The Sun.
London, England, 1831-09-29 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS.-(THIS DAY.)

The House sat to-day, at ten o'etiek, to hear Scotch
appeals; the Peers present were the LORD CHANCELLOR,
the Marquis of BUTE, and Lord SUFPIELD.

CLYNE V. SCLATER AND OTHERS.

This case arose out of one of the many bubble transactions
which took place in the year 1824. In the month of
October of that year proposals were circulated in Edin-
burgh for the formation of a Joint Stock Company for
the melting of iron ore, and the manufacture of every de-
scription of that article, to be called the Caledonian Iron
and Foundry Company. In consequence of this proposal
great numbers of persons, to the amount of 246 and
upwards, became purchasers of shares; and among the
rest the present appellart, who set b;ms,slf down as a sob-
scriber for 20 shares. By the prospectus, it was providA that
the capital stock of the Company should be 100,0001., to
he raised by 4,000 shares of 251. each : that as soon as
2,000 shares were sub-cribed for the Company should be
considered as constituted, and the partners called
together for the purpose of making the necessary
arrangements for the carrying on of the Company.
On the 26th of October a meeting of the subscribers took
place, when it was resolved that a deposit of I/. per
share should be immediately called for. At the meeting
the appellant was present, concurred in toe resolutions,
and paid his deposit. A general meeting was held on the
19th of Dec., when the draft of the contract was approved
of by all present with the exception of the appellant, who
objected to it on account of it being only signed by 73
shareholders; ultimately, however, the appellant signed his
name on a parchment which was ultimately appended to
the contract. The appellant, however denied that he had
ever executed the contract, or that it had ever been corn
pleted by the capital being subscribed, and he renounced
all connection with the Company, which ultimately turned
out to be a complete failure, the whole effects of
which were advertised for sale, and circulars sent
round requesting a meeting of the partners to consider a re-
commendation to be made by the Directors for dissolving
the Company. An action was then brought against the
appellant, to recover from him the amount of the calls
which he had refused to pay, 1001. as a penalty incurred
through failure in terms of the contract, together with the
sum of 501. as the expence of process. The appellant de-
fended the action on the ground that the plaintiff being
only part of the Company had no right to bring the
action, and that the Company had been de facto dissolved,
and was in the course of winding up its affairs. The case
was decided against the appellant, the Lord Ordinary con-
sidering him bound by the conditions of the contract. On
the case coming before the Court of Session, their Lord•
ships hffirmed the judgment of the Lord Ordinary, and
against that decision the present appeal was lodged.
Mr. CAMPBELL and Dr. LUSHINGTON appeared as
Counsel for the appellant, and Mr. Sergeant SPANKIE and
Mr. RUTHERFORD for the respondents.
The case load not concluded when our reporter left.

ELECTION FOR LORD MAYOR.
(THIS DAY.)

This being Michaelmas-day, the election of Lord
Mayor commenced. It having been already announced
that it was the interest of the friends of the present
Lord Mayor to put him in nomination a second
time, contrary to the usual course, and against the
claims of Sir Peter Laurie, who is the senior Alder-
man next in rotation, a more tha❑ usual importance
was attached to the occasion. The friends of both
parties appear confident of success, and the neighbourhood
of the Guildhall presented every appearance of a thoroughly
contested election.

About eleven o'clock the Liverymen poured into the
Hall in great numbers, and by one o'clock it was filled
almost to suffocation.

