The Sun.
London, England, 1806-08-23 00:00:00

LAW REPORT.

COURT 'OF CHAINCERY, AUG. 22.
Ex-parte Towoooo in the Matter of ACNE W.
Mr. SOLICITOR-G_ENERAL and- Mr. ALEXANDER
stated, that Mr. Agnew, the Bankrupt, against
Whom a separate Cornmission had been taken out,
was one of the partners • of Strange anu Co. Who
carried on an extensive banking-house in the City.
The Petitioner,, Mr. TowgoOd, along with two
other:Gentlemen,- who were the Respondents in
the present- application, were appointed,. the A.ssig-
nees...,: Soon after the issuing of the. separate Corn-
mission against Mr. Agnew, the other solvent part-
ners of 'Strange and Co. executed a trust-deed for
the benefit of their creditors, th favour of Mr. Tow
.good and the other -Petitioners. in consequence
,of
the bankruptcy of Mr. Agnew it necessarily 'fot-
loAved that his Assignees oecame tenants in corn-
'mon along with the other p,a-tilers of Strange and:
"Co. in.the property belonging to that Contpany.'
Of course, in suing debts due to that con-
cern, it became necessary for the Petitioners, who
were Trustees on the joint estate, to join -with them-
seleeS, as 'Plaintiffs, its every such aelida, the As-,
signees of Agnew, avho was one of -the parties. Se-
veral ataions.had been brought tefore the detirt of
King's Bench for very considerable debts due to the
Company ; in which., as was. iticiispensible, they
;had -made the Assignees of. Agnew parties. • It was
incumbent on 'them, therefore, to prove the faa -of
their being -such -Assignees; but these Gelid-el-lieu
declined giving them 'the necessary_ assistance, by
inspeetion of:the .procciedings -tint* the Commis-
sion. It. -therefore -became uecesSary for the Peti-
tioners to apply-to bis.l.,ordship for, an Order on the
Assignees, to grant the inspection required; Tney
had made a similar application to the late Lord
Chancellor ; btu no Order had 'been made.= it, in
consequence of a suggestion which had fallen from
hiS Lordship, that the :Petitioner, Mr Towgood, in
his capacity of one of 'the: Assignees' of: Agnew, as
well .as one of the joint estate, might have any in-
speCtion, he _chose. It had since, however, been
foUnd that this privilege would be of little or no
avail, tinleSs extended to the Solicitor for the , Trus-
tees also: The Learned Counsel contended; that it
was hardly possible to figure any valid objection
to such • an application on, the part of .the As:iig„nees
on the separate estate, the fonds of which must be
benefitted by any addition-1.6 the joint estate.
The..ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Nl'. TEVENS,',C;tI'
the other 'band, maintained, that the application, of
an exa&ly 'similar nature, formerly presented to
Lord Eldon, so far- from having received -no judg-
ment of his Lordship, had been expressly refused.
The present Petitioners were not creditors,' or in any
way interested in the separate estate of Mr. Agnew,
to which'alone the Lord Chanceller was entitlena.
have regard. The application, 'so far from being
intended to benefit the separate estate, was an iusi-
' dions attempt to come atany infirmities which might'
attend the Commission. This, it was not only the
duty, but the interest of the Assignees to gUard
against, when it Was stated, that the separate funds
had already been disposed of and, divided among
the Creditors, and a final dividend was:on the point
of being adjusted. • The separate Creditors would
not receive full payment, therefore the Trustees, for
the joint estate could have no possible interest; and
the ,only feasible -ground for the application which
could be conceived, was a hope that the Bankruptcy
might not be'satisfaCiorily made out, in which case'
the COnath -
ission Would fall to the ground.
.
The Loin CHANCELLOR said,lhat it• was hardly
possible for him, seeing the names of the Assignees
as Plaintiffs in a suit to refute the application now
made.—lf they were :lanai parties, it was his duty
to afford them every facility to make out their clkim.
If they did not wish to be parties, what was' easier
for them than to release the 'action ? :therefore,
they did not ehuse to take that Mode which was' in
their power of shewini- their non-acquiescence in
the suit, was he entitled to take it for granted) :The
writ di duces tecuni he esteemed a very beneficial
and proper form in the Courts'of Law, and he was
intry to see it so much out of use. In - whatever
degree of observance, however, it might have been,
it could never hal;eavailed the Petitioners,; .11a,, as
Plaintiffs, could .not have used it against a perSbn
'who must have appeared to be their own Soliedor.
As to the idea, that the present. application
be intended to overturn the Commission. against
Mr. Agnew, that he thought highly iMprobable.
In doing -so; they must' themselveS be non-suited.
and it was difficult to see, when the- magnitude
of
Ithe debts claimed was taken it,t) Consideration, what
, interest they could 'have- in wishing to aecornplith
1 such an end.. .As, however, it was said that
.Lorca

Eldon had refused a. sitnilar applicaticm, he should
look .itito it, and should .lodge his order at the Se-
cretary's Office.
EX .PARTE ELSTOB.

His Lordship said he had attentively perused the'
deed which' was said to amount to a contra& of co-
partnery in this easel- and when he considersd the
whole import of it, and a decision by Lord. HARD
WICE,E,in which he -laid it down, that a Ship, as
well 'as any other property, might constitute a co,
Tannery interest, a Bankrupt's share in which must
,go to his creditors, subject to all the burdens under
.which he himself held it—he felt himself called on
to pronounce 'a similar judgment in this case. aid
there been no co-partnery, but only a common right
of part ownership, the .observations he formerly
made on the
,case would have-been correa : being
satisfied, however, that a co-partnery was here:not'
only meant, but seeing it even SQ expressed, be must
give effect to it, -and; of course, could authorise the
creditors to,dispose of no More than the Bankrupt's
share in. the Vessel, such as helimself possesSed it,
and subje& accordingly to the claim of his Copartner,
as husband oft he Vessel, and as hating otherwise
made advances.onts:aceount; • ,

EX 'PARtE COOPER.

