The Statesman.
London, England, 1819-03-19 00:00:00

DANK Mff ETING.

Yesterdsy a Geller,' Qoarterly Court of Tropsie.
tots was held at the Rink to deviate thy half-yearly
dividend, whirls the Chairman proposed, me meal,
should be tire per rent.

A Paoratsrroa thee proposed a welkin often re.
rested and rejected, that the Coen of f)irectors
bhoOld lay before lite Proprietors a ststemeut of the
q'enipany's affairs, and of the balances in hand,
agreeably, as he said, to the words of the Charter.

Another littoral tsoa, who recently applied to the
cnart of king's Bench In compel the Directors, by
kcal pritteeiline, to make this disclosore, -seconded
thy in Minn. adding( to it some additional miter.

Sir TitostAS TOUTOx, though atropin in the pro.
priely of tusking Ike dieclosere, thought tire ■onion
should be postponed till after she Itestsictioo Cow.
inifier of 'he Hum of Centocor had wade their Re-
port, se shore amused Information would probably
be rend.

Mr. litcAnno spoke in f of the motion, corn-
ptaining, the'Direcron gave the information I. the
Committee of the }loose of Commons, which tiner
r,feed to the Corm of Proprietors. Ile asked whe-
ther there was not • balance of six or wen, or at
least fire millions sterling in the hands of the Bonk,
and wishe,l to know why if should not be divided
A Puuress.yon spoke agalost the motion, referring
to the Charter elite Dank, and quoting words from
it to show, the Director% obeyed the rotes there laid
doer.; bet that it was presided the Court of Pro-
pietors coalsl by hye.le•s order otherwise. They
could order the ditclosore if they pleased. The leek
was not with the Court of Directors for refusing the
information, but wish the Proprietors at large for
not demanding is. This Gentlemen, et some length
end with great vitamin!. showed the wischm of 'h.
',cudgel of the Court of Directors, and the impolit
the unnecessary trolly of making the desired dis-
closure.

*MP CIIAIRMAV moll II resolution of the Court of
Proprietors, whirls had been sapped to by ballot i■
March 1816, when the same question was urged.—
That Resolutirn negatived the disclosure by *ma-
jority 0139-1 to 69.
The aunondusent was anstivpd, and the Roselle-
Oen to divide five per coot. on the profits beiog
again put, . .

A PROPRIFTOR proposed to divide sis per cent.--1
Some discession arose, and the impropriety of de.'
sitting from the rrcnintnendation of the Bank Di.,
lerinfa. seemed to he generally felt.
Mr. RANDAL Jtcutou deprecated the motion, end
referred to the condors of a party of Proprietors of
the Etst India Company, who many )ears ago mere
tentiouttly varying, at the General Courts, the
astront of dividends, thereby prodocieg great bets.
ations in the solve of stock, and giving rise to much
stock-jobbing; a practice which Mr. Pitt at lest
found i, necessary to slop by legklatit• interference.
Mr ii:ctnnu said he hoped Mr. Jackson made
on ntioainnr In the cocaina of an) tetudecassa ou the
present accatine.
Thi: Mr. JACKSON disclaimed.

The motion to divide b per cent. oil then pat and
carried by a very fall Court. Osa the chow of hands
for disclosure, three were held op for it, while about
3GO sera held up rgaloss It.

