The National Register.
London, England, 1822-08-25 00:00:00

AMERICAN TREATMENT OF DRUNKARDS.

New Yortsc, JULY 16.—8 y an act concerning the
estates of habitual d lords, passed Nlareli 16, 1821, it
is enacted that it shall be lawital for the Court of Curti-
eery 10 exercise u jurisdiction in regsrd to the estates of
persons who shall be incapable or conducting their own
affairs, in cons,quence of habitual iirtitikeimess, similar
to the jurisdiction exercised by that court in regard to
the estates of lunatics. A commission in the nature
wit de limailco tnquirendo, which was executed at the
Fuldin lintel on I itursday last was provably the first
proceeding which has been had under the above act.—
It wit directed to Peter A. Jay, Dr. 1) flosack. Dr.
Arkeily, S. S. Gairliiirr; and Henry Post, jun. com-
manding them to enquire by the oaths of good and law-
ful men, whether J. H. was incapable of conducting his
o vin affairs, in conseqiience of nabitual drunkenness,
and if so, then to run:lmre concerning his estate, ace.--
'lite jury having been sworn and charged by the pre-
siding commissioner, Mr. I..),vckinati, solicitor for the
petitioner, exll a several witnesses. I),. COCk tesidied
that lie nail attended Mr. H. three or four Lliiat'S S% I hid
the last two )ears, ior Illallla, protltit:cti by intoxication.
Dr. SC4111:111 had amended him, togethzr won tiie lasi
witness, twice during the lasi )ear. Both the pitysiciabs
were very certain that these attacks, which were very
severe, and each of winch lasted several weeks, were 0,-
ca.iutied by excessive intemperance. They had cautioned
hinr repeatedly, but in vain, against the use of ardent
spirits. A number of other witnesses, the friends and
relations of Mr. H. testified that for a long time past he
had been in a state mushy unfit for the transaction of
business, being continually either in a state of intoxica-
tion, or suffering tinder the consequences of it. Mr. H.
stielided in person, and cross-examined some of the wit-
nesses, bin ins appearance and manner were strung tes-
timony against limn. It appeared that lie was a grocer,
that he hail begun business with little or nothing, and
by industry and good management had aCClllnillated a
handsome fortune, which he was now wasting: His
faintly had applied to the Chancellor for this commission
as the only means ot saving him Irons ruin. testi.
ninny being of the strongest kind, without any hesitation
signed all iiiqtaisition fimling him incapable of conducting
his own atlairs by occasion of habitual d r kentiess.—
A committee will now he appointed to take charge of
his estate, and his own acts in relaion to it will b.: void.

VOYAGE Or I)ISCOVERT. Cotiiiiik corvette,
co 11111 l audio(' by !U. Duperrey, Lieut. de Vaitiseati, the
fiiiiiig nut of which has occupied some months at Tou-
lon, sailed from that port on the 11th of the present
She is ab itit to undertake a voyage, from which
results interestitig to the progresss of geography and
physical scietice may be expected. The Gcluille will
first sail for the Cape of Good Hope. She will alter-
wards proceed to the Great Archipelago of Asia, several
parts of winch she will explore. Site will al.° visit the
points of the western coast of New Holland, w hien
were observed towards the last, and commencement of
this ceitimy, by Hear-Ailmiral kmirecasteatix, and Capt.
; and after pouting into smile of tile islands of
the Pacific OCCall, discovered by Cook and liougain.
Ville, she will return to France i y doubling Cape Horn.
Al. Duperrey is to avail Maisel! of all the lavourable
eircuinst.inces which this long voyage way present, to
make ditierent observations relative to the configuration
of the globe, the titchtiation of the needle, Sr.:. S....veral
of the ii embers of the Academy of Sciences and the
Office of Longitude have manifested their zeal in corn-
nitinicati..g to him instructions for that purpose. No
titeaus which ennui pftp.lre the success of tins vapedition
have been tiegltcted. 'Die corvette has been fitted out
with particular care. Tia crew consists of picked sea-
men. Letters of recommendation are lurnished to the

commanders of such foreign establishments as the Co-
ol.ly visit. Finally. the zeal of all the supe-
rior lacer; adonis feasoll to hole that the mission uu
trusted to Mem lAsll be ciecuted ttt the must satisfactory
104110er.

