The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-11-24 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

LONDON LAW AVD POLICE COURTS.

COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Nov. 19.
SOAMES V. RAWLINGS.
Mr. Fitzroy Kelly said he was instructed by the defendants
to move for a writ of prohibition against the commissioners of
the Court of Requestsfor the city and liberty of Westminster,
to stay all further proceedings between the above parties. Al-
though the amount sued for was small, yet if there were no steps
taken to stay the proceedings of the commissioners, the decision
which they had come to would be attended with the most inju-
rious consequences. Under the 47th section of the reform act,
the 2d of William IV., c. 45, all perenus claiming to vote at any
election for members of parliament could be opposed by another
elector. The notice of objection to any such vote being deli-
vered to the overseer, the person so objected to was obliged to
appear before the revising barrister to do away with the objec-
tion, if he wished to have his name retained. The defendant,
being an elector for the city of Westminster, in pursuance of
the right given to him by the above clause, served a notice of
objection to the plaintiff's name, and afterwards appeared be-
fore the revising barristers to support his objection. On the
list belonging to the parish in which Soames resided being
called on. he did not appear to oppose the objection, although
called. The list was regularly proceeded with, and the objec-
tion being urged the revising barrister held the objection to be
good, and struck off the plaintiff's name. Subsequently another
list was proceeded with, and Mr. Soames was then, found to be
in attendance. Shortly after Mr. Rawlings received from the
plaintiff a bill of damages done to him by the defendant, in
causing him (the plaintiff) to lose three days,. No notice was
taken of the bill, on which Mr. Soames obtained a summons
from the Court of Requests, which was served on Mr. Rawlings,
who attended before the commissioners. Mr. Rawlings con-
tended that the reform act bad given him the power which he
bad used in objecting to Mr. Soames's name being placed on
the registry, and that the matter was out of their jurisdiction,
and it they entertained any doubts he would beg of them to take
the opinion of their legal adviser (the clerk of the court.) This
they did, and that gentleman informed the commissioners that
they had no power to adjudicate. The commissioners consi-
dered they had. It was too well known that commissioners
in
Courts of Requests when they were called on to decide in a po-
litical case decided in accordance to their political opinions,
and which occurred in the present instance. lie would now
refer their lordships to the act of parliament which constituted
the court.
Mr. Baron Parke.—What act do you refer to, Mr. Kelly?
Mr. Kelly.—The 23d Geo. 11. c. 7.
The learned gentleman then proceeded to read the preamble,
and the 62d and 80th sectiots of the act, for the. purpose' of
showing that a Court of Requests was established for the more
speedy recovery of small debts, and not for the recovery of debts
never incurred; he (Mr Kelly) would refer their lordships to
the case of Jonas v. Greening (5 Term Reports, p. 527,) which
arose out of a summons issued from the Court of Requests for
the city of London, and was brought to recover the stun of 18s;
3d. for some lemons which had been contracted for,, but never
deliyereirto the plaintiff, who considered he had sustained the
above amount or damage by the nun-delivery, It was tried be-
fore Lord Kenyon, and he decided that the commissioners had
no power to adjudicate. He (Mr. Kelly)
,was fully of opinion
that to enable a debt to be recovered in 'a Court of Requests
proofs of its being due was necessary, or that the loss of time oti
the part of the plaintiff arose from a corrupt and improper ob-
jection on the part of the defendant. This was not the case,
for his name was struck out of the lists. After hearing the
whole of these facts the commissioners differed, and voted, when
the majority declared they had the power to adjudicate, and or-
dered Mr. Rawlings to pay the sum demanded.
Mr. Baron Alderson observed it was a very difficult question
for, them (the commissioners) to try.
Mr. Baron Parke,—lf an action of this description can be
maintained, the plaintiff must prove an improper motive to ex.
ist on the part of the defendant.
Mr. Kelly.—Certainly, my lord, and then a Court of Re-
quests would not he the proper place to try such a question.
Mr. Baron Parke.—Certainly not.
Mr. Kelly.—lf a Court of Requests can take cognizance of
this matter there will be an immense number of summonses is-
sued against the same individual for whom I now appear. Un-
der those circumstances T trust the eourt will issue a rule of pro-
hibition.
Mr. Baron Parke.—Take a role.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT.—Fains v.
" A GENTLEM4N !"—A young man, who described himself
as a gentleman, applied to be discharged, and was unopposed.
The insolvent said he was one of six children, neither of whom
had been brought up to mil, trade or profession. His parents
were independent, and lived. iu the neighbourhood of the Mile-
end-road.