DUTY ON COOLS.
—Nor—

• A Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Ward of Far.
rfrigtion-withaut, was held yesterd4y at St. Bride's
Church, Fleet-street, Mr. Alderman WAITIIIIAN in
the Chair, for the purpose of coxsi•tering the pro-
.priety of petitioning Parliament for thi repeal of the
partial sod oppreosive Duties ow Cools.
Mr. Juice SHEAR., in u speech of much ability,
entered into a clear id perspicuous history of the
Dodos en Coals, which were origioally only tempo.
vary, end imposed in the reign of Queen Anne, for the
purpose of defraying the rawest.° cf bedding 50 new
churches. He descanted at some length open the in-
equality of those deilevi es they bore upon the Wie-
ldiesta of the esetropoos, compared with thou of
other parts of the kingdom; Coals imported into
London paying a duty of 3s. 4d. per c.haldron more
then those imported into any other place in the king-
dom, arid Ps. IOJ. per chaldron more than is paid or
them in twenty celerities. Ile deprecated all inten-
tion of wishing to Is upon others • burden they were
themselves desirous of getting rid of, and therefore
objected to praying for air equalisation of the duties,
bum thoeyht they might nevertheless Petition. the Le-
gislature fora repeal of the said defies, or such other
relief as in their wigtlonv they should think it, and
concluded with moving a string of Resolutions to
that effect.

Mr. COLOUR seconded the Resolutions, which, after
• few observations front Mr. I'ATTCX, were agreed to
onsnimoasly, and ern a Petition to both Moues of
I•arliaosent, friasided thereon.
'f oinks were voted to the Worthy Aklersoln, sod
to the *veer Sieoudet of the itesolotious, sad
ibe Meeting adj. tquest.

Fincs.—Aboot.two o'clock en Monday morning a
fire, which threatened destruction to the sorroonding
houses, broke out at the house of Mr. Baker, a
butter, in lloprostreet, Spits/fields, which originated
ty the crown of the oven, •which Wei net of repair,
tching fire. The flansM commuoicosed to the floor
I:,ft above, and consumed several sacks of floor ; bit
,' was got soder withit doing other harm.
Yesterday morning, About one o'clock, another
fire broke oat in the workshop of Mr. IYallsby, a
esrpentrr, is the flackney-roed, but was got under
*it bout doing any considerable denser.
Wednesday ereuiag a Cientle4isn, who had joss
r:, I yr I in town in e one-horse chaise, in going throve'
I etrAn-s. r ret Geollean's- 6€lllN. rhe horsetnok fright.
I Ise (irittlemess was thrown vur *iih great violate',
aid recrived a contusion on the head, which, it is
Viired. has fractured Li. .1.44 o'l. HO was sissesid to
the Ta!but Inn, in %V hi•e.hapel. The horse pro.
eroded at a furious talc, ti'l coming io content with
tt I.ur, sear Aybe.street, the chaise was dashed to
pieces.
Isesdav musing, anon after deck, the hoose of
Curnelins Bross, I.:sq. isi the Kent lined, was bur-
glstious'y @lotted, and so'•bed of SUL in gold sod
; tier ; r. gold repeater, three lion nail eparettla of
worth of sloshes.

LgRT ASSIZES,

1.1 A 1 DITON E. MA acit 17.

Clllll. SIDE.

CRAW? AND ANOTHER V. 11%1-LET, CLEM

This was s cs:./ of rather a singular nature. It
was an action of craven' be the Plaintiffs, es Church-
wardens of the pariah of St. John the Baptist, Mar.
Rate, against the Defendant, as Rector of that Pa•
fish, to recnver the value of certain black cloth which
had been put up in tho pariah church, in respect to
the memory of the late Princess Charlotte of Wales,
bet which the Defendant had converted to his own
use by having it made op into coati, wsislcoats, mad
oth►r attirleq of apparel.
Th. Plaintiff.' cm ass conducted by Mr. Guts.
wry and Mr. Carrry, and the Defendant's by Mr.
Coat% iv aid Mr. BOLLAND.

