ger now gnawing at his vitals) to feize this opportunity to abuse the peaceful fteel. I turned inftantly round, and my hand fympathifing with the feelings of my heart, waited not for the cold approbation of reafon, but went immediately, and inftinctively, to my pocket. I know not whether it was that the neglected fuppliant perceived me to be rather inattentive than unfeeling, and had therefore hopes of my repentance, or whether the involuntary reproach of filent anguish dictated his emotion, but certain it is that, juft at the fame moment, as if by the fame inftinct, he turned again toward me, and difplayed to me as meek, as honeft, and as fupplicating a countenance as ever was thaded by a few grey hairs. His garb was decent, and his coarfe fhirt, buttoned about his neck, without any handkerchief, though brown, was evidently clean; and though the marks of want were confpicuous in his countenance, his whole appearance had nothing of that emaciation which characterizes habitual wretchedness. Such were the impreffions he made upon my mind, as, with an attitude which feemed to fay, Can you behold with indifference the aged victim of unforeseen misfortune?' he approached toward me. He had come, with others, from a diftant county, in order, while employment was yet scarce at home, (the harvests of every kind, as is well known, being always earlieft in the neighbourhood of the metropolis) to earn a little fomething for his family, by helping to get in the hay in this part of the country; and he had spent all his little stock, unavoidably, upon the road; but rainy weather having moft unfeasonably fet in, and as (by a ftrange neglect in the provifions for the labouring poor) they are paid by the day, and not by the lafon, we all of us know, that though fanfhine and rain are equally neceflary for the general fupport of mankind, the labourer is only enabled to eat when the fky is clear. Such were the reflections produced by his fimple tale; a tale whofe veracity had no reason to doubt, as it was rather told as an apology for his having folicited, than as a plea to excite my compaffion; I having, before he opened his lips, given him, what fome prudent people perhaps would think more than my circumftances would juftify, though I have fince often been inclined to conceive, less than a better judge will think I ought to have bestowed, confidering how much misfortune had caft him beneath even my own humble lot. It is always a maxim with me, that we fhould either give rather liberally, or not at all. If the petitioner is a common profeffional beggar, even fingle halfpence are too much, because they are given to the encouragement of an indolent nuifance to our public ftreets; and we know very well that hypocrify and importunity frequently maintain their profeffors in dirty luxury. If the object of our charity is really stimulated by occafional diftrefs, to prefer his modeft plea, to give a halfpenny or two is to do nothing; for it is an evident, though a melancholy truth, that the contributors to fuch petitioners will be few; and as we may be fure that fuch will only afk till their real wants are relieved, we ought, as far as is in our power, to remove the painful neceffity. Nor would this fall hard upon us; the inftances which can come under the cognizance of an individual are so few, that we need not be fo very sparing when they occur. (To be continued.). Law Intelligence. Court of Exchequer John Napper Tandy, against the Right Hon. John Fane, Earl of Westmorland of the Kingdom of Great Britain. N Thuriday the 21ft of June, 1792, a fubpoena from the common law fide of the court was ferved on the defendant at the fuit of the plaintiff, and the four days for appearance expired on Tuefday-on that day Mr. Attorney General obtained the following order. Tuesday, June 26th, 1792. James Napper Mr. Attorney GeTandy, Efq;neral of counfel for his against Excellency the Lord John Earl of Lieutenant of Ireland Westmorland. the defendant in this caufe, moves to prohibit the iffuing any attachment attachment against him, and to quash the fubpoena which iffued in this caufe. Whereupon it is ordered by the court, that Mr. Matthew Dowling, the plaintiff's attorney, do attend this court at the fitting thereof to-morrow, and that no procefs do iffue against the faid defendant in the mean time. KEMMIS. CLONMELL. On Wednesday the 27th of June, Mr. Dowling attended the court, in obedience to the above order, was ordered on the table, and being asked by the court if le had iffued the fubpoena against the defendant, he admitted he had, and that the defendant was ferved with it-He was then afked by the court to declare what the caufe of action was--[Here the hon. Simon Butler, one of Mr. Tandy's counsel, interfered, and protested against the question, and infifted that the attorney was not to disclose the fecrets of his client, and that an attempt to fift him for that purpofe, was contrary to law and justice]The court then asked Mr. Dowling whether he had any objection to antwer the queftion.--Mr. Butler again interfered, and faid, that as counfel for Mr. Tandy, he was indifferent whether Mr. Dowling had or had not any objection to answer the queftion, that it was fufficient that the client had an objection, and that the privilege of the attorney was the privilege of the cli ent, and he again protefted against the queftion. The court however, thought roper to put the question, and Mr. Dow ing peremptorily refufed to difclofe the cause of action.The court not think ing proper to prefs the question further, Mr. Dowling was dilmifted without any other interrogatory. - The hon. Simon Butler thereupon fubmitted to the court, that the motion of the attorney general ought to be refufed. He argued (in which particuJar he was strongly seconded by Mr. Mi Nally) that the defendant not having entered an appearance, no motion on his bel.alf could be made, that there was in fact no caute in court, but merely the inftitution of a caufe by procefs--Mr. Butler further contended, that the proceedings in this cafe were inftituted against the earl of Weftmorland of the kingdom of Great Britain, and that no document whatever had been adduced which could give the court judicial knowledge that the defendant was lord lieutenant of Ireland-the attorney general had yesterday come into court with a piece of written paper in his hand, which he alledged was the copy of a fubpoena, directed to the right hon. John Fane, earl of Westmorland of the kingdom of Great Britain, and upon an allegation that the lord lieutenant is not able to any action, grounds a motion that the fubpoena in this cafe be quafhed, or the proceedings ftopt-but how did it come officially before the court to, know that the lord lieutenant was the perfon mentioned in the fubpoena ? certainly not by any document or proof competent to warrant a compliance with the motion of the attorney general.