The Sun.
London, England, 1817-08-27 00:00:00

SIR 'Id..WOOD V GRIFFITHS.

His Lordship s4id he had lost his minutes of the
sta'ute referred to by Mr. Griffiths.

Jr. GRIFFITHS said tie teferryd to the 4th
Henry IV: rap. 23. and to the' opinion of the
.Midges h the Doche,si of Kingiton's case. ,

The CHANCELLOR.—Very I'll not forge,
y,on.

EX PARTE DUFRESNE, IN THE MA rTE.R OF pIIFEESNE

, --
This Gentleman, who was a clothier its Leeds•
and lately a bankrup!-, in consequence of which he
was confined in the King's Bench, applied on Sa7
tnrday to have.a_vvrit of Habeas Corpus; which his
Lordship instantlTgranted. This day he appear-
ed at the bar, .when the Lola' Chancellor address-
ed him at considerable length. Ilis,Lordship said
that he had in the.discharge of hi.s duty, felt-him-
-self-bound to give this writ, and the more so as
he had been repeatedly applied to. , He believed
he. was the first Judge in that Court who had re-
ceived. petitions in bankrupt cases, which were
presented to him in forma pauperis, anti he thought
he had been right in doing so; hough perhaps he
had in doing it consulted his feelings iIIQVC than
Isis judgment. At the same time, while be-allowed
such petitions to be.preseuted.to him, he felt.he
was bound to secure the subjects of the kingdom..
The bankrupt was much misr•akett it .be supposed.,
that no judgment had been iormerly girth
Sin, the
case, for one had been $41% en. The ,bankrupt had
refused to ausiver a question pnt to, hint by. the
Commissioner, and bad on that account been
committed, and on his application to th.eCoutt it
was decitled that no relief could possibly be given
him.- its Lordship %,Vould now hear him with
pleasure on what he had to say, and he hoped he
should find it convenient to proceed .now, or de-
lay till:Thursday, as i, ntight•he of import anceto
him to be told that the twelve Judges, by the Act
of last Session, had power to issue a IVrit of Ha-
beas Corpus any time they were applied to during
the vacation.

• The Gentleman then proceeded, and in a speech
of considerable length attacked the whole system
of the Bankrupt Laws as oppressive in the ek-
tretne to the subject., as the- ruin of an honest
man by making him a criminal, and finally pro-
ducing infinite moral injury to the character.—
These arguments he supported by some l'aw au,
!hotities, and also by the trite quotation 'from
Shakspeare— .

" Who steal my purse steals trash, " Sx.

[-le concluded by saying he had spoken to his
Lordship both in his legislative and judicial ca-
pilcily, and he hOped lie had made out a case fit
to justify his dismission in the most honourable

manner from prison.
The Loßn CHANCELLOR.:---I do not sit here in.
any legislative capacity, for 1 cannot on any ac-
count do so, and therefore I feel no necessity of
makilig any observations on tine Bankrupt Laws.
The laws are sanctioned by Parliament, and Win!,

Cher they are hard or not on the subject, I have
no right to altar them. If a creditor to the
amount of 100/. can prove a single act of bank-
ruptcy, then be has a right to come to inc for a
commission, and I dare no►t refuse it. By the
bye I may here observe, that this is the second
writ I ever issued in my life. The two questions
were put to you by the Commissioners, and you
declined to answer the last anil yon now tell me

that you answered the first merely from courtesy.
I must sty, that had yott refused to answer the
first there would have been two causes of com-
mitment instead of one. The law gives the Coot_

►uissioners powers to act as they tip, and ►►o per 7.
son can take it from them. Till the commission

e superseded I can do nothing Nvlth the commit-
lent. Persons who look into law books often

(to themselves more harm than good. I am de-
cidedly of opinion that 1 have no right to-meddle
with the commitnyept. You had as well settle
with' the Commissioners, but I shall do nothing
in it, atid it is to me a source of heartfelt satis-
faction that every opinion I give here respecting
this case of co.,'lnitment, or indeed any case, can
be tried before the Judges ; as any JUdge has as
much power as myself tO grant such a writ.
therefore must remand you, though I feel for
your case as much as any Irian can.

The Solicitor for the opposing creditor said he

had no wish to keep the I)aiikruPt in custody, but
he would a►nswer the question no farther mea-
sures should be taken.agait►st him.
Mr. DUFRESNe'My Lord,
,may I reply ?
The LORD CHA?3CELLOR.--ItCply!. No, Sir, I
shall not be repliedtpshy'.3.•pit or,.any ratan.
,Sir,
you must be remanded. Call the next case, 'and

ict me not be troubled vit'► Tim commit
meta is stigicieut, a►►d let it stand.

Air. DUFRESNE—My Lord, may I make a mo.
Lion for the other side to appear here.
The LORD CHANCELLO-R—No, Sir—more off. •

OPERA HOUSE.-WATERS and. TAYLOR.,

Mr. HART, alluding to the recent discussions in
this case, said, he was prepared to admit that Mr.
Waters's payment liad been 5,0001. short of the
suns that he .had proposed. But what he had
then to request of the Court was, that the ques-
tion of Taylor's mortgage for 3,6001. should stand
over to• the next Seal, until it should be found
that Sir Samuel Bomilly's statement with respect
to it could be established.

The Lim) CHANCELLOR said, he did not see the
propriety of the proposition that had been made
by Mr. Hart.
Mr. D►►thie, the Solicitor, observed, that the
sum of mo►;y for which Mr. Taylor was then in
gaol was less than 3,6001. .
Mr. HART had no objection to Mr. Taylor's
using his own mo►►ey for the purpose of obtain-
ing his liberatio►►, but could not consent to his.
employing for tl►at purpose a fund that was not
his. What he had to say would le brief.
The Loan CHANCELLOR findin; that the Coon-.
sel on the other side was absent? desired that t: ,e
tardier consideration of the case be deferred to
to-morrow.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.