It appeared that the Plaintiffs, as Cherebwa►dews
of the parish in question, wishing to pay proper re.
specs to the memory of the late Princess Charlotte,
had parchased a quantity of black superfine cloth
seed kerseymere, of a woollen-draper at Margate, for
the purpose of covering the pulpit, the readirig-tiesk,
sod the communion-table of the church during the
time allotted to public mourning open that arelso-
Orly event. The cloth cost 371. Us. 9d.and was nailed
to the places above.oraentioned, where it remained for
six weeks. At the end of that time the Plaintiffs
sent for the woollen.draper to take down the cloth
again, and give them the amount of its then 'aloe,
to be placed to the account of the parish. The De.
fendant,--howeter, having been apprised of the ibis
tention of the Plaintiffs, took steps to appropriate a
portion of the cloth to his own use. the remainder of
.hick .as divided between the clerk and the sexton.
The Deferrdaat afterwards employed the same cool.
len-draper of whom this cloth had bean originally
purchased, to make him a coat and other armies of
clothing. from t►e cloth so taken and converted.—
Some ill.will seemed to have arisen I. the parish, Is
consequence of this art of the Defendant, who was
charged by report a ith having stolen the cloth- lie
was afterwards applied to for the purpose of account.
leg to the parish for the amount of the cloth takes;
bet Main declined all communication with he
Plaintiffs, in consequence of the coarse impotatioe
cast upon him, the present action was brought.
The defence set up was, that it was the general
minas of all the parishes in the kingdom to allow
the Rector to teke a portion of the black cloth pot
up in churches ea the occasions of public ar d private
mourning, and that in all events sac► was the custom
of the particular parish in question.
Mr. Justice BATLEY objected to the evidence of
general castes, but allowed evidence to be gives of
the cestom of the particular parish.
Witnesses were then examined open Ibis latter
heed ; but their evidence went to skew that lot two
instances where private individuals had pot up black
cloth in the chinch, out of respect to departed friends,
the Rector, parish-clerk, and this seats., had been
snowed respectively to take a partien of the cloth so
pot op.—The general impression of the Irksomes
was, that such was the general usage.
Mr. Justin BATLEY, is his charge to Ike Jury,
laid it down as the rale of law, that no person had
a right to hang up what are called ornaments in the
church, without the leave of the rector, beams the
freehold of the ckarch was in him, and he ■i`ht
make his own terms for that leave. In general, where
private individuals hung black cloth in the parish
church, with the concurrence of the rector, there
was a kind of ontlersthnding between them that the
cloth became the property of the rector. la the
present case, however, there had been no bargain be.
tween the Plaintiffs and the Defendant, with respect
to the terms upon which the cloth was to be bang in
lb* church, and consequently the latter bad no right
to take any portion of the cloth, because by law he
was not entitled to take such • property, unless by
matter of ■rrangeaseet Or agreement between the
parties to whom it belonged. Under these circum.
stemma Oho Plaintiffs were entitled to a verdict for
the vale. of the cloth which the Defendant converted
to his own use.

The Jog found for the Plaintiffs—Dimmer 111.

CRONY COURT.

The west lespertirtc;siiutitis Court to.day was
the following :
Jews Morgan end George Rogers, were indicted
for felosioavly stealing, on the 14th of September,
1818, at a place called Bow-hill, in this county, a
leek of sheep, consisting of 101 in number.
The case proved against the i'risonets was this :
Tliesheep in question were stolen from the Prosece.
Ines farm, on the 13th of September, and on the
17th bf the same month, the Prisoner, Morgan, sold
them to the bailiff of blr. Witten, a farmer at Ox-
bridge, in Middies's, for 1301. In about an hour
after the bargain was completed, news of the rob-
bery reached the bailiff; Morgan was pursued and
taken into custody.
There was uo evidence to affect the other Prisoner,
sod therefore he was acquitted ; bet Morgao was
found gritty—Death.

Tilt QUiNTISSIIIIICI Of PUrrlNce.—WO c. 0101
renewing effesiou, literally, frnm t►e Drery.lart•
Play.bill, for the enrol country M anacers.—" 6 rest
and trasucendent as has been the success of his (Mr.
Keats's) masterly efforts in former characters, by his
artfully sublime end polyglot delineation of The
Diroof of Naples, an Woodsy evening, he absolute-
ly astonished and delighted the audience, anti, though
nearly exhausted by the vehement exertions or his
performance, was loudly and universally railed for
by the whole boese to receive the concluding tor-
renta of ■pprobstion with which it was thought it to
honour this vast micliiion to his professinnsi fame."

THE STATFSMAN