The Sun.
London, England, 1827-06-28 00:00:00

INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DAY.)

VICE-CHANCtLLOR'S COURT.
• LUfHINGTQN V. SEWEL.
In this case; which occupied the Court for :late
or four days, a bill had been filed for the purpose of
determining the rights of the parties under the will
of the late Mr. Lewis. The greater part of the pro-
perty left by the testator consisted of West India
• -Plantations., and the various provisions in his will for
wearing the comforts of his slaves formed the only
feature of interest in the case. Mr. Lewis left the
'plantation called Cornwall, in the Island of Jamaica,
to his elder sister, Lady Lushington,. subject, to cer-
tain limitations; and to his other sister, Mrs. Shed-
don, he left a moiety of the Hordley plantation. In
codicil to his will, he states .his solemn conviction
that the poor negroes could not be protected if com-
mitted to the care of an attorney, and therefore de-
.clares, that I'lvitosoever may happen to hold the es-
tates must 'reside on them for three months in each
Year. 'That if the estates be in the possession of a
woman, she must either go herself, or send her
husband, child, •or some relations unless den-
gerows illness, rebellion in the Island, or some
1:01f..r valid legal excuse should prevent this
rendition from being fulfilled in one year. It
:must in that case be performed in the following
Year, and if three years should elapse without 'corn-
. Phance with the condition, the estates were to be
forfeited to the. next heir, who should be wil-
ling to perform it, and they were to remain in
his possession as long as he observed the said con-
dition' and no longer. If, however, no person
co,uldbe found to take the estates, subject to the
'condition, they were to be held by the Lord
Chamellor, for the time being, in trust, until some
Bair should be willing to comply with the testator's
wishes. And as the testator desired that nothing
should be neglected that could tend to secure the
negroes from oppression, he authorised the Lord
Chancellor, if the estates came into his hands, to .
appoint a proper, person to reside on the plantations,
for the purpose of acting as guardian to the slaves.
The testator, in his will, makes the most solemn. appeal to the• Courts of Law and the Judges of the
and,, beseeches them not to allow any base
quibble, or technical evasion to prevail
in de-
Seating these his humane wishes ; , and if any man
'could be found so wanting in principle as to hold
the estates without fulfilling the condition, the tes-
tator declares that such person ought to be branded
as a robbei, and expresses his earnest wish that the
Tates may not remain in his hands or those of his
children- The testator was the
_more anxious to
"Dress his desire in the most unequivocal manner,
as a lawyer whom he consulted on the sub-
Jett hinted the probability of some attempt
being made to evade the condition. It would
',PPeat that the lawyer was not very wrong
iu his surmise, as both parties had neglected to ful-
the condition ; and it was now argued by their
99 13 with the most perfect unanimity, that • the
i)-94tion was illegal, and one which a Court of ,
qq.,4l,tY could not enforce.
t. ;toe VicE-CHANCELLOR refused to express an
1344(30 on that question, as it had not been raised
1011 1,
t"e pleadings. When some person claimed the
'estat
enou es
punder that condition, it would be .time
'
g tor the Court to decide the point. With
PPeet to the other parts of the case, his Honour •
$ll4l give his judgment when he had read all the
Pers carefully through.

iu
COURT OF KING'S BENCH.
kora V. wira.Ltat JONES, ESQ., MARSHAL OF THE
KINS BENCH PRISON.
b Mr. GURNEY said, that he appeared for Mr. Jones,
that Wbom he Was authorised to express his regret,
4 he (Mr. Jones) should have been betrayed into
80
• e mi 2 in -stateents, in his late publication on the
"11s6ivent Debtors' Act." The fact was, that the
f4terials from which he composed that work, were
tu•
ished by an eminent attorney, who had
lalvtactised for many years in that Court, on
laced
statements and information, Mr. Jones
z4eed the most implicit confidence; but it had
turned- out-that the-iftttirneylitm4ltivai tuh..iu-
c%led in many particulars, and that the fees stated
h
inlirn were not exacted; and Mr. Jones considered
tis 'We to his own character, as well as in justice to
Th"°Be injured, to acknowledge his error in this public
:"4oner. He had no intention whatever to cast un-
'l4; 4t imputations on the characters of the Commis-
-'')/lers, with two of whom he had lived on habits of
,t!titriacy for the last twenty years.. Under these
titelltustances, the Learned Counsel hoped the At-
to°rney-General would be satisfied with the full apo-
51' which Mr. Jones now made, and would not
em•
ceed any farther. He had no notice of the mis-
-7,4es he had fallen into till the motion was made,
''l'oerwise he would have apologised. He was quite
'ady to pay the costs of the rule upon its being
m'scharged.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that the only
:)ttieet of the Commissioners in making the applies.-
nlo Was to vindicate their own honour and inte-
ZtY., and that of their officers, from the aspersions
upon them by the defendant, and as he had now
:fillip acknowledged his mistakes, and handsomely
Pologized for his conduct, the CommiSsioners were
Itiito satisfied, and would not proceed,any further.
th •Lord TENTERDEN tO Mr. GURNEY.—Then pay
e.oots, and let the rule be discharged.