The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-02 00:00:00

JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF THE

PRIVY COUCIL.

THE LATE JAMES WOOD'S WILL-HITCHINS AND
OTHERS V. GOODLAKE AND OTHERS.
Tha argument in this appeal was appointed to come
on yesterday, at ten o'clock, and accordingly the Coun-
sel and parties assembled at that hour in great force.
The Attorney-General, Mr. Pemberton, Dr. Addams,
and Mr. C. Austen, appeared for the appellants (Sir
Matthew Wood, and the two other surviving executors);
the Solicitor-General, Sir W. Follett, Dr. Burnaby, and
Dr. Jenner, for the adherents (the Corporation of Glou-
cester, Mr. Helps. and the other legatees under the
codicil) ; Sir F. Pollock, Mr. Sergeant Bompas, and
Dr. Curteis, for the respondent, Mr. Hitchins ; and Mr.
Creswell, Dr. Phillimore, and Dr. Haggard for the
other respondent, Mrs. Goodlake.

The members of the Judicial Committee present were
Lord Brougham, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Justice
Erskine, and Dr. Lushington.
The Attorney-General was about to begin his argu-
ment in support of the appeal, when
Sir F. PoLLocx said he felt it to be his duty on
the part of Mr. Hitchins, one of the respondents, to
object to the ease being heard before the Court as at
present constituted. One of their Lordships had been
engaged as Counsel for some of the parties in the
cause in the Court below, and although neither his
client nor himself could for a moment suppose that any
partiality or undue bias would influence the mind of
that Learned Judge, yet he must say, for his own part,
that he would not submit the points upon which he re-
lied, with that boldness which his client's interests re-
quired, to a Judge whose mind might be stored with in-
formation which he had obtained privately, out of the
case, affording an answer perhaps to observations
which he might think it his duty to make upon the
evidence.

After some discussion, in which several of the Coun-
sel joined,
Dr. LustuNGToN said that he had consented with
great reluctance to hear this case, but his own scruples
had been overruled by their Lordships, and he was re-
quested to sit as the only means of making a Court for
the purpose. He found that the same thing had bccn
done by Sir Anthony Hart, who had sat there upon
cases in which he had been counsel, and he had himself
done the same thing in other appeals from Doctors'
Commons, and no such objection was ever thought of.
Now that it had been made, however, and urged in at ah
a way, he would request to be allowed to withdraw.
Lord BROUGHAM said their Lordships would endea-
vour to make a Court to hear this case on Monday
next, and, if they could do so, due notice would be given
to the parties ; in the meantime the argument must be
adjourned sine die.

INSOLVENT DEBTOR'S COURT.

IN THE MATTER OF JOHN TAYLOR BTANWAY, AN AL-

LEGED LUNATIC.

This case came before the Court on Monday by
special appointment, in the shape of a commission, on
the alleged question of insanity. The prisoner, a
young man, who was in attendance, accompanied by
numerous friends, had been an ironmonger in Oxford-
street, and had been confined in the Fleet prison for
debt since June last. In September the warden (Mr.
Brown) called in (under the 192 d section of the Act
relating to insolvent debtors) Mr. Harmer, the late
Alderman, who heard evidence, and on his own view
gave a certificate that the prisoner was insane and
incapable of taking the benefit of the Act as an
ordinary person. Mr. Cooper, a surgeon, had given
a similar certificate, and Stanway was described as a
source of danger and annoyance to the " establish-
ment," as it was termed. Mr. Brown, on these
documents, filed a petition, as required by the
statute, and a day was appointed for the hearing,
when the discharge, if not resisted, would have been
pronounced, and an assignee could have been ap-
pointed. In case of insane prisoners no schedules are
required, but the property of the parties vested in the
Court. The prisoner, it was stated, had read an ad-
vertisement that he was branded as a lunatic, and his
relations came to the Court to dismiss the petition filed
by the warden, which application was opposed on the
ground that the certificate of insanity given by the Al-
derman was conclusive.

The COURT, however, bold that they would hear
viva voce evidence whether the man was now insane.

Mr. Brown brought forward no evidence of insanity.
Accordingly a number of his fellow-prisoners were
examined, whose testimony showed that Stanway acted
rationally enough except when excited by drink, at
which time he conducted himself in a manner so vio-
lent as to resemble insanity.

The prisoner's brother gave similar evidence, as well
as William Goward, who had managed the business
of the prisoner and his father in Oxford-street for
twenty-nine years.

