NEW BOOKS FOR FEBRUARY, 1855, PUBLISHED BY WARD & LOCK, 158, FLEET-STREET, LONDON. Second Edition, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY of P. T. BARNUM, as Clerk, Merchant, Editor, and Showman; his Introduction to England of General Tom Thumb; his successful Engagement of Jenny Lind; with an interesting Account of his various Enterprises, and his Rules for Business and making a Fortune. Crown 8vo., 160 pp., wrapper 1s. The copyright of this extraordinary book, which contains some most remarkable disclosures, sold for 15,000. in America, and is destined to be the most wonderful production of the day. "Is there one among us who has not heard of the prosperous and pushing, the ingenious, spirited, unabashed, 'go-a-head' Yankee, Phineas Taylor Barnum ? 'Not to know' Barnum argues oneself unknown.'"-Times. WARD & LOCK'S SHILLING SERIES. BARNUM'S LIFE. Correct Edition. TOO MUCH ALIKE; or, The Three Calendars. By JOHN LANG, Esq., Author of "Too Clever by Half." The TRAPPER'S BRIDE, WHITE STONE CANOE, and ROSE OF OUISCONSIN. NONSENSE (A SHILLING'S-WORTH OF). By the Editors of "Punch." HOYLE'S GAMES MADE FAMILIAR. By EIDRAH TREBOR. SHARP EYE; or, The Scout's Revenge. HOGARTH'S (WILLIAM) OWN JOE MILLER; or, Quips, Cranks, Jokes, and Squibs of every Clime and every Time. The BOOK of the WAR. Second Edition. The FIRST CAMPAIGN. Revised and continued to the Battle of Inkermann. By PERCY B. ST. JOHN. STUDENTS ABROAD: their Romance and real Life. LAUGHS I HAVE PUT A PEN TO. Fun Jottings. By N. P. WILLIS. RUSSIA, THE LAND OF THE CZAR. "OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT" at the SEAT of WAR. By WILLIAM BROUGH. "OUR HOLIDAY:" a Week in Paris. By PERCY B. ST. JOHN. LIFE of a RACEHORSE. By JOHN MILLS, Esq. LOBSTER SALAD. By PERCY B. ST. JOHN. Illustrated by C. A. DOYLE and W. KELLY. FERN LEAVES. First Series, separately, boards. Second Series: "Shadows and Sunbeams." WARD & LOCK'S 1s. 6d. SERIES. The WHEEL of LIFE. By JOHN MILLS, Esq. OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN (The); or, The Fields and the Woods. By JOHN MILLS. ZANA; or, The Heiress of Clare Hall. "We know of no Miscellany more deserving of wide-spread circulation Family. Its pages present something for all; there is no member of the than THE FAMILY FRIEND. It is emphatically the Magazine for a domestic circle forgotten, and no class of society overlooked. It is itself a Gentleman's Magazine, a Lady's Magazine, a Mother's Magazine, a Youth's Magazine, and a Child's Companion. It is, as its title correctly declares, a Magazine of Domestic Economy, Entertainment, Instruction, and Practical Science.' We have received it into our home circle with great pleasure, for it is not only a family visitor, but really a Family Friend. We cannot describe its contents; they are an omnium gatherum -a repertory of things pleasant and profitable, of things gay and grave; selected with remarkable good taste, and edited with much tact and FERN LEAVES from FANNY'S PORTFOLIO. First and Second judgment. It is a work capitally adapted to cheer the happy fireside Series complete. NICK of the WOODS; or, Adventures of Prairie Life. FAMOUS PERSONS and FAMOUS PLACES By N. P. WILLIS. London: Ward & Lock, 158, Fleet-street. PARTANT POUR LA SYRIE, with all the correct French and English Words, price 3d., in No. 582 of the MUSICAL BOUQUET. The same as a Fantasia, by Alphonse Le Duc; and as a Quadrille, by Jules Normann, price 3d. each. Rule Britannia, with all the words, 3d.; and as a Fantasia, by Goria, price 6d. God Save the Queen, with all the words, 3d.; and as a Fantasia, by Goria, 6d. The most admired Fantasias, Nocturnes, Galops, &c., by Schulhoff, Vincent Wallace, Osborne, Blumenthal, Ascher, and a host of other composers, are published in the Musical Bouquet, at the Office, 192, High Holborn. HENRY RUSSELL'S COPYRIGHT SONGS:Rouse, Brothers, Rouse; Cheer, Boys, Cheer; Far upon the Sea; Long Parted have we been; Sunshine after Rain; Many Changes I have Seen; the Canadian Sleigh Song; Mighty Niagara; and When I was a Little Child;-all 6d. each. Also, To the West, to the West; Parting Tear; Land, Land, Land; Slave Chase; Slave Sale; and several othersat 3d. each. Published in the Musical Bouquet, at the Office, 192, High Holborn; and there can be no other cheap edition. of home, and to aid the development of social affection."-Bradford Observer. PRICE TWOPENCE MONTHLY. London. Ward & Lock, 158, Fleet-street, and sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders. LONDON and PROVINCIAL LAW ASSURANCE SOCIETY. 