The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-08 00:00:00

CLERKEIV WELL.

Mr. Richard James Chapman, a respectable look-
ing. middle aged man, residing at No. 7, Wellington-
square, an actor at Drury-lane Theatre, appeared
before the magistrate to answer charges of assault
preferred against him by Emma, his wife.
The complainant was herself charged here this
morning with being drunk and disorderly. Her hus-
band appeared to sustain the charge. Mrs. Chapman
denied the offence, and, crying bitterly, complained
of the cruel treatment practised towards her by the
defendant. The magistrate then told the parties to
appear before him at three o'clock, if they had not
previously arranged the matter amicably. He dis-
charged Mrs. Chapman.
Mrs. Chapman deposed, that in consequence of her
husband's ill-treatment, she was obliged to run out
of the house, 7, Wellington-square, between two and
three o'clock on Sunday morning. She was running
along the square when the defendant overtook and
struck her a violent blow between the eyes, which
felled her to the ground. A police constable came
up at the moment. The defendant said she had fallen
from intoxication, and she was taken to the station-
house.

Mr. GREENWOOD—What made you leave the house
at such an hour? Mrs. Chapman—Because he threa-
tened to strangle me. lam every moment in fear
of my life. He nas often threatened to murder me.
Last week he said he would shoot me with an air-gun,
so that nobody might know anything about it.
Mr. GREENWOOD—Has he got an air-gun ? Mrs.
Chapman—l can't tell, but my life is miserable.
Mr. GREENWOOD remanded the case to Thursday
next, but ordered the defendant to be bound over to
appear here on that day.
Mrs. Chapman then left the court, accompanied by
her mother.

The case was brought before the bench at its last
sitting, but the defendant did not appear upon that or
the present occasion. The magistrates thought there
was not sufficient corroborative t2stimony of the state-
ment of the complainant, and at the request of her
father. they adjourned the further hearing until to-
day, the Magistrate observing that owing t,) the un-
avoidaMe difficulty of obtaining corroborative testi-
mony in such casts, the new law was, to a certain
extent, completely inoperative.
The complainant deposed that she was a single
woman, and that she was delivered of a male illegiti-
mate child on the 13th of April, and that John Down
was the father of that child. In addition to this tes-
timony a young woman named Miller proved that
there had been some familiarity between the com-
plainant and the person who was alleged to be the
father of her child.

Sir C. PARNABY inquired whether there was any
further corroborative testimony? The father of the
young woman stated that he had written to defendant
since the last hearing, and had received a letter from
him in answer, in which he expressed his willing-
ness to come to some arrangement without allowing
the matter to be disposed of by the magistrates.
The Bescrt expressed their opinion that this admis-
sion of the defendant, coupled with the other facts,
established his :liability, and they should feel them-
selves justified in making an order upon him to sup-
port the child.
The father, with some warmth, said he thought it
was a cruel thing that parties should be put to so
much trouble and inconvenience to establish the
liability of a party committing an offence of this de-
scription. If it had been in his power to support the
child, he would much rather have done so than have
incurred the expense and trouble to which he had
been subjected.
The BENCH said that it might be difficult to obtain
the necessary evidence, but the magistrates had
nothing to do with that matter. They must carry
out the law as it stood, and they had no power to
act unless sufficient confirmatory evidence was laid
before them to support the testimony of the mother
of the child.

The BENCH then made an order upon the de-
fendant to pay two shillings per week, and the neces-
sary process was directed to be issued to enforce the
payment of that sum, and also the amount of arrears
and expenses.

