The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-13 00:00:00

•
iities were contracted ; the reckless nature of the,
trading-; and the- absolute deficit of assets at its '•
conclusion. It cannot 'be urged in palliation that
Mr. Delafield was the victim of any of these unto.
ward vicissitudes either of legislation or of the seasons
which will sometimes confound the best matured
plans, and involve not merely the speculator, but ~.
the merchant, in irretrievable embarrassment. The
nature of theatrical property is well known. It is
.preierbially dangerous, as is every species of Pro- ,
party which depends for ita vane• upon the arbi-
trary fluctuations in public taste. Men are found,
however, who do " make a living," as the
pbrase runs, and a . handsome one too, out of
enterprises •of this description. Nor can it be
'said that- the persons with whose assistance-Mr:
Delafield and his advisers attempted to carry out their
views appeared ill-fitted for the object proposed. The •
singers engaged at his theatre were the same persons
who for many years had attracted the attention of the
'town, wed who almost posie-sied a menopoly of the -
performance of the Italian lyrical drama. Certainly
there Was no reason for supposing that the annoy-
ance of an additional ten minutes' drive would keep
away an audience which had been long habituated to
hang upon the strains of Grisi and Mario. Mr.
Costa in Covent•garden was the same efficientrdirec-
tor of an orchestra as Mr. Costa at the Haymarket..
The " artists" employed by Mr. Delafield were old
and well-tried favourites with the public, so that the
speculation was devoid of hazard in one important re- _
epect. Whenceathen, the appalling crash which has
ruined Mr. Delafield, erased his name from the list
of the money magnates of his time, and left him in -
the condition of a dependent for life on the bounty of
those with wham be should hare lived upon more
equal terms ? The answer is quickly given, and must
serve as a key to the judgment pronounced by Mr.
Commissioner Fane in awarding the certificate of the
bankrupt without any conditions of unusual severity.
Towards the conclusion of his judgment the Learned
Commissioner is reported to have said—" I look upon
the general body of creditors in this case as co-spe-
culators with the bankrupt, and as the speculation has
been a total failure, and' he' the greatest sufferer, all.
ought. tp bear their share of the misfortune without,
repinisig." Is not' this se ? From first to last this -
foolish man—be has not yet, we believe, _completed
his twenty-fifth year—;was a- mere catspaw, in the,
of men of sharper-wit, and of a body of,
dissatisfied singers. We will not go so far as to
say that Mr. Delafield's ruin was contemplated by
those who attracted him into the concern, but, at
least, he was the capitalist who was to furnish them
with the means of realising the dreams of their
fevered imaginatioes and to bear the brunt in case of
reverse. The speculation which commenced in July,
1847, by Mr. alafield's consent to hand Mr. Beale
his promissory note for 3,0001., has terminated in June,
1850, by the allowance of his certificate as bankrupt
to this misguided young man. lie was but twenty-
three years of age when he took the first fatal step—
at the end of 1848 he was a ruined man. Now, let
us see what was the sum actually lost, and therefore
what the implied adjunct to the bankrupt's certificate.
Oa coming of age, in the year 1845, Mr. Delafield
was entitled to a fortune bequeathed him by an uncle,
which, with its accumulations, amounted to upwards
of 100,0007., and, furthermore, to a reversionary in-
terest in 6,0001. under his father's will. On coming
of age he, was admitted a partner in the brewery, and if
we understand aright the statement with which we have
been furnished, by investing his capital in the concern
Le received interest upon it at the rate of 5 per cent.,
together with his share of the profits, 2,500/ • per an-
num. Io the commencement, then, of 1846, Mr.
Delafield was in possession of a fortune, well secured,
of 7,5007. a year ; by the end of 1848 he was a
bigger. The last year and a half has been spent in
a succession of painful embarrassments and legal pro-
ceedings—in a flight to the continent—in a re-ap-
pearance at the Bankruptcy Court, from which be
was dismissed on Tuesday with nothing in his pocket
but a certificate, to make trial of that hardest of all
fates—dependence, upon others. We have already so
amply--we may add, so frequently, discussed the
circumstances and figures of this bankruptcy, that it
is not our intention to try our readers' patience any
more with details. It is hut right, however, that so
enormous an instance of a young msn's folly and of
the vicissitudes of fortune should receive some brief
notice at our hands, now that the lawyers have
done with it. The example of Mr. Delafield may
serve to deter others from engaging, at so early an
age, and in so reckless a manner, in speculations
which demand a long experience of business and
a sharp penetration into motives and character.
The dosvnfal is so great that it must appear miracu-
lous to any but one of that infinitely small section
of the community which lives without a care upon
the accumulations of its progenitors, how a man
can throw from him in mere wantonness those
means, which, if they cannot secure happiness, may
at least deliver their possessor from many a bitter
trial and heart-ach. Yet this is just what this
foolish and unfortunate young man has done.
