Star.
London, England, 1819-04-16 00:00:00

siftWL-4V1411 regard *,41.
WRAC awj . s.ettlerbials4 sayi;p cert¢iaty
ot 20 .good the iiimabiTmm t perlripslher€
.nr.kgt.t be some; 'bestiltstivlttifkets wire absindintlx
manifest. In• .this. *y.nrierty...tobusitmii of persons
(were living who did napp,)fga4 Aseiong
Simpson said I4,ooo,personsk,;4/r. Taylor was not:
aware the ntimber was so large ; and it was a mosf
alarming consideration for the city; that by one
stroke of Mr. Sturges•Bottrne's pen, 14,000 indivi-
duals should at once become liable to burden it. Ebe
effects would doutless be similar in all large manu-
facturing towns; and he trusted the guardians would
now give the same active and determined pppositioif
as before, to a Bill pregnant with absurdity and mis-
chief. He should therefore support Mr. Robert
Browne's motion for a Committee. •
The motion was carried without a division.

LAW INTELLIGENCE►-

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, APRILIS.

HUTCHINSON AND HOPKINSON U. GUEST.
This was an action by the Plaintiffs, who are re-
spectable Solicitors in Lincoln's Inn, to recover the
amount of their costs and charges for preparing and
drawing up the Defendant's marriage articles. The
amount was £73. 13s. 2d. and the Defendant paid
£30.65. into Court.
The case proved on the part of the Plaintiff was
this—the 'defendant, who, it seems, was the proprietor
of certain medicines, being about to marry the laugh-
ter: of Mr. W. L. Davis. a person of considerable and
varied property, employed the plaintiffs to draw up
the marriage articles. Mr. Davis had three daugh-
ters, the eldest of whom was married, and upon
whom he had settled, by bond, an annuity of I:200.
The second daughter was the lady wbo married the
defendant, and the youngest had been provided for
by a portion of her father's property ; and the re-
mainder of his property the latter wished to settle
upon the defendant. For the purpose.. of ' preparing
the articles, the instruments which had been execnted
for securing the other daughter's portions were hand-
ed over to the plaintiffs, who abstracted the deed!,
and, after having prepared the recitals for the_articles,
they were sent to Mr. Coote, the conveyancer, who
finally prepared and settled them. When the draft
was handed to Mr. Davis, the father-inlaw, he corn-
plained.of its enormous length, being upwards of 300
law folios, of 72 words each : he objected that there
were recitals of other deeds Which ought not to have
been introduced, and insisted that the instrument
should be shortened and redrawn. The plaintiffs,
however, said, that they would not strike out a line
of it, and if Mr. Davis was not satisfied, they would
}lave nothing further to do with the business. Upon,
this Mr. Davis desired them to Send in a fair charge'
for their services, which he offered to pay, and took
away the draught as it had been prepared. The
plaintiffs then sent iI. their bill of charges, to the
amount of £73.135. 2d. including a fee of 10 guineas
paid to Mr. Coote. Several respectable Solicitors,
and, amongst others, Mr. Hanrott and Mr. Ambrose
Humphries, deposed to the reasonableness of the
plaintiffs demand, and said, that their charge was'
usual, and in the ordinary course of business, consi-
dering the length of the proceedings.
,Mr. come, the conveyancer, expressed his opinion
'that the marriage articles which he had prepared
and settled' were as short as could be reasonably ex-
pected, on account of the multifarious description of
property which Mr. Davis had settled upon the
Defendant.

The defence set up was, first, that the Plaintiffs
had expressly contravened the orders of Mr. Davis,
by inserting in the settlement recitals of deeds which
had nothing to do with the property to be given to
,Dsr.Guest ; and, secondly, that the plaintiffs charges
were altogether unreasonable, because the marriage
settlement which was afterwards executed, bad only
#ost £34, including £l5 stamp duties.
To support this defence, the evidence of Mr. Davis,
the father-in-law, was relied upon ; and fie stated po-
sitively, that he had restricted the plaintiffs froth in-
troducing into the settlement the recitals of the deeds
which related to the property which he had settled
upon his other daughters.
Mr, Richard Bassett; the solicitor who prepared
the settlement which was actually executed, stated,
that his charge = was £34, but he admitted that he
had only, in effect, shortened the draught which had
been prepared by the plaintiffs. He introduced the
same recitals, but they were only shortly referred to,
and he bad contracted the extent of the settlement in
consequence of the express crder of Mr: Davis for
that purmse.
Mr.. Chapman, a conveyancer, stated, that his fee
for settling the executed settlement was only "three
guineas; but he added, that the settlement prepared
by the plaintiff's was not more voluminou's than-was
necessary, •unless orders had been given to.the cots.'
trary by Mr. Davis.
Mr.Scancirr, in reply, contended, that ibe, ,
tiffs, as solicitors, had a right to exercise a discretion
as to the nature of the instrument which they were
desired to prepare ; and it was not because the de-
fendant afterwards close to go to a cheap shop, that
therefore their demand was exorbitant orunreasonabie