SCOTCH BANKS.
EDINBURGH COUNTY MEETING.
At a meeting of the freeholders, heritors, and
commissioners of supply, held at Edinburgh last week,
Sir JAMES G. CRAIG said, that, at the reqm-st of
several gentlemen eonnecr• d with t,e county. he
begged to bring h .tore the me. ting a matter of very
great imp :rtance. He had every reason to believe
that Sir R. Peel had the intention to bring in a mea-
sure next seision regarding the banking system of
Scotland. The rumour of this intention had excited
great apprehension in the minds of those who take an
interest in the subject. The nation was wedded to
the present system, believing it to be the best in any
country, and they naturally were exceedingly jealous
of any interference with it. He reminded the meeting
of the attempt which was made in 1825 to alter the
system ; and when Committees of both Housr.s of
Parliament unanimously reported that it should not
be interfered with. If then there was no ground for
interfering with the system in 1825, there was less
ground now ; and, therefore, he begged to propose the
following resolutions :-
1. That the system of banking which has been car-
ried on in Scotland since 1695, an I, with the addition of
one pound notes, since 1704, has met with the most cor-
dial approbation of every class of the community, and
particularly of all those engaged in mercantile and agri-
cultural pursuits.
2. That so far f.om any change being called for, the
opinion throughout the entire country is, that no reasoa
whatever has been assigned for interfering with what has
worked so well and so beneficially for all classes, who
unite in deprecating .tny alteration in the existing system.
3. That constituted as the Scottish banks are at pre-
sent, the safety of the currency may be considered be-
yond question. Independent of the reFponsibility of the
individual parties, the banks now in operation have paid
up capital of twelve millions and a circulation of no!es
little exceeding two millions eight hundred thousand
pounds.
4. That although the Scottish banks make all their
payments in their own notes, and gold is scarcely known
in the circulation, the habits of the country, and the
peculiar mode of operating on cash accounts, have re-
stricted the entire circulation to the small amount just
stated ; which is found sufficient, with occasional varia-
tions to a very moderate extent, to meet the wants of all
classes, whether engaged in trade or agriculture; and the
improved mode of carrying on monied transactions has
tended to diminish the currency, notwithstanding an in-
crease in the number of banks, as well as a great in-
crease both of mercantile and agricultural capital.
5. That the circulation of bank notes in Scotland
is much less, both in proportion to the population and
to the general business of the country than that of Eng-
land, although England has no Rotes under five pounds.
6. That the circulation of the Scottish hanks has no
direct dependence, or at least depends in a very trifling
degree, upon the state of the foreign exchanges, but
varies, as is shown in the regular returns made to Go-
vernment, with the demands of trade, or with the regular
recurrence of terms and great cattle markets.
7. That the change from one pound notes to gold
would be attended with many inconveniences in a
country situated as are many important dis'ricts of Scot-
land, not only from deficient weight and counterfeits,
but from the increased risks of transmission, rendering
it vexatious to the people, accustomed as they have been
to a currency which for so many generations has ac-
quired their entire confidence.
8. That a diminution of so important a portion of the
circulation of bank notes= in Scotland as those below five
pounds, extending to nearly three fifths of the whole,
would militate in an essential degree against the general
accommodation, both by the principal banks and their
branches by the means of cash credits on proper security,
to almost all persons beginning the world, whether as
merchants or farmers. That no class of the community
has derived more beneficial aid from this system than
the landlords and farmers of Scotland—the improve-
ments of the soil during the last century. and the sin-
mense improvements now in progress, having been in a
great degree produced by the pecuniary aid afforded by
these credits, and any change which shall deprive the
banks of the power to grunt them will be highly injurious
to agriculture from one end of Scotland to the other.
9. That fur these reasons, and considering that the
system of Scottish banking has stood the test of the
rebellions of 1715 and 1745, the crisis of the French
Revolution. the panic of 1825, the great failures of 1837.
and the critical period of 1839.40, and passed through
all not only unscathed, but standing higher than ever in
general estimation, it would be not only impolitic, but
would be highly injurious to the best interest of the
country, to interfere with the present cnrrency."
He did not propose that these resolutions should be
adopted immediately. On the contrary, he thought
it of great importance that the subject should be de-
liberately considered, and with this view he begged
to move, that the resolutions be remitted to a Com-
mittee, who should be requested to report thereon to
the next meeting of the county, on Tuesday, the 19th
November. Some might be disposed to say, that this
was not the proper time to bring forward this subject.
He begged to differ with those who held this view.
It was a matter of such importance, that it was better
to stop the measure before it was brought forward—
if there was any reasonable ground for stopping it—
rather than.object to it after it was brought forward ;
and as be had reason to believe that some such mea-
sure was in contemplation, he thought it but just to
the Minister himself, that he should know the opinion
of the public before he had committed himself on the
subject.—(Hear, hear.)

The Earl of ROSEBERT expressed his concurrence
in the proposal to remit the subject to a Committee;
and the motion of the Hon. Baronet was unanimously
adopted.
Sir JOHN HOPE then read to the meeting an extract
from the minutes of a meeting of the county Gf Had-
dington, held on the 17th September, on the subject
of the currency, recommending the county to direct
the attention of their representative to that subject,
and request him to communicate with the other re-
presentatives of Scotland, and in conjunction with
them to give the most determined resistance to every
measure which tended, in a material degree, to change
the system of banking and currency in this country.
ABERDEEN COUNTY MEETING.
On Tuesday, the Michaelmas meeting of the Land-
holders, Commissioners of Supply, &c.,-of this county
was held in the Conrt-house, Mr. Grant of Tilly-
four, Convener of the County in the chair.
After some routine business, a communication was
read from the Chamber of Commerce, Glasgow, re-
lating to the Bills anticipated to be brought before
Parliament, on the subject of the Scotch banks ; to-
getlr.r with the resolutions adopted by the Glasgow
Chamber of Commerce, condemnatory of any inter-
ference with the present system. Similar resolutions
adopted at a meeting of the Commissioners of Supply
of the County of Haddington, were also read.
Mr. GORDON, of Craig, said, from the important
nature of this question, it would not be expected that
this meeting could come to any resolution at present ;
more particularly, as they were yet in the dark as to
whether or not any change whatever in the Scotch
system of banking would be proposed in Parliament.
He would, therefore, move that these communications
lie on the table.
Sir MICHAEL BRUCE seconded the motion.

Mr. GORDON, of Cairfibulg said, although no dis-
tinct announcement had yet fallen from Government,
yet, from various circumstances that had taken place,
it was extremely likely that some change as to the,
one-pound notes was contemplated. If this were the
case, so important would it be to the country, that
every exertion ought to be made to oppose the intro-
duction of any substitute in their place. He was not,
however, at present prepared to move any resolution
on the subject.
The CHAIRMAN said there were two ways open to
the meeting—either to adopt Mr. Gordon of Craig's
motion, or to appoint a committee to consider the sub-
ject, and report to a future meeting. He would leave
it entirely for the meeting to decide as to the better
mode of the two, but he was rather in favour of a
committee.
After some conversation,

Sir M. Baucil said it appeared to him that to
attempt any change in the currency would have the
effect of rousing the whole of Scotland against it ;
but, unless they were possessed of more proof of the
intentions of Government to interfere, he did not
think it proper to go so far as the county of Hadding-
ton had done. He hoped it would meet the wishes of
all present, if to Mr. Gordon of Craig's motion a
clause were added, deprecating any fundamental
change in the Scotch banking system
This was unanimously approved of ; and it was
further understood that the Convener should call an
early meeting, if any measure be proposed by Govern-
ment on this important subject.