The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-18 00:00:00

A Married Woman a Bankrupt.

Eliza Maria Butler, otherwise known as Eliza
Maria Amphett, late a prisoner in Springfield Gaol,
Essex, was yesterday brought up at the Court of
Bankruptcy. The circumstances of the case were
very peculiar. The bankrupt, when a single woman,
had lived at Ely, in Cambridgeshire, and had con-
tracted debts there and in London of about £1,460.
About 12 months ago she married Mr. Butler, and
they lived at Romford until October last, when she
was arrested at the suit of Messrs. Jay, silk mercers,
Regent-street, on a judgment obtained against her
previous to her marriage for a debt of £6O, and
committed to the debtors' prison at Spring-
field. There she remained until the periodical
visit of the registrar, who adjudicated her
bankrupt, though knowing that she was a married
woman, and had not traded on her own account,
but oddly enough refused to order her release. From
her examination before the registrar, it appeared
that she was entitled to the interest of £5,600 in
stocks, under her, mother's will, but this passed from
her to the trustees in the event of bankruptcy, in-
solvency, or composition. Butler, the husband, had
also been arrested for some of her debts, and is now
passing through the court to rid himself of his own
and her liabilities.

This was the first sitting under the bankruptcy.
Mr. Sargood, who appeared for Messrs. Jay,
asked that the adjudication should be now annulled.
As this was the day appointed for the first sitting
before the registrar, and as there were numerous
creditors in attendance, it had been thought con-
venient that the application should now be made
to his Honour. Since the prisoner's commitment
at the suit of Messrs. Jay, in October last, there
had been four other detainers lodged against her.
In her examination before the registrar she stated
that she had never traded; that she had a fixed in-
come, the interest of /5,600, under the mother's
will. Being a married woman she had applied to
the court above for her discharge, but it had been
refused. When the registrar visited the gaol the
detaining creditors appeared and urged that he
could not make a married woman bankrupt, and
that it was in her power at any time to release her-
self from custody. The registrar adjudicated her
bankrupt, but refused to release her. She had not
surrendered, on the ground that she was unable to
pay the fees of being brought up. The husband
had since been arrested, and had petitioned for an
adjudication against himself. The clear object of
this proceeding was to secure Mrs. Butler's pro-
perty to her own use, by causing it to pass into the
hands of the trustees, who were relatives.
Mr. Denny and Mr. Macrae also opposed for de-
taining creditors, and urged that the bankrupt
should not be allowed to evade the claims of her
creditors in this way.

His Honour observed that the proceeding was not
at her own instance; she had been adjudicated by
the registrar.
_ _

Mr.'Sargood said the question for his honour to
decide was whether an adjudication could stand
against a married woman.

The Commissioner—The new act says that any
person who has been in custody for a certain time
may be made bankrupt, whether a trader or not.
Mr. Sargood thought it a casus amittus in the
new act in not providing against a married woman
being made bankrupt by the registrar.
Mr. Macrae said he believed it was the first case
that had occurred.
His Honour said he would take time to consider
it.

MARKETS—This Day.

MARK LANE.

A somewhat increased supply of home-grown wheat was
on sale here to-day, in fair condition. Generally speaking,
the trade ruled quiet, yet prices were supported.
With foreign wheat the market was well supplied. For
all descriptions there was a limited retail inquiry, but with-
out leading to any change in the quotations compared with
Monday.
Floating cargoes of grain wero in slow request, at late
rates.

Fine barley was in request for seed, at extreme curren-
cies; otherwise the demand ruled inactive, at barely previous
quotations.
The malt trade was steady at late rates.
Oats—the supply of which was small—moved off slowly
on former terms. • _ _ _

Beans met a slow sale, yet prices were firmly maintained.
The supply on offer was moderate.

Pees ruled steady as to price, but the demand ruled far
from active.
The flour trade was steady at previous quotations.
ARRIVALS THIS WEEK.
Wheat. Barley. Malt Oats. Flour.
English-- 1,000 r 5,20 1,220 3.50 630
1ri5h..........
Foreign...... 65,80 3,220 1 4,63-0 I

8,710 brls

[IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS--Last Evening.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE.
Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY moved the appoint-
ment of the Standing Orders Committee, in the absence of
Lord Redesdale. The names were the same as those of
last session.

The committee was accordingly reappointed.
THE BRAZILS.

