The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-07-07 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY

The Farnham Rectory Bill was read a second time, after
some discussion, and a division.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, no contract
had yet been entered into for government steamers between
Falmouth and Alexandria.

The third reading of the Weaver Churches Bill was fixed
for Monday.

The house then went into committee on the Ecclesiastical
Duties and Revenues Bill. The discussion of its clauses in
detail occupied the rest of the evening. The main point was,
that Lord J. Russell proposes to give the deanery of Exeter
to the Crown by the main force of an act of parliament,
having been defeated in his attempt to bestow it on a poli-
tical ally by the decision of the Queen's Bench. Of course
the act cannot have a retrospective effect. The conversation
on the several clauses continued till one o'clock, when the
house adjourned, Mr. Greene having previously obtained the
appointment of a committee to inquire into the expenses of
select committees.

COURVOISIER

(From the Times of yesterdag.)
Yesterday the Rev. Mr. Carver, the ordinary of Newgate,
preached what is called the condemned sermon in the chapel
of Newgate. The sheriffs, in consequence of the innume-
rable applications made to them for admission to the chapel,
determined to open once more the gallery which had been
closed since the execution of Fauntleroy, and to issue cards.
Although the service was not to commence till half-past 10
o'clock, the avenues to the common door of entrance to the
prison, as well as to the door of the governor's house, were
completely blocked up before 9 o'clock by those to whom
the sheriffs had given the privilege. The arrangements
were, however, so judicially made by the sheriffs, and the
governor, that not the slightest inconvenience was sustained
by the numerous congregation.
We observed amongst the congregation Lord Adolphus
Fitzclarence, Lord Coventry, Lord Paget, Lord Bruce, seve-
ral members of the House of Commons, and a few ladies.
Immediately before the service commenced, Courvoisier
entered the chapel, attended by two of the turnkeys, and sat
on a bench before the pulpit. He appeared to be quite aware
of the situation in which was placed, and never once raised
his eyes during the service. In fact, his looks denoted ex-
treme sorrow and contrition, and he seemed to suffer great
inward agitation when the ordinary particularly alluded to
the crime for the perpetration of which he stands condemned.
He was as attentive as possible to the service, and held the
prayer book with a steady hand.
The ordinary took his text from Job, c. xxxiv. v. 21, 22 :
—" For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all
his goings. There is no darkness nor shadow of death where
the workers of iniquity may hide themselves."
The following are the passages which referred to the
wretched criminal more especially. The preceding portions
of the sermon illustrated, from the Oldand New Testaments,
the omniscience of God
" How awfully true must the lessons and illustrations of
our text appear to one amongst us this morning, and how
fearfully and dreadfully appropriate the adaptation of its lan-
guage to his special and almost unparalleled case. ' The eyes
of the Omniscient were indeed upon his ways, and he saw all
his goings.' There was no darkness nor shadow of death
where he could hide himself.

