The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-07 00:00:00

Martin will have the chief and Admiral Elliot the
second flag.
-At the quarterly examination of young gentle-
men, candidates for entry into the navy, held at
the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, on Wednes-
day, Thursday, and Friday last, the following
passed and received certificates on Saturday. They
passed in the order in which thenames are printed.
For Naval Cadets—Messrs. A. Mallock, F. R.
Keyser, H. Rose, H. A. Mandeville, R. H. Lloyd,
Hon. A. R. Hewitt, R. H. Eyre, R. W. Hope, C.
H. Taylor, A. F. Gardner, W. Duthy, H. D. Ma-
caulay, H. S. Hutchings, W. H. Lewin, A. Kins-
man, J. C. Wilkinson, W. T. Down, F. C. Bus-
field, R. H. Paul, H. N. Alleyne, W. WC. F.
Castle, D. M. Smith, C. A. W. M. Johnson, E. P.
Harper, R. C. Pole, R. C. Townshend, W. A.
Ewbank, F. G. Denison, C. H. Woodroofe, C. P.
S. Hicks, R. W. Wodehouse, C. H. Fitz Maurice,
O. P. Foote, M. M‘Neile, R. H. Byron, H. H.
Frowde, H. F. Grant, Lord Douglas, 0. H.
Tucker, A. G. Fullerton, H. H. Percy, C. D.
Stuart, C. D. Eden, G. C. C. Carter, M. G. Tho-
rold, St. V. Nepean, T. B. Lacy, W. R. Clutter-
buck.
For Masters' Assistants—F. A. Medwin, C. H.
C. Langdon, B. X. C. L. Pratt, R. Towers, E. H.
S. Bray, T. F. Martin, H. F. Woods, D. M.
Browne.

For Royal Marine Cadets—H. H. Kelly, W. H.
Triscott, St. H. St. John, F. W. Gray, R. L.
Agassiz.
The Dasher steamvessel, Commander Hore, came
up to Portsmouth on Saturday evening from the
Channel Islands.

The Duke of Wellington, 131, Captain Eyres,
C. 8., now being fitted ont in Portsmouth harbour,
will be ready to receive her officers and crew about
Friday next.

The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty
Commander Thomas Brandreth to the Orion ;
Robert Coen, master, to the Argus i • Frank Inglis,
master (additional), to the Hannibal ; J. J. P.
Hitchfield, master, to the Hydra ; A. R. Burnis-
ton, master, to the Racer ; C. H. Fuller and J.
Barclay, surgeons, to the Oron ; J. Bernard (h),
surgeon, to the Argus ; and G. Duncan, surgeon,
lo the Racer.

ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH EXPEDITION.

PLYMOUTH SOUND, RiNE 4.