Earl RUSSELL said—When I was absent from the
house last evening, having been detained by public busi-
ness elsewhere, some remarks were made with regard to
what has lately occurred in Brazil. The papers relating to
that subject will shortly be laid on the table, and I do not
think it of any use calling attention to the matter, without
going into the details of it. At the same time, as so much
has been said founded upon an ex parte statement which
has come from Brazil, I will take the liberty of informing
your lordships what is the gene' al outline of the case. In
the beginning of the year 1861 there was a rumour that
sailors had been washed ashore near the Rio Grande de
Sul. Our Consul made inquiries, and found not only
that bodies had been washed ashore, but also that there had
been a wreck, and on further inquiries he found that many
articles, apparently taken from a wreck, but entirely dry,
.not having been exposed to the action of sea-water, were in
the possession of various persons residing near the coast.
Upon further inquiry the consul heard that 10 bodies had
been washed ashore, but he was induced rather to doubt the
truth of that statement, When he asked to have the bodies
produced only four out of the ten were forthcoming, and,
with regard to the six, it was declared that they could not
be found, but, as it was said that all the bodies which came
ashore had been buried in the sand of the seashore, the
consul thought that the excuses made to him were rather
improbable. Rumours were circulated, too, that the persons
who had landed from the vessel, the Prince of Wales, had
been strangled or otherwise murdered. The consul then
asked to have an inquest, but an inquest was prevented by
persons apparently possessed of official authority, who were
present with a strong armed escort. The six bodies were
not produced until many months after, when they were en-
tirely decomposed, and of course it was impossible to trace
Any marks upon them. It was a mere matter of probability
only that these persons had been murdered, but it was, at
the same time, a matter of certainty that an inquest had
prevented an inquiry being made into the facts and had not
produced the six bodies. Upon this a demand was made on
the Brazilian Government for reparation, and in January
following I wrote to our Minister desiring that a full in-
quiry should be made. We got nothing but answers of the
most evasive kind, The consul thought it was not fit, our
Minister and her Majesty's Government also thought that
it was not fit, that such an occurrence should pass by un-
noticed and without something being done to prevent a
repetition of it at a future time. Another case occur-
, red shortly after -relating to two officers and a chaplain
belonging to her Majesty's ship Forte. They were re-
turning from a walk in the country, and on one of them
approaching a sentinel and asking him a question in
Spanish he immediately struck him with the butt end
of his gun. The two others then came*up, and the sen-
tinel called the guard, and they were taken off to the guard-
house. They immediately wrote down their names as offi-
cers of one of her Majesty's ships, and also wrote a letter to
the commander of their ship. That letter never was de-
livered, and next morning they were marched to Rio, and
placed in a very filthy gaol. At 11 o'clock next day they
were liberated. This appeared to Le a deliberate insult to
officera of her Majesty's service, and it was desirable that
some reparation should be made. Everydevice was resorted
to to avoid this. It was first said that the officers had attacked
the sentinel, then that they were drunk, and that they had
not given their names ; all of which statements were cen-
t trary to the facts. The correspondence began in June, 1861,
and it was not until Oct., 1862, that her Majesty's Govern-
ment felt called on to take some course to obtain reparation,
There were only two courses which appeared to me could
be taken. One was to demand ample reparation from the
Brazilian Government and to enforce that reparation ; the
other was to withdraw our ships from the Brazilian waters,
and to delare to our merchantmen that they could expect no
reparation for any similar treatment, and that if any of their
crews were murdered we did not intend to resent it. That
course it was impossible for her Majesty's Government to
pursue. Our Minister, therefore, did demand a moderate
reparation from the Brazilian Government. He was in-
structed that it instead of making immediate reparation the
Brazilian Government proposed arbitration, he should refer
it home for decision before accepting it ; but he found that
nothing could be done. No proposal for arbitration was
made, and .then he had recourse to those measures of re-
prisals which have been complained of, I certainly cannot
see anything to be objected to in this course, for it cannot be
contended that when British ships are plundered and British
officers insulted that we are not to make demands for repa-
ration. (Hear, hear.)
The Earl of DERBY--It is quite true that in the ab-
sence of the noble earl I did ask when these papers would
be produced, and I certainly did express a hope that they
would dissipate an impression likely to be caused by the
perusal of the papers published by the Brazilian Govern •
ment, that our representative at Rio had acted in a manner
which could not meet with the approval of her Majesty's
Government. I mnst say that the noble earl has taken a
very inconvenient and unusual course, while merely pro-
mising that the papers shall be forthcoming, to take the op-
portunity of making an ex parte statement with regard to
a certain portion of these transactions. (Hear, hear.) This
certainly is a course I never knew taken by any Minister of
the Crown before. If the noble earl had contented himself
with saying that the Brazilian papers did not give the
whole correspondence, and that when the papers he in-
tended to lay on the table were perused we should be in a
better position to form a just judgment on the transaction,
it would have been quite sufficient in this stage of the busi-
ness ; but he has not only made a partial statement, but has
emitted from it some circumstances. I will not enter into
a discussion of the merits of the case, for I have only seen
the correspondence published by the Brazilian Government.
There are many difficulties in the matter, and many con-
flicting statements, which probably will be cleared up. It
may be that these officers have been grievously insulted, or
that they were treated with a want of consideration which
woula not have been shown to them had they been in uni-
form or if their rank had been known. In the other case the
noble earl really lays down doctrines which we will find it
difficult to enforce. Here is the case of a ship wrecked upon
a part of the coast which is nearly uninhabited—certain
bodies are found of persons who had been washed on shore
from shipwreck, or who, having reached the shore alive,
were subsequently murdered. It is a suspicion, nothing more
—we have nothing before us to show how far it is supported,
and on those facts a demand is made on the Brazilian Govern-
ment for the whole value of the ship and cargo. If such a
circumstance had occurred in England the only claim which
could have been made against our Government would have
been for neglecting to put the law effectually into operation
for the discovery of the offenders. We have no other claim
of reparation against the Brazilian Government, and cer-
tainly never could claim from them the value of a ship and
cargo which was clearly lost by stress of weather, and not
by an act of the Brazilian Government. I am afraid that
even in this highly-civilised country there may be some re-
mote parts in which the practice of wrecking still prevails,
and her Majesty's Government would certainly be very
much astonished if they were suddenly called upon to pay
the value of any ship which might be wrecked on those
parts of the coast, and might fall into the hands of such
persons, and if in support of a demand of this sort a certain
number of British ships had been seized, matters would
have been brought to such a point that, if the question had
been between two powerful Governments, it would have
been difficult to avoid hostilities. That is a part of the case
with which the noble earl has not dealt. It requires consi-
deration, and I hope the papers to be laid before us by her
Majesty's Government will put a more satisfactory com-
plexion on it than it assumes in the papers already pub-
lished.

