The Sun.
London, England, 1823-07-15 00:00:00

pect that he engaged the services of this woman In more capa-
cities than those he has described—l say, to suspect; because
it certainly is not proved, and cannot be so taken—whether
she acted in the character of wife, or in a less honourable con-

nection, seems hardly settled even in conjecture. He some-
times, though rarely, called her wife,' which, he says, he
did rom her connection with the ship in a capacity which
would entitle a man to be called a ship's husband, and no other-
wise. He has declined to answer a searching question respect-
ing his intimacies with her; and nothing can be inferred from
his use of his legal privilege in so declining. It is therefore
unnecessary for me to inquire how far such a circumstance, if
proved, would destroy the claim for services actually performed
of an unexceptionable and useful nature. The
her'
of
the Captain's evidence is this—he says he hired her in the Cat.
water at Plymouth, on a coasting- and trading voyage ; he
agreed to pay her 2/. es. per month for so long as she should re-
main on board ; she engaged to actas cook and steward the day
after she came on board, and bound herself by an agreement to
perform such services ; the following day he set sail, and made
various voyages from. Plymouth to Wales, from \Vales to Ire-
land, and from Ireland to Seville in Spain, from-Seville to Lon-
don, and back again to Plymouth, where he discharged the
suitor, Elizabeth Stevens. Some short time after the Captain
took a cargo on board for St. Michael's, and Elizabeth Stevens
again entered the ship and agreed for the voyage; shortly,'how.
ever, the ship was seized by the Sheriff for a debt; it was sub-
sequently sold, and bought in by a Mr. Simmonds, the credi-
tor. During this time she remained on board, and the ship
was carried tato the London Docks, where she remained some
time on, board. The ship was again taken out in September,
1820, for another voyage, when the Captain again agreed with
the suitor for 2/. ss. per month. She remained on board un-
til October, performing the offices of cook and steward, and
assisting in her turn in navigating the vessel ; she performed
her watch and took her turn at the helm. In October the Cap-
tain became a bankrupt.
" The next witness is a Custom-house Officer.—He went on
board the Jane and Matilda in the London Docks, and there
found the suitor on board, bound for Seville in Spain, whom
the Captain called cook and Steward ; there was no other person
'on board, and the master only came occasionally. He consi-
dered she was hired by the master, and that she performed her
part as a mariner and seaman.
• " The next witness is a waterman.—He says he saw her fre-
qnently on board the ship ; she appeared to have the sole corn.
'Mand ; and, in the witness's-opinion, was a most excellent
ship-keeper, taking great care of the ship.
." The last witness is a men who went with the ship to Ply.
mouth. He said she well and truly performed her duty, not
only as cook and steward, but as a seaman ; she obeyed all
lawful commands ;- and he considered her particularly diligent
and attentive, - performing her part match better than many of
the crew had done.
" Upon this-evidence i find'some difficulty in corning to the
conclusion that this woman is entitled to nothing..liere are
duties performed, which must be performed by somebody on
board this ship. , isrobody else Is proved to have performed
them. She is proved to have performed them, and to have per.
formed them well. She states her case fairly; produces her
witnesses fearlessly—witnesses not all connected with her, or
otherwise impeached.—Nething, comes' from : them that be.
trays a disposition to give
.unjust testimony. She does not
kr, as far as I see, with any perverse resistance: She gives
up the assignment without any oppoiition on her part.
Here are strong testimonies, totally unopposed, to the work
done; and that is the material point for the Court to
look to; for supposing an informality in the mode of hir-
ing, still, if the work has been done and properly done,
it entitles the performer to the common remuneration ; and it
is not pretended that she sues for more than the common rate
of payment for such employment. Nobody else is described as
performing the duties: It is true that 'I rejected an allegation
which came too late in the day, which pleaded that the per-
son who seized the ship at Plymeath had been shipkeeper
himself, or by deputy, for a certain portion of time ; because it
was tittered in an undue form, and at an undue period of the
cause; and because,the fact, if true, might have been meta
taindby fair inquiry long before, and ought to have been so
ascertained and regularly produced. The share of the ship
transferred to her by assignment of the Captain was surrender-
ed without any resistance:---I really feel a difficulty in saying,
that under all these circumstances the woman is not entitled to