Chief Commissioner.—How do you expect to get your living
in the world?
Insolvent.—l don't know.
Chief Commissioner.—Aud have not the slightest notion ?
Insolvent.—No. (Laughter.)
It appeared about three years ago he married without any
fortune, and against his father's consent.
Chief Commissioner.—That was to mend the matter. You
are a pauper.
The insolvent exclaimed—Sir !
Chief Commissioner.—Yes, a pauper I say! That stay star-
tle you, for you describe yourself a gentleman, and, being a
pauper, you married without a farthing.
The insolvent said he had some reversionary property, which
he had sold, and spent the money.
Chief Commissioner.—Oh, I dare say.
The insolvent was then examined as to his debts. The first
was one of £2O due to a jeweller for articles in his trade, princi-
pally consisting of rings, which he said were for himself and
wife. They bad either been sold, broken, or lost.
Chief Commissioner.—So you had them to decorate your
person?
Insolvent.—Yes; they are all gone, even my wife's wedding-
ring.
On being asked the nature of the next debt, he said it was for
gambling.
Chief Commissioner.—That's honest; truth goes a great way
with me.
The next debt was for damage done to phaeton which he
had hired for an excursion to Epping. He said the damage
was nothing particular. He had only broken the axletree.
(Laughter.)
The learned Commissioner then said—Young man, you have
led a very disreputable and lamentable life. Whether it arose
from your own conduct or the neglect of "others I- izotiw not.
You have had property, have gambled, and indulged- to gratify
your vanity in everything you could, and have now brought
yourself to this disgraceful exhibition. I make these observa-
tions for your good—avoid this expenditure of vice and folly:
to depend on it your future life will be passed in disgra,ce and
ruin. The learned Commissioner further animadverted on his
conduct, and then ordered him to be discharged.

LONDON AND GREENWICH RAILWAY

COMPANY.

On Friday the first special general meeting of this company
was held at the City of London Tavern, for the purpose of con-
sidering the propriety of raising, upon bonds of £lOO each, such
a sum of money as would enable the company to carry into ef-
fect the completion of this interesting and important work.
Twells, Esq., was called to the chair.
The Secretary (Mr. Walter,) having read the advertisement
calhug the meeting, proceeded to read the report. It stated
that by the 46th clause in the act, incorporating the company
certain corporations and individuals were empowered to compel
the company to take certain tracts of land and other property,
even should only a small portion be required for the use of the
railway. Of this power the parties had pretty generally availed
themselves. This, consequently, entailed upon the company
the necessity of purchasing property beyond what was required
for the railway. It was, however, expected that these purchases
would prove hereafter highly advantageous—for there was little
doubt but that the improvement in value would keep pace with
the importance of the whole design. As a means of providing
for this contemplated outlay, a clause was inserted in the act
(the 99th) which gave the company the power to raise an addi-
tional sum not exceeding one-third of the capital named in the
bill—and in furtherance of these views the directors recom-
mended that bonds of £lOO each, bearing 5 per cent. interest,
and to be for a term of five years, be prepared and issued, first
to those shareholdhers who might wish to subscribe, and, after
a lapse of ten days, to the public. The property of the com-
pany had already begun to be of an improved character, and
that part of it lying between London-bridge and the Neckin.
ger was already in great demand, offers having been received
for building sites, as well as offerings for the rental of the arches.
The directors, however, deemed that any hasty disposal •of
this property would be premature under existing circumstances,
and they, therefore, did not entertain the proposals made to
them. The directors then congratulated the proprietors on the
prospect of a consummation of the original views, namely, that
the railway to Greenwich would be the principal outlet from
the metropolis to all parts of importance south and eastward of
the Thames. As a proof of which the report stated that the
Croydon Company had entered into an engagement with this
company to pay, for the use of their rails, half the amount of
fare charged to Greenwich, and there was little doubt that when
other companies were carried into effect, an immense advantage
would arise to the Greenwich Company. s
The Secretary then said that the engineer's estimate of the
total expense to be incurred hereafter for the completion of the
work was £65,000. The surveyor's estimate of the property yet
to be purchased was £50,000; and that the estimated sale of the
same property would be £60.000. •
Total amount of property purchased £192,000
Ditto purchased but not paid for
To be purchased

