The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-09 00:00:00

LAW AMENDMENT SOCIETY.

A meeting of this society was held on Monday
evening ; Lord Brougham in the chair. In conse-
quence of the small attendance the further consider-
ation of the Bankruptcy Bills was adjourned.
.Mr. HASTINGS, at Lord Brougham's request,
stated the result of the deliberations of the Criminal
Law Committee on the subject of false pretences
on the sale of goods. Some months since a
letter from his lordship had been read to the society,
in which the present unsatisfactory state of the law
was pointed out ; and this letter had been referred
to the committee and considered by them. The first
point was, what was the actual law on the subject.
Now a false pretence in the sale of goods might be
either as to quantity or quality. As to the first,
nothing could be clearer than that the law, as laid
down by Lord Mansfield in Wheatley's case (2
Burr. 1,125), denied that any false representation
as to quantity at the time of sale was the subject for
a criminal indictment, the injured buyer being left
to his civil remedy. But in " Reg. v. Sherwood"
(1 D. and B. C. C. 251), it had been decided that a
false representation as to quantity subsequent to
sale and delivery was within the statute ; a coil
dealer was held to be rightly convicted who had
sold 14 cwt., and after delivery had gone to the
house of the buyer and reiterated the falsehood.
The law was more strict in the point of quality ;
but recent decisions had brought it to an anomalous
state, which it was hardly possible to justify. It
appeared that if the deception extended to the
whole body or substance of the articles sold, an in-
dictment for false pretences would lie ; but if the
article were ejusdemgeneris with that described by
the seller, however inferior in value, the offence
was not within the statute. Thus in "Reg. v.
Roebuck," where the keller described a chain as
silver, it being entirely of a baser metal, without
any admixture of silver, the conviction was affirmed ;
while in " Reg. v. Bryan',' (1 D and 8., C. C., 265),
where the seller had deceived the purchaser by
stating that the spoons he parted with were of that
kind known as Elkington's A, whereas they were
of very inferior quality, bat still had a slight coat-
ing of silver, the majority of the judges quashed
the conviction. In this case Mr. Justice Willes
and Mr. Baron Bramwell commented in forcible
terms on the unsatisfactory state of the law, and
contended that the maxims of law should be made
consonant to morality, and not be lowered to meet
the supposed requirements of trade. In the Indian
Penal Code, prepared by Mr. (now Lord) Macaulay,
some valuable observations would be found on this
subject. The committee were averse to dealing—
at any rate at present—with the subject of quantity,
but thought that the present law might be properly
enlarged, so as to avoid the technical distinctions
which had been drawn as to quality, the committee
being strongly of cpinion that no argument of a
sound nature could be brought forward to support
the punishment of a seller who deceived as to the
whole substance of an article which would not
apply with equal force to the case of a seller who
deceived wilfully and fraudulently as to part of the
substance. Mr. Hastings then read a short bill
which had been prepared by the committee, and
which he undertook to present to the society for
discussion at the next meeting.
After some conversation the society adjourned
till Monday, the 29th inst.

TRIAL TRIP OF THE ROYAL MAIL
STEAM-SIIIP PARAMATTA.

SOUTHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY.

The Royal Mail Company's new iron paddle-
wheel steam-ship Paramatta left the docks yester-
day under the command of Captain Bayntott for
Stoke's Bay, where her speed was tested by the
measured mile. On the occasion there were nearly
200 ladies and gentlemen on board.
Among the company present were Captain
Mangles, Captain Wilson, Captain Liot, Captain
\Vhish, and Mr. Tufnell, directors of the company ;
Captain Vincent, the company's superintendent ;
Captain Strutt, examiner to the company ; Mr.
e company's engineer; Don Henrique
consul; Captain Ford, of the Otto-
man Ritchie,
Ainz,s p a n
Spanish
navy ; Mr. Alderman Carter, and other
crentlemen.
0
The day was not so favourable as might have
been desired, although the weather was fine. A
heavy mist set in whilst the ship was at Spithead,
which obscured objects at but a short distance, and
result caused
otfhteh
the
ship
trial
after
bf
tee
rhfoovuer-
trips,o f
with and againsto r some time. The
tide, was as follows : 1
Ist Trip.. 4m. 145., equal to 14.173 knots per hour.
2d 4m. 165., 14.063
3cl 4m. 295., „ 13.383
4th „ - 4m. 145., „ 14.173 79
Being an average of nearly 14 knots per hour.
The Paramatta was built by the Thames Iron
Ship Building Company. Her capacity is rated at
(registered tonnage) 2,285 (builder's measurement)
2,092 tons ; horse power, 800. Her main deck is
331 feet in length, and presents an unbroken pro-
menade on each side of the ship from stern to stern.
The beam is 42 ft. 9 in., depth 36 ft. 6 in. Every
new appliance has been made use of in her con-
struction, and she has accommodation for 274 first
class passengers. She has four tubular boilers, of
the weight of 220 tans, with 24 furnaces.
A sumptuous ckjeuner was served on board. The
Paramatta returned to port the same evening.

[AnvEnTismENT.]-llolloway's Ointment and rills.—
Medical mal-treatment and neglect, and imprudence on the
part of the sufferers themselves annually destroy thousands
of lives that might have been saved with the greatest ease,
by the use of these perfect antidotes to disease external and
internal. Multitudes of rheumatic sufferers are now limp-
ing to the grave with contracted joints and in constant
agony who might be cured in a few weeks by the ointment,
and the vital strength of a still greater number is oozing
away through scrofula, sores, abscesses, and other exhaust-
ing outlets of suppuration which might be promptly and
safely cured by the same means. Whilst the, heart beats
the patient need not despair : Holloway's remedies will
prove a very present help. .