The Sun.
London, England, 1825-11-05 00:00:00

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LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF CMANCERY, Nov. 4.
BOUCIVE v. PETERS.

Mr. llonstE applied Wien injunction. to restrain the de-
' fendants from effecting a transfer of money in the hands of
the Accountant-General and in the Bank, according to an order
of course obtained for that purpose. In the year 1770, one
Nicholas Jecquinet came over to England, at lived und.r the
assumed name of John Pourtois. lie acquired by his appli-
cation to business a very large fortune, amounting, in fact, to
hundreds of thousands of pounds. He lived to an extreme
old age, and died in 18113. In the year 1801. being then 72
years of age, .one Anne Peters, a scullion, discharged from
some great family, was introduced to him. Ile took lodgings
for her, and cohabited with her. She bore three children, and
put them upon him as the father, though it was now in
proof that she was pregnant with one of them at the time
of his first seeing her. The deceased had three illegiti.
mate children 'before his connexion- with her. He made a
will, -disposing of the bulk of -his immense property in favour
of his children. Afterwards, thinking that the security of the
will was too loose, the parties induced him to effect a deed of
gift. On the suggestion of one Gila, an attorney, of Shire:.
line (as it is stated in the pleadings), Anne Peters persuaded
him to Make a will entirely in favour of her children, to the
exclusion of his first offspring. The executors named were all
men of respectability,' and nothing improper --was attributed
do them. Anne
.Peters becoming apprehensive that the cir-
cumstances under which this will was obtained, the testa-
tor being by this time, as would be clear from the evi-
dence, decidedly of unsound mind, by the advice of the
same attorney, she then obtained a transfer to her children
of the greater portion of the fended property. The first draught
of this last instrument (the paper was handed up to the Court)
-contained these words—" In the event of the aforesaid will
being disputed." It was conjectured that the words were too
-well calculated to raise suspicions of themselves ; they were
struck out, and did-not appear in the deed. It would- be shewn
by the evidence, that he was at the time totally ignorant of the '
effect of what he was signing, and incapable of understanding
it. Until the-age of 67 the conduct of the testator was known
to have been unexceptionable. He • then altered his conduct,
and began a career of utter depravity. He addicted himself to
the lowest vices, and kept the worst possible company. • lie
frequented an infamous house in Gray's-inn-lane, kept by a
woman named Trippeau, with whom he cohabited. She and
a woman called Brown acquired great influence over him._ ,
They were anxious to get some of his property. They put him
in a chair, bound him, held a knife over him, and threatened
him'with death if he id not comply with their demands. He.
signed a note of hand for a considerable sum, and escaped out
of the house with difficulty. The women were tried for the,
offence at the Old Bailey,- and found guilty. He afterwards
took Brown into regular keeping in the_house of a respectable
man at the west end of the town. Trippeau there introduced
to him Ann Peters as a companion. for Brown, who was soon
discarded to make way for her. It appeared in' the evidence
that the conduct of the group became outrageously wicked and
indecent. Three or four prOstitutes would be brought into the
-house at a time, without anyobservance of the difference be-
tween day and night. The landlord, finding them to he ttuite
intolerable, got them out; and they. took apartments in a-house
in St. Alartin's-street; Leicester-square. The inmates of this
house had deposed that he was in their conviction of unsound
mind. • That evidence was corroborated by the testimony Of his
three eldest children, who were provided for in the will by
moderate legacies. The funded property was already in
Court, but being appropriated in thirds _to the progeny of
Anne Peters, an order had been obtained for transferring the
portions to the names of two of them, daughters, who had at-
tained the age of 21. The present motion was for an Injunc-
tion to stay them from proceeding on that order until all the
causes- were heard. Proceedings had been instituted in the
Ecclesiastical Court' to set aside the will on the ground of in-
sanity.' The plaintiff appeared_to claim the property on behalf
of himself and the kindred of-the testator. He had accordingly
taken out administration. The reason why this application
had not been made sooner was, that one Calon, who was'next
of kin and the proper claimant at the death of the testator; had
died Within the last fifteen months. He expired in-extreme '
want of the necessaries of life, and it was proved that he had
declared at the time of his decease that Pourtois was of un-
sound mind, and that he would if he were able institute pro-
ceedings to recover the property. The present plaintiff had
come neer here in 1798 as secretary to a commission for an
exchange of prisoners, and had continued to reside here ever
since. Claud Riaudean, and other parts for whose interests he I
appeared- in common with his own, were persons residing
abroad, with whom lie had to consult, otherwise the application •,1
to the Court would have been more prompt. •
The Loan CHANCELLOR directed that the order should;
issue. The parties, however, were to be served with the sub-
peena as soon as possible, and notice should be given to them,
that they might come into Court, and be heard as speedily as
they thought fit.

RIDGE V.-MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL referring the Court back to this
case, which relates to a bond for 5,000/. given by the Marquis
and Marchioness of Hastings, the suit of which had been dis-
missed by the Master of the Rolls for informality, the parties
not being at the time within the jurisdiction of the Court, he
now moved that the Court would be pleased to give directions
what was to be doiie thereupon. • •
Mr. HEALD opposed the motion, because it was indefinite in
in object, and unprecedented in its form.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said, that there (-mid be no
doubt as to the intention of the Noble Marquis fulfilling the
bond.

The matter is to be mentioned on some future day.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, Nov. 4.
The VICE-CHANCELLOR held the second seal before term
to-day.

