such ship ; thirdly,
where any loss of life or personal injury was, by reason
of the improper navigation of. such sea-going ship, caused
to any person carried on beard any other ship or boat ;
fourthly, where any loss or damage was, by reason
of such improper navigation, caused to any other
ship or boat, or to any geeds, merchandise, or other
things whatsoever on board any other ship or boat,
with a proviso that in cases of injury to passengers the
value of the ship should in no case be taken to be loss
than 151. per registered ton, and that (sec. 514) where
any liability had been, or was alleged to have been, in-
curred by any owner in respect of loss of life, personal
injury, or loss of, or damage to ships, boats, or goods,
and several claims were reads, or apprehended, in re-
spect of such liability, then (subject to the right of the
Board of Trade thereinbefove given) it should be lawful
for the Court of Chancery in England or Ireland, and
the Court of Session in Scotland, and in any British
possession, for any competent court to entertain pro-
ceedings at the suit of any owner for the purpose of
determining the amount of such liability, subject as
thereinbefore mentioned, and for the distribution of such
amount rateably amongst the several claimants, with
power for any such court to step all actions and suits
pending in any other court in relation to the Fame sub-
ject matter, and any proceeding entertained by such
court might be conducted in such manner, and subject
to such regulations as to making any persons interested
parties to the same, and as to the exclusion of any claim-
ants who did not come in within a certain time, and as
requiring security from the owner, and as to the judg-
ment of costs as the court should think fit.

Mr. Willcock, on behalf of the defendants, contended
that the act did not give any jurisdiction to the Court
of Chancery, except in cases in which the party admitted
his liability, and where, consequently, the only question
for the court to decide was the distribution of the fund
among the several claimants.
The Tice-Chancellor said that the question raised
was an important one in respect to the construction of
the Act of Parliament. The object was to protect ship-
owners in cases of any unfortunate liability, and gave a
limit to the liability in such eases; and the amount for
which the owner became liable in such cases then
became a common fund to answer all liabilities ; and it
would be manifestly unjust to allow one person to come
in and swallow up the whole of that amount, or, on
the other hand, to allow the owner who admitted
his liability to be harassed by actions. The pro-
ceeding was in the nature of an interpleader bill, where
the party admits his liability and brings the fund into
court. The section in the new act was in some respects
wider in its terms than the old act of George 111. ; but
it never could have been the intention of the Legisla-
ture that all the machinery mentioned in the act should
be set in motion and all the proceedings taken, when
after all it might be found that the whole thing was
about nothing.; The argument rested upon the introduc-
tion of the words " where any liability was alleged to
have been incurred," but those words might be explained
without putting the cumtruntion contended for by the
plaintiff upon them. As the plaintiff, therefore, did not
admit any liability at all, that qmeetion must be tried
and decided in the proper court, and the present motion
must be refesed with cost.

4,ls'
of
DIED.
MO 5 Aer
On the 3d ult , on bo Ira ship in the "51.-, oef,"-
klava, of typhus fever, William Abbot A110%8,017
41st Regiment, third son of Lieut.-Colonel -"."" 0'
son, Fort Amherst, Chatham.
On the 18th December. at Bombay, CsPtliiith°9llo
Butler, of H.M. 86th Regt., commanding,,„ •
Sanitary Station at Poorunhur, second of
General the Hon. H. E. Butler, and brothe osliporde
Captains Butler who fell at Silistria and I,,n„,.kforiP Pei
On the 29th ult., at Doddiscombsleigh -LlrtotP_A F„,le
the Rev. James Buckingham, late of 8er"13,7, AGO'
the Vicarage of which he hold nearly 50 Yeal'-' f
0 -
On the 25th ult., W. W. Deacon, Esq"
Devon, aged 32.

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