The Sun.
London, England, 1824-11-05 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF CHANCERY, Nov. 4.

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL' EX EEL. ADAMS v.. THE REV.
ALEXANDER FLETCHER AND °TITERS.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL rose to move for an injunction
that one of the defendants should be restrained from preaching
in a certain chapel at Illoorgate, and that the.otber defendants,
trustees in a deed, should be restrained from paying over or in
any way disposing of the collections and the pew-rents arising
from the same chapel. The application was made on the rela-
tion of one of the trustees.

Mr. HORNE objected to this motion being now made, on the
ground that the defendant Fletcher, for whom he appeared, had
not had sufficient time to answer the affidavits filed.

The LORD CHANCELLOR directed the Solicitor-General to
proceed, and state the nature of his motion. ____

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL then went on. The Rev. A.
Fletcher was the preacher in a chapel at Moor-gate, the pro-
perty of which chapel had been vested by a valid deed in cer-
tain persons upon the trusts therein mentioned. Mr. Fletcher's
Conduct having been made the subject of an investigation by
the Presbytery of that religious sect of which he was a member,
he had been , sentenced to be suspended from his functions as a
minister. The Synod of the same church afterwards confirmed
the sentence of the Presbytery. By the provisions of the trust-
deed, Mr. Fletcher, as minister of the chapel, was bound to
submit, in all things relative to his clerical capacity, to the au-
thority of the Presbytery and Synod. By these tribunals he
had been suspended from his office of minister, and forbidden
to preach in the chapel from the last Sunday in September to
the 18th of May next. He was, therefore, no longer the minis-
ter of the chapel for any practical purposes. It was the custom
of the Presbyterian Church—
Mr. Holism here repeated his objection that the motion j
should proceed no further, because he said the Solicitor-General's
statement would go forth to the public, and have the effect of
creating a prejudice unfavourable to his client, Mr. Fletcher.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—You have nothing to fear on
that score. I have heard nothing- yet, and I dare say Mr. So-
licitor-General has nothing to tell me, that I have not already
seen in all the newspapers : the matter has been made quite
public enough in all its details.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said he should state nothing
that his instructions and the affidavits of the party did not jus-
tify. lie then went on to say, that the Synod, in pursuance of
their usual practice on such occasions, made out a rota, con-
taining the names of six or seven persons, who were directed
to preach in the chapel during the period of Mr. Fletcher's
suspension. Mr. Fletcher had declined to obey the decision
of the Synod, and his refusal had been supported by some of
the trustees. On one occasion a gentleman mentioned in the
rota presented himself for the purpose of doing the duties of the
chapel on the day to which he hail been appointed, but he was
prevented from doing so by Mr. Fletcher and certain trustees,
who refused to permit him to enter the chapel. It was to pre-
vent a repetition of this circumstance that the Learned Gentle.
man was now instructed to press his motion. The ecclesiastical
authority of the Presbytery and Synod was a part of the consti-
tution of England, and was as much within its pale and limits._
as much entitled to its protection, as the Church of England it-
self. That Presbytery and Synod had declared that Mr.
Fletcher was not tit to be a Minister, at least during a cer-
tain period. The Reverend Gentleman chose to dispute
the authority by which he had been suspended, and in the
very teeth of the church which had appointed him—in the
teeth, too, of the provisions of that trust-deed by which the
chapel had been founded, he refused to give up his pulpit;
and said openly, that nothing but the interference of the civil
power should induce him to do so. In pursuance of this reso-
tion,
he had once excluded the minister appointed by the
Synod, and the probability was, that he would do the same
thing on the ensuing Sunday. Under the circumstances he
had now stated, he submitted that he had a right to move for
the injunction ex-parte ; and as the notice which had been
given to the other side was an extension of courtesy to the de- '
fendants, they hail no right now to come and complain of the
shortness of that notice, or of the lateness of the period at which
the affidavits were tiled. This was precisely one of those cases
in which, to use the technical expression of the Court, " irre-
parable mischief" mush be done if it did not interfere. Mr.
Fletcher had already once refused to let the person duly au-
thorized enter the chapel, and he would do so again; the mis-
chief of these refuaals would be wholly irreparable, and the
only way to prevent them in future' would be to grunt the
present application.
The LORD CHANCELLOIL—What is the prayer?
Mr. SHADWELL replied, it was that the trusts of the deed
should be enforced.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—" What are those trusts?"
111 r. SHADWELL—On the part of the trustees they are, that
th shall apply all such collections as may be made in the
cdha 1, and all the pew-rents, in the manner directed by the
ee .
dic,

The Loan CitaNcELLon—la any property vested in the
trustees by the deed?
111 r. SIIA.DWELL—Yes; the lease of the chapel is conveyed
to them.

