The Sun.
London, England, 1824-02-19 00:00:00

J. C. HERRIES.

WhitehaU 'rrea.ury ChAmber'', ref, 12, 1694,

lIIGH COURT OF ADMIRALTY, FEB. 17.

51,577,604 15

safety of Vie ship, in order to stimulate the zeal and attention of this
class of per Sons, engaged as they were in a highly meritorious ser-
vice. By the policy of most maritime states, payment of wages was
made to depend en the successful completion of the voyage, as that
mhich was to secure the owner his freight. The Learned Judge
then proceeded to cite a variety of authorities, foreign and domestic,
. o the same effect; illustrating the cases by a course of argument
i ad reasoning of which our limits will not allow more than a mere
mtline. his Lordship quoted the work, which he designated "as a
[ very elaborate and comprehensive compilation," of M. Jacobson, an
' 'advocate of Ilamburgh,.who, in p. 183 of his book, stated that to the
'ta
' .ieneral rule, that freight was the mother of wages, there lay many
' exceptions ; and of these the Court considered that which had been
considered by Dr. Adams of a ship's going out in ballast, propos-
*rkg to get a homeward freight. being disappointed in her object,
nd returning as she went out, one -of the strongest. It never
mild be said, that in such a case the seamen were not entitled to
heir wages, both on the outward and the homeward voyage. A
ule, therefore, so evidently. open as. this (that freight is the mother
.f we,ges) to all reasonable exception, could not be considered as
niversally conclusive, in the absence of every other confirmation,
uch as might have been expected to be found in the institutions
if nations, or in the decisions of their tribunals; and still less
o, if it was in opposition to all reasonable principles and prac-
tice in respect of general utility and convenience. Thu Court then
emarked, that the modern practice of all maritime States de-
parted from the application of the rule where enough of the vessel
as saved to be applicable to the payment of wages • and this was
the understanding of France, particularly in her celebrated Marine
Ordinances, promulgated in the reign of Louis XIV. The same
erinciple was to be observed in the maritime laws of Spain, in the
height of her naval power in 1583; of Holland, eminently the
maritime state of Europe ; in the Ordinances of Rotterdam ; and
ikewise in the Naval Code of Denmark;—(Jacobson, page 1534_
The Court had been informed on good authority but ez relations
nly, that a similar improvement of the rule obtained in America,
a country which had of late years eery successfully turned its at-
tention to the understanding of maritime law), although, there, no
ore than in our own, books and decisions, were there any recorded
cases in which the dOctrine had been specifically. recognized. Upon ,
the grounds he had stated, he pronounced that this summery petition
ought to be admitted; and that if the facts as had been stated to
; dm, were true, the mariners mould nave, a right to such a portion of
`the materials that had been saved as would satisfy their wages.

