The Sun.
London, England, 1812-04-17 00:00:00

C,OURT OF LOMMON PLEAS.

Sittings at Nisi.Pritts hibre Lord lei Justice

lELD.
NV/11TE V. bTEELE.

Mr. Serjeant BEST stated this to be an aelion to
recover 50- guineas, as a JTmuneration for certain
attendances upon the defendant, by the plaintiff,
who is a Surgeon. The defendant was dangerously
wounded in a duel, and the plaintiff was called in,
and attended him with the utinDst -assiduity, fiorn
dip 17th of December until the 23d of January fol-
lowing, during which time be was frequently in the
habit- of vishing birn by night-as well 53 by day.—
Fot such incessant labour, the Learned Serjeant be-
liLved.the Jury would not conceive the sum demand-
ed at all exorbitant., He knew- not what might be
the defence, set up, but certainly none could be
made consistent with the honour which, it must,
°he supposed, the defendant had risked his life to
defend.

Witnesses were then called in support of the case,
froin whose testimony it appeared that the defen-
dant had -been Clerk to a Mr. Colquhoun, a yeast
seller, a bankrupt, with whom the duel was fouht;
he was shot through the lungs, and was cons;dered
in the most imminent danger, when the -Plainlitf
was called in, who, from the danger of the patient,
obtained the assistance of Mr. Gatliile, .Leai::rer on
Anatomy to the Royal Academy. It furtht..r appear-
dli,irirtiffliatiacCoMpan;ek: it7r.Colquhoun
to the ground, in order to afford his proleSsional
assii:tance, if required. - •

Mr. Serjeant CLATToN contended that, inns.
ml;c11 as the. plaintiff had; by aceonipanyinp, the de-
fendant -to the groi,rnd where the duel took place,
been rialuallt guilty of an illegal aa, he could not
recover'the sum for which he- sudd, or any remune-
ration for his.Serv;ees.

Sir. JAMES MANSFIELD said, he, would reserve
(his point:
Mi. Serjeant CLAYTON further contended, that
the plaintiff had contracted with the father of the
defendant for his cure, ind therefore could have no
claitn,against the son. In support of this 'argument,
he produced a letter of the plaintiff's, .direCte&to
Mr. Steele, sen. in which he called upon him for
the remuneration- for
..his professional attendances
on :his, .son. An account was also produced in
which the plaintiff only demanded 25 guineas for
his trouble.

Sir JAMES MANSFIELD here sent a note to Mr,
Serje4nt BEST, the obje& of which, we understand,
wag to sugge,t the expediency of compromising the

A conversation then took place between the father
of the plaintiff, Mr. Serjeant CLAYTON, and Mr.
Serjeant BEST, which terminated in 4-resolution to
withdraw a Jurur.

. •
On Tuesday, last a poor boy was murdered in a
Wood,
.near Woolwich, by a ruffian, who having
robbed his master, and being plowed, fled for re-
fuge to the Wood, 'where being,sen by the boy,
the latter .scre;uned with'terror of him, on which the
villain seized and strangled him ; 'he was appre-
hended, soon after, when he'coniessed that he' was
nearly three hours in-pet petrating this horrid
,deed,!

SMITHFIELD MARKET, APRIL 17.

This day's:Market was not Well stipplid with
the different kinds of CattlLl.; Beef, Murton, and
Lamb sold.ot last prices; Polk and Veal are cheaper,
and this trade for the most put, was but indifferent.
The sales in the Hay-market were not live:y ;
Straw has dropped in price ; Clover . has got up. in
price ; Hty obtained last. price. The to!lowing
plices and number are an accurate statem.fnt : •

- To sink the Otl 1,. per stone of Elb.
Beef, 'is, id. to 6s. 6d. Mutton, is, od. to 6s. Sd.
is.. od, to 7s. od, Polk; ss. od. to 6s. Ed. Lamb 74, to
Es. 6d.

Beasts, F,60. Sheep and Lambs, 7,1c0.
Pigs, z 9).

Calves, 95

SMITHFIELD HAYMARKET.
Hay I. cs. od. to 61 .oS. oil.- Straw, zl. too, od. to 31
Ss. Hay,
61..05. od. to 71.-tos.

