likewise no other prospect of the trade being speedily opened, and the Americans began to feel individually so much, as to overcome their feelings of national honour and of humanity. Their conduct, and the termination of the affair, may lead to very serious consequences in the event of any future affair of the same kind happening, as in times past, with seamen of England or any other country. The insolence of the Chinese towards Europeans of every country was much increased by the transaction; and the English supercargoes were seriously afraid, some fray would happen betwixt them and the English sailors, whose hatred towards the natives after the execution of the American, rose in proportion to their insolence.

MAY.

2. DUEL BETWEEN THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND THE DUKE OF BEDFORD.-A meeting took place this morning, in Kensingtongardens, between the dukes of Bedford and Buckingham, accompanied by lord Lynedoch and sir W. Williams Wynn, in consequence of words used by the former at the Bedfordshire county meeting. Both parties fired together, at the distance of twelve paces, on a word given, but without effect; when the duke of Buckingham, observing that the duke of Bedford fired into the air, advanced to his grace, and, remarking that for that reason the thing could go no further, said, "My lord duke, you are the last man I wish to quarrel with; but you must be aware, that a public man's life is not worth preserving, unless with honour." Upon which the duke of Bedford declared, "Upon

his honour, that he meant no personal offence to the duke of Buckingham, nor to impute to him any bad or corrupt motive whatever." The parties then shook hands, and the whole business was terminated.

TRADE IN FRANCE.-It is a singular fact, that though trade is encouraged in France, a merchant or manufacturer, since the return of the Bourbons, if he receives a patent of nobility, must take out letters of relief," conveying the king's pardon for having descended to trade. M. Ternaux, the manufacturer, and deputy for Paris, was created a baron by the king, but refused to assume the title on such a degrading condition.

5. A very cruel robbery was committed on Mr. and Mrs. Bowles, the unfortunate persons whose child and sister were killed by the fall of one of the houses in Budge-row, Cannon-street (see p. 78.) Though dreadfully bruised, they determined to attend the body of their infant to the grave on Sunday. It was with difficulty they reached the church-yard, where the funeral was performed. They were objects of great compassion to the multitude; but there were persons in the crowd base enough to take advantage of their absence from home, and to break into their apartments, which were soon stripped of every thing valuable. It is supposed that the thieves expected to find great booty, a false report having been in circulation, that 300l., the property of Mr. Bowles, had been found in the ruins. All the little articles of plate, which were recovered from the ruins (the only things of any value remaining to the unfortunate couple), were taken by the thieves.

6. KING'S BENCH.-Mr. Murray. Mr. Rotch, in the last term, ob

tained a rule, calling on Mr. Charles Murray (the secretary and solicitor to the Constitutional Association) to show cause, why he should not pay over certain monies to Mr. Dicka son, after deducting his own charges, deliver up documents in his possession, and answer the matters imputed to him by the applicants. He obtained this rule on affidavits, alleging that Mr. Murray had been employed on the behalf of the owners of an American vessel, called the Agenoria, many years ago, to prosecute, in the high court of Admiralty in England, an appeal from a sentence of capture against that vessel at Barbadoes; that he had succeeded in procuring a reversal of the sentence; that several thousand pounds had been paid to him out of court, for which he had never accounted; and that he had evaded a settlement by avoiding interviews, by neglecting to answer letters, and by breaking appointments, when he had been forced to accede to them by accidentally meeting the agents of the parties in London.

Against this rule the solicitorgeneral now showed cause. He stated that Mr. Murray, in 1809, was employed by several American houses as a prize-agent, to recover condemned vessels; and, amongst others, by the owners of the vessel in question. In all these transactions he had acted merely as agent. The present application was not made directly by the parties themselves, but by Mr. Dickason, who professed to act under powers of attorney, from parties to whom the original owners had assigned their interest in the proceeds of the - vessel. There was no affidavit of the execution of these powers by the parties whose names they bore: there was nothing but the seal

and attestation of a notary, and the certificate of the British consul, that the party attesting was a real notary, which amounted to no evidence in this court.

The Lord Chief Justice asked Mr. Rotch, if he could produce any authority to show that this was evidence.

Mr. Rotch replied, that he was not aware of any; but the documents were executed in the usual form, and attested by the consul.

Mr. Chitty (with the Solicitorgeneral for Mr. Murray).—It is not even sworn, that the party is a notary.

