The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-16 00:00:00

RO YA L ACADEMY.

On Wednesday, the 10th instant, being the
fifty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the
Royal Academy of Arts, a general assembly of
the Academicians was held at their apartments
in Somerset House, when the following distribu-
am( of premiums took place, viz.:—
To Mr. F. Y. HunLEsTowx, for the best Historical Paint-
ing, the gold medal, and the Discourses of the Presidents Rey-
nolds and West, handsomely bound and inscribed.
To Mr. Rowe. BALL HUOlltr,', for the best Basso Helier°.
the Fold medal, and the Discourses of Reynolds and West.
lo Mr. TDOMAs BRADBURY, for the best Architectural,
Design, the Discourses of Reynolds and West.
To Mr. P. A. OonnETT, for the best Copy made in the
Painting School, the silver medal, and the Lectures of Barry,
Opie, and Fuseli.
To Mr. R. Mamma, for the next best Copy made in the
Painting School, the silver medal.
To Mr. J. CATIVIIAC, fOr the best Drawing of an Academy,
Figure, the silver medal, and the Lectures of Barry, Opie and
Fuseli.

To Mr. SLows, for the nest but Drawing of an Academy
Figure, the silver medal.
To Mr. It.'Wir.umas, for the bcq Model of an Academy
Figure, the silver medal, and the Levi Lire% of Barry, Opie, and
Masai.

To Mr. H. COL LINGWOOD, for the next best mode of an
Academy Figure, the silver meer.l.
To Mr. Joryx fer the best Architectural Drawing
of the Front of Somerset(louse, the silver medal.
To Mr. R. B icnt.ET, for the nest best Drawing of the
Front of Someriet douse, the silver medal.
To Mr. G. It. WARD, for the best Drawing from the An-
tique, the silv!.r medal, and the Lectures of ()pie and Vuseli.
To :41r. Kilt's', fez the newt best Drawing kern the Antique,
the silver imtial.

To Mr. S. Cr.cm, for a drawing from the Antique, the
ver tried 1.

To Mr. J. DEanr, for the beet Model from the Antique,
the silver medal, and the Lectures of Opie and Fuseli.
:klr. STOTilmtn, for the next bent Aloud from the
Antigne, the silver medal.
To Mr. H F:NRY BEltzirs, for i 4 Model from the Anzi;itte,
the silver Media.

To Mr. STOT HARD, lb?' the best rti..311.1 I) the 4ilvvr
medal.

After which the PRESIDENT addressed n Discourse to the
Students.

The General Assembly artery/Ards proceeded to appoint 011!.
cers for the ensuing year, when Sir THOMAS LAWRIZYCE was
unanimously re-elected President.
The new Council were—lt. IL ItErNAuLE and /11;1...
READY, Eggri, Sir IV. liEECui:v, aid li. Fu tut.l, Lig.
Old Council —W. DANIEL, ItT. It. thou, J. ST(Yritmtn,
and It. WESTALL,..EWIL
_

Visitorii in the Life Academy, New List—Sir W. IIErcIIET,
W. Al u unEAu.Y, T. Puittirs, and M. A. Sliur, Esgris.f
Old List—F. CITANTREY, V. Ilivro:.4, H. Timms°lt,
R. WESTMACOTTOind R. SIIIHKE, Esqra.
Vinitorm in the Painting School, New List—SirW.Burc H Er,
R. R. 11EIWAGLE, A. SMTIVICE, and 11. TROMON Esqrm.
Old Litits—J. P1111.1.1P5, W. HILTON, J. WARD, and 1).
Es re.
Auditors—l. CIIANTRT.T, J. Sonut, and J. M. W. 'Pis R.
Nra, togs.

LA.‘!" INTEI.IAGEN(.I?,.
COURT OV CHANCERY, Plc. 13.
Ix Tine 111,ATTCK O 1 THE sumtri"rnEATllt.

Mr. MONTAGIJE moved to supersede the cninmiss;on of
bankruptcy, as the debt of the pet;tion:ng creditor w con-
tract:xi twelve months after the bankroi.t hut' ceased to be a
trader; and as the commhtion had kopt t;teatre closed ever
since; it had by that suspended the daily subsistence of more
than 130 persons.
?dr. Cowwsox, for the petitioning creditor, rulmittod that
the motion was too well grounded both in law and fact tbr him
ritYcsseully to resist it.

