The Sun.
London, England, 1829-12-21 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF CHANCERY, Die. 19.
IN RE JERVIS, A LUNATIC.
The SOLICITOR•GENERAL applied for an altera-
tion in the order by which the Court had directed
one set of costs to be kept as respects the infants.
The object of the application was to give Lord St.
Vincent an opportunity of being heard before the
Master. After some discussion, the application was
grunted.
•IN RE WHITE AND IiEDCALFE, BANKRUPTS.
The further discussion of this petition occupied
the Court until its rising.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, DEC. 19.

TIIE VIGO BAY COMPANY.-POLIIILL V. STRINGER

AND OTHERS.

In this case, which has been so frequently before
the public, it will be recollected that the plaintiff
was a purchaser of shares in the Vigo flay scheme.
The defendants, Stringer, Dickson, and others bad,
through their agents, received the money for these
shares ; and the plaintiff had filed a bill against them
to recover the amount.

Mr. JACOB now moved that the bill be dismissed
for want of prosecution.
Mr. RICIIARDS argued, that there was a collusion
between the persons employed by Stringer and
Dickson in order to defeat the claim of the plaintiff,
who had been the victim of a bubble scheme.

The VICE-CHANCELLOR would allow the plaintiff
to file a replication on payment of the costs of this
motion.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, DEC. 19.
DUKE V. FOWNALL, ESQ.

Mr. KELLY opened the pleadings, The declara-
tion was for goods sold and delivered, and for work
and labour done. The defendant had pleaded that
he was not liable.

Mr. CAMPBELL stated that the plaintiff, Mr. Duke,
was a stationer, carrying on business very respect-
ably in Chancery-lane. The defendant, Mr. Henry
Pownall was a gentleman of considerable fortune,
residing in Russell-square. The action was brought
to recover from him the sum of 2191. 18s. 10d., be-
ing the amount of the plaintiff's bill. The defendant,
Mr. Pownall, was one of those persons who had
thought that that great measure, Catholic emanci-
pation, which had been submitted to the considera-
tion of Parliament at the commencement of the last
session, would be fatal to the Constitution and liber-
ties of the country. The Jury would recollect that
in January last, his Majesty was pleased to recom-
mend to the consideration of Parliament some mea-
sure for the relief of his Roman Catholic sul.jects;
and that on that occasion meetings were held in va-
rious places to organize moistures with a view to
defeat theßill in Parliament. Mr. Pownall, the de-
fendant took a leading part in those proceedings.
Having seen in the public papers an advertisement
for a meeting to be held on the 13th of February,
for the purpose of adopting the most efficient mea-
sures for the support of the Protestant Constitution
in Church and State,ihe wrote to Mr. Halcomb, the
gentleman who had inserted the advertisement—
Lord TENTERDEN—What name, Mr. Campbell ?
Mr. CamenELL—Halcomb, my Lord, a gentle-
man who has the honour to practise at your Lord-
ship's bar. The letter was dated the 13th of Feb.
last, and was in these terms :
" Sta,—l did not see your advertisement till last night.
I shall be delighted to join in your endeavours to keep for
my children what I have, by God's blessing, received from
my fathers—the privilege of living under a Protestant
Constitution. Have the goodness to let me know your
time and place of meeting this day, and I will attend.
" I have the honour to be, Sir,
" Your obedient bumble servant,
" HENRY POWNALL."
" 63, Russell-square, Feb. 13, 1829.
" To John Halcomb, Esq."
On the receipt of this letter by Mr. Holcomb, in-
formation was communicated to Mr. Pownall of the
time and place of meeting, as requested; and he at-
tended the meeting and took an active part in the
proceedings. Resolutiors were passed, and among
them was one proposing that a public meeting
should be holden on the following day, Saturday,
the 14th of February. That meeting accordingly
took place. Mr. Pownall attended it ; and, on ac-
count of his wealth, his rank, and his zeal in the
cause, he was called to the chair. Some confusion
having arisen, owing to an address made in oppo-
sition to the proposed resolutions, Mr. Pownall
dissolved the meeting, and he, and those who were
most zealous in the cause, retired to a private room,
and formed themselves into a Committee to carry
their objects into effect. On the 16th of February,
a meeting was held, at which it was resolved unani-
mously," That 'the expences attending the late meet-
ing, and of the club in furthering the object of the
same, and other evise, be defrayed by public
subscription; and that in the event of any defi-
ciency the same be equally borne by the Committee."
In consequence of these resolutions, various trades-
men were employed, and amongst the rest was the
plaintiff, Mr. Duke, who had furnished the parch-
ment for the petitions and signatures, the books for
subscriptions, and various other articles of stationery.
But it was decreed that the measure of which they
complained should prevail. The Bill received the
Royal Assent, and was passed into a law—oppo-
sition was of no longer avail. The defendant, satisfied
of this, wrote on the 14th of April to Mr. Halcomb
in these terms : _ _

