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

~~

-would not become me so to state, after what my Learned
Friend, Mr. Cowbell, has said. I on'y state that, in rn,
humble opinion, when you come to know all the facts of
the case, you will think that Mr. Alderman Winchester
and Mr. Briggs have performed conscientiously and honor-
aldy their duty, for doing which this person (Mr. Grant)
Las got together all the materials for a gross libel, ailed by
Mr. Bell, who writes for him and other pipets likewis
for the purpose of stigmat'zing these respectable gen'lemen.
and holding them up to the world as unworthy of cre!it
and trust. Now, my Lords, I wl.l state to your Lordships
in detail what Mr. Brigg's and Mr. Winchester's affid wits
are ; and I think, after the reading of them, any candid
man mut be of opinion that th•v were performing moo

correctly that duty which had devolved upon them. Before,
however, I re .d the affidavits on the other side, the Picts of
which my Learned Fi lends so much exaggerat. d, I should
state, that I apprehend the defendants themselves, from a
misapprehension of their own interest: and fame—a
mis-
apprehension of the interests of Mr. Young in his property,

have been led into a mistake. But I cannot now
hind any excuse for them in that, as they seem deter-
mined to prosecute their objects to !he death, and will
not be sAti,fied unless your Lordships pass a final sen-
tence of condemnation upon Mr. Briggs and Mr. Alder-
man Winchester, But your Lordships will not do th t
till you hare heard fully what their Counsel have to say,
oapeciall.y kVhen such persons as Mr. Grant affect to put

A!rSail Ants on their trial. Now I shall read to your
k-m,i-ftships the affidavits, ant! point out as I v;) along
'P4.e facts as they are not stated. Mr. Winchester says—
" That Psttivk Grant, late of The Sun newspaper-

cffice, in the Strand aforesaid, and formerly part proprie-
tor tst th'e samc newspaper, In•ing justly and truly indehte I
to hie\ (.i'lmnent) and his partner, Arthur Varnham, in
the .t'on of 1,228/. 103. for goods sold and delivered to
it was before he was joined with Mr. Young—
" and being unable to obtain payment of the same, and
the said Patrick Grant having absented himself from
England frt w eon.ideralik period, in order to avoid pay-
ment of his debts"—Mr. Grant does not deny that—he
'1401! it.—Deponent applied " for a Commission of
Illakruptcy against the said Patrick Grant." I wish, my
Lords, I could have put Mr. Thornton's letter before you ;
I could then have shewn that it was at his instance that
Mr. Alderman Winchester sued out the commission.—
" And the same was accordingly issued against him, bear-
;ng date at Westminster, the 4th day of November, 1830,
under which commission the said Patrick Grant was duly
found and declared a bankrupt accordingly, and at the
second meeting, un.!er the said commission, deponent
together with Henry Sykes Thornton, were duly chosen
assignees of his estate and effects, and the usual assignment
thereof made to them accordingly." Now, my Lords,
comes a second fact not denied,—that from ‘• an account
in the handwriting of the said bankrupt, and delivered by
him to deponent, it appears that the debts due and,
owing by the said bankrupt, amounted to the sum of
15,000/. or thereabouts." Mr. Grant, in his affidavit,

states that the debts proved amounted to little more than

6 000 1 . ; that was true; but the present was a statement
in his own handwriting, delivered to Mr. Winchester,
sting in that gentleman's affidavit, and Mr. Grant did
not venture to deny it, " that his estate and eff cgs con-
sisted of a life interest, under the settlement male on his
marriage, of about 1601 per annum, together with some
plate, stated to be of the value of 230/., and three•
fourth sharrs in The Sun Newspaper, which the said
bankrupt estimated to be worth 9,000/., but which was

subject to a demand on the part of his copartner, Mr.
Young, to the amount of 4,0001. or thereabouts." That,
my Lords, is a statement made by Mr. Grant himself,
set forth in Mr. Alderman Winchester's affidavit, and Ali-.
Grant does not venture to deny it—" That having
reason to feel dissatisfied with the explanations given by
the said bankrupt in respect to his property, and the
deficiency of the same to meet his debts, he directed his
solicitor, the said '1 homas Briggs, to communicate the
same to the said bankrupt."
" Deponent, Thomas Briggs, saith that he accordingly
required from the said bankrupt information as to the
property which was possessed by the bankrupt, and not
stated or set forth in his last examination under his com-

mission, and which consisted of wine, and other articles
of plate and furniture, stated to be at the residence
of the bankrupt, at Boulogne, as also of his commission
. .

