The Sun.
London, England, 1832-06-01 00:00:00

L earned Friend, on looking at the affidavits, could perceive
that that was the case. He had now stand the situation
in which Mr. Grant really was. He bad embarked 15,0001.
or 20,000/. in The Sun Newspaper, and had lost every
shilling of it. He had been made a banki upt—be d.
been kept out of his certificate for a year without any
charge being made against him, owing to his dealings with
Mr. Young, and to every species of impediment being
thrown in his way while endeavouring to agable his cre-
ditors to get their just rights, and in the hope of having a
surplus to himself. Mr. Grant found when he obtained
his certificate that there was not a shilling for his credi, ors,
because all who made offers o❑ his p tit had been fright-
end away ; and on the oth,r hand Mr. Young had
thrown the property into Chancery. It could not be for-
gotten v. hat a stigma attached to a person who was kei t
out of his certificate ; it could nut be forgotten that,
when a witness was put into the box he was asked, as the
first question,—" Who are you ? " and if it were found that
be had been a bankrupt, he teas asked if he had got his
certificate, and bow much i❑ the pound his estate realized
to his creditors. At that time, if Air. Grunt had
been put into the witness-box, and been asked those ques-
tions, a stigma would have been cast upon }aim. He had
been prevented doing anything for his family, or taking
that station in society to which he was entitled, and under
such circumstances, it w;! not surprising that after all
that he had suffered, be published a statement of his
case, every fact of which had been positively sworn to.—
The Learned Counsel said he would not trouble their

Lordships with any further prticulars, but he must be per-
mitted to make ore observation. It tvas contrary to all
. .

the rules of the Court to grant a erimind information to

parties who did not come into Court with clean hands,
and who were not supported by their character. In this
case every circumstance in the publication had been sworn
to be true by several persons of great revectability, nearly
all of whom were entirely disinterested. Under these ciro
cumstances, he trusted that the Rule would he discharged.
A LEARNED COUNSEL, whose name we could nut learn,
followed on the same side.

Sir JAMES SCARLETT—My Lords, I have now to en.®
deavour to sustain this Rule, and, certainly, in addressits
your Lordships, I shall not do so in the same tone of curl-
fidence which my L.•arned Friend (Mr. Campbell) has as-
sumed. I shall not presume to disparage a gentleman
who has the reputation to be nearly efflansct,il with a per-
Snit high in hi. Majesty's councils, being confident that even
if Mr. Grant was it Cabinet Minister bin.,elf, the question

which is at issue between the parties wunld not he decided
differently by your Lordships. Aly Lords, I could not bltt
admire the dexterity of my Learned Friend in the mode
of conducting his defence ; I discovered, as I passed
along, the theory by which he defended his clients, and
which I think may be considered to be, in the first place,
by stating as facts all those circumstances which were not
proved, and which his client had only ventured to swear
to his belief and opinion ; and stating that roundly and
broadly, as if the affidavits had sworn positively to it, which
not a single person had ventured to screw up his con-
science to swear to positively ; by omitting all facts, which

were not contradicted. I pass that howeveihy, my Lords, ss
wholly unimportant at present. Your Lordships have heard
none of them, and certainly as it respects the merits of
the application, your Lordships have heard but little of the
real lacts of the case, from me; but it now becomes my

painful duty to stile them in detail ; and lastly, my Lords,
they have exaggerated all the unimportant facts, and hare
kept back the whole history of the case. I3,fore I under-
take the duty which will be painful and tedious to your
Lordships and myself; but which I am bound to discharge
in consequence of the confidence of the tone of the asseta
tions on the other side, it will be fitting that I should

call your Lordships' attention t ) a few facts whicli
are not denied. My Lords, the commimlion issued on

the 4,h of Nov. 1830.

Mr. Grant obtained his certificate

from Mr. Alderman Winchester on the 6th of Decembers
1831. Up to that period, no libel whatever had been
published against Mr. Alderman ‘Vinchester. Shortly
afterwards, however, Mr. Grant, the now advocate of the
interests of his creditors, set up a paper, which he called
the True Sun, in opposition to the paper in which he
wai part proprietor, called The Sun. On the 6th of
March, 1832, he published an advertisement, or pam-
phlet he had written, commenting strongly upon
the character of Mr. Alderman Winchester and Mr.

