The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-13 00:00:00

1N RE CHAMBERS AND SON.

TO RICHARD GROOM, ESQ., No. 3, HEN.
RIETTA-STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE.
Fleet Prison, Nov. 2, 1839.
SlR,—The accounts and administration of these
affairs vow lying before me, containing the various
receipts and payments, being 156 printed pages in
foolscap, as if to crown the brows of those acting,
I take leave to pass a few strictures on your conduct,
and shall occasionally extract faithfully therefrom.
How many times, let me ask you, have you
caused me to be dragged, at my advanced age,
through mire and rain, under summons of the late
Commissioners of Bankruptcy—shall I say thirty?
—to be examined by Sir F. Pollock, Mr. Wake-
field, Mr. Richards, Mr. Cullison, &c., all eminent
Counsel, and last, though not least in his own opi-
nion, the renowned attorney in bankruptcy, Mr.
Mayhew—to elicit, if possible, something which
might be distorted into an implied act of bank-
ruptcy (to bolster up the proceedings of your de-
ceased father, and his colleagues), which all
failed of any beneficial purpose ? And you, Sir,
became an amateur assignee, without being a cre-
ditor, either in your own right, or as executor to
any one ; yourself and Mayhew canvassing for
your appointment. You then had recourse to sum-
moning, before those Commissioners, my daughter,
who was then just entering into the world. She
might commit herself to the sacrifice of her father
or brother : was it humane of you to resort to
such a proceeding ? Fortunately for her inno-
cent feelings your experiment was abortive ; there
being nothing against her father or her brother.
Not succeeding in that attempt, recourse was
had to your forcing my bureau at Enfield, and
abstracting therefrom the letters of Mrs. Chambers,
from her marriage at the age of 17, to her husband,
for many years ; and, after perusing them, handing
them over to Mr. Treherne, your man of all work;-
to whom you paid 3,3751., as appears by your
accounts ; who has retained the letters for years, and
I presume still continues to hold them. if they
have been returned to you, and that you have
availed yourself of the opportunity, to the edification
and benefit of your own wife, in regulating her con-
duct towards her children, (good as that may be),
I may perhaps pardon your violation of the rules of
decorum, " established between gentlemen." I
adopt your own language, contained in a letter
you wrote me while in the King's Bench ;
Apologising for your playing the part of Paul
rin opening a (single) foreign letter addressed
,00re, indorsed " private." r. Treherne, the
accountant, could turn his hand to whatever
Was proposed, because he possessed a wonderful
versatility of talent—he could engage vocal artists
for the opera and the corps de ballet, to the loss of
5,0001., which sum you allowed in reduction of
the rent for that year, 1827-B—he could embel-
lish the interior of the theatre, repair and deco-
rate the concert-room, to whom you advanced
thousands of pounds—he had a taste likewise for
farming; became a large purchaser of live stock,
bullocks, &c., for a further advance of thousands
—he was inspector of the ploughings, bullock and
pig feeding, to the loss of very many thousands, ex-
' elusively of any rent, as appears by your account
(lying on my table), for fifteen years. But of all
his qualifications, there is one above all praise, for
which he stands unrivalled, namely, as an evi-
dence in the King's Bench, with the two joints of
his tail. His servant gave in evidence that she re-
ceived thirty-two letters, " addressed to Messrs.
Chambers and Son, and delivered them, but to
whom she knew not, nor who paid the postage ;"
and the man Field, who swore stoutly in cor-
roboration of Treherne's testimony ; but to the
dire disappointment of the three disinterested
witnesses, they were all refuted by a re-
ference to the almanack for the year 1825.
The tutti tre of Mr. Treherne forgot that the 9th
of November, 1825, was on a Wednesday, and
he slunk out of Court, with his tail between
his legs, like a dog that has a tendency to killing
his own mutton. Nevertheless, the fatal overthrow
did not deprive him of the benefit resulting from
his universality of talent.
Now, Sir, as to Mr. Treherne, your accountant ;
you will inform
my creditors what accounts
tbphye er
mrheayps were
clerkst o keepin
e for all my books were balanced
day. As
they were made out
1 so they have continued to the present moment, and