32, New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, London. EXTENSIVE LICENSE to TRAVEL and RESIDE ABROAD. APPEARANCE before the BOARD dispensed with. NOTICES of ASSIGNMENTS registered, and receipt thereof acknowledged. PROPOSALS for LOANS entertained. PROSPECTUSES, &c. on application. ARCHIBALD DAY, Actuary and Secretary. TO BE SOLD, pursuant to a Decree of the High Court of Chancery, made in a cause wherein "Eleanor Miller and another are plaintiffs, and Peter Morris and others are defendants," by public AUCTION, in one lot, by Mr. William Hodgson, at the Royal Oak Inn, in Lancaster, on Saturday, the 17th day of February, 1855, at 1 of the clock in the afternoon, with the approbation of the Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls, the Judge to whose Court the above cause is at MENDELSSOHN'S WORKS. - The only complete tached, a FREEHOLD FARM, with farmhouse and outbuildings, in Edition of MENDELSSOHN'S MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS that can be issued is EWER & CO.'S. Purchasers would therefore do well to observe that they obtain this edition, the printing, paper, and correctness of which are acknowledged to be far superior to any of those of his works published elsewhere; and being at the uniformly low rate of 6d. per sheet, it combines the only complete, the best, and the cheapest edition.-Ewer & Co., 390, Oxford-street. the township of Over Kellett, and about seven miles of the town of Lancaster, called Timrigg, containing 30a. Or. 22p. statute measure, in the occupation of Mr. Charnley. Printed particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained of Messrs. Holme, Loftus, & Young, solicitors, 10, New-inn, Strand, London: Messrs. Walcott, Lloyd, & Chevalier, solicitors, 73, Chancery-lane, London; Mr. Septimus Booker, solicitor, Liverpool; Mr. Holden, solicitor, Lancaster; and of Mr. William Hodgson, the auctioneer; and at the place of sale.-Dated this 13th day of CRYSTAL PALACE, Sydenham.-The PALACE and January, 1855. PARK are OPEN to the Public on Mondays at 9.0 a. m., and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10.0 a. m.,. on which days the admission is 1s.; and on Saturdays at noon, when the admission is 5s.; and closes each day at 5 p. m. Tickets of admission, including conveyance by railway, may be obtained at the Londonbridge Terminus, and at the several agents in London. Traina run at 3.5 a.m., at 9.10a.m., and every half-hour from 10.10 a.m. up to 4.10 p.m., returning from the Crystal Palace Station up to 6.10 p.m. GEO. HUME, Chief Clerk. Printed by HENRY HANSARD, at his Printing Office, in Parker Street, in the Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, in the County of Middlesex; and Published at No. 3, CHANCERY LANE, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, by HENRY SWEET, residing at No. 34, Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex.-Saturday, February 3, 1855. FREEHOLD or LEASEHOLD.-WANTED to INVEST between 5000/. and 60007. trust money in the PURCHASE of GROUND RENTS or HOUSE PROPERTY, if well let, and on lease. Particulars to be sent to Mr. W. H. Hewitt, 11, Hart-street, Bloomsbury-square. THE QUEEN'S BENCH REPORTS, by ADOLPHUS & ELLIS, and ELLIS & BLACKBURN.-The following are the latest Parts of these Reports which are published; and as several Gentlemen have complained of not having them delivered at the time of publication, the irregularity may be corrected for the future by transferring the order to the publisher. QUEEN'S BENCH. New Series. Vol. 17, Part 4. THE LAW OF ELECTIONS. This day is published, in 1 vol. royal 12mo., price 10s. 6d. cloth bds., A PRACTICAL TREATISE on the LAW of ELECTIONS of the United Kingdom, and "The CORRUPT PRACTICES PREVENTION ACT, 1854," with an Appendix of Statutes. JOHN CLERK, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. H. Sweet, 3, Chancery-lane, Fleet-street. A THE LAW OF LETTERS-PATENT. This day is published, in 1 vol. 8vo., price 188., in cloth bds., TREATISE on the LAW of LETTERS-PATENT for the SOLE USE of INVENTIONS in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, including the Practice connected with the Grant. To which is added, a Summary of the Patent Laws in force in the principal Foreign States; with an Appendix of Statutes, Rules, Practical Forms, &c. By JOHN CORYTON, Esq., of Lincoln's-inn, Barrister at Law. H. Sweet, 3, Chancery-lane, Fleet-street. WANDERINGS IN THE PRICE 18., or with Digest Supplement, 28. This day is published, cloth boards, price 15s., THE PRACTICE of the HIGH COURT of CHANCERY in SUMMARY PETITION MATTERS; with Precedents, and an Appendix of Orders and Statutes. By JOHN F. REILLY, Esq., Barrister at Law, Secretary to the Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls. Dublin: Hodges & Smith, Grafton-street, Booksellers to the Hon. Society of King's-inns. London: Stevens & Norton. A Stamped Edition, to go free by Post, will be forwarded to any Address, for One Year, on receipt of 3s., which may be remitted to the Publishers by Post-office Order, or in Postage Stamps. By The Traitor's End 12 Chinese Art of Preserving SCIENCE Health 27 Practical Illustrations in Ease of Manner 27 Photography, (continued) Potichimanie, or Painting on 9 28 28 14 28 14 THE HOUSEWIFE'S FRIEND 30 Toasted Cheese.. 