The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-08 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 8, 1858.

LoRD BROUGHAI}I'S 1E w BANKRUPTCY

BILL.

The following is a:copy of th© bill introduced by
Lord Brougham on Friday evening, and deeming
it io be a measure of va-t important 3 to tho nom-
muniLy at llrge, we give it in extenso. We hear
that it is to be followed by others equally deserving
of attention :—•

A Did intituled, an Act to abolish imprisonment for
debt, to extend the laws relating to bankrupts to the
cues of non-traders, to give further remedies to credi-
tors, and to secure the due punishment of fraudulent
debtors.

Whereas it is expedient to abolish imprisonment for
debt, to extend the laws relating to bankrupts to the
cases of non-traders, to give further remedies to credi-
tors, and to secure the due punishment of fraudulent
debtors, bo it enacted by the Queen's most excellent
majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Ginirnons, in this pre-
sent Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the
same, as

I. Imprisonment for debt is abolished ; and from and
after the commencement of this am no person shall be
arrested upon final process in any civil acti in or other
proceeding in any court exercising jurisdiction in matters
of debt or damage, or any person against whom an order
of any Court of Equity for payment of any sum of money
or of costs, changes, or expenses, shall have been made,
be corniniAsd' for contempt of any such order, except in
the cases and in the manner hereinafter mentioned
provided always that this act shall not extend to process
at the suit of the crown, or to process is,ued against
absconding debtors.
11. From and after the commencement of this act,
the laws relating to bankrupts shall extend and be ap-
plicable to non-traders, and all persons shall be amenable
thereto, aed entitled to the benefits thereof, notwith-
standing that they may not be traders within the mean-
ing of such laws ; and in suing out an adjudication of
bankruptcy it shall no longer be necessary to prove any
act of trading ; and the remedies given to creditors by
" The Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act, 1849," or by
any other act, against trader debtors, shall, except in so
far as repealed by this act, extend and be applicable to
all debtors whatsoever : provided always, and it is
hereby especially enacted and provided, that as regards
non-traders this act and the remedies aforesaid shall only
be enforced and have effect in respect of debts contracted
or liabilities incurred subsequent to the passing thereof ;
and that nothing herein contained shall entitle any cre-
ditor to avail himself of the provisions of this act for the
purpose of suing out an adjudication of bankruptcy
against any such non-trader on any debt or liability
other than as last aforesaid.

111. Any non-trader unable to meet his engagements
with his crd►tors, and desirous of availing himself of the
benefit of this act, and of conforming and submitting
himself thereto, and being also able to show to the
satisfaction of the court that his available estate is suffi-
cient to priduce the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds
at the least, may at any time, and notwithAanding what
is contained in the preceding section of this Act, petition
fur adjudication of bankrup-cy against itself.
IV. The Court of Bankruptcy, and every commissioner
and officer thereof, shall have and exercise the same
jurisdiction, power, and authority, in all matters and
proceedings prosecuted under this Act, as they now have
in matters prosecuted under " Tne Bankrupt Law
Consolidatien Act, 1849," or under any other Act, or as
may hereafter be given by any other Act, saving and
excepting always i^ so far as repealed by this Act.
V. At the sitting for the consideration of the allowance
of the certificate of any bankrupt, not b. ing a trader,
and adjudicated a bankrupt under this Act, the Cann,
beside having regard to the c wino of such a bankrupt
in his pecuniary engagements and dealings before the date
of the adjudication, shall have regard to his conduct,
both bef re and after such adjudication, in or relating
to any act, matter, or thing which in the Court for the
relief of insolvent debtors in England would, prior to the
passing of this act, have been a ground for a remand in
the case of an insolvent debtor, and may for any such
offence order such bankrupt to be imprisoned for such
period of time as it shall think fit ; provided always,
that such imprisonment shall in no case exceed the
period of two years.
VI. All decisionsand orders mado under this act shall
be subject to the same appeal as decisions and orders
made under "The Bankrupt Law Consolijatiorr, Act,
1849."

