The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-05-18 00:00:00

COUNTY COURT, YESTERDAY.

A HORSE CASE—FOX 2'. DEANE.—This was one of a
number of adjourned cases which were reheard before
Mr. Pollock. The claim was for £l9, the balance of the
amount of the purchase of a brown mare which the de-
fendant bought from the plaintiff in. May last. The
plaintiff was to give the mare and £5 to the defendant for
a pony and dog-cart. The exchange was made. and some
time after the defendant called upon the plaintiff, and said
he should like to have the pony and dog-cart back, for
which'he would pay £24. This was agreed to, and he then
paid him £5 on account. Henow refused to pay thebalance
on the ground that the mare which he had bought from
the plaintiff was unsound when received. It was alleged
for the defendant that, subsequently to receiving the mare,
he had seen the plaintiff's groom, who ackowledged that
she was unsound when delivered to the defendant. 'Sub-
sequently tit's man, when he found an action was pending
on the point, denied that he ever said what the defendant
attributed to him. On being sworn, he gave his name as
Joseph 'New ' • he stated that he considered the horse
sound and without blemish when he took the animal from
his master's house to that of the defendant. The latter
brought forward a witness, who swore that New had given
it as his opinion that the mare was lame. His 'Honour
deferred giving any decision until the next court.
Rueter v. Fox.—Mr. Hime, who appeared for the
defendant in this case, submitted that it was his intention
to apply either for a new trial or for a non-suit. The
case has already been published. His honour, after
examining into the case, said, if he did not give an answer,
he should grant a rule nisi.
KIRKMAN v. REA.—The plaintiff in this case is widow
lady, and the defendant a provision merchant in White-
chapel. The claim was of small amount, and was for
porter supplied to the defendant during the life of the
plaintiff's husband. The defendant contended that he
had paid whatever demands hsd been made .on Itim by
the deceased. The judge atter a patient hearing of the
case said, the burden of proof rested with the defendant,
who must show that he had paid the claim, which he con-
sidered had been made out by the plaintiff.—Verdict for
the plaintiff.
INSOLVENT DEBTOR.—John Dougherty., Jun., an
insolvent debtor, carrying on the business of a butcher
in Cleveland Market, applied to the court to make a final
order. Mr. Hirne supported the application, and Mr.
Pemberton appeared for several creditors, two of whom
he called, to oppose the discharge of the insolvent.
Mr. Pemberton referred to two of the creditors who were
present, Mr. Edward Clough and Mr. John Chadwick ; to
the former the insolvent owed £4 Bs. ld. for meat pur-
chased on•the.l2th of March, and to the latter 1"9 15s. 10d.
for the whole of which, with the exception of £1 10s.
an old balance, meat bad been furnished in January or
February. The insolvent had taken the benefit of the
act about eighteen months since, when he paid 10s. in the
pound. This was the second application to the court, and
he had twice before compromised with his creditors.
A creditor named Handford had obtained a judg-
ment five months since in that court for a debt of £5O.
There were other judgments impending. The insolvent
denied that there had been any special aereement entered
into by him when he purchased the meat from Mr. Clough
and Mr. Chadwick. Both of these persons swore that the
insolvent undertook to pay for the meat on the day after
it was sold, as they would not have parted with it under
any other conditions. In answer to a question with refer-
ence to a shandry and horse, the insolvent said he had
sold them to a hawker named Waldron for £l2, Mr.
Pemberton asked his honour to dismiss the application
on the ground that when the insolvent contracted the
debts be had no probable means of payment,—that, in
fact, be had contracted debts under a false pretence. Mr.
Hime replied for the insolvent, when his Honour said,
that in a case where the purchase was made for
the purpose of carrying on the business of the insolvent,
lie did not think it could be said that there was not a rea-
sonable means of payment. But though he did not think
he could regard the case as one of false pretence, he
should adjourn the final order for six months. He
should always discriminate between the case of an
insolvent who had been in the court a short time pre-
viously, and that of an insolvent who was suddenly driven
into that court by the pressure of circumstances, because
in the former case a lesson of caution ought to have been
learned. On this ground principally be adjourned the
final order. Protection to be suspended for one month.

