The Sun.
London, England, 1824-01-21 00:00:00

which were real transactions, and which had been , paid
over to the Petitioner; and it further alleged, that false
entries, as well as erasures, - had been - made in the pass-
book., The first. which appeared was in the latter end
Of -the year 1818, and could only nave been entered for
the purpose of deception,. This. entry in 1818 was an
alleged..annuity to , Mr.. Berkeley Paget, which wag now
,Lidrnttted. never to have taken place. There were sub-
sequent entries to Mr. Grosvenor, .:4001:; Mr. H. G. Bennet,
40,0001.: and Mr. Paget, 3,008.14 but these were subsequently
erased.. •These various entries, and other evidence nOt less
strong anddecisive, the Learned Solicitor contended, proved
that this money was notgiven by Mr. Grinstead, in the shapa
of a loan, but it was plain that the petitioner imagined that all
his advances were invested in annuities. The Learned Solf-
`citor felt confident that if this case had been originally brought
before his Lordship, It would have • been decided without any
.issue being directed, or if an issue had been directed, it would
'ha=nt beer oaf a special nature. Indeed, he had understood,
that it`. was, saidOtt- the trial in the Court below, that the
issue was mere form, as judgment had been already 'pro-
nounced. _ _ _

Mr. TAF.SLOVE and Mr. ROSE, Counsel cm the other side,
objected to-such a statement being made...,
The So.tactrou-G-ExEnat, had no objection that his lan-
guage should be taken down: If, however, he was wrong in
this assertion, he wished to be corrected. He then proceeded
to read the further allegations contained.. -in the•petition with
respect to the erasures in the pass-book., and observed upon the
word " produce," which appeared in the book. It hid been
alleged on the other side, that this word "-produce," meant.
interest on a loan of money, ..and thus attempted to fix usury
upon Mr. Grinstead. But he contended that this word could
by no torturous construction to be made to Mean any such-thing.
The notion of laprrower and lender never entered into the minds
of either 'party.
The .LORD CHANCELLOR was anXicus to learn what was
the law laid down by Chief Justice Dallas, in his Charge to the
Jury with respect to the Question of usury. Ile had looked
over the notes of the Learned Judge's. Charge to the Jury most
attentively, and he could see no directions on the subject. As
he understood the law to constitute usury, there must be a loan
of money. If the real transaction was that this money was
advanced by Mr. Grinstead for the purpose of purchasing
annuities, while Howard and Gibbs .remained solvent, Mr.
Grimstead would have a right to say, ‘‘ I will have nothing to
d+ with these transactions; and if you will not pay nic for my
advances, I will bring mr, action against you for the manner
in which you have treated my money." Under these circum-
stances he should • have thought . that Mr. Grinstead would
have been able to recover the value of those annuities. Now,
as he understood it, it was necessary to be shewn to support
the charge of usury, that that which was originally a contract
•for the purchase of annuities was subsequently converted into
a loan of money.
Mr. froaxr, as Counsel for the assignees, said that that
was the way in which he viewed. the question. He understood
that the Learned Solicitor-General was now applying for a
'new trial._ •