VII. Any person, having obtained a judgment or
order of any court of law or equity for the payment of
any sum of money, or of damages, costs, charges, or ex
poises, may apply to the C 'linty Court for the district
in which his debtor shall reside for a summons cslling
upon him t) show cause why he should not be cou-
mated to prison ; and if upon the bearing of such ,•utri• '
mons it shell appear that such judgment has been
recovered for damages in any action rr proceeding for
breach of the revenue laws, or in any action for breach
of promise of marriage, seduction, libel, slander, assault,
battery, malicious arrest, malicious suing out an adjudi-
cation of bankruptcy, or malicious trespass, or it the
plaintiff shall show to the satisfaction of the court that
the (light conettineCsin any eufcti . judgment or order; or
any part thereof, his been contracted by means of false
pretences, or by any manner of fraud-or breach of tru t,
or without his debtor having at the time of contract had
any reasonable or probable txpec.ation of being able to
pay the same, the court shall have power to order the
defendant to be committed to prison for any term not
exceeding the period of two years.
VIII. Any person, having a judgment or order of
any court of law or equity for the payment of any sum
of money, or of damages, costs, charges, or expenses,
may apply to the County Court for the district in which
his debtor shall reside f)r a summons calling upon such
debtor to show cause why he does not pay the amount
of such judgment or order ' • and if upon the healing of
such summons the plaintiff shall show to the satisfac-
tion of the court that the defendant is in a condition
to pay, or that he is in the receipt of such annual or
other income as to enable him to do so in part, the
court shall make such order as shall seem just, and
either for payment of such demand forthwith, or within
such stated time as it shall think fit, or for the payment
thereof by instalments, and if the debtor shall not obey
such order may thereafter, on proof theme, order such
debtor to be committed to prison until be comply with
such order, or for such period of time as the court shall
think fit not exceeding the period of one year.
IX. If any judgment debtor, summoned as in the two
preceding sections, do not attend the court atrequired by
sworn and examined touching the matter of such surn-
such summons, or being in atendance shall refuse to be
mons, or shall refuse to make answer to the satisfaction
of the court, the cout t may order such debtor to be com-
mitted to prison, there to remain until he submit him-
self to the authority of the court.
X. All judgment ore litors within the meaning of see-
tion eighteen of the first and second Victoria, chap. 110,
and all persoas whose names are inserted as creditors
in the schedule of any insolvent filed in the court for the
relief of insolvent debtors in England, or in any of the
country courts, and to the a nouns f tr which they are so
inserted, shall be taken and deemed to bo the judgment
creditors within the meaning of the act.
XI. If upon the trial of any action in any court of
law for the recovery of any sum of money, and in which
judgment shall be recovered for the plaintiff, it shall
appear to the judge who shall try the same that the debt
or any part thereof has been contracted by the defendant
by means ef false pretences, or by any manner of fraud
or breach of trust, or without his having at the time of
contract had any reasonable or probable expectation of
being able to pay the same, or if upon the trial of any
action or proceeding a verdict shall be given for damages
for breach of the revenue laws, or for breach of promise
of marriage, seduction, libel, slander, assault, battery,
malicious arrest, malicious suing out an adjudication of
bankruptcy, or malicious trespass, the court may fer
any of such offences order the defendant forth with to be
committed to prison for such terns as it shall think fit,
not exceeding the period of two years.
XII. Every prisoner who at the commenoement of
this act shall be in execution on any judgment for any
debt or demand, or on any order for nonpayment of
costs, charges, or expenses, may apply to a judge of one
of the superior courts at We-teaiester, or to ttie court
from which the juclgtnen. or order under which be is in
custody shall have proceeded, for an order or rule on the
party at whose suit he is in custody to scow cause why
he should not be discharged out of custody ; and it shall
be lawful for such judge or court to make absolute such
order or rule, or for any of the causes mentioned in
section 7 of this act, to direct such prisoner to be detained
in custody and for such time as shall seem just ; and
such judge or court may direct the costs of the applica-
tion to be paid by either party, or may make such other
order as shall seem fit : provided always, that any such
order may be appealed against, and may be discharged
or varied, by the court of appeal, or application made
thereto by either party ; and provided also, that the
judgment creditor at whose suit such prisoner shall have
been charged in execution may, notwithstanding such
imprisonment, lawfully suefortb and have remedy against
the property of such judgment debtor in such manner
and form as be might have had if such judgment debtor
had never been taken or charged in execution.
VIII. From and after the commencement of this act,
the court for the relief of insolvent debtors in England,
and the offices of the commissioners, provi-ional assignee,
and registrars, and other officers thereof, shall be aboi.
ished, but reserving and subject to execution by the
present commissioners, provisional assignee, registrars,
and other officers of the said court, as such, of the duties
hereinafter provided for ; and until they are released
under this act they shall, for the performance of such
duties, continue to have all the powers conferred upon
thorn by any act of Parliament, or otherwise vested in
them, save and except in so far as the same are repealed
by this act.
XIV. No vacancy,
which may hereafter occur in the
office of commissioner, provisional assignee, registrar,
or abet' officer of the said court for the
.relief of insol-
vent debtors shall be filled up.
XV. On the first day of Michaelmas Term 1858, the
chief commissioner of one of the registrars of the said
court f .r the relief of iesolvent debtors shall be released
from their duties, and as ~lien thereafter as in the judg-
ment of the Lord Chancellor, from the state of business
in the said court, any other commissioner or registrar or
other eflicer can be spared, it shall be lawful for the said