MURDEROUS ATTACK, ON SATURDAY NIGHT, IN BEN
JONSON-STREET.—On Saturday night last, at a house
in Ben Jonson-street, an old woman suddenly attacked
a man, as if with a view to sever his head from his body,
by cutting half way round his neck as deeply as she could
thrust the razor. The poor fellow lost an immense quan-
tity of blood, from two wounds of great length, and was
carried to the St. Anne's Dispensary, where he was at-
tended to by Dr. Nottingham; and the house-surgeon of
the institution.

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.—The weather yesterday being
what may be termed seasonable, the attendance at this
fashionable resort was more numevons than on any pre-
vious evening. We have already alluded to the excel-
lent effect of the scenic representation of the City of
Paris. The plaudits of the audience last night showed
their appreciation not only of the !yporama but of the
beautiful manner in which it was heightened in gorgeous-
ness by the pyrotechnic display.
THE PROPONTIS. screw steam-ship. Captain Glover,
with the mails for Cape St. Vincent, Sierra Leone, and
the Cape, in charge of Commander Thornburn, R.N.,
left Plymouth on Saturday afternoon.

LIIIVLEY v. WAGNER.—We understand that the defen-
dants in this suit have served the plaintiff with notice of
appeal against the decision of Vice-Chancellor Sir James
Parker. The.notice is given for the 22d instant, the first
day of tertn.—Morning Herald.

MELANCHOLY DEATH OF A CLERGYMAN.-oO.Satur-
day morning week, the Rev. J. H. S. Barr, who was a
priest vicar of Exeter Cathedral, left his residence in Col-
leton-crescent, Exeter, to proceed to Porthleven, near
Helston, in Cornwall, to supply the place of the Rev. J.
L. Williams. the incumbent, who is absent on account of
ill-health. On Sunday Mr. Burr did duty for the rev.
gentleman. He was lodging in a small house which over-
looked the sea, and about half-past eight on Tuesday
morning he went out to indulge in sea-bathing, of which
he was particularly fond. He had been invited to break-
fast at the parsonage, but not appearing at the time ap•
pointed, a servant was sent to his lodging to make in-
quiries. On learning that he had not returned from bath-
ing, alarm was immediately felt, and some of his friends
hastened to the spot in the direction which he had been
last seen. They found his clothes upon the beach, and his
faithful dog—a small white terrier—still guarding them.
Nothing could be seen of the unfortunate gentleman, and
the sea was so rough that the boatmen could not put out
in any small boats. How ever, search was prosecuted, and
at a late hour in the afternoon the body was discovered.
carried by the rapidity of the current, a distance of two
miles from the spot where the clothes and dog were found.

TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 18, 1352.

WAS THE DIVISION ON MONDAY NIGHT A
MINISTERIAL DEFEAT, OR A TRIUMPH ?