—It was neceffary that the earl of Weftmorland should appear, and, on being declared against, plead that he is the lord lieutenant, and fhew his letters patent, in proof of the fact, before it can be confidered as judicially before the court. →→ -Suppofe the earl of Westmorland fhould come forward to fhew his official qualification by his letters patent, and that thefe letters patent were without a feal, or otherwife defective in the forms which conftituted their legality.-Suppofe the chief justice of the king's bench fued merely as lord Clonmell, the court were not to know him as chief justice of the king's bench, until he first came into court and pleaded and proved that he was fo. The court had not in this cafe a competent judicial knowledge that the defendant was lord lieutenant-a judiciai knowledge to be competent; muft be founded on regular proof of the fact. Hereupon the court declared they had judicial knowledge that the defendant was lord lieutenant--it would be ridiculous for any man to pretend ignorance of it; they attended his fummons to parliament in a judicial capacity; they faw him acting there in the capacity of lord lieutenant-they faw him attended with the ufual flate, and received in all the official dignities of lord lieute nant; therefore it was fufficient to an nounce nounce to their official knowledge that he was lord lieutenant de facto, and they I had nothing to do with fpeculations de jure.That they had too full a knowledge of the British conftitution, to fuppofe there were two earls of Weftmorland of the kingdom of Great Britain, or two peers titled of the fame place and they had befides the evidence of every fenfe that conveyed information to their mind and would not, in complaifance to fyftems of fpecial pleading, be prevailed on to affect a blindnefs to the evidence of their own fenfes, to that notoriety which must be impressed on the mind of every man in the kingdom who ever confidered the fubject for a mo ment. The hon. Mr. Butler contended, that the court, in deciding the point, in the prefent ftage, difpofed of a matter by way of order, (from which no writ of error lies) which ought not to be difpofed of otherwife than by judgment. If the defendant appeared and pleaded, the plaintiff might demur, and from the judgment of the court on the point, the party is intitled to his writ of error, and thereby obtain the decifion of the dernier refort; though the lord lieutenant figns the writ of error, he does fo minifterially merely, and not judicially, as the writ of error in civil cafes is done ex debito juftitia, and not ex gratia; and therefore Mr. Butler firmly relied on his opinion, as to the neceflity of Lord Weftmorland's pleading in court, and exhibiting documental proof of his being lord lieutenant, and begged permiffion to fay, that the court could not fee, hear, nor underftand judicially, that the lord lieutenant was the perfon meant, until the defendant appeared and pleaded that he was. The court faid no man could be heard en this point, as they had delivered their opinion.. as lord lieutenan of Ireland was conferred by letters patent under the great feal of Great Britain and Mr. Butler did not hesitate to declare, that an official rank, merely fo constituted, could not be recognized, or have any weight. in judicial decifions of any law court in this independent kingdom. The great feal of Great Britain, in itself, has no more authority in this country, than a mere cake of wax, or the great feal of the Mogul. The enrollment of it is an enrollment of a nullity, the great feal of Ireland was the only public inftrument of authority that this country could acknowledge-in this country the conftitution of Ireland only could be acknowledged, and he knew of no conftitution that fhould have weight or confideration in this court, but the conftitution of imperial and independent Ireland whether its principles were fimilar to, or taken from the British conftitution, was not for him to confider. Court. Would you, Mr. Butler, be understood to infinuate, that there is no legal chief governor in the kingdom? Mr. Butler. My lords, the regard I have for the peace of this kingdom obliges me to decline an anfwer to your lordfhips queftion-but the conclufion can be readily drawn from the premises. Mr. Butler then argued, that fuppofing the defendant was confidered as lord lieutenant, it does not neceffarily follow, that he is in this cafe fued for an act done as lord lieutenant, the action may, for what the court know to the contrary, be brought againft him in his private capacity. The chief baron faid, that he in particular had judicial knowledge that the action was brought against the defendant as lord lieutenant, becaufe he was in the vacation applied to by the attor ney for the plaintiff, to fign a letter miffive addreffed to the earl of Weftmorland, lord lieutenant of Ireland. Hereupon Mr. Dowling affured his lordfhip that fuch addrefs must have arifen from the mistake of the officer of the court, and was contrary to his directions. Mr. Butler obferved, that their Lordfhips had now given their decifion upon a point of the very utmost importance, and upon grounds for which he knew no precedent. But he had in his poffeffion an attefted copy of the letters patent appointing the earl of Westmorland Mr. Butler argued that, the addrefs