thorising the traffic to be on account of alien enemies, he consi dered himself bound to construe them as confined to private subjects, and not extending to alien enemies.

The Court were unanimously of opinion that the rule must be discharged. The license was not granted to any particular person; the government must have contemplated that the cargo at some period must belong to alien enemies. All that was necessary was, that some British subjects should have a beneficial interest in the adventure; that was satisfied in this case by the plaintiff's having the advantage of being agent for the purpose of the export and import. This case might be decided without at all touching the decisions upon which a difference of opinion existed. They considered the case in point of principle, to come within that of Robinson v. Touray, Bat if a British subject had not any interest in the adventure, either directly or indirectly, Lord Ellenborough was then of opinion that the plaintiff would not have been protected by the license.

The King v. Howell and Izard. This was an indictment against the two defendants, who are tradesmen at Brighton, for a conspiracy to injure the Brighton Old Bank. The means to effect their purpose, as stated in the indictment, was to buy up their notes and to carry them in, demanding immediate payment; by mutilating and defacing the notes, so much that they could not be reissued, by which the stamps were

spoiled; and by writing libellous sentences on each of the notes, defamatory of the credit of the Bank.

Mr. Serjeant Best, who led the prosecution, stated, that this was one of the most malicious transactions which ever came before a jury for their cognisance. It was nothing less than a conspiracy between two persons to ruin the credit of a respectable bank, composed of a partnership of their neighbours, from motives of most ill-founded private malice. The means taken to effect this purpose was stated in the indictment, first by getting and buying up all the notes of the Brighton Old Bank and demanding payment. Assoon as this was done, running about every where and getting again all they could, and sending them in for payment; and so daily conti nuing this practice for a length of time until they threw back upon the Bank, notes to a very serious amount. But inconvenient as this might have been to the prosecutors, it did not stop here. By an Act of Parliament, Country Bank ers had a right to re-issue the same stamp for three years; but these gentlemen, in a variety of ways, so mutilated the notes they returned upon the bank, that the stamp was spoiled. The notes could not be re-issued, and consequently the bankers were obliged to issue new stamps. Another mode was, to write defamatory sentences on the back of others of the same notes, so that they could not be reissued without defaming themselves. The jury would naturally be led to inquire what could be the cause of all this ma

lignity. It was nothing more than what was a cause with some minds, namely, that the bankers had presumed to ask for their own; they had discounted a bill of 50l. for Mr. Howell, which lay over due for two years, and when at last payment was enforced, Mr. Howell declared, unless half of it was returned, he would carry on eternal war, and, as a prelude to hostilities, he said, he demanded a Bank of England note for a Brighton note, which he produced. From that time forward the system was pursued which he had stated, and the jury would say, whether they would suffer a respectable person to be ruined by so foul a conspiracy.

Mr. Wigney, the senior master of the Brighton Old Bank, stated, that they had discounted a bill for 50%. for Howell, which lay at their house for two years. He had accommodated Howell from time to time; and at last, in February, 1814, he told him his partners complained, that at every settlement of accounts they found that bill unpaid, and that payment must be enforced; in fact, the bill was paid by Izard two days afterwards; from that time their notes came pouring in daily. Howell, and three persons employed by him, brought in to the amount of 1000. in the first ten days, and shortly to the amount of 10,000l. He once saw Howell in the bank, after the 14th of Feb. and had some conversation with him on the subject; Howell said, if he gave him back half the 50%. it should be peace, if not, war; but he left the bank before the witness gave him any answer. The clerks then produced the several packets of notes brought in

by Howell, Izard, and persons employed by them, some of which were cut, others torn, others dirtied and defaced, so as not to be re-issuable; others again had writing upon them injurious to the credit of the bank; and it also being proved that the defendants had declared they would so act in concert, the jury found them guilty.

McKellar v. Bellamy.-This was a bil filed against the defendant to recover from him 4,900. which he had invested in the Bank in his own name, though the plaintiff claimed it as his property.