" Yes, and that special deed of darkness which has sub-
jected you, the midnight assassin of an aged, amiable, and
unoffending master, to prison and to death, has yet, and in a
few hours too, to be judged of by Him whose eye is upon
your heart (as well as upon your ways,) and who sees all
your thoughts as He saw all your goings.
" In the solitude of your confinement, far more appropri-
ate for serious reflection on your part, and profitable minis-
tration on mine, than on this exciting occasion, before a large
and public assembly—in that retired cell I have daily endea-
voured, in simplicity and fidelity, as the minister of God, to
prepare you to meet Him, urging the duty and necessity of
penitence, abiding, abject, abundant sorrow, godly sorrow
for your dreadful sin, which ignominiously closes your earthly
career, and ushers you to your eternal destiny. With other
matters, in which 1 have sought to be faithful and serviceable,
own and public satisfaction, I have pressed upon you
ass:
d makingpropriety, some
small compensation,
of evincing the sincerity
theaf for
youriny,
repentance,
as well
and small indeed it is, to outraged society, by a voluntary,
Nell
ample, and explicit confession of all the circumstances con-
nected with thisimprecedented deed of darkness. The enor-
mous crime itself has been by you tardily, though, I trust,
penitentially, acknovnedgect; but the evasions, subterfuges,
and inconsistencies, which have appeared in your recorded
verbal statements on minor details, have very naturally in-
duced the fear that your heart is not right in the sight of
God.' You had almost reached the very verge of a triumph
that would have included the deepest sorrow to the guiltless
at almost the eleventh hour. So strong was the impression
of your innocence, from your long-established character for
mildness and probity, that a mortal stab was about to be in-
flicted upon the reputation of your fellow-domestics and
other innocent persons. You reposed in quiescent security
of acquittal. At the critical juncture, God, in the Wonderful
workings of His providence, by a marvellous chain of circum-
stantial evidence, with unerring certainty, fixed upon you the
rality bound you to love, reverence, and respect, yea, to
guilt of murdering one whom every tie of religion and mo-
your own life, if necessary, to save that of your master from
the assassin's blow. All who reflect upon this wondrous
rcannotas but
a God
exclaimad
that
—ju'dVgeetrhilythtehi
verilyevent the
vin-
dicated his attributes of omniscience, justice, and mercy,
and with an eloquent tongue speaks to you, and to all who
indulge in secret sin—' Be sure your sin will.find you out.'
The book before me, from which alone I derive authority to
this fiGnguedrhoafs God,Peri
h glad tidings of a free and full Preacsalvation to lost and
perishing sinners, through faith in the all-cleansing blood an
ofLamb of God,
righteousness the
he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered ;'
and, again, ' Blessed is the man
andunto whom the Lord lin-
puteth not iniquity.' But a t dds Icannot , but press the
important c9n •
text on your mind—' and in whose spirit there

is no guile."
" In that charity which believeth all things, hopcth all
things, I trust that your confessions (though I would they
had been more explicit and faithful from the first, and less
marred with at least apparent incongruities and inconsistencies)
are now sincere and honest, that your professed repentance is
heartfelt, and that with the eye of faith you are looking on

that blessed Saviour whom you have pierced. If not, your
blood, and the blood of your aged, helpless, injured, unoffend-
ing master, whom you hurried into the eternal world without
amoment's warning, be upon your own head ! I have faith-
fully and affectionately warned you not to deceive yourself.
But if, as I would yet believe and hope, you do feel the bur-
den of your sin, humbly confessing it, and keeping yourself
humble, concealing no circumstance, however minute, in the
horried and loathsome detail of it, it becomes me, as the
minister of truth as it is in Jesus, as the ambassador of God.
to announce even to you that there is a fountain opened for
sin (all sin), for uncleanness (all uncleanness), and that
though your sins be as scarlet, they may be made white as
snow, though red like crimson, they may be as wool.
_

"In recent performances of onerous and painful duties
as minister of this prison, I have had reason to shrink from
the distressing and overwhelming burden of anxieties, diffi-
culties, and responsibilities attached to it, and to exclaim
when the departing spirit of convicted criminals seemed to
hover over me—' Who is sufficient for these things?' But in
cases where the offender has acknowledged his crime on its
immediate commission, surrendering himself to justice,
pleaded guilty on his trial, and prostrated himself in distress
and despair on account of his direful guilt, it has been my
privilege, and ever will be my duty, as a minister of the ever-
lasting gospel, upon the authority of God's word (the only
authority I acknowledge), to proclaim pardon and peace to
every truly repentant sinner, and to declare, according to
the gospel of the day, that there is joy in heaven amongst the
angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, whatever his
former character may have been, more than over ninety and
nine righteous—i.e., self-righteous persons, who, ignorant of
the deceit of their own hearts, vainly imagine they need no
repentance."

