The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-07 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

:FROM Tlll3 MORNING ?Antes 01, TECTERDAY.
TIMES.—The news from the United States this morning
has in itself prodheed no great effect on the public securities;
but the market has been weakened by a large sale by parties
supposed to have American connections. As the same parties
had previously been speculating for the rise, this change
in their operations rather diminished the general confidence of
the jobbe;'s,who,.in their turn, offered Stock, so that the move-
ment of the day was downward, although the high prices from
Paris had in the first instance strengthened quotations.
Consols for Money %used 89k, receded to 893, rallied to
894, and left off $94 sellers; for the Account the opening price
was 90 to A, they then fell to 89, rallied to 89k, and closed
894 buyers ; New Three-and-a-Half per Cents were last quoted
983; India Bonds, par to 2 premium ; and Exchequer Bills,
95. to Ils, premium.
With the rather reduced values-of the English Stocks the
Foreign Funds have sympathized, but no great deal of business
has been transacted.
It is stated out of doors, that a price has been made in the
Stock Exchange for the bonds converted under the late decree
issued by the Portuguese Government, and although not
quoted in the official list, Wag paged in the market for that
security as 284 to
The New York Papers state that the Money Market is itr
a very singular position, those who have money finding a diffi-
culty in investing it, and those who have nonnueing obliged to
pay high rates for it. The Southern Stocks, whether State
of corporate, are said to be uriatailabt.; while the ca-
pitalists, who have money they would wiltirlgly in-
vest, abstain from so doing, from a want of con-
fidence in the Seettrities that present themselves. Buy-
ing stocks for Money and selling them for time is said to have
occasioned severe losses among many of them. With respect
to the Bill authorizing the suspension of the Pennsylvanian
Banks for 40 days, it was brought item the State Senate on
the 16th of March, and read in the Hodge for the first time
without opposition. The result of the investigation of the
affairs of the United States Bank by the Committee appointed
for that purpose *as looked forward to with the greatest
anxiety, as the appearance of the Repast in April would
be the first satisfactory statement of the conditoti in 'Winch
the Bank really stands, and is expected to bring 4-
traorditiary affairs to light. The panic in the notes of the
free Banks of the State of New York had spread, and
during the last week the Bills of no less than seven batiks
were thrown out at Albany. The effect of the panic at Albany
which is described as very great, was the passing of an
Act by the Legis'attire to do tiVrej, with the priority in pay-
ment of notes first protested, so that the bills are litfid equally
from the proceeds of securities. Many of the notes the
brokers have altogether refused to buy up, and it is said to be
now generally ascertained that many of the b-nks have been
the mere tools of speculators, one being especially mentioned
as having been started for the purpose of obtaining money on
Indiana Stock. Several were constantly expected to stop, and
were endeavouring to force their notes into the market at the
smallest possible discount, previous to the opening of navigation,
since, when trade fairly commences, the influx of bills into
the city of New York will cause a great discount. Then
it is supposed the banks will come irto the market, buy up
their own bills at the low rate, and make good the loss sus-
tained by the depreciation and sale of their stocks. The whole
appearance of the money-market, according to these journals,
is that. of panic, anxiety, and thorough want of confidence

everywhere..
The papers from Buenos Ayres to-day extend to the 23d of
January. On the 22d there were in the port of Buenos Ayres,
197 vessels, of- which there were 62 British, 35 American,
21 French, 17. Sardinian, 13 Spanish, 14 Brazilian, &c. The
exchange on England was quoted 2d.

- -
LAW INTELLIGENCE.

PRIVY COUNCIL, Arm 6.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yesterday in
the Council Chamber, Whitehall, for the purpose of hearing
the important appeal from the decision of Sir Herbert Jenner
with respect to the will of the late Mr. James Wood, of Glou-
cester. The Lords present were—Lord Lyndhurst, the
Master of the Rolls, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Baron Parke,
and Sir J. Littledale.

Among the legal gentlemen employed are the Attorney-
General, the Solicitor-General, Sir W Follett, Sir F. Pol-
lock, Mr. Wigram, Mr. Pemberton, Dr. Phillimore, and several
other gentlemen. The case, it is generally understood, will
occupy to the first day of Term in argument.

