Star.
London, England, 1802-02-24 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

NGRTH WALES SPRING CIRCUIT.
T. M. SUTTON, Efq.—R STEIL!, Efq.
Anglefey—Tnefday, April 6, at Beaumaris.
Carnarronildre"-Menday, April t 2, at Carew/on.
Merioneththire—Saturday, April t 7, at Bala.
CARMARTHEN SPRING CIRCUIT.
Cardiganadro—Monday, April 3, at Cardigan.
Pembrolualre—Saturday, April to, at Hmerfardw4
Carmarthaditiro...Friday, April a 6, at Carmarthen.

COURT OF KING'. BENCH, FEB. 23.
FOISTS& V. M 111.1.1111..

To the greatciffappca--;ntmentcia crowded Court
the trial of this cafe was again put off. The a&ion
is brought for the breath of a promy; oe marriage, and
the Plaintiff is not, as is ofual, an unfortunate fe-
male, deferted by her fickle lover, but a gentle-
man, by profeffion a furgeon, who fues a rich
heirefs for having drawn back from an engage-
ment to put him in poffeffion of her hand and for-
tune. The trial would have occupied the ,whole
day, abd as fe'reral other cares flood in the paper,
it was thought right to pollpone it.

WATIRROUSSR. SIR RICHARD RING, BART.
Mr. Easel N s Paid this was an anion brought by
Capt. Waterhoufe, of his Majefty's armed flu') Re.
liance, nominally againft the Defendant, Sir Ri-
chard King; and the objea of it was to afcertain
whether the Plaintiff was entitled to a !hare of
' prize money for certain (hips from Holland, which
at the breaking out of the Dutch Revolution were
detained at Plymouth, and afterwards condemned
and fold as lawful prize. The parties brought the
caufeforward without the ilighteft hoftility towards
each other; on the contrary, their only with was,
to obtain fuch fees, partly upon admiflions, and
partly upon evidence, as would enable Counfel to
fettle a cafe for the ultimate determination of the
Court. That the Reliance was one of the (hips
concerned in the capture was admitted • and had
the Plaintiff been the only Captain on board, there
would have been no doubt but that, under his
Majefty's Proclamation for feizing the veffels of
Holland, he would have been entitled to a diftri-
butive lhare of the prize money. It was to be con-
tended he had no right to lhare,becaufe he wasonly
appointed Captain under Capt. Hunter, who was
fent out as Governor of Botany Bay. It had hap-
pened in the year 1786, that Capt. Phillips of the
Satins was appointed Governor of Botany Bay, and
ordered to proceed to New South Wales to affume
the Government of that Settlement; but it had been
thought neceffary by the Admiralty to fend out a
DeputyGovernor,and with that view Capt. Hunter
was made fecond in command of the Sirius till his
arrival at Botany Bay, when he was to exercife the
office of Deputy Governor. It was neccifary to
dbferve, that his Majefty, as King of England,
was the fupreme Head of the Military and Naval
Eftabliihments of the Country, and as fuch had
the power, whenever he pleated to exercife it, of
altering the ordinary rules of the law, as appli-
cable to either of thofe departments. With regard
to the Navy, it was formerly cuftomary for his
Majefly to delegate the whole of his authority to
an high Officer of State,callectthe Lord High Ad-
mirer of England, who of courfe was inverted
with all the prerogatives and powers inherent in his
Majefty himfelf. In more modern times the du-
ties of that important nation had been exercifed
by certaintommiffioners appointed to execute the
office of Lord High Admiral, who were deno-
minated the Lords Commiffioners of the Admi-

rally, and he fhould maintain that fuch Commif•
Goners were competent to make any regulation
deviating from the ordinary cuftoms of the Navy,
without any fpecial authority from the King for
that purpofc. It had, however, happened, that
when Governor Phillips was appointed Governor of
Botany Bay, and Commander of the Sirius, the
appointment of Governor Hunter to the fecond
command was in confequence of a memorial
prefented by the Lords Commiffioners to his Ma-
jefty, and an Order of the Privy Council, by his
Majefty's command, antborifing fuch appointment.
In the prefent inftance there was no memorial to
his Idajefty, but the Commiffioners had appointed
Captain Waterhoufe to the fecond command of
the Reliance by their own authority merely. The
queftion, therefore, for the opinion of the Court
would be, Whether the Plaintiff could be confi-
dered as aaing in the capacity of Captain of the
Reliance under the appointment of the Admiralty,
and upon that would depend whether he was en-
titled to the prize money in queftion ? He meant
to infif, that the Commiffioners for executing the
Office of Lord High Admiral of England had a
right to abrogate the cuftoms of the Navy, which
admitted only of one Captain to each fhip.
The admillions were read in evidence ; they
Rated nothing more than the fads mentioned by
the learned Connie'. The Commiffion to the
plaintiff, appointing him Second Captain of the
Reliance,, was alio produced. It authorized him
to command the fhip in the abfcnce of his fuperior
Captain.
Mr. ATTORNRY•GINRRAL maintained, that the
plaintiff's appointment did not entitle him to a
'hare of prize money. He obferved, that the rules
of the naiy admitted of only one Captain to each
Ihip ; that m the tingle inftance in which they had
been departed from, the deviation had been
fanaioned by his hiajefty's Sign Manual, upon a
memorial prefented to him by the Commiftioners
of the Admiralty, and that the orniffion of inch a
form in the prefent cafe, defeated the plaintiff's
title to receive the produce of a capture as a Captain.