" DEAR Sia,—Opposition to the Emancipation Bill
being no longer of any avail, I have to request you will do
me the favour to lay my resignation before the Committee
of the London and Wesminster Protestant Club. I beg at
the same time to submit to the Club, the propriety of call-
ing an early meeting of those who took an interest in the
London petition, that the accounts may be audited and set-
tled, for which purpose, I will attend if requested.
I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
" HENRY POWNALL."

. _
cc 63, Russell-square, April 14.
Nothino• could be more proper than such a letter,
in which the defendant, in effect admitted his lia-
bility, and testified a strong and honourable desire
to have the tradesmen's accounts settled. On the
20th of May,he wrote again to Mr. lialcomb thus ;--
"63, Russell-square, May 20, 1829.
"
you seen or heard from any of tke
Nodlenien who promised to contribute to the expenses of
the petition ? Something must be done.. I 'have again
been applied to hyperons .who were employed.; their ac-

ousts ought to be settled. If you Cannot spare the time,
the individuals who took part in the petition should be
told so, and the papers put into other bands to be exa-
mined and settled without delay.
I remain, dear Sir, yours, faithfully,
" HENRY POWNALL."
Now what the defence was to be, he (Mr. Camp-
bell) was totally at a loss to conjecture. The de•
fendant (Mr. Pownall) was clearly liable to the
Plaintiff; and, on his paying his bill, would of course
have a right to come upon the other members of
the Committee to contribute their proportions:
against him, therefore, the Learned Counsel hoped
the Jury would find a verdict.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, for the defendaut,
stated that Mr. Pownall, in conjunction with many
other persons of respectability, had no doubt eon-
ceived it a duty to resist the measure to which his
Learned Friend Mr. Campbell had alluded ; but his
defence to this action had nothing to do with that
measure. Mr. Halcomb was an entire stranger to
him prior to the month of February in the present
year. Seeing an advertisement of his in the news-
papers on the 13th of that month calling a meeting
to concert measures for supporting the Protestant
Constitution, be took it for granted that he was a
person possessed of some authority; that he had con-
nections among persons of rank and influence ; and
he thought that by lending his aid to such a
person he should be essentially promoting the object
which he had in view. He accordingly attended
the meeting which took place on the 13th of Febru-
ary, to consider what steps should be adopted. A
general meeting took place on the next day, and
Mr. Hunt having attended and made a speech, the
whole of the proceedings were turned into ridicule,
and Mr. Pownall, as Chairman, dissolved the meet-
ing. A private'meeting was afterwards held in the
committee-room at the Crown and Anchor. Mr.
Pownall went into that room to take his hat, but he
stayed not a minute, and took no part in the pro-
ceedings. After this, several meetings were held,
and a committee havingsbisen. appointed, Mr. Hal-
comb gave the gentlemen to understand that he was
in communication with panne-of rank, authority,
and influence., He beck it once raised into con-
siderable importance, and had the courage to call on
Lord Eldon and to write to the Duke of Newcastle.
Long before any considerable expenses were in-
curred, Mr. Pownall protested against them. Then
it was that Mr. Halcomb stated that the noble per-
sons with whom he was connected would supply
ample funds to defray the expenses beyond the
amount of the subscriptions, and that he himself
was the responsible person, the plan of the club
being " a child of his own." The contract be-
tween them, then, was that he should be the
responsible person, and on that responsibility
the tradesmen had been employed and the
debts contracted. He stated, expressly, that if it
should turn out that the subscriptions were defi-
cient, his noble friends, the Duke of Newcastle and
Lord Eldon, would supply him with ample funds.
Some of the persons who assembled at the Crown
and Anchor, thought that he was just such a person
as they wanted, to be their organ in the House of
Commons, and they consequently proposed to him
to put himself forward as a candidate for Leomin-
ster, a borough that was then vacant. He acceded
to the proposal, and wrote a letter to Mr. Morris,
one of the Committee, in which he referred to the
subject in these terms :
" Data Slit,—From circumstances which have occurred
since I saw you, I have decided to offer myself for Leo-
minster, provided I receive an assurance from gentlemen
of respectability and influence in the borough, that they
feel assured of my election, and wish to support me: and
that I find, an canvassing the town, I have sufficient
grounds on which to premise myself success.
" You will make what use you please of this letter. I
am just going into the country for the day. From confi-
dential information I feel no doubt that we shall very soon
have a new Administratiou—(Laughter)--and that those
Noble Lords with whom I act will be called upon to form
the Ministry. Yon have no idea, nor have the public, of
what is going on at Windsor.—(Great laughter.) My
belief is that the Parliament will be dissolved before the
new measure is brought into either house.--(Continued
laughter.)
" Yours, dear Sir, in great haste, very respectfully,
" Sunday morning, Feb. 22. " JOHN HALCOMB.
" Hy. Morris, Esq., lac."
No doubt this gentleman, Mr. Halcomb, expected,
on the change of Ministry taking place, thatlhe should
be appointed Secretary of State.—(Laughter.)—lt
was not to be expected that he would accept a less
important situation. Ile would, no doubt, have
objected to fill the office which he (the Attorney-
General) had the honour to held, and would think
himself entitled by the important services which
he had rendered to the Protestant cause, to jump
at once into one of the very highest offices in the
State. After a few further observations, the Learned
Counsel concluded his address by observing that the
Protestant club had been formed by Mr. Holcomb as
a scheme for his own private benefit, for his own
political purposes, and for his own advancement in
life, and now, when lie found that the subscriptions
did not answer his expectations, and that his " noble
friends" did not come down with the needful, he
endeavoured to get the members of the Committee
to share in his responsibility, after having given them
repeated assurances that they should be saved harm-
less from all expense.
Lord TENTERDEN observed, that the question
was, whether the plaintiff was employed by the
committee jointly, or by Mr. Halcomb alone. If the
committee were jointly liable, then the plaintiff had
a right to bring his action against the defendant or
any other member, that member having a right to call
on the others to pay their proportions. His Lordship
then recapitulated the evidence. As to the representa-
tions said to be made by Mr. Halcomb, the case did
not depend upon those representations. Any as-
surances that Mr. Macomb might have given to the
members of the Committee were nothing to the
tradesmen. The question for the consideration of
the Jury was, was the defendant one of the persons
who employed the plaintiff ? If they thought he
was, their verdict must be for the plaintiff : but if
they were of opinion that Mr. Halcomb only was
the person who employed him, and that the articles
were supplied on his credit alone, then they would
find fur the defendant. If they found for the plain-
tiff, the amount of the demand would be settled out
of Court.—The Jury found for the plaintiff.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, DEC. 19.
ROBINSON V. WATERIIOUSE.