CORN-EXCIIANG, APRIL 17.—This day we have
some fresh arrivals uf .Wheat,
.with tolerable. ie.
ma.nittg quantities, and sales . again. support late
priees;. Rye fuily at the late advance; Barley and
Malt keep their price; White_ and Grey Peale and
Beans of each sott at little fluanalion ; Oats are in
quoted
at supply, and this trade is also again
at the late increase in price :---Flour without akra-
tion.
Wheat roes a 1245 a 136 s Tick Beans • -58 s a 645
hue ditto -138 s a 142 s Ditto (fine old) 05$ a 66s
Rye - - - 75$ a lins Oats -41 s a 47s a 4jl
BArley . -65 s a 721 Poland ditto . sos a sis
Malt - - - 975„.5 104$ Votatoe ditto - sas a —s
WhitePease;boil.) Sts a 83s Rape Seed - SSI a 651
Grey ditto - 6os a 66s Fine Flour - •,0.5s a i los
kcatis - -63 s a 6;is SCGOIi.I4 - .. IQOS a loss

~.

LLIPERIAL PARLUMENT

HOUSE OF P.EERS.

THURSDAY, APRIxI6.
Counsel and evidei.ce were heard 7n Opport of
Moore's Divorce Bill, aitil the iiiriter conideiation
of Bladhford's Divorce Bill was resumed.

The fact'of the mats age ryas soktarlor,ily prove-d,
and witnesses were called -to tstabl'sh the cirouni-•
.
stance of the adultery.
•
The evidence on This part of case vva,-; not
Concitided, the (art her consideration thereof- being
postponed till to=morrow.

The. glrl of DERBY prey rated a
.Retitinn from
cettoin Alantli4.6lnrers, and others, in Biackbarne;
in Lano)llire, tt,inst the iene.wal of the..nionon'oly
of tfie-IF,-ist India Comfy-my: ;as was a Peri.ion to
the same eacci; from cri rain Iron Manntaetuir...rs iii
Shrop,hire; pre,onted by Lord Bradford.

•
•
'Theh Spirits Warehousing Bill. was read a
third time and passed.
'f he Coffee Diity ltiegtilation Bill was brou2ht
From the Cinranons by M. LUSHINGTON,. a ‘yere
a few others. - •

The Thames Nivigation Bill was retlroed •' 9i;•
.1. StinwE; with t4i4 acquiescence cf the Corntrons
to 'heir- Lordships' Amendtne'As.,

ivenrflliou..ll a
Comitiwee; arid lA'Js rept) tt2d yv.lllont any a:be:1(17

merit.