29 The Worth of Woman. To the Poet A French Physician's Dentifrice OUR FAMILY COUNCIL. * 2 22222 22222 2 29 The following is a type of the opinion formed of THE FAMILY FRIEND, and expressed by upwards of Three Hundred Newspapers. EXTRACT. "We know of no Miscellany more deserving of wide-spread circulation than THE FAMILY FRIEND. It is emphatically the Magazine for a Family. Its pages present something for all; there is no member of the domestic circle forgotten, and no class of society overlooked. It is itself a Gentleman's Magazine, a Lady's Magazine, a Mother's Magazine, a Youth's Magazine, and a Child's Companion. It is, as its title correctly declares, a Magazine of Domestic Economy, Entertainment, Instruction, and Practical Science.' We have received it into our home circle with great pleasure, for it is not only a family visitor, but really a Family Friend. We cannot describe its contents; they are an omnium gatherum -a repertory of things pleasant and profitable, of things gay and grave; selected with remarkable good taste, and edited with much tact and judgment. It is a work capitally adapted to cheer the happy fireside of home, and to aid the development of social affection."-Bradford Observer. PRICE TWOPENCE MONTHLY. London: Ward & Lock, 158, Fleet-street, and sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders. TO BE SOLD, pursuant to a Decree of the High Court of Chancery, made in a cause wherein "Eleanor Miller and another are plaintiffs, and Peter Morris and others are defendants," by public AUCTION, in one lot, by Mr. William Hodgson, at the Royal Oak Inn, in Lancaster, on Saturday, the 17th day of February, 1855, at 1 of the clock in the afternoon, with the approbation of the Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls, the Judge to whose Court the above cause is attached, a FREEHOLD FARM, with farmhouse and outbuildings, in the township of Over Kellett, and about seven miles of the town of Lancaster, called Timrigg, containing 30a. Or. 22p. statute measure, in the occupation of Mr. Charnley. Printed particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained of Messrs. Holme, Loftus, & Young, solicitors, 10, New-inn, Strand, London; Messrs. Walcott, Lloyd, & Chevalier, solicitors, 73, Chancery-lane, London; Mr. Septimus Booker solicitor Liverpool; Mr. Holden, solicitor, Lancaster; and of Mr. William Hodg son, the auctioneer; and at the place of sale.-Dated this ach day January, 1855. GEO. HUME, Chier Clerk ENCUMBERED ESTATES COURT.-Final Notice to Claimants."In the Matter of the Estate of the Right Hon. the Earl of Portarlington and the Right Hon. George Lionel Dawson Damer, Owners; James Delany, Petitioner."-All parties interested are hereby required to take notice, that the Commissioners have SOLD (save the Roscrea Estate, and some other portions of the Estates situate in the county of Tipperary and Queen's County) the ESTATES of the owners in this matter situate in the barony of Fassadineen and county of Kilkenny, and in the respective baronies of Maryborough, Cullenagh, Ossory, Slievenamanagh, Ballyadams, Tinehinch, Portnahinch, Stradbally, Philipstown, and Queen's County; the several lands situate in the respective baronies of Kilnemanagh, Clanwilliam, Middlethird, Ellogarty, Lower Ormond, Ikerrin, and county of Tipperary; and also the several lands situate in the barony of Philipstown and King's County; and also the several lands situate in the respective baronies of Pubblebrien and Coonagh, and county of Limerick; and also the several lands situate in the respective counties of Longford, Meath, and Kildare: and that the draft schedule of Incumbrances affects all the lands situate in the respective baronies and counties aforesaid; and that such draft schedule is now lodged in the office of the General Clerk of this Court, and if any person have a claim not therein inserted and admitted, or any objection to said schedule, either on account of the amount or priority of any charge therein mentioned as due to him or any other person, or because he claims any lien on the purchase money or otherwise; notice is hereby given, that a statement, duly verified, of the particulars of such claim, objection, or lien, must be lodged by such person with the General Clerk of this Court on or before the 12th day of February next; and on the following Thursday, the 15th day af February, 1855, at the hour of 11 o'clock a.m., Dr. Longfield will give directions for the final settlement of