TH E NEPTUNE.
Lord ST owEr.r. to-day gave sentence. This case came os for
the judgement of the Court on the admissibility of a summaryaieti.
lion given in by some seamen for their wages, on account of services
performed by them on board the Neptune. Out of the proceeds
of those parts of the ship and her materials- which were saved, tbe
ship herself having been stranded, they claimed to be remunerated
The petition stated, that some time inl
the
for theirmonth
services
o tieh or
en a
tbyo,alrdB2.
2, this ship being then in the port of Lon 4
don, and consigned on a voyage to Rio de Janeiro, from awned
to Ilamburgh, and back again to the port of London. Williams
Clark, the master and sole owner thereof, by himself or his agent,
hired George Brown, one of the petitioners, to serve as a seaman,
on board the said vessel iluring the said intended voyage, and agreed
to pay him for those services at such a rate ; that Brown havh.
ing subsequently signed the mariners'' contract, sailed in the Nep-
tune for Rio de Janeiro, where she arrived on the 4th of June
following, having discharged her cargo, or part of it, and thereby
earned freight to a considerable amount ; that:the-ship then took o ,
board a cargo of sugar and coffee, and proceeded on her voyage to
Hamburgli ; that she had come 'within soundings off the coast o
Great Britain, when, on the 29th October, a gals of wind came on,
which drove her close in upon the French coast ; and that on the is ,
of November the was stranded on the coast of Brittany. It was fur
ther stated, that no part of the cargo could be saved ; but that Brown,
and the other seamen on board, immediately set to work to save wha ,
they could of the ship, and her tackle; and continuing to do so up to th ,
6th of Nov. they succeeded in saving her ni aid, part of the rigging Rom
spars, an anchor and cable, and other articles, which sold for such .
sum of money as would have sufficed to pay the wages of all the mari-
ners
who had sailed and continued in her up to the 6th Nov.; tha
before Brown and the others were discharged by the master, they did
while on board such vessel, well and truly perform the duties of sea.
men, were obedient to the master's commands, and not having ob
tamed their wages for such services, they now claimed that this Court I
would order them to be paid out of the proceeds of finise parts of the,
ship which had been so saved. The admissibility of this petition w ,
not contested as on any point of fact in 'the case: on the contrary, th 1
facts were admitted by both parties, who were willing, in this stage o ,
the matter, to take the judgment of the Court upon the question o
law— whether the mariners were entitled to recover their wages out o 1
the materials that had been so preserved. Now, that they were not so
entitled, had been principally and almost exclusively contended, on
the authority of a maxim very well known in that Court, perhaps ROMAN CATHOLICS.
more so than in any other, " that freight is the mother of wages.' At a meeting of the. Dublin Catholic Association, held in, that city
Now the ease which had been cited from Siderfin related to a total on Saturdaylast, the Secretary read the following letter, which has
loss and perishment of the vessel--not to an instance in which any been addressed by Lord Killeen to Mr. David Lynch, Chairman of
part of the vessel had been saved; and the dictum of Molloy, which the COMmittee appointed to make arrangements, for the Aggregate
had been likewise referred to, regarded a similar case of total loss. Meeting:— " Corbalton Hall, Feb. 7, 1824.
and was therefore totally out of the principle of the case now be. " Dmax Sue—l had the honour to receive your letter yesterday
fore the Court. The inaxim in question was certainly a favourit evening, and feel flattered at having been called upon by your. Conn_
of the English law; but it was to be taken on the argument a mittee to preside at the Aggregate Meeting of the Roman Catholics,.
the sole ground of a solid opposition (if that opposition could b fixed for Friday next,
so estimated) to the claim of the mariners. Now here no freigh " Not haVing, for some months past, in consequence of my absence
. -
had been claimed as due ; there was a forfeiture of freight, and from Ireland, taken any. art in the Catholic affairs, and being ignos.
there must be a forfeiture of *ages, if this maxim was to go- ant to dila moment of the line, of proceedings about min adopted by
aern the case. The maxim itself, like many others, althotigh,the Catholic body, Ido not feel myself qualified on the present ocea-
expressed in positive language, could not be considered as enthision to accept the very distinguished honour offered we • .I must,:
led to the praise of much real or literal accuracy ; for the natur- Committee
therefore, beg of you to convey to,the Gentleman of the
al and legal parents of wages were, the mariners' contract and th My regret atbeing;,under such circumstances, unable to comply with
performance 0 t the covenants therein stipulated ; they generat their reaaeat, and my warn* acknowledgMents for the very flatter-
ed wages. The 1 Chief Justice Abbott, in his excellent Publi- ing manner in which the communication was made to me.
cation, had laid it down, that the rule in reipect of a forfeiture o
" I have the liononr to he,
wages being worked by a forfeiture of freight, had been framed as an " Your very faithful and obedient Servant,
additional security, both for the payment of the wag.es, and the. "''o David Lynch, Esq. " KILLEXN."