PEASANTRY OF IRELAND

'rhe Order ior suirmiortinz their LorZitihips
read, -

Earl Stains Ore rose to bring forward the propo-
sition of which he had given notice ,on the above
He said, the topic he was aho_intn bring
the considerationaq their Lera-ships Nvas.one
of the very first importance. It may .be thonqht,
however,. that oft sit-eb a sunjeCt it wee:
to trouble their Lordships with a long natal-401e ;
but he could, assure them, his intention was directly
them verse, and for
,this reason, that the snhjett
was suflii:iently clear and• obvious_ in itself, both as
to the disease and the remedy, to requiie any other
than a short explanation. The evil of which be had
to coruplain, and for which he that day brought
ward a temperate and
.well considered measure as a
proposed redress, was, in point of injustice, to be
-equalled by nothing but the horrors of the Slave
Trade ; and its point of inhumanity, it was nearly
equal, if not superior to it; and in point of iinpolicy,•
as respeaino Ireland, it was certainly greater than
the,Slave Trade with respe& to Africa. lie must,
if consistent in his conduct as referal/le to that ques-
tion, reprobate the system, which he would endea-
vour t.o explain, as detestable in the extreme.
many of their Lordships, who did not look into the
law, or were uninformed ass.to the praalice which
preVarled in some parts of Ireland, what he was ..`.rout
to stare, would scarcely appear credible. They
could scarcely believe, that under the-law as it reeve
exists in that country, that al! those who Were called
the middle men in Ireland, had it in their power to
distrait) for all their respective rents upon the same
estate. Such was the rein and vlistress which it
tit/; •,-YDn'et•- of thseess tren
that an occupying tenant r)34 he made to ply al-
ntiost'all the land was -worth, and yet another per-
gon may come souse upon him for another rent due_
before that which he had contras ed to pay. The
contetnplation of the injustice which may be coat-
'flitted under such a s)stem; was enough to harrow
up the soil. Whenever any one proposed a remedy
fur an alleged grievance, it was his duty explicitly
to state' the nature of the grievance, as well as th
-of his prope(sed temedy. In the opinion he enter-
tained on thiS subject, he was- fortified by others
conversant on the sobjeal, particularly, by the semi-.
ments expressed by a very able lawyer in that coun-
try (whose name he was not authorised to state), ia-
his correspondence with another Gentleman of the
profession. He considered the subject, and treated
of it precisely in the smite manner in which he re-
garded it himself.- The expressed opinion of that
Gentla'man was, that by the relative situation of land-
lords and tenants, and especially with reference to
the middle men; the tenant of the land, by actual
occupation, may be distressed for rent 16 an amount
far beyond that which'h6 had Conttaded to. pay, 1.3 -
Ibis it appeared, that both parts ct his proposition
were correct; in the first place, the tenant was has
ble to pay far berood the rent for which he had
contr.teled, and secondly, this process, by beingen-
forced by several of these persons, the -ruin and n-];.e.
chief which may ensue is inconceivable. Eet their
Lord Ships figure to themselves. the case and situatiun
of a poor min, with a starving family round him,
driven-from his cottage in a country where there
were no poor rates, -The grievance and misery were -
indescribable. ;In England, Where there are poor
rates, every individualtn the parish wotald Wine the
person who acted with such severity., Consider th-e
situation of the houseless peasant of -metal old, going
from cottage to cottage, as it were, begging relief';
consider the of ect of such in a (*nits- where haea
a man would -be received as one of the family by
chat excellent and, warm-hearted, roele; considec
the etfetisicif spell adolefill tale. of inkistiCe. Every
matt. who couldcommand a pitChlork, niust wish to
xercese it fer•p.ornoses'of resentment, bin.- it wor d
s,,,neher the of his heart till.an oeportunity
-tot action It was no wonder that di.contents'ex
isted in a country where such a system of injustice
and irritation may, and was frequently reduced to
practice. 1-1 wished their Lordships not io suppose
he- was statist; an imaginary case. His authorities
were some .of the:nos,: respeetatiie and largest Oro.
priefors iu Irelaad. more partieuiin Iv illustrating
the case to their Lad:hips, be would use V)e letters
of the alphabet. P,y A, he would !epic:sent the.
heed-landlord ;_ by (.3; and D; the first, second,
'find third middleman ; and by E, tweety occupying.
temmits. Suppose then' a case to ttfilidt A let the -
land tr) B for 90'. pen,annotp B to C for 750 i.;
C to D tor- 8501. ; and I) to E, tieing' twenty occu-
pying tenants; fur 9401. per annual. Uncle; the e)o.
.ist log law, all these occupying tenants were liable to
(listless fOr all these rennOhoogh the land WAS °rt:-
ginally let' for -901. 'He believed no person wcufd
say that was justice. Haviug thus state I the case,
.he would nova stare wh;it appeared to him to be a
remedy for the ei;il.-As.for any credit he may obtairi
for the suggestions, all that he could fanly assume,
kk s the met it of bringing it in the stn pt- of a Lid!'
before their Lordships. The merit of the original
sugge,tion belonged to a learned young Gentleman
in the profession of the Wen- Counsellor

who had produced a very excellent and sensible
pamphlet upcia the
.subject. The Bill which he was
ebont to submit Wl5. a very short one, containtng
only two 4.hius..-s, and which would inclu he pro-
posed remedy; it would enai that atter s.ch a
day, no pers,in for the reonre.ry of rent should be
liable to .he process in qurslion, only as it rXisted
against him as a lessee of such derivative or middle;- -
man respectively—this would go not only to render
substantial justice, but in tad to benefit the parties.
The nature of the enactment was, that all these
parties should have that which he was fairly and
precisely entitled to. The original landlord is enti-t
tied to his land, but what were the middle-men
No more than mere conduit pipes, they l-t least,s,
and take as a profit the difference between the rents; ,
the hind was not his ; he derived no profit from his
labour, with respeti to the land—what he derived
was from his come lion with the man immediately
be:ow him. Let him have a remedy so far, but let
- him not ride over state and forest upon the property
of every man that occupied it. The Bill would. go
to affortl a distinct benefi: to the original landlord,
inastrUch as it enacted, -that the middle-man should,
not be entitled to distrain for rent, until such
as
was payable to the original landlord should be duly
paid, that he should be satisfied for his rent before
the middle-man could come and take away the pro-
duce of the lands. The Bill would attack the rights
of no man, while it would go to *prated duly the
occupying tenant. It went upon the, true
princille
of law, as applicable to the case; that the right of
distress should not vest in the immediate lessor of
the-occupying tenant, until the head landlord Should
be satisfied, and that the last middle-man should be
authorised only to distrain for the difference, but
not for the whole. Thus simple and clear in its
operation, the leading obje& of the measure would
be the removal of aggravated injustice. The Noble
Earl then presented the Bill, which was an Al for
be,tering the condition of landlord and tenant in
Great Britain and Ireland. This he sair.L he would
move to have read a bast time, and afterwards to be