Enjoyment, even in its lowest sense, he can
have received none in exchange for this
enormous sacrifice. To preside nominally over
the engagements and jealousies and squabbles of a
parcel of singers and dancers for a couple of
seasons is at least so poor a compensation that we '
refuse to take it at all into account. And now he is
left to test the value of the obsequiousness of a few
transitcry parasites and dependents, and to discover
how much of the regard paid to him was given to
himself, how much to his fortune, and to his sup-
posed means of advancing the fortunes of those around
him. Either the world is changed, or the few men
who would have stood staunchly to him in his bout
of trouble are the very persons he missed IA his table
in the heyday of his festivities, when the opium
dreams of continuous fortune and splendour were at
their highest. If Mr. Delafield be doomed to inevie
table disappointment in one sense, let us hope that
he may meet with assistance and a helping hand
from others on whose regard he may just now sup.
pose himself to have but slender claims. There
is one ipoint in the judgment of the Commis-
sioner, however, which we would notice be-
fore dismissing this subject for ever from our
columns. It appears that expectations had been
entertained that some conditions fur futtire payment
would be affixed to the bankrupt's certificate because
he was known to possess rich relations, who, as it was
supposed, would not be likely to leave a member of
themrcinthfamily of Delafield under the sharp pressure
ofmoney
difficulties. The suggestion operated with
the Commissioner in a way contrary to the one in-
good sense in his ten re-
marks,ded auldletrheowpasoinsto
ims much
he
of so much public
importance, thet wa will here reproduce a brief sen-
tence or two from our report of yesterday:—' It may
be said that the bankrupt has rich relations. Perhaps
he has ; but if it were true, this argument is one
which will never weigh with me. I will never be a
party to the establishing of any such doctrine as that
rich relations are under any obligation to pay the
debts of extravagant connexions.
one."
AThceonctarsaeryisdoonce.
trine is a far more wholesome
of such common occurrence that too much Atreus'
cannot be laid upon the point so forcibly insisted
upon by the Commissioner. A more cruel injustice
cannot be conceived than to place the prudent and
well-conducted members of a family under the neces-
sity of paying the debts of a foolish young spendthrift,
who never would have obtained the credit but for the
reliance placed upon their fair fame and delicacy of
feeling. This point is of rarer occurrence before the
Bankruptcy than the Insolvency Commissioners, but
there we meet with it as an every-day matter. It is, of
course, more difficult to deal with it in the latter
than in the former case
a
ase; bulet, yet, something may done by facilitating
passage of foolish
young spendthrifts through the court who have
fallen the victims of a practice as common as it is ne-
farious. Be this, however, as it may, it appears front
the judgment of the Commissioner that not tl.
slightest personal complaint was made against the
bankrupt; that the expenses of his private living did
not exceed the limits of the income to which be might
suppose himself fairly entitled ; that there was no
technical obstruction to the granting of the certifi-
cate; and finally, that none of the creditors insisted
upon the addition of conditions. Under these cir-
cumstances
youth
owho quarrel
with has
forfeited
e bdyechisiisonfolwlyhisco pbe
princely a fortune the h
grants
todisap
com-
mon papers of a certificated bankrupt.

'Re which, at the English Miut price of
is 161 par ral
standard gold, gives
MONEY MARKET.—The premium. on gold at Paris
31. 17s. 1048. per ounce for
ex.
change and the exchange at Paris on London
at she of 2
rtbeis.s6
being 25.55, it follows that gold is 0.04 per
cent. dearer in Paris than in London. By advises from
Illmburgh the price of gold is 436 k per mark, which,
at the English Mint price of 3/. 17s. 10id. per ounce for
standard gold, gives an exchange of 13.10; and the ex-
change at Hamburgh on London at short being 13.11,
it follows that gold is 0.11 per cent. dearer in London
than in Ilamburgh. The course of exchange at New
York on London for bills at 60 days' sight is 110
per cent., and the par of exchange between England and
America being 109 23.40 par cent., it follows that the
exchange is nominally 0.42 per cent. in favour of Eng-
land, and after making allowance for difference of
interest and charges of transport, the present rate
leaves a small profit on the importation .of gold from
the United States.
CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH IN SOUTHWARK...-.
On Monday morning the Bishop of Winchester consecrated a
church in Southwark under somewhat peculiar circum-
stances. The building, which is one of ancient date, stands
in St. George's-fields, and has been known as a chapel in
connexion with the Philanthropic Society. The removal of
the society's premises to Redhill, near Reigate, rendered the
chapel useless for the purposes to which it had hitherto beat
devoted, and arrangunents were c3nsequently made with
the Rector of St. tyeorge's that an ecclesiastical district
should be assigned to the chapel, and that henceforth it
should become one of the parochial churches. In order to
carry out this object the ceremony of consecration was ren-
dered necessary, and Monday was appointed by the Bishop
The Bishop has licensed the Rev. G. E.
curate of Great Watley, Essex, to be the
;or that aA.pAu., rplcastee.
I first incumbent Of the new church. •