Tit; TRINITY 110rIE V. rkrurtr.
The Corporation had granted a lease to the defendant of the
renzence Light-house; -but he having become' involved in
pensive litigation, was at length unable to manage to the satis-
faction of the corporation, who thereupon filed a bill, and suc-
ceeded in obtaining the management anti receivership, which'
they have exeleised for some time. The son of the defendant
now moved for the regular rendering et' an account to the
Court, as well f:ir time tp come as for trne past, alleging ye.
rious facts of expensive and wasteful management.
The Loup Cuaticrw.ou said, that the motion should have
prayed for more. St might be convenient for the son of' Mr.
:Small to have the estate held in trust under the Court of (;han-
my, that so be could annually demand an account frorn pertains
respisnsib'- to the Court. But if all the uses (1 the trust and
Rectiversrip had been fulfilled,—and there was nothing in this
cause to allow to the contraty—tthe Counsel had alleged that
there were other causes in which the receivership was yet actively
engsged,)—then the Court would be hound to frame an order
which would do ',way the Receivership, and put an end to all
furlher
1.1.4.wr admitted that the notice shouhi have been I.tiVert
in the oth eauseti, sc, as to bring before the Court all the
truits tot' the Interests of which the Receiver was appointed.
But at any rate his client- would he intitied as of course to take
an order for an account for the time past.
The Lonn CuAscsa.t.cin advised the postponement of the
Thmthiy, the next motion day.

IN RE LOUD reitTBllolllll.—EßiLovrEs V. stastiox.
A motion respectirg the allowance to Lady Portsmouth was
just mention( ti • butts Mr. SIIADW ELL was not quite ready,
it was put oil' till the next day of petitions.

counT OF RING'S BENCH, Die. 15.
nip illy the I,OPD Cunt? JurricE began to try special.
jury eathec

CODLAWD b. nEDLAM.
This was an action on a policy of insurance on the ship
Larry, valued at 2,000!., on a voyage from Liverpool to Mu.
ranham. The defendant subscribed the policy for 800/. The
declaration alleged a total loss by the perils of the seas.
Mr. St! Alt LET T stated the case on tt►e part of the plaintiff:
It appeared in evidence, that before the ship reached Dente.
rare, she was struck by n heavy sea and sprung. a leak, in con.
sequence of which she was hauled up on a' bank for repair, and
while in this situation sustained a still further inqu►ry. The
miners then abandoned her to the underwriters, and determined
to claim as for a total loss. It Was, however, admitted by the
wit Lesses, that the vessel might have been put in complete re-
pair: tilt 8001., and that part of that sum was rendered neces-
-may, not by the immediate damage, but.by tiw age and pre;
riot's defect °fills vessel

The Sor.terron-OEsranat.,,for the defendant, contender]
that it was impossible to believe the vessel seaworthy, or she
mitt not have halted on so small an occasion, and with a car.
go of cotton, the lightest of all ategoea ; and if the vowel was
not seaworthy, the plaintiff could not recover any thing. At
all events, he was only entitled to a small per centage as for
Al"raur,e lots; for it was clear that the circumstances did not
jastity the abandonment of the vessel._ _

Lout) Ciu Jorrlci: told the Jury, that if they
thought the ship was not seaworthy, they must find a verdict
for the defendant t if they were of a contrary opinion, then, as
the ship had undoubtedly received some injury, they would
giro the plaintiff n verdict for :In average loss, as he could not,
on a damage comparatively slight, sell, or break up the vessel,
and claim as f. r. u total loss.

The Jury found a verdict for the plaintiif—Dkinages. 46L,
being lb per cent. on the amount of the defendant's subscription.
The plaintifrwithdrew the records in two other actions on the
tame policy, wl:ich stood next in the paper.

CarTLE SHOW.---YeSterdlly the annual cattle
show, fur premiums given by the highland Society of Scot-
land, was fn'the yard at the beck of Queen:cherry-house.
The cattle wltiLil wore. exhibited were in tine condition, and
those which gPineti the: premiums were specimens of sym-
metry, fet, and weight, seldom if ever before witnessed.-
1' he cheep were en indifferent show, but the pigs were in the
finest possible coudition. The show was attended by a great
number of practical agriculturists and amateurs. ' In the even.
ing about one hundred gentlemen, members of the Society,
judges, and competitors, dined in tho Royal Exchange Core*.
house—Sir Jon titIiCLAIR in the Chair..-4 Edinburgh
Courant, Der. II.)

INNOCENCE CONDEMNED.