MR. EDITOR—As you direct your attention to
the Stage, and appear to be more lenient and
beral in your comments upon actors and dramatic
novelties than most of your competitors, I take
the liberty of addressing you in consequence of
a remark that „I observe in a respectable Morn:
ing Paper of this day, written by a critic who is
always acute, and generally candid, Of which, for
the sake of a Lady of , the most amiable charac-
ter, and of very high literary talents I request,
that you will admit a short notice. In that re-
mark the critic, speaking of •Miss F. 41. KELLY'S
performance of Juliet ,on Monday, says, " it is
known that from motives of vulgar malice,—
'not worth notice, she had not long since been
shamefully assailed during the first performance,
and last, of a bad tragedy." Now, Mr. Editor,-
I ,have no disposition to discourage the efforts
of Miss F. Ku.i.v, a young Lady,of very pro-
mising talents, and who, being very young, will
doubtless improve by experience, and probably
becotne one of the chief ornaments•of the Stage,
but there can be no necessity to support her ta-
lents by an attack upon a tragedy in which her
efforts were by no means so successful as they
have been on other occasions. Tile tragedy al-
luded to is the production. of Mrs. HEMANSy
a lady whose poetical effusions have deservedly
raised, her name into high literary .distinction,
and whose dramatic work has been; justly ad-
mired since it has been published. I was pre-
sent at its representation, and can ,confidently
assert that no " vulgar malice," or any kind of
disapprobation was directed against the play
itself. Let the critic read that play, and, I
doubt not, that he has sufficient taste to discern
its beauties, and Infficient liberality to retract his
hasty censure. And now, Mr. Editor, a word or
two upon the Managers. It is understood that
the piece was withdrawn 'till the _recovery of
Miss. PooTx should enable her to assume the part
acted by .11.1ite F. 11. KELLY. I must therefore
infer, and join with the public in regretting, that
Miss FOOTA is still unable to resume her public
situation ; but we find that another tragedy was
since announced for performance,and rejected by
.the Licenser. Surely,. Mr. Editor, if Miss
FOOTE is sufficiently recovered, the Managers
ought to do justice to Mrs. IlEstANs before they
bring forward a new tragedy, for otherwise, they
will throw an unmerited stigma upon au excel,
lent play, and wound the feelings of a truly,
meritorious Lady.

-
Feb. 18.
Bedford-Coffee-Howie.

VINDEL

Lady Harrowby and her daughter, and Mrs. and Miss
Canning, were on Tuesday night in the large gallery formed
in the roof over the House of Commons, to hear the debate
on Lord Nugent's motion. In such situation the ladies could
hear very well; but they had a very imperfect opportunity of
seeing, as they could only peep, and that somewhat ask-
ance, through the grated ventilators in, the ceiling of the
house. The Ladies took their seats there ibout five o'clock,
and did not leave till after the rising of-the House. Peers,
Peers' sons, Ambassadors, the Westminster boys (gownsmen),
may be accommodated below the bar ; but the Commons of
England have no recognised accommodation for Ladle, to hear
them debates.

BRUSSELS, Fan. 11.—A, mummy has been
brought to Bruges, taken from one of the pyra-
mids of Egypt. It appears to be that of a
Princess of the race. of Pharaoh, who died about
3,700 years ago. It is still—in the .case which
.contained. it in the pyramid., -; The comer repre-
sents a"female:of more than human keight, in the
Egyptian costume. The colents are fiery vivid
and well preserved. There was in the _same case
an embalmed cat, an undoubted indication of the
high rank of its companion-

PARIS PAPERS.

(From the J 0247 nal des Debats.)

PARIS, FEE. 16.—We cannot refrain from fix,

ihg the attention of our readers upon the recent
-decree issued by the King of Spain in favour of
freedom of commerce with the Spanish colonies.
It detaches the question of commercial interests
from that of the indepe►►dencr of the colonies ; it
placips o:► a distinct basis the interests of com-

ittercial nations, at thu mune time that it creates

(or re-unites in the colonies a numerous party to
the parent state. It announces the return of
practical and reamonahle ideas, and paves the

-way for subsequent ameliorations.
The principle upon ►vhich this decree is found-
ed is comprehensive, and in accordance with the
eniightened policy of the age. The ships of the
allied and united powers, admitted into the ports
of the. Spanish colonies, will pay import and ex-
port duties upon the footing of the equality be-
tween the subjects of these powers.

In vai►i will it be said that Spain concedes no-
thing, because she does not retain her colonies.
Besides, this view is not correct, seeing that
the still possesses several colonies of great iru-

portance, and that others are far from being en

tirely separated and pacified.' Spain has on her
side the right; and the right, even without

means of action, constitutes an immense passive

force.