Briggs; and shortly afterwards, upon the 9th and
16th of April, came out in the paper called the True
Sun the libel of which we complain. Now, my
Lords, the first charge in that libel to which I call
the attention of your Lordships is, that the commis-
sion against Mr. Grant was taken out to answer a fraudu-
lent and sinister purpose, end to benefit Mr. Alderman Win-
chester and Mr. Briggs, in some way or other, and that
they were in collusion wito Mr. Young. That is not
only stated in the pamphlet, hut Mr. Campbell himself
has stated it to be the fact; he stated roundly that that
was sworn to in the affidavits. No doubt it was by Gram ;
but I will defy your Lordships to discover any particular
fact which will justify such a statement. That Mr. Briggs
and Mr. Alderman Winchester had, in colluiton with Mr.
Young, endeavoured to prevent any other person from
obtaining his share of the paper, and that they were de-
termined to sell it to Mr. Young at the lowest price,
that in doing so they were actu ited by a sinister object,
and to serve their own interest and purpose—that is all
stated, my Lords, upon belief. That is also stated in the
libels; and he also charges Mr. Alderman Winchester and
Mr. Briggs with swindling. I will also give the statement
to your Lordships in his own words—" The whole scheme
of the commission which Mr. Winchester sued out against
Mr. Grant was a swindle ; and the same spirit which led
to the suing out of the commission marred Mr. Grant's
attempts to repurchase his property." Now, your Lord-
slii?s will have the goodness to observe the tone the affi-
davits take here; it seems as if it was intended to insinuate
that it was not the interest of Mr. Grant, but their own
individual interest, which Mr. Kinnear, Mr. Hickman, Mr.
Bell, and Mr. Lomax had at heart in what they did. That
it was done, not for the interest of Air. Grant, but to serve
their own interest. The libel does nut state that, but he
says all these attempts were marred. Then he says,
" finally, that be baffled all the fraudulent devices to which
the Lord Mayor that is to be, had recourse. Mr. Win-
chester's constituents soon discovered their mistake in
having supposed him trust-worthy ; but they hesitated to
act with the firmness which the occasion required. They
were, moreover, involved in law : and to the law Mr.
Grant also might have appealed, had it been allowed him to
do so ; the law, however, afforded him no right of redress,
he had therefore no resource but in public opinion ; to the
public accordingly he has addressed himself, and by their
aid he is rapidly recovering his property. Who shall say that
by doing so lie gives to any one just cause of complaint?
He long ago pointed out to his creditors a fund from which
his debts might be paid, and if it was their pleasure to
permit a trio of swindlers to stand between them and their
property, the fault certainly was not his. If they chose
to allow Mr. Winchester and Mr. Briggs to cheat theta
out of their interest in The Sian, Mr. Grant surely was
not in consequence bound to forego his interest in that
property." Then in the other newspaper, which is but a
repetition of what was in the pamphlet, they state that
" the body of creditors, whose interests Mr. Winchester
has so grossly betrayed, refused, in consequence, to recog-
nize him as assignee, to sanction his acts, to permit him,
in short, to take any further steps under the commission
which he himself sued out." And in a previous part,—
We have repeatedly stated to the public that Mr. Alder-
_ .

man Winchester has, in the exercise of his functions, as
assignee of The Sun newspaper, been guilty of fraud and
falsehood." Your Lordships will see presently that the
falsehood with which they are charged has been indus-
triously picked out from several conversations ; and the
whole of their affidavits, when you come to look at them,
show most clearly that they have sworn by the card
in order to justify what they have done. Now the body
of creditors, whose interest, it was stated, Mr. Alderman
Winchester had so gross), betrayed, and in consequence of
which they had refused to recognise him as assignee, were
small in number and value, and had come to that resolution
at a meeting called by Mr. Grant of his own accord. But
yet it was put forth as the sentiments of the majority, in
number and value, of the creditors ; that Mr. Alderman
Winchester was unworthy of trust, and that he ought to
resign his place as assignee. The meeting was called
solely to serve the purposes of Mr. Grant, and to sustain
his views against the general body of the creditors :
" As to Mr. Briggs, we decline to say any thing more at
present. We understand that a motion will be made in
a few days, at the instance of some of the creditors, to
have him struck off the Rolls. An application for Mr.
Winchester's removal from the assigueeship is also
about to be made. When the result of that application
shall be known, it will remain for the Honourable Court of
Aldermen to pronounce an opinion of the conduct of this
aspirant to the Mayoralty. We trust, however, that thry
will, without waiting for further evidence than was
supplied at the meeting on Saturday, vindicate the cha-
r.icter of civic dignitaries, and chew their respectfor puha?,
dec:ncy, by expelling Mr. Winchester from their body.
Now, ray Lords, my Learned Friends were candid enoubh
to admit that these were libels. I thank them fore the con-
e,ssion. They admitted that there was grat dan-
4er in such publication', ; but they said that
they were justified by the occasion which had t ailed
hem forth, or at least that tl ey believed the circumstances
ander which they bad been published would induce your
L irdshsps not to make the rule for a criminal information
absolute. My Lords, I do not venture to state with confi-
dence that your Lordships will make this rule absolute ; it