The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-12-01 00:00:00

-~

Ia his
nit
Mr.'g
this is OA tot
ft bid a tritiii.lisitf Mid Aim ihey. had telt"
ft in part Wf siat dl an old debt. • The A.
terney-Gensmi maisstaino.ll.mas impdlesible fOr
ma esscAstwitt kaiser to gotecretlit for so much, sign.
pileity Nis this tAvitlepian assumed, when- he de.
cared thaA Ira Awy .pot that the sonsidjration
wiafor tbA
.ttitei.end-if he did.klponl. it wititin-
possible. fer kink tts vmtpsiir in .fisibactron.
gaPti!ntsluei• books wetse then seat. for, in
order to we pisetiser be bad been concerned few
Mews. Wald, on she occasion of the composi_
doe between Messrs. Kirby and Co. and their cre-
ditors. No entry,apjseseed in the book upon that
sabject ; but Lord itt.Lastionotion, after lu'bk.
ing nj it for some tune, observed, that. Mr. Birkit
had made charges tor, and appeared to have been
buoy in, settling little aims of money for them,
in getting in and arranging the payment of Small
debtsdue to them; he appeared., at this time, to
be ,employed in the business of collecting debts
for them, and in arranging' the mode of the pay-
ment of them.
Two of hi~ clerks swore they isever knew that
Mr. Birkit had any thing to do *int, ork.sd know.
Wee of this deed of composition between Messes.
Kirby and Co! and their creditors. It appeared
also, that when Mr. Birkit took this note, it had
only four syiepths to run.
Mr. PA admitted, that if Messrs. Ward
were the Plaintiffs in this action, they could nut
recover upon this! moo, because the consideration'
of it was 111Pgal but as to any knowledge of that
illegslitp, Mr. Kirbb, upon his oath, must posi.
lively denied it, in his answer in Chancery, which
answer the ttorney•General had made evidence
by reading.* pass ,go of it.
Vote Mr. Park read the denial, which was as
complete as possilile, Emil thin contended it was
. tots murk to bootie wilful and corrupt perjury'
to this Gcnt!cman and his two Clerks, who were
. perfectly disinterested in the question, and de-
;vended upon their character for their success in
life: •
Lord Et.Lermeneves told the Jury, that the
whole of the answer of Mr. Birkit to the bin in
Chancery, wets competent evidence, but all the
parts of it were nut equally credible, because
100111 suspicion naturally attached to those parts
in which the party had an interest, • than to those
le which he was perfectly indifferent. Tee svelule
qnestion depended upon thin—whether • Mr. ear_
kit did or did not know the consideration of
note;this
fie; if he did not, then be Yield recover. There
vas certainly ; full and explicit denial, on his
part, of an knowledge of the consideration of
this note; but although all parts of the answer
were equally competent, they were not ail
equally eredibk, far the reasons already stated ;
sod the guano'. was, whether they believed all
that was stated in that answer or not ? It certain-
le was an extraordinary. tilitig.to. take as payment
for his th•bt, a note payable at twenty-one months
after date, although it had but four mouths to run.
whets he took it ; it might have beenthought that
be would necessarily h ire ins tired into the cir-
entestancts of such a stole. This ady body would
do mOst naturally, stud an attorney was not, or.
distarily, less argot in imatt rs connected with his
own interest, than any other mall ; there was
here, however, nothing to ;trip this gentleman
of the ordinary credit which is die to a man's
oath, hut it was inure recuncileeblu to the ordi-
nary plahability of events, that when he was
offered a bill of twenty-one mouths after date,
he should have inquired into its circumstances,
than that he should have taken it without any in-
puiry whatever. The verdict depended entirely
dp Gee firms:stance—if the Jury believed that
GMs Plaintiff did not know the consideration for
. this note, be would be entitled to a verdict ;if they
believed that he did know it, the Defendants would
be entitled to a verdict.
The Jury, after tome consultstion, found a
verdict fur the Plaintiff, damages 1731., including
interest.

lint Ise iOl

A UDELL, FSQ. V. FERMOR, DQ.
I I
Mr. W 11.414,44 stated this to be an action upon
poAt obit bond,, comfltioned for the pay.
mem of bad. with interest, upon the death of
the alendant's father, an event which hail
happened some time sin& ; but he waa to submit
to his Lordship, that he was to be let in, to
prove the execution of the bond, by' secondary
evidence. Although he could not prove that the
attesting witness to the bond was dead ; the at
testing witness to the bond was an attorwi, of ,
the name of Wrangham, who .stood charged•
with an offence atlectiug his life; he had ab.,
sconded, and had never been heard of, and there-
fore he submitted that he might prove the hand-
writing of this •attesting witness, as a proof of
the elecutiost of the bond ; and this, he sub-
mitted on the authority of cases, one in '2
EasT. IS. Condest v. Sefton, in which the Court
Beech had held, that on proof of pro-
per- inquiry being made for the witness, and he
ctaunt b:. Lund ; the secondary evidence, that
is, of 1,r,,,f of his baud-writing, should be ad.
alined. Iheie was another case, in Mr. 'rave-'
Tux's IleportS, I, Crosb# v. ferry, in the Com-
mull Pleas, where the Court held the same doc-
trine. It had been held also by Lord 11. t es.
WIELD.
sir. Pai,ee (rioted a case in 12th Modern,
607, where my Lord Ilolt went to a greater
extent on the admission of secondary evidence.
Lord EcLcsisottouott said, he remembered Mr.
Deanne:4, when he moved that point before Lord
Mansfield, doing it with some doubt as to its
propriety. Ills Lordship said he should receive
the proposed evidence on the authorities which
bad been quoted, Init he should watch it closely,
fur the principle was most dangerous if extended,
fur the only witness who knew any tiling about
the print, might be sent away on purpose to let
lb secondary evidence, to the great peril of the
doe administrat of justice.
It there appeared that all due diligence had
bees used to discover Mr. Nlrrangliam, but with-
out effect ; that a Commission of Bankrupt had
Issued against him, to Which he had not appeared,
by which babas iecurred the penalty of death and