printed
On the question,
Lord REDESDALE rose, and expressed his doubts
as to the efficacy of the measere proposed by the.
Noble Earl tor us avowed ourposes. He was not
unicquainted with the subied from his official re;i-
denee in Ireland, and it wa. one to, which he had
Often turned his mind. Mach•of what Was coal-
plalwri of arose from the disturbed state of Ireland,.
in one view, and its-rapid progress in improvement
in some parts of the country. So that a quantity,
of land which may be let at one time for gol. may
at another be let for 9501. or even a larger, sum of
money. He adverted to the case of a friend who
possessed considerable property in the county of
Clare, who bad let a tract of thirteen, thousand
acres, reserving about eight hundred for himself;
but so it was, that these eight hundred acres
.were
stow of infinitely more value than the remain-
der of the tract. The system in question had long
been acted upon in Ireland, and he believed that
one-third of the landed property in that country
was held by such tenures. In most cases, the
lands were originally let for• small rents, the
, next leisor increased the rents, and so on progres-
sively, se- that there wete many instances where
land was let for six times the amount of the original
rent. The Noble and Learned Lord entered into a
detailed legal view of the question, as apphcable to
to the long-established law, and the system which
'prevailed iu'lreland (which our restricted limits pre-
clude ps float entering into), for the purpose of
chewing that the enactment of such provisions as
the Noble Earl's Bill contained would have an in-
jurious rather than a beneficial teudency.' Much
of what was complained of arose, not from any
particular provision. of the law, but from the general
system which has long prevailed with resped to let-
ting lands in Ireland ; the rents paid by the occupy-
ing tenants were comparatively high, and they of-
ten depended upon the circumstances of the year
being fortunate or otherwise, and the state of the
seasons, for the ability to pay their rents. The pio-
cess of distress formed so prominent a part of the
system, that most of the considerable estates had
what was there called a Driver ; and to such pro-
ceedings landlords were often obliged to recur, in
order to prevent the tenants carrying the substance
from off the lands. Under some provisions of the
law of England, where in general a very different
system of letting the land prevailed, a process near-
ly similar, as many of their Lordships must know,
could obtain, as in the cases of jointure, where a
power may be given- to distrain on a part of the
lands for the amount of the whole jointure. He
did not see bow the remedy proposed could have a
general beneficial effect : by the mode in which the
power was meant to be given, cases may occur, in
which the lessee shopld pay all those above him be-
fore he could recover what was due to himself,by
distress ; and the operation of it may be such as ei-
ther to divest a person of that which he was legally
entitled to, or to produce endle:ss matter for litiga-
tion. What be stated was rather with a view that
the subject shank! be considered so as to find a re-
medy for the mischief, if possible, than to preclude
further discussion. To. him the subject appeared
attended with various difficulties. It had occurred
to him, whether it would not be advantageoui to
Ireland to check the pradice of sub-demises in Ire-
land by some provisions of laW. The difficulty of
*finding purchasers in that country would also form a
part of the consideration. This he had experienced
in the instance of some property he had near Dub-
lin, of -which he at'length had no means of parting
with but by a siib-detnhe; what then- would be his
Situation with respect to it, if he had not a powerof
distress ? Something, he thought, may be gradually
done to lessen the evil ; and though, on a first view
of the question, lie thought it would be preferable
to bate the subject to.itself, yet be assured the
Noble Earl he was disposed to give every attention
to what had fatleu from him; and if.any thing in
the way of remedy occurred to his own mind, he
should be happy to suggest it ; he rather despaired
of such being attained in the way now proposed.
The Earl of CLANCARTY was of opinion the sub-
dd. in question was one not of great difficulty, but
elicacy, and should be agitated with the greatest
caution. He concurred with much of what had
fallen from the Noble and Learned Lord, and added,
that the state of these things was such in that part
ot the United Kingdom, that sucks a measure as was