The experimental squadron, if we may so term
it, of this great undertaking anchored again in the
Sound on Thursday night, after a short but most
successful cruise of five days. Our readers are
already aware of the preparations which had been
made for this trial trip. They were completed on
the afternoon of Friday the 28th, when the Aga-
memnon drew out of Hamoaze and dropped anchor
inside the breakwater. At dawn on Saturday she
swung and adjusted compasses, when the deviation
ceused by the presence of the enormous coil was
ascertained to be no less than 17 deg. The Niagara,
Valorous, and Gorgon joinedcompany on Saturday,
during the morning ; the weather continued light
and fair, and the squadron prepared for sea. There
was the usual amount of leavetaking, crowding,
paying in advance, and the fresh meat and vegetable
confusion which always marks the commencement
of a man-of-war cruise, be it ever so brief. This
once over, and shore-boats adrift, the rest was soon
accomplished, and at 3 o'clock the anchor came up
and the Agamemnon went out. Beth the English
and Ameritan ships were excessively deep, the for-
mer with a slight list to starboard, the latter with
a heavy one to port. Mr. Bright and Mr. Canning
were in charge of th• whole operation, Professor
Thompson was electrician, Mr. Clifford superin-
tended the general details, and Mr. Amos, the
maker of the paying-out machinery, went in charge
of the mechanical portions. On board the Niagara
Mr. Field was chief manager, Mr. Woodhouse wac
electrician, and Mr. Everett and Mr. Appold, the
chief inventors of the whole apparatus, were in
charge of the machinery for lowering and winding
in. This was the regular staff of the company, but
we need scarcely say that in both ships the officers
were zealous in all that could contribute to the
success of the undertaking, and on board the Aga-
memnon Captain Preedy and Lieutenant Gibson
gave the molt able assistance and co-operation in
whatever had to be done.
The Valorous steamed in front of the Agamem-
non, the Gorgon led the Niagara, and by sundown
on Saturday the land was out of sight, and the
squadron fairly running down the Channel, S.W.,
et the rate of 10 knots an hour. During Sunday
the breeze was fresh, and there was a swell on, the
effect of which, to say the least, was visible in the
heavy roll of both the Agamemnon and Niagara;
and even the Valorous, too, seemed particularly,
clever that way, and to heave as if she was com-
missioned for the purpose.
On Monday, there was not a breath of wind, the
weather was intolerably sultry, and the sea as
smooth as a sheet of glass, always excepting that
long, rolling, heavy swell that beta in from the
Atlantic, to every wave of which, as we have said,
the squadron paid a deep obeisance, and showed
their dingy copper in the sun. The distance run had
Leen considerable for the time ; the water since the
morning had changed, and instead of the sharp,
crisp, bright green with which a landsman gene-
rally associates the sea, became of rich intense blue,
so dark and protound-looking that a glance told
the vessels were out of soundings and on their ex-
perimental cruising ground. The squadron ac-
cerdingly hove to, and Valorous signalled Gorgon
to sound, while observations were taken which
showed their position as being about the centre of
the Bay of Biscay, some 200 miles from Ushant,
and the same distance from Cape Finisterre. The
Gorgon's boats we re soon afloat, but the sounding
process, even when superintended with all the skill
and experience of Commander Dayman, was a
long and difficult affair. None but those
who have watched a deep-sea sounding would be-
-1 eve the labour which attends the process. In
this instance the Gorgon cut away her line directly
the bottom was touched, but nevertheless more
than two hours had elapsed ere the task was accom-
plished, and a depth of three miles or 2,530 fathoms
signalled. Immediately this was ascertained the
experiments commenced by forming the splice be-
tween the coils. The splice, which is an operation
of the very utmost difficulty, and requiring the
greatest care, is made in a kind of wooden half-
moon, some 15 feet long, and rather broad and
nick towards the centre. In this deep grooves are
cue in which the cable is laid, each end passing in
at the arms round two eyes in the centre of the
crescent, and out at the sides, where the actual
joining is made. By this ingenious method Ole
strain of the splice is confined entirely to the ends
inside the half-moon, while on the actual junction
of the cable outside no tension of any kind can
c yne. In order to keep the cable ends in their
piece around the blocks and within the grooves,
a !strip of boiler-pla-e of the same size as the wooden
Ire ne is bolted on to it, while to prevent the two
portions of the cable uutwistiog and to sink it
rapidly a heavy weight is attached to the centr
In making a splice of this kind so many contingen-
cies have to be provided against, and such appa-
rently opposite conditions reconeiled and overcame,
t .a.t the operation is always a difficult and rarely
a successful one. As it was, however, the skill and
p actie,al experience of Messrs. Bright and Canning
even elm° th s, as they did many other contretemps
ich sebsequeetly arose, an 1 the splice was made
and s afely lowered over the Agamemnon's si to by
sin the evening. As it disappeared in the bine
waters the cables from both vessels began paying,
eut simultaneously,_ gliding quickly and noise-
le tele! into the deep beneath. The paying-out
machines worked with the most • perfect ease and
iegulerity. There was no surging or over-riding,
ea it is termed, and the brakes were ad-
Ited with such ca -e that while, when once re-
gulated, the strain could not increa a, they still re-
ineined so completely wider cont:ol that a move-
in e.t of the engineer in cherge set them fr,e, and
showed the coil to seek the bottom at whatever
Agerne
speed it chose. With both machine', on board the
which, ninon and by a very Niagara, is a dynamometer,
simple arrangement' weights
attached to a pointer, shows on alar of w
ge scale-board
s
the precise amount of strain upon the cable run-
ning out. The engineer in char ,e of the brakes
stands
weifgahcit asng he area this ' off
graduated scale and throws
iit es the vessel lurch' and the strain
p
upon the cable rising in proportion, while on the
contrary, as the dynamometer indicates the tension
at a low standard, and the cable running away too
q~r
awtuitteh
iat
the
;ckly, the brake are suffered to close again with
ease. The machines ere aelfs of pt oeermi esti.
and
to utical miles paye I out, but we must always be
understood as referring to the latter measure in the
length of ea' le expeeded on thn occ ision. In or3er
‘
le
.t no undue strain should come upon the coil in
rt,,ji,gu aura phanssee ed eaf
tunning,out the Aeemns enon and N a
ineeEer whic'i secured always a c,
ecene hundred fathoms or so between the stern of
each, and in this manner, then, theeebaut
leaiv al
al oely submerged to the depth of 0., .e n
mile, and elec ric al communicat;rn.
between the
two vessels in the r pen sea established for the fist
time. A mile having been payed cut a red flag
was hoisted, when bo h ships diseontinuel sub-
tle rgtng, and prepared for batting in again. This
operation was believ. d to be practicable under very
fivoiirable circumstances at the depth of a mile,: but
so difficult as to b almost if not quite impossible
at the immense depth to which the cable would
have to sink in mid ocean. Very little hope con-
sequently was entertained that the portion of the
experiments intended to silve this question would
yield any very satisfactory results. Aries one who
will take the trouble to calculate the fricthn in the

