Court Of King's Bench, Gu...
The Times, 1824-04-15T00:00:00

L4W1I RREPORT. CO-. a i-'1 wmlcn a Y-Oung lady', namned D)ick, aoug"It trL re;. covr a COmpensation in aamager,fomteR. eane It. Cher, Alinister of a ag Soc rongrhegto iR te v y,fo breach of pro~Mse oa marrige, cocite th mot IntYs fotrest The court was oprss l codd iteeteLoDCrerj JUSTICEtook-hset anCmH imcodwremn aIEF who were y we belive watn o b xmnd siases, c,Ommtii yur.y call ws is t aldo,t h eietdsponres. of the sp'ectators,butcywe oreevdbfndn tma~ ernit Was to be taken,b osn,an ern Dckv lthr called 'on by theofie.Afll pca names., and were svworunM.; ~ s?ee4t hi nCe Of - 1 ~~~''SalVlWU.. me plea [. 'c-o0 mOme prposal to compromise etween Mr. BROUGHAM and Mr. the plaintiFf, A4nd Mr. SVA11EtTT, TY, who appeared ior the defendant, Lour. At length Istated that the action was brou4ht -rletcher tbr s breach-of ilornise ant had pieaded the general issue. d, that MtwouedhaRre been his pan.. es o Is moat ditressing case, had thie ' r o e which, A3 tihe jury as follows :It is at al aid excitdng feeling., of adist,eac I such supposition is totallv gtoundless. I ano instrctea by him to Say, tbat nothing wasmore dear to his wishes than tbii connexion- that he desired nothing in life more than iti accomplishmeit; but circamntances in his own fiamilv, with which t4e ladyis wholly un- connected, which he deeply deplored, and which he never wiil cease to deplore were the sole reasons why, to his o -n-sorrow, he with- drew from the engagement which he had made. If any persons connected wIth her-and mtost respectable her contexions are-have supposetl that, in terminating their intercourse, he had any idea of castitng a shade on her reputations he is most solidcous to de- esre that nothing was mnore distant from his-ihoughts. If any of thlem, influenced by sucli a misconception, hasve-expressed senti- olents of anger an*) reserotmeut agalost him, ie hcelR thihat sudh enio- :lons were tattxral, and attachcs no blame to tihose ho cherished them. He is desirous tO state in the most explicit manner, that he only sought the connexioh, that, in very eaily-life, he fojmed the attachilten't from whence it originated; that afterwards hc himself revived it when his prospects began to brighten j. that his happiness was deeply involved in its success; and that he would gladly hare fulfilled it, bitt -for domestic occurrences, of which he -v:as the victimi. These circumstances, painful as tliey. are, fmrOish no legal defence to the present action. Ilr. Fletcher now off'ers all the re- paration in his "owpr; and, as that reparation ha's been accepted by rny learned friend, I gladly leave the case in klis;laands. A lr. BROUGHAMr tilen rose and addressed the jury. It is (said the learned gentlemtan) with the most unfeigned satisfaction that I forbear from opening this case, and accept on the part of mtY clienit, the reparation whicb has been tendered, though-late, on the part of the defendant. Mliss Dick and her friends do not come here to persecute Mir. Fletcher, to give him fruitless sorrow, or to extract moaey from him by way of damages; thley seek not so to requite the sufferings they have undergotte; but they have desired to vindicate the fair fame of this lady from the imputations whicl were the ne- cessary, the inei'itable restilt ofsuch conduct from a man ia the de- fendant's station and office, and whiich, brtt for some sach measure, mnight-till rest upon it Thev iave resorted to this step, because withodt it shemust sufter in the 'esteem of those bv whom slie is but partially known, stin More in that of the public, and most of all in the eves of that widely spreatl and most respectable congregration of which Mr. Fletcher is the minister, and her venerable father tite principal otnament aind supporter. Coming into court with these views, reluctant to inflict deep wounds in the feelings of one who had ckerished affection for hier, and which she had onte returned, she now, having obtained afull vindication of her character, in order to avoid giving pain, and lor'this reason only, accepts the apology whicit has been offered to her. Mr. SCARLETT. -There canbe no stronger proof of the respecta- bility of the defendant thanl ttat he was accepted by this lady. A j'uror was then witltdrawit, and the crowd speedily dispersed. DE LEMIA V. HALDI.nAND- AND OTIIEBS. Mt . PLATT stated that the declatation described the plaintiff as Consul of the Spanish Government, and set forth, that in that clta- racter he had perfornied certain se,vices for the defendants, in respect of wvhich he claimed fees. or a cornpensation in damages. Tihe ATTORNEY-GENERA.A opened: the case on behalf of the plaintiff. In 