The Sun.
London, England, 1809-07-26 00:00:00

, •
LA W REP RF.

COURT OF CHANCERY, lu 24.

PEARCE V. PIPE.

This is a- case :Of •Annuitants claiming their an-
nuities against the society which had dissolved it-
self, on the ground. that their fund vvere,itisuffi,
cient to continue the objeals for which ' it was ori-
ginally fanned. It stood over for judgment 'to.thiS
day.
The LORD ChANCELLO3 was now pleased to de-
fer his final decision, until he-looked . into the orie
ginal decree of Lord. Thuilow, in the Register's
Office, upon a similar subject, to which he had been
referred. In all cases• like the present, of Anneity
Societies, if .therebe-no radical Mistake in ehe'ori-
ginal, institution, fatal to their continuance, he al—
ways felt .every possible inclination to give theth
ef-
fect, as their object was, a most laudable one—ghat
of securing the comforts of life; in their old age, to
. those, who, in their former lives, were highly uSe-
ful both to themselves and the community. To carry
this object into -effeet,ethe'briginal subscription; iu
the present .instance, was entered into, for the
avowed. purpose of producing a capital, the interest
arising trona which- Wes- to be adequate to the
payment of the annuities .as they should arise; and
it was then supposed, -there would be such 'a mim-
ber of Subscribers as would be sufficient to secure
the permanence of the hind. Now, without any
precise knowledge in the science of calculation, it
-Must, strike-the most common 'Understanding, that,
to render this objea infallible, there must necessa-
rily be Rich n given • number of Subscribers, be their
subscriptions what they might, as shOuld, in all
possible events, secure such a fund. .And yet, 'in
this case, they took their chance of obtaining this
number, as soppusing.no dotibt, their plan' would
prove so inviting as to secure that event :" and, ac-
cordingly,, the original Deed :of Association was ex- ,
ecuted. By this they haVe made themselves quasi
a Corporate Body, without-their being so in realeye
'and thereby have exposed themselves toall-the in-
conveniences ot_ such a mistake.. The dcUlty of •
carryiok any decree into effect is this ; that although,
by the original articles af/Agreetnept, the Trustees,
are empowered to call for further sutrseriptions, for
the purpose ; of making op the deficiencies in the.
fund's, will the Subscribers connee when they ,are so '
called? and, if they du nor, can they be Compelled
to do so
,by this Court .? If the, capital of the Soci—
ety, at the end of seven years, was foUnd-
cient for the payment _of the annuities then
.become
payable, was not this, its itself enough to alarm the
Subscribers, especialliesuch as had lately become so,
and to affect the 'fature'welfare of-the' Society ? But
there was a.clause in the articles, in contemplation
-Of such an evert, enabling the Trustees to .postpone
'she payment of the 'annuities, er three months.---
Now; heithUsebe short-Sighted indeed; who coeld
suppose that this measure alone could relieve the Sot
cieteefrom the difficulty'. Accordingly, the last
clause in the articles proVideS" that it, et-en then,
ttte.funds should still :be found inadequate to the
payment of th.e annuities, without trenching on
the capitiat, which_ was in no case to be broken in
upon, -in that. case, the Trustees were to call"upon-
tht Members fee such forther subscriptions as Should
be agreed upon at . a General
,Meeting of the Sub-
, kribers, at a Meeting to be especially called-for that
purpose." Now this Court can only apply a remedy
according to the means, provided.by ihe.original dec.('
of association; accordingly, if there be a refusal to
make a further advance at., such GrierOl Meeting,
can this Court: say, this is steel]. an unreasonable- re-
fusal, as .that it can' enforce the payment ? The,
question, therefore, conies .to, this--.ls there not
something latent in the, plan itself, deSfrudive of it-
self His Lordship then stated the case to which
he had been referred, and which was every way si-
milar to the_present. It was a case in the time of
Lord Tiler-low, of-a bill filed'hy certain Widows, an-
nuitants tinder an association, called the', Laudable:
Society, tor the purpose of proyiding Annuities for
the Widows of the Members. The bill then, as
here, was filed against the Directors and Trustees of.
the Society, and prayed, :as here, that the original
agreement should be continued to be carried into ex-
ecution. Upon that cause comipg on to a hearing,
on the 7th of Aptil, 1785, his Lordship ieas pleased
to refer it, .not"to 'a Master, but Mr. Brand, to Me'
quire and report, whether the-provisions of the (e d-
.
•gmal:deed were adequate to the -carrying it into
•feetual execution ? He accorelingly _reported that
the original., plan, even it Strialy complted- with,
was radically defeeilve,inasmech as,theesubscriptions
were, - from the beginning, top small for the pur-
poses intended: .Upon the cause coming on again,
upon further, dirdeiuns; his Lordship dismissed the
bill, but without costs ; the parties having, with
greet propriety, come to an agreement, to netke,a,
further subscription, so as, to carry the original
tritioeinto-etfeete et' Let this cause stand over until:
Friday• in eider that may, look into the
•eital of this decree. In the -Mean time, I cannot
but express
.my wish that. the parties here should
come to 'sonic arrangement, by whiCh they might
.lie.enabled to carry this institution. into effea,
,as
they the case I have mentioned, much to their
honour, like honest and honourable men."

Thel\liiSion;tries at-Kai-ass; in Tartary; by the
.circufation several small tracts-, in which the
absurdities of the Koran are exposeU, and the
leading doarities of the Qbspel concisely but foi-
cibly stated, have excited considerable sensations
• over a great extent of country. The prejudices of,
most, of the inhabitants against Christianity have
abated ; Many have been, converted .and baptized ;
and not a few have -dechtred that they would eth--
brace the new doctrine, were they not Jestraineci
by the dread of their chiefs.—Several of the Ma-.
hominedan doctors. also, by. -acknowledgiq • their
inability td answer the abjettions urged against their'
faith, have given additiunal,weight to the argumentsof their opponent's. .
Monday morning as Thomas HYslop, a labourer
in the West India Doclt, was working in the hold
of a'ship, one of his legs -was jammed between two
casks and broke. He was taken to the London
Hospital, where he -had'been but a few hours be-
fore his child, about three years of age,, was brought
in, almoSt burnt t 9 death, having been left in a roorn
by itself where there Was a rile. ,They are both in
a very dangerous state. •