WOOD AND OTHERS V. GOODLARE AND HITCHINGS.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, at the sitting of their Lord-
ships, proceeded to address them on the behalf of the appellants.
The case, he said, came before their Lordships upon appeal from
the decision of the Prerogative Court. In tLe ear 1636 there
were propounded in that Court three testamentary papers, dated
Dee. 2 and 3, 1834, purporting to be the will of Mr. James Wood,
of Gloucester, by which he nominated four persons as his exe-
cutors of his personal and real property. Those pipers were
propounded by his executors as containing the last will and tes-
tament of James Wood. There was afterwards propounded a
codicil bearing date in April, 1835, but there was no day of
that month_named. These papers led to lengthened proceed-
ings in the Ecclesiastical Court, and the Learned Judge by his
decree pronounced against the papers. The Learned Counsel,
after expressing the satisfaction he felt at the present constitu-
tion of the Court,land protesting against its being suposed to be
the law of England that a party who had been the Counsel in a
cau-e could not sit as a Judge in that cause;proceeded to say that
he felt the difficulty of the task he had to perform, namely, that of
impugning the judgment of a Judge of such learning, patience,
and ability as Sir Herbert Jenner,buliebelieved,notwithstanding
those difficulties, he should be able to show their Lordships that
that Learned Judge was in error, and that the conduct, the
highly improper conduct, of some of the parties had led him in
his indignation to pronounce a judgment that he otherwise
would not have done. It was now necessary to see what the
questions were which their Lordships were called upon to de-
termine. There was no question as to the competency of the
testator ; it was admitted that he was in full poszession of all his
faculties, that he was a shrewd man, and that down to the last
hour of his life he was perfectly capable of managing his own
affairs. There was no question, either, of undue influence ;
all the papers that had been propounded were, if genuine,
voluntary and spontaneous, and the only question, therefore,
was, whether the documents that had been presented for pro-
bate were genuine or not, and what, in point of law,
was the effect of them. If they were genuine, and prima facie
made a will, of which his client was entitled to probate, the
question then would be, were there any to rebut them ? He
thought he should be able to show, beyond all controversy, that
these were genuine documents signed by the testator, with a
full knowledge of their contents. He would now lay before
their Lordships a short outline of the facts of the ease. The
testator James Wood was a native of Gloucester; his grand-
father had settled there in 1716. Ho opened a bank there,
called the Old City Bank. Ile was succeeded in that business
by the father of the testator, who carried on the same business
there down to 1793. The testator afterwards carried on the
same business there, but in a peculiar manner, and he was a
little shopkeeper at the same time. He was a barker, a
draper, and an undertaker, and down to the last year of his
life, when he was worth a million of money, he attended as un-
dertaker at the performance of funerals. He died a bachelor,
and the only relations he had were two sisters, one of whom
was married and the other not. The testator was of the
most parsimonious habits, his establishment consisted of two
maid servants, an apprentice, and a shopman. It appeared
that the master and men slept in the same bed-room, and
that all the family eat together. By;these habits, and the wealth
left him by his father and grandfather, his own wealth
become enormous, and at the time of his death his personal
property amounted to upwards of 800,000/., and It's real to
more than 100,000/. Both the sisters of the testator and a
cousin named Ellis died before the testator, and upon the oc-
casion of the death of Ellis, the; testator had been heard
to declare that he had no relation then left but thirty-third
cousins. There was one cousin on the mother's side, of the
name of Mrs. Goodlake, whom he recognised, and with whom
he was vcrj intimate, and there was also another cousin, named
Hitchings. Carrying on the business of a banker, and having
no partner, a,nd being advanced in years, some of the customers
who kept accounts with him were a little uneasy at the pros-
pect of his death, because embarrassments might arise if he
left no representative. This was urged upon him, and it was
possible that, if it had not been for the supposition that he
should lose one or two accounts, he would have died intestate.
Under these circumstances, and being indisposed in December
1834, he made the testamentary disposition which their Lord-
ships were now called upon to decide the validity of. The
principal objects of his affection at that time were the four
individuals whom he afterwards named his executors. Josiah

Osborne had been an apprentice of his, and had resided with
him for more than forty years. The testator placed the most
unbounded confidence in him, and was greatly attached to him.
Another apprentice was the testator's cousin, Mr. John
Surman, who was, up to the time of his death, a mem-
ber of his family, and who was the second executor. The
third was Mr. John Chadborn, an eminent solicitor in Glou-
cester, who had been for many years the confidential attorney
and agent of Mr. Wood, whu had managed all his business,
.and had ingratiate,' himself with the testator, how or to what
extent it mattered not, that not being the question, but whether
Mr. Wood did make him his executor and agent. The fourth
executor was Mr. Alderman Wood, a gentleman who, although
of the same name, was no relative of the testator, who bad
never seen him until the year 1824. In the year 1820 there
had occurred what was now an historical event, in which Al.
derman Wood had taken an active part; and 'it would seem
that his exertions were approved of by Miss Wood, the sister of
the testator, whe on that account devised to him a