The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-19 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Ugc. 18.
(Before Lord DENMAN and a Special Jury.)
SOARES U. GOWER AND OTHERS.
; I
This was an action brought by the plaintiff, as agent
of the Portuguese Government, against the defendants,
Messrs. Gower and Co., merchants, of London, to re-
cover a sum of 4,000/. being the amount of certain
bills of exchange drawn by Messrs. Outercaut and Joze,
of Lisbon, endorsed by M. Coteaux, the Treasurer-
. General of Portugal, and accepted by the defendants.
1 The defendants pleaded, first, that the bills were not
endorsed by the Treasurer• General of the Portuguese
Government in the sense alleged by the plaintiff ; se-
cond, that the plaintiff acted as the agent of the parties
at present carrying on the Government of Portugal,
and that the bills were endorsed in consideration of
certain pretended securities of the Government, which
were void, as the Treasurer-General well knew.
Thirdly, that they were accepted witheut considera-
tion ; and fourthly, that they were obtained by the
Portuguese Government by fraud, of which the plain-
tiff had notice.
Sir W. Follett and Mr. Crowder appeared for the
plaintiff, and the Attorney-General and Sir F. Pollock
for the defendants.
It appeared from the evidence that the bills formed
part of a loan of 40 millions of francs, which Messrs.
Outercaut and Co. undertook to negociato for Don
Miguel at Paris, in 1832. Previously to that period,
Don Pedro, and his daughter Donna Maria, had issued
a decree at Terceira, while fugitives there, in which they
declared that all acts of Don Miguel's government were
null and void, and more particularly any loans made by
him. Shortly after the bills were drawn, the usurpation
of Don Miguel was put an end to ; but M. Coteaux
was continued as Treasurer-General, and while in that
office, under the government of Donna Maria, the bills
w ere endorsed by him. On the 7th of August, 1833,
M. Coteaux was removed from his office of Treasurer-
General.
Lord DENMAN, in summing up to the Jury, observed
that, with regard to the first plea, although undoubt-
edly the same party continued to act as Treasurer- Gene-
ral, he was in the service of a different party ; in
one case, when the bills were drawn, he was in the ser-
vice of an usurper, and when they were endorsed he
was in the service of the legitimate sovereign. The
loan being for the benefit of Don Miguel, it could not
be said that he was Treasurer-General, in reference to
the meaning in which the bills were drawn. With re-
gard to the other pleas, it appeared to him that the
plaintiff was entitled to a verdict, and if the Jury were
of that opinion, they would find accordingly.
Tire Jury found a verdict for the defendant on the
first plea, and for the plaintiff on all the otl:er pleas.
A bill of exceptions was immediately tendered by
Sir William Follett, so that the case will undergo fur-
ther investigation.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

OLD COURT.

Eliza Davis, aged 18, was indicted for stealing from
the person of Ann Phillips one bonnet, her property.
The prosecutrix and the prisoner were both women
of the town. The prisoner it appeared had attacked
the prosecutrix in the street, torn the bonnet from her
head, and carried it off. It appeared that the prisoner
had made some cuffs for herself with the velvet trim-
mings, and had secreted the bonnet on the premises
where she lodged.
The jury found the prisoner guilty, but recommended
her to mercy.
Mr. Justice PATTESON said that the offence amounted
to highway robbery. In consequence of the recommen-
dation of the Jury he would pass upon her the most
lenient sentence the law allowed, which was that she be
transported beyond the seas for ten years.
The prisoner, on hearing her sentence, fell down in
the dock in hysterics, and was removed in a dreadful
state of agitation. On her removal
Mr. Justice PATTEION observed that, under the cir-
cumstances, the best thing that could be done for the
prisoner would be to send her out of the country, as it
was evident that she stood no chance of being reclaimed
as long as she remained here.
ROBBEILT ET A SERTANT.—Sophia Weller, aged 20,
was indicted for stealing nine sovereigns, a boa, and
other articles, the property of her master, S. Taylor.
From the evidence of Mrs. Taylor it appeared that
she had taken the prisoner into her service from
Clerkenwell workhouse, and that on the Bth December
last the prisoner suddenly left her service, and the
articles in question were then missed. The prisoner
had taken advantage of Mrs. Taylor's attention being
taken up by her sick child to commit the robbery. On
the 10th the prisoner was taken into custody at a
brothel, with a considerable portion of the property in
her possession.
The jury found her Guilty, and
Mr. Justice PATTEEION having observed that this was
a very aggravated case, sentenced her to tea years
transportation.
CHARGE 07 STABBING.—Sinion Haggar, a Russian
sailor, was indicted for stabbing, on the Ist of Decem..