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL thoUght that he should be at
liberty to choose his own course, and to take his choice upon
the matter, whether to move for a new trial, or to pray to be al-
lowed to Prove the debt under the.cominission, without resort,.
ing to a new trial. • i
The Lo RD CMANCI:LLOR ooserveu, that the .9.olicitor-Gene:.
ral Was at liberty to ask what he thought proper. It was ano-
ther` question whether hoShould grant it.
ansALtt -epje.pscteaetdedetitbtaot allega-
tionsG
• T h
jel
theS o o spoe iatsoositl: t
GicaE•
Stead was at Calais, Mr. Porter was sent over to him by-Mr.
Gibbs, requesting him to come over to England to assist in the
choice of assignees under a commission sued out by Mr. Camp,
helL The struggle for assignees was, the Learned Solicitor con-
tended, a fresh proof that it was then imagiaed and believed,
that'Mr. Grimatead's was a good debt, The effort was to pre-.
vent the nomination of Mr. CaMpbell as assignee under_ the
commission. The Petition neat .referred to certain letters
mitten by Mr. Porter to Mr. Gibbs, upon which it was thought
much depended. The-other side had much relied upon these
letterS, as shelving the, nature of the transaction, but he did
Y had any other tendency_ than that of
light that no usury was attended by the
petitioner, and th 11 at he really
imagined that he Was dealt fairly
with by
snOhetwidtilsg eoinve a r
the bankrueabankrupts, that
clearer they
The first letter from Mr. Porter was
dated the 21st, and the second the 24th November: They re-1
Porterry urges that hate
snected certain meetingM
sto be held, and ime of em Mr.
ontague should have histh brief as
a •
as possible. A third letter was subsequently written, and
a fourth, which was the most important, was couched in these.
terms : • •
Pray do not fail to let Harrison have 31.•9a. I shall be at
el
the office Shortly, as our object is to settle. the precise amount
of Mr. Grirnstead's debt. Pray, take care that the Accountant
is there, that we may agree with you and him."
Porter, - who wrote these letters, was a man who ought to
perusal of these letters, the Learned Counsel ob.
served: which had really nothing to do with the transaction,
which find induced his Honour, the Vice-Chancellor, to suppose
that thiS was all a contrivance- to fabricate adebt. The Petition
lirt:athe been, at the time, within the rules of the King's Bench.
then stated the appointment of Mr. BenjaMin Shaw as assignee
under both. the old and new commission, and the subsequent
accusation against the petitioner of perjury, and an attempt to
cheat'and defraud the-creditors. The petitioner was then ac-
cused, who, quaeunaae via data, was a creditor under the
cominissioneeither for cash advanced, or in the shape. of an..
nuities due ,to hint from the bankrupts, to the amount of
32,0001. Having concluded the statement of the allega-
tions in the petition, the Learned Solicitor stated,- that -there
were two principal objections, which appeared evident on
. the . face of the asetition—lst. That the letters he had read
ought never to 'have been produced on the trial ; and, se-
condly, that the proceedings in .the Vice-Chancellor's Conti
had reduced the issue to a nullity. It,Might be called a drama.
performed, the conclusion of which .was known before the
curtain was drawn up. He was most ready to admit that the
case could not have beentried before a more fair, unprejudiced, •
and candid Judge than Chief Justice Dallas, who, he lament-
ed, had retired so preraaturely from the Beach; but Courts of
Law knew little of the • proceedings in Courts of Equity, and
it was imagined that somehow or other :h verdict was wanted,
and some waa or other it must be'given. The consequence
had beep, that this verdict, to which he, now. objected, .had
been pronounced. The Learned Counsel then referred to
the charge .of the Learned Judge to the Jury, and point,
ed out what he deemed its objectionable parts. He. never
would subscribe to the law laid down by that Learned Judge
as being the law of the land, on the. construction 'of the
Statute of Queen Anne.. He knew that.lt was not every where
that that patience, so necessary to the investigation of such a
case as this, would be beat Owed ; and he also knew, that nut-
withstandinv all that had been said &cunt the delays of dile
Court, his Lordship would :gift the case. to . the bottom, and
would spare no pains or patience in the investigation, however
arduous it might be. He felt most confident, that whatever
might be said etzewhere., justice would be deakby his Lordship
-equally to all his Majesty's subjects. If the mode of proceed-
ing hitherto observed in bankruptcy was not calculated in do.
justice to all parties, it ought to be immediately altered.. Had
this case been originally considered by his Lordship, he was
satisfied that the issue either never would have been tried in
the Court below, or that it would have'beea directed in a diffe-
rent shape, and for a different purpose... The Learned Counsel
concluded a law and animated speech by strongly urging his
Lordship either to grant a new trial, or allow the petitioner to
prove his debt under the Commission.
Mr. HART followed on the same side. and adverted to the
evidence given on the trial, as well as to the charge
.of the,
Learned Judge to the Jury. At considerable length he com-
mented upon the evidence of Mr. Gibbs, and contracted it with
the testimony produced on behalf of the petitioner. It Was evi-
dent, he conceived, from the manner in which the Learned
Judge charged the Jury, that it was his opinion that the evi-
dence of Gibbs ought not to be behaved; hut .he never directly
told- the Jury that it ought not to be believed. If this had. been
done, a very different verdict would, probably; have been pro-
nounced. He was proceedities to observe upon other portions
of the testimony adduced on the trial, when he Was interrapted
by the Court.
The Lorin CII,VNCELLOR sid that he would hear the re-
mainder of the Learned Compel's speech to-morrow In -the
mean time lie was desirious of ascertaining one point which
occurred to hint as a difficulty in the charge of the Learned
Judge; • was it, he would ask, intended that, sib initio, this suns
of .32,000/. so RciYa;"Aced should be considered as a loan of rtio
ney, and if not, when was it begun to be so considered ? He
wished to know also, Whether the whole 32,0901. was so coash-
dared as a loan of money, or only a part of it? These were
questions, with respect to which he should wish to be satisfied.
Mr. Haase suia he was about to address himself to those