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

HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY

Lord ROSEBERRY having presented a petition on the non-
intrusion question,
Lord ABERDEEN rose to reply to defend the course taken
by the ministers who had been suspended by the General
Assembly. _ . .

Lord NORMANBY promised to make inquiry into the truth
of the statements contained in a petition presented by Lord
Brougham, complaining of the severe discipline in the Wake-
field House of Correction. The noble lord also said, in an-
swer to a question from Lord Haddinffton, that an investi-
gation which was at present going on into the cause of fever
and contagious disorders in Scotland bad no reference to the
introduction of a new Poor Law system into that country.
Lord PORTMAN having presented a petition praying for the
establishment of a hurbour at Portland,
Lord MINTO expressed his willingness to attend to any
suggestion that might be made for the construction of a har-
bour of refuge. In the went or a war ..oh a harbour would
be of the greatest importance. _

~.,Thr several clauses of the Admiralty Courts Bill having
been agreed to,

.
Lord- WESTMEATH rose to move for a select committee to
inquire into several points relating to the working of the
Poor Law Act in Ireland.

Lord No RMANBY opposed the motion.
The Duke of WELLINGTON advised that it should for the
present be withdrawn.
After a short conversation the noble duke's suggestion was
adopted, and the house adjourned until Monday.

0,0_4 fi OAK witg4 MP PIMA 12.0 jOgir
-• • 7,2111' aged,. itelpiou; ihjurodonatteo.
Mg master, whom you hurried into the eternal world without
amoraent'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
honied 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. _

t34littiiii di; bloo4 of

° ••I •
In recent performances of my 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 Prius, 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. Noggins, that of the defendants.
This was an action upon a policy of assurance for X. 500,
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 plaintiffs
witnesses had been examined,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then addressed the jury for the
defendants, and observed that the fire-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 effect 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, was 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 tire 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 received ?
Lord DENMA.N said, it was competent for them to give
any sum.
The 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.