Ichancellor to release any such commissioner, registrar,
or other officer, at such time or times as to him shad
seem fit.
XVI. Every ceminissioner or other officer to be re-
leased by the LJrd Chancellor as aforesaid shall have the
option tendered to him according to bis seniority in
office; and if any such commissioner or other officer shall,
for one calendar month after such option tendered to
, him, neglect or decline to avail home f thereof, then the
Lord Chancellor may tender the like option to the next
in succession in seniority in offices and sototies quotiee;
but when the Lord Chancellor shall be of opinion that
the services of none of the said commissioners or other
officers are no longer necessary for the winding up of the
business of the said court, it Phan be lawful for him to
release every remaining commissioner and officer, and to
make such arrangeioent with rePpet to the custody of
the records of such ceurt as to him shall seem fi`.
XVII. Each of the commissioners of the court for the
relief of insoli &it debtors to be so released as aroresaid
shall nevertheless continue entitled to receive during his
life, by way of retiring pension, the full amcuet of his
salary as such commissioner, and -such salaries shall be
payable out of the tame fund,on the days, and in the
same maneer in all respects as their present salaries.
XVIII. In order as expeditiously as may bo to wind
up all the matters and things which may be depending
before tho said Court of Relief of Insolvent Debtors, it
shall be lawful for any commissioner thereof, at any time
after the paosing of this act, to summon as he shall deem
fit all or any of the parties to any matter or thing so
depending, or their solicitors, or thereupon .to proceed
with such matter or thine, and
give such directions and
make such order as he may think necessary for the pur-
pose of settling and winding up the same, and he shall be
at liberty to proceed for the purposes aforesaid in the
absence of the parties or solicitors neglecting or refusing
to attend the summons.

