The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-16 00:00:00

MESSRS. WIGNEY'S BANK=
IMPTCY.

BRIGteroN, JUNE Is.—An adjourned meeting under this
fiat tank place to-day a' the Town-hall before Messrs. Merri-
field, Turner, and C. Cooper, ihe Commis inners.
At the opening of the Court the Commissioners gr.ve th#.ir
decision in the ((liaising ease, which was gene into yoterday.'
At a meeting held in Brighton in November last, the Rev. J.
S. M. Anderson was appointed Secretary, and Mr. I. N. Wig-
ney, Treasurer, of an auxiliary to the African Association, and
a sum of money in a bag collected at the meeting was handed
over by Mr. Anderson to Mr. Wigney. On the Sunday after
the fat are Mr. Wigney offered to return him the bag, which
had never been opened. Mr. Anderson refused to take
it, and it was ultimately handed over to the assignees to abide
the decision of the Commissioners.
Mr. MERRIFIELD now stated that the Commissioner had
decided that the money being' held by Mr. Wigney merely as
a trustee, it therefore might be given up.
Mr. I. N. Wigney's examination by Mr. James was then
resumed.—My father's will contained a clause directing the
executors to wind up his affairs, but the executors (my bro-
thers George and William, myself, and my mother) never did
so. The deficiency of the bank at the time of my father's death
was known to all the executors, and was spoken of, but ne pro-
position was ever made for supplying the deficiency. It was
hoped that the debt of Cochrane and Co. of Glasgow (17,000/. )
would be paid, and that the concern would be productive of
profit. At this time it was anticipated that Mr. Clement Wig-
ney would join the bank. I-le was to bring in his interest
under my father's will. I think he was not aware of the ex-
tent of the deficiency of the bank, but 1 have no doubt he was
aware there was a deficiency.
Mr. C. Wigney said, he certainly knew that the account of
Cochrane and Co. was overdrawn, but he had not the slightest
idea of the losses by the speculations mentioned yesterday, or
he certainly should not have taken his property into the bank
to be lost.

Mr. I. N. Wigney—l never told my brother Clement of the
loss of 23,000/. by speculations. i-le brought into the bank
15,826/. ; and during his partnership he has drawn out the
whole of that sum except 21/. There was no sum of money
set expressly apart out of my father's estate to meet the defi-
ciency; but there was a sum to which I looked in the event of
a necessity occurring. It was Bank and India Stock. I availed
myself of this to the extent of 12.0001., and placed the amount
to the credit of the executorial account. This took place to
supply funds, pro tanto, to the bank. The 58,000/. owing by
the bank at the time of my father's death has all been liqui-
dated, with the exception of 5,2111. it;y housekeeping and
personal expenses, from the 3d of Novemb,r, 1837, to the 4th
of March, 1842, amount to 11,250/. 19s. 3d., the education of
myyhtldren to 1,072/.

'The bankrupt vas then examined by Mr. Bennett.—l do
not know how much gold there was at the bank on the evening
of the 3d of March. There was not I,COO/. I did not take
the balance. From the book it appears that on the following
day there was at the bank 691. in gold, MW. in Bank of England
notes, and 1901. in silver.

In your balance-sheet there is an item of 27,5941. 3s. 10(1.
in liabilities to Messrs. Masterman and others, believed to be
good. How much of that has been paid ?—All except one bill.
When all the liabilities have run off, Messrs. Masterman will
be indebted to the assignees to the extent of 2,0031.35. Mr.
George Wigney's name is endorsed on bills to the extent of
13,000/. He began to et& rse biils for me during the last
year. My account was overdrawn, and Mr. Masterman said
it was desirable to have a name on the bill.
Now, Mr. Wigney, did you receive any sum of money for
withholding your resignation after your bankruptcy 2—No.
Have you not stated at the Reform Club that your last elec-
tion cost ?—I think I stated to some gentlemen who
manage the business of. the Reform Club relating to giving as-
sistance to candidates, that my election had cost, or would cost,
about 2,000/. Lord Lowther, M.P., made my wife a present
of a goA enamal watch ten years ago. That watch was lost
two or three %ears ago near the Elephant and Castle, and a
reward was offered for its restoration, hut without effect.