water of a mile of cable with a large
,and heavy
splice attached to it, and, above all, the Sudden jerk
and heave caused by the pitch of a vessel like the
Agamemnon, will perceive at once that the chances
against any important length of the coil being re-
covered from the tenacious depths of the Atlantic
amount almost to a physical impossibility. The en-
gineers connectedwith the expedition therefore were
not a little surprised when at nine in the evening
the payince-out machine having been reversed, and
connected with a small steam-engine for hauling in,
the operation was commenced, and the coil came
slowly but easily back. A few fathoms wound up
were quite enough to show the practicability of the
plan, and at half past 9 o'clock both vessels again
continued paying out at a slow rate till the splice
had sunk between them to a depth of two nautical
miles. The strain indicated by the dynamometer
during this time was merely nominal, but when the
cable ceased running, though its down ward tendency
still continued for some half-hour or so, the index
pointed to from 2,4001 b. to 2,7001 b., which gradu-
ally lessened as the impetus of the wire decreased
till the strain remained at between 1,7001 b. and
2,001 b., varying with the roll of the ship. There
it was suffered to remain for an hour, during which
messages were sent backwards and forwards between
the vessels constantly, and the insulation of the
wire and its electrical condition shown to be per-
fect. • The night was hot, and a dead calm had
settled down upon the water, without a breath or
ripple to disturb the glassy surface of what is usually
the wildest and most stormy sea in the world. The
Valorous and Gorgon lay close to, quiet and
wrapped in darkness ; but on board the Agamem-
non and Niagara it was different, for lights were
glancing from the poop and quarter deck of each,
and busy faces were eagerly watching the passage
of the strand gliding out quickly, and only marking
by one small phosphorescent spot, glittering like a
star upon the water, where the coil was passing
noiselessly into the tremendous depths below. At
half-past 11 o'clock the hauling-in machine was
again set to work, to see if it was possible to re-
cover the splice from the great depths to which
it had now descended. The machine was of 12-
horse power, yet so great was the strain that for
some minutes it was strong enough to do the
work, for the few fathoms it gained one minute it
lost by the slightest movement of the Agamemnon
in the next. Some hands were called aft and set
to work on the fly wheel, and their exertions at last
turned the scale in favour of steam, and fathom
after fathom, the cable came up very slowly, the
index on the dynamometer showing a strain of no
less than 2 tons 5 cwt. How this part of the re-
jected and already overworked cable stood the
strain it is impossible to say, especially as the coil
had got under the hawser, and was bending it at a
severe angle. This latter obstacle, however,
was soon disposed of, the cable cutting it
in half in a few minutes. As it did so, of
course both ships fell off, and thus bringing an
undue strain on the Niagara's portion of the wire,
it parted at 12.50, and the Agamemnon had the
labour of hauling up not only her own share, but
nearly three-quarters of a mile of the American's,
which was still attached to the splice. The work
was nevertheless continued cheerily, and by a little
after 2 a.m, the unremitting care and diligence
of Captain Preedy and Messrs. Bright and Can-
ning were rewardel by bringing the splice itself
t,-) the surface, and getting it safely on board again.
The wood, of curse, even at the-very thickest parts,
was penetrated to its innermost fibres with the salt
water, but what was surprising was, that at one of
its arms it was split, and the ulid wire bent, as if
subjected to a powerful strain sideways. The part
of the cable which had broken from the Niagara
was twisted and coded into such massive folds that
nothing whatever could be done with it, so it WAS