XIX. From and after the commencement of this act
the County Courts for the Metropolitan districts' shall
have and exercise the samtesjwsisdiction, power, and
authority as is given to the other county courts by the
Act of the 10th and 11th of her present Majesty, chap.
102, save and except in so far as the same may be re-
pealed or altered by this act.
XX. So soon as the provisional assignee or any re-
gistrar or other officer of the Court for the Relief of
Insolvent Debtors aforesaid, whose office is hereby
abolished, shall have been released in manner aforesaid,
it shall be lawful for him to make a claim l • cfor compen-
sation to the commissioners of her Majesty's treasury ;
and the said commissioners shall, by examination on
oath or otherwise (which oath each Of them shall be
empowered to admiuistez), inquire whether any, and if
any, what compensation ought. to be made to any such
claimant, regard being bad to the conditions on which
the appointment of any such officer was made, and also
to the nature of the appointment and the duration of the
service ; and the commissioners shall be empowered to
call for such evidence.in relation thereto as I hey may
think necessary ; and in every case in which such claim
shall be established they or any threeo
of them
the tax o
hemshall ben
income,
authorized and empowered to awardea
ud attosutch the claimant,
by by warrant under their hands, free and clear of all
taxes
and
such
deductions
compensation wbat whatsoever, except
under the circumstances of each case, shall
seem to them just and reasonable, by way of annuity or
otherwise, and to order the payment thereof out of the
Consolidated Fund ; and in case of the death of any
such person his executor or administrator shall be
entitled to receive the proportioeate part of such com-
pensation or ennui y which shall have accrued up to the
day of his decease ; provided al ways, tha: if aay of the
pers ma who may be found to be entitled to any such
compensation or retiring annuity as aforesaid shall be
appointed to and accept any public office or employment
the sa'ary a hereof shall equal or exceed in amount their
compensati )II or retiring annuity, then during the time
of their contieuance in such office or employment such
compensation or retiring annuity shall altogether cease ;
and if any of them shall be appointed to and accept any
public office or employment of an annual value lees than
the amount of any such compensation or annuity, they,
during the time they may continue in such office or
employ, shall be entitled to receive only so much of their
compensation or retiring annuity as shall, together with
the salary of such new office or employment, be equal to
such compensation or retiring annuity.
XXI. The COW tniisioners of the Court of Bankruptcy,
or any two of them, of whom the senior commissioner
shall be one, and any two of the judges of the county
c ,urte, may from time to time make such rules and orders
as they [-say think fit for the better carrying this act
into exscutioe ; provided always, that no such rules or
orders shall be of any force or effsct untill they shall have
been approved by the Lord Chancellor.

XXII. The forius given in the appendices to " The
Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act, 1849," and in the
rules and criers made in pursuance of tuat act, may,
so far as the same are applicable, ba.altered so as to
adapt them to the cases of non-traders proceeded against
or adjudgpd bankrupt under this act.
XK EH. In citing this act in other acts of Parliament,
or in anyiin,orument, document,. or proceeding, it shall
be sufficient to use the expression "Ilse Imprisonment,
for Debt Abolition Aet, 1858."

XXIY, None of the provisions of this Act shall ex-
tend to Ireland or fsitstand.
XXV. This act, eicepting where otherwise provided,
shall commence and take effect from and after the 11th
of October, ono thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.

abuses, and that the crew of the Cagliari wete.inno-
coot of all knowledge of or participation in, the
crime with which they were charged.
Will that do ? said the President.

Nicotera—May I speak or not 1
President—lf you have anything to add after
your exculpation of the Cagliari, you can do so ;
but on other points which are not necessary to your
defence we cannot permit you to indulge in mere
" chiaccheri" (gossip).
Nicotera—Nothing is ridiculous or trifling which
touches our honour, and whether we acted as
brave men or vile, I consider it necessary to my
defence io he allowed to speak. The law accords
to me the liberty of doing so. If, however, you
will not allow me to speak, my silence will be more
eloquent.
Procurator-General (with a stentorian voice)—l
demand that the prisc.ner be kept within limits. I
demand silence.

President—l think you must be contented with
the formula that has been read.

Nicotera—" Niente" (not in the slightest). This
was his reply.
Another document was put in.
You would like this read ? said the President.

Nieotera—"Faccia come 6 vuole" (do as you
like).
Have you anything more to say I asked the
President.