said schedule. And all persons interested are hereby further required to take notice, that within the time aforesaid any person may file an objection to any demand contained in said schedule. -Dated this 10th day of January, 1855. ROBERT K. PIERS, Notice Clerk. than one-fourth of the amount previously raised privately in the Company, as already stated. It may be well to state, for the information of those who may now be hearing of the matter for the first time, that the Company is pledged to the Crimean Committee, and to all subscribers, to charge only the absolute cost price of all stoves, fuel, lanterns, and candles sent out to the army. The weight of the packages is kept down to 56lbs. or 57lbs., in order not to exceed what a man can carry along a bad road. Three packages are, therefore, used for a stove, and the 102lbs. of fuel which accompanies it. The cost of the stove, with this sufficient supply of fuel, packed and delivered in London, is 41. 5s., or less, if on finally winding up the account it should be found to cost less. The stoves may now be seen constantly in operation at the address below, and at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, the Crystal Palace Company having asked for stoves to exhibit there, and Mr. Edgington having lent a tent in which to exhibit them. Copies of this advertisement will be printed off for private distribution, and will be supplied at the tent in the Crystal Palace, or by post from Vauxhall. It is hoped that by these means a sufficient number of persons with spare money will be brought to take an interest in the matter, to carry it out thoroughly, without any individuals being taxed to a burthensome amount, or any being asked to contribute at all who may have already given in one way or other for the help of the army all that they can properly be asked to give. Belmont, Vauxhall, Jan. 27, 1855. Postscript, Jan. 29.-Lord Raglan's dispatch, dated "before Sebastopol, 13th January," and appearing in the newspapers of this morning, states, that "great progress is making in disembarking and issuing to the troops vast quantities of warm clothing of all descriptions," but that "the provision of fuel is still a great difficulty." That this was written after the arrival of the supply of stoves sent out by Government is shewn by the following extract from the letter of The Times Correspondent, dated on the 8th January, five days before Lord Raglan's dispatch:--"Our fine patent stoves are wretched affairs. They are made of thin sheet iron, which cannot stand our fuel, charcoal. Besides, with charcoal, they are mere poison manufactories, and they cannot be left alight in the tent at night. They answer well for drying CRIMEAN ARMY CANDLE STOVES.-The Managing the men's clothes at day." Directors of Price's Patent Candle Company beg to inform all who may feel an interest in the Company's Candle Stoves for the Army, that 200 have just now been despatched by the Crimean Committee in The The candle stoves burn through the night without attention, and with no more injury to the air of a hut than would be caused by a few candles burning in it. Pioneer, and that there are funds in hand for a few more; but they beg ASSOCIATION for at the same time to state, that, for anything like a sufficient number for the use of the army, much larger funds are needed than have yet been received, and that it is therefore desirable that all who agree with them in thinking that a sufficient number ought yet to be sent out should exert themselves to procure special subscriptions for this purpose to the Crimean Committee, at 28, Hill-street, Berkeley-square. The Committee will forward to the gentlemen who have gone out in charge of their own consiguments any stoves of which the public may think fit to pay the cost and freight. Stoves hereafter sent out will not, indeed, arrive till a date by which it is hoped the worst part of the winter will be over; but if they even serve no other purpose than the mere preventing the necessity of the soldiers eating their meat raw, and sleeping in drenched clothes, for want of the means of cooking and drying, this alone would seem to be an object well worth the expenditure of a few thousand pounds, if this attempt to interest the public in the matter should succeed in raising so much. The Managing Directors do not thus apply to the public until after having tried to accomplish their object by first applying to the shareholders of the Company and their friends for private means to begin carrying it out, and then applying to Government to complete, as a matter of public service, what had been thus privately commenced. The private funds obtained for candles, cooking lanterns, candle stoves, and fuel, amounted in all to 10777. 