Mr. Clarke stated the particulars of the case to their Lordships, and said, that the plaintiff was a gentleman who had considerable property in India, and when he came to England from his estate, he was recommended to the friendship of the defendant, Mr. Bellamy, who rendered him many services, such as looking after his business occasionally, and once or twice assisted him in furnishing a house, whereby he saved a considerable sum of money; for all these services, Mr. M'Kellar expressed many thanks, and one day as they were going together through Cheapside, the plaintiff went into a Lottery-office, and there purchased a 4th of a ticket, declaring at the same time that if it turned out a prize worth dividing, the defendant should have half, as some recompense for the many obligations under which he lay to him. This share, however, turned out a blank, and Mr. M'Kellar declared it his intention to go on purchasing shares, until he should get some prize worth their divid

ing. He accordingly tried his luck a second time, and again failed. Shortly afterwards Miss Bellamy, the daughter of the defendant, dreamed that No. 5 was drawn a prize of 20,000l. This dream was communicated to M'Kellar, who was at that time in Scotland, upon business, and he wrote up to his wife to request she would purchase a whole ticket, and at the same time to tell Bellamy to purchase a fourth of No. 5 with the money of the former prize, and to add as much as would accomplish that purpose from his own pocket.

Mr. Bellamy accordingly, the next day, repaired to Messrs. Hazard and Co. but found that all No. 5 was sold, and purchased a 4th of No. 27. which most certainly was drawn a prize of 20,000l. Mr. Bellamy immediately wrote down to the plaintiff, telling him that all No. 5 was sold, and that he had purchased a share of No. 27, fully intending that if the plaintiff had not liked that, and if it had been a blank, to have taken it for himself; but something predicted to him that he ought to multiply his daughter's number in itself, and add 2 to it, standing for 20,000l., and thus be got 27, which was a prize of 20,000/ and the letter finished, by saying, "you are master of 4,9001." observing that at that time he did not consider that he had any right whatever to it. The next day, he went and lodged this money in the bank in his own name, and he now refused to draw it out and the money was accordingly assigned over to the Accountant-General in the name of the action. He (the learned Counsel) would be glad to know how

this gentleman could claim this money. There was no contract nor consideration; and upon the same principle this gentleman might have been made to go on purchasing shares for 20 years, until he had the good luck to get a prize. Upon these grounds he submitted that Mr. Bellamy had not the smallest right to a single farthing.

Mr. Dauncey, for the defendant, argued that part of this money with which the ticket was bought was the defendant's and that it. was to his ingenuity the plaintiff owed his having got the prize; and he insisted that his repeated promises were quite sufficient to compel him to divide this money. Their Lordships, however, decreed for the plaintiff.

the Jury. He observed, that the question was one of the most vital importance, not alone to the individuals who were experimentally engaged therein, and to the public generally, but more particularly to that class of society, whose fate it was to reside in the precincts of the manufactory which was now so justly preferred to the consideration of the court as a common nuisance and public offence. The utility of the gas lights none would have the hardihood to deny-its beauty and brilliancy were equally apparent. The lucrative advantages derived from its establishment were, no doubt, very considerable; yet, under all these circumstances, it was highly necessary that the comfort, the health, and the lives of their fellow-creatures were not to be endangered. The gas manufactory of the defendants was first established in Fetter-lane. There it was conducted, as now, by a joint-stock company; but the inhabitants of that district finding it necessary to have the establishment indicted as a nuisance, the proprietors removed their manufactory to Dorsetstreet, where it was commenced upon a more extensive scale. Here the process became equally offensive, and in proportion as the system enlarged, so the effects became more obnoxious and dangerous. It appeared, that in the present manufactory there were four retorts of considerable size. Beneath these there were fires constantly burning, the vapour from which was conducted by several iron tubes into a globular vessel, called a Gasometer. The smell which issued from this part

of the manufactory was of a most offensive nature. There was also a process of coke, which likewise produced an insufferable stench by means of tubes, which carried off the effluvia, and was conducted to the river Thames. This was not alone offensive to the inhabitants and passengers, but even to the bargemen upon the river, in that quarter. Complaints of the evil were made on all sides, and while, in some instances, the most shameful inattention was manifested; in others, the injured applicants were received in a cavalier sort of way and although promises had been made of remedying the nuisance so bitterly felt, still nothing had been effectually done to remove it, and it remained in all its pernicious force.

An indictment, however, being preferred in May last, by the inhabitants of the district, the defendants, it was understood, had, at a considerable expense, adopted experiments by way of improvement. These, however, had not the desired effect, and the nuisance still existed in a minor degree, but still with such contagious effects, that the comfort, the health, and the lives of the inhabitants, were exposed continually to danger. Under these circumstances, he was convinced the court would feel it their duty to pronounce a verdict of condemnation upon the party, and if the latter could not succeed in so far improving their manufactory, as to obviate the evil in question, they must then abandon their scheme altogether, however lucrative to themselves, or however beneficial to an admiring public, with whom the lives, the safety,