cut away, and let go by the run in a mass. The
recovered portion of the Agamemnon's wire also
showed a considerable amount of twisting, but
there was no ten I ency to untwist, and from the
facility with which the messages were received and
sent it was evident that this did not affect the elec-
trical condition of the wire in any degree.
At 4 in the morning of the Ist of June, or in
little more than an hour or so after this labour of
getting in the splice, the engineers and electricians
w, re again acting with Captain Preedy and Lieut.
Gibson. The Agamemnon and Niagara were again
c)nnected by hawser, the end of the cable passed
from the latter ship, and splice made, tested, and
lowered overboard from the Agamemnon by 9
o'clock. Soon after the splice had sunk the hawser
was let go, and both vessels steered in different
directions, att.nded by their consorts, and paying
out regularly as they went. Each steamed and
lowered her coil at the same rate, so that the results
on board the Agamemnon will suffice for both
ships. At 9.40 one mile had- been payed out, the
dynamometer showing a straiu of 16 cwt., the cable
going straight at an angle of 16 degrees with the
ncrizon, the ships moving 2-i knots, and the cable
running three per hour. The next nal!e was sunk in
16 minutes, but the index showed an increased.
strain, ranging from 2,0001 b. to 2,40016., and. the
angle was reduced to 15 degrees.
At 10 the workmen changed from the coil stowed
forward to the main coil in the hold, where the rest
of the waste cable was stowel away, and this diffi-
cult operation was accomplished without risk or
cin ck to the wire sinking. The next mie was run
cut in 14 minutes, the index rising, but un .ertain
sometimes, as the ship rolled, registering as
high as. 2,8001 b., and seldom going lower than
2,4001 b. The elec'rical continuity was good, and
messages were freely sent till 10 20, when Professor
Thompson rep:lied that continuity ceased, and it
was of erwards found that at this time the Niagara
id broken her wire. Nevertheless, the Agamem-
non held on and continued paying out till four
miles had been sunk at the same strain and much
the same rate, when the dangerous experiment of
buoying it was rehearsed. For this the ship was
gradually brought to, and an immense buoy, some
3D feet long arid 6 in diameter, to the end of which
was 50 or 60 fathoms of stout hawser, got ready for
casting off. The end of the hawser was wade fast to
the coil aft of the stern wheel, arid the buoy in-
stantly let go. For a minute or so it lay over on its
side, but as the great weight of the coil submerged
came full upon it, it rose out of the water like the
steeple of some submarine church, a conspicuous
be icon far and wide. If ever it should be necessary
to use this buoy it is made to carry a flagstaff, and
mirrors at its peak, so as to render its being picked
up again almost a matter of certainty. The buoy
floated easily, and the coil, which had not been
broken, only hung on to it, so to speak, was still
payed out, but the strain was of course much dimi-
nished, and the dynamometer rarely showed above
I,Boolb. At 11 o'clock five miles had been got over,
and the strain again rose to 2,4001 b., and 2,6001 b.
The angle of the wire was 20 with the horizon,
the ship running 5 knots and the cable 5i per hour.
Tuus matters continued for another 10 minutes,
when some six miles having been payed out, there
was a loud bang, like the snap of an iron bar—the
ca` le parted, down came the dynatuome•er, the
wire ran af., and wi:li a great leap, as if rejoicing at
its liberation, went over the stern wheel, and was
s nno more. Everyone looked blank enough for
a moment, though the accident was no more than
was expected from the poor and injured nature
of the cable used. There was no fault to find
with the machinery, as Mr. Amos was himself
superintending its working, and Mr. Gifford was
carefully watching the dynamometer. The latter
regis'erel exactly 2,6001 b. when it parted, or just
one- third of the weight the cab!es was guaran' eed to
bear when uninjur2d.