18s. Id., made up by the following subscriptions:-- The Company Four subscriptions of 1057. each.. Six of 251. each One of Seven of 101. each One of Twelve of 51. each Fifty-one of smaller amounts £300 0 0 420 O 150 PROMOTING the RELIEF of DESTITUTION in the METROPOLIS, and for Improving the Condition of the Poor, by Means of Parochial and District Visiting, under the Superintendence and Direction of the Bishop and Clergy. President-The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of LONDON. TRUSTEES. The Right Hon. Sir Robert H. Inglis, Bart. Office No. 4, St. Martin's-place, Trafalgar-square. The Committee of this Association are anxious to bring to the notice of the public that their funds are very considerably reduced, whilst prices of the first necessaries of life, and the continuance of severe the demands on the Association are largely increased by the excessive weather. The Committee continue to afford every possible encouragement to the poor to deposit their small savings in the Provident Societies connected with this Association; but they regret to record, that during 1854 upon deposits; and that the poor are consequently deprived of much of the high price of all the first necessaries of life operated as a check the advantage arising from their own savings, and are thrown to an increased extent on the bounty of the benevolent. Contributions are received by the under-mentioned Bankers: At the West End. Messrs. Herries, Farquhar, & Co., St. James's-street. Drummond, 0 Messrs. Charing 0 0 cross. Messrs. Coutts & Co., Strand. 0 5 0 60 0 0 62 3 1 1 £1077 18 The application to Government was, unhappily, less successful. It was made just before Christmas, the value of the stoves for the purposes of the army being then proved by actual trial in one of the Government offices, and a formal tender of 200 a day, and fuel in proportion, and all at cost price, being sent in the day after Christmas. As this tender is still unanswered, there seems to be little hope of Government taking the matter up, unless it be to a small extent for hospital purposes, the medical authorities having approved highly of the stoves. It is understood that for general purposes the Government has already sent out some common stoves; but these, although they will be of use anywhere near the port, will be useless in the camp, on account of the great comparative weight of fuel required for them, and therefore will be no substitute for the candle stoves, with their extremely portable fuel, of which a single pound weight gives out constantly, for more than eight hours together, a sufficient heat for drying clothes and warming a hut, or for four hours together, a sufficient heat for baking four pounds of bread or boiling four quarts of water in In the City. Messrs. Hoare, Fleet-street. Messrs. Williams, Deacon, & Co., Birchin-lane. Messrs. Barclay, Bevan, & Co., Lombard-street. And at the Office of the Association, 4, St. Martin's-place, Trafalgarsquare. The Annual Report will be forwarded on application. PARTANT POUR LA SYRIE, with all the correct French and English Words, price 3d., in No. 582 of the MUSICAL BOUQUET. The same as a Fantasia, by Alphonse Le Duc; and as a Quadrille, by Jules Normann, price 3d. each. Rule Britannia, with all the words, 3d.; and as a Fantasia, by Goria, price 6d. God Save the Queen, with all the words, 3d.; and as a Fantasia, by Goria, 6d. The Wallace, Osborne, Blumenthal, Ascher, and a host of other composers, most admired Fantasias, Nocturnes, Galops, &c., by Schulhoff, Vincent are published in the Musical Bouquet, at the Office, 192, High Holborn. SONGS: HENRY RUSSELL'S COPYRIGHT Long Parted have we been; Sunshine after Rain; Many Changes I have Published in the Musical Bouquet, at the Office, 192, High Holborn; and there can be no other cheap edition. every hour, at a cost of, in the one case but ld., and in the other but MENDELSSOHN'S THE JURIST. LONDON, FEBRUARY 10, 1855. ... 107 The Ernst Merck.-(Claim on behalf of a neutral purchaser-Proof of sale).... 119 ..... had an interest in the life assured shall not lose the benefit of the policy, although his interest shall have terminated before the death of the assured;"-framed as if to meet the very risk to which persons in the THE sentence pronounced upon Godsall v. Boldero position of the plaintiff were undoubtedly liable so by the unanimous judgment of the Exchequer Cham-long as Godsall v. Boldero remained law. The plaintiff ber last December in the case of Dalby v. The India and London Life Assurance Company, reported and commented upon in our number for the 9th December, 1854, (18 Jur., No. 935), has received the approval of the other side of Westminster Hall, and been followed by Sir W. P. Wood, V. C., in a case very recently before him. The case to which we allude was