£285,000
Property and old materials to be-i&'

Balance £215 WO

Original estimate of the coat of the work 208,000
So that there are £7,000 more to be met than the original esti•
mate calculated upon.
The Chairman then said that the question for the proprietors
was this--whether it would not be better to retain the property
which they had, cud raise the money they wanted upon bends,
rather than sell the property now when it would not be of the.
value that it would ultimately be [bear, hear!]
The Chairman, in reply to Mr. Hammond, said that it was
intended to raise the whole of the one-third of the capital of the
company.
Mr. Hitchens wished to know what sums remained to be paid
for purchases agreed for, whether in possession or not
Chairman : £43,ooo.—The chairman turther stated, in reply
to the same gentleman, that the amount to be paid for land not
let 'purchased would be £50,000, and that the sale of the surplus
and would be £OO,OOO in favour of the company, and £lO,OOO
for old materials; that the money in hand, including unpaid
calls, was £22,000; and that the calls upon the company unpaid
were £20,00U.
Colonel Landman, the engineer, in reply to another proprie-
tor, said that if there was no frost he had every reason to ex-
pect that the work would be completed by Easter.
The Chairman, in reply to another proprietor, said that
every difficulty in the way of the work proceeding had been
completely removed; and, in reply to another proprietor, said
that there would be an increase on the original estimate of the
engineer of £37,000, in consequence of their being obliged to
build a wall along the line of the railway instead of a quickset
hedge, as was originally intended; and also in consequence of
the company being obliged to go to additional expenses, im-
posed by the local authorities.
After some further conversation, the report was adopted.

DEVIZES EtAcTtori.—The writ for the election of a represen-
tative of the borough of Devizes, in the room of the late Wad-
ham Locke, Esq., arrived here last evening, and was proclaimed
in the Market-place this forenoon. The mayor has fixed the
day of nomination for Tuesday ; the election will take place on
Wednesday. Captain Dundas and some of his friends still assert
that the gallant captain is certain of being elected "by a respect-
able majority;" whilst the friends of Mr. Estcourt say that Cap-
tain Dundas has nut the shadow of a chance.—Deri;e: Gazette.
(Thursday.)—[By the statue of the sth and 6th of William IV.,
c. 36, s. 2, passed the 25th August last, the time of taking the
poll in boroughs at contested elections is limited to one day only;
the polling to commence at eight o'clock in the morning, and be
kept open till four in the afternoon. Devizes will be the first
borough election under this new law.]

MR. O'CONNELL

LETTSR OF gIR -FRANCIS. BURDETT TO THE mtmarirti QF
' BROOKES'S CLUB.

Gentlemen,—Ever since I read the newspaper accounts of I
Mr, Daniel O'Connell's sayings and doings at Manchesteraud
Glasgow, on his mission (as he terms his return to Ireland
through those towns), L have felt, as a member of this club,
that it would be incumbent on us take them into our serious
and dispassionate consideration, since, iii my, opinion, we are
collectively and individually compromised by them. There is an
sin observation somewhere in the writings of Thomas Paine, that
"that which is a disgrace to human nature, throws Something of
a shade over all the human character, andevery individual feels
his share of the wound given which is to the whole." This
strikes we as a sound moral maxim, forcible when applied to re-
lations between individuals and society at large, but acting with
incalculably great force, and fraught with more cogent convic-
tion, when applied to those small select societies called clubs,
more espscially political ones. When men are admitted into
these associations, they become, as it were, bound like our Saxon
forefathers in an union of fionkpledge mutually to one another
for good behaviour, voluntarily submitting themselves to the
club, as to a tribunal whence lies no appeal, the whole body
thereby becoming responsible to the public for the decent be-
haviour at least of its members. On this ground I appeal to
the club for its judgment on the conduct of Mr. Daniel O'Con-
nell, one of its members. h an' taking it for granted that the
newspaper accounts of his exhibitions of himself at Manchester
and Glasgow are correct, and I think myself entitled to enter-
' tain this opinion from so long a period having since elapsed
1 without any contradiction, apology, or explanation on his part.
Hence I infer that in his own opinion his language and deport-
ment were unexceptionable, gentlemuulike, and. becoming. I
know not how other men's minds way have been affected on
reading the reports above-mentioned, but on mine was produced
a strong feeling of disgust, not unaccompanied by a sense of
humiliation and shame, at being, as a member of the club, ex-
posed to the imputation of participating or acquiescing in or
tolerating such proceedings. In a word, I felt acutely my share
of the wound. Upon the present occasidn 1 beg leave to dis-
miss all political considerations. In his late transaction with
Mr. Raphael, regarding the representation of Carlow, I exclude
entirely. the pecuniary features of the case. These may probe-
hty'he investigated before the House of Commons or a court of
justice, or both. I confine myself, therefore, entirely to com-
ment upon the manners and the language which every decent
society has a right to expect, and a duty to exact, from its mem-
bers.
Impressed with this view of the case, I beg leave to submit
to the members of Brookes's whether or no the style and tone
adopted by Mr. Daniel O'Connell towards Mr. Raphael (both
, being members of this club) is such as we are willing to have
introduced amongst us, such as we could ever he brought to sane-,
tion or to endive. Is it even couched in such terms as one
member of a civilised community ought to he permitted to apply
to another?