11121, the Spanish Government contracted for a loan with Messrs. Ardouin, R- mercantile house at-Paris. and in 1l22, wished to raise an additional sum. As they were unable to eflicct their object in Spain, they applied again to Alessrs. Ardouin and Co. of Paris, wvho now foun. thetnseltes i.n a situation to imi- pose their own terms. They stipulated for e. exclusive privilege of purchasing, for 18 monthls, all tile Spaish securities then in circulationl throughout Europe; and for the trausfer of time anoutti- into the great book of' the Spanishl Governrment, on *-Vl1 ulurrest, at t e rate ui nve per ceii., u-. ta - secured. Alessrs. laldiniand and Co., a most respectable and wealthy commercial Itouise, took part of the loan. As it was in- convenient tosendthebondsastheywerepurehased to Aladrid to be cancelled, a regulation was procured, by wlhich the consuls of Spain, at Paris,Amsrerdarn,andLondon,were authorized to examiine and ecrtify the bonds. Mlessrs. HIaldimuand and ('o. accorlingly ap- plie l to the plaintifr'; thev solicited him, for their conveniencei to inspect the bonds at thei;r counting-house; and there, for mnany monthls, he was oezupied several hours absxrost daily, in the business, and ex:amined andl certified bonds to the amountof nearly 9,000,0001. sterling. For this labour, which was moct profitable to the defend- ants, and which iwas not withiin the line of his offic-al duty for which lie received a salary, he now sougt cok pensation, whichi had unex. pectedly been denied him. The usual fee for granting a certificate was 3s., which would amount to a vdcylarge sum.: this he did not. s9eek; but he did ask for a reasonable payment for the labour which be had bestowed at the request ot' the Wel endants. ilr. Brodic 'Wilc4x proved that in 1820 andi 1821, the plaintiff acted as Speanish C^onlsu]-(ieneral in L,onilon. Mlr. Gautier, principal clerk of the defendants, said, in Alarch or April, 1822; his house made application to the plaintiff to grant cer- tificates on Spanish bonds. or thatpurpose he attended at the counting-house at different times till Darch, 1823, when the busi- negsswascompleted. Heinspected in the whole 89,492 bonds, amount- ing to about two millions sterling. A.fter the bonds were inspected, he gave receipts in French. (A receipt for 1,500 bonds was read in Frncnh, and then translated into English.) The witness inspected the bonds, and called the numbers, while the consul looked over the receipts, which were afterwards transmitted to the Spanish commis- sioner at Paris. The third article of thc contract for the loan was read, limiting the time for the purchase of the bonds to 18 months, and allowing the bonds to be authenticated by certificates of Spanish Consuls in A>t- sterdam, Paris, or London. The witness procceded.-Mr. Haldimand saw Al. de Lema on difrerent occasions while the business proceeded. lie never oftered to pay knonev to Ihim or for 1im ini respect of' the business. Several conversations passed on the subject' of fees while it proceeded. MA. de Lema once said, be conceived him- self entitletl to fees, to wliiel Alr. ifaldimand -replied, that if lid Was entitled to any; there would he no difficulty about paylne them. M. de luema several times said to the witness, that lie wes entitled t fees. Application w-asrnade to hini to transact the busi- ness at the counting-house of. Aessrs. Ilaldimand, in Cateaton- street, the Coinsular office being ir. Lime-street, Ple sometimes pa.sed two or three hours there at a time. Cross-examined by Mr. SCAItLETT.-The plaintiffproluced th,instruction,, of his C.nweeirumt- b hcomnnsned the husi. 1 OltD ItIEF JUSTICE here intimated that the action could not be supported. Upon this evidence Isewas clearly of opinion that the plaintif was bound by his duty to bis own government to performn the duty wvhich he had dischargrd. TjheATTOtnwEY.GEYtEnAL reminded his Lordship that Alr. floldimand had promised to pay the fees if he was entitled to re- The LORD CI1EP JUSTICE.-And on this evidence I am of opinion that he is not entitled. Wl!here a Consul acts between two parties, he may claim fees; but when lie acts between an Individual and his govemrnent. he can demand none. There is really no case at all. The plaintiff was accordingly nonsuited. DUSNCAN V. FtREND) Ai;D OTHEEs. This was an action against the trustees ofthe A'forningAdvertiscr, for a libel in the form of a police report, teflecting on the character of an atorney. Three specialjurors answered to their names. The Counsel for the plaintiffdeclined to pray a tales, and the cas went off by default ofjurors. a U(Uoi7 OF KING'S IffnL1 - --, .- ?VILIL 14. -- - - . - DICK V. vv-v?r- .