The prisoner was examined, and gave his evidence
in a very clear and sensible manner.

The COURT dismissed the petition presented by Mr.
Brown, and the prisoner was taken back to the Fleet
Prison, where it is understood he will remain until he
receives his share under his father's will, when he can
pay all his creditors.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HO USE.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE POOR-LAW IN THE
CITY.—Mr. Pewtress, the Deputy of Bridge Ward,
whose Report upon the Administration of the Poor-
laws in the City appeared en Tuesday in the news-
papers, wrote the following letter to the Lord Mayor :
January Ist, 1841.
To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor.
MY LORD—I have just read an article in the
Morning Herald in reply to a report I have written on
that part of the New Poor-law which relates to the
destitute poor. if the writer had fully understood the
law, he would never have written the following sen-
tence, on which the whole of his reasoning is based :
" The relief which the poor have a right to ask for,
but which the Guardians if they please may refuse
under the existing Poor-law, is what Mr. Pewtress
culled prompt, effectual, and permanent relief to desti-
tute persons."

1•1‘;w the destitute poor have not only a right to ask
for relief by the provisions of this law, but something
nore—they can demand relief. The writer continues
and asserts, " but which the Guardians, if they please,
may refuse, under the existing poor-law." This state-
ment is incorrect. The Guardians cannot legally rt•
fuse relief, and if they or any other officers acting under
them should refuse to administer relief they directly in-
cur penalties, for the first offence 51., for the second
offence 101., and for the third offence 201. Here is
ample security for the protection of these destitute
persons, if the administrators of the law would see that
it was fairly and properly enforced.
The writer further states that " we took notice yes-
terday of the exceptional provisions which enables, but
does not require a Magistrate to give relief when re-
fused by an overseer, in case of urgent distress, to a
person settled in the parish." The power of the Magis-
trate to order relief to destitute persons is transferred
to the officers appointed under the New Poor-law Act,
with the excepted cases which the writer has stated ;
and while the law has relieved the Magistrate from the
painful duty of investigating cases of distress, and trans-
ferred it to another body, whose entire attention is to
be devoted to this object, it has at the same time armed
the Magistrate with power equal to meet the case, and
effectually to remedy every refusal of relief to a desti-
tute person. And no relieving officer, overseer, or
master of the workhouse would commit a second offence,
if his first refusal of relief were promptly visited by the
infliction of the penalty which the laws enjoins.
If you consult the police reports in the Times and
other daily journals, from the year 1838 to the present
time, and examine the various cases which have been
brought before the Magistrates, where persons in a
state of destitution complained that relief had been re-
fued by an officer of the poor, you will find scarcely an
instance, except in the mayoralty of and person of Al-
derman Wilson, in which a Magistrate ever threatened
to enforce the penalty of the law against such offenders.
I hope your Lordship will cause the summary and
exposition of the law so ably drawn up by the City So-
licitor to be presented to the public, which will, I have
no doubt, remove all difficulties on the subject, I take
the liberty to address your Lordasip on this vital sub-
ject, because I believe that my answer to the objections
I have quoted will be likely, through the medium of the
Mansion-house, to reach the whole of the daily press,
the conductors of which, although holding different
opinions on the operation of the Poor-laws, manifest a
deep interest in the condition of those for whose pro-
tection they were framed.
I remain, my Lord, yours very respectfully.
THOMAS PE\VTItESS.
We give the opinion to which Mr. Pewtress refers
elsewhere.
Itlatilda Stratford, a woman of great strength of
body, was brought before the Lord Mayor, charged
with having beaten a man, and also with having, upon
being taken into custody, thrashed some policemen, and
broken several panes of glass.
The prisoner, who was said to have fought several
men at different times, swaggered up to the bar, as if
she feared no man, and displayed an awful clenched fist.
The complainant said, that without receiving the
slightest provocation, the virago attacked him. " Mind
your eye old fellow," said she ; and, in an instant gave
him a straightforward pelt just between the eyes. She
than tore his coat and shirt, and when the policemen
were called to his assistance, she turned upon them,
and fastened upon them like a tiger.
The policeman said that the woman had been fre- 1

quently charged with having assaulted men, women,
and children. When she was tipsy, she did not care
how many were opposed to her.
The LORD MAYOR—Why, Matilda, this is a very
bad account that I have of you.
Prisoner—lt is indeed, my Lord.
The LORD MAYOR—What can you say for your-
self ? Prisoner—l'm blest if I remember anything
about it.
The Loan MAYOR—What! You were so much
intoxicated that you forget what happened ? Prisoner
—Jist so, please your Lordship. Wasn't I precious
happy ; but it was all the fault of the New-year.
The LORD MAYOR—Well—you shall begin the
New-year at the treadmill.
Inspector Woodruff said that wherever the prisoner
appeared she excited terror, and that her knack of
breaking windows from long experience was such, that
some publicans thought it safer to let her have drink
for nothing than by refusal to hazard the tap-room
windows.