The Lord Chief Justice.-We may take it, I think, that this is a notarial seal; but the question is, whether there is any instance of such seal being admitted as an attestation in this court?

Mr. Rotch. It is the usual mode of attestation, my lord.

Mr. Justice Bayley.-If we look into the mode of suffering recoveries abroad, we shall find that the course is, to receive the attestation of a magistrate, accompanied by an affidavit of the competency of that magistrate.

The Lord Chief Justice.-Does this Court ever act except on affidavit?

Mr. Pattison (who was with Mr. Rotch).-These powers were never executed with a view to the application in this court, but to enable Mr. Dickason generally to receive the money. Such attestations are always received by underwriters in cases of policies of insurance.

The Lord Chief Justice.-Yes, and so they are received in courts of civil law, but not in courts of common law.

Mr. Pattison.-This was originally a case of appeal in a court

of civil law, and these powers, therefore, were originally sufficient.

The Lord Chief Justice.But not in this court; we can act only on affidavit, and there is no affidavit here.

Mr. Rotch then pressed the court to enlarge the rule, that the necessary affidavits might be received from America. He was willing to send the whole matter before the master, but not to refer it in the usual mode to a barrister.

The Solicitor General said, the objection extended through the whole case; and hoped the Court would discharge the rule with

costs.

The Lord Chief Justice.-Never, Mr. Solicitor, on an objection of this kind, which does not go to the merits. The rule was discharged.

7. Mr. Alderman Lucas presented a petition to the court of aldermen, against the swearing in of Mr. Denman, as common serjeant, founded on an obsolete bye-law of the time of Elizabeth. After many severe animadversions on the petition, by several members of the court, Mr. Denman was sworn in and took his seat.

8. COURT OF KING'S-BENCH.The King v. the Inhabitants of St. Austell. This was an appeal against the poor-rate for the parish of St. Austell, in Cornwall; and the question to be decided was, whether Mr. Carlyon ought to be rated in respect of his interest in a tin and copper mine. It appeared that this gentleman, having reserved all mines in his demise of the land to the agricultural tenant, granted a licence to Joshua Rowe and others, to dig for ore, he receiving himself an eighth part of the ore procured, after it had been cleansed and brought to the sur

face. This reserved right had been subsequently compromised for a sum of 4,080l. per annum, but the mine was now in a declining condition.

Mr. Wylde, at great length, contended that Mr. Carlyon was not liable, because, in no sense, could he be deemed the occupier of the mine. The ore reserved was in the nature of rent, because it was not payable by custom, but by an express contract between the parties, which, though not a lease, yet transferred the right of possession in all the works to be erected by the adventurers. It would be unjust to rate a party in the situation of Mr. Carlyon, for property in mines, which might for 5 years yield an annual profit of 4,000/., and which, at the expiration of that period, might be exhausted. There was no similitude between the uncertain and transient profits of a mine, and the produce of real and undiminishing estate.

The Court decided that Mr. Carlyon was liable to the rate. There could be no doubt, that, in justice, he ought to contribute to the rates as much as any other person deriving benefit from property within the parish; and indeed more than others, because by working the mine he brought a great number of labourers into the parish, who, from the unwholesome nature of their occupation, were likely to require relief sooner than men engaged in agricultural labours. It was impossible to distinguish this case from those, in which the owner had been holden liable; for whether the ore was reserved by custom or contract was immaterial. These cases might have been decided on a principle a little refined and ingenious; but the Court would not over-rule them, while they pro

moted a fair and equal distribution of that which was the most intolerable of all burdens, among those who possessed beneficial interests in the parish. The order of sessions, therefore, quashing the rate in which Mr. Carlyon was assessed in respect of the mine, was quashed.

9. An iron Steam-boat was exhibited on the Thames between London and Battersea bridges; she drew one foot water less than any steam-boat that has ever been built; was one hundred and six feet long, and seventeen broad; and was propelled by a thirty-horse engine. She is to navigate between London and Paris, being the first instance of a direct water communication between the capitals of France and England. DRAMATIC COPYRIGHT.-Murray v. Elliston. -The Court of King's-bench certified their opinion, that an action could not be maintained by the plaintiff against the defendant, for the representation of lord Byron's tragedy of "The Doge of Venice," at Drurylane theatre.

