The Sun.
London, England, 1803-06-20 00:00:00

•
COURT 9F CIIANCE4I'„TUNE 17.

I:tte Court was occupied nearly the wholeeaf this
.morning in .hearing. a cause of a very novel and cu..
• tiotia nature. It was.an application •by .the AMT.
oey-General, that a Mr. Wall, the Clerk of Messrs.
. Vanheythusen and'Catrs two eminent ,Solieitors,
should be committed to the'Fleet, for having 'bee*
'guilty of a conteihrof the Court, in .chalknging
.Mr. Burroughs, the Clerk of Mr..-Coppinger, one of
the Registersof the Court of ChanCery, to fight, and
breaking open his desk to get possession of an or.
tier made'by the. Chancellor to a certain cause.
It appeared that 'a cause had been depending be.
-fore his Lordship, an I that One of the pat ties being
entitled elejure'to a sum ofmoney, as soon as it should
he decided, applied to stating the ne-
cessity he was in for -the Money, .arid that Unless his
'catthe was heard time enough to get the stock sold
out of, the Bank by the zeth May, the Accountant.
General's Office would be shut, and he would have
tati opportunity of obtaining the money till July ; a
delay which would be fatal to his affairs and jute-
•rests, His Lordship finding that' the party was •
likely to be. involved in considerable distress, if lie
did not receive the money he was entitled to, con.
sented to hear the cause out of iii regular
course, and to give it a preference over others. Ac.
.tortlingly the cause was heard, and. the. Chancellor
ordered the money to be forthwith sold out of the
Bank, and paid to the person entitled to receive it.
It is necessary to state, that before an ostler is drawn
up in this Court, it is the duty of the Register who
.attends at the hearing, to settle wiih the Solicitors on
both sides, the minutes of the directions given by
his'Lordship in pronouncing judgment ; of course
this was a ceremony the Solicitors for the party en-
titled to the money, were extremely anxious to have
Lad accomplished with all possible expedition.; and
,with that view, Mr, Wall, their Managing Clerk,
:was tiltected to use every exertion in his power. It
is also necessary to state, that in this Court, there
are a number. of Registers, who have seats in the
,Register Office, where they dispatch their business;
.but it 'happens ,in this Office, as in all other public
ones, that some of the Officers are affible, accom-
modating, and disposed to oblige, while others, on
the contrary, are aduated by very dissimilar dis.
positions, and condud themselves with .a degree
of hamteur tend Official Consequence, not very well
'calculated to expedite public business. We do not
attests (to infer, that Mr. COppinger, the Register
.upon this' occasion, was a person of the latter
'description ; but his Clerk, Mr; ”Butroughs, had
:contrived, by the assumption of a degree of
tportanee, not strielly attached to his situation, to
:render himself very unpopular among the suitors
and solicitors who had business at his office. Mr.
Wall, who, as ,we have stared, was desirous of get.
ting the order passed, called repeatedly 'to have the
minutes settled--but Mr. Burroughs,.who was in no
suthhurry, - did hot think proper to pay any atten-
tion to the_enteigency of the case ; this, of course,
irritated MNWall, who, at length having obtained
a copy of minutes, declined returning it, unless
.Mr. Burroughs would promise not to lock it up.—
Whet, said Mr. Burroughs, make such a promise at
your request l It .became a material question, upon
which of the words the ethphasis had been laid.—
The Counsel for Mr. Wall contended, that the cm.
phasis had been laid upon the word your ; meaning
thereby to convey a reproachful insinuation against
Mr. Wall, who was consequently justified in using
'the language he-afterwards did ; that language con.
sisted in certain expression. injurious to the charader
of Mr. Burroughs ; followed up by an assertion,
that he had said enough to him to induce him to re.
-sent it, if he had beerea Gentleman. This, it was con.
'tended, implied a Challenge. The. Minutes were at
length settled, and the order was drawn up. Mr.
Wall applied at the Office for the Order, that he might
pass. it in the usual form ; he had been delayed till
the last day, and he was aware that if he did not
procure the Order, the Money could, not be re'.
ceived. To his great surprise he found that Mr.
Buiroaghs had locked it up in his desk, and walk-
ed away with the key. He then applied to,Mr.
Coppinger, the Register, who said his Clerk had
gt,t the Order locked up, and till lie returned it could,
not be had. Mr. Wall finding that between Mr.
Coppinger and his Clerk he was likely to lose the
boient of the Order, resolved to obtain by force,
what was denied to entreaty ; and accordingly lie
armed himself with- a large poker, and proceeded to
the desk of Mr. Burroughs, against which he cum-
',tweed a most Emnidable attack. It soon, yield:
ed to the application of such an instrument, and
Mr. Wall, seized the Prize he had won, car-
ried it off in triumph ; the order was passed, the
money received, the Client relieved from his dis.
tress, and all parties' satisfied, save Mr. Burroughs,
who grieved for his rifted desk. Such was the trans.
action upon which the application was made, for
etnntnitting.Mr., Wall to the Fleet Prison.

Counsel having been heard on both sides, and the
whole affair canvassed,