When the prejudices of all classes of Spaniards
upon the question of authority over the colonies
are remembered—when it is recollected that the
Cortes obstinately determined to adopt, with re-
spect to their trans-Atlantic possessions, the no-
tions of Charles V. and Philip 11., we can hardly
persuade ourselves that this decree, so salutary to
Spain, has, in fact, been promulgated.—Every
thing may now be hoped for.
Spain has paced herself in the most favour-
able position for listening to arrangements with
her colonies ; arid, after such a concession, she
may and ought to calculate upon a general feel-
ing of good-will towards her,

Having, in exercise of a right, opened the
American colonies and the Spanish islands to the
ships of all nations, a great and memorable revolu-
tion in the commercial and the political world
has been accomplished ; it is one of the most
auspicious results of our enterprise in Spain, and
upon which we cannot too warmly congratulate
the Government.

This result will be the more duly appreciated
by all parties and by all interests, because France
has stipulated for no exclusive advantages for
.herself ; she has considered only the interests of
Spain, and included herself modestly and gene-
rously among the crowd of nations invited to
partake of these new sources of wealth.
[From the Morriteur of Monday, Feb. 16.]
The official part contains a Royal Ordinance,
appointing the Marquis de Talent Knight Corn.
inander of the Orders, to wear the insignia till
his reception, as a testimony of his Majesty's
satisfaction, and a recompence for his good and
loyal services.

INON-OFFICIAL PART.]
SCRAFFRA °SEM, FEB. 7.—'f he surveillance of
foreigners still continues in Switzerland, and oc-
casions frequent reports. In the frontier Cantons,
however, means are found to unite equity with
the strict formalities which have been prescribed.
Much more rigour is shewn on the northern fron-
tiers of Lombardy towards all strangers coming
from Switzerland, who are again subjected to a
rigorous examination, even where their passports
are in order. Those who have not passports
countersigned by the Austrian Minister in Swit-
zerland, are obliged to return to Berne to have
this done,even when they are persons well known,
and bearing passports delivered by their own
Governments.

FRANKFORT, FEB. 9.--Proceedings on account
of political misdemeanours have commenced for
some time past in various parts of Germany. The
real object of those proceedings is not known,
and there are different reports on the subject.
We have learnt nothing new respecting the
persons arrested in several parts of Bavaria. A
Central Committee, it seems, has been appointed
at Munich, to which all Magistrates employed in
the proceedings are bound to report all the cir-
cumstances that come to their knowledge.
The Bavarian Government has required of the
.Court of Prussia, that General Lestocq shall be
given up. After quitting the service of Wurtem-
berg, he had fixed his abode at Deuxponts, the
tribunal of which city condemned him to a long
imprisonment. M. de Lestocq had set out for
.the North of Germany. lie has been given up,
and conveyed to Deuxponts.
ROME, FEB. I.—The Papal authorities of
Ancona have received news that Jussuff Pacha,
Governor of Patras, had at length succeeded in
opening negociations, for the surrender of that
place, with Prince Maurocordato, who had at
first required that the Turkish garrison should
surrender at discretion.
SMYRNA, JAN. 10.—The report of the loss of
the Turkish Beet, fitted out in the beginning of
December to proceed to the relief of Smyrna, has
produced an extraordinary impression on the
Mussulmans: they regard this event as a mark of
heavenly displeasure. .
FRENCH FUNDS, PARIS, FEJLl6.—Five per Cents. 91 ill;
Loan of 1823, 111; Bank Stock, 1,730 ; Neapolitan Rentes,
85k ;
,Spanish ditto, opened at 274., closed at 26 ; Exchange
on London, one month, 25: 45. ; 3 ditto, 25. 35.—( Caurt
Asithentique.

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, FEB. 18.

The pleadings in the Queensberry cause being terminated,
the LORD CHANCELLOR gave not►ce that he would pro-
nounce judgment as soon as was consistent with the considera-
tion which the various questions in the case required.
Lords ERSKINE and Ywanonotlpn took the oaths and
their seats...

A person from the Treasury presented several annual
Accounts.
BROGDEN and others from the House of Commons
brought up the house in Lombard-street Bill, which was read'
a first time.—Adjourned.