1 The Ag►memnon'a head was put about at once,
and all speed used to rceurn to the buoy, which
was still rearing its head above the-Watefs, a notable
object for miks. HoWever, before the vessel could
be got entirely round, it was seen to fall over on
i-s tide, and on coming up with it, some half-an-
hour or so afterwards, it was fiuni that the jerk of
the cable which had broken from the Agamemnon,
t !gather with the weight of the four mile length
previously attached to it, had proved too much for
the fastenings, and the whole mass, breaking loose,
was effectually laid at rest at the b Atom of the
ocean. This experiment, however, was as satis-
factory as that of hauling in the splice, since it was
only wished to show that when the necessity did
wise the cable could be buoyed so as to preserve
it without damage to its electrical continuity. In
case of buoying, of course the cable would then all
be cut away from, th©r ship, and no more added to
the weight of the fastenings on the buoy. In the
present instance, however, a mile and a half al-
d.ti, nil was run out, and this loop dragging on the
bu y already moored with four mdes of wire proved
too much, first ft r the cable it ;elf, and next for the
fastenings which held all up. During the same
afternoon the hawser W:18 again male f eat from the
Ni igara to the, stern of the Agamemnon, for the
pure ose of leivering a p.;rtion of the sound coil for
e'eatrical experiments. The splice was male as
usual and sunk, though in this caee with difficulty,
1 as a molstronBAurn 'y iron network, reminding one
of nothing So much as a , lady's crinoline frame,
which W 3.4 bung out round the Agamemnon's stern
in order to 1
tijoeeb'wepterribly in the way. At la,t, how-
tae screw from fouling the wire,
boht‘h•
foundewvacesr,t i e se
Atl'antsichld
unk tin d a m leand. a half payed
wit from cachveea2,','
however,- sillking straight up and down.
east, thel electricians were
By the- time,
working throu..4h it turnedd broad-
eile to the swell of thnen.e
pal motion that strained
~an were rising
and falling [with-an
the cable to the utmost.
The dynamometer kept
-iarying up to ahai.st the c%hiei,
breaking strain
'from 2,0001'-. to near'y 6,0001 b. in a single seci'nd,
Wtiat made this striin worse was that the breaks
were tight down'so tha!,, after the mile and a half,
whatever went over was wrenched from the 'ma-
chine, and it was merely a question which should