•%, ...EV..., • •
In his second letter to Mr. Raphael, Mr. Daniel O'Connell
is pleased (I should conceive through a species of miiiiving) to
call his outrageous expresiion (which he had on a former occa-
sion applied to the Duke of Cumberland) "the usual Irish
phrase." With Mr. Daniel O'Connell himself this \may be
(and too apparently is) a very usual phrase, but I cannot be-
lieve that it is an usual phrase with any one else in Ireland. I
once had an opportunity of seeing a great deal of that country,
passing several months there, mixing with classes of every de-
gree, I went much among the peasantry, about whose charac-
ter 1 had considerable curiosity, taking much interest in them.
I witnessed and joined in their various amusements in their
ntost unguarded hours, being accompanied by persons whose
presence dispelled all suspicion. I was forcibly struck by the
absence of anything gross or offensive among them. On the
contrary, their natural politeness was such as to place at his
ease any man accustomed to the best society. The objeCt of
their natural and most decided aversion seemed to be a black-
guard—the precise epithet which they were in the habit of ap-
plying ,whenever their indignation was excited, or whenever
they wished to give vent to their reproach.
What Mr. Daniel O'Connell is pleased to style the "usual
Irish phrase" I scarcely ever heard, and I cannot help thinking
that any man in Ireland in whose mouth it was familiar would
be very short-lived, at least were he willing to abide the usual
consequence of indulging in it. In that case Mr. Daniel O'Con-
nell himself would not be so old as he is by a fortnight. He
has placed himself in a state of impunity, exalted or degraded,
as men may happen to regard it. At all events, however, he
stands in the predicament of being the last man in the world
who ought to allow himself the use of such language, which, on
the contrary, with the least feeling of self-respect, he ought par-
ticularly to avoid. I would, moreover, wish to ask you, gentle-
men, your opinion of his speech respecting the Duke of Wel-
lington. • Was there ever anything equal to its presumption
and insoleuce, except its injustice? I doubt if there is a tap-
room in the country out of which he would not have been
turned for it. It is an insult to the nation, a sort of general
offence. We may, however, rest satisfied that it has been most
amply rebuked—rebuked most severely, though unintentionally
and unthought of—hy the properest individual in the ceuutry,
in his eloquent address to a public meeting at Bath—by Colonel
Napier, a somewhat inure competent judge, and more capable
of estimating the great qualities of the Duke of Wellington,
than Mr. Daniel O'Connell. This gallant officer, in drawing
the great man's character, drew unconsciously his own—
generous in mind, capacious in understanding, and, above all,
just ; the gmtleman, soldier, scholar, patriot stand forth con-
spicuous, drawn by the. hand of a master, unconscious of what
he was abort. Look on this picture and on this, drawn equally
in the same way, and with the same unconsciousness, both
strikingly a.ike, neither requiring a name to be written under
it. On lool,ing back, during no very long period, towards Mr.
Daniel O'Connell's proceedings, whether writing a whimper-
ing letter to a calumniated friend, or a blustering one to the
base and bhndy whit's, or reviling the Sassenagh (meaning the
English—h‘oernice, the enemy,) or (when endeavouring to im-
pose upon them) extolling them for their candour, generosity,
and love of 'iustice—whether bullying with a deluded crowd at
his heels, of falling on his knees before a Roman Catholic
priest (thus iilaying at once idol and idolator,) I cannot but
think that it is absolutely necessary to the character of our club
to eximerateltself t'r..m the burden of such a member.—l am,
gentlemen, your most obedient,
FRANCIS BURDETT.