There was published a Consultation, tending
to restore the .honour of a son who was accused of
parricide, and to save the life of his wife
prisoned as an accomplice,, at the Court of St.
Omer's. At the recital of this son's unfortunate
sentence, we must be horror.struck ; and much
more perhaps, at the thought of that which
may happen to ourselves. It is now midnight t
I reflect, I meditate again and again ; I try
all I can to make myself, and those around
me, better, and the next moment I retire to re-
pose. Yet, how do 1 know but my wife or my
daughter may he carried off by a sudden death
and, to add to my affliction, by some unlucky
coincidence, over which I could have no control,
but which presses hard against my character. I
may be seized and cast into a dungeon, from
whence I may be destined, not to escape, but to
punishment, or, what is still worse, to disgrace
for life. Whatever courage or resolution I may
have by nature, most certainly I. cannot protest
with more firmness and constancy my per-
fect innocence than this Accused. If I say, in
the midst of torture, " No, I have not corn.
milted the crime," 1 shell speak the same lan-
gunge with him. If I say, both in public and
r;ieate, '4l ask pardon of God and the King for
all my faults, but I ask none of Justice for
t!tis crime, which I have not committed," I speak
but as he spoke. If, pressed by the ministeri
of religion, I say, 66 You wish me to confess my.
self guilty of parricide, dare then to take to
your own account before God the lie which you
so!icit,"—l shall only speak as he did. If, un-
der the hands of the executioner, I say, with
my dying voice : " I confess I have been guilty
of some faults ; I
die with all my heart to atone
for them, but the crime of which I am accused
never defiled my censcienca ; I never so much as
thought of such contamination ;" speak
like him. If, from the midst of the Pauses into
which my mangled limbs are thrown, my very
features cry aloud against the crime and my un-
just sentence, I shall do what he did--but of
what use will it be ? A rash uccount of a
pkio'us physician, who is ever the more inclined
to suspect as he is himself the snore to be sass-
peeled ; words that have dropped by accident,
misconstrued to a serious purpose ; looks and
gestures which mean nothing, if not connected
with untoward incidents against ere; the very
purity and Innocence of my life on all other pc'.
casions, inducing the stranger suspicions upon
this ; or other circumstances, its themselves trivial,
yet confirmations strong in the minds of those
who have one caught the alarm, will at once
blast my character, as they have blasted the
life and character of this Seemed.

1 shudder at the uncertainty of our destiny,
and 1 feel confounded at the defects of criminal
jurisprudence, in a nation who boast of their
excellence above all others, if in. port of
their constitution, in the administration of per_
feet justice. It seems to me, when the life and
character of a man is at stake, the law ought to
leave to the wisdom of the Judge, the comparison
of the evidence with the nature of the crime.
Ought two witnesses to be considered in all cases
sufficient? How common is it for sod) to be de-
ceived ; and still more to suborn others to 6.
ceive. What numerous examples are there of
this in our annals. There May be circumstantial
evidence, when there need not be any one-wit-
ness, but which wild be very superior to a thou•
sand witnesses whose characters are suspicious ;
yet are there not other cases in which the oaths of
a thousand will not counterbalance the improba-
bility of the fact_; and what fact can be more
abominable, or more unnatural than the crime al.
leged ? To believe that parricide could have been
committed, Cicero thought that the culprit should
be stilted upon the dead body of his father, and
drugged before the tribunal with his hands reek-
ing with blood.

In this case there is an orator who %ratters
like the dust before the wind, the evidence which
would convict this pretended culprit, there are
physicians, &c. whose decision in the cool mo.
meets of reflection is directly contrary to that of
the first who were celled in.
Methinks I am one of the jury who have been
the menus of condemning an innocent man ; I
ask myself what would become of me,und I can.
not answer. lam sure that the image of the un-
happy accused will present itself to my ir.mgina-
tion as long as I live. Let Mtn hold the sword
of justice who can believe firmly that he shall
never strike any but the guilty ; I envy him not
this terrible prerogative. Against this belief,
however, there are not a few instances of this
atrocious error, the conviction of innocence, re.
corded in a very short space of time, not morely
when fortune, which from it% eature, may change
with every turn of the wind, but even life, and
character, still dearer than lift, is proved to be of
the same flighty meteriels. Suspicion lightb upon
it ; envy and slander are ever busy at hand to
confirm suspicion, till even those who were most
free from prejudice and passion, run into the
general vortex; and character which has been the
labour of years, and which has appeared as %troll
as it was just, vanishes in a moment, and the in-
nocent, who were before surrounded with friends
are left alone, with Jos ; and there is no man to
tell him any thing but what most distresses him
to hear, the sari story of hatred, malice, and all
uncharitebleness.,