give—the cable or the paying that apparatus. At
last a weak part of the wire came up and broke
instantly, under a strain of 2,4001 b. An examina-
tion of the fracture showed that of the 18 outer
strands of wire which coat the gutta percha no less
than six had been badly joined in the space of six
inches, and there were other marks which left
little room for doubt that at least two more had
broken from the same cause. The Niagara for the
rest of the evening and night was occupied in haul-
ing back her half with the length which had broken
from the Agamemnon. The wire was covered, but
it was impossible to heave up the splice. After a
long pull it broke off from the wire and remained
at the tremendous depths to which it had sunk. On
Wednesday, the 2d, the experiments were repeated
with a piece of cable which had become partly un-
twisted and was weak and faulty iu several places.
At 7.30, therefore, a splice was made of this and
lowered to a mile and a half. At this depth it was
kept suspended for a considerable time, and bore
the strain much better than was anticipated. At
last the Agamemnon gave a heavy lurch, and parted
it soon after 9 o'clock. The list and most interest-
ing experiment of all, to ascertain how far it was
possible, in case of a fault going overboard, to
hold on by the wire, bring it in over the ship's bows
and so underrun it, was next tried. The cable end
was lowered over from the Agamemnon, made fast
to a heavy weight, and in the course of an hour
54 miles were payed out to the bottom of the ocean,
or, at least, as near the bottom as the weight could
sink in that time, which was probably about 2i
miles. By this time the breeze had freshened and
there was rather a sea on ; et, nevertheless, the
Agamemnon was brought to, and remained pitch-
ing and surging, hanging on almost by a wire cord,
the circumference of which is actually no more than
that of a threepenny-piece. The skill with which
Captain Preedy managed the vessel, keeping her
in exactly one spot for 69 minutes, was really won-
derful, and but for his aid the cable would have
parted instantly. The exertions of the First Lieu-
tenant Gibson, in the fore part of the vessel were
again of signal service. While the ship lay to a
wire rope was made fast to the cable, and the
Agamemnon brought round so as to remain at a
perfect right angle with the coil she payed out. The
wire rope was then brought in over the bows and
passed aft through the hauling in machinery, and
during this most delic ;to part of the operation the
huge ship lay to in the face of a smart breeze,
scarcely straining either rope. Once made fast in
the machinery the after rope was cut at a blow,
and the Agamemnon swinging by the wire rope at-
tached to the cable, brought her head round and
began hauling in the six miles over the bows. This
was really the tug of war, and for some minutes—
as in the case of the first hauling up—the steam en-
gine was unequal to the task-till some hands fell to
work aft to force the fly wheel round; then only at
a very slow rate, and as if fighting with the tena-
cious el pths of the ocean, inch by inch the winding
in began, "first of the wire rope and then of the
cable itself. As the latter came up a strong hemp
stepper was made fast to it, which proved of real
service, for hardly bad the splice between the wire
rope and the cable approached the machinery be-
fore the latter parted with a loud crack. In an in-
stant the cable flow forward, but was caught by the
stopper, and 'brought up with a heavy jerk that
strained every inch of it to the vary utmost. Ano-
ther spice was immediately made, the cable, again
hauled aft, when again in a few minutes
the splice parted. This time, however, the
stopper strained before gave way entirely, and
in a second the rope was lost under the waves for
ever. The Niagara then, following the example of
the Agenaemnon, peyedout some miles of cable, at-
tache.' her buoy to it safely, veered out still more
of her coil, hauld it all in ag tin, recovered her buoy
and fathom of the wire suspended from it. By the
time these last experiments were concluded the
squadron was widely scattered hull down on the
horizon. The Agamemnon therefore ran down to
signal, and getting permission of the senior officer,
Captain Aldham. on board the Valorous, stood
back for Plymouth, under sail and steam, the
others following her wake with all speed. On the
run home the squadron encountered much rain
and dense fogs, bat no wind. The fogs of course
affected the speed of all, but, nevertheless, the dis-
tance back was accomplished by 6 o'clock on Thurs-
day evening, when the Agamemnon and Niagara
were the first to cast anchor in the Sound.