Law v. The London Indisputable Life Policy Company, (not yet reported), the facts of which, from their great simplicity, afford perhaps a more conclusive test and refutation of the principle supposed to have been established by Godsall v. Boldero than was even done by the case before the Exchequer Chamber. The circumstances of the case were shortly these:-Mr. Law, the plaintiff, had purchased a legacy of 30007., to which his son was entitled upon the contingency of his living to complete thirty years. Being anxious to secure himself against the loss of the 3000l. by the death of his son before the time pointed out by the contingency, the plaintiff applied to the Indisputable Life Policy Company, attracted, no doubt, by the glowing words of promise contained in their prospectus, which proclaimed to the world that their policies were indefeasible and indisputable, and that no extent of error, mistake, or omission would induce the company to repudiate payment, the fact of issuing the policy being conclusive evidence of its validity. As if, too, this was not sufficient to remove all lurking doubt, the following significant paragraph was also contained in the prospectus:-"Interest in policies.-A party having No. 5, VOL. I., NEW SERIES. seems to have stated his object fairly, and without any reserve: he was at first inclined to effect an assurance for the whole life of his son, but, at the suggestion of the secretary, limited his proposals to a policy for two years-a period a few months beyond the son's thirtieth birth-day, and sufficient to cover any uncertainty as to the actual day of his birth. The policy, which was for 29991., was granted on the 9th April, 1850, for two years. The son completed his thirtieth year on the 16th January, 1852, fulfilling the contingency imposed by the legacy, and, singularly enough, died six days afterwards, on the 22nd January. The 3000l. legacy was received by the father; and in due time, after the 9th April, 1852, he applied to the company for payment of the 29997. due upon the policy. To his no small surprise, however, he is informed that the "indisputable and indefeasible" document in his hand is disputed, and that payment will not be made, as he has received that sum against the possible loss of which the policy was intended to secure him. The company, in fact, entrenching themselves upon Godsall v. Boldero, tell the plaintiff that their contract with him is merely one of indemnity, and that if their rules are to be construed according to his view they would be rendered illegal. This somewhat tardy awakening to penitence in the company for their previous disregard, if not express repudiation, of the supreme authority of the Court of King's Bench is met by a suit in equity on the part of the plaintiff. We need not pause to explain the grounds of his proceeding in equity rather than by E action at common law; it is sufficient to say they were considered adequate by Sir W. P. Wood, V. C., who made a decree in his favour. That learned judge, in the course of his very able judgment, expressed his entire concurrence with the principles laid down by Parke, B., in the Exchequer Chamber. After adverting to the mistaken analogy to marine and fire assurance set up in Godsall v. Boldero with respect to life policies, his Honor made the following observations:-"The policy never refers to the cause or reason for effecting the assurance, the annual premiums being calculated by the company upon the value which they think ought to be paid in order to make the postponed payment, without reference to any other circumstance, whether of one event or of another event: that is a matter of entire indifference to the company-it is no part of their contract; they have founded their calculation upon the probable duration of human life, and they get paid the full value of that calculation. On what principle, then, can it afterwards be said, that because somebody else is good enough to satisfy the object which the party had in effecting the assurance, they should be released from the contract?" And in reference to stat. 14 Geo. 3, c. 48, he observed further, that he could not fairly say that the contract was either within the words or the spirit of the enactment: nothing like a fraud upon the statute had been attempted by the plaintiff, whose conduct shewed perfect bona fides throughout the transaction: and further, the contract, and the contract alone, as between the parties, must be looked to: it was not void in reference to public policy, nor ought the amount to be received to be cut down by the operation of the statute, by reason of the event upon which the legacy became payable happening some short time before the termination of the policy. Independently of the natural satisfaction felt at the