WHEN Mr. WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE, on
Monday last, rose to move an amendment to the
ministerial proposition to transfer the representation
from St. Albans and Sudbury to the West Riding
of Yorkshire and the Southern Division of Lan-
cashire, he anticipated, no doubt, two ministerial
calamities as the result of his motion. First, a
long obstructive debate ; and, in the end, a
damaging ministerial defeat. His own speech on
the occasion touched solely upon the question of
the propriety of a Government, pledged to deal only
with the urgent business of the session, under-
taking so important a matter. But he looked for,
on the part of his Whig-Radical allies, such an
exposition of their various democratic nostrums as
might afford them useful aid at the coming
elections ; and when he sat down, and not a single
member from the Government Benches rose to
reply, the general dismay and surprise were utter.
The House proceeded to the vote amidst wondering
looks and anxious whispers between the motley
assortment of the right honourable gentleman's
supporters, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
wearing the calm and confident front of a man
conscious of his power, and careless whether the
die, which he had just cast, might he a winning or
a losing one. And when the temporary opposition
triumph was declared, and the Government pro-
ceeded to the order of the day on the Militia Bill,
as if no such event had happened, a scene almost
unparalleled in parliamentary history was com-
pleted. The member for Oxford University had
set a net for the Government to fall into ; but it
was his own allies of the day who had rushed
blindly into its meshes.
We are, certainly, not sorry for the Whig-
Radical portion of these men, who, it was well
remarked, will have to repent deeply their purely
factious conduct. But we are sorry for the few
Conservative members whose names we find in the
list of the majority on the occasion. For, what was
the real nature of the proposition ? It was, in the
first place, to complete the prescriptive number of
the people's representatives, which had been
diminished by the disfranchisement of two boroughs
of proved rottenness, and to divide into smaller
dimensions two of the most numerous and unwieldy
constituencies in the empire. As an abstract pro-
position, it could not be excepted against ; as one
based upon justice, it was equally unimpeachable.
There was nothing to be *objected against, either, in
its details. The constituency of West Yorkshire,
numbering 33,000 electors, was to be divided by a
line of railway, certainly not laid doWn with a view
to such use being made of it. The constituency of
South Lancashire, numbering upwards of 21,000
electors, was to be divided by the natural boundary
of its old hundreds. To such a proposition no
Conservative can possibly urge a reasonable objec-
tion ; nor can any Whig-Radical, no; steeped in
faction to the lips, impugn its justice. Take, for
example, the case of South Lancashire. Inde-
pendently of its great number of electors, which
almost prohibits the idea of a contest for its repre-
sentation unless the candidates are either men of
vast wealth, or are supported by the joint stock
purse of a league, its original formation, we con-
tend, was in utter violation of the intent and
meaning of a county constituency. Its manufac-
turing boroughs—nine in number—return fifteen
members to Parliament; and the effect is, that in
every county election, when a question is at issue
between the manufacturing portion of the popula-
tion and the agricultural portion, the votes of the
latter are swamped by those of the freeholders in
the towns. The Whig-Radical portion, however,
of the faction led by Mr. GLADSTONE, and espe-
cially the agents of the Anti-Corn Law League, saw
that the proposition might give to the agricultural
portion of the electors something like a fair
chance of having their voices heard in Parliament.
The division of South Lancashire into hundreds
might probably leave in their hands the control
over Salford ; but the agricultural Hundred of
West Derby would probably emancipate itself from
their thraldom. The calm, unbiassed judgement
of the country will ultimately decide this question
in favor of the ministry against their unprincipled
opponents. The Hundred of Salford contains—

Manchester, returning 2 members.
Salford (borough).... 1 ~
Oldham •• • • 2 ~
Bury
Ashton-under-Lyne
Bolton .. 2 If
Rochdale
,f,
*---

Total lO „
For the West Derby Hundred we have
Liverpool returning 2 members.
Wigan 2 „
Warrington 1 „

Total •• • • •• • . 5

The township• of Wigan, however, is partly in•
Salford, and partly in West Derby ; and that of
Warrington is nearly on the border line of the two
Hundreds. Both are manufacturing boroughs ;
so that virtually the Salford Hundred at present
returns thirteen borough members, and that of
Wrest Derby only two, viz., those for Liverpool. A
similar state of things exists in the Wrest Riding,
the division of which will probably emancipate the
purely agricultural part of the constituency from
this domination of the League. Will the country,
we ask, in its present temper, tolerate so manifest
an injustice as is sought by the Whig-Radical
faction to be perpetrated upon these important
agricultural districts ? We feel confident that it
will not.

It has struck some people as rather singular that
we have heard few explosions of joy from the
Whig-Radical party over the result of the division
on this occasion. We suspect they have discovered
that a party may be in a majority without having
achieved a victory. Mr. DIsRAELI has held up
before the country an intelligible idea of the nature
of the modifications which, if called upon, be
would make in our representative system. They
are such as moderate men of all parties will regard
with approval ; and we much suspect that the
foretaste of them, which he has given in his recent
proposal, will prove " a severe blow and a heavy
discouragement" to the small panderers to demo
Cracy—the \VALMSLEYS and THOMPSCNS of the
Whig-Radical party—who, incapable of any prac-
tical legislative efforts themselves, make political
capital of so-called " Parliamentary Reform,"