Evan Nepean, Seel etary to tile Admiralty,
' was examined ; he produced the printed naval in-
flrudions to the Lords of the Admir..ity, tile 9th
article of which, for the regulation of fca wages
and the number of Officers, exprefily declared
there fhould only be one Captain for each fhip.
The witnefs Paid, that when any alteration took
place with refpeet to the ordinary rules of the navy,
it was always done by an application to the King.
Upon his crofs-examination by Mr. ERSKINE,
he laid, there had been a memorial s hen Go..
vernor Hunter went to Botany Bay in the S;rias;
he was appointed fecond in command. In the-
prefent cafe, Governor Hunter went out as firi.ltin
command, and Captain Waterhoufe as fecund.—
The witnefs was not Secretary to the Admiralty
when tht plaintiff was appointed, b.it he had
fearched the books, and had not found any entry of
a memorial having been prefented, and he son.
eluded there had been none; the plaintiff had the
pay of a PA Captain, but was not allowed the
ufual Captain's compliment fur fervants—he was
allowed for two fervants only.
Mr. EasitimE obferved, that if, when Captain
Hunter was on board, the plaintiff had given an
order to a Lieutenant, who had refuted to obey
him, fuch Lieutenant would have been guilty of
mutiny; the inference from the obfervation was,
that the plaintiff could be confidered in no other
point of view than as Captain.
Mr. Jullice LAWRENCE Paid, he could not per-
fatly comprehend the diflinetion attempted to be
made.—Either the Plaintiff was Captain, or he
was limply a paffenger. Was it to be underflood
that when Governor Hunter went athore the plain-
iff aflumed the charaCter of Captain, and 101 l it
again when he came on board. His Lordliiir how-
ever refrained from givir.g any opinion upon the
fubje&, as it Was to be referred to the decision of
the judes.
Thejury were dir•ztqed to find a VerdiCt for
the plaintiff for4Bol. lobje& to the opinion of the
Court upon a cafe to be fettled by Couniel.

COURT OF CHANCERY, FEBRUARY 23.
DRURY-LANE THEATRE.
This bufinefs was, according to appointment,
this day refumed, and it is with much pleafure
we Rate that the propofed arrangement has met
with the approbation of the Lord Chancellor, and
will, in the courfe of a few days, be brought to a
fatisfadory conclufion.
His Lordfhip, after enumerating the provifions
made in the firft part of the arrangement fur the
payment of the ground•rent, the falary of the Per-
formers, the ordinary expences of the Theatre,
and the gradual, liquidation of the various out•
(landing, claims, took occafion to notice a faving
claufe to favour of the truftees of 1793, declaring
that none of the fpecified provifions were to be to
their prejudice. This claufe he thought inadmiffi-
ble, for a very Pimple reafon, that if admitted, it
would have the effect of rendering the whole ar-
rangement ineffectual. For what was the real
force and operation of fuch a claufe ? It, in fad,
would veil the truftees on the very firft night that
the Theatre was open with a power to demand
the payment of the fum fccured to them previous
to any other payment whatever, and thus totally•
to defeat the whole ()fied which the arrangement
had in view. The Court, however, could not con-
fent to a claufe of this kind, nor were the renters
of 1793 to expel a fort of convenience which could
not be combined with the convenience of others
equally, or perhaps more powerfully interefted in
the Theatre. He was convinced that Meffrs. Ford
andHaminerfley were not Mficiently aware of the
fituation in which they were placed, by affirming
the character of truftees. When he laid this, he
begged to have it underftood, that he meant
to fay nothing harfh of thefe Gentlemen, or to in-
finuate that they had not ailed as well as moil
people would have done under fftnilar circum-
fiances, yet not having ailed alp to their charaders
as truftees, they were not now entitled to come
into Court to claim the advantages of that cha-
racter. It gave him much pleafure to find, that
lance the propofals were firff handed to him, a
►ery confiderable number of additional creditors
had figned the agreement, and as the paper would
Rill remain open to the fignature of others, he
hoped the remainder would avail themfelves of
the arrangement, as the belt fecnrity fur their
claims. Of the interefts of thole who were in-
competent to be parties in the agreement, the
Court would take all the care which could poffi-
bly be employed, but no degree of caution being
fufficient to guard againft error in a concern of
fuch magnitude and complic.tted perplexity, a ii.
betty would Rill be left to apply for a variation of
the order. He thought it proper, however, now
clearly to Rate, that fuch applications would not
be rafhly liftened to, and the Court would, in no
inflance, content to interfere, except when very
firong grounds were laid for the neceffity of fuch
interference.

In order to have every Alliance in a mattsr
of fo much difficulty and importance, his L2td-
(hip, though pretty clear in his own view of the
case, requefted the Gentlemen of the Law retaintd
on both tides, to draw up an order conformable
to the propofals, which he approved of, except
only in one or two (mall articles : this order fo
drawn up, he would amend with his own hand,
wherever he found it neceifary, and then offer it to
the parties, who, if they did not think proper to
accept it, might take the caufe out of Court, and
make the beft they could of their individual intereits.
After Tome conversation between hleffis. Mani-
field, Fonblanque, Pigot, Sheridan, and the Soli-
citor General, the Court was informed, that it was
agreed that Mars. Ford and Hammerfley atonic!
I retain any other fecurity of which they were now
in poffeffion, together with that provided by the
propofal. Another verbal amendment, f_curing
the right of the Duke of Bedford, was adopted on
the fuggeflion of his Grace's Connie'. No day
was fixed for the final fettlement, but the LORD
CHANCELLOR undertook to complete the arrange-
ment in Court in two days after the order should
be tent in to him ; he had the higheft opinion of the
Gentlemen by whom it was to .be drawn up. but
rhe hoped they would leave him a wide margin to
' make his amendments.