BOUND V. STONE.

Mr. BrcEERsTETH appeared to show cause why an in-
junction which had been granted in this cause, to restrain the
defendant from disposing of certain shares in the Radcliffe Gas
Company, which he claimed to hold, should be set aside. It
appeared from the statements on both sides, that the defendant
'had been •one of the persons engaged in the establishment or
the Radcliffe Gas Company, and that he had become entitled
to one4enth share of the whole property of that Company.—
The plaintiff after Wards agreed to purchase a moiety of his
share, and the sale was concluded at the sum of 500/. The
atlitirs of the Company turned out so prosperous, owing
to the increased consumption of gas, that in order to extend
their business, and to prevent others from participating in the
advantages of this undertaking, which the proprietors had
themselves planned, they found it necessary to erect very
large additional' buildings, and to augment their capital.--
To do this effectually, it was necessary to obtain the autho.
rite of Parliament, and an Act was passed, by which their
capital was to he increased to 100,0001., wad the interest in
the Company was to be divided into one thousand shares.—
Of these shares the -existing proprietors took tikift, and the.
remainder were thrown into the tnarket. The actual 'value
of She slaws of the old proprietors was 52,000/. Of thii
certain part was to be retained as. their subscription to the new
company, and the surplus divided among them according to
their respective interests in the old shares. A sum of 1,9001. was
paid in ca,,h to the defendant as his share of the surplus; and
credit was given to him for 3,9611. on account of his subscrip-
. tions towards the new shares. The defendant paid the plain-
tiff half of the IMO/. ; but refused to let him participate in
the profits to be derived from the other shares. The plaintiff'
had therefore filed his bill, upon the ground that as' the
shares which the defendant held had been granted to him in
vittue. of that one-tenth share, a moiety of which he had sold
to the plaintiff, the latter was entitled to u moiety of all the
profit that might result-from them, whatever division they
•mightaindergo. An injunction was issued in compliance with
the prayer of that bill; and the present motion was to dissolve
the injunction.
Mr. SUGDE..; and Mr. BARBER were heard in favour of
the injunction.

The VICE C:IANCELLOR said that from the statements in
.the b 11, which remained uncontradieted, the plaintitf.had
'made out snClfa.case as entitled him, prima facie, to . the .in-
junction which had issued. It was not. necessary for him to
decide in this stage of .the business' on the came, and it would
he highly inexpedient to do so, because there might be facts
not yet laid before the C.urt which would give it a difli:rent
complexion,. As it stood, however, at present, no cause lad
been shown against the injunction, which must therefore be
allowed to stand.

Mr. Sut4DE:l applied for costs; but his Honour said it
was not the practice of the Court to give'coits on such appli-
Fatitins.—( For further Law Proceedings, see the Fourth Pa.ge.i

PRICE SEt•ENPENCE

LITERARY NOTICE.

. ,
..~

FORGET ME NOT; a Chriittnas- and New Year's Present

fOr the Year 1826.

Another Number of this interesting and beaU-
tiful little Work has just issued from Mr. AcKEft-
mANN'S Repositoey. Four years have now elapsed
since that gentleman, in emolation of the highly-
embellished pocket-books which are at this sea-
sou bestowed upon youthful friend's on the conti-
nent, first published his " Forget Me Not." The
attempt succeeded ; and, as might have been
expected, a rivalry was very quickly esta-
h.lkhed, so that there are now, we believe, at
least half a dozen of these " Offei;ings of Friend.-
ship" annually published. Amongst all these, it is
but just to Mr. ACKERMANN to state, that, in ad-
ditiop to the merit which attaches to him from
being the first in the field,' he may also claim
that of evident superiority. Some among those
which we have mentioned have followed very
closely in his footsteps, but, in our opinion, none,
have yet attained the neatness, delicacy, and
taste, which distinguish this annual production of
Mr. ACKERMANN: On the present occasion he
appears to have been stimulated by the cumpeti-
tion to produce a more beautiful Number than he-
has yet published. In this he has certainly suc-
ceeded. For the embellishments the first Artists
have been employed, both with reference to the
original designs and to the subsequent engrav-
ings, while, for the literary portion, we have also
before us a list of talented 'names, whose
efforts have been concentrated to render
the Work completely c;ilculated to fUlfil.
the purpose for which it is designed. Among
the prints we should notice`" Contemplation," 'a
very beautiful study, by •WESTALL ; " The'
Child's Dream," also by %VESTALL, and beauti-
fully engraved by CHARLES HEATH. " The
Bridge of Sighs at Venice" is a very spirited
produCtion 'of the pf;nCil of Mr. Paotyr ; and
4 The Cottage Door" is a specimen equally cre-
ditable to Mr. HILLS (ribose excellence in that
department of his art is well known), and to Mr.
E. FINDEN, the engraver. Considering the gene-
ral merit of the embellishrrients, it is hardly fair
to instance individual talent ; but were we to in-
dulge freely in Praise (in which we confess we
are at present disposed to run riot), our notice
of this little work would far exceed those limits,
which deipite of inclination we must regard. In
fact, however, we cannot better promote the
interest of Mr. ACKERMANN, or the pleasure of
Our Readers, than by earnestly-recommending the
" Forget Me Not" to the notice of the latter,.
confident that each succeeding year will find
therit less inclined to forget that there is so inte-
resting a publication.