Not a word, replied the prisoner.
Two things must be here observed : there was
an evident diversity of feeling betwe3n the President
and the Procurator-General ; and there was some-
thing in the document of Nicotera to be concealed'
What wag it that they wished to suppress ? For,
as we have seen, and as it is interpreted, the law
permits full liberty.pf,,speeekto_theAcqused,. The
atto di accuses says :—" The firing lasted for about
an hour from the mountains of Sanza, and 27 of
the rebels fell, amongst whom was their leader,
Carlo Pisacane. It is said that Nicotera's paper
stated, amongst other things, that the insurgents
had already surrendered, and were in the hands of
the Guardia Urbana when a company of soldiers,
by order of their officer, fired on them from a wall,
and killed them ; that they were not killed in
action, but treacherously, and in cold blood ; the
officer saying that, as he had not satisfied the iing
ou the 13th May, 1843, he was determined to do
so now. Such, it is said, was one of the statements
which the court was so anxious to suppress, and to
do which it hesitated not to commit a gross illega-
lity. Nicotera was silenced, denied the liberty ac-
corded by the law, and henceforth no fairness can
be expected in the model of conducting the trial.
After this remarkable scene, Gaetano Boggi, a
mariner and a Piedmontese, was called upon. He
maintained his perfect innocence of the charges
imputed to him, and said that he had never been a
thief, as was asserted.
Thus concludes the report of this day's trial.
The principal features in it are—lstly, the desire
which was manifested to hush up certain revela-
tions of Nicotera ; 2dly, the gross illegality prac-
tised to effect this object ; 3dly, the full exculpa-
tion by the second in command of the expedition of
the captain and crew of the Cagliari.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

His Royal Highness the General Command;ng-
in-Chien; Levee is unavoidably postponed until
Thursday next.
A letter received by the East India mail speaks
of the gallant conduct of the 34th Regiment, under
Gen. Windham, on the memorable days of the
27th and 28th of Nov. The writer compares the
action with the cavalry charge at Balaklava, and
states that upon this corps, as part of the Light
Division, some of the hottest- work done in the
Crimea fell. The regiment went out to India in
the Golden Fleece, and was among the first to lan4
in that country, as they were also, with the 88th,
the first of the troops sent out from England to
reach the scene of action. A part of this regiment
was engaged with the stth on the 27th and 28th of
Nov. On the 28th Colonel Kelly was slightly
wounded, and Ensign L. J. Grier, the youngest
officer in the regiment, being only 19, was shot
through the breast while, to use the colonel's words,
" he was bravely charging the enemy's guns with
his company, and died in the hospital at Cawnpore
the next day." Upwards of 400 men of the 34th
died in the Crimea. Ensign Grier was second son
of the Rev. J. W. Grier, incumbent of Alublecoto,
Stout bridge.
The 2d battalion of the2d Royals, now at Shorn-
cliffe, will embark at Portsmouth for Malta on or
about the 12;1 inst., in her Majesty's troop4hips
Vulcan, CommanderSecconfthe, and Urgent, Com-
mander M'Donald. The Vulcan will take the
head-quarters division, consisting of 17 officers, 500
nou-co missioned officers and men, four officers'
wives and two children, with two female servants,
16 soldiers' wives and 17 children. The Urgent
will take the remainder of the corps on her return
from Alexandria.