. ,
Mr. ALEXANDER stated, tnat tnis was an applica—
tion, in which, if„ his Lordship could not interpose
to give relief, the-situation of the, Bankrupt must be
distressing in the extr.2rrie; as he muSt. ftir ever be
deprived of that. benefit which was afforded by the
Laws of the Land to every unfortpnate but, honest
Bankrupt-the. obtaining of his certificate. It so
happened, in this case, that the Solicitor to the
Commission ,having died; the whole proCeedingS had
under it had been lost ;, and although numberless
advertisements had been inserted. in the Public Pa-
Apers, and- other Wise; -in the flOpe of recovering
them-, they had never since been -heard of. The
I Bankrupt, at; the. time 'this misfortune happened;
!. was in the cciurSe of.haVing his certificate allowed.
It had been signed by most-of the'creditors; hut had
not come the length of being approved by the Corn-
missioners. As it .was. now • impossible to prove
what did a6tually constitute four-fifths Of the t re-
ditors in number and .Value Who .had proved under
6the .Commission; it .Was hardly, possible that any
such -satist'a6tory evidence could 'be laid before the
• CoMmissioners as should induCti them, to sign the
certificate, unless his Lordship granted some
• It was, therefore submitted, that the prOper ad-,
vertisements should be. inserted 'in the. Gazette,.
calling on the creditors, if they disapproved; of the
.granting to the `Bankrupt his certificate, to signify.
sitch:disapprobation -within tiventy-one days ; and,
in the event of no objeelion being inaile that his Lord-
ship should order.or authorisdthe Commissionerto'
sign the certificate:
The Loan 'CI!-ANCELL.tiR said he should endea-
your to shape an order to answer the case; and,
though sitting an Bankruptcy, should vlcitend, to
the.Batikturt that_ equity which belon,ged to the-
cuurt,and which it was far from his Lordship's
,wish to 'see in any institute disappointed by an ac-
cident. • , - •
His Lordship concluded his. Sitting, having gone
thrk)ugh a quantity of business almost unpre-
cedented,

Yesterday, during the discassion of a cause, the.
Court Of King's Bench was interrupted by a.person
of a very singular appearance. He said, that he had
been concerned in. the case which was arguing, and
had settled the accounts -both •at home- and abroad,
and he hoped his .Lordship -would forgive the, intet-
ruption, and listen- to what he had to say. He add-
ed, that he had settled the peace in India, caul had:
partaken of the danger, difficulty, and fatigue, at-
tending the wars between this Country and the Na-
tive. PoWers., it ,appearing that the unfortunate man
laboUred under tnehtal derangeMent; Lordship
directed every prOper care to be taken of him, and
ordered him to be removed frOm Court.
. ALARMING Farris.--The fatal effeas of the late..
atom/ on Tuesday evening have been severely felt in
the West of England, and particularly in-the Vale
of Berkshire.. The lightning set fire to a wheat rick
in the .yard of Mr. CHASE, an opulent farmer at.
Burt t~field, Berks, and the same:was deStroyed, with
many others. -After the fiat had sPread devasta-..,
'tion in the rick yard, a barn took fire, and the whole
-of a' spacious,farm-yard was in one blai,e, 4: report .
prevailed at this time that the lightning had set fire
to-other premises not far distant, atid the Country was.
thrown into the utmost consternation. Thetwhole
of the premises belonging to Mr. Cil LSE fell a prey
to the devouring eleinent, the dwelling-house ex 7,
cepted. The cattle were; foroinately preserved and
placed in safety; before 'the' flames, had: cOnnpuni-
cated to the farm-yarA. . The preniiies,' W.e under-
stand, were insured, 'but not to the extent, of the,.
damage.sustained. A waggonei, :driving a team of
horses near to the above-place; was struck dead,,as
. was also one of the horseS. The lightning also Com-
Municated to a rick of wheat. net Baldoek, Herts,
and 132 loads of wheat were consumed.
SUDDEN DEATIL—On Thursday evening, as. MY.
SSIITII, Printer; in- King-street, Seven- Dials, was
returning to town from Highgate., just as he arrived
at the end of the New Rdad, he,'Avas seized, with a
tit, fell on the path-way, and, remained in that situa=
tion 'a -considerable-time, during , which Mr. SPLIT-
FUER, the .ContraLtor for Military Waggons, came
by in his .chaise, when .seeing -him in-the situation
• abOve described, he. procured assistance, and con
veyed the houSe of a Surgeon contiguous,
where he expired soon after he was taken in; not 7
withstanding-every effort Was made for his recovery',
The deceased was subject to fits. ,
Tuesday afternoon as ashired coach, conveying a
Party from Stiatford. to Nayland, in Essex, had
just passed over Highamibridge, the bedding to
which the two.fore-Springs were affixed broke,- and
the body of the coach swinging round, struck with
great violence against the head of John Limmer,
whO„ with two other persons, was riding on the bar
-,of the Carriage,- and killed him instantaneously. Ano-
ther man, of the name of. sarkdr, had his arm,
broken, and thoSe within Were more or less brpieed.,
A Boxing Match is expeaed to take 'place nest
:Week between Bill Ryan and Rill Clark, who lately
fought a very hard battle at Wilsden Green bets
are in favour of Ryan,. intonseqUence of his having
more sci.nee than Clark.