lord lieutenant of Ireland-by this docu- of the letter miffive would in case it had ment it appeared, that his official rank been figned and proceedings had upon Hib. Mag. July, 1792. E it, have been evidence merely to fhew Hall. As to an action in this kingdom at the end of the viceroyalty, it is to be obferved, that the viceroy is a fugacious character, the fubject of another realm, to which he might return even before the diffolution of his authority; in his return to which he was guaranteed and protected, even after the ceffation of his authority here where then was the chance of remedy or redress against him after he fecedes or is difmiffed from of fice, and returned into his country with his property-his authority is under the great feal of Great Britain; if not valid, he has no authority; if valid, the courts here are not competent to decide upon→→ and the courts in Great Britain are not competent to take cognizance of a tref pafs vi& armis contra pacem committed in Ireland.-The ftatute of limitations may also poffibly have operation: in short if the doctrine contended for was to hold, a lord lieutenant might commit any trefpafs, might feize the property of the fubject, imprifon him, torture him, even murder him with impunity-Is the court prepared to let fuch doctrine go abroad to the Irish nation? Mr. Butler was proceeding in his ar gument, and preffing the fubject upon the court-the court declared, that they would give the moft ample time for deliberation on all fides, and ordered the cafe to ftand over till next term, then to be fully argued. Counfeilor Emmett, for the plaintiff, moved that the defendant do enter into fecurity for his appearance at court on the 1ft day of next term-The court refufed the motion-the Attorney General declared that the Lord Lieutenant would not give fecurity.-Mr. Butler trufted that he would, if the court was pleased to order him fo to do. for it, as well as for the great honour verb, from the fubftantive advocate: The you have done me in its dedication. I gentleman who advocates, or who has ought to have made this acknowledg- advocated that motion, Sc. Another ment fooner, but much indifpofition from the fubftantive progress, the moft prevented me. awkward and abominable of the three: The committee having progreffed, refoler ed to adjourn. The word oppofed, though not a new word, I find ufed in a new manner; as, The gentlemen who are oppofed to this meafure, to which I have alfo myself always been oppofed. If you fhould happen to be of my opinion with refpect to thefe innovations, you will ufe your authority in reprobating them. I cannot but applaud your zeal for preferving the purity of our language both in its expreffion and pronunciation, and in correcting the popular errors feveral of our states are continually falling into, with refpect to both. Give me leave to mention fome of them, though poffibly they may have already occurred to you. I wifh, however, that in fome future publication of your's, you would fet a discountenancing mark upon them. The firft I remember is the word improved. When I left New-England in the year 1723, this word had never been used among us, as far as I know, but in the fenfe of ameliorated or made better, except once in a very old book of Dr. Mather's, entitled Remarkable Providences. As that man wrote a very obfcure hand, I remember that when I read that word in his book, used inftead of the word employed, I conjectured that it was an error of the printer, who had miftaken a too fhort / in the writing for an 7, and a y with too fhort a tail for a , whereby employed was converted into improved; but when I returned to Bofton in 1733, I found this change had obtained favour, and was then become common; for I met with it often in perufing the newspapers, where it frequently made an appearance rather ridiculous: fuch, for inftance, as the advertisement of a country-houfe to be fold, which had been many years impreved as a tavern; and in the character of a deceafed country gentleman, that he had been, for more than thirty years, improved as a juftice of the peace. This ufe of the word improve is peculiar to New-England, and not to be met with among any other fpeakers of English, either on this or the other fide of the water. During my late abfence in France, I find that feveral other new words have been introduced into our parliamentary language. For example, I find a verb formed from the fubftantive notice: I should not have noticed this, were it not that the gentleman, &c. Allo another The Latin language, long the vehicle ufed in diftributing knowledge among the different nations of Europe, is daily more and more neglected; and one of the modern tongues, viz. the French, feems, in point of univerfality, to have fupplied its place; it is spoken in all' the courts of Europe; and most of the literati, thofe even who do not fpeak it, have acquired knowledge enough of it to enable them eafily to read the books that are written in it. This gives a confiderable advantage to that nation; it enables its authors to inculcate and fpread through other nations, fuch fentiments and opinions on important points as are moft conducive to its interents, or which may contribute to its reputation, by promoting the common interefts of mankind. It is perhaps owing to its being written in French, that Voltaire's Treatife on Toleration has had fo fudden and fo great an effect on the bigotry' of Europe, as almoft entirely to difarm it. The general ufe of the French language has likewife a very advantageous effect on the profits of the bookfelling branch of commerce, it being well known that the more copies can be fold that are ftruck off from one compofition of types, the profits encreale in a much greater proportion than they do in making a greater number of pieces in any other kind of manufacture. And at prefent there is no capital town in Europe without a French book feller's fhop correfponding with Paris. Our English bids fair to obtain the fecond place. The great body of excellent printed fermons in our language, and the freedom of our writings on political E 2 fubjects. |