The prisoner, who laughed at the recital of her
qualifications, was then committed to prison.
THE ANTI-BRIDGE TOLL ASSOCIATION. Mr.
Cope, jun., the Secretary to the Anti-Bridge 'Foil As-
sociation, waited upon the Lord Mayor, on Wednesday,
for the purpose of informing his Lordship that the offi-
cers of the Association had done all in their power to
find Mr. " John Jackson," who had addressed a letter
to his Lordship, insinuating that the gentleman who was
collecting subscriptions were not authorised, but their
efforts had proved ineffectual. A person of that name
had been formerly employed by the Association, but his
services had been dispensed with. At all events the
writer of the letter could not be found, and a letter di-
rected to the address mentioned in John Jackson's com-
munication to the Lord Mayor, had been returned to
the Association, with the information that no such per-
son was there. _

The LORD MAYOR regretted that any one should
write to him complaining of conduct for which there was
no foundation.

Mr. Cope added that the lady who had signed the
petitions and given the subscription, had been waited
upon on the subject, and that she declared that she had
most cheerfully subscribed, and that there were no
grounds for the insinuations contained in the letter to his
Lordship signed " John Jackson."

AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR

DECEMBER.

At the close of the year we have to call the atten-
tion of our readers to circumstances, retrospective and
prospective, of no little importance ; but before we do
this—yet still influentially connected with it—we must
refer to meteorological phenomena, and this we are
enabled to do by some communications just received,
very extensively. In recent notices we have had oc-
casion to mention the extreme equability of temperature
which prevailed from August to November. In the
last number of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture
p. 437, there is the following remark ;—" It is allowed
that the month of October is the period for the turnip
increasing largely in the bulb. Now, it may have been
observed that the temperature, throughout all October
was very moderate, seldom rising above 55 deg. in the
warmest part of the day, though never falling below
40 deg. in the night. This monotonous or torpid state
of temperature is unfavourable to vegetation. Plants
may survive, but cannot increase in it. Still there is a
great bulk of excellent food for stock on the land, and, so
far as the season has as yet gone, its consumption has
been attended with pleasant weather, and this is a mat-
ter of no mean consideration in the feeding of stock,
particularly of sheep, on turnips."
Thus we perceive that at and round Edinburgh the
weather was nearly the same as that which was reported
to exist around London ; but this is not all ; we have
to cite a more singular coincidence. A letter from the
same city, per date Dec. 23 instant, informs us that
since the 15th of the month there had been severe frost
occasionally. "On the morning of that day the ther-
mometer stood at 24 degrees Fahrenheit, and at eleven
o'clock, forenoon, at 29 degrees. On the 16th we had
a little snow, which soon disappeared, with a subsequent
thaw ; but at present the frost is " black," as we say
here, when there is no snow on the ground "-24 deg.
then, that is, in gardener's language 8 deg. of frost was
the lowest degree experienced at Edinburgh ! With us
the first fortnight of December ranged between 33 and
44 deg., the two first days only being warmer. On the
14th the lowest was 26 deg.—on the 16th snow just
covering the ground, with 24 deg., but on the 18th
moening we found the mercury at 19, or 13 deg. of frost.
Ever since the frost has continued, but with no severity,
though we read of much snow in Kent, and of extreme
cold in Surrey. The inference we draw is this, that
latitude has little to do with temperature, and that in
the centre, nay, in the south of France, extreme rigour
may occur, while Scotland shall enjoy a comparatively
temperate season.