After Courvoisier left the chapel he was visited in his cell
by the Swiss Consul, who handed to him a letter from his
mother, conveying her forgiveness, her blessing, and her
farewell. He wrote with a steady hand a few lines in answer
to the letter, and received a promise from the Consul that it
should be delivered. The answer was an attempt to console
the unhappy parent for the misery and disgrace which his
crime had brought upon his family.
He was subsequently visited by the Swiss clergyman, who
has been frequently to see him since his conviction.
Oxford sat behind Courvoisier, and between two turnkeys.
He also seemed to pay attention to the service, and he some-
times joined in the responses. When the ordinary was ut-
tering the prayer for the Queen he looked up with a foolish
grin, but immediately after resumed his attention to the ser-
vice and behaved with decent seriousness.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, FRIDAY, JULY 3

( Sittings at Nisi Prins, at Westminster, before Lord DEN-
MAN and a Special Jury.)
—LONG V. THE CORPORATION OF

EXTRAORDINARY CASE

THE LONDON ASSURANCE COMPANY

Mr. Platt, Mr. Richards, and Mr. Chambers, conducted
the case of the plaintiff; and the Attorney-General, Sir W.
Follett, and Mr. Hoggins, that of the defendants.
This was an action upon a policy of assurance for £5OO,
effected on household goods, &c., in the house of Mrs. Long,
situate at Lincomb and Widcombe, near Bath. To this the
defendants pleaded, first, that the plaintiff was not interested
in the goods ; secondly, that the goods were not consumed
by fire; thirdly, that the conditions of the policy, that the
plaintiff should deliver in an accurate account of the loss, had
not been complied with ; fourthly, that the alleged damage
and loss were not duly proved ; fifthly, that the plaintiff wil-
fully and maliciously had set the dwelling house on fire.

The evidence for the plaintiff went to prove that the furni-
ture, &c., were worth £3OO or £4OO, and that the dwelling
house was not maliciously set on fire. After the plaintiff's
witnesses had been examined,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then addressed the jury for the
defendants, and observed that the tire-office had deemed it
its duty to resist this claim, as it believed that the fire had
been wilfully caused, and that the claim was fraudulent.

Evidence to this eifect was then adduced

Mr. PLATT then addressed the jury upon the whole evi-
dence, stating that he appeared before them for the widow
and orphan, and to support her just claim against this office,
and he implored them, as they respected their own charac-
ters as honest men, to throw their shield around her, and
prevent the foul attempt which was made to render her infa-
mous for ever, by delivering their verdict upon all the pleas
for the plaintiff for £5OO. The sum was very large, but the
stake was greater than the money, because he would ask
them, wes it possible that this lady could appear in society
again if they should find a verdict against her ? The burden
was not on him, but on the office ; they had to make out
fraud. They said, " You have been guilty of fraud in the
first place, of arson in the second." They must not act
upon suspicion; but must have convincing proof of both
one and the other before they could find a verdict in favour
of the defendant.

Lord DENMAN then proceeded to sum up the case to the
jury. After stating the nature of the action, his lordship
said that the important plea, and indeed the only issue, was
the charge that the plaintiff had wilfully set fire to the house,
and fraudulently caused the goods to be burnt. In consider-
ing the case a good deal would depend on the value of the
goods in the house ; if they were of much less value than the
sum for which they were insured, that would give a clear
motive for the destruction. The question was whether the
lady was guilty of the gross and infamous crime with which
she was charged; if the facts made it perfectly convincing to
them that she was morally responsible, they would give their
verdict for the defendants.

At seven o'clock the jury retired, and at five minutes past
eight they came into court and said they wished to ask his
Lordship this question—whether a less sum than that claimed
would be receiVetl?

Lord DENMAN said, it was competent for them to give
any sum.

'ie Jury.—Then, my Lord, our verdict will be for the
plaintiff—Damages £lOO.
There were three special jurors, and nine talesmen.
The case has excited universal interest.