paynxesti 4.is rather, .611.11;e...22d of that month, Ina
structingffie ghtiriff to lei.). 'the two siatrants
of attorneys whia accordingly levied on, the 28th
on which day, also, a meeting of Jame Walker's
'creditors totik plact, ind it was *detirminagi to make
him a bankrupt. The .(Theriff acknowledged haviii:
levied, but being indemnified by the Asslntei; Who
disputed the validity of the secirritieiv had retained •
the rimey, and returned nate" bontr.':"' •"fl • •
On the part or the Astignees, iE eilittentiedi
that this was a mere colourable transttetien. btstiveeis
the father and ton, to secure to the .first all the prod-:
perty, to the exclusion of the rest of the creditors.'
flee £3OOO, sail to have been lent to the son, was ad-
vanced
by the father before he quitted .the .business;
and as to the sum given for the father's share of the
stock and goodwill of the business, so far from being
worth any thing, the stock was almost nominal. anti
the concern i.i a state of insolvency. In proof of this,
it was said, that the stock of leather, valued at £6OOO
was not worth £4060; and a quantity of parchment,
valued at £4 a roll, was not worth El. 10s. It also
appeared, that in the course of Line nioaths, during
which time, the bankrupt fiad had the sole business,
his debts amounted to upwards of 1:79,000, which
sum had been proved under his commission. A divi-
dend of Is. 2d. in the pound had been made ; but
whether any further dividend would be made, de-
pended on the result of the present cause. Thomas
Walker being dead, the present action was continued
by his executors, The witnesses all agreed as to the
respectability of the character which. Mr. T. '4%-a. Ike
had always supported. It was ultimately agreed that
a verdict should be taken for the plaintiff, at all
events, for the levy under the warrant for £3OOO ; and
that the £6OOO should become a matter of reference,
to ascertain what was the state of the concern at the
time the elder Walker retired from it.

WESTMINSTER SESSIONS.'

COVENT GARDILK BIMULBT.

This was an appeal of certain salesmen in Covent-
Garden Market, froai the decision of the &try cf that
parish. It appears, that the Jury, in the courEe of
their inquiries, had discovered that the baskets made
use-of by the ulesmen in the ad measurement of fruit,
etc. although they purported to hold a bushel, in
point of fact held no more than about three pecks and
a half, and many of them not so much as three
pecks. The Jury, in consequence, amerced those
salesmen in the sum which the special Act irrovides
shall be forfeited.

Mr. ADOLPHUS, on the part of the salesmen, was
heard at some length. It was urged in their behalf,
that the baskets employed by them were chiefly those
which were used by the growers of the fruit, in the
measurement. 4E the articles to themselves.
, The Mattel...now rests in the hands of this Court.—
Tie C*Ainsie.'n has declared his resolution forthwith
to require that each salesman in the market shall be
provided with a vessel which shall contain exactly the
quantity of the water-measure, and that it shall be
competent for every purchaser to demand the measure-
ment of theirticles he buys by this vessel or basket.
One of the Magistrates suggested than it wciald be.
properwhave the new measure stamped, os marked.
with the words " Westminster Measure: , • ,
el: The PHAIRMAN said, he did nut think, it wol4it bet
neeeesary to have recourse to any risark. He 'ad
be said; determined upon establishing the- new mt-a-
mire, and he would postpone•any further regelbtiottiv
until he should see the•sticcess of the present

ENCOURAGEMENT OF INDUSTRY.

The Provisional Committee appointed to attend p
this subject, as the best means tor the reductio9 of
the PoOr's Rates, have just circulated the following'
ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC:

14' The time appears to have arrived, when it may •
be consideredto be the duty of this Cornnittee to in-
form the Public of its transactions, the new series of
Inquiries being now presented, and the important
prinCiple of letting land to the Poor having by thd
passifig of the Poor Laws Amendment Bill betonie
a part of our Statute Law, Parishes being by it an.
thorized to hire twenty acres of land, for furnishing
employment and letting to the Poor, by which some
hundreds of thousands may be rendered independent
of parochial relief. The Committee having from rePliet
received from the highest and most intelligent quarteti '
to its Inquiries fully ascertained the following facts:ft
'46 That an eminent mean of improving the con4iott
of the Labouring Class, and diminishing Pauperism,
would be to afford Labouring Poor small Portrons of
land on easy term: •. A
4, That the practice promotes. indnittyiThfurt+litig
employment to tbnising race, prerentsa dependencer
vi parish aid-.sharibg in some districts operatecksto
the keeping dm, le others almost the utter extins-
ziOn of the Poor atiep—accordingli communiCited
.with the Legislaifi Pt& the acetimplishmeneof
object, and watehlt!fthe progress of the above Bill:—
v 64 The Comniittnrclesires most ardentlyAolirgesfu •
Pttrishis and Vait)thiAofficers to PrWed to tiPl-OIT . .
cifiminatins of 00,4;44,1e objects, to the dividing
.the land, tnerelay to arrsst the progivii OfPauperisroo,
pd.ahlintigh ille-Alke limited quantity of land will'
-most initobilbly be Mt& in numerous instances to be •
itinckquavnestill it is contemplated that the
tage which will arise from this grant will in-
e sktnre to extend the operation of this
econemy, proportionate to the
1 tiecessities of the country.
will persevere in its endeavorrs
of this Institution, calculated
every rank, and thus pro.;
;petit).
INQUIRIES.
desires to be aldsted by the needling •
• "—a...toting, and bleebani.