The Sun.
London, England, 1808-12-22 00:00:00

Pekket, who, as already :stated, was himSert ntye 'Of
t he discounteN. When Hepleton becaMe bankrupt,
his aiEtignees ..-:ontrived to get pOssessiOn of the hops,
and sold them. On this account Pekket brought
his thien klii.inst the assignees, as having a lien on
the goods, tri his character of warehouseman, and
as being part proprietor, besides being answerable
to the other discounters.
The defence was, that the bills were given on
accontit of an usurious transa&ion, and that some
of thein had been drawn within two months of
Hepleton's ad of bankruptcy, the period within
which Sir Samuel Romiily's Ad confines the non-
. ettediveness of iransadions with bankrupts.
The JUDGE, from the evidence of Coombe him-
self, was disposed to think that his tiansadions with
the bankrupt were usur is, but although there
was something aukw the mode of dealing of
the discounters, • ought it too much to say, •that.
they had been gui of usury, and there the defence
failed. It appeared too, that all the collateral secu-
rities had been given previous 'to, the two months
before the a& of bankruptcy, and there also, there-
fore, the defence failed. Verdid for the Plaintiff—
Damages.lo3ol.

DECEMBER 21.

LEE CAss.

This was an a&ion brought by the Assignees of
Messrs. William and Robert Easton,, Bankrupts,
against the Defendant, upon the statute of usury,
to- recover penallies in Areblf, the amotmt upon
three several bills of exchange, discounted •by the
Plaintiff for the Bankrupts, and upon which it was
charged he had taken more than the legal interest.
Mr. Williatn Easton, one of the Bankrupts stated,
that he, in partnership with his nephew Robert,
had carried on the business of Scotch warehouse-
men, and was acquainted with the Defendant. On
the 21st of August, in the last year, he applied to
him to, let him have his-acceptance, at a short date,
for a bill which had been drawn by his house on,
and accepted by, Messrs. Hyam, Coan, and Co. at
six months' date, from the 21st of August, for
9371. 10s. This the Defendant declined to do, but
.offered to discount his bill upon the same terms he
had done before with one in the month of April.
These terms were the payment of the legal discount,
together with three and a half per cent. as a pre-:
mium for the Defendant's guaranteeing the pay-.
ment of the bill by the acceptor. With these terms
he complied. Lie said he wished the bill to begua-
ranteed, but it was for the purpose of getting the
bill discounted ; he had no doubt whatever of the
solvency of the acceptors. He received a letter from
the Defendant, guaranteeing the payment, but could
not tell what was become of it, as the note being
paid, it became useless. The discount was 'dahlia-
ed at the time he received the money for the bill;
He paid the amount of the guarantee, amounthq, to
361. 16s. in Bank' notes, either the same day, or
the next. It•was a separate transaElion. On the
4th of September following, he got an acceptance
of his.draft on Mendez De Costa, at three Months
after date, for 4091. 1 ts. ; on the 7th, he took it to
the Defendant, who offered to discount it, upon
receiving one and a quarter per cent. to guarantee it ;
to this he agreed, and the discount was according-
ly deduded, and on the next day he paid 51. 2,5. for
the guarantees of --The letter for thic Fin-pose,
was, in the same manner,
.and for the same reason,
lost, as the former. On the 14th of November, in
the same year, he had an acceptance of his draft, on
Messrs. Hardy, Otley,- and Co. at six months after
date, for t 661. 45.—This he took to the Defendant,
and wanted him to guarantee it for tbe purpose of get-
ting it discounted. Besides the discount, he paid three
and a half for the guaranteeing of it, in bank notes,
amounting to 51.. !Gs: ; he had no fear whatever as
to the payment of any of the three notes.
Upon the cross-examination, the Witness said
he had been intimate with, the Defendant since
1803 ; that he had dealings with him to a con-
siderable amount ; and that he had discounted
bills for him which he refused to guarantee, to the
amount of 20001. and upwards. The proposal Itl
the ' first instance had come from- the Witness, and
was a tong fide transaction, and not colourable.
' Mr. Serjeanr COCKELL, for the Defendant, ad-
dressed the Jury, without calling any witnesses, in-
sisting on the fairness of *the transaction, and that
the Defendant was justifiable in taking compensa-
tion for the risk he ran by exonerating the Bank-
rupt, and which bad nothing whatever to do with
the discounting of the notes.
The Loan CHIEF JUSTICE left it to the Jury to
decide, whether, by the custom of Merchants, the
Defendant was at all justifiable in charging for the
guarantee ? and if so to what amount ? or whether,
under the fasts in the case, it WM not taking colour-
ably more for the use of money, than the law would
allow under the denomination of discount ?

The Jury retired for a considerable length of time,
and at last brought in a verdid for the Plaintiff,
upon rhe first bill, for 9a71. I us. and upon the last
for 1661. 4s.

POLICE.

FORTUNE-TELLING.
-Woßsutr-STiteEt.—Susannoh Carr was yester-
day brought by Armstrong, the Officer, before Jo-
SENI AIOSEIZ, Esq. charged with having pretended
to tell the fortune of several young girls. She has
been brought in custody to this Office several times
011 similar charges. _

Stban Sch•Aield, a pretty girl, about sixteen years
of age, went, about a month ago, to the lodgings
'of the Prisoner, in Webbe-square, Shorc-ditch, and
requested to have her fortune told. Mrs. Carr pro-
duced a pack of cards, which she shuffled, and di-
vided into several parcels, and said, the witness
would have some trouble very soon, but it would
end to her satistaaion—that she would be married
before she was nineteen, and would have nine chil-
dren, _all boys—that her husband would, be a tail
thin young man, of darkish complexion.
Mary Bell, another good-looking girl, who ap-•
pearcd to be about the same age, said, that she was
with Susan Schofield When she had her fortune told,
was also another girl. Mrs. Carr told all their
fortune, after going through a deal of ceremony
with
_thit,CarOs.. She told this girl, that she would
haVe a-great many children, all of whom would be
very like their father. The girl paid is. for telling
their fOrtunes • •