The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-25 00:00:00

LAW L 1.1(...EP4 c ••E.
Col-,71i 1' OF .EX':111- QUKP, .hr.e 24.

(Si tti r at S at lA,,es!-rn i - (' li7r
111537—iiiit-Six-cia I _tip ries. )

PPOWISIONAL, R,;l".:,:tcrfr.LENVls.• •
Thi. WAS an action to recover :he enionne et the plain ill's
demand he the haractee. of an adyie tieieg agent. Al r.
Knowles, Crompe ii, and Mr. Willes cenducied the ca e
tot the plaintiff, Mr. Jervis. with Wht-itti 7 was ant ther
learned gentleman, appeared for the defendant.
It appeared that the plaintiff was a well known adv&r.,
tisingagent in Chancery-lane, and eclat, like moat other'
gentleman in that rapacity, heliad become the medium _for.
obtaining, the -insertion,ein the different:jou:eels of ad-
vertisements for railway companies. Anionget these was the
Central Kent Rail Way Ontipatty, of widen :the defendant
was a. member of the piorbsional commitree, which in the
course of the evidence it was proved had been formed Id
September in the last year, although 'it had for some rime
previously been projected. • The so_icgors to. the concern
were .M.essrs. Parkes, Smith, and Cele .of Bedford
row, but the i ffices. of.. the- company were eventually -
opened in AlansiorebOuse-place, Fr,im, the evidence of
Mr. Parkes, who had bt,enil clerk in .the office ef the soil
el: ors, it seemed that a few days after the annoaeceineet
of
the formation of this railway, the defendant. 'called it the
office in. Bedford-row, and stated that he had been
_s+ licitecl
by a friend of the firm to become a member of the provi-
sional committee of the "Central Feent.Railway."- The' de-
fendent .mtide several Inquiries as to the-coarse- the line was
to take, the names of the. gentlenlen who were to be placed
upon the committee, And of those who had given their con
sent thereto' - and had theft 'stated' that they were
all most nnoPb;ectionable, end that he should be vete'
happy to be essocieted , with them on the commit-
tee.. He fur, her, in the Conise of the "conversation.
manifested great interest in the concern, and gave it as his
opium that the battle would be between that and the North
Kent. The defendant e7etieually left; 'bending his ward to
`the witness, bearing his name ertgraven Tin it, and his de-
ctiption as a (Erecter 4,1 aeother line, with his two places 01
reeidenee written underneath.' Iu the firet pro,pecteg that
wasepi-inced after this interview" an err. t eves neele in the
deectiptiOn of'. the defendant, whereupon lie called doe' a
the utliee of tbe.o rnpany,
.and begged that the correct ism
inight be made. This alteration Was subseenentiv carried
dot in accordatee with his instructions. . The ..:etendaet
was .freqeently. at the office, but there was no evi'
dente to 'prove the 'meeting • and' 'acting of any coin-
enittee., Early in November, when the panic- had set in,
the defendant wrote a letter teethesetUtor ehe limes, de
neui•cing.the liberty which had been taken l y persons con-
Peeted with several other centiPanies itf edaeinif hivrtattie ou
their lists orcommittees, ivieleatellieVeseet.a.peetniteioe..
aid stating that he had conserieed but in two instances,
ut
which one was the " Central 'Kent? to teef'nfOrt ttetiothinittee,
On the 13th of October a circular waseirepatchetleeo him
stating that the managing committee . had conic to tJte reso-
lution of allotting 150 shares to each commilteeman, and
expressing a desire to know what of that an miter, or whether
' the whole, the defendant would like to have. The circular
Was transmitted to the defendant on the 15th of October.
and on the succeeding day he wrote back to the affect that
he intended to take the 150 shares. Early in November,
however, he again called at the office, and inquired who.'
was ddng, and in the course of the conference with the se-
, cretary he expressed it as his opinion that it would be tie-
wise to allot shares to the public, because, in consequence-01
the panic, it was quite manifest that II lone would take them
up. He therefore euggested; as a wiser plan of action, that
there should not be any allotment.
The circular to the defendant• as a. committeeman, in re-
ference to The 150 shares, and the ens, er of th.4t gentleman
stating his intention to accept the while number, were put
in and read,'as well as the regi.tered eonsmt of the defendat
to become a inetnber of the committee.
Mr. tteet; .4 the advertising department Of the Times.
was their examined, and he proved the insertion of the ad-
vertisements in that Journal, and the paYtneet. for suchin-