The columns of that great collector of evidence, the
Mark Lane Express, assures us that a more propitious
" seed-time," one of greater promise for the future, has
seldom occurred ; and to the truth of this announce-
ment, which is based on general information, we add
the testimony derived from actual observation. The
winter wheats are, however, better than the spring
sown ; even in Edinburgh the former has weighed as
much as 661 b. per bushel. Barley was a fine crop
every where, and, at the lowest weights, is heavy. Po-
tatoes hare been partial ; in some parts a bulky crop
has been obtained, but where the tubers have been
planted (Amin,* dry weather the result has been light ;
but, as a whole,' the harvest and consequent prospects
are much superior to those of 1839. Prices may yet
recede, but 60s. to 635. per quarter for wheat is not
dear, and, as butchers' meat is high, it will naturally, as
do the high prices of tea and sugar, " drive the working
people to buy more wheat bread, oatmeal, and corn
rice than they did last year." " Labourers are in full
work, earning 9s. and 10s. per week."
As to the crops in the ground we can say nothing ;
the land is locked up and repose is general. We could
wish that the snow had been a little deeper if frost is
to continue ; but unless the latter is to assume a char-
acter of more rigour nothing need be apprehended.
The old year departs with a prospect of peace and
plenty ; what its successor may present belongs to the
future, but we say, as we have always said, " Let us
hope and trust with confidence."

" A WAKE ! ARISE! OR BE FOR

EVER FALLEN."

The tocsin is fairly sounded through the length and
breadth of the United Kingdom,—the watchword,
"Down with the Corn-laws." Every association establish-
ed with the avowed object of agitating for repeal is at this
moment calling together its members—organising its
movements—increasing its numbers—collecting sub-
scriptions—dividing itself into sub-committees, each
having charge of a separate district, for the purpose of
procuring petitions—influencing Members of Parliament
—saliciting the aid of the ministers of the Gospel—and
all other means which can be devised for attacking with
redoubled vigour this monstrous and unholy monopoly.
Associations! again do the advocates of dear bread
compel you to put forth your strength ; again are you re-
quired to labour to procure justice from the Legislature.
The puerile arguments of the landlords are now
found to be nothing more than selfish pretences in order
to keep up rents, and everywhere have our lecturers
met with sympathy and co-operation.
Let each association exert itself to the utmost ; let
every borough or district, in which one has not been
formed, establish one forthwith. Three gentlemen,
remember, are sufficient as a commencement, and by
sending their names to the Council they will be duly
enrolled among the good men and true, now bound to-
gether in one great league for the overthrow of the
bread tax. Once formed, they will find numbers rally
round them ; the foundations of our national prosperity
are undermined, the currency deranged, trade embar-
rassed, the revenue, in spite of the late additions to our
taxation, decreasing, the people worse fed, worse clad,
worse housed, and all under the operation of this vile law.
Arouse, then, associations! For the sake of our
children, our country, for the sake of humanity, of
justice, and of religion, let us make another glorious
effort. A million and a half of names were last year
attached to petitions for the repeal of the bread tax,
let us this year double the number.
On such a question every man is responsible for his
actions. Apathy in this case is sinful ; for any man,
whatever may be his party politics, who has a convic-
tion of the wickedness of the bread tax, and does not
endeavour to abolish It, Is not dh honest man.

tvcry association then in its own sphere of useful-
ness will act at once and with vigour, and every mem-
ber of each association will, we are convinced, to the
utmost of his Ability, help forward the cause. Let there
be a glorious rivalry among us which shall do the most,
for it is a moral impossibility in such a cause and with
such an organization that we should fail of success.--
Anti-corn•lato Circular.

MANCHESTER, DEC. 31.—ROBBERY OF TIIE
BA3K or MANCIIESTER,—The persons ri ho were last
week apprdiended on suspicion of having committed this
robbery have been discharged, it appearing that the police
had got hold of the wrong parties, though one of them was
confidently sworn to by the Post-office clerk. Through
the instrumentality of Messrs Bannermans, one of whose
notes had been similarly purloined, the seal offender has
been detected ; he was opprehended on Tuesday after-
noon at one of the branch post-offices, whither ho had
gone in elpectation of receiving a banker's order, which
he had appointed to be sent there. lie is a lad of 17
years of age, named John Bourne, and has been em-
ployed in a hosiery warehouse belonging to Messrs. Lowe',
of Church-street. He was brDught before the Magistrates
yesterday, and again to-day, when he was fully committed,
the case being clearly made out against him.
Mr. J. S. Balls, one of the best light comedians
of the day, and not an unworthy successor of Elliston, in
many of the parts of that inimitable comedian, is now
" starring" it with great applause at Newcastle ; where
we are glad to find that the manager, Mr. Ternan, is reap-
ing a just and liberal reward for his enterprising spirit.
Lord and Lady Carrington have arrived at Wy-
combe Abbey, but will return to their town residence,
Whitehall-place, in about three weds, for the season.