defeat of what we cannot but consider a most unjust attempt on the part of the "Indisputable" office to repudiate their own deliberate contract and the express terms of their prospectus, the judgment of Sir W. P. Wood, V. C., will, we are convinced, meet with the unanimous approbation of the Profession, as a clear and distinct statement of the law as now settled, and giving the coup de grace, if such were needed, to that decision of Godsall v. Boldero which has so long burthened our text-books, and cast a slur upon the commercial policy of England, as expounded by our judges. Further comment upon the case would be unnecessary, as we have so recently discussed the subject in our remarks upon Dalby v. The India and London Life Assurance Company. We will merely add, that it is matter of congratulation that both sides of Westminster Hall have boldly construed the act of Geo. 3 in an enlarged and liberal spirit, and no longer rendered necessary the interference of the Legislature for the purpose of amending that statute, in accordance with the ordinary practice of assurance offices and the present demands of society. NOTES OF THE WEEK. A curious question came before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Bishop v. Wildbore, (Feb. 7); which was an appeal from the decision of the judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in having refused the appellant, Mrs. Bishop, to conduct a testamentary suit in formâ pauperis. The husband, a solicitor's clerk, was an uncertificated bankrupt, and from his salary could only procure the necessaries of life: the wife was entitled to an annuity under a will, but there was no prospect of its early payment. Under these circumstances the judgment below was reversed, the Court distinguishing the case from others that were cited, on the ground that the husband was an uncertificated bankrupt. The payment of the deposit by an allottee of shares upon the day specified for payment in the letter of allotment is a condition precedent to his right to sue for non-delivery of the shares. (Lucas v. The Port Tennant Patent Fuel Company, Feb. 7, Exch., Nisi Prius, per Pollock, C. B., after consulting the other judges of the Exchequer). Acts of cruelty on the part of a husband had been condoned; he afterwards maliciously deserted his wife: it was held by Sir John Dodson that the acts of cruelty were not thereby revived, so as to afford a ground for Hart v. Hart, Arches Court, Feb. 7). The learned separation à mensâ et thoro, upon the prayer of the wife. judge stated, that by the law of several of the United States, malicious desertion in itself affords a ground for divorce, referring, as his authority, to Bishop on Marriage and Divorce, which he described as a valuable book. The Insolvent Court orders the release of insolvents who have been committed by a county court judge solvent Court, but refuses to do so when the committal while they are in possession of the protection of the Intakes place after they have been discharged, under the 1 & 2 Vict. c. 110. (Re Woraker, Feb. 7, per Mr. Commissioner Murphy). In Underwood v. Wing, the Lord Chancellor, assisted by two common-law judges, has held (Feb. 5) that where persons perish by a common calamity, there is no legal presumption of survivorship. Mr. and Mrs. Underwood were swept off together from the deck of The Dalhousie by a large wave, and they were never seen again. The claimant's title was dependent upon one having survived the other. The onus of proof lying upon him, and there being nothing from which the Court could infer survivorship, judgment was given against him. Upon this interesting question we refer his "Principles of Evidence," pp. 479-481, 2nd ed., our readers to the observations made by Mr. Best in where it will be seen that the views suggested by him have been fully confirmed in the above case. The following appointments have been made during the past week:-Thomas Mackenzie, her Majesty's Solicitor-General for Scotland, to be one of the Lords of Session in Scotland, in the room of Patrick Robertson, deceased; Valentine Fleming, to be Chief Justice Puisne Judge, and John Watts Ebden, second Puisne of Van Diemen's Land; Sydney Smith Bell, to be Judge of the Cape of Good Hope; and Arthur Bigge, to be a Police Magistrate and Justice of the Peace for the borough of Brighton. The Right Hon. Sir John Jervis, Knt., Lord Chief Justice of her Majesty's Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, has appointed the following Gentlemen to be Perpetual Commissioners for taking the acknowledgments of deeds to be executed by married women:George Lockett Robinson, of Longton, Staffordshire, in and for the county of Stafford; John Houchen the younger, of Thetford, Norfolk, in and for the county of Norfolk. |