sertiona within two or three days after their appearing.
Tne CIIIEF BARON said, that if it was the course of busi-
ness that the advertising agent was liable to the paper for
these matters, it did not signify, so far as the present cause.
was concerned, whether the plaintiff had paid the money or
cot. The defendant, or the party from whom he received
the order, was, at all events in the fi st instance, liable ti. the
plaintiff.
Mi. JEnils begged his Lordship to take a note of the ob-
ject ion.
The CHIEF Baueli---Ccrtainly; but I think it is perfectly
clear.
Mr. C. Barker, an advertising agent, in Birchin-lane,
proved that 10 per cent. was a low sum to charge as a
c<•m-
tntastoti for the great trouble the agents were put to in these

affairs.
Mr. KNowms then said that he bad witnesses from nearly
every journal in London, and many in the country, to prove
the insertion of the- different . advertisements, unless his
Learned Friend would admit them.
This admission having been made,
Mr. JeatviS addressed the jury on behalf of the defendant,
whose case, he submitted, stood upon a very different ground
from that upon .which all other railway cases that hail as
been presented had been based. In every other instance
proof had been given that the committeemen had acted upoe
the committee; but here there was a total absence of all,evi-
lence to Chow that even a single meeting of the committee had
ever taken place. There was no pretence' for this ie;ion
against the defendant, for the real and the onlv parties (see-
ing that there .had never been a meeting held) were the
solicitors, and upon their shoulders alone the whole of the
liabilities ought to rest. Then, there had been something
like as many as twenty-two actions brought (as we under-
stood) for the recovery of this account ; so many, indeed, as
that the part ie , to save trouble, bad had the form of the de
clarations printed.. He.. apprehended, that even uO to the
present. moment, the law as to what would or what wuul.l
not make a provisional coMmittecman liable was :not parti-
cui etlY Cleat.. At t 0.411.4 icOnterid that
rie fit of: aCtitoiti*A'agalnStalktLiyamirhy wia"&"tlie'--CAteraet
had been made. There con M no"doutt idiellite*ert
had been in this • case. It was bot'the'itleferelant, because
thereltad.nevel*n any meeting 9f,the,connittee, whilst
!liesoliciters had
.given all orcers resolution
of
the cuunmiltFe t 6 antleine thttiflolitatfatty expenses.
,The-- CHIEF :11.fitrem • told. pie jury
..that the question
they would first have to,coisider was, whether the
..delen•
data by becoming a m'embel' of this proVisional.Comnittlee
• had thereby autinirised,cither the solicitors or the secretary,
or indeed any member if the committee of management.
to publish to the world that lie was a person who WAS
responsible for the necessary exp uses of forming and carry=
ing out the company: IX' ihey were of opinion, that that
consent gave such an autli,..rity, the,' they would have
to say whether the work alleged had been • done and per-
formed, and if so, there could be no doubt "but that the-
plaintiff was entitled to their verdict. He did not consider
that the question as to with whoin the contract- -was
made was the most convenient mode in these cases of leaving
the matter to the jury. .Certainly it was not the most colt.
venient in the present case. He would not therefore put
the question of contract; which was a complicated question, to
them. Then arose' the question as to whether a man's name
being in the.list of.a..coeunittee would render him liable. Ira
person gave his consent to'hisname being sbplaced, that act
would authorise pia hging held out as a person who would
he responsible for the peeyment .of all - necessary expenses.
If that were done, there could be no doubt of the liability of
the defendant. But of that they must be • satistia upon the
evidence. Upon..that point this was the testim.ily
the 26th of L-septemberia.it year-the defendant called at *ti,
solicitors, and had, tie witness had proved, consented to
become'a member of the provisional commitree,•and.-on the
Ist of October that consent was registered iu pursuance of the-
late Act of Parliament, which require d the registration of all
committees of anything like a fein -Stock company. In pur-
-uance of that stature the names of the gentlemen consenting
to become members of the committee of this company had
been duly registered on the Ist of October. They would
have to say whether the expenses which had been incurred
with the. plaintiff were reasonable and proper. A provisional
committeeman must know that there were certain expen.es
which must be gone to, and that those expenses must be
paid by some one or other. He must have known that ad-
vertisements were absolutely necessary to put forth a corn•
piny before the public. Well, then_ did he, by consenting
to act as a member of this -provisional cemtnit ee, authorise
the solicitors or the secretary of the company to incur these
necessary expenses?,. The
.next question which Oen arose-
was, did the plaintiff give Credit to the company on the faith
of the responSibility of the parties whose names were on tlu•
list of the committee? That was for the jury to determine'
on the evidence. It had been stated that there had been 6
large number of actions brought for the recovery of this
It that were so, it was highly improper, and he wa
tint sure that the Court did not pi ssess the power to prevent
such a practice, if it could be proved that the object had beets
to create hills of costs: .-
The jury, atter . a few minutes' cf nsultation, returned a
verdict fur the plaintiff— Damages, 5781. 4s.

