The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-28 00:00:00

IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.

In all cases where the debt is under 201., the law remains
just as it was—viz., you have to serve a process in the first
instance, and then to proceed to judgment; upon which judg-
ment you can wrest the person of your debtor, or seize his
property.
Where the debt is above 201., and you might have been de-
sirous of arresting. your debtor in the first instance, by merely
making oath to the debt (which is called mesne process) the
new law deprives you of any such power ; you must, as in the
before mentioned case, serve your debtor w►th a process, which
will ripen to execution, and upon that execution you may take
the effects of the defendant; and if the effects are not suffi-
cient, you may take his person. So that, in truth, the only
alteration which the present statute makes is by enacting that
no action shall be commenced by writ of arrest, but it must be
by summons or notice.
The practical working will be simply this—Heretofore the
arrest of a debtor was resorted to as an experiment to compel
him to pay you, or give ou security, and which, no doubt, in
many cases had the desired effect. Now, yeu cannot bring
this experiment to bear until you have gone through certain
proceedings, nor until you have incurred some delay and some
expense in arriving at a judgment. These two latter conside-
rations will make it necessary to use some greater caution as
to whom you will give credit to, and as against whom you will
put the law in force.
There arc certainly in the Bill increased powers against the
landed property and the funded property of your debtor, if you
can find it, and you may also compel a man who owes you
1001. to become a bankrupt after 21 days, so that he sur-
render his p-operty equally between you and the rest of his
creditors.—A Correspondent of the Times.

WRECK AT BOULOGNE.—(From a Correspondent
of the .Herald)—On Wednesday last, during a most terrific
gale from the W. S. W., the Jeune Olive, a sloop, Captain
Valentine Lucroix, from Rochelle, laden with wines for
Boulogne and Dunkirk, was wrecked near the entrance of
Boulogne harbour, in the presence of many hundred specta-
tors. About eleven o'clock three sloops were seen approach-
ing the harbour, two of which entered after some difficulty.
The Jeune Olive as she approached the western jetty head at-
tempted to luff up, but did not succeed, the sails shook with
the wind blowing nearly a-beam, and she, in consequence
drifted to leeward of the eastern jetty. After endeavouring to
make the harbour for upwards of seven hours, the crew suffer-
ing dreadfully from fatigue ; one of the crew, a youth about 19,
was washed overboard by a heavy sea, and lost. The same sea
threw the vessel on her beam ends, and it was only by the as-
sistance of the life boat of the Humane Society that the rest of
the crew were saved. The vessel could have been preserved
had the slightest energy been used by the proper authorities.
A few real John Bull sailors would have done it easily. When
the sloop was close to the pier the harbour master threw
out a small rope about the thickness of a man's little
finger, to lash her, instead of a strong cable; the conse-
quence was the first heavy sea that came broke the rope,
and away went the vessel, and she got on the sands, and
afterwards went to pieces. One of the crew received a
dreadful blow on the headl and it was found necessary to
bleed him and shave his head when he reached the shore.
The captain of the Jeune Olive bas commenced an ac-
tion for damages against the harbor master, for neglect in
not rendering him proper assistance. The vessel and cargo
might have been saved, even with common precaution. It
will scarcely be credited, but it is a part of,the laws of
France, that, if a vessel is seen in distress, or a man in
the water, or a person hanging himself, proper assistance
cannot be rendered, or the man hanging himself cut down,
until the commissaire arrives. If a rope be thrown to a
drowning man, it is true he can be dragged on to the bank,
but his feet must remain in the water until Monsieur the corn-
missaire arrives. Many casks of wine floated out to sea from
the wreck of the Olive ; but no one was allowed to save
them except the police• and custom-house officers, unless
the commissaire was present.
SECRETS OF THE JURY ROOM.—We stated on

Wednesday last that, in the case of " Straker v. Graham and
another," the jury retired on Saturday afternoon, and were
kept locked up in their room till Sunday afternoon ; that they
petitioned the learned Judge on Sunday morning to allow them
breakfast, and that his Lordship acceded to their request. We
presume that, before so doing, Mr. Justice Williams took care
to absolve the bailiff for the infraction of his oath to keep them
in some convenient place, " without meat, drink, or fire," &c.
But leaving that question, we revert to the matter in order to
show the danger of such a course. Secrets will transpire,
and thus we are informed that of the twelve jurors thus kept

in " durance vile," there were ten who took one view of the

case, and the other two entertained the contrary opinion.
Well, the breakfast came; and what did the " tyrant majo-
rity?" Why, as a gentle persuader to the two obstinate non-
conformists, they surrounded the viands, and while they made
fearful havoc and consumption, they suffered not so much as a
crumb to fall into the hands or mouths of the " miserable mi-
nority." This argurnentum ad ventrem had its due effect : it
opened the eyes of the two hungry unfortunates to the error of
their ways ; whether in time to partake of the viands which
were the reward of " right thinking," we are not aware, but
we should think not ; and the probability is that they were
starved into just conclusions, and thus the jury arrived at a
verdict.—Manchester Guardian.