Recruiting for the various Indian regiments is
now proceedinTmore briskly since the reduction of
the standard, upwards of 400 recruits having ar-
rived at Chatham. during the past week, chiefly
from the recruiting districts of London, Liverpool,
Bristol, and York. Although most of the men are
of short stature, they appear well formed, strong,
and muscular, and are likely to make efficient tr oops•
Lieut. Nurse, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, and 50
privates of the Royal Marine Light Infantry have
been despatch.d from the Woolwich division to
Portsmouth, fir service on board her Majes►y's
screw steam-ship Marlborough, 131 guns, fitting
out as flag-ship, in place of the old flag-ship Vic-
tory. Capt. Allen, 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, and 50
rank and file are also under orders at Woolwich for
the same service ; together with 1 subaltern, 1 ser-
geant, 1 corporal, 1 drummer, and 25 gunners of
the Royal Marine Artillery companies.
The Otter, paddle-wheel steam-vessel, Lieut.-
Commander C. H. Simpson, and the Locust,
paddle-wheel steam-vessel, Lieut.-Commander J.
B. Field, returned to Sheerness from Antwerp on
Saturday last. The Royal squadron, except the
Fairy, passed the outer buoy of the Scheldt on Fri-
day la, t outward at 3 p.m. The Fairy was ordered
to remain at Antwerp.
The paddle-wheel ste tiller Vivid, late in attend-
ance on the Royal squadron, returned to Woolwich
on Friday evening from Antwerp, bringing des-
patches from the Royal yacht. Information was
on Saturday received in the dockyard from Count
Bernstorff, the Prussian Envoy iu London, noti-
fying that, by desire of their Royal Highnesses the
Princes of Prussia, he had been charged to remit a
brilliant ring and gold snuff-box for the acceptance
of the masters in charge of the Banshee and Vivid,
as a testimony of their Royal Highnesses' acknow-
ledgment of the attentions received during their
voyage to England and across the Channel in those
vessels.

The death of Vice-Admiral the Hon. W. Gordon,
late Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, and brother
of the Earl of Aberdeen, is reported. O'Byrne
says :-" This officer entered the navy on the 2d
of July, 1797, as midshipman, on board the Romu-
lus, 36, Capt. G. Hope, whom he successively fol-
lowed, on the Lisb m. and Mediterranean stations,
into the Alcmene, 32, and Majestic, 74. Between
Dec., 1799, and Sept., 1803, he served chiefly on
the home station in the Immortalite, 36, Captain
the Hon. Henry Hotham ; Dryad, 36, Captain
C. J. M. Mansfield ; Leda, 38, Capt. George Hope;
Minotaur, 74, Capt. John Louis ; and Fisgard and
Naiad, 38's, both commanded by Captain James
Wallis. While under the latter officer he contri-
buted to the cutting out, by the Naiad's boats, on
the evening of the 4th of July, 1803, of the French
national schooner La Providence, of two guns and
22 men, laden with timber and cannon, and lying
near Brest, a service which was effected without
casualty, notwithstanding a great rapidity of tide
and the difficulties offered by a number of rocks
and shoals with which the enemy's vessels was sur-
rounded (vide Gazette, 1803, page 840). In Sept.,
1804, Mr. Gordon joined the Trident, 64, bearing
the flag of Admiral Rainier, Commander-in-Chief
in the East Indies, where he was promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant on July 2, 1804, and further
served unt,l Feb., 1806, in the Arrogant, 74, Cap-
tain Hood Hanway Christian, and the Cullodon,
74, flag of Sir E. Pellew. After a bm ief attachment,
towards the commencement of 1817, to the Clyde,
38, bearing the broad pendant, off the coast of
France, of Commodore E. W. C. R. Owen, he ob-
tained a command ou April 24, 1807, of the Char-
well sloop, in which vessel he visited South Ame-
rica, and then proceeded to the Cape of Goo.dtHope.
Being there posted from the Sapp re
0, t
the
Gordon in the following autumn visited the Isle of
France. His after appointments afloat were, June
23, 1811, to the Laurestinus, 24, on the South
1810, Cap
Minerva hired armed ship, March 12, .
American station ; Aug. 21, 1812, to the Magi_
cienne, 36, which frigate, afterhaevminpglocyaepdtuirnedvathrie
Thrasher, American privateer of 14 guns and 80
-
men, and witnessed the fall of St. Sebastian, he
left July 20, 1814 ; and March 5, 1827, to the
ices,
ecttaseiandshipirtanwas ultimately paid off
e d
was
his flag on the brevet
of 1846. From Isll. to 18&6 he was a Lord of the
oAßuprsirilt an2;7t4i, c6u1.8 T
la3ro.she le e r
He