The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1841-12-28 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

IMPORTANT DECISIONS ON INSURANCE OF LIVES.—In the Court of Queen's Bench, on Thursday, the Northern Reversionary Interest Company of Edinburgh brought an action against the Asylum Insurance Company in London, to recover the sum of £2,000, effected on the life of the Hon. George Henry Talbot, brother to the Earl of Shrewsbury. The defence to the action was, that his death was brought about by excessive drinking, and this having been established to the satisfaction of the court and jury, the latter returned a verdict for th- defendants.—ln the Court of Common Pleas, the same nay, an action was brought by Mrs. Borradaile, widow of the late Rev. W. l3orradaile, vicar of Wandsworth, to recover the sum of £l,OOO, effected in the same office, on the life of her husband. The payment was refused on the ground that, the rev. gentleman having committed suicide, the policy was void, there being an express stipulation to that effect. Evidence showed that the rev, gentleman had thrown himself into the Thames, and the question was whether the act of destruction by an insane person vitiated the contract.—The learned judge, in summing up the case, said that he should leave all the points to the jury; first, whether the fair and reasonable construction of the contract was that the condition in question should not attach, unless the act of self-destruction was the act of a person of sound mind ; secondly, whether the deceased did throw himself from the bridge with intent to destroy his life; and, lastly, whether, at the time of his death, the deceased was of sound mind.—The jury retired shortly after nine o'clock at night, and, after having being absent about an hour and a half, returned with a verdict, " That Mr. Borradaile voluntarily threw himself from the bridge,. with the intention of destroying life ; and that at the time of committing the act, he was not capable of judging between right and wrong." The finding was, therefore, in favour of the plaintiff.  FlRE.—Very early on Monday morning a fire broke out in the residence of Mr. Perring, one of the proprietors of the intelligeacer, in Hanover-square, Leeds. About half-past one o'clock Mrs. Perring, who slept in the front room of the first loor, Mr. Perring being at the time out of town, was awoke by a strong smell of burning timber, and imaginingthat it was occasioned by some chips which the servants might have put into the oven to dry, she went down to verify her suspicions, but discovered nothin: amiss. On returning, however, the smell had so much increased, and smoke had become so decidedly visible, that she became satisfied there was fire in the house, and after snatching her youngest child from the crib in which it was sleeping by the side of her bed, she went into the rooms above, to call the rest of the family and the servants. By the time that they had all got safely down stairs, it became apparent that the fire was about the nursery, which is to the rear, on the first floor, immediately over the drawing-room, as the smoke was issuing from the wash-hoard near the nursery door': None of the furniture was injured, but the damage is estimated at £soo.—Leeds Intelligencer.