NAVAL INT.ELLIGENCE.
• WOOLWICII. JUNE .24.—The Widgeon steam-vessel arrived
at Woolwich, from Dover, on Monday, to be titled with new
boilers. lier officers and crew have'been transfer* to the
Princess Alice steam-v, ssel.
• The Trident sttarM-vessel came down the river on Tuefda3
from Ditchburn and Mare's. She is built of iron. . • -
The liebe receiving vessel has been taketrinto the tiash
rerbe^made.more compete for the reception of the crews 01
commissioned but not fully ready flir their ieception.
A spirit of insubordination having been exhibited among,d
the engineer apprentices on board the Sulp.iur vessel, used
as an engineer depot, several of the apprentices have been
discharge] the service, and the others sent to various vessel-,
and the Sulphur has now been vt.cated by them, and will
take the place of the Hebe, as a receiving-ship, utail the
latter is oomph ted.
A highly tavourable report of • the value of marine glue
has been transmitted by. the senior. officer of the Penelope
steam-frigate, by the express wishes of the late gallan!
Commander Jones, of that vessel, previous to his decease, of
the great advantage of having :the deal
..of 'the Per elope
paved with it instead of pitch, as it enabled the officers and
men to sleep on deck without soiling' their clothes, when
'serving on the coast of Africa;. and aspeciron of.pa t of the
decks of the Trinity ststeamtug,.wb.ich weredeep
by
charreld
when on fire in the river, but firmly held together
eitwiesattohebre
duesceksd
marine gine, has induced 'the Lords Commissioners of
leuo Admiraltyfperfoisrieh:nseoarmdserotilltaht. tthhee
,future in
in the royal navy. ibnf all ships

THE " SOUTH 140NDON FLORICuLTuRAI. :SOCIETY.”—
The sieOnft, or summer show of plants, nOWore, trusts, and - - surrey
its under the
arrangements of this society, took place' yesterday at the
Zedlogical Gardens. The specimens exhibited were elairaeo,ll4gslouils.
forms and stands beneath large tents, a`, on freixicellence, and.
Amongst them were some plants of more than nsall lot
highest charac er, and
the exhibition, as a whole, v, as of - 'oh! and 'silver
variety and rarity of the flowers. A gretatitens'ucn7es,'"fnl cultivators
medals were awarded by the jadgesmtinige _
a with via tors, amongst
• The grounds during the day
~wehriec, The band; f the Coldstream
whom were many people of li•dels, directed b Ntr. Godfrey, en.
Guards, which attends In theg
withoe.e.licsan,t.topf,,cica,l3e.xpeesou:!ed hi admirbit-
a 1nive,"?..1...„;,,,ted picture, in which,ut.ra(stm°l3ebehtdavie(,
livenedstle.
At
thed
k,
the spectators. Itti„Vegl ;,I"the sea, &c.; are seen, and tit.- fi-ures
the island of the g..phs, 317.tode,isTmel.oemrtahyehu.st.,18ciiscr.,,apuretaltnitoriodi.
Calypso and her_ !I.)
,vinet,its concluded with the eruption of Mount
The
1,-,lt•hitlieria;:xftedtb,,,Yarl"heurs.cratcr of which, under the direction and manage
VesiTo'ruifrt. milt by, a most terrific display of artificial fire delighted
cite ELPHI.--The directress of this
assembled
ROYAL ADsembled hosts for nearly halt an hour.
establishment, a very popular favourite, Madame Celeste, took her
benefit here last evening. The performances were The Green
I3ushes Suzanne, and Taming a Tartar. The house was literally
crammed, the receipts being greater than ever before-taken.
BRIGHTON FLOATING BREABWATEIL—Aer Majesty'r
steamer Mikan arrived hers this morning f om Woolwich,- from
whit* place she was dispatched by the Lords QuinntissiotterS of the.
Admiralty to remove the remaining section of this breakwater
which duty she performed, and safely secured it to the beach. in
timbers and moorings exhibit little wear alter 18 months' exposurt
to the winds and waves,

SECESSIONS FROM THE ESTABLISHED Crtußen.
The Rev. E. Horne, vicar of St. Lawrence. Southampton, has r‘
signed his preferment Imo entered the Roman CutifulicChurch. Lnd
Georgiana Fullerton, the authoress of "Ellen Middlet, it," with 31r
Fullerton, is tuulerz.tood to liAve c,,,,fonned t., the same comnitinh.t.

The names of more than -one buintred converts tram the er
of society have nun been announced piuce tht autumn of last year
About flay are connected with Ok,ord Universit) ; with Cambridge
not more than fifteen or twenty. Nearly half the number ori)
clerty-
USOU of tb £sta4lisluueut.•—Pvsi.