At ten minutes after one the Lard Mayor, attended by
a number of Aldermen, the new Sheriffs (Messrs. Pirie
and Cowan), the Recorder, and the other City Officers,
came upon the hustings. The Lord Mayor and Sir Peter
Laurie were loudly cheered.
The Recorder addressed the Livery amidst general
marks of disapprobation, which lasted throughout the whole
of his speech. He informed them that they were assem-
bled by virtue of a precept from the Lord Mayor to ex-
ercise their ancient privilege of choosing two Aldermen to
be returned to the Court of Aldermen, that they might by
their scrutiny determine who should he Lord Mayor of
the ensuing year.
Mr. CHARLES PEARSON came forward amidst loud
cheers. It appeared to him that it was a duty
they owed to their country not to treat this question
as one of party but as one of principle, and he earnestly
solicited their calm and patient attention while be
made a few observations upon a question of deep
importance. He should not deal in personality or
invective, be loved to fence with the weapons of truth
and reason, leaving it to those who took au opposite view
to prefer, if they chose, taking from the enrollm y
the scalping knife and tomahawk, assuring them that
he had an arm to wield them it lie thought it necessary.__
(Cheers.) He regretted to see the Hon. Alderman (Sir P.
Laurie) in his present condition, (front an injury Sir Peter
had been carried on a chair to the hustings), but he must
not let any private considerations prevent him from dis-
cussing the question on public principles. Sir Peter
Laurie advanced his claims to the Mayoralty as being a
Reformer--(Loud cheers, and cries of " Off, off")
that declaration had called forward a great number
of Anti-Reformers who were already in the field, and who
viewing the armies of public liberty, were about to en-
gage in a cruel and unnatural strife, and now hovered about
the city like birds with unclean wings clouding the truth.
He called on all Reformers to defeat their intention, to
request those who should vote to investigate fully.
fait ly, and freely, the claims of each candidate,
and to vote as principle directed them. It had
been said that the election of Lord Mayor involved
no political principle, and that it was not a political office.
He appealed to history to disprove that assertion, he would
point to Allen, Brasse Crosby, Combe, Wilkes, and
B cht;ird—tuat ereat and glorious man (pointing to the
st ittle of Mr. B ckford), whose principles and whose
courage wee as firm as the marble on which his
statue was erected.—(Loud cheers.) He would point
to the dark days of public litterty in the years 1770, 1782,
and 1789, when the fritnils of liberty rallied round
the Lord M iyors. as evidences of the sentiments of
the Livery of the city of London. If the elevation to
the office of Lord Mayor was not the result of political
consistency and public principle, how was it that so many
valuable public men now occupied that Bench? Lbw
was it that even the humble shopkeeper was made to
look towards that station as a reward of public principle
and consistency?—(Cheers.) He would now point to the
de; k side of the question, to refer to the annals of political
Mayors during the pemiod that the Tory' standard
wes raised in this country.—(Hear, and cheering.) He
would point to the Mansion-house as the birth-place
of a number of public proCeedings which had brought this
country to its present state. lie would point to it as the
birth-place of the inquisitorial Income Tax; and he
could point to the vatieus Lord Mayors presiding over
the Court of Aldermen, and hallooing the corrupt
Administration on to the iniquitous American and
French wars, as well as to all the great calamities
of the country. Ile would refer the Livery to the au-
thority of Junius, who, when writing on this question,
said, " They insist on a rule of election by rotation,
which excludes all idea of an election,'---(Cheers.)
Mr. Pearson next proceeded to investigate the claiins
of the gentlemen who were candidates for the office.
Sir Peter Laurie had stated that he had long been the
friend of Parliamentary Reform, and evidenced the
fact
of his having been actively engaged in Mr. Lamb's election
fur Westminster, He (Mr. P, )• hash made inquiry, and he
found that Sir Peter had acted not for Mr. Lamb, but to
exclude Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Ilobliouse, two staunch
Reformers. Sir Peter had stated also that if elected he would
convene Common Has and Common Councils whenever
they were required, The best trot of a g„an., condlle
was his actions, and if they tried Sir Peter by that test he
would be found wanting.. It appeared that Sir Peter was
"CLurchwarden of the parish of Marylebone ; he was
applied to by a numerous body to convene a meeting of
the parishioners for the purpose of petitioning Parliament
against the House and Window Tax. He promised to
call the meeting, bat it seemed that a new
light
broke in Lunen hint for he afterwards wrote a letter stating
that as any meeting for the repeal of the Assessed
Taxes must lie of a political. nature, it would be
inconsistent for him in his official capacity to comply with
the wishe of the requisitionists, berg of opinion .th it the
office of Churchwarden ought nut to be mixed uP
with politics.—(Loud laughter and cheers.) . wai
the Reforming candidate for the Mayoralty who had pro-
mised to call a meeting of the Common Hall, and of the
s._

Common Council whenever they were required to do
so, but who wt old probably perform that promise
as well as he did in the parish of Marylebnne.
On another occasion when asked to call a meet-
ing regar,ling the killed and wounded at the French
revolution, he at first promised but afterwards refusal
to do so.—(Cheers.) He would be glad to know when
Sir Peter became a Reformer; for he (Mr. P.) believed
trona his heart tbat he was an Anti-Reformer, and that he
wore his political opinions as h 0 wore his gown, to be put
off apd on at pleasure.—(Cheers.) He would now take