The National Register.
London, England, 1811-02-24 00:00:00

I 2 6

the month of July there had been a run on the bank for several
days. On the 30th of July, Mr. Noble, one of the,. partners,.
came to him at four o'clock, and asked him if he had sufficient
money to pay that evening ; he replied in the affirmative. on
which Mr. Noble desired him to continue paying, but on the
next morning the house must stop payment : that the witness
and the other clerks must come to the banking-house on the
following morning, as the partners could not, they being afraid
of an arrest, and desired that they might be denied to evert
person who ,called. Mr. Barwick, one of the partners, was
pi-eient ; 4% would not undertake to. swear that Mr. Croft,
another of the partners, was present. On the morning of the
31st, Messrs. Noble and Barwick were in the banking-house
before nine o'clock in the morning, and desired themselves to
be deni&d. He did not see Mr. Croft until the Ist of August,
when he also desired himself to be deni...d. On both days
he denied' the partners to all persons who came. The
first that called was Mr. Heath, of Golden-square, who
kept an account at the house; he told him the house had stop-
Ted, and he 44, not know where the partners were. Several
persons called"Svich draughts to the amount of 10,0001. Thomas
Close also made a demand on the Ist of August. Mr. Dawes
was out of town at the time the bank stopped, and he had never
.seen him since; but he received a letter, directed to him and the
Other clerks from him, on the morning of the Ist of August, to
the following effect :—" That on finding that the banking-house
had stopped, on his return to town, he could not, with safety to
the liberty of his person, attend ; and for them to say, when. he
was inquired for, that he Was in the country, or elsewhere they
pleased.
•On his cross-examination by Mr. Parke, he said, the letter
%vas received from Mr. Dawes on the morning of the Ist of
August ; he did not open it, nor would not swear it was not
trought by the Solicitor for the Commission. Mr. Dawes was
the senior partner, and could not recollect whether he had seen
him for a week before the issuirtg of the Commission, which was
on the Ist of August. He did not know before the 30th, that
the house'Was insolvent.
Mr, Noble deposed, he was one of the partners trading under
tke firm of Devaynes and Co.; that he was the holder of stock
for the defendant, and that he sold it on the 19th, 20th, and 21st
\lav, and did not communicate it to the defendant until the
V/th of July, which was by letter, which we have before stated.
4)o his cross-examination by Mr. Topping,, he said, that on
%he- f.nst of May he enclosed the bonds in a cover, sealed them
up, and put them into an iron chest, with other securities. He
did not know that his partners were acquainted with the cir-
fanms!anzie but they might have known it if they pleased. The
14.-laage was directe&—" The property of John Balfour' Esq."
and it was considered by him as a collateral security. He had
rir)t an idea-that the house would stop payment until the 30th of
Ju!y. in the life-time of Mr. Devaynes, they were in the habit
lai selling the Exchequer Bills when they wanted money.
Examined by Mr. Attorney-General in chief. He said it was
or account of the failures in Liverpool that his house failed.
phimiti's case closed here.
'Mr. ?tithe, Counsel for the defendant, contended that the
tietendant had a lien on the bonds from the moment they were
lodged in the iron chest.
Lord EL 1.1.:N ISOROUGH—" Gentlemen of the Jury, it is cer-
tainly a very severe case, as it respects the defendant. It was
In:ach of confidence on the part of the Bankrupts; I do not
Irk.: to speak hard of persons, who by the pinch of the times
were obliged to commit certainly not a legal act. If the bands
had been deposited with the defendant, he might have an equit-
able eiaim. But by its being done the day before the insolvency,
*bewcd that it was certainly a fraudulent preference. lam cer-
t4nly sorry for the loss of the defendant ; but the law is not to
yield to the losi of an individual; therefore you must return a
verdict for the plaintiffs."
Which the Jury accordingly did.
Lord ELL,. NBOROUGH—" I have just received a note from
the 1 ord Chancellor to attend the Privy Council, to take into
consideration the report of the Recorder relative to condemned.
p isoners, therefore must postpone the other causes until to-
!morrow."

FRIDAY, FEB. 22.
LIBEL.
THE KING 'V. JOHN HUNT AND LEIGH HUNT.

This was a Criminal Information filed against John Hunt
the Printer and Publisher, and Leigh Hunt the Editor of Tu
Exi.lllN for printing and publishing a Libel.
The Air OR N Ev-G ttN Eit,i 1. stated the case. It was a libel
Calculated to do the must serious injury to the cow-try, by sow-
ing discontent- in the army. The discipline of the English
troops was compared with that of the French; and in this
comparison a most decided preference was given to the French.
Irlie article in The Lratuincr proftscd to he a disquisition on