How many clubs did }on belong to?—One in Brighton, and
two in London. I was a witness at the trial of Lord de Roos.
I have occasionally played at short whist since 1837, for crown
or half-crown stakes. I have played as high as 20s. points.
Did you ever lose 20/. at a sitting?

11lr. -Creasy objected to the question, which he said was put
'0 gratify a vindictive feeling, and not with a view of benefiting
;he estate.

Some warm language here ensued. And the admissibility
of the question was argued at considerable length by Mr.
Creasy and Mr. Bennett.
he COMMISSIONERS decided that the question could not
be put, inasmuch as it had a tendency to invalidate the bank-
rupt's certificate.
Mr. Clement Wigney was then sworn; but the only ques-
tion put to him was one relating to the bond to his wife's trus-
tees for 5,000/. At the time he gave it he had nothing but
what his father allowed hire.

Mr. BENNETT then opposed the passing of the binkrupt, on
the ground that he had destroyed the documents relating to the
Glasgow affair, where nearly 70,000/. had been ingulted, and
that he had not taken a proper course on discovering the loss of
the 7451.

Jamks, on the part of the assignees, said, that as zn
adjournment could not be productive of any benefit to ti
estate, the assignees did not ask for an rdjournment.
Mr. CREASY then addressed the Commissioners in favour of
the passing of the bankrupts, and contended, in an eloquent
speech, that Mr. I. N. Wigney, fallen and erring as he was,
was still not criminal, and did not merit that the Commis-
sioners should, by refusing to allow them to pass, ratify and
adopt the censure which had, during the last four months, been
most unfairly cast upon him, and sent forth to the whole of the
civilized world through the medium of the press, without any
opportunity being afforded him of reply.
l'he decision was postponed till to-morrow (this day), at
one o'clock.

DR. REID'S LECTURES ON CHE

YIISTRY.

Metals, and their liability to oxydation, formed the subject
of Dr. Reid's .ecture last night at Exeter Hall. The uses, he
observed, to which metals were put, both in every-day life,
and the at ts that embsllish that life, *ere so countless, that
there would be less difficulty in enumerating them, than in
repressing that enumeration. he mightiest. or most singular
among these, were the steam-engine, the printing-press, and
the small steel spring, on which the whole mechanism of the
watch depend, d. The readine-s of metals to unite with oxy-
gen, naturally led the Doltor to !he consideration of oxyda-
tion, their chief characteristic ; this process in iron assumed
the form of the red rust ; in copper that of the green. Of
those metals which do not oxydate, Dr. Reid mentioned, gold,
silver, platinum, and mercury : consequent upon this fact,
therefore, at tic.es in use, or such as were desired to last with-
out any kind of corrosion attaching to them, are generally com-
posed of one or other of these. Platinum, it had been as-
serted, existed in large quantities in certain mines, but at so
enormous a price was it at present in the markets, that the
lecturer knew of 10,000/. and 15,000/. having been paid for
the construction if a boiler, of which platinum chiefly entered
into the make, but which was not capable of holding many
gallons. The fusion of metals in some districts was carried
on to so great an extent, that unhealthiness inevitably per-
vaded whole districts, from the fumes. Three factories in
Wales, to the Doctor's own knowledge, evolved annually no
leis than 80,000 tons of stephur in a state of vapour, carrying
along with them portions of the copper, minute and invisible.
Damp and acid atmospheres were the chief causes of the oxy-
dation of metals; if the air could be rendered absolutely and
chemically dry, iron, kept therein, would be preserved from
rust, corrosion, or deterioration, for an indefinite period of
time. Water, again, if entirely released from its oxygen, will
allowiron to be kept bright under water for months. The
most power ful agents in the solution of metals were acid and
chlorine, the latter being the most potent of the two, and
formed by admixture of acids. In support of this statement,
Dr. Ri id proceeded with a series of experiments, illustrative
of the solubility of gold and platinum thereby, which, with
some accompanying remarks, concluded his lecture.
It appears that the great room in which Dr. Reid usually
lectures, being in requisition next Wednesday, for a third
grand display of the classes of Mr. Hullah, who, in common
with Dr. Reid—is another great improver of the public mind_
that iEsculapius yields for that night to Apollo—and the lecture
of the latter, thus postponed for a week, will prolong the
course to the first week in August.