and arrears of half-pay as a retired officer in the army ;
and deponent nut doubting but that such omissions were
the effect of inattention, caused the said bankrupt to be
made acquainted therewith, which produced from him a
letter in reply, which bore date the 3d of January, 1831.
Now, I will leave your Lordships toiudee, after reading
that letter, whether Mr. Grant was dissatisfied with either
the conduct of Mr. Briggs or of Mr. Alderman Winches-
ter. He says—
" Mv DEAR SlR,—Though this morning's post has
brought the intelligence from Boulogne that two of my
children are extremely ill (one despaired of) I was re-
ally 30 much distressed by the communication made to me
through Mr. Bell, that I cannot even delay till our meet-
ing in the evening, the offering a flat and positive contra-
diction to the rumours which have reached you.
" You know the haste un 'er which I prepared the he-
lance sheet on the 21st ult.. but the person must be
very little acquainted with me, who can doubt that on
which I have perilled soul and body, I mean its accu-
racy in essentials; and it is indeed distressing to think
that any one should for a moment entertain suspicions to
the contrary.
" I have, however, applied to my brother-in law, Mr.
Charles Grant, for the means of confuting the calumny,
and though the hurry of business may prevent his doing
sr• folly as to details, I feel satisfied that as one of Mrs.
Grant's trustees, he will confirm the fact that her income
attachable by creditors does not exceed 2001. per annum,
as stated by me.
As to my having a house and furniture at Bou-
logne, it is too ridiculous to confute, unless a few sheets
and table-linen, with a dram of spoons and forks, can be
called such, and over these I have no control, seeing
that I owe sundry tradesmen's bills, without the settling
of which they could not be removed.
" I am fully aware that having heard such reports, you
could not neglect sif'ing their accuracy, and I beg to
thank you for the handsome and liberal manner in which
you have acted towards me, though a sense of duty to
your clients may have rendered our intercourse less agree-
able than it might have been under other circumstances."
Here your Lordships see the good terms on which these
parties were ; no complaint whatever is made of the com-
mission being improperly issued, nor is there ever a sug-
gestion that he considered it a swindling commission.
Now Mr. Briggs says " that the assignees being desirous
of proceeding to a sale of the share and interest of the
bankrupt in The Sun newspaper"—
Mr. CA3IEBELL—Mr. Giant had returned from Bou-
logne before the commission issued.
Sir J. SCARLETT—That does not appear, and my
friend, Mr. Campbell, knows very well, if I could read
the letter of Mr. Thornton, 1 could show most vir-
tually that the commission was sued out at the suggestion
of Mr. Thornton, the friend of Mr. Grant.
Mr. Caarrnar.l.-1 know nothing about it. -
The Loan CHIEF JUSTICE—I cannot hear any thing
but what is in the affidavit.
Sir J. S.CARLETT-.4. was proceeding to state that Mr.
Briggs says, " the assignees being desirous of pro-
ceeding to a sale of the said share and interest of the said
bankrupt in the said Sun newspaper and to investigate
the partnership accounts between the said bankrupt and
his late partner, Murdo Young, relative to the said news-
paper, they employed an accountant to investigate the
same, and during such investigation made known as much
as possible that the same shares would be brought to sale as
soon as arrangements could be made for that purpose ; but
in the mean time deponent received from the said Murdo
Young, and one Frederick Charles Westley the following
proposals"__
Now, my Lords, Mr. Briggs has this advantage, that
every fact stated is verified by writing, and not contradicted;
and I only wish he had brought more of the letters which
he possessed. This bankrupt had no other property but
his life interest in 1601., and this plate, which is very
doubtful, and his 9,oool.—his own estimated value
of his three-fourths in this paper. In consequence of that
the assignees, and every creditor, must have been anxious
to let the property come to sale, and Mr. Young writes
this letter :

San Newspaper-office, Jan. 26, 1631.
" The accountant sent by the assignees of Mr. Patrick
Grant to examine the account of the copartnership of The
Sun newspaper having now male his report• I beg leave,
through you, to mike an offer to the assignees for purchasing
the whole of the shares and interest of Mr. Grant in the
late copartnership, now vested in the assignees for the be-
nefit of his creditors.
" The sum I offer is 7,500/., subject to my account
against the concern, and the liabilities to which it is re-
sponsible up to the day of assignment.
" I propose to pay one-fourth of the amount down,
upon an assignment of the property being made over to
me at once. One-fourth more by bill at two months ;
anether fourth by bill at four months ; and the remaining
one fourth by bill at six months—the last portion to he sub•
ject to any actions of libel that may be brought against the
paper for any articles that have appeared prior to the gate
of rt.signinent.
" l'to re is one action for libel now pending against the
paper.
" Mr. Grant purchased The Sun newspaper for 51J01.,