The Sun.
London, England, 1834-01-16 00:00:00

COURT OF CHANCERY.-(THIS DAY.)

IN RE lIUMPIIRCI A, A LUNATIC.
Mr. KOE appeared with Sir EDSVARTI SUGREN (who was
heard before the Court rose yesterday) in support of the peti-
tion, which prayed that Mr. John Evans, the committee of
the lunatic, mightbe removed from his office on the grounds
alleged in the petition. These grounds were, that without the
order or permission of the Court he had mortgaged the lunatic's
estate for 1,0001., had exchanged part of the lunatic's lands, had
pulled down the lunatic's house and built a new one, had pro-
posed to make an allowance to some of the next of kin and
been dilatory in bringing his accounts into the Master's Office.
The application was made by one of the next of kin and
residuary legatee. The lunatic had resided, with every comfort,
for upwards of 15 years in the house, as it was before it had been
pulled down, and no principle could have justified the committee
in doing what he did with regard to it, without the order of the
Court. With regard to the mortgage, the committee repre-
sented at the time at which he raised the 1,0001., that the
mortgage was of the lunatic's property; and although it had
turned out subsequently to be merely of the committee's
own interest, which he had purchased on the rever-
sionary interest of one of the next of kin, he could not be
considered a fit person to be continued the committee.
The whole had been done with a view to accom-
modate himself (the committee) and his family, and not for
the protection or comfort of the lunatic. With regard to the
allegation that a person had been employed to murder the lu-
natic, that was entirely unsupported. It was also highly im-
proper in the committee to have exchanged the lands of the
lunatic without the permission of the Court.
Mr. TEMPLE appeared for three of the next of kin, who had
not joined in the present application. He would not trouble
the Court with any observations in support of the case made
by the plaintiff's Counsel. They had stated it fully, and it
must be a question with the Court whether Mr. Evans was a fit
person to be continued the Committee. All he (Mr. Temple)
had to contend for was that the costs of this proceeding, or of
any proceeding to be adopted upon the petition, might not fall
upon the estate, but be directed to be paid by the committee,
or by the individual who had promoted the present proceedings.

Mr. PEPTS and Mr. RICHARDS were for the Committee,
and submitted that a more improper case had seldom, if
ever, been brought before his Lordship. There was not one word
of truth in what Mr. Rogers, the petitioner, had stated.
Every statement was false, and there was a gross attempt, on
his part, to deceive the Court. With regard to the exchange
of the lands, the exchange had been made in 1825,
by the friends of the lunatic, of a small piece of land,
long before a commission had even been thought of,
and all the Committee had done in that transaction was to
have received the rent that had been taken in exchange since
he had been appointed to his office, and to account for it. All
the delay that had taken place in bringing in his account to the
Master's office had been from November in one year till April
in the following, and of which no complaint was made until after
active proceedings were instituted. The mortgage the corn.
mittee had made had been of his own property, and the
transaction had nothing to do with the Lunatic's estate. The
Lunatic formerly occupied two rooms in his farm-house, and
was in the habit of wandering out from them at night to an
adjacent common where he was in the habit of perambulating
the greater part of the right. It was sworn that a person of
the name of John Jones had informed the Committee that he
had been hired by the petitioner to murder the lunatic. That
information having been believed, application was made to a
Magistrate, who held Mr. Rogers to bail, and the criminal
prosecution had only been delayed in consequence of the
said John Jones having been induced to leave the king-
dom. Under those. circumstances, the Committee con-
sidered it right not to pull down, as had been alleged, the
Lunatic's House, but to erect an addition to it, at the expense
of 4001., which afforded him more accommodation, and pre-
vented his rambling out at nights, by which he might more
easily be exposed to any threatened danger. This erection was
commenced considerably before the reference to the Master to
appoint a committee, the subject was before' the Master, the
building was completed before the Master's report was con-
firmed, and still Mr. Evans had been appointed to be the com-
mittee. If the money in the erection of this addition
to the Lunatic's house had been properly laid out no doubt
it would be allowed at the proper time by the Court,
if not the estate would be benefitted at the expense of Evans.
The secret of this application was that Mr. Rogers, the peti-
tioner, had for a long time been in possession of part of the
lunatic's estate without having paid any rent for the same.
Upon the application of the Committee, a reference had been
made to the Master, upon which he approved of proceedings to
be adopted against Mr. Rogers, and the Committee was in pos-
session of a judgment upon an ejectment against Mr. Rogers
for mesne profits. Had it not been for these proceedings, this
petition never would have been heard of, and there could be no
doubt the court would dismiss it with costs.

Sir E. SUGDEN in reply contended that nothing had been
said by the gentlemen on the other side in support of the
serious charge that had been trumped up against his client,
that he had employed a person of infamous character to destroy
the Lunatic. His client had sworn that he was altogether
guiltless of the charge, and it was in the power of the other side,
at all events at one time, to have prosecuted both Mr. Rogers
and Jones. With respect to the other parts of the case, he
(Sir E. Sugden) submitted that the statements in the petition,
and the affidavits on the part of the petitioner, had not been
shaken by any thing that had come from the other side, and
that therefore Mr. Evans ought to be removed.

ROLLS' COURT.-(THIS DAY.)