Star.
London, England, 1826-09-16 00:00:00

THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS.

Sall% 15.
The King has been pleased to direct letters patent to be passed,
tinder the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, cnnetituting and appointing Sir John Singleton Copley,
Knight, Master or Keeper of the Rolls apd Records of the Court
of Chancery, in the room of the Right Honourable Robert Lord
Giffurd, deceased.

THE LATE LORD GIFFORD.

_,F_ ..

A Correspondent gives the folliwing particulars of
the late Lord Gifford ;.—." His father's ptincipal bust-
Isess was that of a hop merchant, and since his death
the business, until within the last ten years, was car-
ried on by .bis Lordship's elder brothers, Mr. Wear-
man and Mr. 'Charles Gifford, both of whom are still
living at Exeter, having retired from business. Robert
was by many years the youngest of the family, and
was educated at a small school kept by a Dissenting
Mirrist.,r in that city, not under Dr. O'Halloran, as has
been stated. I was his schoolfellow, and at that early
age young Robert Gifford was looked upon as a very
superior boy, both by his master and his schoolfellows ;
and ti e old Gentleman has since told me, that Gifford
was the cleverest boy he ever had uncle': him. At the
age of 17 he was articled to Mr. Jones, a respectable
solicitor, at Exeter, and there soon spewed that he was
a young man of very superior abilities. I remember
Th. Baring, Qien Member for Exeter, having been at
Alr.Jones s ..ce on business, where he had seen young
Gifford, saying to a relation of mine, I have been talk-
ing with a young man who- will one day be Lord
Chancellor. Little did he think how nearly his prophesy
would be fulfilled. Mr. Jones had so high an opinion
of Mr. G ford that he offered to take him into partner-
ship, if his nephew, who was then practising in London,
did int wish to return to Exeter. Mr. Jones did, how-
ever, take his nephew into partnership, and Mr. Gif-
ford, by the advice of his friends, determined on being
called to the Bar. He had then no property of his own,
and was educated for the Bar, and maintained for seve-
ral years by his eldest brother, Mr. Wearman Gifford,
On being called to the Bar, he immediately got busi-
ness, and it was soon found, that he was the only man
on the circuit who could compete with Leni and Pell.
1n.1814, Mr. Abbott, the prestnt Lord Chief Justice,
and Mt. Dauncey (one of the most brilliant orators of
his day) were brought to Exeter on special retainers, to
conduct a great lunacy question, which occupied nine
days, and Mr. Gifford was selected, alone, to conduct
the case on the other side. The extraordinary powers
that Mr. Gifford then :hewed are alive in the recollec-
tion of every Barri.ter on the Western Circuit. The
man. er in which he conducted this case, I believe, first
brought him into the notice of Lord Ellenborough, who
recommended him to the Chancellor for a silk gown.
The recommendation was not, however, attended to.
The subsequent career of this eminent Nobleman is
known to every one. As an Advocate, he was shrewd,
_powerful, and determined, and never had a client cause
to complain of the manner in which his- case was con.
ducted: as A- Judge, he was patient and intelligent, and
never has any man ventured to question his judgments.
In private lite, I may almost say, he was without a fault;
this, at least, I will say—never did the grave close over
a man more sincerely beloved, and more deeply la-
mented by all who knew him."

A.letter from Dantzic states that in every part of the
Continent, Wheat and Rye are only average crops ;
and that Barley does not even turn out so favourable,
and Oats and I'e.tse are deficient in quantity. The crop
of Potatoes has, as far as we can learn, almost entirely
failed, and great fears are entertained for the poor.
Although not formally declared, it appears that Go.
vernment are giving 50,0001. in aid of the subscription
for the the distressed manufacturers. It is proposed to
inure a portion of the manufacturing population to
road-labour.

The late providential change in the weather, we are
rejoiced to announce, •has produced the most beneficial
effects. The luxuriant after grass, which the rains have
promoted, will enable the farmer to economise his
scanty store of winter fodder; the recovered turnip
crops will greatly aid the general necessities of the sheep
owners ; and the improved state of the potatoes, which,
in Ireland in particular, have recovered beyond all
hope, must tend in a high degree, to lighten the demand
for all denominations of corn.

Notwithstanding the extreme high price of provisions
in general, it is rather an extraordinary fact, which
may be of some importance to the middling classes to
know, that the very best salt cod fish is now selling at
Gravesend and Billingsgate markets at ss. to 55.6 d. the
score: the fish, averaging one hundred weight, being
little more than one halfpenny per pound.
Fines.—Yesterday morning, between four and five
o'clock, a fire broke out in the house of Mr. Macklin,
a stationer, residing at 69, Tottenham-court-road, which
for some time, owing to the combustible matter con-
tained in Mr. M.'s house, threatened very serious con-
sequences to the surrounding houses. Fortunately, how-
ever, there was a plentiful supply of water, which con-
fined the flames almost wholly to Mr. M.'s premises,
which are quite burnt down.—About six o'clock this
morning, a fire broke out in the dwellirig-house of Mr.
Ntary, Grange.road, Bermondsey, which destroyed the
uamo, and damaged the adjoining premises, but the
early arrival of the engines, and the exertions of the fire-
men, prevented its further ravages.
'mut DEltAbf ATlON.—there is, it seems, a vulgar
belief in Ireland, that the hand of a dead person placed
in milk or cream intended for churning, increases ex-
ceedingly its fecundity in butter. Acting on this notion,
a fellow circulated a report a short time back, that one
Bridget Moynahan, a dairy-woman of Limerick, had
dropt her pocket, in which he found " a dead man's
hand, folded in baize." She summoned him in conse-
quence before a Magistrate, where he endeavoured to
turn the charge into a joke, but it appeared that in re-
ality he did so to injure the woman in her business; he
u as sentenced to stand exposed in the pillory.
Yesterday evening the foot-path on the north-side of,
Fleet-street was for some time rendered nearly impassa-
ble, by the collected crowds, attracted by the appear-
ance of a curious phenomenon in the atmosphere, the
spire of S. Bride's Church, when viewed at an angle of
about 45 degrees, being seen clearly defined is a re-
flection in the air.

The remains of Ann Perry were yesterday interred
in the burial-ground in Gray'a•l'ln•lane. Ambrose, the
Murderer, is not yet taken.
A bookseller is under trial at Paris, for publishing
an edition of the Evangelists without the miracles, which
Anne, the pros.cution urges, give the stamp of Divine
authority.