LYONS. Some disturbances have been occasioned here by the violence of a contested election, and the exasperation of party feelings at the defeat of M. De Corcelles. Towards the conclusion of the day, the intelligence of M. Delphin's decisive success in the northern arrondissement was announced in the hall of the Electoral College, and received, on the part of the royalists, by cries of "Vive le Roi!" These cries were answered by no less vehement vociferations of "Vive Corcelles!" from an opposite party, who, on their arrival in the street, were joined by a crowd who are said to have mixed seditious expressions with their party watch-words. A

conderable mob collected in one of the principal squares, and resisted, at first, the endeavours of a small detachment of infantry to disperse them. After ineffectual attempts to quell the disturbances, and after some persons had been thrown down and others trampled upon, the regiment of chasseurs of the Somme, the gendarmerie, and other troops, successively arrived. This imposing force intimidated the rioters, and nearly effected their dispersion. Small groups, however, remained together, notwithstanding the repeated injunctions of the military chief, and the exertions of the peace officers. At six o'clock, therefore, a commissary of police, on horseback, and accompanied by about 50 cavalry, read a proclamation from the mayor, commanding the people to withdraw. The crowd, on this, withdrew to the square of the theatre, where they again vociferated "Vive Corcelles! Vive la Charte!" The cavalry again arrived, and drove the rioters under the arches of the theatre. The doors of this building were then forced open, and the boxes immediately filled with a motley crowd, prepared to enjoy the entertainment at their ease. Some persons, who had ascended the balcony of the theatre, to observe what was passing among the groups in the square, were required to join in the shouts of the latter; they refused, and in a short time were driven from their place, to make way for their liberal antagonists, who vociferated, "Success to the Charter," "Nothing but the Charter," and similar cries. About nine o'clock, the authorities ordered the body of the theatre to be cleared, but the groups of persons, who had filled it, did not desist from their favourite cries, till the late

ness of the hour, the interference of the night patrol, and a heavy fall of rain, checked their excesses, and cooled their enthusiasm. Several individuals, who were found exciting the mob, were arrested.

11. JERSEY. Last year, the English and Jersey oyster fishingboats, were much obstructed and annoyed by the French armed vessels, on various pretences of encroachment; but, in reality, to destroy the Jersey oyster trade, and thus oblige the English oyster companies to obtain their supplies from France. The French authorities have again stationed vessels of war on the banks discovered by the Jersey fishermen in 1797; and adopted hostile measures, by firing on our boats, and chasing them within the rocks that surround Jersey. These proceedings have attracted the attention of the Jersey states, and a petition has been voted to his majesty in council. The oyster banks are situated between Jersey and the opposite coast of France, stretching from Cape Rozel to the rocks called the Minquais, a few miles to the north-west of the small isle of Chausey, between one and three leagues from the French shore. The fishery is now in a flourishing state. It occupies, during four months of the year, upwards of three hundred fishing smacks, manned by nearly two thousand British seamen, gives employment to nearly one thousand of the poor inhabitants of the eastern coast of the island, and is in many other respects of general utility to the country.

12. The Moniteur contains a royal ordinance, which strikes baron Louis off the list of ministers of state. The ground stated for this measure is, the report of the Prefect of Paris, on the disorders which

took place in the college of the eighth arrondissement of that city.

as a

14. HIGH COURT OF ADMIRALTY.-In June, 1814, the duke of Wellington transmitted a memorial on behalf of the army which had been acting under his command in the Peninsula, during the years 1812, 1813, and 1814, and submitted to the consideration of parliament, the claim of the army upon the bounty and favour of the legislature, for compensation in lieu of the property and stores which had been captured by them. To this memorial, a schedule was annexed, by which the estimated value of such captures appeared to be 916,450l. Eventually, parliament granted to the army 800,000l.; and allotted to the navy "grant for naval prize," 116,450l. By the 46th, 55th, and 57th of Geo. 3rd, all proceeds of prizes, and all grants of money for naval prize, are rendered liable to a per centage of 51. per cent, payable to Greenwich hospital, in aid of the funds of that institution; and the present case came before the Court under these peculiar circumstances: -The agent of lord Keith and of the naval officers and seamen, who were employed on the north coast of Spain, in conjunction with the Guerillas, under the command of sir Home Popham, sir George Collier, and admiral Penrose successively, conceiving the present grant to be one of naval prize, had paid the per-centage on it (amounting to nearly 6,000l.) into the treasury of the hospital.. Subsequently, however, it being determined, in the case of the grant for the capture of Genoa, that a conjunct expedition of sea and land forces, did not come within the limits of those grants on which the per-centage was payable, it was imagined that the present case,