Dur.ng to-day a council has been held among the
engineers and electricians on board both vessels for
the purpose of comparing the results of the experi-
ments. The conclusions at which they arrive will
be made the subject, of auother comrnuniewion
before the Expedition starts; but we.may mention
hero that, in the opinion of those intrusted with
carrying out this grand undertaking, the whole of
the experiments have been satisfactory. After
filling up with coal, and taking on board an addi-
tional lengLh of cable, the expedition starts again
on its great mission on Tuesday or Wednesday
morning next>.

THE L9NDON AND EASTERN BANKING

COMPANY.

EDINBURGH, FRIDAY.

MR. J. E. STEPHENS' TRUSTEE V. HIS AGENT.

The: First Division of the Court of Session
gave judgment to-day in the appeal of Mr.
Wilkie, the agent in Mr. Stephens' bankruptcy,
against a decision of Mr. Sheriff Substitute Hallard,
repelling the objections made by him by answering
certain questions in his examination relative
to the furniture of Gothic Lodge, Twickenham. In
July last Mr. Stephens first engaged the legal ad-
vice of Mr Wilkie, a solicitor before the Supreme
Courts in Scotland, and the latter atthat time dis-
suaded the insolvent frorntaking out the sequestra-
tion. In August Mr. Wilkie advanced to Mr.
Stephens 1,0001., and had the furniture of Gothic-
lodge assigned to him in security. On Oct. 19 Mr.
Stephens at length took out sequestration in the
Sheriff's Court at Edinburgh, and in Dec. last,
while under judicial examivation before the She-
riff Substitute there, he absconded. The furniture
of gothic-lodge was advertised to be sold on Feb.
9, and was, we believe sold, and Mr. Binny, Writer
to the Signet, and trustee on the sequestered estate,
found.on tracing the matter that this proceeding
was at the instance of the bankrupt's agent. Mr.
Binuy immediately made application to the sheriff
for the examination of Mt. Wilkie, the Bankruptcy
(Scotland) Act of 1856 authorising the sheriff, on
application by the trustee, to order examination of
"the bankrupt's wife and family, clerks, servants,
factors, law agents, and others who can give infor-
mation relative to his estate ; and further provides
that "the bankrupt and such other persons shall
answer all lawful questions relating to the affairs
of the bankrupt."
The record of Mr. Wilkie's examination is, as fol-
lows I am the law agent of the bankrupt in
this sequestration. I first became acquainted with
the bankrupt in the end of June or beginning of
July, -1857, and I then became his law agent. This
was after he came to reside in Elinburgh. I was
net aware till August last that the bankrupt was
owner of certain furniture in Gothic-lodge, Twick-
enham. I had in August a transaction with him in
reference to that furniture fur my own behoof.
Being interrogated, What was that transaction 1'
thereupon the counsel for th 3 deponent objected to
this interrogatory, in respect that the deponent
holds a right to the furniture mentioned in the in-
terrogatory ; and if the question and Ens of exa-
mination to follow relate to said furniture and the
deponen 's right thereto the same are incompetent
and inadmissible, unless it be now announced on the
part oftte trustee that he has no intention of chal-
lenging the depansnt'seaid r ght, or of founding on
his deposition for that purpose."
The poiets thereby raised were discussed before
the Lords of the First Division, previous to the
tieing of the Court for the spring vacation, and
minutes of debate were o:dere lon both sides. In
the minute £,r the trustee it is stated thst informa-
tion is required as to " whether the sum of 1,0001.
was really paid by" the the appellant, and,
if so, how it
was paid—whether by credit, by bill, by cash, or
in what other form—whether the alleged advance
was to any
extent made out of the bankrupt 'e own
moans, or whether to anyextent or effect the appel-
lant is truly only a trustee for the bankrupt; and,
ffnally, he desires to know from the appellant how
the alleged advance was _applied or disposed of by
the bankrupt ?" The objection to give information
rests upoa the assertion of a general
a party cannot be r quired to auswer questions pre-
judicial to his own rights. principle that
In giving judgment,
The Lord President said it appeared to him that,
locking t ) the questiou the trustee proposed to put,
and to the position in wh;ch Mr. Wilkie stood with
reference t> the matter of inquiry, the investiga-
tion the trie.tee prep° .01 to ge into was a compe-
tsnt inves ieation. FIo Tooke I at the matter in thie
[islet t f viewe—Nlr. Wilkie was confessedly in the
Pssiiion of law agent and adviser to the, bankrupt
Before he petted with that property; and when he
was contemplating secenestraton, and was a person
who was in a situation to give useful information
re!a.tive :o a bankrupt's affairs. gad Vie furniture
been mede ov-r to any oth r person as security, then
Mr. Wilkie was the
.person who of all others would
have been examined o give information t) the trus-
tee. In that position of matters, Mrr Wilkie having
chosen to take along with his cintraner of law agent
another chataeter per sonel to himself, could not pre-
clude the trustee from having that information. It
would be unfortunate to the ends of justice if a lee
agent could, exclude the right of the trustee to obtain
information from him by en•ering into a transaction
with the beekrtiet. That would be to frustrate Ilse
effect of the s acute. He hsld, looking to she
relation of the patties, and without giving my