recompence. Vet that is what the other parties require. They
say she shall have nothing7-we bind her to the chance of her
legal demand and the decision upon it, and to that only-..ncr
s
agi lr i
dt
tt:hdr yeidicoowlc.wrnipthhtvaeni
oescrxlyth:lvti
eoacnanewnl
hvt
received
odheatea
cinVraooleveohet
women
actedvtoelhel
fnlreen:nateel-rlitsidieonolldgldontp
compromising offer shall site receive from us. Now I cannot
e
bind myself to the facts I have stated of this particular, though
certainly not disposed to encourage any general practice of this
kind; neither can I .blind myself to the notorious fact, that
f
:rats:
ttovhhogr,
enifeostv:
est
Jet
isy
shipsoool
snatyf nnsenlauoeg:w;de
ti:hnAauiricterlrt
ohad--c
many offices of man's labour are performed by women in many
countries, ind.amonitst other countries even in our own, and
man's labour of the coarsest and roughest species. Even
uifi
emoluments
thisrfevyrnee. udmilsneTefe :no: dhenfreuesf
name
standing
eaeoemwd
ipdr
theyiwere on board, and sharing in the distribution of salvage
which their husbands were attached in timeofengagement, and
glory,such
uannwdorttehtylitre shame
attn t.of oluharcourelnattrer;
ad°rtrlbrhef.eoiceej:eilldtnlPribllovpewgiresem at discussions elsewhere, in which many instances
have been cited of females holding high offices entitling to
military command, and to eminent stations in the field of battle,
or ibr the suppression of civil commotions. The Sovereignty of
these kingdoms, which entitles the bearer to the character of
Captain General of the Realm, has been borne by the females
with sufficient splendour ; and in the case of Queen Elizabeth,
not without demonstrations of personal courage, and a readi-
ness to encounter the hostilities with which she was threatened.
The Countess of Dorset, Pembriske, and Montgomery, in the
time of Charles I. filled the office of hereditary High Sheriff of
Westmorland ; as such she was authorised to raise the Roue
comitatur, and she did actually sit on the Bench at the Assizes,
and is even said to have personally attended at the execution of
the last process of the law.
" Looking to all these circumstances, I find great difficulty
in arriving at the conclusion that a female can be entitled to
nothing fur that service winch would be remunerated In a man.
It does not appear to me that the sex alone creates a legal and
total disqualification. There may be reasons enough that
render the engagement of women in a particular maritime em-
ployment unseemly and unsuitable ; but if persons have had
the benefit of their services in such employments, to the effect
of saving the expence they must have incurred by employing
other persons in them, I doubt touch the propriety of their
turning round and taking shelter under the objection that those
who have performed the services are not of the right sex.
" It was said, that the co-owners were ignorant of all this
employment of a female. That may be their fault, or their
misfortune, in giving their confidence to an unworthy per-
son • brit be it one or the other, it would not destroy the
legal claim of a thirdperson, who has acquired it. It was said,
too, that there was no inattention on the part of the assignees.
That may be ' . but they must take the property in the state in
which they find It, deteriorated possibly by the fault of former
possessors ; but such as it is they must take it. And lam con-
strained to add; that there certainly has been no particular
promptitude on the part of these assignees, even after making
due allowance for the difficulties that generally obstruct the
course of proceeding in a • bankrupt concern. No defensive
allegation was offered till the established practice of the Court
had shut the door against its admission; and after the calm had
been fully heard throughout on both sides, and nothing but the
indulgence of the Court, acting principally on the hope that a
little delay might prevent further expenditure, had postponed
the decision, another allegation was Aired, with an ore? of
fresh facts, but without any averment that they were such as
might not have been discovered, by due diligence, in the pro-
per time, and when no such irreguler indulgence was necessary
to be applied Or. ' The Court rejected the offer on that ground
.—and leaves, I fear, the property. to the ordinary course of
bankrupt concerns--to be expended in litigation.
" Upon the whole, I AVllof , opinion that nothing has been
;hewn to deprive thiefentale Suitor of her right to the ordinary
Vosges for the service she has performed. In her orOnal lA%
davit she claimed about Mk; in her suminary petition, about
00/.; as I do emu wish to distress a bankrupt estate, I shall
pronounce for the lower sum. Af I the present is not a regular
Court day, I shall not at present make the actual decree ; but
having now stated the grounds of my judgment, I shall sign a
decree conformably to them on the Caveat day."

On Saturday last MATHEWS, the comedian,
performed the part of Othello at the Liverpool
Theatre.