THE NATIONAL REGISTER

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

BRISTOL.
Doe, DEMISE OF HILL o. CRESWICEE.
This was an ejectment brought by an uncle to recover certain
property from the hands of his niece. The lady defended for,
Mary Matilda Creswicke, being a minor, her father, Humphry
Creswicke, stood as defendant upon the record. The case,
which was oue of some hardship, ran thus:—Mr. Benjamin
Hill, of Baldwiu-street, Bristol, died abuat the middle of the
year 1809 ; and passing by his son, the plaintiff in the present
cause, left his property to his married daughter, Mrs. Mary
Matilda Creswicke ; at her death to tar children, sons or
daughters. At the time when the testator made his will, Mary
Matilda Creswicke, had a daughter, di, present do facto de-
fendant ; and a son who was living at that lime being since
dead, that daught,r, the present Mary Creswicke, be-
came entitled to the property.
Mr. Gaselee, who led the case of the plaintiff.—John Bart-
lett Hill proposed to prove the defendant, Mary Matilda Cres-
wicke, an illegitimate child ; she having been born in the house
of her grandfather before her mother's marriage with her re-
puted father, Humphry Creswicke, and while her mother did,
in fact, still pass and go by the name of Mary Matilda Hill.
The certificate of marriage was then put in between Humphry
Creswicke and Mary Matilda Hill. It wan dated July. 1806.
Mr. Thomas Strickland, attorney at law, who made the will
of old Benjamin Hill, and who bad been acquainted with him
for many years previous to his death, swore that the present
Mary Matilda Cresssicke was born many months befor.: the
marriage of her mother, and while hsr mother still passed by
her maiden name of Mary Matilda Iftf!. The fact at the time
was generally notorious in the neighbourhood.
Croat§ eamuined'—The witness admitted that Benjamin Hill,
the testator, had always treated the present defendant as his
grand-daughter.
Mr. Sergeant Pell, for the defenc •, dwelt upon the ungra-
cious nature of the action, and contended that Mr. Strinkland's
evidence was too general to sastein a verdict. Th..re was a
farther point fur the consideration of the jury ; a marriage be-
tween Humphrey Creswicke and Mary Matilda Hill ini4lit have
bike') place secretly, prior to the public manner of 1806. If
Benjamin 11111 had not been satisfied with the conduct of his
daughter, he would not have behaved so favourably to bee and
and her children.

Mr. Juntice Burrough said that the Jury would not be war-
ranted in presuming a prior marriage. The question was, whe-
ther the defendant was a legitimate or an illegitimate child; and
that question must be decided upon the evidence of Mr.
Strickland.

The Jury retired for shoot half as hour, and at the expiration
of that time found a verdict for the plaintiff.

PIVVIN A?D 111 SBASO v. ELLIOTT.

This was an action for negligence by the defendant. whereby
dangerous injury accrued to the plaintiff. Mr. Elliott,* butcher,
residing in Bristol, puts a screen over the the front of his shop,
to protect his meat from the heat of the sun. On the Ist of
of October last it happened that the screen was left out after
dusk ; and Mrs. Pippin, a milk-woman, striking herself against
the iron of it, was knocked down bj the blow an.t .ery seriously
hurt.

It appeared from the evidence on the part of the plaintiff,
that the accident happened about six &cluck in the evening.—
Mrs. Pippin was conling along with a pail of grains upon har
head. When she struck herself against the screen iron she
fell with her head upon the curb-stone ; she was taken up in
sensible, and carried into the defendant's shop. After smile
time the plaintiff was taken home in a chair. She was evi-
dently much hurt. Four doctors attended her, but she re-
covered notwithstanding. She remained ill and incapable of
work for nearly live months.
Mr. Sergeant Pell, fur the defence, contended in the first
place, that admitting negligence to have occurred on the part of
the defendant, still, if there had been a mud of reasonable rare
by the plaintiff, there could be no recov cry in the present action.
The d dentition of the plaintiff, as soon as site was brim& to
herself, and while she was still sitting in the shop of the plain-
shop nt the defendant, clearly proved what. at that time was
her own view of the case ; she said to Mr. Elliott, " the fault
was my own ; if I had let go my pail the thing would not have
happened."
Mr. Adam, in reply, insisted tkat there had been no culpable
carelessness on the part of his client.
Burrough said, that the fact adds screen having
been left out after dark, would of itself base been sufficient to
support an indictment ; but an action for damages must stand
upon different ground. Now the jury would dismiss from their
ininns altogether the argument as to the plaintiff's having a pail
upon her head , she was entitled to carry the pail upon her
head, and to walk upon the footpath with it, and to walk unob-
structed as far as any reasonable height with it. Artisans of
every description were in the habit ot going along the streets,
towards the evening particularly, with their goods upon their
heads, and the streets must be kept clear that they might so
pass along in safety. If the jury were *mistiest that the
plaintiff had sustained injury, they would understand that
she bad sustained it in the ordinary and lawful exercise of her
occupation, and they would be bound to give her such tempe-
rate damages as might recompense the personal suffering to
which be had been subjected.
Tb e jury, alter retiring for a few minutes, found a verdict for
the plaintiff—Damages 301.