Mr. SoracrTon-GEwEnAL—And they are to enforce the
provisions of the deed, one of which is, that the Minister shall
obey the decrees of the Presbytery and Synod.
The Loan CliAxcui.Lon—This matter seems to be of
some importance, and it is quite impossible that it can be de-
cided before Saturday.
MrAlonNE—l am quite aware of that, my Lord, but my
objection to its proceeding in the present shape is, that the
statement on one side only will be made public.
The Loun CIIANCELLOIL—What, harm can be done by its
being made public? Every body knows already that this
Synod, as they call themselves, have suspended Mr. Fletcher
from his office as one of their ministers; and every body knows,
too, that Mr. Fletcher does not choose to submit to the sentence
they have passed upon him.
Mr. II OHNE—The question involves a very important point
respecting your Lordship's jurisdiction. We have been unable
to prepare the answer which we shall be ready to give to the
affidavits }fled on Tuesday last, and we only ask time to do so.
Mr. SHADWELL—AII that we are immediately anxious about
is, that these trustees shall he restrained from paying over, or
make in the chapel on Sunday next,
in any way disposing of, the amount of the collection which
it is intended to m
after a
sermon to be preached by Mr. Fletcher.
The Loan CHANCELLOR—I should think that after notice
of this application, the trustees will hardly be so rash as to part
with any of the money that may come to their hands under the
deed. If they do so, they will do wrong. With respect to
tk some of them appear to be of great
e other points of the case,
nu porton ce.
Mr. HORNE.—They are so. And your Lordship should be
informed that this Presbytery and Synod is not belonging to
the Church of Scotland, but is a secession from that Church.
The Loan CIIANCELLOR.—I think it fair that you should
have a reasonable time to answer the allegations against you.—
In the mean time, as the bill is on the files of the Court, no
harm can be done on the other ape..

31r. II ORNE.-i appear, my Lord,. for the Rev. Mr. Fletcher,
who is no trustee, and who has nothing to do with disposing of
til:l(At ltnAaNycatill.set.ormitflt,lelet it stand over for the pre-
it on again on Wednesday or Thursday next.
asellizeinonii:ef
tiring

NATIISCH v. IRVING AND OTHERS.
wthadinducedhint
impossibletheso. hadCounthedt whichhail
answer them, and they were therefore content to abide by his
Lordship's decision.
The LORD CHANCELLOR Slla, be had given considerable at•
tention to this case. The parties litigant were members of the
" Alliance Life Insurance Company." It was proposed by all
the partners, with the exception of the plaintiff, to extend the
business of the concern to Marine Insurances. Mr. Natusch
objected, and tiled his bill to restrain his partners from invest..
ing the joint capital in the new concern. His Lordship thoughtc
the point of the case was a very simple one. If A, I
are partners, and and C choose to embark in anew
they to have the power of compelling Ato join his share of
capital oldconcern
with them, or of driving him out of the by
P Ills Lordship had no hesi.
°tiering to return him his capital traiilea,nviteirl
the
some haste, and were not
notes The , which had
tbaeteino n
alludeddc d
to eciding
ertheattiritilwi they
ucopuwlditiniot.
intended exactly as the reasons of his decisions; but as the par.
ties had a right to know the exact grounds upon which a judge's
popuitntiohnem intowa a more correcti sformed,if de riotsehsawpe.ere returned to him, he would

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, Nov. 4.
CORONATION FURNITURE.—FELLOWS v. FACIE.
' Mr. KEANE mid, that this was a bill which had been filed
by the Hon. Win. Dorset Fellows against the defendant Mr.
Page, to compel • him to pay into Court the amount which he
lut received out of the sale of the Coronation fixtures and fur-
niture used in Westminster hall, during the ceremony of his
Majest's coronation.
TheVICE CHANCELLOR inquired what answer the defend-
ant hadziven to this bill.
Mr. YEPYA replied, that his answer was, he made no
contract with Mr. Fellowes, but with Lord Gwydyr and
that Nobleman was no party to the bill. The facts were
these :—Mr. Fellowes had sent for Page, the defendant, and
informed him that he would put it in his power to make a
good bargain in the purchase of the coronation fixtures,
which had become the perquisite of Lord Gwydyr, as Cham-
berlain. They might be had for 1,5001., provided the hall was
to be cleared of them before the 10th of January. In conse-
quence of this recommendation of Mr. Fellowes, and the belief