The plaintiff in this action, who is a horse-dealer
in the city, sought to recover of the defendant, the
proprietor of the stage-coach business carried on at
the Swan with-Two-Necks, Lad-lane, the sum of
3271., due for horses sold by the former to the latter.
The defence was, that the defendant having become
embarrassed in his circumstances, the plaintiff, in
common with other creditors, agreed to accept a
composition of 10s. in the pound. The Jury re-
turned a verdict for the defendant.

LITERARY UNION.— Sir WALTER SCOTT
has written one of his wonted kind and pleasant letters,
announcing his junction to this society. We learn that
the members are at present 300 strong, and comprise most
of those who are actively engaged in moving public opi-
nion through the medium of the press—almost all the edi-
tors of the leading publications of the day being members.
No fewer than 10,000 ship letters were brought
to the New Post-office on Saturday morning, by the Dover
in Sax-
imail.
Accounts have just reached us that,
assembledoutrages
for
of a violent kind took place on Thursday night at Saxling-
ham, near this city. A large number Of persons, alleged
to weaversinabthshaeinp:foot trpt looms' ol:.
ef roomf cutting
Norwichyoikhaving
ae onvdWr
ky
omffo nt
he looms
dharn
been destroyed in the
preceding week. The inhabitants of the village were, how-
ever, prepared, as is stated to us, their for vibiteis, and a
i
very furious conflict took place, n which it is said pitch-
forks, flails, and even guns, were used by the defenders of
We w eve r , having no jurisdiction, de-
to iterfe. Mayor,
the property. An express reached the Mayor about one
clined
o'clock in the morning, requesting him to send a detachment
of dragoons, and as strong a force from the police as pos-
sible.
The
believe the above circumstances to
be correct in the main, but we cannot pledge ourselves fir
the accuracy of the particulars. --Norwich. Mercury.
u el however,