Earl RUSSELL—If the noble earl had contented him-
self with asking when these papers would be ready, I should
not have said a word on the subject. My intention was to
place the papers on the table without saying a word, but
when the noble earl came down to this house—l happening
to be absent—and on imperfect information, expresses
had
strong opinion that her Majesty's representative at Rio
takeha
committed an act of injustice, it was time for me
etono..e
some notice of it. (Hear, hear.) It little adds to bolf
earl's authority that he has not gone into the particulars
ct to the noble
Ithe cases he spoke of. (Hear,hear.)
earl's view of the law of nations,
It was the opinion of
IWdiothubt whetherPe he will
find any authorities to support
the Queen's Advocate, to wdhifo him.
the matter, that
the Governorent does not take
if a wreck is plundered,
an
sufficient and proper means to bring the offenders to justice
then a demand may be made on that Government for not
and ample reparation may be
having taken those means,
claimed. We did not claim the full value of the cargo from
the Brazilian Government, but we stated what the owners
had demanded. We asked that it should be fairly and fully
inquired Nth by a commission appointed by both sides, and
that any items might be struck out Which appeared excessive.
On an occasion when an Austrian ship was wrecked on the
coast of Ireland every means was taken to bring the offen-
ders to justice; and, though Lord Palmerston, who was
Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the time, said that the Go-
vernment were not strictly liable for the damage done, still
his sense of justice induced him to recommend the payment
of a sum of money as compensation for the injury.
The Earl of DERBY—I can quite understand that the
noble viscount's sense of justice and good feeling might in-
duce him to adopt the course stated by the noble earl; but
I if a demand had been made by the Austrian Minister, sup-
iported by an armed force, I venture to think the noble via-
1, count would not have been disposed to comply with it. (A
[laugh, and "hear, hear.")
THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
A message from her Majesty was read to the house by
the LORD CHANCELLOR, relative to the marriage of the
Prince of Wales, and requesting the us
their consideration what provision ehoulhdobeetotake into
made for his
Royal Highness.
Earl GRANVILLE moved that her Majesty's gracious
Address should be taken into consideration immediately,

and in doing so rEferred to the auspicious event which he
considered would be a subject of rejoicing to the whole
country.
The Earl of DERBY seconded the motion, waiving all
question as to notice which on a subject which was unop-
posed might have been given. Their lordships, he was cer-
tain, would heartily concur with the House of Commons in
whatever was thought necessary to be a proper provision
for a marriage in which the country had so great an inte-
rest.